Mangiare, pregare, amare

I still have to think of the movie "Eat, pray, love". And today more than ever since I read the article on how good an Indian woman entrepreneur is running German fashion label Escada.

You will for sure ask yourself or maybe even me directly: "What the heck these two things have to do with eachover?". I tell you a lot.

The role of woman has changed a lot within last years. Comunism made her expremely emacipated by law so that she was praying for having the right to be just a woman. In the western culture she has still to fight for her emancipation as this is a men's world. Of course there are few so called successfull women who are known in the whole world like Irene Rosenfeld, CEO of Kraft Foods. But believe me - she is playing the men's game and this is what I really DON'T want to do. So, where to go and what to do? Do I have a room
somewhere just to be myself, a woman, myself?

But I don't need to go far far away to be myself. I can do this here. The one point is: I need to have a certain strengh. A strengh to be yourself. A strengh to follow your dreams and not to let yourself influence but external "politics" or influences at all. Neither the fashion or so called good freinds or influences at all. You are always allowed to follow your heart and this is the best thing you can do.

Women today are under biggest pression ever. We need to be successful, perfect lovers, super models and the best wives. Hard to satisfy, no? To be honest? Not at all. We just need to be WOMEN. Not every successful woman has to be a CEo of Kraft Foods. Success is the state of having achieved something. And this is considered individually. And every personal success which guides to happiness is worth millions of political or industrial carrers. We just need to be aware of this in our mind.

I haven't find my way to be successful yet. But I know that this is what I want to do as next. No idea how but I have the best personal motivation - these loving eyes of my special someone. And I know I will find it out. I don't want to sell my grand-mother to be happy. I just want to be myeself - a real woman, a wonderful one.

Have a great Friday evening.

The best time of the year

Hello All,

It has been quite a long time I haven't written anything here on. All my apologies. and as last year I come back with my season wishes. My you all enjoy it, together with your loved ones.

Holiday season is a cosy one. We are busy to finish the year but we are also looking for the end of the year to get some rest and free time. This double face of this times doesn't make it easy. And the pressure of giving is also there. In some situations it has become not only a ritual but a real competition. But it is in the spirit of the time?

Giving is something special. It has to come from the heart. And the best gifts are unexpected ones. Competition has no place here. Love is not a competition, love is selfless, openhearted and openminded. We cannot expect the reward as well as the person who loves you doesn't do this either. The gesture counts and the spirit. And this is the right time to show it.

Enjoy the season everyone.

Happy Holiday!

People behaviour - next part

We are living in a very fast world. And we all HAVE TO fit in. It is not easy to spend 14 hours a day at work and then go home and have a life. Additionally we have so called cultural training that educated us. And at work the situation is not easy - demanding clients, demanding or even offending bosses and will to succeed.

It is normal today that we close ourselves in our own world and establish a mind of protection shild and try to defend us in front of all this. This is absolutely human in this non-human world. But what happens quite often is that we offend/hurt people we love. We try that much to controll the situation that we forget where the controll has to finish. We take the work stuff home. Why? Common behaviour, bad attitude, ambition. All nice qualitites but they shouldn't be put in private life as they are willing to destroy everything in front of them which is not common.

And in private life, don't we look for a little bit of difference? And if we find it, what we do? We scare it and we fight it. As we try to controll our life.

I was thinking about this a lot. This is rare that someone really enjoys what he/she does. And why isn't it so? This is a good question that I need to ponder on.

Have a great evening.

Martha

Would you like to take a cup of tea with me?

Today I saw in a Yoga magazine a story that took my attention. A man came to yoga school and could handle his love to a woman who didn't love him. He was desperated. The yoga master wanted to take a cup of tea with him to explore his state of almost luck. The man didn't get and left. Few time later he came back explaining he got over this and this love was nothing for him and he was not really in love. He asked the master to take this cup of tea with him. the master answered: "Maybe later".

This story shows exactly how the wolrd of today is working. We only do something if we know we can get something in return. We do a favour to someone as he can return the favour, we are in love with someone as we want to marry this someone, we give gifts as we are sure we will receive gifts in return. This is how it works.

But what if this is not the result that counts? What if this is the journey that we are intended to make? What if the state of journey is the most important?

to open your eyes to the world and see opportunities in journey or just doing something is not what we focus. And especially not in business. Sure, we have to live from something. But this aspect lets us forget often how beautiful is just to do something for this doing itself. This joy can change worlds. And sometimes it makes the life easier.

Have a great evening all,

Martha

A Matter of Priorities

Got it from a friend few days ago but got to read it today when I really needed it. Great lesson and great advise to follow.

When we stop worrying about unimportant matters we can devote more to what is truly important.

We experience numerous disappointments each and every day. Our expectations go unmet, our plans are blocked by circumstance, our wishes go unfulfilled, and we discover that our lives are subject to a myriad of forces beyond our conscious control. In some cases, our response is powerful because we must invest ourselves and our resources to overcome genuine hardship. In others, our reactions are far more passionate than our circumstances likely warrant. The tension that permeates our bodies and minds when we are late for an event, interrupted at work, or sitting in traffic is not inappropriate, but it can interfere with our well-being in profound ways. When we stop worrying about relatively unimportant matters, we can be at peace and devote so much more of ourselves to what is truly important.

The small frustrations and irritations wield such power over us because they rob us of the illusion of control. But every problem is a potential teacher—a confusing situation is an opportunity to practice mindfulness, and difficult people provide us with opportunities to display compassion. There is a natural human tendency to invest copious amounts of emotional energy in minor dilemmas and frustrations in order to avoid confronting those more complex issues that are largely outside the realm of our control. The intensity of our response provides us with a temporary sense of personal power that helps us cope with challenges that might otherwise overwhelm us. But it is only when we let the little stuff go that we discover that the big stuff is not really so devastating after all.

In the stress of a singularly tense incident, differentiating between an inconsequential annoyance and a legitimate challenge can seem a monumental task. Ask yourself whether the emotions you are feeling will be as vivid in a year, a day, or even an hour. As focused as you are on this moment in time, your reward for letting go of your emotional investment may be the very happiness and harmony of being whose loss you are lamenting. Needless aggravation is seldom worth the cost it exacts. You cannot distance yourself from life's inconsistencies, irritations, and upheavals, but you can relinquish your desire for perfect order and gain peace of mind in the process.

Looking for eternal youth and fortune

Who of us wouldn't like to live long and in prosper with no financial problems? Who wouldn't like to pay all his moods and efford the things we normally need to do some economies for? We all have dreams.

And some people try to use these two elements to get our money for. And this turned into a new trend called recommendation marketing. We try, we buy and then our money is working for us. How confortable and how great for our selfestimation. And there is no catch behind. We use the product for us and it will help our health. How great can our life be. And we do not that much - just recommend.

But how real can it be? A certain US company called Monavie pretends this kind of marketing will change our life. We are using a miracle fruit Acai, helping Brasilians wokring for them who are anyway happy and we do good for ourselves. A real fairy tale comes true. And there is no catch. WOW!

As a marketeer I don't believe in anything that works for me and I have to do nothing. And all miracles are made by good PR teams. Of course, there are mircales and if we believe strongly in them they happen. But a product? No way.

I am getting in touch with Monavie a lot last days. Today I learnt a bottle of their juice cost 45 Dollars! Nice price. And to get as many oxidants as you need to rejuvenate your cells you need to drink a lot of jucie a day: 2-3 bottles, each 45 Dollars. Nice income for the producers.

The next step I saw on the net is a diet based on the consummation of this fruit:

http://news13health.com/index.php?storyid=45789

Well... If you drink a lot, don't eat too much and take care of what you eat, you will lose weight for sure. Not only due to Acai. But the page found by me is the nly one who tries to scam us. Please take a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w75Ym06b9xI&feature=related

All what they have in common is the will to get our money. For the services that are much too overestimated for what they really deliver. I will stay at my grape jucie and will wait till I get older and see my grand-kids play in front of me and be happy about it.

Have a great rest of the Sunday.

Martha

What is luxury?

Following wikipedia: In economics, a luxury good is a good for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises, in contrast to a "necessity good", for which demand is not related to income.

Following this we don't need it to survive. Luxury takes us more money then another goods and it is not available for everyone. But everyone is dreaming of. Little luxury in our lifes ist just healing our soul.

Meaning of luxury can differ depending on people you are talking to. In these days luxury can be also used for mental goods as time, freedom, travel etc. Of course there are still some brands like Chanel, Dior, Rolce Royce and others who will be always associated with this notion. And of course in the eyes of everyone.

It is not easy to rise a brand today, especially not a luxury one. You always need the special additional value that another brand doesn't have. today it is not easy as they are more brands than people on earth.

Especially difficult it is in the sector of hospitality. There are many ressort and many hotels offering the same or similar. And your dilema is: which one is better? Do I spend my money in the right way - I want luxury and I am willing to pay more for the best quality but is this the best quality? And will I get what I need in the environment I wish to be?

There are many offers for clients and not everyone is keeping what it is promissing. But I know one that is. Do you?

Have a great evening.

Facebook - the life after

Dear All,

My last post was handling on facebook. And I am proud of what I did after having finished the post - I left facebook! Hiya!

I know this is a ridiculous sentence but many of us are too much used to facebook. It is like a drug - it looks for an explorer and gamer in you. And everyone of us in a kid deep inside of our soul. That's why café, farmville or paradise island are so popular. Myself, I played all three of them and at the beginning I was even a citisan of farmtown! Fortunately it was too complicated so I gave up quickly.

Today I got an answer on my blog on network SENATUS and I learnt there are different types of facebook users. All of them try to leave facebook but all fail. There are:
1. The Games Maven - You spend too much time playing Facebook Games
2. The Paranoid Android - You’re skeptical of the privacy setttings on Facebook and don’t want everyone to know everything about your life.
3. The Romantic - You only signed up to get in touch with one special person. Now that’s complete, so you’re quitting.
4. The Regretful Socializer - You feel that you’re overdeveloping your loose acquaintance relationships and not spending enough time with your real friends.
5. The Entrepreneur - You’re starting a business, and you are spending too much time on Facebook and not enough time on LinkedIn
6. The Spammed Gamer - You just can’t handle all the random application invitations, notifications, group invites and other types of spam. The tool has become unusable for you.
7. The Explorer - You want to try out a new social network, like Orkut or Bebo.
8. The Kid - You’re too young to use Facebook and your parents caught you.
9. The Traitor - You work for MySpace and Fox doesn’t like traitors.
10. The Trapped Adventurer - You are moving to a new life and want to break away from your old habits and friends.

Fascinating. This is a real culture for its own. And this could be a perfect new world if this little privacy thing wasn't there.... And Mark Zuckerberg has no profile but a fan page whith limited access to post on it. Interesting... And giving the reason to ponder and to learn from it. Myself, I did and I am happy about. I let facebook live but without my data input.

And guess what? I have more time for really interesting things, including networking.

Have a great evening,

Martha


To know more about types of facebook users see below:
http://www.allfacebook.com/2010/03/quit-facebook-fail/

Life in the glass house

Dear All,

The winter doesn't want to leave this year. However, it starts melting again. The hope for spring is still there.

Lately I was confronted with an interesting article which scared me a little bit. It was written on privacy rules at google and facebook. And I started to ponder on this.

Google is THE search machine on the internet. If you are looking for something in the web you tell: I will google this. At least in German. And facebook is THE networking site. If you lost contact to someone, you can be sure to find this person there in 99%. Everyone is there.

These two companies are collective data on their customer/users. Google can even tell where you are actually with your computer - place, land etc. And it can tell you what kind of sites you were visting. But they are not delivering this information to 3rd party. And this is what facebook is doing. If you allow an application to be a part of your profile, the developer has the full access to your profile. Additionally, there are new applications eg. for iPhone or MS Outlook on facebook, who are using your address book and identifying your contacts. It means - facebook knows you even if you are not a member! If you join, you will be immediately put in connection to the people you know! As the data on you is saved! Scary, no? You have no idea who is spying you...

From my point of view as a marketeer, these both companies have enormous value. They have extremely big data base and this is very important to be competitive today. We all live from data base and from the possibilities of contacting the right consumers at the right time and in the right way. And if people are giving all these information to us voluntary - what can be better? our company knows everything about his consumers - relationship, the look, the activities, hobbies, place to stay etc. What can we want more? This is a real paradise! However we act, we are on the right way and it is easy for us to satisfy the clients. And they are happy about this.

This is my point as marketeer. But as a normal human being I am strongly concerned about this. Esepcially about the fact, it is dangerous and you cannot really controll your privacy. When your contacts act careless with the privacy settings, you are lost. You can be affected till the point of a dangerous virus on your hard disk and you are blocked for days. And this is a very serious issue.

For myself, I decided to be very cautious with receiving any requests via emails or similar. I do care of my privacy and I don't want to have a life in glass house. I want to keep my liberty of choice and of individuality. And I know I will do this.

This year started busy. All good things take time and I am sure all this work will turn out in good things. and if I find something out, I will let you know for sure.

Have a great rest of Sunday.

Best wishes,

Martha

Some positive thoughts for the return of snow

Dear All,

I found this today in a forum of a network I am member of. I would like to share this with you as motivation for 2010.

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's - Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.

5. Make time to pray.

6. Play more games.

7. Read more books than you did the year before.

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

9. Sleep for 7 hours.

10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

1. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

2. Don't have negative thoughts or be anxious about things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

3. Don't overdo it. Keep your limits.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

6. Dream more while you are awake.

7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner about his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

13. Smile and laugh more.

14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

1. Call your family often.

2. Each day give something good to others.

3. Forgive everyone for everything.

4. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

5. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

6. What other people think of you is none of your business.

7. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

1. Do the right thing!

2. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful

3. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

4. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

5. The best is yet to come.

6. When you awake alive in the morning, thank God for it.

7. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Happy Valentine!

All my best,

Martha

Reflection on a snowy day

I have promised you all a post on my favourite season - Christmas. To be honest, this period got so busy I had no chance to sit down and put in few words. Now I will do that.

Last holiday season seemed to me more splendide as the previous one. And it took longer - from around 20t of November till 6th of January. People enjoyed the world full of illumination and it was great to stop for a little while taking a glass of Glühwein (hot wine - very popular warm drink in German speaking country). The world seemed to be more colourfull and everyone was happy to be there and to see this last part of 2009.

Why do I had this impression? 2009 was again touched by the world financial crisis. Everyone of us was touched by this somehow - personally in business or via circle of friends. We heard about companies and banks being bankrupt and even, what was worse, about states being almost bankrupt. And this was not really encouraging. Employment numbers are still not ok. Many people lost their trust in banks and started paying cash. Times chave changed and we need to live with more risk. But at the end of the year, in a time traditionally more focussed on our loved ones, we just forget all the annoying things or are delaying them on later period. We focus on beautiful and cheerful things of life.

2010 has already started and I noticed the fact it is already a busy year. For my friends, my colleagues, my loved ones and of course for myself. You can feel this will in people to make this year better and to break the line of crisis which is our company since mid of 2008. And I am sure we will make it. But for sure we will have to do a lot of hard work and possibly we will have to rethink/review our thinking and our acting. Many things will change but personally I think we will go out this state right now with proud and head off to new time, even more interesting. Many of things will change and we will have to learn new ones. But I am already looking for this as my own learning has already started.

Buon anno 2010 e a presto!

Best wishes,

Martha