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The first game-based learning program for continuing education in architecture and design, CS Learning Solutions’ competitive strategy game (CSG) (www.cyberstaff.com/learning-solutions.html), “CSI: Construction Scene Investigation,” was unveiled a year ago at the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System Symposium on Distance Learning in Washington, D.C.

“CSI: Construction Scene Investigation” challenges players to investigate and solve a residential mold problem. Players, building on earlier lessons, go online to navigate a dynamic cutaway of a house to find signs of unchecked and persistent moisture problem. The outcome is based on users’ decisions, and the game is immediately scored.

“The educational benefits of game-based learning in academia and professional development have been widely documented: Games bridge the gap between generations and appeal to a wider audience than conventional learning methodologies,” says Edward Hutzel, vice president of education for the New York-based CS Learning Solutions. “Enhancing our current online interactive courses with a new gaming approach will engage people longer and lead to higher retention levels of course material.”

Bites: Training June 2006

 “Games bridge the gap between generations and appeal to a wider audience than conventional learning methodologies.”.  Edward Hutzel, CS Learning Solutions

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To get more employers on the job-sharing bandwagon, the following are identified and dispelled to be myths:

Myth #1 – It’s too expensive.

Some employers fear that job sharing will force them to pay benefits twice. However, few executive moms need them. For the ones who do, the added cost does not compare to the expense of turnover and retraining, which some experts estimate to be 1.5 times an individual’s salary. It is true some insurance premiums may increase by adding headcount, but those premiums are a tiny portion of most exempt employee pay packages.

Myth #2 – It’s more difficult to manage two workers.

By seeking candidates who are closely matched – pairing their shared values, complementary skills, experience, and personality styles – companies can create powerful work teams that communicate so well they act like a single individual. In fact, most job-sharing partners feel a vested interest in making the team successful.

Myth #3 – If we offer it to one person, everyone will want it.

Some companies worry that allowing flexibility will create a workforce of slackers, or accommodating one employee will lead to other requests and ultimately break down all of the standardized processes and HR procedures they have worked hard to build. However, job sharing is one flexibility program that is easy to implement logistically and provides companies with more than what one single employee can contribute. Companies get built-in backup, more combined hours, refreshed workers, and the collaborative brainpower of two.

Myth #4 – Recruiting is more difficult.

Contacting former employees who have retired or opted out for family reasons is a great start for finding ideal candidates. These workers already know the company and may need less training. Existing employees also may be able to provide excellent referrals. There are many closely-knit alumni associations and networks in which potential candidates connect to each other every day. When companies find such creative avenues to advertise a job-sharing program, they often reach a hidden pool of exceptional talent and build substantial brand equity.

Myth #5 – There is no accountability.

Some companies believe that job sharing sets up the ultimate finger-pointing situation. However, offering work flexibility has the powerful effect of motivating individuals to make the situation work. Further, treating the teams as single employees by rating and rewarding their collective effectiveness can ensure individuals hold themselves accountable to their partners.

Job sharing is the most effective and underused flexibility option to retain workers, particularly women who are opting out of the workforce to raise families according to Kelly Watson, founder of Career Partners, a talent management and human capital services company.

Bites: Intelligence Section,  T+D July 2007

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage
to follow the talent to where it leads.. 

Erica Jong

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The author shared all of the easy paths, tips, and shortcuts that she has learned so that you can live the life of your dreams.

How to Use the Secret?

1. Ask. The first step is to ask. What do you really want? Sit down and write it out on a piece of paper. Write it in the present tense. You might begin by writing, “I am so happy and grateful now that…” And then explain how you want your life to be, in every area. If you have to make a choice and you don’t know which way to go, ask! You should never be stumped on anything in your life. Just ask!
2. Believe. Believe that it’s already yours. Have what we love to call unwavering faith. You must believe that you have received. You must know that what you want is yours the moment you ask. You must have complete and utter faith. If you had placed an order from a catalogue (of what you want) you would relax, know you are going to receive what you ordered, and get on with your life. See the things that you want as already yours. Know that they will come to you at need. Then let them come. Don’t fret and worry about them. Don’t think about your lack of them. Think of them as yours, as belonging to you, as already in your possession. When you believe, all the circumstances, people and events, will powerfully move for you to receive; and
3. Receive. The final step is to receive. Begin to feel wonderful about it. Feel the way you will feel once it arrives. Feel it now. It is important to feel good, to be happy, because when you’re feeling good you’re putting yourself in the frequency of what you want. When you are feeling good, you are on the frequency of receiving. You are on the frequency of all good things coming to you, and you will receive what you have asked for. You wouldn’t ask for anything unless it was going to make you feel good in the Receiving of it, would you?

It takes no time to manifest what you want. Any time delay you experience is due to your delay in getting to the place of believing, knowing, and feeling that you already have it. It is you getting yourself on the frequency of what you want. When you are on that frequency, then what you want will appear.

     “People are amazed at how I line up parking spaces. I’ve done this right from when I first understood The Secret. I would visualize a parking space exactly where I wanted it, and 95 percent of the time it would be there for me and I would just pull straight in. Five percent of the time I’d have to wait just a minute or two, and the person would pull out and I’d pull in. I do that all the time.” David Schirmer – Investment Trainer, Teacher, and Wealth Specialist.

All of these are the result of what we have thought. If you have been chasing your tail with thoughts of not having enough time, from now on declare emphatically, “I have more than enough time,” and change your life.

Powerful Processes

• Powerful Process of Gratitude. What can you do right now to begin to turn your life around? The very first thing to do is to make a list of things to be grateful for. This shifts your energy and starts to shift your thinking. You start to be grateful for all the things that you feel good about.

“Gratitude is absolutely the way to bring more into your life.” Marci Shimoff – co-author of the enormously successful Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul and Mother’s Soul.

So it is very important to have an “attitude of gratitude.” The great scientist, Albert Einstein knew a great deal of The Secret, and he said “Thank you” hundreds of times each day. He thanked all the great scientists who had preceded him for their contributions, which had enabled him to learn and achieve even more in his work, and eventually become one of the greatest scientists who have ever lived.

• Powerful Process of Visualization. The reason visualization is so powerful is because as you create pictures in your mind of seeing yourself with what it is you want, you are generating thoughts and feelings of having it now.

      “It’s the feeling that really creates the attraction, not just the picture or the thought. A lot of people think, “If I think positive thoughts, or if I visualize having what I want, that will be enough.” But if you’re doing that and still not feeling abundant, or feeling loving or joyful, then it doesn’t create the power of the attraction.” Jack Canfield – author of The Success Principles and the number 1 New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

      “You put yourself in the feeling place of really being in that car or house or event or relationship. Not “I wish I could get that car,” or, “Some day I’ll have that car,” because that’s a very definite feeling associated with that. It’s not in the now. It’s in the future. If you stay in that feeling, it will always be in the future.” Bob Doyle – creator and facilitator of the Wealth and Beyond Reason program.

 Your feelings are seeing it as done. Your mind and your entire state of being are seeing it as already happened. That is the art of visualization.

 “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions – The Law of Attraction.” Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

 The Secret to Money. When you focus on lack and scarcity and what you don’t have, you fuss about it with your family, you discuss it with your friends, you tell your children that you don’t have enough – “We don’t have enough for that, we can’t afford that” – then you’ll never be able to afford it, because you begin to attract more of what you don’t have. “If you want abundance, if you want prosperity, then focus on abundance. Focus on prosperity.” – Lisa Nichols, a powerful advocate of personal empowerment.

      Give Money to Get Money. Giving is a powerful action to bring more money into your life, because when you are giving you are saying, “I have plenty.” It will not be surprising to you to learn that the wealthiest people on the planet are the greatest philanthropists. They give away vast amounts of money, and as they give, by the law of attraction, floods vast amounts of money back to them – multiplied!

      If you are thinking, “I don’t have enough money to give,” bingo! Now you know why you don’t have enough money! When you think you don’t have enough to give, start giving. Feel good instead of sacrifice in giving. When you feel good if you give you believe that there’ll be a lot to give.

 The Secret to Relationships. When you want to attract a relationship, make sure your thoughts, words, actions and surroundings don’t contradict your desires.

      “How can you ever expect anyone else to enjoy your company if you don’t enjoy your own company? The secret is about bringing joy into your life. Do you treat yourself the way you want other people to treat you?” James Ray – author of Science of Success and Harmonic Wealth.

 Many of us were taught to put ourselves last, and as a consequence we attracted feelings of being unworthy and undeserving. As those feelings lodged within us, we continued to attract more life situations that had us feel more unworthy and not enough. You must change that thinking!

      “To acquire love… fill yourself up with it until you become a magnet.” Charles Haanel (1866-1949) – successful businessman and author of The Master Key System.

 The Secret to Health. Healing through the mind can work harmoniously with medicine. If pain is involved, then medicine can help to eliminate that pain, which then allows the person to be able to focus with great force on health. “Thinking perfect health” is something anybody can do privately within themselves, no matter what is happening around them.

      A personal story by Cathy Goodman… I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I truly believed in my heart, with my strong faith, that I was already healed. Each day I would say, “Thank you for my healing.” I believed in my heart I was healed. I saw myself as if cancer was never in my body.

      One of the things I did to heal myself was to watch very funny movies. That’s all we would do was just laugh, laugh, and laugh. We couldn’t afford to put any stress in my life, because we knew stress was one of the worst things you can do while you’re trying to heal yourself.

      From the time I was diagnosed to the time I was healed was approximately three months. And that’s without any radiation or chemotherapy.

 This proves the power of gratitude to heal, the power of faith to receive, and the power of laughter and joy to dissolve disease in our bodies miraculously.

“Said Jesus, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

The Secret to Life. You get to fill the blackboard of your life with whatever you want. If you have filled it in with baggage from the past, wipe it clean. Erase everything from the past that does not serve you, and be grateful it brought you to this place now, and to a new beginning. You have a clean slate, and you can start over – right here, right now. Find your joy and live it!

     “Anything that makes you feel good is always going to be drawing in more. You are reading this gist right now. It’s you that drew this into your life, and it’s your choice whether you want to take it and utilize it, if it feels good. If it doesn’t feel good, then let it go. Find something that feels good, that resonates with your heart.” Dr. John Gray – author of the bestseller Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

The more you use the secret within you, the more you will draw it to you. You will reach a point where you won’t need to practice anymore, because you will Be the power, you will Be the perfection, you will Be the wisdom, you will Be the intelligence, you will Be the love, and you will Be the joy.

Bites: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne ©2006

Film version: www.thesecret.tv

“Lord God All-Powerful, who is like you? Lord, you are powerful and completely trustworthy. Your kingdom is built on what is right and fair. Love and truth are in all you do.” Psalm 89:8,14

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