1. Don’t use tobacco.
2. Follow cancer-screening guidelines.
3. Eat less fat and more fruits and vegetables.
4. Exercise regularly.
5. Protect your skin from the sun.
6. Practice safe sex.
7. If you drink alcohol, limit your consumption to a moderate level.

Once there were three bricklayers busily working in the hot afternoon sun. When asked what they were doing, the first bricklayer answered gruffly “I’m laying bricks.” The second man replied, “I’m putting up a wall.” But the third bricklayer said enthusiastically and with obvious pride, “I am building a beautiful cathedral!”
~ Source Unknown

In our work-life, we certainly don’t want to be known as one who builds walls! Today’s business consultants may think they invented the idea of teamwork, but consider the level of cooperation it took to build cathedrals!

Jim Doran, director of a high school in Panama, explained things this way to graduating students: “The cathedrals of Europe were built at a time when life was very difficult. All but a privileged few were oppressed. Education for the masses was non-existent while disease and war ravaged the countryside. Yet, during this time of darkness the very people who were so oppressed built the most beautiful examples of religious architecture ever known. People came from hundreds of miles away to build a cathedral. Each person lent his or her skill and labor to a structure that few of them would see completed. Yet, they knew they were part of something that went beyond the boundaries of normal existence."

Antioxidants are more concentrated in the skin than in the pulp, so it’s smart to eat the skin. Cornell scientists found that apple extracts made with skin had twice the anti-cancer activity of extracts of peeled apples.

To remove possible pesticide residue, Consumers Union advises washing apple skins with “a very diluted dishwashing detergent” before eating, or buying organically grown apples, which have little or no residue. Store apples in a plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper, where they should keep as long as six weeks.

Two Questions:
1. “How can I get the people to staff my business?”
2. “How can I keep people once I get them?”

In today’s tight labor market, this is the complaint of every business owner, human resource manager, and production manager. Without people, you can’t deliver goods or services to your customers. The customer doesn’t want to hear about your staffing problems. The customer will soon go elsewhere to meet her needs if you can’t do it. Without people, your business withers and dies.

The direct cost of finding, hiring, and training each new employee is currently estimated at 1.5 times his/her salary. For jobs paying $18,000 a year, this is $27,000 for each turnover. If you are in a situation of hiring three people a year to replace one position, this can run to $81,000 yearly! If these people are retained, this money can fall directly to your bottom line.