Tag Archives: self-help

The Future of Education: Free College Courses-Textbooks

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Who says you can’t get anything of value for free anymore?

Now education is open sourced.  Several top universities are offering free on-line courses to anyone on any topic imaginable. There is no excuse NOT to learn a new language, skill, or to keep abreast of the newest technologies.  Just like You-tube, Firefox, and GoogleVoice have offered valuable free services, now colleges are catching the FREE wave.   There are even over 160 free textbooks. (The Textbook Revolution also is a resource for free books.)  You can learn right from your home or wherever you have computer access.  The training is free, but you pay for testing and accreditation.  For those who are changing careers or upgrading their skill-set and are tight on money, this could be the answer.  Knowledge is still valuable even without the certification which you can get when you can afford it later.  The knowledge now can assist in getting that new job or promotion.

ImageLet’s say you want to learn calculus, math, science, computer science, finances, humanities, physics, history, or prep for the Math SAT or GMAT, try out http://www.khanacademy.org.  They have over 3500 videos. WOW!

“MIT OpenCourseWare makes the materials used in the teaching of substantially all of MIT’s undergraduate and graduate courses—more than 2,100 in all—available on the Web, free of charge, to any user in the world. OCW receives an average of 1.9 million web site visits per month from more than 215 countries and territories worldwide. To date, more than 125 million individuals have accessed OCW materials.” http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

And, they aren’t the only ones, Harvard, Berkeley, and the University of Texas also offer free courses. https://www.edx.org

http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses (550 free on-line courses)

http://www.openculture.com/free_textbooks (160 Free text books)

http://www.academicearth.org (Pulls together lectures from multiple universities on a topic)

http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/ (Can’t forget Apple University. There’s an app for that!)

http://www.free-ed.net/free%2Ded/

Another school based in South Africa advertises, “Regenesys Business School is the first business school in the world to offer free business education, making all learning materials freely available online in this revolutionary initiative.” Be sure to check them out also at http://regenesys.co.za/free-edu/

The OpenCourseWare Consortium Aggregates over 22 Universities

“Most courses offered on OpenCourseWare are available as free audio or video lectures for free, and under open licenses. The easiest way to find a course you’re interested in is to search the OpenCourseWare Consortium site, which aggregates courses from over 22 universities in the US alone, including MIT, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, and the University of Michigan, and features courses on tons of different subjects, from business and economics to architecture and physics. Most universities have their specialties, of course (MIT, for example, has a bounty of resources in engineering), but between them all, you should be able to find pretty much anything you want,” write Life Hacker in their article, Where to Get the Best Free Education.

The future is bright and a new education is just a click away, FOR FREE!

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

YOU can’t become rich without ENRICHING OTHERS.

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Enrich Others

[Note: Wealth isn’t just that green paper!]

True wealth is a feeling of being surrounded by love, joy, and completeness.

Just as true wealth is fullness; true poverty is emptiness. You can have all the money in the world and be poor and have very little financially and feel very rich. With God’s blessing, you can have BOTH but that can’t happen without enriching others.

So Many Have So Much And Yet Are Still So Poor

Don’t judge your own or any other person’s worth, value, or well-being by their bank account. True poverty is aloneness, incompleteness, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness. With all the blessings around them, the truly poor find it difficult to find anything to be joyous about. The truly rich are appreciative of everything no matter how small, their sight/hearing, their home, their last meal, their family, and maybe just the fact that they are alive to see another day with those they love.

You can have it all and feel like you have nothing, OR you can have nothing and still feel on top of the world.  But one fact is critically important to remember, if you want more wealth, what you do has to enrich others. Practice giving joyfully without expecting a pay back, otherwise it’s just a swap or exchange and doesn’t attract divine blessings to you. Take the example of parents as your guide. Their motives are so pure. Parents are natural enrichers; from the moment their children are born, their thoughts are focused on how they can enrich that child’s life. Their happiness is in seeing the child grow, prosper, and be happy. That’s the model we want to emulate. Now, go ahead and claim your real wealth. Begin by thinking about whose life can you enrich today.

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

A Note to Naysayers: “Just Watch Me!”

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Success is the best way to quiet the naysayers! “Watch ME!” That’s the only response you need for naysayers. There will always be people in your life who will not believe in you and who will try to discourage you. Instead of allowing their lack of support to dishearten you, instead use that energy of inspiration to “show them!”

Don’t Waste Your Energy on Naysayers.

Don’t waste any energy on the naysayers, instead focus all of your energy on attaining your goals. You’ve only got so much energy.  You can spend it trying to convince others to believe in, support, and encourage you, or you can use that same energy to achieve your dreams.  You either are all talk (as they may think) or you are about action.  When your results are apparent, your talk is unnecessary.  As they say, “Talk is cheap!’  The best proof and the most delicious ending is you showing up, showing out, and becoming the success you know you can become.  Stay focused on the positive; right now you don’t have the luxury of a negative thought or any negative energies because you are on a path of success.  Stay in your positive zone and say, “Watch me!”

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

Tests Are Tools for Growth

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All the lessons, tests, and experiences of the past have made you who you are today.  Your perspective affects your outcome.  Choose to see that life is on purpose. You won’t learn from your adversities if you see them only as bad luck, negative, or fate.

Tests may be your vehicles for growth so face them, learn from them, and grow. Don’t hate the messenger, instead focus on the message.

What can you learn about your current adversity?  Your tests today will strengthen you for tomorrow, so don’t begrudge your adversities.

 

Give People a Reason to Support You

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Support Comes Naturally When You Get Serious!

How can you realistically and honestly expect others to believe in you and support your endeavors when you have not demonstrated by your persistent and faithful action, enthusiasm, commitment, and focus that you truly believe in your own dreams.

Faith attracts others while desperation and doubt detract.

The Creator, His Messengers, the universe, teachers, friends, mentors, angels, and even strangers are ready to help you if you would only ask and believe. Inspiration and enthusiasm come naturally when you get serious about your goals and are doing something about them.  Realizing that your amazing destiny is within your reach is of the utmost urgency; so stake your claim now.  The world is in desperate need of the contribution that you alone were created and destined to offer.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.