Month: May 2023

“I’m in!” Lori, the general manager of the department told Caleb. Caleb had just joined Lori’s department from a competitor where he had worked for two years after college. This was his first personal meeting with Lori. Lori had a strong reputation as a people nurturer and looked for opportunities to grow her staff with on-the-spot learning opportunities. She was about to have that opportunity with Caleb.

“That’s great to hear. I can get going on the plan right away,” Caleb said.

“That’s great, now what do you need from me?”

Caleb stopped. “Um, I’m sorry?”

“What do you need from me?”

“Uh, nothing.”

“Nothing? Do you have the support you need from my management team?”

“Well, I was going to talk to them about it.”

Seeing the opportunity of the teachable moment, Lori decided to help Caleb think things through.

“Caleb, wouldn’t it be easier for you if I sent you the message that we needed to do this job and that everyone should give you their full cooperation?”

“Actually, yes, that would help.”

“Wouldn’t it help if I let finance know you’re going to them with a budget request?”

“Yeah, that would help too, Lori.”

“So you see where I’m headed, right?”

Caleb thought for a moment. “That I didn’t think of how you could help me?”

“Exactly. You did a great job preparing yourself with facts and data, convincing me there was a problem, and coming up with a good solution that aligned with my priorities. You just didn’t think about what you needed me to do to help. It’s my job to make sure that have what you need to do your job. If you don’t ask me to help you, you won’t let me do my job. Does this make sense?

“It does,” Caleb said.

“Okay, now, how about you get your questions together and we’ll go over them tomorrow?”

“I will, thanks Lori.”

“Good job, Caleb. Can you send Radhika over when you get out?”

“Of course. See you tomorrow.”

Tollgate 5: I get what you expect me to do

Agreeing on a course of action is a great victory; To close the deal, you need to be specific about what you expect the executive to do. This could be a simple, “Give me approval to proceed with the course of action.” It could also include enlisting the support of other executives, publicly expressing your support for your course of action, or other steps. Whatever your questions, make sure they are specific and to the point. Being bland means that your executive may not do what you expect of him.

There are two considerations that I would like to highlight in this toll. First, make it easy for the executive by doing what he can to help with any questions. Do you want the executive to send an email to someone? Ghost-typing email. Not only does it make things easier, but it ensures that the executive says what you want. Second, be diligent about any follow-up that is required of you. You would be sending the wrong message if the executive asked you to do something and you weren’t timely in your response or, worse yet, you didn’t do it at all. This could be a huge credibility blow and cause toll 1 issues the next time you sell.

~~~~~

We have passed through the five tolls:

  • Tollgate 1: I think you’re credible

  • Tollgate 2: I recognize the problem

  • Tollgate 3: I understand what you want to do about it

  • Tollgate 4: I see how this aligns with my priorities

  • Tollgate 5: I get what you expect me to do

To end this series, I would like to leave you with some useful tips the next time you have to sell:

  • Be sure to structure your content to address each toll in sequence. If you haven’t passed toll 1, your chance of going through the remaining tolls is drastically reduced. Build your field around each toll booth in sequence.
  • make your words count. More content is not better. Express your point of view with as little content as possible.
  • Be manic about seeing your executive’s reactions. If your executive is showing understanding and getting the desired result for one toll gate, move on to the next toll gate. I’ve had many pitches where I’ve skipped content because the exec was already on board with what he was pitching on a toll. The most important thing is to get what you want, not to display everything you have prepared.
  • Remember absolute vs. relative priorities. Just because an executive says, “Not now,” doesn’t mean that the executive is an idiot or that you failed. Accept that time may not always be on his side.
  • Structure content for the allotted time, and have a plan if that allotment changes. Many times I thought I had an hour to pitch an idea and the executive told me I only had 30 minutes. Anticipate what you will do in case your time runs short.

One of the best parts of traveling is trying and savoring all kinds of new and delicious foods, whether you’re driving across the state or flying across the globe. And it sure is fun to let loose a bit and eat things you wouldn’t normally eat for a week at home, that’s part of the freedom and excitement of being on vacation!

But we all know the feeling when we’ve had too much for too many days in a row: the complete lack of energy, bloating, dehydration, headaches or hangovers, severe jet lag, increased susceptibility to getting sick. All of these things can really get in the way of maximizing your trip enjoyment. And if you’re someone with food restrictions, you know the added frustration of trying to find good foods that are also good for you!

The good news is that it’s easier than ever to choose the kinds of foods that will keep you healthy and energized while you’re away from your usual routine. Here are some simple ways to eat well while enjoying the highlights of your trip:

  1. Plan ahead. Often when we travel, we get out of our routine and don’t eat at regular intervals. Sometimes we can go several hours without eating anything.

    Contrary to the popular myth that you should abstain from eating to “save room” for a big meal, going long periods without eating actually slows your metabolism and makes your body sluggish and tired and hang on to calories. Our bodies experience these periods as “mini-famines” and send our brains into panic mode. To keep your blood sugar stable and avoid energy lapses (which can then lead to overcompensation with high-sugar or fried foods), try to eat a little every two hours while you’re in transit and while you’re out of town. home, in the form of nutrient-dense foods rich in lean protein. Pack easily accessible snacks: nuts, seeds, hard-boiled eggs, firm fruits (like apples), vegetables and hummus, or natural fruit and nut bars.

    If you know where you are staying, search for restaurants in the area of ​​your hotel. Check with your hotel or resort to review the menus and see what is available. Once you arrive, you can use an app like AroundMe to locate healthier restaurants in your area. And check out these smartphone apps that can help you find options free of gluten and other allergens on the go.

  2. Don’t forget the grocery store! A supermarket, and especially a local cooperative, can be your best ally while traveling. You’ll have easy, affordable access to fresh produce and healthy snacks in bulk. You’ll find a wider variety of great foods free of gluten, dairy, and other common allergens at a reasonable cost. Plus, many co-ops also have a deli where you can get delicious sandwiches, salads, or burritos to take out throughout the day.
  3. Your mother was right: get your vegetables and take your vitamins. While traveling, her immune system is exposed to tons of new pathogens, especially on airplanes and other public transportation. She wants to make sure her body has what it needs to stay healthy and fight germs and process toxins. Don’t forget to pack your multivitamin and other supplements! If you can’t get access to fresh greens, consider buying some powdered greens that you can take with you and mix easily into a glass of water or morning smoothie.
  4. Speaking of morning smoothies… if you’re really dedicated to getting your daily intake of fruits and vegetables, you might even consider taking a travel blender. This may seem extreme to some, but consider this: Most of them are under $20, fit easily in a suitcase or the back of the car, and may be just what you need to quickly whip up a power breakfast of fruits, nuts, and more. and vegetables that will keep you going all morning.
  5. Drink a lot more water than you normally do. Airplanes and hotel rooms are notoriously dry. Walking all day wastes energy and dehydrates. Often people drink alcohol or soft drinks with meals, which also dehydrates. Drinking more than the usual 8 glasses of water a day will keep you energized, hydrate your cells, keep your skin glowing, and help flush out toxins.
  6. Drink less alcohol than everyone around you does. This can be challenging, especially on business trips where drinking is a family pastime. But in addition to worsening dehydration and jet lag, drinking more than two drinks leads to unhealthy eating. (A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that men take in an average of 433 extra calories from alcohol and food when they consume more than two drinks!)
  7. Try to rest your eight hours of beauty. Easier said than done, I know! But getting decent rest helps stabilize your metabolism, resets your adrenal system, and boosts your immunity. Being sufficiently rested will make any other choice you face on your vacation much easier.
  8. Try the “one and done” rule. Allow yourself to have treats and enjoy them, just keep it to once a day. Get that beautiful piece of chocolate cake. Ask for an extra helping of fried steak. Order what is happily drizzled with butter and enjoy every bite. And then, finish with the less-than-healthy meal for that day. There is always more.

However you decide to plan your meals on your trip, we’d love to help you get there! As your travel agency, we can offer advice on transportation, accommodation, entertainment and much more.

Do you have a new business and are you looking for ways to establish your brand in the market? Perhaps you already have an established business and are just looking for ways to promote your brand and expand your marketing efforts? A fun and creative way to get the word out is by using promotional products with your company logo.

Brand recognition through promotional products

Harness the power of brand recognition. The best marketers know that brand recognition is the secret ingredient to a company’s long-term success. That success is not based on the latest fashion, but on the careful cultivation of a brand that its customers know and trust. The sky is the limit for the types of products you can promote with our company logo or brand. Examples include frisbees, t-shirts, pens, mugs, golf balls, calculators, umbrellas, USB sticks, and more!

Company online store

Chances are, you already have a website for your business with details about your products, services, mission statement, etc. Many companies set up a separate online store site just to sell and promote their logo promotional products, mainly to their employees, but also to the public. This separate company online store will provide a solution to successfully manage your brand. You can then consolidate all of your marketing materials (brochures, flyers, organizers, etc.) so that they are a consistent representation of your brand.

Most business owners are too busy to worry about purchasing logo products and all the order processing involved. Go with a company that offers a turnkey solution and it will take all the headache out of product selection, processing your orders, fulfillment, tracking and reporting information.

Employee recognition and incentive programs

Another benefit of having an online store to promote your brand is employee recognition, employee incentives, and employee rewards programs. Many companies reward their employees by giving them points or a budget to spend in the company’s online store. Employees feel appreciated when they get high-quality logo promotional products, and getting those products out to the public strengthens the company’s overall brand. So this marketing approach is a win-win!

Think outside the box when finding ways to promote your brand and show employee appreciation. You can set up a site and allow employees to spend a certain amount based on the number of years of service. You can let them earn points based on meeting company goals that can be spent in-store or just let them order promotional products as needed for company events, trade shows, etc.

In short, establishing a company online store with high-quality logo promotional products and a turnkey operation to deliver those products will help your company drive overall brand recognition and ultimate success.

My favorite family cookbook is home to American Test Kitchen recipes that are easy to follow and always produce an amazing-tasting family meal at home. This article gives you a quick idea of ​​why this cookbook should be in your home kitchen, and will also help you find more information about the book and its authors.

Good old fashioned “home cooking” is a hot and growing trend. From the new home chef to the seasoned chef, every home kitchen needs a great cookbook! Your first and foremost cookbook should not only be filled with great recipes, but it should also educate you on food and cooking techniques.

The ONE cookbook every family and home should have

One of the best-selling cookbooks that every home should have is America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbookby America’s Test Kitchen. America’s Test Kitchen is a company dedicated to researching, testing, and publishing great recipes “that work.” They produce a popular TV cooking show called “America’s Test Kitchen“, are published by several leading industry magazines such as cook illustrated and cook countryand last but not least, they publish several best-selling cookbooks.

What makes this family recipe book different from the others?

America’s Test Kitchen is known for its comprehensive and well-structured testing approach. They take known recipes, apply different best practices and techniques throughout their testing, and ultimately come up with the best recipe. It is common for them to test a recipe 30 to 50 times for their expert staff of chefs and tasters to determine a winning recipe.

Another great thing they do is share their key testing experience with you. They walk you through important points from their tests to help explain why they chose certain ingredients and applied certain techniques to arrive at their best recipe. They achieve a perfect balance between flavor, quality, time, ingredients available for each home, and simplicity. All of the American Test Kitchen recipes often take the easiest techniques, as long as the end result produces a great-tasting, high-quality dish.

In addition to providing hundreds of recipes, this family cookbook also has little articles dotted throughout the book that provide useful information such as equipment tests, recommendations, cooking techniques, and food and science education. All of this together not only helps you cook great meals from the start, but also helps you become a better cook over time.

If it was brought up to someone that the way they experience life is largely the result of what they believe, they might completely agree with this. This could be something that, to one degree or another, you have been aware of for quite some time.

On the other hand, they might end up dismissing what has been said and questioning how their life has anything to do with what they believe. As far as they are concerned, what happens ‘out there’ and what they experience may have very little to do with them.

a passive observer

So one will simply observe what is going on around them and what is happening in their life will be for the most part out of their control. If asked to explain why they experience things, they might say that it is usually the result of “good luck” and “bad luck”, or “good karma” or “bad karma”.

Therefore, someone or something ‘out there’ will play an important role in what happens or doesn’t happen to them. Also, unconsciously, if not consciously, they may believe that if they behave in a certain way, “good” things will happen to them.

random world

If they work for someone who mistreats them, then they are unlucky, but if they win money in the lottery, then they are lucky. Or, if they are not very successful, they will be unlucky, but if they have good friends, they will be lucky.

In each of these examples, as well as others, one will not have much effect on what is happening. At the same time, there could be certain areas of your life that you believe are under your control, or at least, over which you have more control.

a natural result

So if you don’t experience much good luck, it won’t be a surprise if you have what is often described as a “victim mentality.” But, if bad things happen to them and there is nothing they can do, how else would they be?

To expect otherwise would be to expect night not to follow day; it would be totally irrational. To make matters worse, both the people in your life and the society in which you live could also validate your view of yourself as a victim.

a reward

Not having the ability to change your life directly, you will need to rely on an indirect way to change your life. By being a victim, you can allow them to experience control.

Other people, feeling sorry for them, may end up giving them things and doing things for them that they themselves cannot do. Being powerless, however frustrating, will give them a sense of control.

Going deeper, much deeper

Now, while one sees oneself as nothing more than a passive observer of what is going on ‘out there’, what if this is nothing more than an illusion? What if this is the result of being too attached to your ego-mind and being caught up in what your eyes are telling you?

What if your beliefs define what you do and don’t experience? This would mean that one is not simply a passive observer of their reality; you are both the co-creator and the observer of your life.

Analogy

One way to look at it would be to imagine that you made the decision to visit a messy, hostile, and even dangerous town. However, even though they made this decision, they forget about this decision once they were there.

Consequently, even though they chose to have this experience, it was as if what was happening had nothing to do with them and as if they were being punished for no reason. Naturally, during their time there, they would feel angry, frustrated, and powerless.

seems so real

The problem is that while what they see comes from them, or from their own consciousness to be more specific, their ego-mind and their eyes will make it extremely difficult for them to realize this. According to these parts of them, what they see will be separate from them and therefore will have nothing to do with them.

What will further strengthen this vision will be the thoughts and feelings that you experience. These two elements will be the ones that will give life to your experiences and make them ‘real’.

Going Back, Right Back

However, if one took a step back from what is happening ‘out there’ and went deeper into oneself, one would probably soon discover that their external reality reflects what they believe. Therefore, while it may have seemed like things were just happening to you, your mind, through the law of resonance, is actually attracting situations and circumstances that reflect what you believe.

Along with this, it will also cause them to interpret situations and circumstances in a way that will align with what they believe. What this means is that even if something doesn’t really reflect what they believe, they will see it in a way that does.

For example

Then one can have a ‘negative’ experience and this experience can result in them experiencing ‘negative’ feelings. At this point, they may feel angry and powerless and/or feel like a victim.

In reality, this experience will have been a manifestation of what you believe. Their mind would have co-created this experience and this would have allowed them to experience feelings that they already had within them.

Two levels

Consciously, one could say that this is not true, and on a conscious level, they could spend a good deal of time focusing on good things. However, on a deeper level, your unconscious mind will be searching for what you believe to be true.

This is why it will be normal for one to believe that what is happening has nothing to do with them. However, by pulling back the curtain, so to speak, and connecting with your other mind, you will be able to understand why you experience the same things over and over again.

shining light

When it comes to what one believes, it can relate to what they have learned from society, their time in school, what their parents passed down to them, and the meaning they gave to what happened during their early years. What can fuel many of your beliefs is unprocessed emotional pain.

Ergo, once you have begun to process the emotional pain that is within your body, you may find that many of your beliefs begin to fade. Furthermore, simply bringing a belief into the light of awareness can cause it to be seen for what it is: a belief and not the truth.

Awareness

If you can relate to this and are ready to change your life, you may need to seek outside support. This is something that can be provided with the help of a therapist or healer.

I recently came across a lovely bedroom design. The interior designer had carefully transformed the brief into a stunning interior space. I thought I might as well share what I saw with all you avid interior design lovers out there.

Let’s start with the floor. A beautiful walnut tone was used on the floor in a continuous pattern. The material used for it was laminated wood flooring covered with melamine. The floor thickness was 8mm with a bottom layer of plastic and foam to cushion and absorb the weight. Although not as classic as real wood flooring, laminate flooring is a great alternative to hardwood flooring as it is very cost effective while still providing a pristine look and feel. I personally love adding laminate flooring to most of my interior design projects and currently have a clear vapor beach shade installed in my bedroom.

Then come the walls. All the walls in the room were covered in a Dark Wenge shade. A 4mm natural veneer layer was used on top of a 12mm plyboard attached to a 50mm by 50mm natural wood frame. The wooden structure was made of pine wood but fir can also be used for it. The natural veneer skin was derived from wenge wood, and after a few coats of polishing and a melamine topcoat, the look it gave it was truly amazing. To add more depth, grooves 6 mm wide and 12 mm deep were left at horizontal intervals of 3 feet each. The wall to the left of the bedroom had a roll-up projection screen attached to it. The folding rod of the projection screen was conveniently hidden in a niche in the false ceiling.

Now comes the bed. The bed was almost 3′ high. To get on the bed you would have to climb two levels of side boards about 1’6” deep. The vertical face of the sideboards was covered in Wenge wood in keeping with the theme of the room. The upper face of the dresser was an interesting combination hat that I had not seen before. A wood frame was placed and milky white frosted glass was then recessed between the 1’6” by 1’6” frame openings. White tube lights were placed under the glass to illuminate it from behind. Once the lights were on, the effect it produced was incredible. At the top of the multi-level dressers comes the mattress for the bed. The mattress in this case was at least 12 inches high. The interior designer topped the mattress in high-thread-count white sheets, while he added a maroon-brown satin sheet for added contrast. The headboard of the bed had cove lights behind it in orange and yellow. An LED strip was used to create this effect.

The wall at the back of the bed was an interesting farce of randomly sized wenge paneling sticking out of a wenge paneled wall. All panels were backlit via cove lights of a shade of yellow. Tube lights in sizes ranging from 1′ to 4′ were used to create the desired effect.

The ceiling used throughout the room was simple plaster. There was so much going on in the room in terms of design elements that it was best to leave the ceiling flat, which the designer rightly did. To illuminate the room, 4” diameter recessed spotlights were used.

This unique bedroom is ideal for wood lovers and people who like to sleep in loft beds.

People living in Mediterranean countries and following a Mediterranean diet have never considered fruit as a fattening food. On the contrary, they are very aware that the fruits are a gift that nature has given us; they are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber and water, all the nutrients that contribute to our good health and happiness – without health it is difficult to be happy.

That being said, fruits, like most foods, can contribute to weight gain if you eat them in excess or prepare them incorrectly. This will be the case if you eat three bananas instead of eating just half of one, if you eat a fried banana instead of eating it raw, or if you draw your strawberries in whipped cream.

Fortunately, most of us eat fruits in their raw state and without adding anything to them, thus almost completely eliminating the risk of increasing their calories due to poor preparation. And as we are going to see now, many of the fruits that we eat regularly have fewer calories than many other foods that are common in our meals. Therefore, fruits allow us to be flexible with how much we can eat.

Most fruits are low in calories.

Some fruits are really low in calories. In this group we find melons, watermelons, papayas and grapefruits. They provide less than 40 calories per 100 grams of fruit. They are followed by the group of berries, oranges, tangerines, pineapples, apricots and peaches with only 50 calories per 100 grams.

To make it easier for us to compare fruit with other foods, let’s take as an example a slice of bread weighing about 25 or 30 grams. This slice of bread will probably have more calories than any of these fruits mentioned above, and without the richness of vitamins found in fruits. Also, as you well know, we rarely eat bread alone; most of the time we spread it with butter, margarine, peanut butter, or the like, increasing its calories. On the other hand, due to the rich flavor of fruits, we usually do not need to spread them and we eat them raw.

The nutrients of the fruit

Fresh fruit can be eaten as a main course, dessert, or as a snack between meals. Among the many nutrients that fruits contain are vitamins A and C, especially in citrus fruits. Vitamins B1, B2 and niacin are also found in fruits, although in smaller amounts. Regarding minerals, fruits are rich in potassium, between 200 and 300 milligrams (mg) per 100 grams of fresh fruit. The fruit with the highest potassium content is the banana, with about 400 mg per 100 grams of fruit. Fruits are low in sodium, which makes them the perfect food to combat hypertension.

On the other hand, fruits are low in protein and fat except for coconuts and avocados which are high in fat.

Carbohydrates (sugars) in fruit

When it comes to carbohydrates, we can separate fruits into two groups:

Group A: the fruits of this group have a content of 5 to 15 milligrams of sugar for each gram of fruit. Among the fruits of group A we find cherries, plums, peaches, blueberries, kiwis, limes, lemons, tangerines, mangoes, apples, melons, oranges, papayas, pears and watermelons.

B Group: the fruits of this group have a content of about 15 to 20 milligrams of sugar per 100 grams of fruit. Among the fruits of this group we find bananas, dates, figs and grapes.

In a separate group we could include avocados and coconuts that, although they have few carbohydrates, 10 milligrams of sugar per 100 grams of fruit, have high amounts of fat, more than 35% of their content, which makes them very high in calories.

Calculate the calories of food

Based on the above information, we can say that group A fruits provide between 40 and 80 calories per 100 grams. Group B fruits provide more than 150 calories per 100 grams of fruit. Since nutrition experts recommend eating four servings of fruit a day, you should think about these numbers when eating fruit. If you only eat group A fruits, you will be eating between 160 and 300 calories a day. Not bad! But if you only eat fruits from group B, you will be gulping down more than 600 calories. Something to take into account.

final thoughts

As you have seen in this article, we cannot say that the fruit is fattening. What we have to remember when eating fruit is which fruits belong to which group and eat accordingly. By that I mean, eat more fruits from group A and use moderation when eating fruits from group B.

Have a healthy day

Emilia Klapp, BS, RD.

“Political science” is generally defined as the study of governments, political processes, and political behavior. It is a branch of social sciences where the study mainly revolves around analyzing, describing, and predicting political behavior along with political systems. In fact, the best way to describe it is as a science that revolves more around subjective clarifications than hard data. It is a science that helps a person understand the relationships between other individuals, groups, and the state, along with the working procedure of modern government.

Political science as a discipline is relatively new and has gained considerable recognition among young students in the United States in recent years. It mainly includes various subfields such as philosophy and political system theory, political economy, policy studies, international relations, and a collection of other related fields. The main aim of political science is to help a student to make a career in politics and to give him adequate knowledge of political procedure which could be useful.

Students who pursue a career in this branch of the social sciences are generally called political scientists and can lead to exciting careers in federal, state, and local governments; law; business; international organizations and electoral politics.

His job responsibilities mainly revolve around the analysis of different areas of political behavior, including public administration, public opinion, taxes, and voting. Apart from this, they usually conduct research on different public issues and political relations and resources. These investigation procedures can be both within the same country and internationally. However, the research and analysis process frequently includes court rulings, public opinion and decision-making. Added to this, they also recommend solutions and sometimes conduct research to make better decisions on issues that generally affect citizens, businesses and the environment.

employment prospects

The job outlook of this domain actually seems to be very inspiring. In fact, according to the latest study by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for political scientists are expected to increase even more in the coming years. According to some experts, overall employment is also expected to grow as fast as the average for all occupations.

Salary Outlook and Other Benefits

The average earnings of political scientists depend entirely on their education, experience, and geographic position in the organization. The starting salary range for a political scientist averages near $27,000. However, with experience and higher educational success, income can increase further to $65,000 or more. Added to this, any graduate with a political science degree can enjoy a decent income and can earn almost $2,500 more per year than the average person who only has a bachelor’s degree. In addition to this, holders of a bachelor’s degree can also enter the workforce as paralegals or administrative assistants. Furthermore, political scientists employed by colleges and universities even have enough opportunities to increase their income by teaching summer courses, writing books, or doing consulting work. They can even enjoy various benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans, paid holidays and vacations, etc. depending on their positions.

Required educational qualification

So by now, if you want to pursue a career in political science or want to grow as a political scientist, you need to have an advanced PhD in political science. If you earn a PhD in political science, you can work as a professor at colleges and universities. More often, these positions lead to significant service to schools, communities, and the nation. In addition to these, there are also bachelor’s and master’s programs in political science. While graduate degrees in political science are respected by all industries, master’s degrees are highly regarded by public and private organizations and by a growing number of numerous non-profit associations.

Today, it is definitely one of the few career options that can provide you with long-term job growth and significant rewards.

To be an offensive threat, you need to be able to elude your guard whether you have the ball or not. A feint is an act designed to throw your guard off balance, so you can get past him or break free for a shot. Do it by pretending with your head, eyes, feet, shoulders, and body. The fake drive-and-shot is designed to unbalance the defensive player and force him back to make room for the shot. Fake a bounce around the guard, using your front foot to force him back. The offensive player then comes into position for the shot. Any feint will result in some backing action from the guard. The fake shot and drive is a maneuver in which the player with the ball fakes a shot for the basket to lure the guard towards him so he can dribble around him. When faking, keep the ball protected and in position to dribble. The first step should be long with the right foot if going to the right, placing the ball well forward while driving down guard. A double feint is executed by feigning a step forward with a deep step to the right, causing the guard to step back a bit. The offensive man then moves his front foot back a bit and sets up for a set shot. As the guard rises on his toes to stop the shot, the offensive man lowers his body and pushes off his front foot, putting the ball well forward and driving towards the goal. To go to the right side, fake a deep step to the left with your right foot. The shot is rigged, then comes the shot from the right. A left-handed player will use their left foot as the front foot and follow the same technique as above.

When initiating a fake, a player never knows if it will be a single or double fake. This will depend on the guard’s action. Sometimes a guard is compromised on the first forgery. If you don’t get fooled by the first fake, try the double fake. A common fault of many players who execute feints is that they do not allow enough time for the defensive player to “fall for” the deception. Shooting or driving too early simply means the trick is wasted. Tips for haggling:

1. Do not dribble a rebound when you first receive the ball. This robs you of the opportunity to move with it.

2. Keep your head up and your eyes straight ahead so you can get a good view of what the other players are doing.

3. Do not try to dribble in congested areas.

4. Don’t hit the ball, push it towards the ground with your fingertips.

5. When advancing to your frontcourt with the high dribble, make sure there are no opponents nearby who could steal the ball.

6. Learn to keep your body between your shoulder and the ball.

7. Use a high dribble for speed and a low dribble for control and deception.

8. Fake with your eyes, head and body when dribbling. This will add defensive pressure on your man.

9. Throw only when necessary. Excessive haggling is a waste of time. Passing will advance the ball faster than dribbling.

Moving without the ball Players often don’t know how to act offensively when they don’t have the ball. In my experience as a coach, I have found this to be especially true of young players. Too often they do nothing. They stand watching the man with the ball, waving their arms to receive a pass even though he is well guarded. The easiest man to guard is the player who stops and moves slowly and aimlessly. Basketball is a team game and all five players must work as a unit to get the best results.

A player without the ball can do the following:

1. Move at all times to prevent the defense from double-teaming a teammate.

2. Keep half court open to allow plays down the half.

3. Set up a screen for teammates.

4. Be alert to interrupt a potential play.

Situations change with each ball pass. Watch for weaknesses in the defense so you can take advantage of them. It is important to know what you intend to do. Running indiscriminately will only get you out. Never run in a straight line or in circles. An opponent can easily protect you. Deception and change of pace will help you bypass your guard. Learn to cut. Some of the cutting motions will be described and illustrated here. The “L” cut is a straight cut down the sideline with a 90 degree change in direction. The “L” cut is used to square the corners on the fast break.

1. Cut in “L” to the right.

2. Cut in “L” to the left.

The “button hook” is primarily used to cut the basket, but can also be used when encountering a press. The player drives to the basket, stops, and then steps out to receive the pass.

1. Button hook on the right.

2. Left button hook.

The “S” cut starts by cutting in one direction and then returning to the original position. “S” cut. This cut can be used anywhere. Slashing a postman is another way to free yourself up for a shot. 1 passes the ball to 2 and immediately cuts it off. 2 times his cut to push l’s back and uses 3 as a block. Leading from the corner to the outside half of the free throw circle is an offensive setup play. If a pass is received, the corner man can jump shoot or pivot off his right foot and push for a layup or establish post position. 1 comes out of the corner, goes right and left.

The “V” cut is used to change direction and cut for the basket. It is widely used to cut from corners.

1. “V” cut.

2. “V” cut to the left

There hardly seems to be a day when you don’t see stories in the newspaper or on TV about foreclosure opportunities in almost every real estate market. While there are wonderful deals in almost every city, there are also properties for sale that aren’t great deals. Here are some tips to make sure you get the best deal when buying a foreclosure:

Understand the process in your area: There are different ways to buy a foreclosure home, and the process can vary greatly from area to area. The first thing a prospective buyer should do before signing on the dotted line is to research the process in your area.

Know what you’re buying – make sure you negotiate in plenty of time to do a full inspection of the property and get out of the contract. Because the previous owner isn’t there to tell you the history of the house, you need to have it looked over by a professional so he can uncover any major defects that need repair. Keep in mind, however, that most banks will not be willing to make repairs on a foreclosed home.

Know your highest bid – Make your highest bid and stick with it. By submitting your best offer, you can negotiate accordingly without fear of going too far up the price range.

It’s true that there are some wonderful deals on the real estate market right now, but buyers should be careful not to act too quickly or get too excited about a particular home. This can lead to mistakes, and no one wants to do that when investing in real estate because it is such a large financial transaction.