Blog Posts by Diva Toolbox

joanne whiteThere's a lot in our lives and in the world that causes worry and additional stress for many of us. We don't always have a choice about what we must confront or face. Feelings can seem out of control, even as we do our best to get a handle on the events in our lives.

Seasonal affective disorder, or the lack of natural sunlight, leads many of us to feel depressed and lacking energy or enthusiasm. Known as the 'winter blues', it can sneak up on you and take hold if you're not prepared.

When everything seems uncontrollable, what's important to remember is the energy and response we bring to those situations and to our feelings.

How we respond and the amount of energy we expend can make a difference in how we're feeling.

Here are some other suggestions to banish the blues:

1. Shift Your Focus

What you think about affects how you feel. If you catch yourself thinking about unresolved problems or are caught up on a worrying jag, give it a rest. Instead, focus on

Carrie SabaThe joy of baking seems to be on the rise during the holidays. Whether it is for a cookie exchange or a holiday gathering, baked goods are plentiful. There are so many sweet temptations that it is often hard to resist a handful of yummy baked goods that pop up during this time of year. I am not a huge baker, but when I do bake, I often find myself looking at the ingredients and wondering how I can make it healthier.

While changing the ingredients in a recipe to healthier alternatives doesn't work out 100% of the time, it works out quite a bit and it is worth trying.

Here are a few tips on how to change a few ingredients to healthier alternatives when baking this holiday season.

1. Instead of using white sugar in your baking, why not try a natural sweetener as an alternative. Here are a few options with the conversion amounts.

Brown Rice Syrup: Consists of brown rice ground and cooked. It is moderately sweet. In recipes you will want to use a little more than sugar and

Well, here's a new one: buying someone's pension income. The Wall Street Journal first reported on this practice a couple of weeks ago and now it's caught the eye of a United States senator so I'm hoping the practice can be curtailed before it gets out-of-hand. Here's how it works: members of the military or other retirees sell some or all of their monthly pension income in exchange for a lump sum payment now. There are a number of web sites that have sprung up in recent months trolling for Americans who are struggling in the tough economy and see this as a way to improve their current cash flow. Problem is, once they reach retirement age, and accounting for inflation, their cash flow then will suffer greatly...when they need income the most and may not be employable due to age or health.

Normally, pensions cannot be "assigned" to someone else (unless it's set up as a Joint and Survivor pension, usually through heterosexual marriage). In this case, it's the pensioner who is

Wedding receptions are an important part of any wedding. In fact many wedding couples prefer to spend more on their receptions as more people other than your family members are invited for the reception.

Nowadays, this trend is on the rise. Many couples prefer to keep the wedding a private ceremony attended by close family members and friends and prefer to invite the society at large to the reception. So, receptions have become a grand affair that is planned well in advance.

Wedding reception decorations have become an important part of planning for wedding receptions. There is much focus on selecting the right way to decorate your reception venue that would witness hundreds of important guests who have come to celebrate on the occasion of your wedding.

Some Exclusive Decoration Ideas

First of all the wedding reception decoration depends on the reception venue and your theme. If you are planning for a garden reception, then your decoration can be minimal and classic.

If your

A key skill for female entrepreneurs for starting and growing a business today is coaching the best out of your people. Rather than telling them what to do; allow them to determine the best course of action through your coaching. As you are inspiring, encouraging, empowering and motivating others to find answers within them; you'll be open to some side benefits of feeling re-invigorated and energized.

1. Questioning: Ask effective questions and wait for the answers. Dig into the answers instead of just assuming that you know what the person means with their first response. Understand what is behind the first answer. Usually the motivation for any action or behavior is hidden and it several layers down. If someone comes back with an answer that indicates that they don't know the answer; then say something to the effect: "Well, if you had to guess, what do you think the answer/solution/course of action would be?"
2. Slow Down: Before saying what you think about a situation or a way to

Maggie AndersonBranding is a way to boost your visibility and help your small business marketing efforts produce more results. As a small business marketing consultant I've noticed that entrepreneurs often hurt themselves by going too big or too small in their efforts to create a strong brand. Branding is not an action -- it's a process. It's not a big transformation you budget time and money for "when business picks up next year" but strength that builds gradually. Regular and consistent steps that build credibility, appreciation and trust for your company, your products, your services is what builds a strong brand. This article from David Brier at Fast Company has some insights about branding that are thought provoking. I picked a few favorites -- find all nine by following the link below. Looking for new marketing strategies for a small business or professional practise? Pick one of these and use it as a lens to look at your brand -- what is one step you can take next week to strengthen it?

audra fordinAre you like Jennifer and Paul? Two very sweet people who needed an estimate on their car repairs morning. Talk about anxiety. First of all, I get it, we all hate the idea of an estimate (whether it is car repair or buying a new computer system) because you have either had the experience or heard about a story where a simple, inexpensive job or purchase, suddenly evolves into a massive one that costs far more than you expected. Second, you are afraid to ask questions because when you do, you don't understand the answers. I believe many people feel this way. It is almost baffeling that people living in this computerized world today do not understand and grasp how much of the every vehicle is tied to the onboard computer.

Too often people are going away with the feeling that they really don't know what is wrong with the vehicle. They also feel like they have to guess or take on faith that the car repairs the mechanic says are need are indeed what are needed. And then, worry that

Today I want to share with you how I put an extra three hours in my week instantaneously and you can do the same thing too. Before I tell you how, let's calculate the impact of adding an extra three hours a week to your life over a year's time: 3 hours X 52 weeks = 156 hours annually!

Are you ready to hear how I did it? It's not rocket science. I simply turned off the television. It's amazing to think that I added 156 hours of living to my year by simply turning off the television and I'm so excited about what I'm able to accomplish with my found time.

How many hours of television do you watch in a week? What if you turned off the television? What could you accomplish then?

I encourage you to take a moment right now to close your eyes and reflect on all you could accomplish if all you did was turn off the television and use those hours of television watching differently. What amazing lifelong dreams would you achieve?

This article was written by Shari McGuire. To