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The Shrinking Sanctuary of the Wild & Where It Can Still Be Seen

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The reality is that many species of wildlife are becoming more endangered every year; there are less than 5500 black rhino in South Africa and just over 1000 mountain gorillas left in the world.

A safari is a truly soul-enriching experience, make sure you tick it off your bucket list before it’s too late. Here are some of the best places to see wonderful wildlife.

Best place to see the Big 5 – Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa

Lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo – catching a glimpse of these five iconic animals is sought after by tourists every year. The Greater Kruger National Park is a wildlife paradise where the Big 5 are able to thrive in their natural habitat.

There are many safari lodges in the famous Greater Kruger, but one of the most outstanding game lodges in South Africa that will give you an authentic, soul-enriching safari experience, is Pondoro Game Lodge.

Owing to its superior location in the Balule Nature Reserve in the Greater Kruger National Park, the award-winning lodge boasts private, luxury game drives for its guests – no more than eight people travel on the cruisers at a time.

Best place to see gorillas and monkeys – The Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the premier destination for you to see gorillas, monkeys and other primates in their natural habitat. the Virunga National Park offers the best viewing of mountain gorillas in Africa.

You’ll be accompanied by experienced rangers who will take you on a journey through dense jungle. There is no guarantee that you will see the primates, but the rangers will use their unmatched experience to find them, and once you set eyes on them, you’ll realise that the journey was worth it. Witnessing a giant silverback gorilla relaxing in a shady alcove and mischievous chimps swinging through the trees, are sights that will never be forgotten. Ensure that you have your camera ready to capture these wonderful moments.

Best place to see migrations – Kenya and Botswana

Maasai Mara National Reserve is a wildlife haven located in south-west Kenya. It’s considered to be Africa’s most diverse eco-system. The reserve is renowned for the legendary Great migration of wildebeest. From late July/early-August, millions of wildebeest begin their long trek through the southern Serengeti.

Did you know that zebra is the national animal of Botswana? The zebra migration is the longest mammal migration in Africa. Every year hundreds of thousands of zebras make a 500 km round-trip from the Chobe River and its surrounds to the Nxai Pan (part of the famous Makgadikgadi Pans).

Best place to see birds – Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

If you’re an avid bird watcher, the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a must-experience destination. You’ll be privy to over 300 different species of birds, however only 102 species are resident. The park is famous for its birds of prey, with 46 species having been recorded, including red-necked falcon,  Black-chested snake eagle, Martial eagle and bateleur.

November to April is the best time to visit the park to see resident birds and migrant species. Happy bird watching.

Meditation Online: A New Approach for an Old Art

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Although the practice of meditation goes back to ancient India, it didn’t become a household word in the United States until the Beatles and their yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation, introduced it to the country in the 1960s. Then, in 1979, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction introduced Americans with chronic illness to that practice, and meditation’s popularity has continued to grow ever since.

If you want to meditate but have been putting it off until you find the perfect class, method or timing, Glo’s meditation online program has an option to fit your needs.

A New Look at an Old Practice

Glo is a yoga and meditation online program with a world vision. Its goal is to give seekers on all paths the tools they need to create fulfilling, joyful lives. With a variety of classes that cover the gamut of interests and skill levels, Glo puts an authentic, compassionate practice within anyone’s reach. Their experienced teachers offer classes in the following disciplines:

  • Meditation
  • Yoga for beginners
  • Yoga
  • Pilates
  • Yoga conditioning

If you aren’t sure if online classes are right for you, you can try their free 15-day trial with no obligation. Cancel any time you choose. Meanwhile, you have over 2,200 videos led by over 90 of the world’s best instructors at your fingertips. Just download them to any device for unlimited, convenient use at work, home, or travel. Enrollment is $18 per month or $144 annually after your free trial.

Meditation Online for the Modern Yogi

Meditation, one of the eight limbs of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, is the mental stillness that occurs when your mind becomes quiet. Whether you are a novice or an experienced meditator, a series of audio and video classes will give you step-by-step instructions to narrow your focus, calm your thoughts and deepen your practice. In addition to learning about Yogic philosophy and its Sanskrit roots, you will find techniques for meditating in the style that works best for you.

From mantras and guided meditation to chakra cleansing and breathing techniques, you’ll find meditation online classes from 5 to 90 minutes long in a variety of styles and levels. Choose from topics like these:

  • PMS meditation
  • Meditation for frustrated parents
  • Meditation for transmuting negative emotions
  • Breath-cleansing meditation
  • Meditation to create an inner state of bliss
  • Meditation for being with what is
  • Discovering your motivation

Yogic postures and meditation are closely intertwined. Asanas, or poses, prepare the mind and body for meditation, and traditional yoga classes often end with yoga nidra, a trance-like state that produces deep relaxation. Researchers say three hours of yoga nidra meditation is equal to three hours of deep sleep. Kundalina yoga, on the other hand, uses breathing techniques and chakra meditations while Hatha has a meditative quality of its own. Glo has classes in these styles as well as Ashtanga, Vinyasa flow, Yin and more.

Glo’s innovative approach has been featured in national magazines like Time and Good. Forbes, likewise, praised its highly rated teachers and called it “must-try-at-home streaming.” This is a new concept that puts meditation classes within everyone’s reach at a price they can afford.

Square Mile Challenge Boosts Rubbish Removal in London

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The Square Mile Challenge launched in April 2017. At the time, the plan was to collect and recycle half a million coffee cups within the centre of London in just one month. They did it, in fact, they prevented a whopping 509,091 coffee cups from going straight to landfill in April 2017 alone. They didn’t stop there though. The challenge is still ongoing and to date, they have collected almost 4 million coffee cups. When it comes to rubbish removal in London, they are true heroes. Just like us, here at Clearabee, they are preventing rubbish that won’t biodegrade from going to landfill and they are making sure that it is put to good use elsewhere.

Collecting Cups

The initiative is led by an organisation called Hubbub, a charity that seeks to have an environmental impact by creating campaigns that offer something unique. They endeavour to find quirky ways to get their point across in the hopes that the message will really resonate with the public. Their original campaign saw a number of huge yellow coffee cup shaped bins in the centre of London so that people could throw their cups straight in. When it came to rubbish removal in London, the city could not host these bins indefinitely so Hubub is now working with a number of partner organisations. If an organisation is involved they will have a yellow sticker in the window. This sticker means that you can take your used coffee cup, from any coffee shop to them and that they will send it to be recycled rather than let it be sent straight to landfill.

The Partners

There are 117 locations around the square mile in London where you can recycle your coffee cups. The partners involved in the initiative include; Costa, Marks & Spencer, Pret a Manger, Nespresso, McDonalds and Starbucks. The City of London and Network Rail at Liverpool Street Station are also very much involved in the programme, encouraging the public to recycle the cups as much as they can. When it comes to boosting rubbish removal in London that doesn’t involve a landfill, it seems that there is plenty of support for a solution.

The Recycling

With only 1% of the 2.5 billion coffee cups that are used in the UK every year being recycled, initiatives such as these are essential. Even putting the cups into recycling bins at home doesn’t guarantee the cups won’t just end up at landfill because they are notoriously difficult to recycle due to the plastic lining. By giving your cups to one of the partners involved in this initiative you can be sure that your cups will actually make it to a recycling plant dedicated to dealing with the complexity of reusing the cups. They can remove the plastic and recover fibres to make products such as cardboard containers. Sometimes, they shred the whole coffee cup and mix it with plastic resin to create new plastic.

Clearabee

Here at Clearabee, we love to hear a good news story about rubbish removal in London. We hate to send products to landfill too and that is why, when you hire us to handle your rubbish removal needs we will ensure that at least 90% of what we collect from you will go to be recycled. We sort through your rubbish as we collect it, the first thing we do is designate some items to go straight to a charity or second-hand shop where they can be useful to others in their current condition. Next, we would separate rubbish into different types and will send them to specialist recycling centres where they can be made into totally new products. We only ever send something to landfill as a last resort.

What are Bitcoin Faucets?

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Since its release in 2009, bitcoin has taken the world by storm. With its highest price so far reaching almost £15,000 in December 2017, over 23 million users worldwide have bought their own share of bitcoin.

In order to gain traction and popularity for the new cryptocurrency, Gavin Andresen, a software developer known for his involvement in bitcoin, developed The Bitcoin Faucet in 2010. Since then, a number of other faucets have been released, giving users a chance to gain bitcoins without the hefty price tag. But what exactly are bitcoin faucets? And how do you use them?

What is a bitcoin faucet?

Put simply, a bitcoin faucet is a website or online app that uses a reward system, giving users Satoshi – one-hundred-millionth of a bitcoin – for completing certain tasks. These rewards are then transferred directly into a user’s individual wallet, where they can be kept until users have accumulated a substantial amount of Satoshi.

Using bitcoin faucets to make money

Many people using bitcoin faucets believe they are a great get-rich-quick scheme. This isn’t quite the case. The amount of Satoshi you could be rewarded would take years to accumulate to one bitcoin. You would have to save up 19,014 Satoshi to earn just one US dollar. That said, the other key way to acquire bitcoins, aside from simply buying them, is to mine them yourself.

In the early days of bitcoin, mining was a relatively easy and cheap process, if you were a computer genius that is. But, today, even for those with a deep understanding of the internet and the ability to mine coins easily, the process has become much harder and much more expensive.

First of all, you’d have to plough thousands of pounds into having the right technology to mine bitcoins. Your basic laptop or desktop simply wouldn’t do the trick. Then you have to factor in mining fees. For each bitcoin you spend online, you must pay a certain fee to the miners that are allowing it to happen.

The purpose of bitcoin faucets

Despite being the main cryptocurrency out there, bitcoin is still fairly new. And so, people are still trying to get to grips with it. Due to its immense success and popularity, many people are interested in the currency, wanting to learn how to invest it and to incorporate it into their financial portfolios. But without a proper understanding of how it works, most are reluctant to fork out thousands to buy into the bitcoin game.

That’s where faucets come in. The websites and apps allow users to generate a small amount of bitcoin for free, completing challenges and playing games. So, once they have made enough Satoshi, they can begin to trade or invest their wallet. This gives users a taste of the bitcoin world, teaching themselves to trade and buy and sell their share, without having to invest an initial lump sum.

In turn, this generates a growing interest in bitcoin, with more and more people getting involved. The more people interested in the currency, the better these sites will do as their traffic will increase rapidly. As the majority of these sites make the majority of their income from advertisers, the more users they have and the higher their traffic, the more advertisers will be willing to pay to feature on their site.

So, if you’re new to the game and want a risk-free way of learning more about bitcoin, give faucets a go and see how much you can make.

4 Easy-to-Use Ukulele Apps for Beginners

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The ukulele is one of the easiest musical instruments to learn. There are plenty of resources that can help you get started playing your favorite songs, from online courses and web articles to instructional videos. For greater convenience, beginners can also install ukulele apps into their mobile devices so they can have all the learning resources they need right in their phone or tablet.

But with so many apps out there, it could be daunting for beginners to choose which one would prove to be the most useful and least stressful in helping them learn to play ukulele.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help! We’ve selected some of the best user-friendly apps for ukulele beginners and highlighted their features. These apps are all easy to use and can have you playing in no time at all. So grab your beginner ukulele, install the app of your choice and start making music!

Real Ukulele Free – Tabs, Chords and Songs on Uke

This app offers a realistic ukulele simulator. This means that the screen of your device would show the strings and fretboard as they are on a ukulele so you can pluck, strum and strike strings as if you were playing on a real ukulele – thus the name.

This app features a big chord database with tabs, a ukulele songbook and high fidelity sound (all of the notes were recorded using a real ukulele). You can also choose between a nylon and steel-stringed ukulele to play. Real Ukulele is a handy tool to get started even if you don’t have your own uke yet. Now who wouldn’t love having a ukulele in their phone? It’s free too!

Availability: Android and iOS (under a different name). Again, it doesn’t cost a cent!

Yousician

This app is a favorite among those learning to play the piano, bass, guitar or ukulele. It’s packed with features to help you become the best musician you can be, from step-by-step tutorial videos, lessons on music theory and even a Weekly Challenge that lets you compete with other Yousicians around the world.

This app has the ability to listen to you play your ukulele and give you instant feedback on your performance, including rhythm and accuracy. You can track your progress so you can see how far you’ve come along since Day 1 – a great motivator for beginners!

Availability: iOS and Android. It’s also free to install and offers in-app purchases.

Fret Trainer – Learn the Fretboard

If you’re the type of person who learns best the method of teaching feels like a game, then this is the app for you. As its name implies, Fret Trainer helps you learn all of the notes and chords on the fretboard of your uke. There are plenty of games to play, each one with the aim of teaching you fret and chord mastery.

With this app, you can match random notes, train your ears by naming chords and practice reading notes on a staff, among other activities designed as games. There’s a progress tracker too, and each fret has its own statistics. Fret Trainer can be used for learning not just the ukulele but other stringed instruments as well, like the guitar, bass, banjo and mandolin.

Availability: iOS and Android. It’s free with in-app purchases so you can fully unlock an instrument.

The Ukulele App

If you’re familiar with or have come across the YouTube channel The Ukulele Teacher by Jon Howard, this app was developed in conjunction with that. It has an extensive chord library, a reverse chord lookup feature, a chord progression tool with a built-in metronome, a comprehensive scale library and a video library where you can search for ukulele lessons from The Ukulele Teacher.

It’s got everything beginners need to learn, and the lessons are clear and easy to follow.

Availability: iOS and Android. It’s free and offers in-app purchases (you can upgrade to the PRO version).

Those are the apps we recommend for ukulele beginners. We know that people learn differently, so we recommend giving each of these apps a try. They’re all free anyway, and if you find something that works well for your learning style (and your device), then it’s worth shelling out some cash for PRO features. Have fun and let us know how your ukulele learning journey goes!

Coworking Space Specialist – Why You Should Consider A Servcorp Coworking Space

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Servcorp has already established itself as one of the premier serviced office providers in the world. Around for more than forty years, Servcorp has found an ingenious way to provide businesses of all sizes office space. In addition to the executive suite, Servcorp offers businesses a menu of office plans including the virtual office, and the ever popular, coworking space.

When it comes to international coworking space, Servcorp has offices in Bangkok that can offer your business competitive rates while styling out your office in some of the finest buildings in the city. Moreover, Servcorp’s reputation for fitting out some of the most famous companies is just yet another reason for going with this established company. However, businesses should go with the Servcorp coworking plan for a few other reasons.

Keep reading to learn how Servcorp’s coworking spaces in Thailand can work for you and your business.

Three Great Locations

If working in Bangkok, businesses should consider Servcorp simply because the company has three locations around the city. The Offices at CentralWorld was built with feng shui principles in mind, is known for its state-of-the-art technology, and is known for its sleek design. Then, there is the office in the Ecoplex, which has 34 stories and is built with innovative, green construction in mind. Finally, the Mercury Tower is also another amazing building connected to various transit systems in the city.

All of these buildings give occupants spectacular views of the city. Furthermore, the buildings are connected to dining, shopping, and entertainment. Finally, if looking for centrally–located offices, these three office locations can plant your business right in the middle of the action.

Sophisticated Office Space

These buildings are not only in prime real estate, they are also fitted out for the sophisticated businessman. Corporate-styled offices fit out with the finest furnishings are a part of the landscape. The buildings are retrofitted with the latest technologies making set up for business a lot simpler. Finally, the offices are maintained and cleaned every day by the maintenance crew who are trained to keep the space looking immaculate.

Transition Into Other Office Space

The Servcorp model is the best way to transition into other office space because the company offers a variety of plans to professionals. As stated previously, Servcorp can transition your office into either larger or smaller space, and very quickly. If you find that the coworking space is too much for your business or it does not adequately meet your business’s needs, you can easily slide into a virtual office or an executive suite, and with little downtime. Servcorp just makes it easy for businesses to transition into other space whether scaling up or down or relocating to an office in another city that Servcorp has offices.

World-Class Office Support

On top of having the benefit of working in amazing buildings, professionals get the benefit of bilingual support staff. Receptionists that can field calls while you are away on business and IT professionals that can resolve any of your computing needs are all a part of the office menu. The coworking space through Servcorp can inevitably save you time in searching for and paying qualified support staff.

International Leverage

Finally, because the company has offices all throughout Asia and the rest of the globe, businesses who find travel is involved in a lot of their work can rest assured that they have access to office space. Whether it is just space to work or access to conference rooms, your Servcorp vouchers can be used in any location globally. Not too many small operators can offer your business this feature.

Reasons To Go With Servcorp

Servcorp is an internationally-renowned company known for providing businesses with quality serviced offices. The rates are much less than many of the office fit outs you might find in Thailand for the value. Ultimately, the country can fit your business out with style and class while offering concierge office support at a much lower cost.

Why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Is Playing A Vital Role In Self Defensive Art Techniques

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When it comes to self defense, it seems many people – both women and men – are getting in on the idea these days. After all, in a world that seems to be getting progressively more and more dangerous in some ways, you can never be too safe. There are various forms of self defense from carrying pepper spray, whistles and other types of protective weaponry all the way up to taking classes in various forms of martial arts as a form of self defense. One such martial art that is taking the world of self defense by storm is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. But what is it, and how does it help self defense? Read on to learn more about how this fantastic martial art is playing a huge role in self defensive techniques.

What Is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a form of martial art that focuses on real world situations in combat, training practitioners to be able to beat much larger and stronger opponent by taking the fight to the ground and using various holds and grappling to neutralise the threat. Instead of focusing on fancy footwork or moves, it focuses on things that could potentially happen in a real fight so that its practitioners will be able to hold their own, as well as stay safe and overpower a potential attacker. Companies like Elite Sports can teach you the physical skills as well as the theory of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu while also offering the best BJJ gear to get started.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was developed from a number of different disciplines including judo, wrestling and regular jujutsu, with holds and grappling as one of the main facets and ways to bring an enemy combatant down. Eventually Brazilian Jiu Jitsu became known as its own specific variety of martial art, and grew wildly in popularity.

Moves, Holds and How They Can Apply To Self Defense

The moves, holds and grappling in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are its key factors in self defense. The premise of the sport is that a smaller opponent can overpower a larger one through the use of choke holds, side control and a special move known as ‘the mount’ which is notoriously difficult to get out of. Choke holds, while immensely useful in self defense due to their power and ability to neutralise enemy combatants within seconds, must be properly taught and practiced so as not to cause damage to the throat or windpipe. That being said, to the skilled practitioner, this is probably one of the best moves to use in true self defense.

Getting Into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

If you find yourself thinking that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu might be the thing for you in order to help protect yourself, you will want to find decent, qualified teachers in your area as well as the proper gear to start training. Elite Sports is one of the best places to get all your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gear at good prices with knowledgeable staff that can answer queries related to your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu equipment and uniforms. For the best BJJ gear, you will want a dependable retailer you can trust, such as Elite Sports.

So if you’re looking into learning this unique martial art for self defense hopefully this article will have helped point you in the right direction as well as provide some great information with regard to this skillful sport and self defensive art.

Top Ways To Advertise – Regardless Of Business Size

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When it comes to advertising products and services, many people find that one or two types are highly beneficial for their different businesses while others find that they see success through many different forms. Effective advertising means that you can easily showcase products and services to your specific customer base leading to customer conversions, sales and retention of customers, all of which are key to success in business – whatever type of business it is. Here are the top forms of advertising that many businesses choose to use to get customers to their sites and buying their products.

Pay Per Click

Pay per click advertising is one of the best forms available. With qualified SEO consultants that work through businesses such as https://www.click.co.uk/services/paid-search-ppc/ you can be sure that your customised searches with specific key words designed to help potential clients find you easily will work. Not only is Pay Per Click advertising a highly productive way to showcase your  company and products or services, but it helps your SEO search results too – something integral to your online presence.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to engage clients and let them know you’re still around and offering services or products. With many options for email marketing from sending small updates or full scale newsletters, many marketers find this is the most common, easiest way to grab attention is through getting into their clientele’s inboxes. Newsletters can be a great, bright and cheery way to advertise new products, ask for reviews and let customers know about promotions and sales.

Social Media

Without a doubt, social media marketing is one of the fastest growing ways to advertise amongst businesses of all size. Between Twitter, Facebook and Instagram alone the possibility to attract customers and followers is enormous, especially when you consider adding in the use of paid adverts to attract more attention. Social media advertising is a great tool that any level of business can use with ease, making it hugely popular and a great option to use in conjunction with other types of advertising such as email marketing or pay per click as well.

Old Fashioned Word Of Mouth and Referrals

One of the most common ways to get more customers and get people interested in your business as well is through old fashioned word of mouth and asking existing customers for referrals. When a customer has an excellent experience with your business, the likelihood of them sharing that information with others is high, resulting in more people searching out your services. If you want referrals or reviews, offer a small prize of types such as 5% off their next purchase or bill for a review or referral, helping prompt people to tell others about your services.

So there you have a couple of great ways that many people use to market their products and services. With so many different ways to catch the attention of clients these days, it’s no wonder more and more businesses are finding advertising easier. Good luck!

3 Reasons to Take Your Company Global and How to Get Started

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As new technology continues to pave the way for globalization, it’s more appealing than ever for businesses to expand abroad. Going global helps you increase profit margins and reach a larger consumer base. By cutting costs, expanding operations and increasing sales, you can boost your bottom line and take your business to the next level.

Here are three reasons to take your company global:

1. Higher Revenue Potential

Globalizing is cheaper than ever, as the Internet has made it easy to have a presence in foreign markets without physically being there. If you want to sell more, start distributing your products in other countries. You might even discover that another country brings in more revenue for your business than your own country.

Globalization continues to homogenize cultures around the world. This makes it easier than ever to succeed in various markets with just one product. If you have an e-commerce store, analyze your data to check which countries are attracting most of your buyers. Then, adjust your marketing strategy to reach the people in those countries.

2. Increase Your Profit Margin

When you look beyond your home country, you not only find new customers, but also new ways to cut costs in your supply chain. For example, you can expand your company’s operations to another country where the cost of manufacturing is lower. Plus, by expanding your production to reach a global market, you boost your profit margin by lowering the per-unit manufacturing cost.

3. Utilize Global Experts

Marketing your products to consumers in other countries is easier than ever thanks to the Internet. On networks like Upwork, you can link up with talent and expertise from around the world to help you create a marketing strategy to enter various local markets. Having your online content translated to or created in different languages helps you build an international brand that can be recognized worldwide while appealing to specific local markets at the same time.

Amway is a great example of a global direct sales company that continually expands into local markets around the world. It does this by empowering independent business owners to profit by selling Amway’s products in their local economies. This allows Amway to use local expertise to expand its global consumer base, instead of trying to reach the entire world at once with one generic marketing campaigns. Sometimes direct sales companies are accused of being pyramid schemes. Amway is not a scam, though, because independent business owners only earn bonuses based on product sales volume—not for recruiting.

How to Expand Your Business Abroad

To get the most out of the other markets you tap into, you want to work with a company specializing in translation and cultural consulting to help you create authentic marketing strategies. Before you hit a new market, it’s imperative you know what will resonate with its consumers, so be sure not to skip this step. Create localized landing pages and implement local and global SEO strategies to help target these other markets.

Getting Started

Ready for world domination? With the ease of telecommunications and cloud-based technology today, it’s never too early to reap the benefits of being a global business. By outsourcing steps in your supply chain to other countries, distributing products abroad and employing international experts, you can start competing in the global economy.

Using Day Passes For London Gyms

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Many of you will have, at least at some point, made a commitment to be healthier and perhaps attend a gym. You may have been wise enough to avoid the initial expense of long term memberships too and decided instead to opt for day passes for London gyms. But intention is one thing, action is another. So if you’re someone who has made a commitment to change, but are yet to start the journey, or someone who could use a little help to keep going then read on. Here we provide you with the motivation and tips to stay active and to make the most of those day passes for London gyms.

There are many benefits to being active. You will prolong your life expectancy and make it more enjoyable at the same time. But there has always been that age old problem of “getting to the gym”. Habits are hard to break, whether they are good or bad. So if you are already in the habit of not going to the gym, then the idea of attending may seem preposterous – you’ll find excuses easy, you’re tired, it’s cold, or the best of all, you’ll start tomorrow. You’ll need to break this cycle, and the good news is that, although it will take commitment and effort, once you do so, you will have established a whole new habit of attending the gym and that too will be difficult to get away from. No it will not be easy, if it were everyone would be fit and healthy and the ideal weight, but the returns and rewards are definitely worth the efforts.

Gear

Don’t think that having the best gear makes it easier, it doesn’t, and it is probably best to avoid the expense until your new habits are formed. You’ll need a good pair of trainers and some loose clothing and that’s it – except of course for your day passes. It is more important however to have the gear with you. If you intend to go to the gym before work, get dressed into your gym clothes, if you’re going afterwards, make sure you have them with you. Having to detour home for example is just another temptation to avoid going. The location of the gym matters too, the further you have to travel, the more reasons you’ll present to miss going altogether. The best way to avoid temptation is to never have the chance to give in to it!

Plans And Partners

You need S.M.A.R.T goals. Specific, Measured, Attainable, Reasonable and Time based. So rather than saying I want to lose weight, pick a weight you want to lose within a time period – say 2lbs per week for 6 weeks. Once achieved, review and change your goals.

Training partners will help. They are an extra reason to not missing a session as you will less likely let somebody else down as you will yourself. Be careful though in choosing. Pick someone who has similar goals, don’t pick someone training for a marathon, when you’re toning up. Pick someone reliable too!

Diary

Document your progress with a diary. Take selfies of your body to “see” the real progress that scales can sometimes hide. Also ensure that you keep a note of your times, achievements and targets for review. If you see progress, you’ll likely get through any moments of weakness when you are doubting yourself.

Help

You may already have a partner, but you can still get additional input, albeit at a price. Personal trainers are great for changing-up regimes, keeping things fresh and keeping you motivated. Remember however that there are good and bad ones, and they are running a “business”, the intention of which is to make money.

Mishaps And Recovery

Your decision to act is all about change for the better. However, no journey is ever free from mistakes, mishaps or slip-ups. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a session, otherwise you’ll come to associate the gym with punishment. Instead simply accept it and move on, ensuring that you keep the good habits you have established and not let any bad ones slip in.

Nothing stops training faster than an injury so beware. Always warm up and cool down properly and stretch too. It’s hard to get/stay fit with torn muscles, so learn to prevent them rather than having to recover.

Making a commitment to change is a big decision, taking the first step is a big achievement, but sticking to it is the hardest thing. Hopefully this advice will ensure that one day you’ll look back and recognise just how far you’ve come!