However, in the current educational scenario, there are thousands of schools to choose from and this can lead to confusion among the parents. Therefore, below are a few very crucial points that should be considered before choosing a school for their kids.

Teachers and mentors

The very first area that should be observed and scrutinized is the quality of teachers in the school. A school should have the right mix of new-age teachers and veterans who have years of experience in the field of education. Teachers are the ones who teach, guide, mold and interact with students every day, thus amazing teachers can help with better learning and better communication.

Student-centered values

A school should have core values that are completely centered on students. Every decision and step taken by the staff and the principal should be for the betterment of the students. Their core concern should not be business, but the welfare of the students and how to turn the children into better and more learned individuals.

Environment

A good school should have a positive environment for all types of students. A friendly yet disciplined environment is a must to make sure that students are learning within the boundaries and are disciplined. Also, having a friendly environment means the students can openly speak about their problems and can have healthy communication with their mentors and teachers.

Balanced curriculum

A school is not just a place to read books and learn the subjects since there are many other areas that a student can excel in. Having an exhaustive subject curriculum is great, but along with it, the school should also have sports, arts, etc. as a part of their syllabus. This type of balanced curriculum can help the students to indulge in other types of activities and can also help with discovering their hidden talents.

Parental involvement

While choosing an ideal school, make sure that the institution pays equal importance to the parent’s involvement in their children’s progress. There should be timely parent-teacher meetings to inform parents of their child’s academics and other results. In the case of disciplinary actions and also positive happenings by the students, parents should be informed. This way parents can learn about their kids and what is happening in their school life on a day-to-day basis. Also, teachers and mentors should help parents in making them understand what is good for kids and what else can be done on the domestic side to help the student perform better.

Narendranath Datta better known as Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1963- 4 July 1902) was an Indian Hindu monk, creative thinker, social reformer, great speaker, and fervent patriotic who founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He firmly practiced, preached, and advised others for the pure and true spiritual path. His birthday is celebrated as National Youth Day in India.

Here are few anecdotes from his life-

Once when Swami Vivekananda was in Varanasi, he was surrounded by a large number of mischievous monkeys while he was coming out of the temple of Maa Durga. They seem to be exasperating him. Swamiji did not want to catch them so he started running but the wicked monkeys followed him an old monk was watching them he asked Swamiji to ‘stop and face them!’ Swamiji obeyed the monk and stopped. When he turned around and faced the monkey they ran away. Years late he said, “If you ever feel afraid of anything, always turn round and face it. Never think of running away.”
During a long trek in the Himalayas Swamiji found an old man extremely tired and exhausted. He was standing without any further hopes at the foot of an upward slope. The man complained to Swamiji in frustration, “Oh, Sir, how to cross it; I cannot walk anymore; my chest will break.” After patiently listening to them and he replied, “Look down at your feet. The road that is under your feet is the road that you have passed over and is the same road that you have before you; it will soon be under your feet.” His words motivated the old man to resume his onward trek.
On September 11, 1893 in his debut speech at the Parliament Of religions in Chicago instead of the customary ‘Ladies and Gentleman’ he addressed the gathering of 7,000 people with ‘Sisters and Brothers of America’ for which he was applauded for full 2 minutes.
While returning to India from London, one of his British friends asked him: `Swami, how do you like now your motherland after four years’ experience of the luxurious, glorious, powerful West?’ Swamiji patiently said: `India I loved before I came away. Now the very dust of India has become holy to me, the very air is now to me holy; it is now the holy land, the place of pilgrimage, the Tirtha!’

Here are a few tips for those who want to see their money stay around as long as they do.

Save Before You Invest

It’s a good idea to secure at least nine months of living expenses saved before even thinking about investing. As you plan your savings strategy, make sure you contribute enough to your retirement funds, particularly if your employer still offers a 401(k) match. Once you have your emergency fund, keep on saving. A good goal is to put aside at least 10 percent of your earnings each month (or as you can afford it). By retirement, you’ll have a nice chunk of money to nest in.

Keep Credit History Good

Being a habitual bill payer signals to banks and issuers that you are a risk worth taking. Paying credit cards or mortgages late will lead to negative consequences that damage your credit score and overall credit health. Banks and issuers consider payment history when evaluating your credit risk. A long-standing history of on-time payments suggests you are responsible and reliable borrower; a poor history suggests you many not repay debts and could result in a costly loss. Remember that a credit report is like an adult report card.

Spend for Retirement

A simple trick for saving: spend less than you earn. That might not be easy if you are already having trouble keeping up with bills. A spending plan would take care of that. Some people call this a budget, but since we’re referring to retirement as something to buy, a spending plan is more appropriate. Think of a budget not as a means to the end of buying a 60-inch television but a budget that will sustain over decades that will put you out ahead financially once you’re deep into retirement.

Savings Plans Are Still Good If You Can Get Them

If your company still offers a traditional retirement plan like a 401 (k) plan, it’s a good idea to put in your money up to the point where the company stops matching your contribution. Even if the funds within the 401 (k) don’t make great gains some years, at least you know you have the company match that doubled your contribution. A fairly high interest rate will come out of that. You might not have doubled your money by the time you are allowed to take it out, but it’s going to be a lot higher than what you could make on any other investment.

Make the Most of Income Sources Other than Savings

Choices of when to start taking Social Security can cut your retirement income by 25 percent or boost it by an additional 32 percent. Married couples can use strategies like claiming spousal benefits to increase income substantially. Factor in maintenance expense if your income comes in the form of rental properties. There’s a tremendous amount of benefit that some smart planning can do for you that will help over the long haul.

Remember, most of these funding sources you can access right through your funding suite with us. So reach out to me to receive more information about the specific funding that will work for you and your business.

In the meantime take a look at some of the many sources of funding that are available today.

Business Charge and Credit Cards are a fast and easy way to access cash for business. You can use the money for any purpose, and you can be approved for business credit with no personal guaranty or credit check. Many merchants will approve you for individual credit cards of $10,000 or higher.

Angel investors have been responsible for funding over 30,000 small businesses each and every year. With over 250,000 active angels in the country you may want to consider an angel investor network to simplify your search. These investors are a great source of funding when banks won’t approve you, and perfect for projects where you need a lot of money.

Asset Based Funding is perfect if your company has collateral such as accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, purchase orders, or real estate. These assets can be used to secure the financing you need, and you can secure asset based funding even if your credit isn’t very good.

Bank Loans are still available, although they have become harder to get approved for. Many large banks tend to be much more conservative in lending so you may want to consider a community bank or credit union for a small business loan.
Equipment Leasing helps when you want to lease expensive equipment, and some equipment leasing and financing also works for you to borrower against existing equipment you already own.

Factoring is perfect if you have high amounts of account receivables. You can obtain funding up to 25 million and you can receive your advance within 24-48 hours in most cases. With factoring, you sell your company’s accounts receivables to a company (known as a factor) at a discount, in order to free up your cash. The company that purchases the receivables then assumes the responsibility for collecting them. This is a great option as they absolutely don’t care about your own personal credit.

Grants are a great way to get money for your business, especially government grants. Depending on your business types and intended use of funds, there are many options available for you to receive grant money that doesn’t need to be paid back.

Lines of Credit are perfect sources of working capital. A line of credit works like a revolving credit card but with much lower interest rates and higher available credit limits. You can get credit lines over $150,000 and write checks from the account or use a debit card to withdrawal funds or use for purchases.

Merchant Cash Advances and Merchant Lines of Credit are perfect for businesses who process credit card payments. This type of financing will advance you money against future credit card transactions. You can even get a debit card to use the funds you secure.

Microfinance Loans are less difficult and time intensive to qualify for with loan amounts ranging from $500 to $35k. Many businesses use several micro loans to get money for their business versus applying for one larger loan due to the easier qualifying criteria.

SBA backed Loans are still one of the most popular financing options available today. SBA backs, or insures about 80% of the loan while the lender lending the money takes on about 20% or so of the risk. Due to the lower risk to the bank, many major banks are more apt to lend money using SBA backed loans than regular loans.

Venture capital is neither easy nor fast to be able to tap into but can be a viable source of funding. This is a great source when you need higher loan amounts, and don’t mind giving up a potential stake in your company. Plus you don’t have some of the headaches that come with conventional funding.

· Cancel unused credit cards – If you’re paying an annual fee on a credit card or other account that you don’t use, you’re throwing money away. So, cash in any rewards points you have earned and then cancel the account. Of course, take into consideration whether canceling the card will negatively affect your credit rating.

· Cancel unused memberships – If a new at-home exercise routine has replaced your trips to the health club or gym, or if you’re no longer playing golf at a course you belong to, consider canceling your membership. Even if you have to pay a fee, you may quickly recoup your financial losses.

· Consolidate accounts – You don’t necessarily need multiple checking, savings, investment, retirement or credit card accounts, yet many people maintain them – often because it takes extra time up-front to consolidate. Maintaining numerous accounts can increase the amount of time you spend opening mail, reconciling statements, keeping records and paying bills. When it comes to credit, you may also earn more rewards if you stick to one or two cards.

· Negotiate better deals with your service providers – Whether it’s your cable, Internet or waste removal company, chances are you can negotiate a better rate. Simply take time to get quotes from competitors. If they are offering lower rates for the same services, go back to your service provider to see if they will price match to keep your business. If not, switch to someone new.

· Update your financial records – Make a list of your current financial accounts, contacts and passwords. Keep this information in a safe and secure place.

· Update your beneficiary designations – Your beneficiary designations override your will. So, if you’ve experienced a marriage, divorce, birth, adoption or death, make sure your beneficiary designations reflect your wishes.

· Review your home and auto insurance coverage – Make sure your coverage reflects your present needs. Also, price shop the same coverage with different providers. Whether you switch to a new provider or use this information to strike a deal with your current provider, you could save a significant amount.

· Simplify your investments – If tracking various investments is stressing you out, consider asset allocation or managed accounts. Attempting to manage and track too many investment accounts can require a great deal of time and, if you’re not on top of the details, can prevent you making the best investment choices for your portfolio. Consider working with a financial professional to help you organize your finances and help you determine what kinds of investments might work best for you.

What is the challenge we face? I sometimes find that time spent at home can be the busiest time, especially in the times we live in. Imagine someone working from home, home-schooling children, and sometimes even doing a side hustle. Imagine also the full-time home-based entrepreneur. How do they manage to do all they need to do in a day?. We are living in a time when many entrepreneurs and even company employees have adopted work- at – home culture. This comes with its challenges as the lines become blurred between home and work. These blurred lines and constraints on the limited resource called time result in over-worked, under-rested, burnt-out individuals. Whilst good time management has been encouraged and indeed, embraced in the workplace, I believe more needs to be done in changing the mindset for the elusive work-life balance to be achieved.

What are the tools at our disposal? To manage time effectively at home, there are many interventions one can employ including setting goals for the day, prioritizing wisely, setting a time limit for every task, organizing oneself, and instituting the discipline of appointments. Yes, an appointment at home! We can spend time pontificating on the pros and cons of each intervention, however, I believe we need to focus on appointments and see how this can powerfully change the course of one’s day regardless of whether it’s a workday or weekend. Life is busy as it is without any intrusions. The question is how do you handle the one who announces that they are at the gate. These can be friends, neighbors, a salesman of some product you do not even need. I am not promoting regimentation here but rather a culture of filling your day with what’s important. Everything that we succeed at is because we carefully plan and execute it. I am a firm believer that you cannot manage time if you do not manage yourself thus I implore you to incorporate planning and appointments into your repertoire. I am not talking about something I do not do. I have to achieve many things in a day therefore I set appointments with my work, others, and myself.

Could scheduling appointments and keeping them on the home front help us save time and prioritize? Whereas we have established that it is a normal business practice to set appointments and keep them, we need to abandon the liberal open-door policy of allowing all and sundry to have access to us as and when they please on the home front. Please understand where I am coming from. We each have greatness within us but for us to achieve it we need to culture great habits. Employing the use of appointments at home and seeing only those people you had agreed to see removes non-essential encounters especially during the most productive hours. I know this will vary with culture, geographical region, or even level of affluence, whether you live in a low density or high-density residential area, but doesn’t negate the need to be organized and effective. Controlling access determines how organized you are and how well you will work and rest when the time for scheduled rest comes.

What do we need to do differently? We need to be disciplined and diligent, learn to say no, now is not a good time, let’s make an appointment for next week. What are the benefits of this approach? You are not always fire-fighting to meet deadlines, You are not always tired because you have not taken time out to rest. You have set aside enough time to spend with your loved ones or a loved one. If you are a busy person, I am sure you appreciate what I am saying. Whether it’s time to work uninterrupted, family time, or “me-time”, it takes some kind of order to enjoy it.

I am not saying that those that come unannounced are bad people. No, not at all, they probably are people you enjoy spending time with. Nevertheless, there must be prior communication so that you can attend to your visitor(s) when it is convenient for both you and them. It can be quite disrupting and a whole day can just pass by without achieving anything that you had planned to do.

As we grow older we begin to appreciate that rest and recovery need to be scheduled. The fact that I am relaxing doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to do. One therefore cannot assume that just because you are at home you are available. Maybe you have scheduled that time to rest. That is important. You need to make an appointment with yourself, spouses need to also set aside time for each other. Parents need to schedule a time to spend with their children. When you have some sort of order in your life you determine who sees you and who you see. It also means that your relationships will be healthy and that makes you a happier person.

In conclusion, I believe that the work-life balance can be achieved. There are many tools at our disposal just like it is in the workplace.I believe we could do more and be happier if we are disciplined enough to make only the commitments we can keep.I am certain that setting appointments and keeping them at home help us save time and prioritize.

Fitzgerald Mujuru, a fusion of Business Coach, Personal Effectiveness Coach, Business Consultant, Marketing Strategist, Sales Zealot, Speaker, brand builder, with over twenty years in marketing and sales for globally known brands. He has vast commercial experience at management level in various sectors. His strengths include marketing, brand building, sales, business development, business strategy, management, and equipping leaders and teams with strategies for personal and team effectiveness. He has handled various consultancy assignments for companies in professional services, media, communications, training and development, non-profit organizations. He has released 4 books and published more than 200 articles online.

1) Interest rates: We have experienced a prolonged period of historically – low – interest rates. This has created easy money, because the cost of borrowing is so low. Both individuals and corporations have benefited, at least, in the immediate- term, permitting home buyers to purchase more house, because their monthly charges, are low, due to low mortgage rates. Corporate and government bonds, and banks, have paid low returns. It has stemmed, inflation, and created a rise in home prices, we haven’t witnessed, in recent memory. The Federal Reserve Bank has signaled they will be ending this propping – up, and will also raise rates, probably three times, in 2022. What do you think that will cause.

2) Auto loans, consumer loans, borrowing: The auto industry has been, significantly, impacted by supply chain challenges. When rates rise, auto loans and leases, will be more costly.

3) THis pattern began after the Tax Reform legislation, passed at the end of 2017, which created the initial, new, trillion dollars deficits

4) Government spending, caused by the financial suffering and challenges, because of shut downs, etc, because of the pandemic, created trillions more in debt. Unfortunately, debt must be eventually addressed.

5) Perception and attitude: The past couple of years,apparently, created a public perception, plus many fears, with a crippling economic impact.

Either, we begin to plan, effectively, and with common sense and an open – mind, many will be at – risk. Wake up, America, and demand better leadership, service and representation.

Successful people did not become successful because they were lucky.

They did not achieve success by accident. Being at the right place at the right time, meeting relevant people, reading the appropriate book, did not come about accidentally or by luck.

Luck is brought about by Labour Under Correct Knowledge.

Successful people prepared themselves. Instead of giving up on anything they started and wanted to achieve they got stronger by learning more.

Success is a methodical, orderly and deliberate process of deciding what you want to do with your life, what are the steps that you need to undertake to get you there, and lastly what you will do once you get there.

One of the most important aspects, if not the most important aspect to success, is the ability to visualise your successful outcome and stay focused on it until you achieve it.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited.” – Albert Einstein

Successful people understood the potential power behind knowledge, yet they also understood that, for them to close the gap between where they are and where they wanted to be, they would have to piece together the enigma that is most often referred to as “life”.

They had to build a picture, a vision, of success in their mind, and then go about taking action on creating that envisioned life.

In much the same way, you have to be serious about your present and future, you need to have the knowledge that is required so you, too, may close the gap: you need to be and remain determined to devote yourself to taking massive action to build your business of succeeding in life.

You, too, will need to see the end, your dream and destiny that you desire in your mind’s eye. It is up to you to take the necessary and relevant action to make it all happen. It’s just like going to the doctor with a particular health problem.

The doctor may prescribe a medication for you to take four times a day, yet he cannot be there with you to ensure that you are taking the medication.

It comes back to deciding to be responsible for your life.

Have you noticed how it all stems from that one attitude? Being responsible for your own life.

Your success, your being responsible 100% for you to live your dream life starts here.

When you accept 100% responsibility for yourself and your current life situation, you will have the power to move towards those things you truly desire in life: which is success in all areas of your life.

This life-changing article is about possibilities and opportunities, knowledge and tools. It will help expose your unique course in life.

It will inspire, support and motivate you to excel, to do what successful people do, to have all that successful people have, and to become a shining example of a successful person.

Here, you’re not being told what you couldn’t do, instead you are being told to shoot for the stars. And above all, you are being shown how to shoot for those stars.

“A person is what he thinks about all day long.” – Emerson

Interesting thought, wouldn’t you think? So much so, it’s worth repeating: “A person is what he thinks about all day long.”

Success and happiness cannot happen if you possess the same old thoughts and beliefs.

If you do not change your mind, if you do not get rid of the unsupportive thoughts and beliefs, you will inevitably remain stuck in your old ways. Not much, if anything, will change.

Let’s give you a quick overview on how change comes about:

Your BEHAVIOUR, how you act (or perhaps do not act), controls your success or failure. Your ability to attain high levels of success is dependent upon your actions and behaviours. Your results are the outcome of your behaviour. Now let’s consider where your behaviours come from and what controls them?

Your FEELINGS command your behaviour. Every action that you take is first filtered through your feelings that reside in your subconscious mind. How you feel about something determines what you do and how well you do it. So where do your feelings come from?

Your ATTITUDES create and influence your feelings. Your attitude is your perspective from which you view life. Whatever attitude you have about anything will affect how you feel, which, in turn, affects how you act. Where do your attitudes come from?

Your BELIEFS create, control and influence your attitudes. What you believe about anything will determine your attitude about it, which will create your feelings, and then which will direct your behaviour and action. Belief patterns are so powerful that two people who are in the same situation could perceive things completely differently. It only requires us to believe what we see and how we see it. We all have thousands of beliefs – big and small. And where do your beliefs come from?

Your THOUGHTS create, control and influence your beliefs. Your thoughts are real and are immensely powerful. Everything you accept from the outside world and everything you feed yourself from within is a product of your thoughts. Everything starts as a thought.

So, it goes without saying you need to learn to control your thoughts. And when you do, you will automatically control your beliefs, your attitudes, your feelings and, consequently, your behaviour and actions.

The big secret to success:

Learn to control your thoughts and you will influence your behaviours and actions. It’s all a mind-set. That’s what we’ve been saying all along.

Success is predictable and is not achieved by accident.

Have the mind-set of the successful people and you will achieve success. Believe and it is yours!

“There is a great future in front of you, you can leave your past behind.” – Joel Osteen

Science of success experts have concluded that the brain is a goal-setting organism.

That is fantastic news for us: for whatever goal we give to our subconscious mind, it will work for us day and night, 24/7, to achieve it for us; to make it a reality.

The principal breakthrough that scientists made was that we do not need to waste our precious time and effort trying to change old thoughts and behaviours: we just simply create new ones.

And the other discovery they made was that we can continue to create new thoughts, new memories, new behaviours, new skills, and learn new things for as long as we are alive on this earth.

Now, with the new discoveries in recent years, it has been scientifically proven that our capacity to achieve and succeed literally has no limits.

Our brain has the capacity to continually learn during our entire lifetime.

Our brain can form new thoughts, can have new memories, and can learn new things by the millions, no matter what your age is. By the millions.

That’s how many new things we can learn, that’s how many new skills we can learn, that’s how many new thoughts we can have, that’s how many new behaviours we can adopt.

This is encouraging because there is no limit on your capacity to achieve new things.

No limits whatsoever for the human brain to learn, memorise, develop, achieve and perform at higher levels than ever imagined. It makes no difference what your age is: you are capable of learning anything new that you want to learn.

That adds to what we spoke of earlier: no more excuses.

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X

Your brain has the capacity to achieve way beyond what was ever thought possible. So now is the time to break out of your limited thinking and start dreaming big and imagining unlimited possibilities.

Becoming successful is not impossible.

It is a choice you make through a decision. Every day, step-by-step, you may climb the mountain of success if you’ve decided to do so, if you’re committed to accomplish what the others think impossible.

Design your future now.

Prepare to receive what you desire.

Thanks to the phenomenal advances made in cognitive science and the development of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), personal change, personal transformation, has come a very long way.

In fact, personal growth is no longer a mystery.

NLP has brought to light that change, transformation and growth can be fast, reliable, and even fun. It has shown us that we do not need to spend thousands of hours slaving away to increase our creative-thinking abilities.

By practicing a few simple exercises and applications, you can start your creative juices flowing, and you may even amaze yourself at the quality and quantity of good ideas that you can come up with to expedite your success.

It can allow you to achieve something you seek within days and months as opposed to years and decades. That’s the power of the progress science has made on how the brain works, and also how you can have your mind to be your best ally in achieving anything you want.

Learn to live as you like by no longer living as you dislike.

Are you ready to get on the road to success and fulfilment?

Bear in mind, much like everything else in life, success requires practice and massive, consistent action.

“Success doesn’t mean the absence of failures; it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle.” – Edwin C Bliss

Hani Al-Qasem has been a self-improvement educator for more than 18 years.

You can download your copy of “Wealth Attraction: How To Reprogram Your Mind For More Money” FREE eBook where you can begin the automatic reprogramming of your brain for wealth, success, and abundance, in just six easy steps.