The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle Book Review

Eckhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, is a self help book that is a shortened route to spiritual enlightenment. One needs to become aware of the present moment in order to experience joy in life. It's important to live in the present in life because the current moment is all we have. This can be done by controlling the mind in order to become untangled from it. The unconscious mind, the egoic mind, and the â€Å"pain bodies† all need to be addressed and dealt with for enjoyment of life to it's fullest potential. Our mind is our worst enemy, according to Tolle. This is because it loves to get itself into problems. The unconscious mind is always thinking. It is constantly looking back on the past, or ahead into the future, and ignore's the focus on enjoying the current moment. â€Å"When thought isn't connected with consciousness, it becomes insane and destructive† (24). Your unconscious mind will always be reflected in the body as an emotion, which has a strong physical component that is felt in the body. This emotion should be felt in the body, without it controlling you. Emotional pain is the main cause of physical pain. â€Å"The more you are identified with your mind, the more you suffer†(33). By accepting the â€Å"now†, you are more free from pain and suffering. This enables you to experience joy in life by being satisfied with the current state in which you are in. This means you are free from the emotions that arise from the unconscious mind thinking compulsively. The egoic mind that focuses on the past and future does not exist because nothing ever happened in the past or the future. Everything happened in the â€Å"now†. Past and future obviously have no reality of their own† (50). There has never been a time in your life that there was not the now, nor will there ever be. Many of us are ruled by our thoughts, emotions, reactions and desires. Often we feel a lack of completeness, a wanting, needing, or craving for something more. This could be money, success, power, recognition, or even a special relationship. Our n ormal state becomes focused through thought on these things, which need to be out of our focus in order to get full pleasure out of life. â€Å"Don't let your egoic mind take over your whole life† (49). Awareness of the present moment and allowing ourselves to enjoy living in it will contribute to our enjoyment of life. There are negative emotions, or â€Å"pain bodies† that our mind brings up which can interfere with our enjoyment of living in the present moment. Some forms of this pain include resentment, hatred, self-pity, guilt, anger, depression, and jealousy. Negativity can be stopped from arising by being fully present. This negativity is resistance that triggers the emotional pain-body. This is when minor situations result in intense negativity. The ego thinks that it can manipulate reality to get what it wants through negativity. Once we have got our hands on something negative, we don't want to let go. â€Å"Negativity is totally unnatural. It is a psychic pollutant, and there is a deep link between the poisoning and destruction of nature and the vast negativity that has accumulated in the collective human psyche† (189). When we notice negativity has risen within us, we need to use it as a signal to â€Å"be present† and get out of our minds. By doing so, we can increase our enjoyment of life because we are living in the â€Å"now† and dealing with whatever it may bring before us. In the current world, some of us are chasing after temporary pleasures, such as success, fortune, and things we desire. All this stress and worry over these things are not worth it at all. What's more important is to live in the current moment. It's important to realize that Tolle's teachings can apply to anyone who seeks to increase their enjoyment of life. Focusing on the present moment allows us to enjoy the life we are living, instead of being trapped in a non-existent world of reoccurring thoughts of the past and future.

Business Task 2 on reflection Essay

                 UAE otherwise known as United Arab Emirates is amalgamation of 7 Emirates namely Umm Al, Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Fujairah. UAE is the second biggest Arabian Middle East economy. The United Arab Emirates is the number 3 biggest in this region in crude oil exporting, following Iran and Saudi Arabia. It possesses the number 6 biggest recognized conservative crude oil reverse and the 5th biggest natural gas reserves. The swift growth in demand of water and electricity has generated the necessity to appraise unconventional power generation sources. In the year 2008, the United Arabs Emirates produced energy white paper on study of energy that confirmed that nuclear power to be environmentally friendly and safe alternative which would increment the prevailing plants of power in accomplishing increasing energy requirements. 2.1 Objective of this study accomplishment                The objective of this study of examining whether ownership structure matters for the performance of firms in United Arabs Emirates was achieved. Empirical evidence suggests that privately held firms tend to be more efficient and more profitable than publicly held firms. This shows that ownership structure matters. The question now is how does it affect firm performance? This question is very important because it is based on a research agenda that has been strongly promoted by La Porta et al. (1998; 1999; 2000). According to these studies, failure of the legislative framework to provide sufficient protection for external investors, entrepreneurs and founding investors of a company tend will maintain large positions in their firms thus resulting in a concentrated ownership structure.                  This paper aimed at looking at whether ownership structure has an impact on firm performance in UAE. This region has witnessed significant economic growth over the last few decades. The region is also facing turbulent times with respect to corporate governance practices, resulting in poor firm performance. Corporate governance issues are not limited to the Gulf region. From a global point of view, corporate governance has witnessed significant transformations over the last decade (Gomez and Korine, 2005).                The data that is used in this study includes 362 non-financial listed firms during the period of 2006-2011 from Thomson one banker, Thomson.com, DataStream and annual report. Panel data is used to analyse the impact of ownership structure on firm performance number of independent directors on the board are controlled for. The different types of ownership structure that are included in the study are: managerial ownership, family ownership, government ownership, institution ownership, foreign ownership and concentrated ownership. Evidence personal learning and development 1.0 Effects of structure on firm performance                  It is indisputable, managerial ownership, Chairman own share, institutional investors, corporate total own, institutional owner domestic and corporate foreign all have positive effects on firm performance. The evidence is also consistent with theoretical and empirical arguments. On the contrary, When Return on Assets (ROA) is used as a measure of performance; the evidence shows that government ownership has negative effects on firm performance in United Arab of Emirates oil firms. Therefore, performance of United Arab of Emirates oil companies is affected by government ownership.                  The relationship between performance and ownership structure also differs for firm specific variables such as leverage, GDP growth and firm size. When the Tobin’s Q is used, the relationship is negative for leverage, GDP growth and firm size. The negative and significant impact of firm size on firm performance when Tobin’s Q is used can be attributed to the fact that large firms have limited investment opportunities, which limit their potential to grow and make profit. Surprisingly, the impact of GDP growth is significantly negative. However, when ROA is used, we did not find any significant relationship with firm performance in United Arab of Emirates oil firms.                   This study also shows that there may be a necessity to motivate policy makers of United Arab of Emirates oil firms to ensure that banks practice the mechanisms of corporate governance effectively. This practice should be compatible for the business environment of United Arab of Emirates oil firms, whereas adopting the same governance standards in order to ensure unification of disclosure level among the banks. It is expected that the best practice of the corporate governance characteristics will contribute to improve efficiency, effectiveness and monitoring in the Islamic banks of UAE. Therefore, this can only be applied by developing the regulatory and compelling frameworks.                  In the last 4 decades, researchers have believed that there is a connection between the firm performance and the ownership structure. In this regards, there has been publications of many studies on different markets to inspect this relationship. This connection between performance and ownership structure dates back to empirical study of Mean and Berle in the year 1932 that got that the weakness of shareholding in a negative way influence the performance of affirm via an inverse relationship. Generally, the number of well-developed policies and the present legal systems are poorly developed in the markets that are emerging. These new markets, according to most analysis studies, lack protection for their creditors and shareholders (La Porta, 1999). 2.0 Ownership structure in relation to firm performance                  The issue as to whether ownership structure matters for the performance of firms has been an important subject of debate in the finance literature. Empirical evidence suggests that privately held firms tend to be more efficient and more profitable than publicly held firms. This shows that ownership structure matters. The question now is how does it affect firm performance? This question is very important because it is based on a research agenda that has been strongly promoted by most researchers in economics. According to these studies, failure of the legislative framework to provide sufficient protection for external investors, entrepreneurs and founding investors of a company tend will maintain large positions in their firms thus resulting in a concentrated ownership structure. This finding is interesting because it implies that ownership structure can affect the performance of the firm in one way or the other. It is indisputable; the lack of regulations in corporate governance gives managers who intend to mishandle the flow of cash for their own personal interest a low control level. The empirical results from the past studies of impacts of ownership structure on performance of corporate have been inconclusive and mixed up. References Gomez, P.Y. & Korine, H. 2005, Democracy and the Evolution of Corporate Governance. Corporate Governance, 13, 739-752. La Porta, R., L. et al. 1999, Corporate ownership around the world. The Journal of Finance, 54(2), 471–517. Source document

MCI case study

June 1972, MIMIC began construction of Its telecommunications network. Funding: MN shares (common stock) @SO, In total after commission $27. 1 MN; Summon of credit from banks; $6. Man from private investors; MIMIC still rely on AT&T facilities to carry calls from its subscribers to MIMIC transmission centers in each metropolitan area. PAYOFF, MIMIC revenue $6. MN, losses of $38. 7 MN. MIMIC has exhausted its credit from its banks. MIMIC sold shares for $8. MN. 1976, ‘exeunt' service. And revenue started roaring. 1976 revenue, 28. N, first profit $100,000; 1977, 62. MN; Between 1976-1978, lease financing of new fixed Investment was the only substantial source of funds available. 1978, withdrawal of the court's ‘exeunt' DCE. 1978, public market to issue convertible preferred stocks. Preferred offerings allowed MIMIC to retire its short to intermediate term bank debt and to issue further debt of a longer term kind. 1980, MIMIC provided ‘executions residential customers . Strong growth but constrained only by a lack of investment capital. July, 1980. Leasing actuality decreased.FYI 981 , demand for investment fund Intensified. Offer convertible bonds. Jan. 1982: Antitrust settlement between AT&T and LIST. Department of Justice. AT&T will need to break up before 1984. Economics of scale and scope are important; basic call service and value added services. Increase In access charge after the AT&T antitrust settlement 1 . What are the business problems facing MIMIC? After the settlement of antitrust case of AT&T, the differential In access charges will be phased out through charging MIMIC 80% more and this In turn Increased Mi's operation expense.MIMIC could lose its cost advantage to the competitors and lead to decreasing sales and profits. AT might also reduce its price to prevent its erosion in market share. AT communications was the main competitor. MIMIC need dial 20 digits ATT dial 11 digits. 2. How do these business problems translate Into fina ncing problems? More we can see the graph, we saw a sharp rise in both external financing and internal financing, with external financing even a bit higher than internal financing. 3. To what extent can traditional financing strategies work for MIMIC?It is getting more expensive for MIMIC to acquire further funding through issuing debts and MIMIC will become more risky if take on further debts; If MIMIC simply issue equity, public might read this move as the stock has been overpriced and now the firm is trying to push down the price. Thus, the share price of the firm might go down. 4. Based on projected financial statements in the case – income statements, balance sheets, and projected capital expenditures calculate Mi's projected needs for external financing during the years 1984 through 1988 inclusive, for each year.Analyses the consequences of alternative financing policies of MIMIC during these years – as sequences, such as first debt, then equity, then debt again as needed –on the projected financial condition of MIMIC in the (fiscal) year 1990, in terms of measures such as debt to equity ratios and interest coverage ratios. 5. Suppose that for its initial financing â€Å"trance† of $1 Billion by the end of 1984, MIMIC decides to choose NOW between a Straight Debt issue of 20 year maturity with an interest rate of 12. 5%, with no sinking funds (early repayments), versus a ConvertibleDebt issue of the same size, of notional maturity 20 years with an interest/Coupon rate of 7. 75%, and a conversion price of $ 55 per share. Assume further that IF the conversion option is not exercised within the following 5 years then it would expire (unlike in the case), and this would continue as (cheap) debt. Which of these two debt issues should MIMIC choose in March 1983, to maximize shareholder value? Assume that annual standard deviation of returns on Mi's equity value are either 20% or 30% and that the interest rate on (safe) MIMIC debt eq uals 12. 5%.

Research Proposal for Marketing in the Cruise Ship industry Essay

Research Proposal for Marketing in the Cruise Ship industry - Essay Example While the American cruise industry has had a head start, the European Cruise Council (ECC) claims that Europe recently has become the centre of gravity for the cruise industry of the world with a record of 4 million travellers. The United Kingdom has one of the largest sources of market for European cruises which has a share of 1.3 million passengers for the year 2007 (ETN, 2008). However, with the setting in of global recession, the UK cruise industry has also been hard hit with a fall in travellers overseas as compared to other countries in Europe. Companies which deal with cruise tours have been hard hit with no option but to continue with scheduled tours. Industrialists consider these situations grave, and are of the view that they should shut down supply by cancelling bookings. Others, owners of cruise lines such as Carnival, Seatrade, and MSC Cruises especially, are of the view that companies need to continue in order to survive the meltdown (holidayinsider.com, 2009). In such hard times, it is critical that companies change their approaches to management and marketing. This is a tricky business when considering the structure and operation of cruise businesses. By and large the cruise ship industry has been one of the fastest growing industries with a brief history of growth stemming from during 1970s in the North America, even though its origin had been European. The style of service delivery, product, management and plans for tours are different from the usual customer service oriented industries. This is because the nature of the cruise industry is perishable; that is once the cruise is underway the value of the room booked ends. Cruise lines depend entirely on their passengers to generate revenue as well as operation. It is highly demand elastic which makes it one of the most volatile industries in the world. Companies,

America's war on Terror Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

America's war on Terror - Essay Example Speaking of the values that referred to by the proponents of America’s war on terror, it is extremely important to mention the following one. To begin with, terrorists are often thought to be enemies of the civilized world since they heavily rely on aggression and violence – something that is banned in a developed social environment. In addition to that, the war on terror allows other countries to redefine their position in many different aspects of foreign politics which ultimately leads towards creation of global community which is extremely beneficial to human beings. Nevertheless, there are numerous people who argue that war on terror is a rather negative phenomenon that should be put to an end. They provide the following arguments. First of all, war on terrorist involves killing people: whether they are armed terrorists or unarmed civilians who die as retaliation from the terrorists. Secondly, the opponents of war on terror point out that the United States of America tend to promote liberty and democracy in countries that have considerable amount of oil in possession (Rubin 183). In other words, the above mentioned war is nothing but a way to conceal the desire to acquire this scarce resource. The opponents of this aspect of foreign policy of America often involve different values to support their position. For example, these people ask why the government that kills other people is better than terrorists who kill other people. Although some reservations should be made, in the long run both parties are engaged in massive killing which is something that is opposite to peaceful nature of humans. In addition to that, the economic interest behind the war on terror is obvious. Thus, terroristic acts are performed not only by the Arab Muslims, but by Africans or Europeans as well. Nevertheless, the United States of America tend to fight terrorist in one part of the world only. There is no coincidence that it also

Alexander the Great Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alexander the Great - Essay Example Alexander the great became King of the Macedon after the death of a father, Philip II at the age of 20. Alexander engaged in a journey of the conquest of around 11 years and fought more than 70 battles. Alexander the great had able to conquer the half of the world from India to Egypt in 32 years. Alexander created an empire which was so vast that it covered two million square miles and it stretched across the three continents. The integration of dream and great achievement distinguished Alexander as one of the greatest leaders of all-time. During the 12 years of the campaign, Alexander had defeated armies that were five times of own army, leading own armies of Macedonians in freezing weather and across deserts. Alexander faced tremendous hardships to unite and bring together the known world under a one single common unified vision. The main success of Alexander the great as a leader was the ability and passion for inspiring and encouraging all the men to think great things to think big and later achieve them with great commitment, passion, and enthusiasm. Alexander’s main motive and the dream was to unite Asia and Europe. Alexander called unity of Europe and Asia as â€Å"The Brotherhood of Man†. According to Alexander, brotherhood would help to unite and bring together the different culture of different societies into one unit which would be governed by the spread of Hellenism. Alexander’s dream of brotherhood was attained at different aspects (Fox 82). Even after the empire of Alexander the great Greek was a common language. ... Alexander called unite of Europe and Asia as â€Å"The Brotherhood of Man†. According to Alexander, brotherhood would help to unite and bring together different culture of different societies in to one unit which would be governed by spread of Hellenism. Alexander’s dream of brotherhood was attained at different aspects (Fox 82). Even after the empire of Alexander the great Greek was a common language. Due to the fact gospels were written in Greek it helped to reach large audience as it helped them to understand. The Alexander the great and the visionary leadership style is the classic combination of leaderships which is taught nowadays in military and business schools. Research done on the visionary leadership style of Alexander and it clearly shows that leadership style used by Alexander helps to communicate extensively with the people and resonate with their feelings and hearts. The strong case on business for the visionary style of leadership can be done by noticing at the pride in organization, retention of employees and shared sense of purpose and goals. Ronald Reagan’s speech of â€Å"Berlin Wall† and Martin Luther King’s speech on â€Å"I Have a Dream† are various examples of visionary leadership style which is same as Alexander the great. Visionary leaders used to have a clear picture on their minds and are able to go inside into the dreams and hopes of the people and would help to create destination. Creating destination among the people not only helps people to inspire but also would help them to challenge to be better (Martin and Blackwell 186). The effective visionary leadership strategy used by Alexander would help to stretch people’s gullibility just at the right moment of time. Felling the

Implantable cardiac pacemaker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Implantable cardiac pacemaker - Essay Example Its blood pumping role is set at a certain pulse limit below or above which the process becomes abnormal which may be fatal.In this regard, a device called pacemaker which is an artificial pulse regulator was invented for those with malfunctioning heart muscle. It is the comparison between the structure and functions of the device that is taken through critical investigation with the aim of establishing its mechanism of pulsating. The clinical problem that the device addresses, including a brief description of the therapeutic function, and a brief history of the development and deployment of the device The management and caring for patients diagnosed with cardiac problem has been very challenging in the present world owing to the complexity of these infections. Electric pacing is one of the latest medical engineering developments that has gained acceptance as being one of the common prophylactic or therapeutic strategies of managing cardiac problems in patients. In the management of myocardial infections compounded by system injury, temporary cardiac pacing devices often play a significant role (Luderitz, 2012). It is at this point that cardiac pacemaker is deployed in order to help patients suffering from cardiac problems. The primary function of cardiac pacemaker in clinical and medical health is to pace hearts to help in recognizing the presence of intrinsic cardiac electrical activity and to restrain pacing of the heart in the absence of normal intrinsic impulses. This electric pacing device is often implanted in the heart of patients diagnosed with sinus node dysfunction. Only two approaches were commonly employed in the restoration of cardiac arrest (Bernstein, 2002, pp.260-2). This happened years before cardiac pacemakers were advanced. The two methods were intracardial therapy and mechanical simulation. The first successful heart pacing treatment was a case of an Australian baby that used Lidwill’s apparatus as the artificial pacemaker. Irrespect ive of the drugs and medical therapy used in this first pacing case, medical doctors at the New York Beth Hospital attributed the success to the prick needle inserted into the heart. The design was named after the founder, Hyman’s pacemaker, which took place in 1932. Interest in pacemakers (artificial pacemakers) with respect to cardiology rekindled after WWII, this time round, the exercise was spearheaded by Callagan, Hopps, and Bigelow, research experts at the University of Toronto, Canada. After conducting a thoracotomy, John Hopps designed the first artificial pacemaker with the ability to produce impulses at the desired rhythm (Bigelow, 2008, p.841). However, the first case of clinical application of pacemaker happened in 1952. This first successful application of pacemaker involved Zoll’s pacemaker. This occurred at the Boston Beth Israel Hospital when a man aged 75 was admitted to suffering episodes perceived to be Stokes Adams attack (collapse without warning a nd unconsciousness) and heart blockage, a condition that is common among the elderly and is associated with ischemic disease of the heart (Bigelow, 2008, p. 842). The first implantation of the pacemaker took place on October 8, 1958. This involved Mr. Larsson Arne (aged 43) who was found to be suffering from Stokes-Adams attacks and complete heart block. However, following the increase in technological innovation and advancements in the late 1970’