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ENTJ 101

ENTJ 101 is a guide on how to make your ENTJ footprint in work, love, and life. Everything we think and feel in life is on a spectrum of related experiences, but it was Katherine Myers and Isabel Briggs who turned those spectrums into the instrument we call the MBTI.
The ENTJ personality type is often called the Commander or Executive. We’re considered natural born leaders, recognized for decisiveness and confidence. Our quick break-down of information and overarching willingness to talk about it gives the impression of authority, and we inspire many to follow our lead. ENTJs can sometimes come off as intimidating because of the weight we place on logic.
You’ll know you’re an ENTJ when…
• You want to be near the crowd, even when you don’t need to be in it;
• You love speaking in metaphor;
• You turn your flaws into plans of action.
When we are forced to face our flaws, or when we take a bad turn somewhere along the way, ENTJs have an edge in getting past it. Unpleasant, embarrassing, or even painful kickback from our choices is distilled quickly into a sequence of data points, which we use to guide our next decisions. Problems turn into plans, which turn into solutions, which turn into extraordinarily dynamic life strategies.
It was said best in the Hope and Crosby Road to Utopia—“The lead dog is the only dog that gets a change of scenery.” The ENTJ personality type is the dog that takes the lead, leveraging extroversion, intuition, and razor-sharp judgment to take on the world.
Qualities used to describe ENTJ include:
• Efficient
• Strategic
• Strong-willed
• Inspiring to others
• Clear-headed
• Gregarious
• Quick-acting
• Engaged in life and work
• Ambitious
• Mobilizing
• Influential
• Critical thinkers
• Organized
• Planners
• Scientific
The “NT” to our ENTJ—also known as the Function Pair—is where the strategy in our strategic leader persona comes from. By being intuitive and basing decisions in principles and objective reasoning, we tend to be discerning and consistent. Logic laces our actions, and our strategies are often spot-on.
ENTJs aren’t without our disadvantages. By being decision-based and goal focused, it’s not uncommon to be seen as machines. And the more to the “T” side of the thinking/feeling spectrum you fall, the more likely it is that people might not realize how emotional you are under that hat of objective analysis.
Some of the less attractive descriptions used to describe ENTJs are:
• Overly skeptical
• Overly critical
• Self-centered
• Emotionless
• Overly ambitious
• Opinionated
• Not a team player
• Arrogant
• Lacking tact
• Workaholic
• Inflexible
• Disdainful
• Intolerant
• Hard to impress
• Impatient
• Obsessive
Our interactions with other personality types are important to master, especially as extroverts who thrive on interaction. At work, our personality can build off a greater understanding of others in order to be more successful, and take everyone along with us.
In love and at home, and in a life filled with leaps of faith, as ENTJs we have tremendous potential. It’s just up to you to apply it.

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Domestic Violence 101

We know as domestic violence experts that making the decision to leave an abusive partner or even to stay with an abuser is not a decision to be made lightly. If you are currently a victim of violence, you know that it can be difficult to find ways to stay safe in your own home. We also know that many victims don’t want to “leave” their partner, end their relationship or “admit defeat.” Some people can see leaving their abuser as “giving up,” or “admitting defeat,” but in reality, it is the opposite. If you are taking a stand for yourself, you are not giving up, but you are starting again.
“Staying safe,” with regard to domestic violence can mean different things for different people. Sometimes staying safe in the face of an abusive relationship, environment, or situation means learning to cope in your environment until you have the ability to change your situation. Staying safe can also mean that sometimes a victim must leave their abusive partner to protect themselves and or their children. Staying safe can also mean waiting, planning, and preparing to leave rather than leaving overnight on a whim. It can be dangerous to leave the home of an abusive partner or even a shared home without preparing for what a victim can do after he or she leaves. The first 24 hours can be one of the most dangerous times after a victim leaves an abusive partner. Plans should be in place for at least the first 24 hours before leaving.
In order to stay as safe as possible safety planning is critical whether or not you are choosing and planning to leave. If you are living with your abuser at the moment consider ways that you can be safe such as monitoring your physical environment. That includes avoiding rooms like the kitchen and the bathroom when possible, especially during a fight. These rooms are very dangerous if a victim is cornered into one of these two rooms.
Staying safe at home can also mean having an emergency plan prepared as well as an emergency bag. An emergency bag should be prepared with important documents such as ID, passports, insurance information, money, a spare pre-paid phone, a change of clothes, and important medicine. Also, staying planning almost always means reaching out to someone for help. If you are a victim of domestic violence please reach out to someone you know or a local domestic violence or other social service agency.
There are people that can and want to help you. You do not have to stay in the situation you are in now. If you make the decision to leave the road ahead of you may seem long, but if you fight for yourself, you already are a survivor. You are not just a victim, you are a survivor. If you are in danger or know someone that may be in an abusive relationship speak with them and or contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 and learn about how you can help yourself or a loved one. Don’t wait until it’s too late to help yourself or someone else. YOU have value. You have worth. Stay safe. Call the hotline.

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Crunchy Parenting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfM-QrZ5RlE&t=4s

What it Means to be a Crunchy Parent?
It can be hard to put an exact definition to crunchy parenting. It is often associated with the term “hippie” which can make sense, and some crunchy parents are proud to wear that label as well. However, it doesn’t really properly describe what crunchy parenting is really about. Crunchy parenting is mostly all about choosing more natural ways of doing things. Often times, crunchy parenting can also be referred to as evidence-based parenting. Evidence-based which would be associated with the scientific method may sound as if it would be the opposite of natural but actually they tend to lead to the same parenting choices. Research finds over and over that the more natural choices in life, especially in regard to parenting, tend to be the best choices for the overall well-being of both you and your children.

Since crunchy parenting is largely about making well-informed decisions, crunchy parents tend to do their research and do it well. When I was pregnant with my first baby, I literally spent all of my time researching and learning everything I could about pregnancy, labor, birth, and caring for a new baby. I always made sure to look at all sides of every situation and choice so that I would have the best information possible to make the best decision for my baby. I found time after time that the best choices were the more natural ones.

The first natural, crunchy choice that I made as a mother was to go through with an unmedicated birth. When I got pregnant, I knew nothing about giving birth or what my options were. I assumed an epidural was the way to go because that is what I had always been told and seen in all the movies and TV shows. Something else that you will find as a crunchy parent when you start to dig is that the mainstream way that society does things is often not the best way of doing things. At first, I was scared of going natural, but after everything that I learned about the epidural, I knew that there was no way I was going to be getting one. I was scared because, again, that is what I was taught by society. Society says that birth is horrible and unbearably painful, but that just doesn’t have to be true.

When a pregnant mother is educated, prepared, and supported, birth really can be a beautiful and powerful experience the way that it is meant to be. I would say that learning that first bit of information and making that first well-informed, natural decision was the beginning of my crunchy parenting journey even though I didn’t recognize myself as crunchy at the time. From there, I continued to learn more and more, to dig more and to research more. I learned many things along the way and encouraged my husband to learn as well. Sometimes we would do things one way and then learn later that we didn’t make the best choice, but one very important thing to remember that many crunchy parents often say is “Know better, do better.” Some of our crunchy parenting decisions include breastfeeding, cloth diapering, babywearing, co-sleeping, and respecting our children’s rights to bodily autonomy. Together, we now choose to base every decision off of well-researched information and we still find that the natural choice is almost always the best choice.

1. Click Here to Checkout the Crunchy Parenting EBook
2. Click Here to Checkout the Crunchy Parenting Audiobook
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Au Pair 101

The travel industry is a thriving market and literally, everyone and their mother has a travel blog now a days. Social media is also a huge promoter for traveling, people from all sides of the world are posting amazing pictures of the places they discover with hashtags like #traveltheworld. However, traveling and exploring foreign countries has been a favorite pastime for many people all around the world for ages. It’s become a popular phenomenon because these days, a lot more people can enjoy traveling thanks to cheap flights, inexpensive accommodations, and diverse job opportunities aboard. Exploring new countries and traveling is indeed an adventure. Everyone should travel to a new country at least once in their life, the experience is priceless.
To travel, you can explore foreign countries in various ways, you can travel as a student, tourist, business person, backpacker, English Teacher, the list is almost endless. But, if you want to travel and finance yourself differently from the ordinary, and have a heart for childcaring, consider being an Au Pair. Being an Au Pair is an awesome way to travel and immerse yourself completely into a new and different culture. There’s just one major catch, you really must love children.
An Au Pair is a French word meaning equal to or on par. A host family welcomes the Au Pair for childcare assistance, light housework and cultural exchange. As much as you’ll be gaining cultural knowledge from your host family, they too will be learning from you. The Au Pair is considered an equal member of the family and is provided with room, food and pocket money for their service to the family.
Here is a list of things to consider and know before you decide to travel the world as an Au Pair:
1) Definition of an Au Pair
2) How to research and get started
3) Looking for an Au Pair job
4) What to look for in an Au Pair job
5) Keeping it professional as an Au Pair
6) What host families are looking for in an Au Pair
7) What should an Au Pair look for in the host family?
8) Taking care of other people’s children
9) Building a relationship with the child/children
10) Perks of being an Au Pair
11) Challenges of being an Au Pair
12) Overcoming the challenges
13) Ready to be an Au Pair?
The path to becoming and being an Au Pair comes with important steps, questions and scenarios that should be considered before taking on the role. There are a lot of perks to being an Au Pair and the best part of it all is that the journey will not be spent alone. You will become a part of a family and a joyful memory to the child/children you will care for. Yet, as with anything in life, there will be challenges. Everyone’s experience will be different but as an Au Pair, but at the end of the day, you not only gain the culture and knowledge of a new world, you also gain a family.

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Anti-Bullying 101

When you are trying to rise above a situation that you are struggling with, you may think it’s counterproductive to dream. I understand – when we think of dreaming, we may think of how we walk around with our heads in the clouds, unaware of reality. Some people think that dreaming is essentially like living in a world that does not truly exist.
But when you dream, you achieve. In my book, How To Rise Above Bullying and Game Change, I outline precisely how dreams help uplift us. For instance, dreams help us release serotonin, which aids in increasing our mood and productivity.
I’ll give you an example – when I was being bullied, it was easy for me to focus on my environment, which was inherently negative; if I were so focused on the negative energy that my surroundings gave me and the bullies that existed in them, I would have never come to be where I am.
After realizing that focusing on my surroundings was draining me, I decided to take action – because I was a tween and did not know what the first step was, I decided to dream. In these dreams, I saw vivid images of the person I wanted to be – I was confident, I was powerful, and I was bully-free. I was achieving. Specifically, I dreamed about what it would be like to have a career in public service and running my own organization to bring about change for people who need help overcoming bullying; this was a dream that I had when I was just 12 years old and whenever I felt unsafe in my environment, I pictured this exact dream happening to me. I even thought about the settings, what I would look, and what I would be wearing all to make it more real.
When I started to dream, I discovered that my life was beginning to slowly change: little by little, I started shifting my perspective on my life from a negative one to a positive one; suddenly, as if it was like magic, my life started to become more positive. My life started to look just like my dreams. Interestingly enough, those specific details that were a part of the dreams I had became elements present in my reality.
Ever since then, if I really wanted something to happen, I just dream about it. Even if the goal I want to achieve doesn’t happen on my ideal timeline, I eventually get there.
I want to teach you how to do the same – rising above bullying does not have to be just a dream. Reading my book will aid you in this journey; whether the bullying is occurring now or happened a long time ago, these negative experiences put a marking on our way of being.
By learning to let go and allowing positivity in, we rise above. We game change.
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Affordable Country Life 101

Rural
Rural is the opposite of urban. Neighbors are far apart and there are more trees than houses. Most of the land is farmland. The towns have low populations and are separated by forests.
In other areas, the houses are spaced out. But there is desert or swamp in between.

Rural Living
Rural living refers to a country life of local produce and country crafts. There are many other elements of living in the country.
• Bike Trails
• Cleaning Schedule
• Local Produce
• Homemade Cleaners
• Country Crafts
• Hunting

Bike Trails
Rural areas have many bike trails to ride upon. They are easy to find and free to use. Towns pay to maintain these trails. It is a cheap hobby that will increase health.

Cleaning Schedule
A proper cleaning schedule is key to keeping the home clean. Country homes must stay free of insects and parasites. The houses also require spring-cleaning to remove soot from the home.
Stick to the cleaning schedule to lower stress. When done often, the chores don’t build. Health will also improve with a weekly house cleaning.
Local Produce
It is cheap and easy to obtain. This is a perk of country living. The food is pesticide free. The buyer is able to see the producer of the food. Finding where to buy local produce is simple to learn.

Homemade Cleaners
These are cleaners made cheap and at home. Some regular household items make better cleaners than store-bought cleaners. Others can be found in the forest and combined to make the house sparkle.
Why use these instead of store-bought? These are less dangerous and save money. Will the house be clean? Homemade cleaners kill germs better than bleach and disinfectants. They also don’t cause skin or lung damage when using.

Country Crafts
Cheap activities to do while living in a rural area are crafts. Bike trails are fun for a nice day. However, there are days of rain and snow. This makes a great time to do a craft indoors.
Some items can be collected year-round and used on a rainy day. Other, like basket materials, change by season.

Hunting
Most people think of hunting as a concept in a movie. In reality it is done for sport, but more commonly for food. There are many animals that it is legal to hunt. Regions determine the amount and which animals can be shot for sport or food.
This also requires skills and licenses. Moving to a rural area will provide ample time to hone the skills. It is also a way to socialize and learn the lands.

More Information
There are many places to look up the above topics. They are scattered throughout the Internet. Some books cover part of the required knowledge of rural living. Most books forget to include money saving tips.
A great resource of this information is available. “Rural Living with Low Income” covers everything. It explains hunting, herbs, homemade cleaning products, and more.

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52 Marathons in 52 Weeks

At first glance, the eBook, “52 marathons In 52 Weeks: How to Run a Marathon Every Week For a Year” by Karl Gruber, may seem to represent a very small niche community of runners, and people interested in the topic. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the popularity of running numerous marathons on a regular basis, and running longer and longer distances non-stop, has seen exponential growth over the last two decades. Gruber himself accomplished the feat of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks from May 5, 1996 to April 27, 1997, and writes authoritatively on the subject, offering expert guidance on how to go about running a marathon every week for a year yourself. His first-hand knowledge and experience of successfully accomplishing what at first seems to be an impossible running feat, expertly explains in practical terms, that it really is doable. In this book you will learn how to deal with and prepare for the stresses – physically and mentally – of running 26.2 miles/42.2 kilometers, every week for 52 straight weeks. Whether you choose to do your year of marathoning for your own satisfaction, or for a cause or charity, the author shows you what steps you need to deal with such as proper nutrition, logistics of travel, setting up your race schedule, dealing with critics, and naysayers, and even what to do with your pet and home while you are off running for a year. You will also find a 26 week long training program that the author used himself in preparing for the rigors of running a year of marathons. Using his own experiences from his year of running 52 marathons, you will also learn just what is needed to become a successful member of what is (unofficially) called Cub 52/52. He teaches you to first create a mission statement to help focus on your purpose and mission for the coming year of running. Plus you will find a long list of the runners who have paved the way for future mass marathoners – from Jay Helgerson, who is the first person on record to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks, to Dean Karnazes, one of the most famous of all modern ultra runners. Perhaps the most important thing you will gain from reading this book, as a potential member of Club 52/52, is that you will gain practical knowledge and understanding of how to go about training, preparing, and accomplishing your goal of running a marathon every week for one year. This book, written by a runner who has done it himself, will give you confidence that it is possible to really run 26.2 miles once a week for an entire year. One of the realities of being on the road for a year of running marathons is dealing with injuries, and just simply enduring the occasional drudgery of it all, and Gruber offers up a chapter on these topics to get you to that finish line of your 52nd marathon. Look no further for your expert guidance on how to run multiple marathons in a year than, “52 Marathons In 52 Weeks: How to Run a Marathon Every Week For a Year” by Karl Gruber.

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