Who will win the Champions League?

Football

This blog was written a few years ago but the decision matrix can be applied to the Chapions league just as well today as it could several years ago. Download a weighted decision matrix template and pick your winners today.

The Champions League starts again tonight. Chelsea only won it what seems a few short weeks ago but we can’t get enough of the Champions League apparently. Money talks of course so the main contenders are the richest clubs in Europe: Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester Utd. Man Utd didn’t even qualify for the knock put stages last year and with Scholes and Giggs a year older I don’t give then much chance so replacing them on my short list for honours come the end of the season are Bayern Munich who always do well.

It’s actually harder to pick the factors that they are to be judged on in this weighted decision matrix than it is picking the teams! We’ve gone for “Manager” as the man at the helm is instrumental in getting the tactics right. Mourinho is a master of the Champions League and gets top marks for Real Madrid.

“Record” is the second factor I chose because if you’ve done it before you’ve got an inherent sense of belief that you can do it again. You know what we mean, if you managed to kiss the girl once you’ve a great chance of kissing her again! Man City have never come close so get the lowest score here whilst Chelsea do better than you may have expected following last season’s win.

Next we get onto football basics namely, “Defending” and “Attacking”. Chelsea won last year because of a solid defence and who’s to say they won’t do it again? It was a bit dull though so hopefully Real Madrid will live up to their attacking score of five.

Lastly we’ve factored in the “Desire” element. As my old PE teacher used to say, “If your hearts not in it boy, you won’t win it” or something like that. Man City get a five for this although that may be because the motivation is one of fear in not performing for the mega rich owners whereas Real Madrid get a five because they haven’t won the Champions League in so long they will be desperate to do so.

Anyway, that’s our thoughts so now it’s your turn. You can download a matrix here. Have fun and tweet the results to your friends.

How meditation helps you to take better decisions

Preparation for decision making should include getting into the right mindset. We hope this guest blog will help you before you start your weighted decision matrix.

It has emerged that meditation is the best thing to do before making an important decision. According to several independent research papers, meditation helps you to make better decisions. Investigators found out that in fact, people who take some time to meditate regularly are more likely to make rational and unbiased decisions when faced with a critical decision-making situation.

Sunk cost bias
Experts have described the sunk cost bias scenario in psychological terms, as the situation where one is unwittingly influenced by past experiences that shouldn’t have a bearing on the present. According to experts, past experiences, coupled with the awareness of future outcomes, contribute immensely to the manner in which present decisions are made. This is true even when the past experiences are not necessarily related to the present situation. For example, if you have just broken up with your spouse, or lost a loved one, you might not be able to make a rational decision at your workplace, even though it is a totally different scenario.
Actually the irony is that we don’t want to admit when it is our fault that things have gone wrong in the past, yet it is this awareness, and the fear that things might go wrong again, that clouds our judgment of present issues.

Focus on the present
Meditating for a few minutes will help you to be clear of such thoughts when making a decision. What happens is that the mind shifts to a complete focus on the present, where past events and future expectations have no influence. This way, one is able to think straight and make a practical decision on the issue at hand. Earlier researches have concluded that meditation changes the physical state of the brain. By releasing the accumulated stress, the brain is left more sharp and fresh, and in a better state to function properly. Actually, meditation helps the mind to drop some the tendencies it might have acquired due to interactions with other people and situations.

Regular meditation
It is especially easy if one meditates regularly, and not just in such a situation. If you meditate on a regular basis, then it means that your brain is frequently refreshed. Therefore, even just a short session of mindfulness will keep you alert. Furthermore, sometimes one is in a situation where they can’t have time to meditate before making a decision. In such a situation, you are more likely to make a great decision if you have been meditating regularly.

Intuition
Furthermore, it has been found that meditation induces a new dimension of perceptiveness and intuition in the mind, making it easy for one not only to be intelligent and intuitive in their decisions, but to be creative too. This means that one can come up with refreshing new ways of handling situations.
This study has brought even more attention to the importance of meditation for EHIC users and for the general public. And there are limitless benefits of just a few minutes of deep mindfulness. If you have not been meditating, then this is one more reason why you need to start.

Author Bio:
Olivia Richards is a Passionate blogger. She works on behalf of Ehic. She has been writing contents on the web professionally since 2006. As an avid reader and blogger she shares her experience through articles on Health, Education, Parenting and many more.

Do we choose what religion we practice?

After reading this please go to our weighted decision matrix template downloads page to make your own decision.

Most people are religious (or not) because of their upbringing, their parents and their schooling. None of us really choose what religion we practice, do we? Surely every population the world over would have similar religious demographics if religion was a choice? To argue against that is very difficult indeed but please feel free in the comments below.

Should we even be thinking about what religion to practice at all? Some people will argue that religion or specifically, God chooses us. If that is true then how come “God” comes in different forms depending on which religion you follow? Of course, He doesn’t come in different forms because there is only one true God, all of the others are false. The problem with that line of argument however is that a devout Christian will argue just as strongly as a devout Muslim that their God is the one true God. Assuming that each of them has had a revelation about which they have no doubts then why is the ‘fake’ God as compelling as the true God who should really win the day hands down, what with being omnipotent and all that! Unfortunately that argument never reaches a conclusion as the devout will rely on arguments such as “it’s God’s will.” Other evidence is accepted by believers and dismissed out of hand by atheists.

Do we choose what religion we practice

Back to the point, if it were correct that we choose what to believe then we can also agree that disbelief goes against God and is a sin. If God chooses for us whether or not we believe then He chooses that some perfectly decent people are damned to go to hell as some religions tell us. So, if we choose our faith then disbelievers are damned and if God chooses for us whether or not we believe then He is maybe not as nice and forgiving as we would want to believe. People such as Richard Dawkins however say that atheism is the only logical position with our current level of knowledge. Whichever point of view you take there are implications you need to understand. Did your parents give you the answers to those as well or have you worked them out for yourself? Let us know in the comments below and then (for a bit of fun) go and choose what religion to practice.

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