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By Talha Tashfeen

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” Judy Garland

Self esteem is one of the most essential components of a human being’s personality. It is basically the image you have of yourself in your own opinion. You have a good opinion of yourself, you have high self-esteem, you have a bad opinion of yourself, you have low self-esteem.  It is the foundation of our life and something that helps us immensely in living a life that is worthwhile. Until and unless you believe in yourself and your abilities it is almost impossible to achieve success in any walk of life. In other words, we simply need to value ourselves for what we are and what we are capable of rather than wanting to be what we are not.

Low self esteem will affect all areas of life including our career, work, family, relationships, social life, health and what not. It creates an overall unfulfilling feeling whereas on the contrary high self esteem gives us immense confidence and belief that I am sure has the potential to take us a long way in life.

Since we know that this is an extremely important issue and that thousands and thousands of people suffer from low self esteem throughout the world regardless of their health, wealth and knowledge, we need to figure out some important and easy ways of increasing our self esteem. Some of the most effective ways I believe are as follows:

1. Keep a Victory Log

This one is one of my favorite ways of keeping my self-esteem high. Maintain a log book where you jot down all your accomplishments throughout life. It does not matter how big or small your accomplishments may be, you just need to remember what you have accomplished. It maybe the extraordinary skills you possess or the beautiful possessions you have. It might be good grades that you had received or a trophy that you had won. It might be a financial reward that you might have been given or a promotion that you received. It might even have been an approving glance from a person of the opposite sex or the day you scored a hat trick in the school game. It could just be any positive accomplishment that you have made in life.

Just make sure that you have all written in your log book starting today. We all have high and low times and what we need in low times is some spirit lifting. Go through your log book every time you are feeling low or are having any negative thoughts and you will see how this log will give you the great moods once you start thinking of all the good things that have happened to you in life. It simply serves as a reminder of the fact that you have done it before and there is no reason that you will not be able to do it in the present and in the future.

1. Honor Your Abilities

Sit in a quiet place and think of the great abilities and skills that nature has gifted you with. Stop blaming yourself for all the wrong things or even the right things for that matter. Just do not blame yourself. Simply look at the good things and the positive things in your personality and in your life. Be grateful to God for all the great things that you have in yourself and honor it. Remember, if you want the world to honor and love you, you need to honor and love yourself first.

1. Do the right things

Always try to do the right things in life. We all are grown up people and have the conscience to differentiate between the wrong and the right. Make sure that you do your best to do the right things. Believe me you are going to feel a whole lot better when you know that you are doing the things worth doing and the things that are good for your character, health and well being.

To give an example, I personally feel great when I wake up early morning, pray, have a good breakfast, exercise, read the newspaper, work hard, do my daily chores and set my priorities right. I feel that I am doing all the important things that I need to do in order to keep myself energized and to keep my self-esteem at a higher level.

1. Mingle with Positive people

Always mix, meet and mingle with people who are positive and energetic, people who have a positive image about themselves, have confidence in themselves and a positive outlook on life. We need to build our network of friends where we are surrounded by good, enthusiastic, determined and positive people.

1. Be Kind

It is really not possible to feel good about ourselves if we are inconsiderate, mean and selfish. It is essential to treat others with respect and with love. The more respect and love you give, the more you get it back. Everyone has a special quality and a special resource through which one can contribute to life. Be kind, be humble, help the poor, help the under-privileged and be a part of a noble cause whenever and wherever possible in order to be of help and support to the world and at the same time be worthy of respect and value in your very own eyes. This will pick you up and place you on top of the world.

1. Be Honest, hardworking and productive

Another important factor that helps in raising self esteem is to be honest, hardworking and productive. Again it seems quite contrary to have high self esteem when a person is dishonest and unproductive. When one is honest, there is a satisfaction that is felt within him resulting in a great self image. At the same time, it is important to be a hardworking, sincere person that results in high productivity and again leading to high self-esteem.

The above are some of the major ways that you can use to raise yourself image and self-esteem. Always keep in mind that self-esteem is not what others think of you but what you truly believe about yourself. It has to be genuine respect for oneself. In other words it is self respect.

Hal Urban says ‘Self Esteem is how we genuinely feel about ourselves, regardless of what others say. And how we feel about ourselves is closely related to how our character develops. Ultimately the development of personal character is both a choice and responsibility.”

Before we conclude, here is a little reminder:

“To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.” Denis Waitley

BIO:

‘Talha, a Pakistani national, is a 24 year old hotelier and an aspiring personal development author. Having completed his degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management from Switzerland, he now works for a renowned multi-national hotel chain as a Sales & Marketing professional.

Talha intends to contribute to life and society through his writings and in an attempt to do so, he writes for a renowned ‘Personal Development’ website and has also started a blog through which he hopes to share his ideas, thoughts and feelings with the world so that he could write about the subjects that he loves, learn from the experiences of other people and do something that can positively affect other people’s lives. Talha can be reached at

talha.tashfeen@gmail.com.
Personal Development: www.personal-development.com
No Limits for Me: www.nolimitsforme.com
Life Discovery: Living, not merely Existing: talhatashfeen.blogspot.com

By VICTORIA TAYLOR for Ink-On-The-Web

The Jenkins-Penn Haitian Relief Organization (J/P HRO) has recently launched the “Beat the Rain” campaign, aimed at raising funds to support the effort to protect the hundreds of thousands of Haitians who are living in tent cities and camps as the rainy season approaches. With the rainy season comes the additional threat of cholera, tuberculosis, typhoid, tetanus, and malaria, so in order to save lives J/P HRO is hoping to provide secure, temporary homes in the region, as well as to call upon local officials to expedite the inspection process so that Haitians can return to their homes. Sean Penn, one of the founders of J/P HRO, said: “When the rain comes, it’s going to be a public health disaster. It could easily be on the scale of the earthquake itself. What we’re trying to do is prevent it. The inspection process is too slow and people are not being let back into their homes. There is enormous risk if they are not relocated or given better means of shelter soon. Disease is spreading already- tuberculosis, typhoid, tetanus, malaria. There were incredible hygiene problems within the neighborhoods prior to the quake. This is a new disaster waiting to happen, if we do not take action now and do something to prevent it.”
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Oven baked Italian Pizza in Islamabad, for the first time.
By Zarmeen Sipra

The other day, I had the opportunity to interview and enjoy an evening at a popular eatery in Islamabad – Pizziano. Its oven baked pizzas are now not only enjoyed at the owner’s lush garden, but due to the winter cold, Zehra Valliani, a woman of substance, a woman of strength, and a woman of entrepreneurship, has started a comfortable and cozy place, a casual shed with heaters burning, and art work on display.

Zehra Valliani started her career after being trained by her father Siraj Valliani (late) who was in the travel business in Islamabad, Pakistan. Zehra was lucky to inherit the entrepreneurial talent from him, and has used that not only at “Pizziano”, but has also started her own clothes line known as “Zehra V”. With so many things already going on, she is also in partnership with a Dubai based company, being their representative here in Islamabad. She is still using her travel and tour agent skills. She is a woman who is not a quitter, but a go-getter; a woman who likes to move with time, and is a symbol of womanhood in its true sense. She encourages the many other young women in Pakistan to come forward, and use their talents, skills, and ideas. Her idea is to work hard for the progress of society, of the country, and herself. She wants to serve the local people in Pakistan with the best service in any industry, whether food, clothes or travel. Zehra Valliani is out there doing it all, and proving to be an achiever. Continue

BAHRIA UNIVERSITY
Marketing seminar at Bahria University

“WE MUST LEARN TO MARKET OURSELVES”

- City Nazim

City Nazim stresses for marketing strategy from individual to nation

KARACHI , December 12: City Nazim Karachi Syed Mustafa Kamal stressed upon the MBA students of Bahria University that “We must learn to market ourselves as an individual, as a city and as a nation”. Mustafa Kamal was speaking as chief guest at a seminar “Market Expansion and Growth Strategies” held at Bahria University ( Karachi campus) The City Nazim emphasized on the fact that our total population consists of 65% youth, which is a big plus point for any nation to develop itself. Continue

SHAANAKHT FESTIVAL 2009.
By Mishelle Raza

The Festival held from 9th – 11th Nov 2009, was a free, and open to the public event

‘This is not the time for forty million women of Pakistan to sit quietly.’ Women across the country in 1947 sat up and took notice of Begum Raana Liaqat’s words. It was time to roll up their sleeves and get to work – Pakistan was a fledgling nation with no identity, except that of a Muslim state molded painstakingly from the rubble of a hasty British exit from the subcontinent. During the 1940s and 1950s, Pakistani women joined their brave sisters who had struggled for Partition – they participated in jalsas, led demonstrations on the streets, courted arrest, ran clandestine radio stations and shed the veil as a form of protest. Continue

By Sikandar Usman

January 1992, came out the super hit film Deewana starring Rishi Kapoor, Divya Bharti and introducing Shahrukh Khan. Nothing like a Greek god, a long haired, big nosed and skinny youngster charmed millions of people across the globe. With big hits like Raju Bangaya Gentleman (1992), Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Dilwale Dulhainya Lejayenge (1995), Shahrukh Khan became one of the leading heartthrobs of Bollywood. However such success was not achieved overnight. In his initial days Shahrukh did three films at a time which kept him working for a little less than 20 hours a day. Even such stardom comes at a price. For his finest performances till date, he was the last name on the directors’ wish lists, replacing Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan in Darr, and Akshay Kumar and Arbaaz Khan in Baazigar. At that time, there was little controversy revolving around Shahrukh Khan. Continue

Recently, an exciting BASE jump was attempted from MCB Tower, Karachi – Pakistan, in collaboration with Red Bull – the famous Austrian Energy Drink producer. The jump was testimony to the commitment of both companies to promote peace through sports. The BASE jump took place on Sunday, 1st November, 2009 and was widely covered on local and international TV channels and print media.

It saw Russian extreme sport star Valery Rozov accomplish an incredible stunt. The 44-year-old Red Bull athlete jumped from MCB Tower -the tallest building in Pakistan with a height of 116 meters, with 29 levels and 3 basements. Challenging wind conditions delayed the jump for a couple of hours, before Valery decided to go-ahead with it. He deployed the parachute 3 seconds after the jump. Strong winds caused him to steer himself in the alley next to MCB Tower. Using all his experience, he was able to avoid any injury to himself. Continue

MARA PICTURES RELEASES SON OF A LION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM NOVEMBER 2009

Mara Pictures, a boutique theatrical distribution company, is releasing the first Australian-Pakistani coproduction Son of a Lion in cinemas across the United Kingdom on November 6th, 2009.

In Pakistan’s tribal weapon-making village of Darra Adam Khel, a young Pashtun boy Niaz Afridi defies his father’s expectation to carry on the family’s gun making business and demands an education instead. Son of a Lion is the feature film debut by Australian film-maker Benjamin Gilmour.

The idea behind Son of a Lion was conceived while Gilmour was working as a set nurse on ‘The Bill’ and ‘Murphy’s Law’. After being turned down by major UK media corporations to produce the film, Gilmour elaborates on his unique experience-
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By John Gerzema
I’ve noticed my world keeps getting smaller.

I’ve found friends in Pakistan through Facebook, including Fariha at Ink. I’ve also discovered old high school classmates including a few that I wish hadn’t found me. Even my blogging has gotten smaller as I’m now micro-blogging via my new love, Twitter.

Twitter is the power of blogging brought to anyone in 140 characters or less. The San Francisco based start up recently raised an additional $ 35 million dollars in financing but has yet to make any money. Continue

Jack Yan says he wants to see more world-class brands from south Asia

Having just spent some time in south Asia, the commercialism is very noticeable. Vodafone, in particular, has its signage everywhere, trying to remind not just the locals of its mobile service, but tourists who are thinking of one to global-roam to. In fact, as you travel through Asia and take in developing nations, there is a sense that people want to be seen as part of the global community.

I commend this. There is nothing wrong about wanting to be connected to one’s fellow human beings elsewhere. Continue