Live A Happier Life By Avoiding These 5 Types of Toxic Friends

Good friends can be hard to come by so we should be grateful for them. Sadly, toxic friends are more common so we should know how to recognize them and avoid them.
Ever hooked up with a friend looking forward to a good day but ended up going home feeling miserable because of the time you spent with them? Toxic friends can bring us down and ruin our self esteem. Much like an unhealthy relationship, a toxic friendship is a problem that needs to be addressed.

Thankfully, avoiding the wrong types of friends is much easier than escaping a problematic relationship. You can simply choose to spend less time with them, or in some cases, cut them out of your life altogether.

Why accept having your energy drained or continually have your own decisions and preferences questioned by someone who can’t accept you for who you are.

By learning to identify the various types of toxic friendships you will know who you need to avoid, and you’ll be better able to determine who your real friends really are.

Here are 5 types of toxic friends that it’s best to avoid.

#1 The negative friend
Some people are constantly pessimistic and always see the worst in everything. A negative friend focuses on the bad things and loves to talk about their problems. They seem oblivious to the good side of things and will bring your life energy down when you are around them.

Spending time with them will leave you feeling drained. Their negativity makes them depressing to be around. It’s worth talking to them to help them see that their perspective on life could be different, but if they can’t start seeing things more positively you might want to avoid them and surround yourself with people who are more optimistic.

#2 The drama queen
The drama queen can be male or female, and you’ll recognize them by their ability to turn even the smallest bump in the road into a major crisis. They thrive off of the drama and the attention they get from it. But it’s tiring and being around them feels exhausting and unfulfilling.

Sometimes their ways can attract unwanted attention and embarrass you, and maybe even get you into trouble. Keep your distance for a more peaceful life.

#3 The reckless friend
Maybe you want to go out and have a good time and get home safely without incident. But your reckless friend has a tendency to get into trouble and drag you into it as well. It may be that they get drunk and then the mayhem commences. Whether it’s getting into fights, being a nuisance to the public, or putting their life and the lives of those around them at risk, the reckless friend is a liability.


If you have found yourself in too many risky situations because of a friend like this, maybe decline the invites to go out for a while and they might start questioning their behavior. If they can’t figure it out for themselves then tell them why you are no longer keen to go out with them, and maybe they will change. Or maybe not.

#4 The jealous friend
Being jealous of friends is fairly common. It’s entirely natural for people to be better than others at certain things, or to be more successful. But some friends can’t handle feeling jealous too well and may take it out on you.

They might start bad-mouthing you behind your back in an attempt to level the playing field and bring you down in the eyes of others. Or they might say some cutting things to you to try and smash your self confidence.

It’s usually quite easy to spot jealousy. Real friends are happy for you when you do well and will praise you and celebrate your wins with you. Jealous friends can’t bring themselves to do this.

#5 The unreliable friend
This type of friend will let you down constantly. They might always show up late, or cancel on you last minute. They might promise to help you with something important but then find an excuse not to.

If over time you feel like you are always being let down by a friend then they may not respect you enough. By putting up with this for too long, you will start to feel unworthy and it will affect your confidence.

In this situation it’s best to speak to them to tell them how you feel. If they don’t care or can’t change then it may be time to part ways.

Don’t let toxic friends ruin your life. Have the courage to end toxic friendships and instead choose to spend time with real friends who accept and respect you.

Adidas Is Making 11 Million Shoes Made From Recylced Ocean Plastic

Adidas has pledged to make 11 million shoes made from upcycled plastic waste, in a bid to help clear up the world’s oceans.

The plans were announced earlier this year, when the global sports brand explained it would be working with environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans to intercept plastic waste on beaches in places like the Maldives before it reaches the sea.

The upcycled plastic waste is then made into a yarn, which is used to create the upper material of the shoes.

However, the company hopes to more than double its previous efforts – working towards its wider goal to use 100 per cent recycled polyester in all apparel and footwear by 2024.

Adidas has also signed the Climate Protection Charter for the Fashion Industry, which means it has agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

Eric Liedtke, Adidas Executive Board member responsible for Global Brands, said: “With Adidas products made from recycled plastic, we offer our consumers real added value beyond the look, functionality and quality of the product, because every shoe is a small contribution to the preservation of our oceans. After one million pairs of shoes produced in 2017, five million in 2018, we plan to produce eleven million pairs of shoes containing recycled ocean plastic in 2019.

Gil Steyaert, Executive Board member responsible for Global Operations at Adidas, said: “Sustainability at Adidas goes far beyond recycled plastic. We also continue to improve our environmental performance during the manufacturing of our products. This includes the use of sustainable materials, the reduction of CO2 emissions and waste prevention. In 2018 alone, we saved more than 40 tons of plastic waste in our offices, retail stores, warehouses and distribution centres worldwide and replaced it with more sustainable solutions.”

The latest product in the range is a limited edition version of Adidas’ TOUR360 XT golf shoe, which was unveiled earlier this week.

The first ever golf shoe made from upcycled plastic waste intercepted from beaches and coastal communities, the shoe features a sock-like design with a cushioned sole.

“Our company is extremely focused on sustainability and we wanted to incorporate that mission into our sport,” said Masun Denison, global footwear director at Adidas Golf.

“This is the first golf shoe we’ve ever made that incorporates upcycled materials and this is just the beginning. In a sport that’s played outdoors and where sustainability is often under the microscope, we feel this is a massive step forward for the game.”

Legal validity of newly inserted schedule in ITR-4 SUGAM of AY 2020-21?

Legal validity of newly inserted schedule in ITR-4 SUGAM of AY 2020-21?


Question on legal validity of newly inserted schedule in ITR-4 SUGAM of AY 2020-21

As we know, Schedule regarding ‘Financial Particulars of Business’ has been removed from ITR-4 SUGAM of AY 2020-21. And new schedule titled as ‘Particulars of Cash and Bank Transactions Relating to Presumptive Business’ has been inserted which asks following details.

These details are compulsorily required to be filled for all cases where 44AD, 44ADA and 44AE is applicable or books of account not required to be maintained.

In point no. G2 and G3 in above mentioned schedule, it is said “drop down to be provided in e-filing utility”.  Now the question may arise as to which types of options will be given in that drop down menu? Any who will decide those options? (1) CBDT by the way of issuance of further notification or (2) Principal Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) by the way of making a direct change in schema of ITR-4.

Analysis of above schedule in light of legal provisions:

Now Rule 12(4) reads as The [Principal Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director-General of Income-tax (Systems)] shall specify the procedures, formats and standards for ensuring secure capture and transmission of data and shall also be responsible for evolving and implementing appropriate security, archival and retrieval policies in relation to furnishing the returns >[in the manners (other than the paper form) specified in column (iv) of the Table in sub-rule (3)][and the report of audit [or notice] in the manner specified in proviso to sub-rule (2)].


From preceding two paragraphs, it may be interpreted that CBDT, by the way of issuance of notification, can make changes in forms of ITRs. And duty of Principal Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) is to specify the procedures, formats and standards for ensuring secure capture and transmission of data. Thus, Principal Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director-General of

Income-tax (Systems) can make only those changes in schema as per Rule 12(4) which are necessary to ensure secure capture and transmission of data.


Now, the question arises as to – can we say that the duty of Principal Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) as defined under Rule 12(4) of Income Tax Rules, 1962 confers a right to ask for additional details which are not part of notification issued by CBDT?

Its seems from reading of Rule 12(4) that Thus, Principal Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director-General of Income-tax (Systems) can make only those changes in schema as per Rule 12(4) which are to ensure secure capture and transmission of data. How can one interpret that the additional details to be asked by the way of drop down menu in point no. G2 and G3 mentioned above are to ensure secure capture and transmission of data. Further, the word “Format” used in Rule 12(4) must also be interpreted with reference to reading of whole sentence which is followed by phrase “for ensuring secure capture and transmission of data.”  So, here the meaning of term “Format” should be interpreted like XML format, number of decimal places allowed, minimum length of some field, and maximum length of some field and so on.

IT Return को लेकर सरकार का बड़ा फैसला

IT Return को लेकर सरकार का बड़ा फैसला, मकान के संयुक्त मालिक, एक लाख सालाना बिजली बिल भरने वाले नहीं भर सकेंगे ‘सहज’ फार्म में रिटर्न

घर का संयुक्त मालिकाना अधिकार रखने वाले, साल भर में एक लाख रुपये का बिजली बिल भरने और विदेश यात्राओं पर दो लाख रुपये से अधिक खर्च करने वाले व्यक्तिगत करदाता अब सामान्य आईटीआर-1 फॉर्म में आयकर रिटर्न नहीं भर सकेंगे।

आयकर रिटर्न फॉर्म के उपयोग में महत्वपूर्ण बदलाव किये गये हैं। घर का संयुक्त मालिकाना अधिकार रखने वाले, साल भर में एक लाख रुपये का बिजली बिल भरने और विदेश यात्राओं पर दो लाख रुपये से अधिक खर्च करने वाले व्यक्तिगत करदाता अब सामान्य आईटीआर-1 फॉर्म में आयकर रिटर्न नहीं भर सकेंगे। ऐसे करदाताओं को दूसरे फार्म में रिटर्न भरनी होगी जिन्हें आने वाले दिनों में अधिसूचित किया जायेगा। सरकारी अधिसूचना में यह जानकारी दी गई है।

सरकार आम तौर पर हर साल अप्रैल महीने में आयकर रिटर्न भरने के फॉर्म की अधिसूचना जारी करती है। लेकिन सरकार ने इस बार आकलन वर्ष 2020-21 के लिये तीन जनवरी को ही अधिसूचना जारी कर दी। मौजूदा व्यवस्था के अनुसार 50 लाख रुपये तक की सालाना कमाई करने वाले आम व्यक्ति आईटीआर-1 ‘सहज’ फॉर्म भर सकते हैं। इसी प्रकार व्यवसाय और पेशे से हाने वाली अनुमानित और 50 लाख रुपये तक की सालाना आय वाले हिन्दू अविभाजित परिवार, एलएलपी को छोड़कर अन्य कंपनियां, व्यक्तिगत करदाता आईटीआर-4 सुगम में रिटर्न भरते हैं।

लेकिन ताजा जारी अधिसूचना के मुताबिक इसमें दो महत्वपूर्ण बदलाव किये गये हैं। यदि किसी व्यक्ति के पास घर का संयुक्त मालिकाना अधिकार है तो वह आईटीआर-1 या आईटीआर-4 में अपनी रिटर्न नहीं भर सकता है। दूसरे, जिनके पास बैंक खाते में एक करोड़ रुपये से अधिक जमा राशि है, जिन्होंने विदेश यात्राओं पर दो लाख रुपये खर्च किये हैं अथवा सालभर में एक लाख रुपये या अधिक बिजली का बिल भरा है उनके लिये आईटीआर-1 में रिटर्न भरना वैध नहीं होगा। ऐसे करदाताओं को अलग फॉर्म भरना होगा, जिसे जल्दी ही अधिसूचित किया जायेगा।

The 5 levels survival to Significance

The 5 Levels from Survival to Significance

Are you aiming for Significance?
When I took the decision I was going to build a successful life and business a few years back; I had great enthusiasm. I was on fire! I was highly motivated. I took risks. Failure was not an option. I knew I was going to change the world. It was only a matter of time…
This was all good – for a while. Eventually, as my somewhat naive enthusiasm waned, I began realizing that this climb would be tougher than I first imagined. Indeed, moving up from Survival to Significance is arduous. It is not done overnight, and it will require everything that is in you.

There are five stages that people who start with nothing have to go through in order to build a life that matters – a life of significance.
Unlike the game of Monopoly where everybody starts with $1,500, not all of us start with the same advantages or opportunities in life. Some of us begin below the bottom rung, while others are blessed with a great beginning, such as having wealthy parents who may provide them with the tools to, at the very least, skip the first step, which is survival.

Survival

This is the starting point for many in the world – including myself a couple of years ago. A great percentage of the population are living paycheck to paycheck – 78% of Americans to be exact.

Although this is the starting point, this is where most people remain for most of their lives. Why? Because most people in survival mode have just accepted their fate. They have accepted their lives and are not leading their lives. “It is what it is”, is their motto. “Life sucks and then you die”, others say. Very few use the survival stage as a stepping stone. That’s because the survival stage is like standing at the foot of a mountain before the climb, looking at the top, and thinking, “This is too hard. I’ll never make it.” As a result, most in survival mode pitch their tent at the foot of the mountain and never begin the climb. They get discouraged before they even attempt anything. As the late Zig Ziglar once said:

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

– Zig Ziglar

Stability
For those among us who are blessed with a good beginning, we get to skip the survival part – which is the hardest to overcome mentally. What do I mean with a good beginning? Well, this might be having parents who have good income and who can afford to pay for your schooling. For others, it may mean having parents who own a company, and who entrust the reins to their children. This might enable you to skip the first two stages. For yet others, it may simply mean to find your passion young and to be able to pursue it while never looking back – which can also yield some great results. Either way, this means a much quicker route to (at the very least) the level of stability.

At this stage, people have passed the struggle of survival. They stopped having too much month at the end of their money, and are faring okay in a stage where their income is adequate for all their expenses, family vacation, and some money aside to brace for potential emergencies. They are mostly debt-free, and want to keep it that way in a very delicate balance between income and expenses.

While not super comfortable, many choose to pitch their tent there. They reason that this is a good as it gets. They don’t dare to take unnecessary risks because it might jeopardize their semi-precarious situation. They count their blessings and few try to grow further. The danger of the stability stage was well summed up by economist Hyman Minsky:

“Stability leads to instability. The more stable things become, the more unstable they will be when the crisis hits.” – Hyman Minsky, economist


Security
For many, the security stage is often mistaken for the success stage. The security stage is very appealing. It often equates with the nice house, the nice car(s), the nice trips, eating out in nice restaurants, and nice money in the bank. It’s a nice stage to be in.

Financially speaking, it is very secure (hence its name), and it provides more than than its share of good times. It is often the stage where many professionals settle and pitch their tents – understandably so.

Security, for the most part, is a stage of financial success. Many find some fulfillment there, but not all. The potential problems with this stage are usually lack of time freedom and unfulfillment.

Let me explain…
Many at this stage have traded in long hours of study and hard work for… security. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it may leave some of its members in want of “What If’s”. There is a French song that Tom Jones reprised called “Le Blues du Businessman” (I Would Love to Change the World, i.e. The Businessman’s Blues) that sends shivers down my spine whenever I listen to it. It expresses the plight of many in the security stage. In the original French version, the successful businessman says these poignant words:

“I’m successful in business
I’m successful in love
I often change my secretary
My office is at the top of a tower
From there I see the city below
From there I control my universe
I spend half my life in the air
Between New York and Singapore
I always travel in first class
I have my secondary residence
In all the Hiltons of the Earth
I can’t stand poverty
At least are you happy?
I’m not happy but I look it
I lost my sense of humor
Trading it in for business sense
I made it and I’m proud of it
In fact, I only have a single regret:
I’m not doing what I wanted
Well my friend,
In life we do what we can,
Not what we want…
I wanted to be an artist
To be able to perform my act
When the plane lands on the runway
In Rotterdam or in Rio
I wanted to be a singer
To be able to scream who I am
I wanted to be a writer
To be able to fabricate my life
I wanted to be an actor
To change skin everyday
And to be able to think I’m handsome
On a big colored screen
I wanted to be an artist
To have the world to remake
To be able to be an anarchist
And live like a millionaire
I wanted to be an artist
To be able to say why I exist

So, here is the secret plight of some in the security stage: some of them are unfulfilled. They have money, but not purpose. They have many things, but they wonder if they themselves matter. They have possessions, but no real joy. They are often surrounded by people, but lack the time for relationships. Alas, They have ‘arrived’… financially. Like T.D. Jakes once said:

“You can be successfully wrong.” – T.D. Jakes

Success
In an article by the Wealth Research Group, they stated that 98% of the people die without ever achieving their dream (wealth research group). In the context of this here blog, it would mean that they die in the first three stages of either Survival, Stability, or Security. That’s 98% folks!!!

I believe success is, in part at least, achieving one of your dreams. I know that I have spoken much about finances from one stage to the next, and yes, they are relevant to success. Nevertheless, money is not the end-all be-all of success. In my Kindle book, Thriving on Purpose – 8 Stepping Stones to a Successful and Fulfilled Life I quote Jim Rohn, the late American business philosopher. He gave, I believe, the best definition on success that I have ever read. Here it is:

“If a guy says, “Hey, I’m soon cashing it in and I’m heading for the mountains. I’m going to live in a little cabin, live off the land and feed the squirrels.” If he goes and does that, guess what—he’s a smashing success. Why? He’s doing what he designed to do and pulled it off. You can’t say, “No, no, that’s not successful.” That is the epitome of success—giving a design to your life and pulling it off to make progress in the direction that satisfies you.”

And so it goes that only 2% of people pull off “giving a design to their life and pulling it off to make progress in the direction that satisfies them.”

The reasons for this are many, but I think we can boil it down to just two.

Some either become satisfied prior to attaining real success (Stability & Security), or they never start to begin with (Survival). In other words, many just choose to ‘pitch their tent’ at the prior three levels.

The rest quit on their dreams after too many failures. The price tag of success can be quite high. Not everybody is willing to pay it until the very end. Sometimes, the price just becomes too high and people get discouraged and quit.

But for those who persist and never give up, the sweetness of being successful is a crown to be cherished and proud of, while never to be taken for granted. If that is you, congratulations ! Whether you are feeding squirrels in the mountains or running a multi-million dollar business; if you have attained the success you were aiming for with all your heart, soul, and mind, you are part of a select group of only 2%! Success, true success, is extremely fulfilling and gives a great senses of purpose to one’s life, but there is more…

Significance

The greatest and most significant (pun intended) man who ever lived said this:

“After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” (Mark 9:33-35)
This is the basis of building significance: putting others before self.

In a great article for Success Magazine, John C. Maxwell listed the five main differences between success and significance, and encouraged people to pursue significance. Why? Because in doing so, you will inevitably cross paths with and enjoy success. Here are those five differences:

Motives: With success, my motives may be selfish; with significance, my motives cannot be selfish
Influence: With success, my influence is limited; with significance, my influence is unlimited.
Time: Success can last a lifetime; significance can last several lifetimes.
Focus: Success asks, “How can I add value to myself?” Significance asks, “How can I add value to others?”
Reward: If I pursue success, my joy is the result of my success; if I pursue significance, my joy is the result of others’ success.

Those who have left their mark on history as people we love and admire have done so because they pursued significance. They wanted to help people, not themselves. They gave of themselves, no matter the cost. In many instances, they poured their own lives out in sacrifice to others. Some became rich, other not, but all of them were fulfilled in their calling. All of them added value in one form or another to many, many people and impacted their lives at a deeper level.
Significance ALWAYS leaves a legacy.


One of the best examples of significance is Mother Teresa who is well known for pouring her life out and saying:

“God has called me to be faithful, not successful.” – Mother Teresa

So, these questions remain for you dear reader…

What stage are you at?
What are you doing about it? And finally…
Why?

Be blessed as you make it your decision to become significant.