The Lead Belly

The Lead Belly

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The Top Travel Destinations 2019

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If your passport is current and you’re itching to travel to a new, exotic destination, continue reading to discover 3 must visit travel destinations which are worth adding to your bucket list.

The Top Travel Destinations:

Israel:

Israel is an underrated tourist destination and offers picturesque beaches, endless historic and cultural sites as well as modern restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs.

If you visit Israel, make sure to visit the Western Wall, which is located in Jerusalem and is better known as the Wailing Wall. The Western Wall was built in 19 BC and attracts thousands of Jewish pilgrims each year. Who visit the wall in order to pray as Jews believe that god’s presence never leaves the Western Wall which is all that is left of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. Some individuals even write down their prayers on small pieces of paper which they roll up and place in the cracks of the wall. Even if you’re not religious, it’s a moving experience to watch individuals from around the world gather at the wall in order to pray.

After spending some time at the Western Wall, you may want to book a day trip to the Dead Sea. Which many people believe can cure a wide variety of ailments. Just be careful not to put your head underwater as the Dead Sea has a high salt content and can permanently damage your eyes.

Thailand:

Not only is Thailand an inexpensive country to visit, where you can stay in a four or five star resort on a budget but Thailand is also an incredibly friendly nation and is often referred to as the land of smiles. Better yet, Thailand boasts a wide variety of idyllic islands many of which haven’t been overrun with tourists and which are ideal for romantic getaways.

While in Thailand, it’s also a fun idea to ride in a traditional tuk tuk and to purchase handcrafted souvenirs and tasty snacks at one of Thailand’s bustling markets. Just remember to practice the art of haggling as in Thailand buyers and sellers negotiate on the prices of items and you’re not expected to pay the first price which you’re quoted.

While the majority of tourists who visit Thailand visit Phuket which is located on Thailand’s stunning coast, it’s also worth venturing further inland in order to visit one of Thailand’s elephant sanctuaries. If you’re passionate about animal welfare you also be interested in volunteering at an elephant shelter for a short period of time.

India:

If you’re not afraid of venturing off the beaten tourist track, it’s well worth booking a plane ticket to India. On a tour of India you’ll be able to visit Mumbai, which is the home to Bollywood, which is India’s equivalent of Hollywood. If you’re lucky you may even get to be an extra in a Bollywood film. Another experience which is well worth seeking out on a trip to India is traveling across India on a luxurious steam train. Which will allow you to see India’s countryside and villages from the comfort of your train.

Lastly, it should go without saying but no trip to India is complete without visiting the Taj Mahal, which is one of the grandest buildings in the whole world.

So if you’ve caught the travel bug and are itching to book your next international adventure, you can’t go wrong planning a trip of a life time to India, Thailand or Israel.

Lifestyle Tips Which Will Help You Lead a Happier Life

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As your happiness is the most important thing in the world, it’s a smart idea to continue reading in order to discover a few new lifestyle tips which will help you lead a happier life.

Lifestyle tips which will help you lead a happier life:

Try to maintain a positive mindset:

In order to maintain a positive, happy attitude it’s a great idea to work on being grateful for all the good aspects of your life. As an example you may want to get into the habit of writing down three things that you’re grateful for, on a daily basis. As when you concentrate on positivity, you should find that your mood will improve.

Surround yourself with positive, like minded individuals:

One way to ensure that you maintain a positive mindset is to start spending more time with positive, like minded individuals who try to make the most out of their lives. Instead of spending time with negative individuals who’ll try and hold you back from achieving your life goals.

Don’t feel pressured to socalize when you want to stay home and relax:

While you may feel pressured to give in to your friends’ demands to socalize during your free evenings, if you’re not feeling up to socalizing don’t be afraid to say no. As it’s natural to want to spend a quiet night in, when you’re tired and not in the mood to hold down conversations. So next time you feel like staying home and binge watching Netflix, tell your friends that you’re not feeling up to socializing and that you’ll catch up with them next weekend.

It’s important to learn that you’re not responsible for ensuring that other people are happy and that it’s okay to disappoint your loved ones from time to time. In order to look after your own mental health and emotional well being.

Delete your social media apps from your smart phone:

If you find yourself casually scrolling through your social media feeds every time that you have a spare moment, you may have a social media addiction. In order to ensure that you don’t waste too much time on your smart phone scrolling through your newsfeeds and waiting for your posts to attract new comments and likes, it’s a great idea to delete all of your social media apps from your smart phone.

Remember that you’ll still be able to check in on your social media accounts once or twice a day using your smart phone’s browser. Instead of using your phones apps to check your social media accounts. After all social media should be used in order to keep in touch with your friends, not to distract you from your everyday life.

Don’t add people that you barely know on social media:

As your privacy is important it’s a great idea to become more selective when it comes to accepting social media requests. As trying to increase your number of followers or your number of online friends won’t make you any happier.

So if you’d love to lead a happier, more fulfilling life, you can’t go wrong following all of the lifestyle tips which are listed above. All of which should help you improve your mood.

A Guide To Using Technology in Your Home

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In order to discover a few new ways to use technology in your home, to make your everyday life a little easier, it’s a great idea to continue reading to discover a guide to using technology in your home.

A guide to using technology in your home:

Consider setting up inexpensive security camera outside the front entrance of your home:

If you’d love to be able to deter would be intruders from trying to break into your home, it’s a wise idea to place an inexpensive security camera, outside of the front entrance of your home. Some home security systems, will alert you via an app every time that someone appears outside your home or attempts to enter your home without your permission.

You can even purchase a home security system that will allow you to access your security cameras when you’re at work or overseas on vacation. As you’ll still be able to contact a friend or neighbor to visit your home, if you believe that someone is trying to break into your home, when you’re at work or on an overseas vacation. In an emergency, you’ll be able to use your home security system’s app in order to contact your local police department for assistance.

Save up to purchase your very first smart fridge:

What is a smart fridge? A smart fridge has a touch screen front which will allow you to write shopping lists on your fridge and to search for online recipes for thousands of different dishes. Better yet, you can purchase intelligent fridges which will alert you when you’ve run out of certain products such as milk. Some smart fridges will even be able to automatically add items to your shopping list, which you’ve run out of.

Learn how to link your smart phone’s screen with your smart TV:

Instead of trying to show your friends or family members YouTube videos or photos on your smart phone’s tiny screen, it’s a great idea to link your smart phone with your smart TV. So that you’ll be able to share your smart phone screen on your TV screen instead.

Purchase smart light bulbs which you’ll be able to control from an app on your smart phone:

Imagine how convenient it would be to be able to turn on and off individual lights in your home, without getting out of bed or off your sofa. If you purchase smart light bulbs, you’ll be able to turn any of the lights in your home on and off using your smart phone.

Make sure that you don’t become addicted to your electronic devices:

While technology can help make your everyday life a whole lot easier, it’s important to ensure that you don’t become too reliant on your electronic devices. Particularly your smart phone. As an example, it’s a wise decision to put your smart phone on mute and to mute all of your app notifications when you’re spending quality time with your friends and family members. As technology should improve your life and shouldn’t control your life.

Hopefully you’ve discovered a few new ways to incorporate new technology in your everyday home life. Just be careful not to become to addicted to your electronic devices.

How To Organize Your Finances

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If you’re a little disorganized when it comes to managing your finances and your monthly budget, simply continue reading to discover a handy guide to organizing your finances.

How to organize your finances:

List all of your debt out on a piece of paper:

While you may want to temporarily forget about your debts in order to take control of your finances, it’s crucial to account for all of your debt. Make sure to list the interest rate for each loan or credit card, so that you’ll be able to start paying off your loans and credit cards which have the highest interest rates. As the faster you pay these debts off, the less interest you’ll pay in the long term.

Consider consolidating all of your loans and credit card debt into a single loan:

By consolidating all of your loans and credit card debt into a single loan, you’ll be able to pay a lower amount of interest. As an added bonus, you should find it a lot easier to keep track of your debt if you choose to consolidate all your loans into a single loan. Lastly, you may even find that you’re more motivated to pay off your loan, if you only have a single loan to pay off. As paying off one loan, no matter how big may seem more manageable than paying off two credit cards and three loans.

Use a budgeting app in order to manage all of your receipts:

If you’re terrible at safely storing printed receipts, you can keep track of your everyday spending by taking photos of all of your printed receipts and uploading them to a modern budgeting app. That will automatically add up all of your in store purchases. Most budgeting apps will also allow you to add your online spending to your monthly expenditure. So that you’ll be able to keep track of your online purchases and bills and in store purchases in one place.

Set up an automatic payment from your everyday account to your long term savings:

In order to force yourself to save a predetermined percentage of your salary or wages, it’s a smart idea to use your online banking account in order to set up a monthly automatic payment from your everyday account to your long term savings account. As an example, you may decide to save 20% of your disposable income each month.

Invest a small portion of your monthly income:

If you opt to save 20% of your monthly disposable income, you may also be interested in investing 10-20% of your monthly income. In order to start investing for your financial future and your retirement. If your monthly budget is tight you may want to start off with investing 10% of your monthly income, while if you have plenty of funds left for luxury items each month, it may be in your best interest to invest 20% of your monthly income.

Consider talking to a financial advisor:

If you speak with a financial advisor, they should be able to give you valuable advice on how you can tweak your monthly budget, in order to increase your passive income.

Hopefully you’ll find managing your finances a whole lot easier after reading all of the finance related tips which are listed above. As taking control of your finances doesn’t have to be a stressful or arduous task.

Home Renovation Tips

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If you’d love to fall in love with your home all over again, it’s a great idea to continue reading in order to discover a few handy home renovation tips that may inspire your home renovation.

Home Renovation Tips:

Consider installing a skylight in your kitchen or bathroom:

If you’d like to increase the amount of natural light in your kitchen and bathroom, especially in the long, dark winter months, it’s well worth investigating having a skylight placed in your kitchen or bathroom. As you’ll instantly be able to tell the difference, once you’ve had a skylight placed in your home. As the sun will stream into your home.

Create a decorative backsplash in order to update your kitchen:

To give your kitchen a quick and easy update, invest in having a backsplash of tiles behind your sink or oven. As a bonus if you cover one of your kitchen walls using tiles, you’ll also protect your wall from being stained by unexpected food splashes. Better yet, if food marks do you get on your tiled backsplash, you’ll be able to use a damp sponge or cloth to quickly remove any food marks which you can see.

Invest in underfloor heating:

If you hate walking on cold flooring in winter, it may be worth investing in having underfloor heating installed in your lounge, kitchen and bathroom. It’s also worth having underfloor heating placed in your bedroom, if you want to avoid placing your bare feet on ice cold floor on icy winter mornings.

Replace all of your kitchen and bathroom handles:

Another way to update the look of your kitchen and bathroom is to go ahead and swap out all of your kitchen and bathroom handles with newer, sophisticated handles. If in doubt, you can’t go wrong opting for sleek, timeless stainless handles.

Repaint your home’s exterior and interior:

To ensure that your home’s exterior and interior looks as impressive as possible, make sure to purchase new paint to paint the exterior and interior of your home. Many individuals make the mistake of going to the effort to repaint the exterior of their property but fail to repaint the interior of their property, which is a shame as when guests enter a house which has a beautifully painted interior, they’ll expect to find an equally beautiful interior.

If you ultimately choose to paint your home’s exterior and interior the shop which you purchase your paint from may choose to give you a sizeable discount for purchasing a large volume of paint. So if you love getting the best possible deal for your money, you may also benefit from painting the interior and exterior of your home at the same time.

Pay for your home’s carpets to be professionally steam cleaned:

If you don’t want to spend a small fortune on having all of your carpet replaced, you can restore your carpet to its former glory by paying for your home’s carpets to be professionally steam cleaned. As the steam should lift any dirt or stains which have been trapped in your carpet such as mud stains and wine stains.

So if you’d love to fall in love with your home all over again, it’s a great idea to use some of the handy home renovation tips listed above in order to start renovating your home.

How To Make Your Business Successful

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To increase your business’ chances of being a long term success, it’s essential to take proactive measures to ensure that your business has every chance of succeeding. To discover a guide to building a successful business, simply continue reading.

How to make your business successful:

Employ individuals who demonstrate that they have the right attitude to work for your business:

If you have a small business it’s well worth hand selecting individuals to work for your business, rather than relying on an HR manager to hire your business’ new employees. So that you’ll be able to hand select individuals who genuinely share your passion for your business and have the right attitude to help your business reach its goals. If you’re the owner of a medium to large scale business, make sure to have a serious chat with your HR manager about the qualities that you’d like your future employees to have. So that they’ll be able to select the right candidates from their interviews.

Encourage repeat business:

As it’s far harder to attract new customers than to hold on to customers, it’s well worth finding ways to encourage repeat business. For example, you may want to offer your customers coupon codes, which they’ll be able to use on their next orders. Or you may want to start an exclusive membership program that rewards your customers for every dollar that they spend on your website.

Try to find ways to cut your operating costs:

It’s well worth assessing your business’ budget on a regular basis, to see if you can cut some of your business’ expenses without compromising on the quality of your business’ products or services. As an example, you may be able to increase your business’ yearly profits by switching your manufacturer to a manufacturer who is willing to offer you a cheaper cost per item.

Ensure that your business attracts positive online reviews:

If potential new customers search for reviews about your business and find negative reviews, they’ll be unlikely to purchase an item from your business. So it’s a wise idea to offer your customers, discount codes for every positive review which they post online. Also ensure that your business boasts a customer focused support team, who’ll deal with any issues that your customers may have before they have a chance to post a negative review of your business online. As most individuals will refrain from posting negative feedback if they are able to get the help which they need in a short time span.

However, don’t give in to the temptation to get your employees to post fake online reviews as by doing so you may permanently ruin your business’ reputation. As customers are unlikely to forgive a business which was caught posting fake reviews on websites such as Yelp and FaceBook.

Keep up to date with your competitors’ progress:

It also pays to keep up to date with each of your key competitors’ progress. As you may be able to learn valuable information from your rivals. As an example, if a rival’s new product range fails to attract an audience, you can wisely choose to avoid launching similar products.

If you follow all of the advice which is outlined above, you’ll give your business a head start and help your business increase its sales, revenue and profit.

How To Become Successful

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There are a few tips and tricks which anyone can use in order to become successful and to achieve their lifelong dreams. To discover a few life changing tips which will help you reach your potential in life, simply continue reading.

How to be successful:

Don’t be too proud to ask for help:

There may be instances where you achieve your goals faster by asking the right individuals for help. As an example, if one of your goals is to establish a successful business, it may be worth locating a business mentor. Who’ll be able to provide you with valuable advice which will fast track your fledgling business’ success. As another example, if you set yourself a goal of running your first marathon, it may be worth employing the services of a running coach, a dietician or a personal trainer. So next time you set yourself a new goal, ask yourself who you can ask for help to speed track your progress.

Be specific about your goals:

The more specific you are when you create new goals, the more likely you are to achieve your goals. As an example, if you have a goal of launching a new business, make sure to pick a date which you’d like to complete your goal by. You may even want to get more specific by writing down the amount of money which you’d like your business to bring in within your first 12 months of business.

Don’t waste your time:

As time is the most valuable resource in the world, make sure to plan out your time carefully so that you can make the most out of each day. For example, instead of waking up at 9am in the morning, it’s a great idea to get up at 6am or 7am so that you’ll be able to workout or get an early start on your work.

Don’t overwork yourself:

While you’ll need to work hard to achieve your goals, it’s crucial to take care of your mental wellbeing and to allow yourself regular breaks. As an example, you’ll be able to increase your efficiency by taking a short break from your work in order to get some fresh air. As when you get back to your office after your stroll, you’ll feel rejuveniated and ready to work.

Use your natural talents to succeed:

As no two individuals are exactly alike and every person has unique talents, it’s a great idea to use your natural talents to your advantage. For example, if you are creative and come up with innovative new ideas, you may want to use your creativity to come up with innovative new products and services to sell. Alternatively, if you have excellent people skills and public speaking skills, you’ll be able to use your talents in order to network with individuals who may be able to help you achieve your dreams.

Work on your weaknesses:

Instead of accepting your weaknesses, aim to turn your current weaknesses into future strengths with a bit of hard work and perseverance. As an example, if you get nervous when it comes to public speaking, it’s well worth taking communication lessons to become a more effective communicator.

If you make use of the invaluable success related tips listed above, you should be able to start ticking off some of your lifelong goals. As life is far too short to sit and wait for your dreams to come true.

Fun Things To Do As a Family

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If you’re always keen to spend more time as a family, continue reading to discover a few fun activities to tick off as a family. As you’ll be sure to make lasting memories with your kids, that you’ll cherish for the rest of your life!

Fun things to do as a family:

Visit your nearest ice-skating rink to teach your kids how to ice-skate:

Whether you’re proud of your ice-skating skills and can perform a few impressive tricks or you’ve never step foot on an ice-skating rink in your life, it’s well worth teaching your kids how to ice-skate. If you’re not fortunate enough to have an ice-skating rink in your city, you may want to consider planning a fun family trip to a family friendly desitnation which boasts an ice-skating rink. As an example, imagine how much fun your kids would have ice-skating around the ice rink at Rockefeller Center in New York in November or December.

Visit your local library as a family:

If you have young kids, it’s well worth checking if your local library offers free storytelling sessions, which young kids love. One of the bonuses of visiting a library as a family once a week, is that every member of your family will be able to choose new books to check out. Even if your family has young elementary school age children as well as older teens.

Play video games together:

Instead of leaving your kids alone when they want to play their favorite video games, it’s well worth playing video games as a family once a week. Especially if your kids enjoy playing co-op games, which will allow your family members to work together as a team.

Collect decorative seashells at your local beach:

Not only can you collect beautiful seashells as a family during summer but you can also bundle up in warm winter gear, in order to search for seashells during fall and Winter. If your family has a pet dog, it’s well worth seeing if there are any dog friendly beaches in your area. As you’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone and to search for seashells, while walking your dog.

Volunteer:

Volunteering as a family is a wonderful idea as you’ll be able to teach your kids about how they make a difference in the world. If you foster a love of volunteering into your children at a young age, they’ll be likely to grow up into caring, empathetic adults. One way to get your kids excited about volunteering is to volunteer at an organization that they are already interested in.

As an example, if your kids love animals, you may want to volunteer at your local animal shelter. Even if your closest shelter isn’t currently accepting volunteers, your kids may be keen to fundraise for your local shelter. So that they can purchase essential items such as pet food. For example, if your kids enjoy baking, they may want to set up a little stall outside your house selling freshly baked cookies to raise money for their chosen cause.

Create home made DIY slime:

Instead of purchasing ready made slime, it’s well worth purchasing all the ingredients which you need to make slime at home. As half of the fun of slime, is making it.

So what are you waiting for? Children grow up in the blink of an eye and it’s well worth spending as much quality time with your kids while you still can. Hopefully you’ve found a couple of activities which you can’t wait to share with your kids and partner!

How To Stay Healthy: A Simple Guide

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As you only have one body, it’s crucial to take special care of your body. To discover a few invaluable tips on how to stay fit, healthy and active simply continue reading.

How to stay healthy:

Measure your ingredients when you cook for yourself:

In order to avoid preparing larger portions of food than you should be consuming, it’s a great idea to get into the habit of measuring your ingredients when you prepare your meals. As an example, you can’t go wrong investing in an electronic scale in order to weigh your ingredients.

Pay attention to the serving sizes on the back of food products:

A great way to ensure that your portion sizes are healthy is to pay close attention to the recommended serving sizes which are listed on the back of the vast majority of food packages. As you may be surprised to find that you may be eating bigger portion sizes, then you should be consuming. Especially if you’re looking to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight.

Ensure that fruits and vegetables are a part of all of your meals:

Ideally each of your meals should feature fruits or vegetables. As an example, you may want to get your day off to the right start by consuming oats, served with Greek yoghurt and fresh blueberries and bananas. While salads and steamed vegetables pair nicely with meat or tofu for your lunches and dinners.

Even if you indulge in your favorite foods such as burgers and pizzas, it’s a smart idea to experiment with new vegetables, which you can add to your home made burgers and pizzas. As examples, you may enjoy adding baby corn, spinach, eggplant, zucchini and kale to your home made pizzas.

Download a handy app which will remind you to drink water:

To avoid becoming dehydrated consider downloading a handy app which will give you regular alerts, when it’s time to consume a glass of water. To ensure that you drink at least 6-8 glasses of water per day. As your body requires water in order to operate efficiently and to flush toxins out of your body.

Purchase an affordable, inexpensive jumprope:

If you lead a busy, hectic lifestyle and find yourself running short on time to go to the gym, make sure to invest in a cheap jump rope. As research has shown that 10 minutes of jumping rope at a moderate pace can burn the same amount of calories as a 30 minute jog. As a bonus, as jump ropes are portable, you’ll be able to take your jump rope with you, when you travel. To ensure that you stay in shape, even when you’re on vacation and eating out on a daily basis.

Measure yourself once a week:

As muscle weighs more than fat, if you’re looking to keep track of your health and fitness you’re far better off measuring your arms, legs, waist and hips each week, than stepping on a scale. To see whether you’re becoming leaner or whether you’re losing your definition and need to work on your fitness.

So if you’d love to take better care of your body, it’s a great idea to start off by implementing all of the handy diet and exercise tips which are listed above!