5 Great Ways To Start A Super Conversation In A Group Situation

Starting a conversation is not always easy. Especially when you don´t feel comfortable with the people you are conversing with.

There could be an eerie feeling of awkwardness at the start of the interaction unless you know the five secrets...

Here are five secrets to starting a great conversation with a group of people:

1. Get everyone involved.

When starting a conversation, introducing people to each other could be necessary. That is if you don´t know each other or some of those present don´t.

Then, connect one of your group to the topic you are talking about by inviting him to contribute. Or you might simply relate one person to another with their commonalities to encourage dialogue.

2. Choose a topic.

When starting your conversation, choose a general topic. One that everyone can relate to. This will let everyone feel that they belong. This is a great way to encourage everyone to share ideas.

3. Do not drill with questions.

This should be avoided especially when asking one person only. The person may feel that he or she is facing a firing squad. Asking too many questions to a person may let him or her feel uncomfortable.

By doing so you might give that person a reason to leave the conversation. The others may also feel uncomfortable with this - they might think that they will be asked next!

4. Break the ice.

At first, there may be awkwardness among the group. You can work to break the ice. Each one of the members is just waiting for someone to do this. You can do this by cracking a joke to make them laugh. You can also start by telling a story. This may lead them to share their story, too. Then, everything will follow.

5. Ask open-ended questions.

These require a more than yes or no answer. These questions will make the flow of your conversation much smoother if done intelligently. These questions can even lead you to another topic.

Asking questions allows you to quickly test the waters to see which topics people are interested in discussing. Just be careful to ask with a pleasing tone.

It is not necessary that you use all of these tips or to use them in order. You can simply choose which ones are most appropriate for the situations you find yourself in. What matters is using these tips to kick off a conversation on a positive upbeat tone.

Once you start experimenting with new ways to start conversations you will noltice what works best for your personality. At this point it will all be much easier and before you know it you may even enjoy meeting new people.

3 Simple Keys to Getting Rid of Fear

Fear is your enemy – no other way to describe it.  I’m not talking about that natural life preserving action along with a major boost of adrenalin that happens if a wild animal is coming at you.  I’m talking about the fears people live with day in and day out. 

Fear is your enemy.  Someone once described fear as, “Sand in the machinery of life.”  Fear doesn’t help you, it hinders you.  Fear doesn’t get you through an open door; it keeps you in the hallway.  Fear never helps you put your best foot forward; it just keeps both of your feet in cement.

The psychology of today is, “Learn to live with your fears”, “Embrace your fears”, “It’s normal to have fears – everybody does.”  

It’s true; lots of people do have fears. And there are people who are trying to learn how to live with their fears, and embrace them.

But if it’s “normal” to have fears, then why would the Bible talk about being delivered from all your fears?

Think about it - if it’s normal to have fears, and you had no fears, then you would be abnormal, right?  Well why would God want you to be abnormal?  

He doesn’t.  He truly desires for you to be set free from all your fears.

There are many facets and aspects of fear.  One of the big ones is having fear of what others think of you.  People do things, say things, and even buy things because of the fear that they have of what others think.  

Many times people join clubs or organizations because they are afraid that if they don’t, others might think badly of them.  

People say things and talk a certain way because they are afraid that they might not say the right thing in front of the right people.  

People purchase items because of fear not measuring up to those around them.  And on and on it goes.  

You don’t have to live with fear.  Here are 3 simple keys to getting rid of fear. 

First, start by realizing that God truly loves you and that His love for you is unconditional.  The Bible teaches that nothing can separate you from His love. Nothing.  His love for you does not change, ever!

Second, ask God to help you to get rid of all your fears.  He has promised to deliver you from all your fears.  That is His desire for you – a life without fear.

Third, make decisions based on what is best for you, not how it may or may not appear to others.  You’ll never, ever be able to please everyone, so stop trying to.  You’ll never, ever be right in everybody’s eyes, so stop trying to.  

When you make a decision, ask yourself, “Why am I making this decision?  Is it based on fear?”  Make decisions based on what is right and best for your life, regardless of what others think.  

You can live without fear.

3 Positive Steps to discover the purpose of life

In this article we will discuss the concept of life and its underlying principle. We will be going through a step by step procedure, exploring your feelings and options, and by the end of this article, you should have a fairly solid tool you could immediately employ in your life, to give it a meaningful direction.

There are three steps to the process of discovering the purpose of your life:

Understanding the principle of choice

Creating your underlying principle

Aligning your life with the underlying principle

Understanding the principle of choice

Norman Vincent Peale has this to say about the power of choice. “The greatest power we have is the power of choice. It is an actual fact, that if you have been groping under unhappiness, you can choose to be joyous, instead. And, by effort, lift yourself into joy. If you tend to be fearful, you can overcome that misery by choosing to have courage. The whole trend and the quality of anyone’s life is determined by the choice that are made”.

Choosing is the most important activity of your mind, because by making a choice, you are proclaiming your desires to your subconscious mind. Once the subconscious mind get to know your desires, it is going to do anything to manifest them in your life. The choices you make in your life become your goal. And, if you are sincere in pursuing them, there is no reason why you should not accomplish them.

Indecision, on the other hand, not only creates frustration and anxiety, but can also confuse the subconscious mind about what you want. But it is important that the choices you make are made by you, in accordance with your true desires, purposes and aptitude. A lot us of let others make choices for us, or make our choices according to what we think is ‘correct’, even if that means that we go against our wishes. What is right for someone is may not be right for you, and the way to know this is listening to what your heart says.

So, begin with, make a list of things which interests you; things which you have always enjoyed, which makes you feel better, which inspires you to surge ahead, no matter what obstacles you face. Do you like doing something creative, or something artistic? Do you enjoy nature, do you like the sea? Do you enjoy helping others? Do you get pleasure out of making a difference in other people’s life?

What ever it is that interests you, go ahead and make a list under the following headlines:

Things you love to do:

______________________________________

What is it that you love in this thing and why? How you could do this for money, and make a living out of it?

__________________

__________________

Creating Your Underlying Principle:

The next step is to examine the list you just made and find out if there is any recurring them. Maybe, it is the contribution that keeps coming up, or an effect to seek or give love, or helping your parents cope with old age. Whatever it is try to identify the central them of the things you love to do, and try to put it in a short and precise statement. This will be your ‘Mission Statement’. It may even be a quote by a famous person, or a philosophy that has influenced you. Of course, as you grow up, this statement could evolve, but its soul will remain the same. Now, write down your Mission Statement.

Aligning your LIFE with the Underlying Principle:

The final step in this journey is to map your path to your ultimate purpose. Make the little changes in your lifestyle that would accommodate this principle in your life. LIVE this principle each and every day. It might take a few days, but you will certainly feel the difference in your enthusiasm for life. If you realize that you love being amidst nature, plan out your holiday. Maybe an outing with your children could be enough to recoup with your energy. On the other hand, you might even want to change your job, or start a new business, that is more in line with your mission.

Remember – “Do what you love, and money will follow”.

Bad Company Corrupts Good Character

In 1 Corinthians 15:33, Paul wrote: “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.” This statement should be your guiding light when selecting your next roommates. 

In the same way that your family influenced you growing up, the people you live with now will also change the way you speak, act and think. This is great news if you pick solid, Christian roommates who will help you to grow. Proverbs 27:17 says that “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

However, the influence of your roommates can also corrupt your good character according to the verse from 1 Corinthians. Rather than being sharpened, you can be slowly whittled away. The worst part is, this happens slowly and gradually and you may not even realize you're changing.

So how can you avoid bad company in your new roommates? Make sure you choose people that you are familiar with. People who you've had a chance to watch for a good year or so. This will ensure that you know the person you're about to move in with. Spend some time with them in a variety of situations. Is there anything questionable about their beliefs or activities? Ask a couple people for advice as well. Some of your friends may have seen a different side of your potential roommate.

What if you're not thinking of moving in with anyone you know? What if it has to be someone random? This is most likely the case if you're moving into a dorm your first year of college. You're really going to have to rely on God to provide you with someone who will be good company. Either way, it may be good to have some up front conversations to lay down a framework for what your apartment/dorm will be like. You can let your roommate know, gently of course, that drugs and heavy drinking aren't cool with you and that you're not really into partying too much. Don't come across as self-righteous and your roommate will understand.

If you're in a situation where you've been thrown in with a roommates with bad character, find some support outside of your dorm. Join a church nearby or find an on-campus group to hang out with. A group that can sharpen you and give you advice and help. Through them, you might even have an opportunity to change your roommate into good company.

3 Ways to Use the Secret in Your Life

The first thing everyone wants to know after watching the move the secret is, “How do I sue the Secret?”  That’s understandable because although the movie is good and it does introduce you to the law of attraction it does not quite tell you how to properly apply it to your life.

The First Step

One of the first things you can do in using the secret law of attraction in y our life is to educate yourself as much as possible on the subject of the law of attraction.  Learn the very nature of the law of attraction and how it influences your life.  

The core of the secret, are your thoughts which goes a lot deeper than negative verses positive thought.  If you understood the truly nature of thought you would be a huge step above those who think they understand the law of attraction.

The Second Step

The second step to mastering the secret law of attraction is to get a journal and begin to write.  Do you know most people have no clue what their predominant thought patters is, nor do they even know what it is that they want.

When you get a journal you can begin to explore your feelings on a much deeper level.  Seeing your feelings on paper clears it up from being cluttered in your mind.

The Third Step

The third step to using the secret law of attraction is to take small inspired action towards your goals.  With your new law of attraction journal you can begin to track daily every action you take that is in alignment with your goals.  Its very hard for most people to be aware of the way they spend their time.  When you set a specific plan and track it in your journal you have a better change of seeing how your week has gone, your month and then your year.

Much time can pass with many of us taking the same tiresome actions that get us the same lousy results again and again.  Then many people say that the law of attraction did not work in their lives but actually the law of attraction did work.  It simply worked to give you more of the same conditions you were creating again and again.