1. Gabriel means: “God is my strength” or “God is mighty.” Gabriel is one of only two angels mentioned by name in the Bible. Michael is the other. Raphael is mentioned in the Apocrypha, which is included in the Catholic Bible.

2. Gabriel appears in the Bible as a messenger on important occasions. The most famous example of this is the Annunciation when he visited the Virgin Mary and told her to prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:26-38).

3. Gabriel has always had a close association with maternity. An ancient legend says that she announced the birth of Samson. She appeared to Zacharias to tell him that he and his wife Elizabeth should prepare for the birth of a son, John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25). In the Jewish tradition it is believed that Gabriel instructs the baby while it is in the womb.

4. Although not identified by name, many Christians believe that Gabriel announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds, warned Mary and Joseph that Herod’s soldiers were searching for Jesus, and rolled away the stone that sealed the tomb of Jesus.

5. Gabriel is considered the Archangel of Dreams, Premonitions and Clairvoyance. This came about after she helped Daniel to understand the significance and symbolism of his strange dreams (Daniel 8:16-27).

6. In 98 C.E. a strange letter containing “the Commandments of Jesus Christ” appeared. It was supposedly written by Gabriel and became a relic of the early church. The originals of this letter have never been produced, but copies were sold in England as lucky charms to provide safe childbirth and to protect the owner from evil and harm.

7. According to the Harmonists, a nineteenth-century religious sect, Gabriel visited their leader, Father George Rapp, in New Harmony, Indiana, and even left her footprint on a limestone slab. It can still be seen today.

8. In the Christian tradition, Gabriel will blow the horn to wake the dead on Judgment Day. The Judgement card in the Tarot deck illustrates this. Cole Porter wrote the song Blow, Gabriel, Blow for his 1934 musical Anything Goes.

9. Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and dictated the Koran to him. In the Islamic tradition, Gabriel also taught Noah how to build his ark from the famed cedar trees of Lebanon. Muslims also believe that Gabriel presented Abraham with the Black Stone of the Kaba. Everyone who makes the annual pilgrimage to Mecca kisses this stone.

10. One of the most remarkable stories about Gabriel is the Islamic belief that she invented coffee. One night, when Muhammad was extremely tired, Gabriel brought him a cup of coffee. This not only kept him awake, but also gave him the necessary strength to defeat forty horsemen, and to satisfy forty women.

Richard Webster is author of more than eighty books including Gabriel, Spirit Guides and Angel Guardians, Michael, Raphael, and Miracles. His website is psychic.co.nz psychic.co.nz

Do you have paper clutter in your home office? Do you keep documents because you “might” need them someday, but they don’t have a home in your paper filing system. Welcome to the world of super easy, super portable, wireless scanning! DocuPen RC800 This is the coolest organizing tool I’ve seen in quite a while. It’s a page / photo scanner you can take with you anywhere! It holds 8 MB of information – that’s 100’s of pages! It takes about 4 seconds to scan a page and you download them to your computer via USB. The battery recharges while connected to your USB port! This tool can be used to significantly reduce your paper clutter and the amount of paper filing you need to do. Imagine how much filing space it can free up!

Hear are some ways to use the DocuPen to help you organize the avalanche of paper in your life.

For those of you afraid to throw away paper, this may be a great way to create a purgatory for paper you don’t want to file, but don’t to throw away just yet. Keep 12 digital file folders labeled by month Scan papers in according to the month you receive them. If you don’t need the papers during the next 3 months to a year…just delete the contents and start over! If you work at client’s home and you write up notes or draft something by hand, instead of making a paper copy, you can just scan it in. Easily and quickly scan in photos from an old photo album without risking damaging the album by laying it on a scanning bed, or removing photos from the album. Scan in receipts to a digital folder for business tax purposes. Scan in articles from magazines so you don’t have to keep the whole magazine or have files.Scan pages from a book without having to put the book on your scanning bed.At a store, scan in info on products you are considering buyingWhen researching a subject or product, scan in related pages from books, magazines, catalogs, newspapers, and more.Scan in business cards! This is on my list of presents I want this year! If it works as well as it seems to, it will be a great way to cut back on paper clutter in the home office. To learn more about this scanner and see video demos, google the term DocuPen or go to: planon.com/docupen_rc800.php” target=”_new planon.com/docupen_rc800.php

© 2006 Ariane Benefit, Neat & Simple Living

Ariane Benefit is an organizing consultant and author of the popular Neat & Simple Living Blog at blog.neatandsimple.com blog.neatandsimple.com Her mission is to inspire people to simplify, clear clutter, and organize so they can live a life they love! Ariane offers creative and practical solutions for people who just want a neater, simpler, more fulfilling life – not a perfect one. Get Ariane’s free e-book at neatandsimple.com/free-ebook.html neatandsimple.com/free-ebook.html

Yesterday I was visiting a fellow Toastmaster, and we watched a DVD called Magic Moments II. This is a video that analyzes 30 clips from the 2001-2003 International World Championship of Public Speaking Competition in order to study some of the best practices. I saw this same presentation live at the 2004 Toastmasters International Convention this past summer (given by 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking, David Brooks), but it was certainly helpful to see it again. What’s interesting about this video is that it doesn’t just analyze the winning speeches. It takes the approach that every speaker does something right. 9 finalists compete in this contest each year, so that’s 27 people to study.

I like the concept behind this video: in addition to modeling the absolute best people in your field, you can also learn a great deal by studying the other high performers, since even though they may not be #1 in their field, it’s likely they do at least one thing better than anyone else. In the case of public speaking, skills include use of humor, facial expressions, gestures, use of props, command of the stage, use of pauses and silence, story telling, vocal variety, blocking (purposefully moving around the stage), speech content, use of metaphors, etc. So while many people are inclined to study the winners of such a contest, I really like the idea of studying every contestant too.

The main benefit of this broader range of study is that it allows the creation of a bigger collection of problem-solving tools.

It’s been said that when your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Having been studying personal development for most of my adult life, one thing that I didn’t expect when I started on this path was just how many “tools” there are for solving the human problems we encounter such as procrastination, laziness, fuzzy goals, difficult relationships, etc. When you know 100 different methods for overcoming procrastination, I think you have a far greater chance of conquering unique variations of the problem whenever it occurs.

A novice carpenter may start with just a hammer and a screwdriver, while an expert carpenter could have 100 different tools for solving a wide variety of carpentry problems. Now it may be that the hammer and screwdriver can handle 80% of the tasks that those 100 tools will address, but with such a refined set of tools, the expert carpenter will be more precise, and there are certain problems that the novice simply cannot solve at all, not from a lack of skill but rather due to a lack of proper tools.

This is a metaphor for working on your own personal growth. For example, if you have trouble with procrastination, and you’ve been trying to solve this problem in your life a few different ways, try listing all the different “tools” you’ve been using to tackle it. If you can only list 5 or 10 (or fewer), then maybe procrastination itself isn’t the real problem. Perhaps you simply don’t have enough tools to address all the possible variations of procrastination. So depending on the precise details, you may find that sometimes you can overcome the procrastination problem while other times it remains untenable.

Think like that expert carpenter with those 100 tools. Now when he goes to buy tool #101, it’s probably going to be something very esoteric that he’ll hardly ever use. But when a specific carpentry problem comes up that this tool is designed for, even if it only happens once every two years and the tool costs $50, he’ll be glad to have it. Each tool is an investment that increases the number of problems he can solve efficiently.

Are you investing enough in the tools of life? Do you have problems that occur every week that you don’t feel you’ve fully conquered yet? Are you trying to solve everything with just a hammer and a screwdriver?

For example, if procrastination is a problem for you, what were the last 10 books you read about overcoming procrastination? 10 books should give you at least 50-100 tools for overcoming procrastination. Most people don’t even read one book on this subject though, so all they have is that hammer and screwdriver.

If your car breaks, will you take it to a mechanic that only owns a wrench and a tire pump? If you go in for open heart surgery, do you want it to be performed by a surgeon whose only tools are a needle and a plastic tube? If you go out to dinner, do you want your dinner prepared by a chef who only uses spatula and a knife? Hmmm, on that last one, Benihana seems to do OK actually….

Although we can rely on tool-rich experts when we need to fix our car, our dinner, or even our blood-pumping hearts, where do we turn when our very lives need fixing? I think that’s an area where we need to assume personal responsibility and develop our own toolkits that are as rich as possible. We must remain personally responsible for learning how to solve the tricky problems of being human, such as setting and achieving our own goals, getting ourselves to take action in spite of fear, discovering our values and living with integrity, building empowering relationships with others, parenting, maintaining our health and energy, developing our personal philosophy of life, maturing into the best humans we can be, etc. A hammer and a screwdriver just won’t cut it — even for Benihana’s chefs.

So where do we develop this toolkit for life? One of the simplest ways is to start vigorously borrowing the best tools from other people around us. Although you may have a problem in one area, chances are there’s someone you know who doesn’t seem to have this same problem. Go up to that person and ask them for advice. Borrow the tool and add it to your own toolkit. The nice thing about borrowing human-living tools is that you don’t have to return them.

A second method is to devour information in the area where you need better tools. Don’t just read one book on the subject. Read 10 books by 10 different authors. Even if you find that some of the books are lousy, if they give you one good tool you didn’t have yet, that’s great. I’ve read a lot of terrible, badly written books that still gave me one useful idea. And every once in a while, I stumble upon a really great book that gives me a few dozen new ideas.

So just as you’d expect a carpenter, a surgeon, a mechanic, or a fine chef to have a rich collection of tools for solving problems within their domain, take the same approach towards your own life. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t seem to solve a long-term problem like losing weight. Get curious instead. See if you can learn at least 100 different new techniques you haven’t encountered yet.

Why is a rich toolkit so important here? Because every human situation you’ll encounter is unique. If you need to lose weight, your physiology is slightly different from everyone else’s. So no one tool is likely to be a perfect fit for your particular situation. You’re almost certainly going to need a hybrid solution that combines multiple tools. It’s just like the carpenter, surgeon, mechanic, or chef who will use a variety of tools in a very specific order to solve a specific problem, but the exact usage of the tools may be unique for any given situation. If you only have 5 tools available, you’re going to be very limited in your ability to successfully develop your own hybrid solution. But if you have 100 tools, many of which are subtle variations on each other, you’ll be able to tackle unique human problems with far greater variety and precision. And you’ll also avoid the problem of overgeneralizing, where you try to use a hammer on everything.

I’ve used this approach myself with great success. For example, in the area of spiritual beliefs, I’ve spent half of my life studying different religions and philosophies, immersing myself in several of them. None of the existing formal belief systems suited me perfectly, yet each of them contained at least one element that resonated with me. I wanted to develop a belief system that was fully congruent my evolving knowledge base, my direct experiences, my logic, my common sense, and my emotions. I just couldn’t practice spirituality in a way that seemed disingenuous to me. But by borrowing ideas from other belief systems and thereby forming a rich set of philosophical tools, I was able to develop a personal hybrid spiritual belief system that suits me, even though it almost paradoxically sews together elements from seemingly conflicting philosophies. Although I lose the convenience of a common label, what I gain is a philosophy that is uniquely me, incorporating everything I’ve experienced up to this point. I also gain access to all the “spiritual development tools” of every philosophy I’ve studied. So while one particular religion might emphasize the power of prayer, while another focuses on meditation, and still another relies primarily on dream interpretation, my belief system allows me to understand the strengths and weaknesses of all of these practices and to use them together in a very unique and personal way.

I’m well aware that the previous paragraph begins to address a potentially sensitive subject matter, so please understand that while I aim to address such topics with maturity and respect for everyone’s spiritual beliefs, I cannot consider the subject of spirituality itself taboo for this blog, the simple reason being that covering certain important aspects of personal growth ultimately requires addressing one’s underlying philosophy of life.

Copyright © Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People
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Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.

According to a Miller Heiman 2003 Sales Effectiveness Study, over 60% of sales organizations are being pushed to increase results with reduced budgets and fewer salespeople compared to last year

Whether you are a sales rep or a sales manager this information is probably not a surprise to you. Simply put, the current business climate demands you work smarter and not harder. It’s about being organized enough to put your best foot forward in order to close business. The sales professionals I work with sales pros who rarely disagree when I say that time management is not only important but a critical factor in being successful. When I break down the most important components, here’s what I find:

Prioritize. Most sales professionals I work with have a clear understanding of their goals and priorities, but shifting priorities have become the norm in most organizations. Being able to change quickly can mean gaining a competitive advantage, but it might also leave the employee feeling confused and over-whelmed. To remain flexible, re-visit your priorities several times during the day. Try working on priorities first thing in the morning BEFORE accessing email. This is a much more effective approach, both long and short term. However it can be difficult to implement because we tend to respond to the urgent (email) first. Your time management habits should support your ability to focus and proactively seek working on what’s important, because focus and importance shouldn’t be on any customer and prospect but on the right customer and the right prospect. Otherwise you’re simply wasting time and opportunity.

Process. Selling is a process. It requires being efficient (doing the right thing) and effective (at the right time). And that’s what time management is all about. But the first rule of effective time management is to overcome personal disorganization. How do you handle all that incoming information? Is the pile on your desktop stressing you because you fear something might be falling through the cracks? Can you store, manage and retrieve electronic and paper-based information easily? Paper and time management are interconnected so having a roadblock in one area usually leads to a challenge in another. If your systems and processes are already in line, ask how you can make them better because little shifts can make a huge difference in increasing productivity and reducing stress.

Proceed. ‘Hope is not a Strategy’ is one of my favorite book titles. The same is true for improving your time management skills. It’s action that makes the difference. Doing something that moves you forward helps you feel you have more control of your day and your workload. Just thinking about doing something is a waste of your time. Time that would be better spent overcoming roadblocks.

Don’t be a slave to poor time management habits, cluttered desktops (and hard drives) and procrastination.
Being successful means having more time to spend with your family and friends as well as pursue some of your own interests.

Copyright 2004 Cynthia Kyriazis. All rights reserved.

Cynthia Kyriazis is a Professional Organizer, trainer, consultant, speaker, coach and author with over 20 years management experience in multi-unit corporations. She is President of Organize it, Inc., an organizational consulting firm serving Fortune 500 clients since 1995. Cynthia has worked with over 150 companies and hundreds of professionals to help improve performance in the areas of time, information, space and electronic file management.

Cynthia has appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kansas City Star and the Legal Intelligencer. She currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), member of International Society for Performance Improvement – Kansas City chapter (ISPI-KC) and consultant to the American Coaching Association.