The Advantages of Boarding School

At certain stage of your life you can not even imagine of living away from your children for as short a while as a week. So it is not an easy decision for the loving parents to send their wards to some far awayboarding School, where the child has to stay ten months a year. But you should accept the fact that boarding schools have many more advantages than the normal non-residential schools and hence provide a better and more stable foundation for your child's career growth. Let us discuss about the unique advantages of a boarding school.

Boarding schools are typically provided with smaller teacher and student ratio and as such, the students get more personalized attention from their teachers and individualized assessments are continuously in progress. As the teachers live inside the campus itself in the residentialschools, the students get a 24X 7 access to the faculty and teachers also develop insight about every student's strong points and short comings. So thestudents can be motivated in the right direction by their teachers.

In boarding school, your child will develop a sense of independence. The students in boarding school are encouraged to learn the value of self-sufficiency. They have to manage their own day to day tasks themselves including keeping account from taking care of the laundry. This managing of their own affairs makes them more mature and confident. In fact according to the estimates of the Association of BoardingSchools, over 52 % of the boarding school students in latter course of their lives acquire top positions in the management.

In boarding schools, the students get a structured environment. A strict routine is followed throughout the day. Each day has some pre- defined slots of activities like study hour, play time, time for co curricular activities and so on. This strict and consistent routine instills a sense of discipline into the minds of youngstudents. And this sense of self-discipline helps them choose the right direction in their future course of life.

In the boarding school your child also gets to learn about the value of community support. Growing up through the same experience instills in them a rare bonding that stretches beyond the school days. Most importantly, living a community life together teach them how to rise above petty differences and make them more compromising and adjustable.

If you have taken the decision to send your child to a boarding school, you have taken just the right decision. But it is important to make a through research before deciding on a particular boarding school; after all it is the question of your child's future.

How to Eliminate Bad Habits

The thought manifests as word;

The word manifests as deed;

The deed develops into habit;

And habit hardens into character.

So watch the thought and its ways with care,

And let it spring from love

Born out of concern for all beings.

The Buddha

A cocaine addict, a working person raising a family, a seeker practicing meditation and service, and a highly conscious sage all have the same motivation: the core drive. We all want avoidance of suffering and permanent Love, peace, and safety. What separates us is our habits. Habits rule destiny. Our life is a sequence of habits that determine our course and evolution.

We all have a mix of good and bad habits. Bad habits cause untold suffering. Good habits serve us in the cause of our liberation. To understand how we got where we are and how to change direction, we need to understand the formation and transformation of habits. The seeker will need to release the energy captured by bad habits and transfer this power to liberating good habits.

Any pattern of thought or action repeated many times results in a habit with a corresponding neurosignature, or brain groove. The brain is composed of approximately 100 billion cells, called neurons. A brain groove is a series of interconnected neurons that carry the thought patterns of a particular habit. Attention feeds the habit. When we give our attention to a habit, we activate the brain groove, releasing the thoughts, desires, and actions related to that habit.

The good news is that the brain is malleable. We can change our thoughts and behavior by recruiting new cells to form new brain grooves. Every thought and action is recorded within the interconnected nerve cells, and each repetition adds new depth to the brain groove. If we repeat a thought and action enough times, a habit is formed. Continued repetition strengthens the power of the habit. Inattention and lack of repetition weakens the power of the habit. These principles apply to the formation of both good and bad habits. Positive thoughts and actions create good habits. Negative thoughts and actions create harmful habits.

We can use these principles to eliminate and replace bad habits with good ones. We can gradually starve bad habits to death by not giving them our attention. As we pay more attention to forming a good habit, the new brain groove slowly gains power. Eventually, the new positive brain groove dominates the negative groove, and good habits drive out the bad. Without this transformation, spiritual growth is impossible.

When we are assigned painful problems in the school of life, we need to do the homework. All too often, however, we play hooky by escaping into the pleasures of a bad habit. If we repeat this behavior, at some point we get addicted. We end up with the original problem and a host of additional difficulties associated with addiction. Addiction leads to wild emotions, mental storms, paranoia, rage, humiliation, chaotic relationships, job loss, disease, and death. We can avoid this by doing our homework, by learning how to be good pain managers. Learning how to manage our suffering is critical on the spiritual path. However, most of us slide down the path of bad habits early in our lives in our attempt to avoid pain.

Bad habits include smoking, use of drugs or alcohol, excessive eating, compulsive gambling, compulsive shopping, addiction to the internet, computer or television, addiction to sex, money, fame, work, activity, power, or dependency on others at the expense of independence and individuality (a condition known as codependency or relationship addiction). Although bad habits are pleasurable in the beginning, their eventual evolution into emptiness and torment is inevitable as they force us to act in ways contrary to our true nature. We want to express Love, compassion, kindness, patience, and courage.

To begin the process of transforming bad habits to spiritual power, we must recognize that the pain of the bad habit is worse than the pain of healing. Cultivating good habits is difficult, but it is more difficult to maintain bad habits.

There are hundreds of good physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual habits. These fall into three categories:

1. Constructive activities related to health, work, relationships, recreation, or hobbies.

2. The habits of a seeker: the spiritual methods described in this and other spiritual books.

3. The habits of a sage: spiritual qualities such as Love, compassion, forgiveness, courage, strength, and others listed in the spiritual
alphabet.

The time to create these positive habits is now. Every time we repeat a thought or action of a bad habit, it maintains or gains power.

Procrastination weakens our will to the point that we think we cannot change. Before we know it, the habit has locked us in a prison of our own making. We may not even know if a habit already has enough power to imprison us for decades: we only discover its power when one day we try to stop it and find out we cannot.

Assume a virtue if you have it not.

Refrain tonight,

And that shall lend a kind of easiness

To the next abstinence, the next more easy;

For use almost can change the stamp of nature,

And either lodge the devil or throw him out

With wondrous potency.

Shakespeare, Hamlet

Following is a technique for replacing bad habits with good, spiritual habits:

1. Introspection

2. Avoid everything associated with the bad habit

3. Affirmations and will

4. Constructive meaningful activities

5. The habits of a seeker

6. The habits of a sage

7. Support

8. Solitude

9. Perseverance

10.Victory

1. INTROSPECTION

Make a list of the habits you would like to change. Examples of bad habits include smoking, substance abuse, gambling, compulsive eating, addiction to sex, computers, money, power, work, and codependency or addiction to people.

2. AVOID EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH THE BAD HABIT

People, environment, routines, and our own thoughts are the breath that gives life to the brain groove of a bad habit. With continued stimulation, a bad habit grows, our will weakens, and we slide off the spiritual path. However, the neurocircuit for the bad habit remains dormant in the subconscious if we give it no thought or attention. We can gain power over a bad habit by avoiding exposure to everything associated with it. Stay away from the negative environment, people, and actions that supported the habit, until the new brain groove is strong. Avoid thinking about the bad habit as much as possible. We are subject to craving in an instant, if not careful. Even a passing thought or image of the negative habit can awaken desire. The more we let the idea play in our minds, the more at risk we are of recurrent addiction. Starve the bad habit to death by inattention.

3. AFFIRMATIONS AND WILL

The 6 Rules Of Commercial Music Success

Over the years I have had many conversations with music artists about commercial music, which usually leads to them disclosing their disdain and hatred of it. Some refer to Pop music ("Pop," as in what's popular now) as commercial music.

Others think of anything that is receiving heavy rotation on radio as commercial music. Whatever their definition, one thing is often overlooked: commercial music is the heart of the music industry which pumps the blood that keeps it alive.

So why then are so many music artists resistant to making commercial music? The answer that I'm often given is because they don't want to "sell-out" their creative integrity by conforming to some industry version of what's popular (i.e. what's selling at the moment). It becomes very obvious to me that the problem is not commercial music, but rather the perception and definition of it.

The misconception is that the music industry created this superficial definition of commercial music to strip away the artistry and true identity of artists for the purpose of making money; forcing artist to create songs that the "masses" will enjoy. That fallacy is often perpetuated by music artists who are usually incapable (not unwilling) of creating commercially viable songs. The truth is the public, not the industry, dictates what is commercial, and for decades they have gravitated towards, embraced, and purchased songs that adhere to a commercial music format.

If commercial music is the rule for success and sales in the music industry, there are inevitably going to be some exceptions to it, but unfortunately, the tendency is for music artists to try and become the exception, instead of observing the rules and why they exist.

Simply put: the rules of commercial music success have not, and will not change. Not in your life time or your children's lifetime. They exist because it's human nature to reject the unfamiliar; in the music industry, similarity is the cornerstone of acceptance. This is why so many popular songs sound similar and contain familiar elements.

It's a rule that is prevalent in every genre, and on every continent. There are those artists who do a masterful job of observing their own artistic values while delicately balancing the demands for commercial music by industry professionals. Artists such as Prince, Sting and Bjork, have pushed the envelope of creativity for years. But artists of their caliber who possess such sublime talent and vision are rare.

For the sake of clarification and argument, I will offer my explanation and industry definition of what commercial music is; based on 25 years of listening to recordings as a music lover, music industry professional, and music critic. They are songs that have the following:

1.) A STRONG HOOK/MEMORABLE CHORUS.

If no one knows what your song is called, they can't request it when they hear it on the radio. More importantly, they can't buy it at retail...or track it down on the Internet to illegally download a copy of it.

2.) GOOD MELODY.

Commercial music is characterized by good melodies (i.e. verses, choruses, and sometimes bridges that get stuck in your head and make you want to sing-along). What can the top selling hip-hop acts of the last 10 years (Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Eminem, and 50 Cent) attribute their success to? Good melodies (not cool beats) that increase the commercial value of their music.

3.) WELL-PRODUCED.

Coming from an R&B background where producers are a pivotal part of commercial music success, I did not realize until I became a consultant that many rock bands don't utilize, nor value producers like R&B music acts. Perhaps they should since the record company often assigns top-notch producers to enhance the quality of songs (through their musical expertise) and enrich the records (through their experience and proficiency in the recording process), ultimately making them more enjoyable to listen to and, you guessed it...more commercial!

4.) APPEALING LYRICS.

The lyrics don't have to be profound; people just have to be able to emotionally connect with and mentally relate to them. If you have a way of saying common things in an uncommon way, your lyrics will have an edge over the songwriter whose song is about the same topic. Write about what's closest to your heart for credibility and sincerity, and others will be able to relate to your songs - especially if it's on a subject matter that they know or have
experienced.

5.) KEEP IT SHORT.

Keep the length of your songs down to a maximum of four minutes. Jazz and World Music are exceptions. A song that is well-written makes people want to hear it again, and again, and again. The longer the song is, the less likely that will happen. Don't believe me? Check the length of your favorite songs.

6.) TALENT/WELL-PERFORMED.

Most outstanding vocalists are often surprised by how low this rule is on the list. The fact is that there are more mediocre songs performed by outstanding vocalists, than there are mediocre vocalists performing outstanding songs. A good song that is well-performed gives it an edge, but if the song is lacking, all of the yelling and vocal acrobatics that singers tend to use to compensate for it will not make it a better song...though it may help the singer to attract better songwriters to work with. If you lack talent and it's a really good song, someone more talented can (and will) sing the song and make it better.

Now that you know the 6 rules of commercial music success, hopefully you will be able to use this information to your advantage and create songs that will increase your chances of success in your professional music endeavors...or you can ignore them and continue to wonder why no one (other than your friends and family - all of which listen to commercial music) like your songs.

Gian Fiero is a recognized authority on commercial music and Independent A&R Specialist who is best known for writing insightful reviews on Muse's Muse.com. He has been an influential factor in obtaining record deals for artists signed to RCA, Bust It!, Gasoline Alley and Interscope Records. He currently represents Grammy nominated music producer Cori Jacobs (Beyonce, Pussy Cat Dolls, Lauryn Hill, Teedra Moses, Brooke Valentine, and George Clinton) in addition to being an adjunct professor of music industry studies at San Francisco State University.