Smart Cookies

Women loved stroking and pull my hair, I used to enjoy it. One morning, I was alarmed to notice the first revealing signs of hair loss while brushing my teeth: there was hair in the sink and the top of my head was noticeably less full than the crown and sides of my head. I’d never before considered what hair loss would be like: Most men in my family do not start losing hair until the age of 50. It was clear that hair loss is already occuring to me, as I bent my head to look at the top of my head.

I felt that I lost my self-assurance, once I noticed the thinning strands. I was self conscious of how people perceived me, I stopped brushing my hair and started wearing caps when I went out. My partner and I weren’t as intimate as we were because I was concerned about her discovering the thinning patch on top of my head. I was suffering from anxiety and my work performance fell because of my elevated stress levels and inability to focus.

Thankfully, I found Advanced Hair Studio. One of my mates told me about them over a few beers. As far as I recalled, he has been bald ever since I knew him. However, one day at the gym, I noticed his hair looked full and fresh. He told me that Advanced Hair Studio was to thank.

That very night, I went on-line and purchased my first product and had them delivered overnight. The results were quickly evident: my hair felt stronger and thicker in just a few days. A month later and the thinning patch that caused me to worry myself sick was full of hair. I’d never before trusted anti-balding products worked. However, after my experience with Advanced Hair Studio, I now know that there are products out there that can save men a lot of stress, grief, and worrying.

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably looking for a way to have control of your finances. The best way to do this is to formulate a monthly budget and sticking to it. A sound budget is an essential tool for managing money, one that has allowed me to live well even on limited funds. One of the most crucial things that I do every month is managing my monthly budget, and it has allowed me to consistently meet all expenditures, grow my savings, and reduce debt.

I map out my budget for the upcoming month on about the 20th of the current month. This provides me with a better view of my expenses in the coming month. It’s not a good idea to develop a budget after getting paid because, too often, that flush feeling of receiving a paycheck results to nonessential and spontaneous spending before the paycheck ever reaches the bank.

Start your personal budget by listing all the things that must be paid that month like rent, electricity bills, insurance policies, loan repayments and telephone bills. The main idea is to allocate a budget for the affairs that I must pay to keep a adequate roof over my head and carry on earning money. I like to pad these requirements to make “money back” after paying the bills and, if costs increase unexpectedly, I’m always covered.

Next, my budget is subjected to a list of discretionary things I need to cover but could live without if absolutely necessary. These items include monthly savings deposits, credit card repayments, and donations to charity. Don’t get me wrong, some of these things are also important, but in case of emergency they can be omitted. By paying credit card companies the maximum instead of the minimum, I keep my credit score high and my debt low.

My budget does not include the cost of food, clothing, or entertainment. These items get covered by what’s left over and that’s that. Some months involve lots of beans and rice, slow-cooker meals, free or cheap entertainment, and only one inexpensive piece of clothing . This strategy of handling my monthly budget has worked out very well over the long term as long as I honor it conscientiously.

All employers want to improve morale, improve communication between staff members and ultimately increase productivity, so why don’t all organisations send their staff to take part in team development events?

Is it because some of these courses can suffer because they conjure up negative thoughts – many connected to the humorous events shown on television?

Certainly, the wisdom of David Brent from TV’s “The Office” have forced middle management personnel to look in the mirror and wonder if that’s who they resemble.

Among Brent’s many, now well-known, quotes the one that best shows his thinking about working as a team reads: “There may be no ‘I’ in team, but there’s a ‘ME’ if you look hard enough”.

If you watched the show, you may remember the excellent show in which a team development expert visited the Wernam Hogg offices. Brent quickly took control, and changed the course into basically a celebration of him, including an interpretation of his seminal 1980s pop ballad “Free Love on the Freelove Freeway” on acoustic guitar.

Yet, in real life team development events are nothing like the cringeworthy and destructive nightmare depicted in the programme.

Many companies across the UK now offer business organisations the chance to take their staff out of the office and away on a team building day.

Team building allows employees to learn and develop the tools and skills necessary to drive business growth and sustain improvement and development.

And despite the worldwide recession, staff development remains important to the growth of a business. In fact, it’s even more important, as when the recession ends there will certainly be chances for the best-run businesses to take advantage of the developing marketplace.

Team development can take many different forms, from in-house teaching to getting out into the wilderness and undertaking adventure courses, high ropes trails and personal challenges – which will be sure to inspire and be memorable for staff members.

All these activities are fashioned to encourage staff – regardless of age and background – to work as part of a team for the common good of your company, and they all contribute to the common long-term goals of your business.

So team development events are essential to the growth of any business. Just don’t copy David Brent, whose policy for hiring new staff was straightforward: “Avoid employing unlucky people – throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them”.