Expanding your mind often goes hand in hand with extending your horizons.

Indeed, some of the most spiritually enriching experiences often materialize through travel – few activities are as intellectually stimulating as navigating through unfamiliar landscapes, meeting new people and tapping into novel cultural traditions.

So if you’re up for a bit of global rebalancing, here are six cathartic vacations to take in 2019. (1)

1. Isle of Iona

Even if you’re not religious, visiting Scotland’s Isle of Iona is an unforgettable experience. It’s considered the cradle of Christianity for Caledonia as it’s where St Columba established the religion’s first mission in the territory. Visitors commonly report that it’s a ‘thin place’ where the barriers between physical and spiritual dimensions are easily breached.

2. Blarney Castle

If you’re familiar with Ireland, you’ll know that great craic (conversation) is the foundation of the nation’s culture and the Emerald Isle has never been short of poets and wordsmiths with worldwide reputations. Kissing the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle supposedly endows anyone with the power of eloquence, so it might be a worthwhile stop on the European leg of your trip.

3. Loreto Bay Shamanism

With verdant valleys and blissful beaches nestled between magnificent mountains, Mexico’s Loreto Bay is one of the world’s most beautiful spots. So it’s the perfect place for a five-day retreat featuring activities like shamanic journeys, sound healing, and visioning. Check out bookyogaretreats.com for booking information.

4. Stonehenge

No one knows for sure what the true purpose of this massive ring of monolithic stones in Wiltshire, England really is. But it’s been around for eons and the best guess is that it was used by Druids and Celts for ancient religious ceremonies. Taking an organized Stonehenge tour should shed more light on this iconic site’s history.

5. White lions of Great Timbavati

The Timbavati Game Reserve in South Africa is home to some of the world’s most spiritual animals – the world famous white lions. And two or three times a year, you can take a Star Lion tour to see these rare felines in person. Visit starlionjourneys.org for more information.

6. Shaolin Kung Fu

Not all holistic health journeys are sedated – Shaolin Kung Fu training in Deng Fen, China, is a prime example. If you want to train to be a serene yet lethal exponent of this ancient art by studying under the expert eye of Master Shi Yanchen, book your high-kicking vacay at uptrek.com.

Getting there

When it comes to finding the best deals on flights from the US to any international location, Skyscanner.net is tough to beat. Its powerful comparison engine means that results are ultra-relevant, precise and up-to-date.

And if you’re reaching departures in your own vehicle, Looking4.com has airport parking for LAX and virtually every other major airport across the nation and beyond. When you’re embarking on a chilled-out vacay where the main purpose is cleansing your body and soul, you don’t need the pre-flight hassle of taking public transport.

Pick whichever of these cathartic vacations best floats your boat and you’ll have a totally brilliant time – you can thank us later.

So ends our list, but please share your own spiritual vacay tips in the comments section.

With the world’s unceasing evolution, there are several small business ideas that are worth pursuing. Of course, you’ll want to start a business that will not only bring in more profit but will also survive long-term. By creating the kind of business that suits your personality and skill set, you’ll have the chance to become your own boss and build something that’s very rewarding in itself.

If you’re a soon-to-be entrepreneur in a wide range of industries, here are the top ten hot small business ideas you can try to help you make more money:

1. Business Planning Service 

If you’re the kind of person who always has that business mindset, then you may be ready to venture on a business planning service. Under this category, what’s expected from you is your expertise and skills in writing a business plan, which is undoubtedly essential to any business. With more entrepreneurs who need the whole process of drafting a business plan, this kind of small business habit will surely be a hit. In case you need help from someone with the right experience, we suggest that you reach out to experts from scaling partners. They have the right experience to guide you through the international expansion hurdles and you can find more information here.

2. Accounting and Bookkeeping Services 

If you’re a licensed CPA or an accounting specialist, you can offer accounting and bookkeeping services to a wide array of clients. With your knowledge and experience in processing invoice and payroll, generation of balance sheets, and tax filing, your clients will definitely line up for your services. So, if you have the right amount of resources to offer your accounting or bookkeeping service, this can be one of the best small business ideas to consider.

3. Facilities Support Services 

If you have a good background in construction and maintenance, offering facilities support services can be a profitable small business idea to get started. This business focuses on providing a variety of services such as cleaning, painting, security, and building maintenance. With several companies that need these kinds of facilities services, you can make your way toward generating a healthy income out of this business.

4. Graphic Design

With the help of some computer programs, you can be the best graphic designer in town. Thus, if you have experience in art or design, graphic design is one of the best business ideas. Since many individuals and companies need a well-designed website, print works, and marketing ads, operating this kind of business will bring in more money. Apart from having a well designed website with attractive graphics, an online business also needs to ensure that the eCommerce or Shopify store follows the ADA WCAG compliance rules & guidelines for making it increasingly accessible to an extensive group of users, including those with vision-related and physical disabilities. Here, one can consult with agencies like “Xcompliant” for making any site WordPress ADA compliant with the best disability compliance features.

5. Event Planning

In today’s digital world, more people are looking for event planners who can pull off major events. Whether it’s a kid’s birthday party or a mother’s retirement celebration, event planning has become an in-demand small business idea these days. Thus, if you find managing the designs and logistics of your family’s events enjoyable, then you’ll have a brighter future in this kind of business. To be successful in your event planning business, you can start by offering services to partiers within your community, and you will, later on, receive recommendations and referrals.

If you consider event planning as one of the hot business ideas today, gather all the information you need to get started. 

6. Food on Wheels or Food Trucks 

Another small business idea you can explore is the food on wheels. Due to its convenience and accessibility, any food can be sold using mobile vehicles. From burgers, hotdogs, and fries to vegetarian meals, it’ll be easier for you to put up a money-making food truck. However, before you start selling food on wheels, be sure to comply with a set of ordinances and safety compliance standards that your local health department will require.

7. Catering Services

If you love cooking, but you don’t want to work in a restaurant, offering a catering service can be an excellent opportunity to start your own small business. Although you may need a kitchen, servers, and some assistant cooks, running a catering service is more manageable than opening a restaurant. If you see yourself in the cooking industry, then you should start this kind of business now.

8. Coffee Shop

Despite the most prominent coffee shops operating in the market today, starting an independent one on your own is still a big deal. If you have experience in making and serving lattes, espressos, and cappuccinos, a coffee shop in your own name can be a lucrative business. All you need to do is to put up your store in a convenient area for your customers and their vehicles, serve high-quality beverages made from specialty coffees, and know all the essential things before managing a business.

9. Pet Grooming Services 

There are many animal lovers out there. Given such a situation, building up your pet grooming services can really be a good small business option. If you love hanging out with your pets and grooming them all day, you’ll surely have a future in your grooming business. So, start using your grooming skills and tools to serve your clients, and get the word-of-mouth recommendations you deserve.

10. Moving Company

Here’s the catch: many people are planning their move every year. Whether it’s a household or business relocation, starting up your own moving company can be a perfect small business idea. From moving boxes to many pieces of furniture, you can earn a lot of money by becoming a moving service provider. You can also save money from hiring more manpower so you can use that money on investing in apps that help you in mapping the fastest route home and to other destinations.

Conclusion

These days, venturing into small business ideas is becoming popular. With your interests, skills, and personality in your mind, you can turn the things that you love into a lucrative business. So, if you see yourself as a successful entrepreneur someday, use this list of hot small business ideas as your guide to selecting the right business path for you.

Today, the e-commerce market promises a significant offer for grocers as sales are shooting off the roof at over 13% annual increment, according to Kanta Worldpanel data.

Also, statistics from Kanta Worldpanel states that online grocery transactions are likely to grow to up to ten times the in-store sales in the next four years, reaching over $100 billion before 2023. Even with the promising trends, grocery retailers still have the chance to expand their horizon into the e-commerce space.

According to a presentation by IGD at the Grocery shop conference held in 2018, online grocery only has about 2% of the United States shopping activities. Retailers must work really hard to attract new shoppers, and increase the multi-shopping rate for first-time customers.

 To fully utilize the journey, retailers must deep-research on how to integrate their digital offering to meet the needs of customers.

This digital offering includes options that swiftly deliver a product to consumers. The complicated task of fulfilling these promises is to incorporate several behind-the-scene strategies to provide shoppers with an easy and Swift experience ranging from grocery selection to delivery.  

 Retailers who put their heart at getting these fundamental processes achieved will have their business experience excellent growth and positive turnaround while building a reputation.  

According to Mercato, an online grocery store,  the following pillars will guide retailers in the process of creating a successful grocery delivery business.

Ist pillar: Incorporation

While most retailers have already integrated technological advancement like e-commerce grocery apps to skyrocket their sales, incorporation still remains the key.

Complicated or out-of-date systems that lack connection and infrequent communication can cause an operational setback, resulting in loss of revenue.

An incorporative approach will blend areas with weak connections. A few of the areas includes series of data sets (shoppers, products, and associates), third-party systems (coupons and loyalty), business processes/workflow, and everyone involved in the operational activities of the business.

2nd pillar- Analysis

Keeping track of shopper’s key data can help acquire imperative information, which can be significantly beneficial for competition analysis.  

 To utilize data for a more comprehensive view of shoppers, a retailer should create a digital platform that encourages e-commerce transactions and allows them to keep track of the data, enabling customer relationship control.

The retailer should then utilize the transactional data, strictly using every single data to the customer’s advantage and service delivery. They should continuously update this data and improve the overall customer’s experience.

3rd pillar- Organization

To ensure that the team, products, and processes are perfectly working to offer a satisfactory customer experience, it’s imperative to organize and perfect all sections of the grocery e-commerce operation.

It’s critical to gain trust and operations from different levels of the organization, from frontline managers to associates, cashiers, operations and logistics and head office. Any department flaking up with late assembly, packing, processing, and driving must be made to blend into the hardworking spirit. Of course, this involves hard work, but approaching the Job at hand strategically can make a huge difference in customer loyalty. Consider implementing prime quality custom retail boxes as part of this strategy, ensuring that the presentation of your products aligns seamlessly with the dedication displayed throughout your operational processes.

4th pillar-empowerment

Investing in-store associate is a very good way to land more customers.

Even with the modern day increasingly love for digital engagement, statistics indicate that the human touch still plays a crucial role. This is more important in services like click and collects.

 An empowering employee can help deliver excellent service to shoppers by:

Creating a solid communication with employees as they’d do with a customer

 Engage them in productive conversations through their preferred medium. Provide complete and concise information as regards to the sales target, company goals, and the individual role of employees to overall success.

Equipping employee with the right tool to do a good job

 These include sharing mobile devices among staffs to complete a transaction or for inventory searches

Organizing an up-to-date training

It’s important to provide accurate and up-to-date training and support.

Investing in the digital world

Incorporating AI-inspired digital solutions allows an employee the chance to cooperate quickly and effectively with shoppers and stakeholders.

As far as e-commerce grocery is concerned, there’s no shortcut to an effective strategy. Inculcating the right strategies that aim at an excellent grocery purchase experience from order to delivery is the only way to go.

For some people, day to day life leaves them lethargic and they struggle to get through the day. For others, energy levels plummet in the afternoon or evening, known as ‘the crash’ after their early morning energy rush. Neither of these routines is healthy. You want to stabilize your energy levels at a healthy, sustainable level so you can get the most out of life. Let’s look at how to kick the energy roller coaster for good.

Get on a Regular Meal Schedule

One of the best ways to end the energy roller coaster is to get on a regular meal schedule. After all, going hours without eating is certain to leave you lethargic. The solution to this is to eat healthy, balanced meals three times a day around the same time each day. If you have issues with your blood sugar, then you need to have five or six meals and snacks equally spaced throughout the day.

Eat Healthier

A good way to get off the energy roller coaster is to prevent the highs that inevitably lead to the lows. You can achieve this by eating well balanced meals. For example, ensure that every meal contains protein and a modest amount of healthy fats. The energy in these foods is released more slowly than that in sugar and carbs. For example, you’ll get more out of an apple with nuts or peanut butter than an apple alone.

Another trick is adding fiber to your diet. The more fiber in the meal, the more slowly the food is broken down by your body. You can get this by eating whole grains instead of refined grains, or you can eat more beans and vegetables.

Stabilize Your Blood Sugar

When your blood sugar levels are too low, your body recognizes that it needs energy then and there. You feel hungry, and you crave instant energy. The default solution is a sugary or fatty food like chocolate chip cookies, not healthy foods like carrots. You’ll feel good temporarily as the sugar rushes into your bloodstream, but it is quickly absorbed by the body. Then you’re tired again, at least until you start craving the next high calorie snack.

One solution is to eat foods that don’t cause the spike in your blood sugar. It means avoiding refined foods like pastries, white breads, potato chips and candy. It requires eating carrots, lean cuts of meat and other healthy snacks. You may not feel the quick rush of false energy, but it will give you energy over the long term. And more importantly, it will prevent the next crash that leaves you craving unhealthy foods.

The effect of blood sugar on your energy levels cannot be overstated. However, changes in your diet may not be enough. You can take supplements for blood sugar stabilization; this will give you continual energy throughout the day. They will eliminate the “hangry’ feeling you get when your blood sugar drops – that unique combination of hunger, anger and sugar cravings. You can find plenty of information here on supplements that balance your blood sugar levels, giving you more energy and a better mood.

Increase Your Intake of B Vitamins

B vitamins like riboflavin and niacin are needed to turn sugar into the fuel our cells need. Other B vitamins are required to transport glucose and for the formation of vital enzymes. Increasing your intake of these vitamins should increase your energy level. You can do this by eating more green vegetables, eggs and brown rice. A side benefit of consuming green leafy vegetables is that they provide magnesium, too, another nutrient whose deficiency often causes chronic fatigue. A final option is taking supplements to get enough of these vital nutrients.

Your energy roller coaster could be due to poor eating habits, nutritional deficits, wildly fluctuating blood sugar or another cause. However, you need to address the root cause instead of hoping that determination will get you through. Then you’ll notice a tremendous difference in energy levels and quality of life.

Is my paper writing skills good enough? This question is critical for students, irrespective of their academic level or field. How well you write will not only impact your grade. It will have a significant impact on your career when you graduate from school.

There is also a no better time to improve your writing skills than now that you are still in college. The effort you will make, coupled with the numerous essays your professors will request you to write can help. So, if you are ready to make an effort, then follow the tips below.

1. Make reading a habit

One of the proven ways you improve your paper writing skills is to read and read a lot. Read journals, essays, newspapers, articles or any other material that fascinates you. But then, bear in mind that you are not just reading for the fun of it, but to improve yourself.

So, when you pick up any material to read, read in between the lines. Note the writing style, formatting, or structure, and use it to improve any area that needs attention.

2. Start writing regularly

One of the steps to improve any skill is to practice often. Even if the ability is not fully developed, constant practice can make it better, if not perfect. So if you want to improve your paper writing skills, you should continue practicing how to write stunning essays.

However, you can come up with new topics after reading a couple of samples. After writing, you should also scan your paper repeatedly to see if there are areas that require attention. Once you identify that area, make an effort to improve it. But if you can’t, you can request help from those above you academically but track the corrections made.

3. Don’t take feedbacks for granted

Whether positive or negative, feedback can have a massive impact on your writing or whatever skills you want to improve. However, the input should also not come from people close to you because they might be a bit biased.

Also, you can embark on a project to write a book, essay or series of articles. But before you go ahead, you can inform those who will be reviewing your work. You can also notify your professor or students who are above you academically, and try to put their feedback to good use.

4. Learn to use active voice

You need to discourage the use of the passive voice when you write. Use active voice instead. The use of passive voice can make your paper difficult for readers to understand and less engaging than active voice.

Here is a clear example

• Active voice – John cooked rice for dinner.
• Passive voice – The rice cooked for dinner was done by John.

You can see the difference above. The active voice goes straight to the point. It tells readers what the subject is, what he, she or it is doing. Understand that only a handful of readers might spend time reading your paper in details. So, making it difficult to read will only reduce that figure a bit further.

5. Proofread your paper

Another way you can improve your paper writing skills is by spending quality time to editing the document after writing. In other words, read in between the lines and fix any error you come across.

However, you can use software to edit your paper and take note of minor and critical errors to avoid future mistakes. The proofreading tools tend to be more precise regarding paper editing and can also provide suggestions that can help you improve your paper writing skills in no time.

Conclusion

Improving one’s writing skills, according to Ace My Paper experts, requires a certain level of discipline and commitment. You need to be ready to devote time to work on your skills. However, this post contains tips that can help you become a better writer in no time. So, if you are ready to improve, you can start considering each point one after the other.

NLP or neuro-linguistic programming has been rising in popularity, which is probably due to the power it seems to have over people. Still, most people do not know what NLP can do for your life. The following is meant to help you understand this type of programming and all the things it can do for you.

Reality Check

Language is quite powerful, and one of the most powerful words is “reality.” The way people understand reality can influence their thoughts or perceptions. NLP tells you to reconsider your reality.

Most people consider their interpretation of a moment as truth rather than the actual moment itself. Those who are able to rethink the truth and reality should be able to see through their interpretation and evaluate the moment. This allows you to be more objective, which could lead to making wiser decisions.

Redefined Failure

There is no doubt that failing at something can hurt people pretty badly. Sometimes, failure can shatter confidence, and that is no good, especially because failure is not necessarily something you have to feel bad about.

NLP tells you that you can change your perspective of failure into what it really is, which is an opportunity to learn. Some of you may have heard this before, but the truth is that it is a lot harder to believe that each failure is a lesson. Well, NLP actually helps you re-learn failure, so it doesn’t hurt you but rather teaches you.

Re-Communicate

Most people focus on what they say at any given moment, and thinking about what you say is wise, but there is another part of communication that people tend to ignore: the response. A big part of communication is how your message is received on the other end.

Most people are trained to pay attention to that, but NLP helps you integrate this aspect of communication into your everyday conversations. Being able to understand people a little better by reading a person’s responses will become invaluable to you in many settings, like at work or in your own home. You’ll be more empathetic and much clearer with your messaging.

In-Between

There are times when some individuals choose to stay quiet about a particular subject simply because it is uncomfortable. You may think you are being wise or getting away with something, but the reality is you are not. You are always communicating, even when you think you are not.

NLP teaches people about the different non-verbal cues they give off at any given time. Your silence, expressions, hand and body language could be telling a story, even though you decided not to talk. Learning to understand your own non-verbal language can help you become a better human being.

Good Behavior

This one might feel a little strange because most people were brought up to think that there are good and bad behaviors or thoughts. NLP teaches that you need to evolve from those ideas, and start to see that all thoughts or behaviors are just a product of something you need to take the time to understand.

There is nothing inherently evil about your thoughts or behaviors, but they are a result of something else. You need to learn to explore why you act or think certain things, and you need to learn how to teach this to others because having the ability to be this introspective may help a person lead a more fulfilling life. Truly adopting this philosophy can help you in sorts of ways, even your career like if you want to become a life coach or something like that.

Mind Power

State of mind can affect the physical body. This idea has slowly become commonplace, and it is an idea that NLP helps you learn. Some might think saying the mind can actually produce positive or negative effects you can feel later is insane, but it is the truth.

A recent study found that positive thinking could help improve your chances at a longer life. The idea that your own thoughts could do that may seem unreal, but there is another side to this coin. Negative thoughts, especially ones that you continue to have can actually hurt you and cause all sorts of real physical problems. NLP can teach you to control your mind and thoughts so that you can control your body at the time.

These are just some of the ways NLP can help improve your life for the better. Redefining the way you understand language allows you to redefine the way you see this reality, and that can change your world.