How to Work From Home

Working from home is fraught with the kind of problems you don’t have in the office. It’s amazing what a strong motivator it is to be sitting at a computer screen that faces five other people who can see when you’re messing around on Facebook. But when you’re at home, there’s no-one looking over your shoulder, you are king. The only motivating factor is your own brain. And sometimes your brain can be the enemy. Here’s how to combat some of the ideas your brain might tempt you with when you work from home.

I’ll just leave Twitter on in the background

Your brain: It won’t distract me much. I’ll just pop onto it if I have something particularly witty to say. It’s like marketing myself, really. It could actually lead to work. Which is a totally justified use of my time. Ooh, funny picture!

Solution: Simple, really. Don’t leave Twitter on. It’s never just one quick look. If you’re working on an offline document, disable the internet access on your computer for the duration of that task to eliminate temptation.

The shops are quieter on a week day…

Your brain: I need a new shirt, but I’ll leave that until the weekend. No point wasting my freelancing day on shopping. But the shops are so busy on a Saturday! It would actually be more productive to pop in on a Wednesday, buy the shirt, and get out. I’ll be saving time, not wasting it.

Solution: Would you go shopping all morning if you were in an office working? No. Then don’t do it at home. At the office, you’d cram any shopping that needs to be done into your lunch hour, so do the same when you’re working from home. The benefit of working from home, of course, is that you can take your ‘lunch’ hour whenever you like. But keep it to an hour.

My phone beeped!

Your brain: That’s the email tone. I’ve got an email. I have purposely closed my emails so that I don’t get distracted. But that could be an important email. It could be from a client. I’ll just have a quick peek at it. Oh, sod off, Ticketmaster. I don’t want half price tickets to ‘Jersey Boys’.

Solution: Another obvious one – put your phone on silent. Unless you’re waiting on an email that is crucial to the task you are working on, only check your emails at allocated times of day: mid-morning, after lunch and late afternoon. They’ll only be a distraction if you’re trying to plough through a particular task.

I could have a cup of tea

Your brain: You’re right, I could have a cup of tea. To the kettle!

Solution: Actually, tea breaks are a good thing. You can’t concentrate for a full eight hours, and if you try to force yourself to, your brain is going to rebel. Short breaks here and there, and a chance to get away from your computer and move around, will actually improve your productivity. Just don’t live on tea and coffee alone – to stay hydrated, and productive, you should always have a glass of water to hand too.

I have Sky TV

Your brain: How am I supposed to be working with that much TV at my fingertips?! I should really just cancel my subscription and do some actual work. KIDDING! I’ll never give you away, baby. Shh now. There there.

Solution: Personally, I find that watching TV, especially a programme with a plotline I can get engrossed in, really damages my focus. It takes me out of the task I’ve been working on, and it’s very hard to get back into the flow. I avoid anything fictional while I’m working, and just have the news on in the background while I make lunch.

I could have a biscuit

Your brain: Dammit, you’re right again. Chocolate HobNob it is.

Solution: There’s nothing to say that snacking damages concentration, but overloading on sugar definitely does. Try to stick to healthy snacks while you’re working to boost your energy levels without giving you an artificial sugar high, which will burn out as quickly as it arrived. There’s nothing wrong with the odd treat here and there though, especially as a reward after a particularly productive day.

                                                       source:  yahoo

Mysteries of The Unexplained

You would not believe the amazing coincidences that happens in this world. Some even say there is a hand from 'upstairs' that's orchestrating all this. Read on and tell me what you think about this coincidences

#James Dean's cursed car

In September 1955, James Dean was killed in a horrific car accident whilst he was driving his Porsche sports car. After the crash the car was seen as very unlucky.

a) When the car was towed away from accident scene and taken to a garage, the engine slipped out and fell onto a mechanic, shattering both of his legs.

b) Eventually the engine was bought by a doctor, who put it into his racing car and was killed shortly afterwards, during a race. Another racing driver, in the same race, was killed in his car, which had James Dean's driveshaft fitted to it.

c) When James Dean's Porsche was later repaired, the garage it was in was destroyed by fire.
d) Later the car was displayed in Sacramento, but it fell off it's mount and broke a teenager's hip.
e) In Oregon, the trailer that the car was mounted on slipped from it's towbar and smashed through the front of a shop.
f) Finally, in 1959, the car mysteriously broke into 11 pieces while it was sitting on steel supports.
You would think they would learn, but..no!

#A bullet that reached its destiny years later

Henry Ziegland thought he had dodged fate.
In 1883, he broke off a relationship with his girlfriend who, out of distress, committed suicide.

The girl's brother was so enraged that he hunted down Ziegland and shot him. The brother, believing he had killed Ziegland, then turned his gun on himself and took his own life. But miraculously, Ziegland had not been killed. The bullet, in fact, had only grazed his face and then lodged in a tree. Ziegland surely thought himself a lucky man. Some years later, however, Ziegland decided to cut down the large tree, which still had the bullet in it. The task seemed so formidable that he decided to blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite. The explosion propelled the bullet into Ziegland's head, killing him instantly.
And we all thought the girls brother missed...smh

(Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!)

#Mark Twain and Halley's Comet

Mark Twain was born on the day of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835, and died on the day of its next appearance in 1910. He himself predicted this in 1909, when he said: "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it."

How romantic!

#A falling baby, saved twice by the same man

In Detroit sometime in the 1930s, a young and incredibly careless mother must have been eternally grateful to a man named Joseph Figlock.
As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother's baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby's fall was broken and both man and baby were unharmed.

A stroke of luck on its own, but a year later, the very same baby fell from the very same window onto poor, unsuspecting, baby-catching Joseph Figlock as he was again passing beneath. And again, they both survived the event.

#Poker winnings, to the unsuspected son

In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead, an act of vengeance by those with whom he was playing poker. Fallon, they claimed, had won the $600 pot through cheating.

With Fallon's seat empty and none of the other players willing to take the now-unlucky $600, they found a new player to take Fallon's place and staked him with the dead man's $600.
By the time the police had arrived to investigate the killing, the new player had turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. The police demanded the original $600 to pass on to Fallon's next of kin - only to discover that the new player turned out to be Fallon's son, who had not seen his father in seven years!

(Source: Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)

#King Umberto I' double

In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I, went to a small restaurant for dinner, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, General Emilio Ponzia Vaglia.

When the owner took King Umberto's order, the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles, in face and in build.
Both men began discussing the striking resemblances between each other and found many more similarities.

a) Both men were born on the same day, of the same year, (March

14th, 1844).

b) Both men had been born in the same town.

c) Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.

d) The restauranteur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.

e) On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restauranteur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, he was then assassinated by an anarchist in the crowd.

#A novel that predicted the Titanic's doom, and

prevented Titanian's doom

Morgan Robertson, in 1898, wrote "Futility".

It described the maiden voyage of a transatlantic luxury liner named the Titan.

Although it was touted as being unsinkable, it strikes an iceberg and sinks with much loss of life.

In 1912 the Titanic, a transatlantic luxury liner widely touted as
unsinkable strikes an iceberg and sinks withgreat loss of life on her
maiden voyage.
In the Book (Futility), the Month of the Wreck was April, same as in the real event. There were 3,000 passengers on the book; in reality, 2,207. In the Book, there were 24 Lifeboats; in reality, 20. Months after the Titanic sank, a tramp steamer was traveling through the foggy Atlantic with only a young boy on watch. It came into his head that it had been thereabouts that the Titanic had sunk, and he was suddenly terrified by the thought of the name of his ship - the Titanian. 
Panic-stricken, he sounded the warning. The ship stopped, just in time: a huge iceberg loomed out of the fog directly in their path. The Titanian was saved.

Lesson to be learnt: Don't name your ship anything with titan on it

How To Use iCloud Drive

Apple's iCloud Drive is one of the coolest new features to come from the company in a long time.

Those of you who updated to iOS 8 probably noticed a little pop-up window that asked you to activate iCloud Drive, a new feature that Apple introduced at WWDC 2014. 
Like Dropbox or Google Drive, though there are some differences.

If you're confused about iCloud Drive and want to know more about the feature, read on

What is iCloud Drive?

Apple's iCloud Drive debuted alongside iOS 8. It's a subscription service that helps you manage documents and other types of files across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It further works with compatible iOS and OS X apps, allowing you to sync and save files made with those apps in iCloud. You can of course also access, import, and edit those files directly from within compatible apps.

Note: You should think of iCloud as an external hard drive...only all your content is securely saved online rather than on a physical hard drive (although we arent entirely sure about the whole secure thing after the 4chan shenanegans).

  Also, because computers and mobile devices don't have to be wired to iCloud, you can access all your content from anywhere in the world. 

The new iCloud Drive simply lets you sync, save, manage, access, import, and edit your iCloud-saved content from compatible devices and apps.

Prior to iCloud Drive, all your files were limited to their respective apps. For example: You could never access a note saved in the Day One app by using a different note-taking app. Also, if you posted a photo to Instagram but later wanted to open the photo in Snapseed, you would need to save the photo to your Camera Roll before opening it in Snapseed. You wouldn't be able to pull photos from your Instagram library using the Snapseed app.

iCloud Drive gets rid of this type of tedious workflow (really really tedious): it lets you save files in the iCloud (where you can access them from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac), and it lets you quickly re-open those files in any app that is compatible with iCloud Drive (regardless of file type or which app you used to create it).
 iCloud Drive even syncs changes in real-time. So, if you start a spreadsheet in Numbers on Mac, you can pick up where you left off on your iPhone or iPad.

 

Cost?

iCloud Drive shares the total storage allotment from your iCloud account. By default, you're given 5 GB of storage for free. This isn't much if you are the kind that stores and syncs lots of files, so you'll probably want to upgrade to additional storage.

iCloud makes this easy on iOS. Just follow these steps:

1. Open Settings | iCloud | Storage
2. Tap the Change Storage Plan button
3. Chosose the storage plan you prefer
4. Click 'Buy' in the upper right-hand corner
5. Sign in with your iCloud account

Pricing for iCloud and iCloud Drive are the same, meaning you don't have to pay twice. Choose a single subscription plan, then you'll be able to save files in iCloud, and use iCloud Drive to manage those files across all your devices.

Subscription plans range from free all the way up to $19.99 a month for 1TB of storage:

• 5GB of storage - Free
• 20GB of storage - $0.99 per month
• 200GB of storage - $3.99 per month
• 500GB of storage - $9.99 per month
• 1TB of storage - $19.99 per month

  You can also upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time.

How does it work on iOS?

Apple's iCloud Drive for iOS rolled out with iOS 8. But there is no iCloud Drive iOS app.

You should think of iCloud Drive on iPhone and iPad as an integrated feature, because it is not a mobile app. You can only get to it through an Apple app (such as Numbers, Keynote, Pages) or a third-party App Store app. With iCloud Drive on your iPhone or iPad, you can only save files to iCloud as well as access and edit those files.

But that's not all: one of the coolest parts about iCloud Drive for iOS is that you can import iCloud Drive documents. In other words, if you created a graphic in an iCloud Drive-compatible app and then saved it via iCloud Drive, you can later import that graphic into a Keynote presentation on your iPhone or Mac.

If you want to organise your files into folders, you have to move to a computer running OS X Yosemite or Windows (more on that later). Keep in mind iCloud Drive doesn't have backward compatibility with iOS 7 or even OS X Mavericks, meaning you won't be able to sync files from your device unless it is running iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. Unfortunately, OS X Yosemite isn't even available yet.

Many reports warned users - who rely on iCloud to sync data - to not active iCloud Drive on their iPhone or iPad until OS X Yosemite releases with built-in iCloud Drive. If you were to go ahead and activate iCloud Drive on your iPhone or iPad, be aware that your files (including app files) won't sync across all your devices. You'd also have no way to manage your iCloud-saved files from your Mac.

If you initially said no to activating iCloud Drive on your iPhone or iPad, you can enable iCloud Drive in just a few taps by following these steps: launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 8 or higher, then tap on iCloud, and select iCloud Drive.
From there, turn on the option for iCloud Drive.

Viewing and editing files on iOS

We'll use Pages for this example to show you how you can open and edit a file stored in your iCloud Drive in iOS 8, but other applications that support iCloud Drive will let you open and edit compatible files in the same manner.
To open a document in Pages on iOS 8 in iCloud Drive:

1. Open Pages
2. Select the plus sign [+] in the Documents list
3. Select iCloud

In this standard iCloud Drive browser, you'll see the same file and directory listing as on your other devices, allowing you to select and import a file to edit from your drive. Whenever you're done editing the file, you can save the file back out to your iCloud Drive and have the edited file synced back to all of your devices.

How does it work on OS X?

iCloud Drive for Mac launched alongside OS X Yosemite.
Just like any other cloud-storage service, such as Dropbox or Google Drive, iCloud Drive appears listed in Finder under your Favourites sidebar. Click on the icon to open your iCloud Drive folder, and then you every file you have saved to iCloud will show up. You can access, import, and edit these files through compatible Mac apps. (You can, for instance, import an Instagram photo you added to iCloud Drive into a Pages document on Mac.)
Your iCloud Drive folder has a gridview by default, displaying your folders and files and every app that has files stored in their own folders. You can distinguish app folders by their icons, visible on top of folders. Apple has also included a handy search box for when your iCloud Drive folder starts filling up with tons of app folders, folders, and files. You can always change the view from grid to list as well as sort by date, name, and even tags.
To add files to iCloud Drive while on a Mac, just drag and drop them into your iCloud Drive folder. If you're using a iCloud Drive-compatible app on an iPhone or iPad, you should see an option to save your file to iCloud via iCloud Drive. All files visible in your iCloud Drive folder for Mac and are also accessible on your iOS device.

How does it work on Windows?

Windows PC owners who want to use iCloud Drive have been able to do so for a while, while Mac users had to wait. On a new support page recently launched, Apple unveiled an updated Windows version of iCloud that lets Windows users download and install a pared-down iCloud Drive.
The Windows version of iCloud Drive lets you sync everything from mail and documents to contacts and calendars (between your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, and Windows PC) You can also store any file in iCloud by dragging your documents and photos into iCloud Drive folder on your PC. The feature will even keep your IE, Firefox, or Google Chrome bookmarks on Windows in sync with your Safari bookmarks on an iPhone or iPad.
Go to Apple's Support Page to download iCloud Drive for Windows 7 or later, but keep in mind you should first upgrade your iPhone or iPad to iOS 8.

Viewing files online

What if you're on another computer that isn't compatible with iCloud Drive or if you're on a shared public computer? Fortunately, you can still access your files. That's because iCloud Drive is also accessible from iCloud.com.

Simply navigate to iCloud.com in your web browser, then sign into your iCloud account. Once you've done that, click the Drive icon to see, download, and upload files to your iCloud Drive storage

 Note: Once iCloud Drive has been enabled on one device, all of your existing iCloud devices will be migrated over to use iCloud Drive as well. If you were previously using iCloud document sync with various applications, then those documents will be available inside of iCloud Drive.

 

Synchronize everything

As you can see, iCloud Drive is almost a Dropbox replacement, letting you synchronize files and folders between your Macs and iOS devices, but also between Windows and any other device by using the iCloud.com interface.

Do you use iCloud Drive? Have you tried syncing files between your devices? How do you like it? Do you want additional features?

Terry claims foul play at Old Trafford

John Terry claims he and fellow defender Branislav Ivanovic were "double headlocked at every corner" during the Premier League leaders' 1-1 draw at Manchester United.

Picture from Fox Sports

The Blues remained unbeaten but were denied an eighth win from nine matches by Robin van Persie's last-gasp goal, which cancelled out Didier Drogba's header.

Van Persie's equaliser came after Ivanovic had been sent off for two bookable offences after twice fouling Angel di Maria, but Terry suggested on Instagram that it was the Chelsea right-back and himself who were sinned against, rather than sinners. (bull)

Terry wrote: "It shows how well we are playing when you come away from Old Trafford disappointed with 1 point".

"Thanks to all the travelling fans for your great support. "#JtandIVAgotdoubleheadlockedfromeverycorner."

Suarez to debut in El Clasico

Head coach Luis Enrique has confirmed that Luis Suarez will make his Barcelona debut during El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

The clash between Barca and Real Madrid has always been the biggest event on the Primera Division calendar but Suarez's return from his four-month ban for his bizzare act, biting Giorgio Chiellini at last summer's World Cup adds extra spice to an already highly-anticipated encounter.

The manager now has a decision to make as to whether he starts his marquee signing on the bench or goes with a three-pronged attack with Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi.

The head coach is highly unlikely to split the Argentinian and the Brazilian, who have scored 13 goals between them in the last five games but he has revealed that Suarez will definitely feature in some capacity on Saturday.

"Today I cannot play this game but you will have assurance he will play minutes," he told Spanish media at his pre-match press conference. "How many? I do not know.

"It's an important occasion for him and he will have minutes."

Opposite number Carlo Ancelotti insisted that the presence of Suarez would not change his approach, but he feels the Uruguayan will be a welcome addition to the Primera Division.

"I'm not here to judge the behaviour of Luis Suarez," he told his own pre-match press conference, televised by Sky Sports News.

"I respect him a lot as a player, he's a fantastic player, he has scored a lot of goals but that doesn't change our tactics of the game with Suarez or without Suarez.

"I think that for football it is good news that Suarez can play in the Spanish league."

While Suarez is in line to play his first El Clasico, Barca midfielder Andres Iniesta is a veteran of such affairs and will make his 30th appearance in the fixture at the Bernabeu.

The Spain international will be the man expected to supply the service to his three prolific team-mates and he admits the entire squad is excited about Suarez's availability.

"He's happy to be available and the rest of us are happy about it too," he told a press conference reported by www.fcbarcelona.com. 

 "We hope he performs as well as he has always done."

Away from the Luis Suarez show, Messi is on the brink of making Primera Division history as he sits just one goal behind Telmo Zarra's record of 251.

The Bernabeu would be the perfect place for the 27-year-old to break the record and Iniesta would be delighted to see him do it, if only because a Messi brace would mean things were going well in the game.

"I just want to see him get past the record, that'd be a good sign for us and mean we are in with a chance of winning," he said.

Barca currently sit at the top of the table, four points clear of Real who are third, and Iniesta is not losing focus on the task at hand amid all the hype surrounding the occasion.

"We will be going there with the intention of winning," he said. 

"It'd be a big mistake to think that we've got a four-point lead and even if we lose we'll still be top.

"We're just thinking about playing well, winning and stretching our lead in the table, which would be important, but not decisive at this stage of the season."

Luis Enrique has Sergio Busquests back in full training and described him as "well" but the midfielder has not yet been given the all-clear by the medical staff to play.

James Rodriguez is set to play in his first El Clasico after starring against Liverpool in Champions League action on Wednesday and he has hailed the spirit in the camp ahead of the crunch clash.

"It will be a tough and complicated match," he said

"I want to approach it calmly, responsibly and also really be up for it, in order to help the team get the win."

"I'm in good form, as is the whole squad. We have a strong group of players and are united, mentally speaking."

"Rodriguez and Isco are both set to keep their places in the Real attack after Ancelotti confirmed that Gareth Bale is not yet fit enough after missing the midweek victory at Anfield through injury."

"He was injured a week ago and is not available for tomorrow," he said. "He is one of our most important players and has great confidence."

"It was not easy for him in the beginning but now he feels good, he knows this league."

Ancelotti also revealed that Pepe has fully recovered after a knock and will start alongside the returning Sergio Ramos, while Dani Carvajal could take the place of Alvaro Arbeloa at right-back.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 13 career goals against Barcelona, will be looking to continue his run of having scored in every league game this season with 15 goals in seven games.

Arsene Wenger wants Gunners to reach boiling point

Arsene Wenger remains confident his side can  force their way back into the Barclays Premier League title race.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger remains confident his side can reach 100 degrees (boiling point) over the next 10 games and force their way back into the Barclays Premier League title race.

The Gunners head to Sunderland on Saturday in seventh place after five draws have left them nine points behind leaders Chelsea, who are away to Manchester United on Sunday.

Only a dramatic late recovery, with two goals in the final two minutes, secured victory in the Champions League at Anderlecht on Wednesday night.

Wenger accepts his side need to add an efficiency to their game at both ends of the pitch, but feels it will all come together over the next few weeks.

"The main thing is there, the attitude and the quality, but water boils at 100 Degrees and not at 99, so we have to add that degree," said Wenger.

"I look at how we can be more efficient, that is my only worry."

"We dominate our games. It is just that when we have a weaker moment we pay for it, which is why we have to produce more effort defensively as a team."

"If we are more efficient in 10 games time then we will be in a much better position, so let's start tomorrow at Sunderland."

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is set to return having served a one-match European ban in midweek.

Wenger feels the 24-year-old has continued his improvement but warns the Pole faces a "big fight" to stay number one ahead of Colombian David Ospina, who is currently sidelined by injury, and Emiliano Martinez, the 22-year-old Argentinian who did not look out of place when standing in against Anderlecht.

"One of the problems he had recently was coming out of his goal, but I don't think it is a deep problem," Wenger said of Szczesny.

"I want him to come out, I encourage him to come out, but overall he is doing well and is improving always."

"Wojciech is an important player, but he is in a big fight with Ospina and Martinez, I think that will keep him on his toes."

"At the moment I think he is doing alright, but he is in a big fight."

Arsenal will be looking to put a few more goals past their former keeper Vito Mannone, who shipped eight at Southampton last weekend.

The Italian, who left in the summer, wants the Sunderland players to repay the ticket and travel expenses of their 2,500 fans who made the 653-mile round trip from Wearside.

It is a gesture which comes as no surprise to Wenger.

"Vito is from a normal background like we all are. His gesture was spontaneous and not calculated because it was quite an expensive one, so I think he shows that he cares," said Wenger.

"He did well here, but was in the position of Martinez, a number three."

"Mannone had the quality, but didn't play the games and after a certain age you have to let them go."

"So he went to Sunderland, where he was not first choice at the start, but he gained his place and I was not surprised because he is quick, confident and overall he has done extremely well there."

The Proper Way to Bench Press

No other exercise is more revered than the bench press. 
I heard every it's national bench day across America, in gyms every Monday.
It is safe to call it National "shoulder pain day' also, I guess.

While it is true that it is a great exercise, the bench press isn’t the best choice for many lifters and, unfortunately, the majority don’t know how to actually perform it correctly. 

Taking a step back and perfecting your technique can make the difference between a shoulder injury, a dead body, and a ripped body.

Tips to Bench Press the Right Way

There are very important key points to remember when performing the bench press to ensure a job well done with healthy shoulders and longevity also.

1. Keep a tight grip on the bar at all times, a tighter grip equates to more tension in the lower arms, upper back and chest.

2. Keep your chest up (thoracic extension) throughout the movement.

3. Elbows should be tucked and end up at approximately 45 degrees from your side.

4. Plant your feet firmly on the ground and actively drive them downward during the lift, to create more full body tension.

5. As you row the weight downward, you should be simultaneously driving your chest upward.
 
6. Once the bar touches your chest, drive it as hard as you can back up to lockout. Your intent should always be to move it as fast as you can.  

 Now, with these tips in mind, you can now engage in bench press process


Step-by-Step Process

Step 1:  Grab the bar at an equal distance on each side of the knurling.  For most lifters, this is typically around shoulder width, or slightly greater than shoulder width apart.  Squeeze very tightly to create tension in your hands, forearms, upper arms, shoulders, back and chest.

Step 2:  Take a deep breath, driving your chest upwards, pulling your shoulder blades back and down into the bench.

Step 3:  Plant your feet and drive them downward.  Squeeze your buttocks to tighten up your hips and lock them into place.

Step 4:  Unrack the weight (with the help of a spotter) and move the bar directly over your chest *WITHOUT losing the tension in your upper back or allowing your chest to collapse.

Step 5:  Row the weight downward under control until it reaches your chest.  Ensure that your wrists and elbows stay in alignment.  This will give you the best leverage and keep the weight centered.

Step 6: Without allowing your chest to collapse or losing any tension, coordinate your leg drive with driving the bar powerfully back to lockout. 

Step 7:  Catch your breath and repeat

The 48 Laws Of Power

Law 1

Never Outshine the Master

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior.  In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.  Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.

Law 2

Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies

Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy.  They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove.  In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies.  If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.

 Law 3

Conceal your Intentions

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions.  If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense.  Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

 Law 4

Always Say Less than Necessary

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control.  Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.  Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.  The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

 Law 5

So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life

Reputation is the cornerstone of power.  Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides.  Make your reputation unassailable.  Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen.  Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations.  Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.

 Law 6

Court Attention at all Cost

Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing.  Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion.  Stand out.  Be conspicuous, at all cost.  Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.

  Law 7

Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit

Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause.  Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed.  In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered.  Never do yourself what others can do for you.

 Law 8

Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary

When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control.  It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process.  Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack.  You hold the cards.

 Law 9

Win through your Actions, Never through Argument

Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory:  The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion.  It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word.  Demonstrate, do not explicate.

 Law 10

Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky

You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease.  You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster.  The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you.  Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.

Law 11

Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted.  The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have.  Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear.  Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

 Law 12

Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim

One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones.  Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people.  Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will.  A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.

 Law 13

When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest,

Never to their Mercy or Gratitude

If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds.  He will find a way to ignore you.  Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion.  He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.

 Law 14

Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy

Knowing about your rival is critical.  Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead.  Better still: Play the spy yourself.  In polite social encounters, learn to probe.  Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions.  There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.

 Law 15

Crush your Enemy Totally

All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely.  (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.)  If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out.  More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation:  The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge.  Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.

 Law 16

Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

Too much circulation makes the price go down:  The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear.  If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired.  You must learn when to leave.  Create value through scarcity.

 Law 17

Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability

Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions.  Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable.  Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves.  Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.

 Law 18

Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous

The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves.  A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target.  Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle.  You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.

 Law 19

Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person

There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way.  Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge.  They are wolves in lambs’ clothing.  Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.

 Law 20

Do Not Commit to Anyone

It is the fool who always rushes to take sides.  Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself.  By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

 Law 21

Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark

No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons.  The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are.  Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.

 Law 22

Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power

When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead.  Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane.  Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first.  By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him.  Make surrender a tool of power.

 Law 23

Concentrate Your Forces

Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point.  You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time.  When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.

 Law 24

Play the Perfect Courtier

The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity.  He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot oblique and graceful manner.  Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

 Law 25

Re-Create Yourself

Do not accept the roles that society foists on you.  Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience.  Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you.  Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

 Law 26

Keep Your Hands Clean

You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds.  Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.

Law 27

Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something.  Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking.  Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf.  In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

 Law 28

Enter Action with Boldness

If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it.  Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution.  Timidity is dangerous:  Better to enter with boldness.  Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity.  Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

 Law 29

Plan All the Way to the End

The ending is everything.  Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others.  By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.

 Law 30

Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless

Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease.  All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more.  Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions.  Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.

 Law 31

Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal

The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice:  Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose.  Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose.  Put them on the horns of a dilemma:  They are gored wherever they turn.

 Law 32

Play to People’s Fantasies

The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant.  Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment.  Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.

 Law 33

Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew

Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall.  That weakness is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure.  Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

  Law 34

Be Royal in your Own Fashion:  Act like a King to be treated like one

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others.  By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

 Law 35

Master the Art of Timing

Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time.  Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually.  Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power.  Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.

 Law 36

Disdain Things you cannot have:  Ignoring them is the best Revenge

By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility.  The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it.  It is sometimes best to leave things alone.  If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it.  The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem. 

Law 37

Create Compelling Spectacles

Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them.  Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence.  Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.

Law 38

Think as you like but Behave like others

If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them.  They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior.  It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.

Law 39

Stir up Waters to Catch Fish

Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive.  You must always stay calm and objective.  But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage.  Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.

Law 40

Despise the Free Lunch

What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation.  What has worth is worth paying for.  By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit.  It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence.  Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

Law 41

Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes

What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after.  If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them.  Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making:  Establish your own name and identity by changing course.  Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.

Law 42

Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter

Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill.  If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence.  Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable.  Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them.  Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.

Law 43

Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others

Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you.  You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction.  A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn.  And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses.  Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear.  Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

Law 44

Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect

The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy.  The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact.  By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson.  Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.

Law 45

Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once

Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit.  Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt.  If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things.  If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.

Law 46

Never appear too Perfect

Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses.  Envy creates silent enemies.  It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.

Law 47

Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop

The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril.  In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat.  Do not allow success to go to your head.  There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning.  Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.

Law 48

Assume Formlessness

By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack.  Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move.  Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed.  The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order.  Everything changes.