How to Be an Explorer

All of us have a bit of an explorer within us. Whether you want to explore your neighborhood or make it your career, wikiHow has you covered. From packing your backpack to getting your next project funded, the world is at your feet. Let's go!

EditSteps

EditExploring as an Amateur

1. Find an area to explore. This can be a hidden door in your house, the woods, a trail, or just your neighborhood. There are always new things to be found even in the most “normal” of places.
   
   • Feeling adventurous? What does the Earth have to offer your explorations? Do you live close to the mountains, the jungle, or a forest? If it's possible, venture into this unmapped territory – just make sure you're prepared for the specific obstacles each different terrain presents!
2. Pack all your things in a backpack. You’ll need a water bottle, some snacks, a notebook and pen, a flashlight, a compass, and whatever else might be useful for your specific trip. More ideas will be listed in the "Things You'll Need" section!
   
   • Again, each trip calls for different things. If you're going camping for an entire weekend, you'll need camping gear, a tent, and enough food and water. If you're just going for an afternoon, you can travel a lot lighter.
   • Make sure you wear your backpack correctly – you wouldn't want to hurt your back halfway through exploring! It shouldn’t be too heavy, either. You'll wish you brought less as you carry it around, realizing it's just slowing you down.
3. Invite a friend along. Having a second person will help you feel safer ‘’and’’ you two can help each other – two sets of eyes are twice as powerful (and twice as quick). You may also need another set of hands for climbing trees, being on the lookout, or just to keep track of notes and directions.
   
   • Make sure this friend is just as adventurous as you are. Someone who’s afraid of heights, bugs, or just doesn’t want to get their clothes dirty may end up slowing you down!
   • Three or four people is okay too, but if you're just exploring for fun, you probably don't want too big of a party. When you hit more than 4, it becomes a chore getting everyone on the same page.
4. Wear clothes appropriate for where you are exploring. Climbing through the woods in your backyard? You’ll want pants and tennis shoes to get through the dirt and to protect your legs from the brush and bramble. Exploring the beach? Bring boots for the sand, and don't forget the sunscreen!
   
   • Make sure your friend knows what to wear, too! If they become miserable because they're not prepared, they might blame it on you.
5. If necessary, have a map of the area you are exploring. The last thing you want is to get lost and to turn your adventure into an emergency. You'll also want to see where you’ve been. That way, upon your return, you’ll be able to say exactly where you where and what you saw – and be able to retrace your steps when you want to recreate your awesome experience.
   
   • If there is not a map of the area, make your own! It's fun, and makes you feel like a real explorer. You can make your own map of an area that is already mapped on the paper by adding extra details or correcting the map if it is out of date, too.
6. Study up on your surroundings. It’s a good idea to know what’s normal, what’s not, and to know what signs Mother Nature is giving you. Read up on star constellations, plants, weather signs, and always have a compass going in your head, too. Imagine going into a foreign country for the first time. You'll be a lot better off if you've done your research beforehand!
   
   • This is especially important when it comes to things like poison ivy or bear tracks. You need to be able to say “Let’s turn around!” when the timing is right. Exploring can be dangerous, and the more knowledge you have, the better off you’ll be.
7. Set up camp. Exploring is more fun when you have more time. If at all possible, pick a spot to call "exploration headquarters." If you can go overnight, great! Set up your tent in a nice, firm, even spot of ground away from any visible animal's roosts. From there, consider a few of the following activities:
   
   • Animal tracking
   • Plant, animal, and insect identification
   • Rock and terrain studies
   • Digging for fossils or old relics

EditBecoming a Professional Explorer

1. Read, study, and talk to other people. Knowing you want to be an explorer isn’t enough. You need to know what’s out there that could use exploring. To wrap your head around all the opportunities that await you on our little blue marble, read books about exotic, untapped lands. Study up on your geography and knowledge of other cultures. Talk to other people about their experiences and places they find interesting. The more you know, the more you’ll know exactly what you want to do and the more you’ll be prepared to do it.
   
   • Exploring on the professional level isn't just about exploring – it's about finding something to add to the knowledge of the world. You need another idea that you want to work on. Do you want to present research? Write a book? Doing your research will help you refine this idea.
2. Settle on a project. All that reading and studying isn’t for nothing – now that you have a decent idea of what’s out there, you’ll need to choose where you want to explore. The winter-torn rivers of Siberia? The dusty huts of the Nagas people in southern Africa? What's more, what do you want to do with that project? Is it going to result in new irrigation for African tribes? Or is it going to be a novel on living in Arctic climes?
   
   • The more unique and interesting your project, the easier it will be to get started. When the exploration is over, you'll still have this work to complete – and you'll be able to live your travels all over again in completing it.
3. Present your project to sponsors. Simply put, exploring costs money. Buckets and buckets of money, especially if you’re doing it long-term or need expensive supplies to get whatever it is you’re studying studied. Because of that, you’ll need to find sponsors, media partners, and kind souls to get your project afloat and to give it the validity it needs – when you get back, you want to share your work with others, not just have it be over!
   
   • Kickstarter is a great website for this. It is full of people proposing projects just like yours, and people donate money to the causes they believe in. When you're finished, you give them a shout out in your best-selling novel, or get them first in line to your documentary premiere.^[1]
   • You’ll need to sell it like it’s all or nothing. You’ll need to display to others your passion and be able to clearly state your vision, why it’s important, and what ground it breaks. The more you believe in your project, the more others will, too.
4. Prepare your body for the task. Most expeditions are going to be incredibly psychologically and physically taxing. Many explorers start intense workout regimens years before their project starts. That means weight-training, cardio, and changing up your diet. You'll be grateful you did when all is said and done!
   
   • Be sure to train in accordance with your project. Will you be climbing trees or mountains? Get that upper arm strength top-notch. Trying to cover miles and miles of barren tundra every day? Start walking, jogging, and running daily. The more prepared you are, the more confident you'll feel during your trip.
5. Join groups and societies dedicated to exploring. Look into joining the Royal Geographical Society, the Explorers Club, Explorers Connect, Travelers Club and the Long Riders Guild (if you’re a bicyclist, of course) to pad your reputation as an explorer. These groups will not only be potential donors to your future explorations, but they’ll also be full of people that will be invaluable resources down the line.
   
   • You'll need to pitch what you're doing to these groups, too, just like you did your sponsors. But by now, you're a pro. So long as they see your professionalism and dedication, you'll be welcome with open arms.
6. Be okay with people calling you crazy. Most people’s reaction to, “I’m going to spend the next year living on the banks of the Congo river with the pygmy people!” is going to be, to put it lightly, disbelief and critical judgment. They might think you’re insane, and that’s fine – most explorers are a little bit crazy. But they’re definitely never boring!
   
   • The old adage that "they didn't say it would be easy; they said it would be worth it" definitely rings true here. You are quite literally taking the path less traveled, which plenty of people frown on. Don't let them get you down – this is doable.
7. Believe in yourself through thick and thin. This is a tough path to tread – in fact, you’ll literally be blazing your own trail. To get through all the naysayers, the paperwork, and the nights spent in a tent freezing your limbs off, you’re going to need to believe in yourself and your work, that you’re doing something that matters. Some days it will be the only thing that gets you through.
   
   • Surround yourself with positive people to make it easier. Keep your family and friends close in the weeks beforehand to keep up your spirits and to keep the doubt at bay. It's very normal to think, "What am I getting myself into?!" but the doubt will fade as soon as you immerse yourself in your work.

EditBecoming a Master Explorer

1. Be a survivor. There's no question about it: wherever you go, you're going to be in some serious uncharted area. You'll likely be alone in a type of situation you've never experienced before. How will you manage? With survival skills, of course.
   
   • Learn the art of camouflage. In many situations, you'll need to blend in if for nothing else than to keep the wildlife from scurrying away from you so you can study it (in addition to protecting yourself!)
   • Master how to build a fire. This one is pretty basic: you need heat and you need to cook food (at least to keep up your morale). You can also keep wild animals at bay if need be with fire.
   • Be able to collect water. If your stash runs out, you'll be in dire straits unless you're able to collect water naturally. Knowing you have this as an option will let you breathe easier.
   • Learn how to build shelter. To keep away from animals, bugs, and bad weather, you'll need a shelter. It will also be nice to have a place to call home.
   • Master basic first aid. Whether it's a cut or a broken ankle, you are your own doctor. Master basic first aid, learning when and how certain medications are useful, in addition to learning how to splint or sterilize as need be.
2. Always be looking. It doesn’t matter if you’re in your own backyard or paddling through the islands of Papua New Guinea – a good explorer is always on the lookout. If you're not, you'll go through the time spent on your trip not coming back with a thing. This project is all about being attentive.
   
   • If you're going with a team, make sure you're utilizing numbers as much as possible. Everyone should have their own area they're covering to make sure no stone goes unturned.
3. Alter your course on a whim. In exploring, it’s a good idea to have a plan. However, will you stick to that plan? Likely never. When you notice something intriguing that takes you away from it, go for it. It’s sometimes the littlest of things that lead to the biggest adventures.
   
   • This is where your mapping and tracking skills will come in handy. When you go off course, you'll need to be able to get yourself back on it. Be sure you leave a trail you can take back, and/or plot your new course on a map as accurately as possible.
4. Take notes on your findings. What good is exploring if you come back and can’t fully remember what you’ve seen, heard, and done? You want to keep your memories as vivid as possible – so write it down! You'll need these for the project when you get back.
   
   • Make charts, too. They're vivid and more illustrative of what it is you're experiencing – and they're quicker than writing out an essay about every little detail you're seeing. You can also reference these later to look for anomalies and patterns.
   • Take time out of the day (or night) to do this. You don’t want to constantly have your head stuck in a book – or you might miss exactly what it is you went looking for.
5. Think about origins, patterns, and connections. Take a broken branch on the ground. On the outside, it’s pretty insignificant. But if you actually think about where it came from and how it got there, it can lead you to a number of conclusions. Is a wild animal nearby? Was there a fierce storm recently? Is the tree dying? Take even the smallest things, put them together, and you may find answers.
   
   • This trip, in the end, will be about conclusions. You'll need to take everything you've seen and piece it together until it becomes one giant, coherent puzzle (ideally, of course). In piecing it together, you'll be able to see what sticks out and deserves attention.
6. Sit back and just observe once in a while. In addition to going out there with gusto and taking the world by storm, sometimes you just have to sit back and let it take you by storm. Be still. Observe. What are you starting to notice that you didn't before as the seconds creep by?
   
   • Use all of your senses. Think of them one by one. What are you feeling on the bottoms of your feet, on the palms of your hands, and everywhere in between? What can you see, from the ground to the sky? What can you hear in the distance? Smell? Can you taste anything?

EditTips

• Take your chances!
• Check the weather forecast for the day to know what sort of extra clothes to pack for your expeditions.
• Before you set out on your adventure, make sure someone who is not going with you knows where you are headed.

EditWarnings

• Do not go off exploring alone. There is strength in numbers. Should anything happen to you, you have a better chance of surviving unscathed when someone else is with you.

EditThings You'll Need

• Plenty of water
• Compass
• Watch
• Star book
• Food
• Change of clothes
• Umbrella
• Flashlight
• Binoculars
• Maps
• Paper and pen
• Camera
• Flint, tinder, matches
• Rope
• Swiss army knife

EditSources and Citations

EditRelated wikiHows

• How to Explore a New City
• How to Explore Abandoned Structures

Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found

source How to of the Day http://ift.tt/1Os72Dk

How to Accept Love

There are many reasons why you might be uncomfortable accepting love. Perhaps you're afraid that you may be hurt if you accept someone's love. You may have trouble loving yourself, so you see yourself as unworthy of another person's love. No matter your reason for being afraid to accept love, there are things you can do to help you open yourself up to the possibilities that come with loving and being loved.

EditSteps

EditAccepting Love From Yourself

1. Understand self-compassion. Self-compassion is the extension of acceptance and empathy to yourself. Self-compassion is crucial to your ability to love others and accept their love. According to researchers, self-compassion involves three elements:^[1]
   
   • Self-kindness. We’re sometimes taught that being accepting and understanding toward ourselves is selfish or narcissistic, but think about it: if a friend made a mistake, would you constantly remind them of how horrible they are, or would you try to be understanding of their error? Extend yourself the same kindness you would to others.
   • Common humanity. It can be easy to believe you’re the only one capable of imperfections and guilt, but making errors and experiencing pain are part of what makes us human. Understanding that you’re not the only person to make mistakes or feel hurt can help you feel more connected to those around you.
   • Mindfulness. Mindfulness has a lot in common with meditation: it’s the idea of recognizing and accepting an experience, without judgment, as you experience it. For example, if you frequently have the thought, “I’m so unattractive, nobody will love me,” a mindfulness approach might be something like, “I’m experiencing the feeling that I’m unattractive. This is just one of many feelings that I will have today.” Recognizing when you are having negative thoughts will help you move your thoughts elsewhere.^[2]
2. Understand some myths about self-compassion. We are often taught that accepting ourselves is self-indulgent or egocentric, or -- worse yet -- lazy. Instead, we are told that perfectionism and self-criticism are healthy and productive. In fact, they’re not; they are usually based in fear.^[3]
   
   • Self-pity is different from self-compassion. Self-pity is the feeling of “poor me” that you may experience when things don’t go your way; for example, “My colleague got more of the credit for our project than I did. Nothing ever works out for me.” Self-pity focuses only on your problems and often creates feelings of inadequacy. A self-compassionate thought might be, “My colleague and I worked hard on that project, and I feel that I did a good job. I can’t control how others respond to our work.”
   • Self-compassion isn’t laziness. Accepting yourself doesn’t mean that you don’t want to improve yourself. It just means that you won’t be cruel to yourself when you make mistakes. Practicing expressing love for yourself also helps you express it to others.
   • Beating yourself up is not the same as accepting responsibility for your mistakes. A self-compassionate person can still own up to mistakes they make without feeling that he or she is a terrible person. Research has shown that self-compassionate people are actually more likely to attempt self-improvement.^[4]
3. Understand the difference between self-compassion and self-esteem. While these two sound similar, they have some crucial differences. Self-esteem is what you think and how you feel about yourself, and it’s important to being a healthy, happy person. However, it tends to be motivated by external validation: for example, you may feel attractive because someone compliments your looks. Self-compassion is about accepting yourself, flaws and all, and treating yourself with kindness and understanding.^[5]
   
   • Psychology research has shown that self-esteem is not a reliable indicator of success or even capability. Sometimes, it’s the most confident people who know the least about a situation.^[6]
4. Reject shame. Shame is the source of a lot of pain, and we’re very good at producing it. Shame is the profound, enduring belief that somehow, we aren’t worthy:of love, of time, of attention. However, shame is often not related to anything that is actually wrong with ourselves or our actions; it’s an internal judgment. ^[7]
   
   • Try to be aware of your thoughts and feelings about yourself. Sometimes shame manifests itself as feeling that you don’t deserve love. Sometimes it presents itself as a fear that if we reveal our true selves, the other person will leave us. These feelings are common, but they are also very damaging. Try affirming to yourself that you do deserve love.
5. Practice self-acceptance. This doesn’t come naturally to most people, because we’re often trained to see criticizing ourselves as something positive (for example, it drives one to work harder, improve oneself, etc.). However, there are steps you can take to work on improving your ability to accept yourself.^[8]
   
   • Point out your strengths to yourself. We’re used to making lists of failures, and humans tend to remember negative events and emotions more clearly than positive ones.^[9] Take some time each day to write down something positive about yourself. It doesn’t matter so much if you believe it at first. Make a habit of thinking about yourself in positive terms, and you’ll probably become less resistant to believing them.
   • Depersonalize your failures. It can be easy to think “I’m a failure” if you haven’t succeeded at something, but that kind of totalizing thinking devalues you and promotes feelings of shame. Instead, try thinking something like, “I didn’t succeed at _____, but I did the best I could.”
   • Remind yourself that you’re human. Perfectionism can have devastating consequences on the way we view ourselves. Try looking at yourself in the mirror and telling yourself: “I am a human being. Human beings are not perfect, and neither am I. That is okay.”
6. Understand that vulnerability, weakness, and mistakes are part of the human experience. Sometimes, you will do something that you didn’t want to do. Perhaps you scored badly on a test, or hurt a friend’s feelings, or lost your temper with your boss. However, dwelling on those negative occurrences and shaming yourself about them keeps you from viewing them as learning experiences.^[10]
   
   • Instead, accept that whatever happened happened, apologize for it if you can, and come up with a plan of what you will do differently in the future.
   • Accepting your mistakes doesn’t mean pretending they didn’t happen. It doesn’t even mean not feeling bad that they happened. Taking responsibility for your actions acknowledges the mistakes, but focusing on what you can learn from them and how you can avoid them in the future transforms guilt into growth.

EditAccepting Love From Others

1. Understand where your hesitation to accept love comes from. People have many reasons for not being comfortable accepting love from others. For some, it’s just a trait of their personality that they’d like to change. For others, a history of abuse or trauma may have required that the person shut down to protect themselves, making trusting someone else enough to accept their love nearly impossible. Understanding why you are having trouble accepting love will help you overcome that difficulty.
   
   • Some people are naturally more reserved than others. Don’t confuse emotional reserve with inability to accept or express love.
   • If you have previously been in relationships that ended badly, or if you were in a relationship with someone who didn’t offer you the same love and trust that you offered them, it can be hard to think about accepting love again.
   • It is natural for survivors of abuse to experience an inability to trust others. Trust is a difficult thing to re-learn, so take your time. Don’t feel guilty because you have trouble trusting people.
2. Become comfortable with vulnerability. In order to achieve intimacy in relationships, whether they are with friends or with romantic partners, you need to be comfortable being vulnerable with the other person. It can be terrifying to accept this possibility, but researchers emphasize that without vulnerability human connection cannot happen.^[11]
   
   • For example, much of what drives a classic “fear of commitment” is the fear of being vulnerable and then being hurt. This often stems from a history of past experiences.^[12]
   • You can practice accepting vulnerability incrementally. Start with small gestures -- greeting a coworker, saying hello to a neighbor -- and accept that they may not be returned and that this is okay. You just need to practice putting yourself forward.
3. Assess the level of vulnerability you are comfortable with. Especially if you haven’t had a lot of practice in accepting love from others, or if you’ve been hurt by loved ones in the past, you may need to take particular care in choosing what love you’re willing to accept and what level of vulnerability you are able to handle at this point in time.
   
   • For example, accepting an offer to go out for coffee with a coworker may represent a fairly low level of vulnerability for some people, but a high level for others. Deciding to try healing a friendship that fell apart represents a very high level of vulnerability.
   • You may need to start with small steps at first. That’s okay. You can build up to accepting greater levels of vulnerability as you become more comfortable with accepting love.
4. Give up the need to control. Being in a relationship with another person, whether it’s a colleague, a friend, or a romantic partner, means that you are connecting with unique person with feelings and thoughts of his or her own. You cannot, and should not, control other people’s actions and emotions, and trying to do so can end up hurting everyone in the relationship. Accepting that you can’t control the other person means accepting the possibility that they may hurt you, but it also means that you may find out how truly loving they can be when allowed to express themselves.^[13]
   
5. Find people who accept you as you are. Accepting yourself can be hard if the people you surround yourself with are constantly criticizing you or asking you to change. It will be much easier to accept love from friends and romantic partners who accept you for who you, do not constantly criticize or shame you, and do not set conditions on their love for you.^[14]
   
6. Embrace your right to say “no.” While many studies show that individuals who are open to vulnerability and accepting love from others tend to be happier and healthier people, you are not required to accept love from everyone. Always remember that you can and should ask others to respect your boundaries.
   
   • The other person should respect the boundaries you set. People who routinely ignore or reject your requests may not be genuinely interested in your feelings.
7. Learn to recognize when “love” is actually emotional abuse. Sometimes, individuals attempt to control other people by manipulating their feelings of love. There are many forms that emotional abuse can take, but learning to recognize these warning signs will help you determine when the offer of love is something that will enrich your life and when it’s an attempt to manipulate you.^[15]
   
   • A common abusive tactic is to make love conditional based on something that you do. This can manifest as manipulations such as “If you really loved me you would….” or “I love you, but…”
   • Another abusive tactic is to threaten the withdrawal of love to get a desired behavior; for example, “If you don’t do ____, I won’t love you anymore.”
   • Abusers may also play on your own insecurities to convince you to obey them, such as telling you that “nobody will love you the way I do” or “nobody will want you if I leave you.”
   • If you experience any of these in your relationship, consider seeking counseling or other assistance. Emotional abuse is not normal, and you don’t deserve it.

EditTips

• As with any other skill, learning to accept love takes time and practice. You may not feel like opening your heart to the entire world immediately, and that’s all right.
• The more you practice accepting and loving yourself, the better you will get at accepting love from others.

EditWarnings

• Individuals who attempt to manipulate or control you by using “love” as a weapon or threat are engaging in emotional abuse. You do not deserve this, and there are resources that can help, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women, and the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network.^[16]

EditRelated wikiHows

• Be Loved
• Love Yourself

EditSources and Citations

Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found

source How to of the Day http://ift.tt/1TomXqT

How to Write a Five Year Plan

Meeting life goals is difficult without a careful and detailed plan. While it may seem daunting or intimidating to think that far into the future, you can learn to break down your long term goals into a series of detailed steps to make big tasks much more manageable. Learn to choose the right categories for a five year plan, draw up a draft, and start working your way through the list.

EditSteps

EditChoosing Categories

1. Think about how you want to change. A five year plan will include very different sorts of topics, depending on who you are and what you want out of life. What will make your life easier? What will make you a happier person?
   
   • Visualize yourself, as you see yourself, in five years. Where do you see yourself living? What do you see yourself doing? Be as honest as possible.
   • It's possible that you're already quite happy and satisfied in your life and you want your five year plan to continue on the path you're already on. If that's the case, think more about what you'll need to continue living the way you enjoy.
2. Think about personal goals. Personal goals refer to the ways you hope to transform your personal life. Are you happy with who you are and what you do? How would you like to change yourself? This can be anything from being more active in the dating game to picking up the banjo as a hobby. How would you like to change the way you spend your free time in the coming years? How would you like to better yourself? A few examples of possible personal goals for the next five years might include:
   
   • Starting a novel
   • Watching less television
   • Quitting smoking
   • Starting a band
   • Getting more exercise
3. Think about financial goals. How can you use the next five years of your life to move toward financial security? How can you make steps that will get you closer to having the kind of career you want to have. Even if you're young, and don't have a job yet, thinking some about what you want out of a job now will help you find out what the next step to take is. Examples of financial goals might include:
   
   • Saving more money
   • Getting a graduate degree
   • Asking for a promotion
   • Starting a 401k
   • Finding another job
4. Think about fun goals. It's also good to spend some time thinking about fun things you'd hope to accomplish over the next few years. Where would you like to travel? What would you like to have done by the time you spin five more times around the sun? Fun goals might include:
   
   • Sky-diving, at least once
   • Going on a blind date
   • Hiking the Cumberland Gap
   • Traveling abroad
   • Going to a music festival
5. Think about family goals. If you've started a family already, what are your goals for your family? What do you hope to accomplish with, or for, your family? If you haven't started a family yet, but are in the early stages, what are your plans? What can you start doing now to prepare for the future. Family goals, might include:
   
   • Having a child
   • Saving money for your child's education
   • Starting your child in school
   • Adding on to your home
   • Moving to a larger home
   • Going on a family vacation

EditDrawing Up the List

1. Be as specific as possible. It's hard to know what to do with something on a five year plan list like, "Be a better person," because it's hard to define what will make that so. Try to stay focused, instead, on tangible goals that you can accomplish in a real way, or can research the steps necessary to complete. Be as specific as possible and your plan will have a much higher chance of succeeding.
   
2. Identify the most important items on each list. In each category, Try to identify the things that you feel are the most important to you at this time. Try to keep it to no more than a handful of important goals, because you need to narrow your focus and think specifically about the subsidiary goals for each item.
   
   • In the margin of each list, label every item on the list either A, B, or C. Label an A goal as a goal that is extremely important to you and that you want or need the most. Label a C goal as something that would be nice to have, but isn't something that you really want or need. If a goal is in between the two categories, label it a B goal. In order to find out what your priorities are, be as honest as possible.
   • Alternatively, you could also organize your list in order of how long it will take you to accomplish them. If you've got "learn to speak Italian" on your list as well as "get organized," you can take drastic steps toward one in the next week, while the other may take a lot longer.
3. Make a separate list for each item. Once you've organized your list into the most important items of your five year plan, it's time to get out a new piece of paper, or open a new document. It's important to address each goal individually, especially if it's complicated enough to spend time working on.
   
   • If you identified, "Get a graduate degree" on your list as an important item, make a separate list for each goal that you identify as being very important, such as this. Even if it seems simple, something like, "Get organized," it's still important to treat that with as much attention as possible.
4. Identify subsidiary goals for each item. What needs to happen for you to accomplish your long term goal of getting organized, or of getting a graduate degree? What needs to happen for your goal to become a reality?
   
   • You might need to do a little research to find out for sure what needs to happen to turn your goals into a reality.
5. Write an item for each year. Once you have your subsidiary goals in place, separate them into the individual years, to translate your long term goals into a series of short terms goals that you can accomplish, in order. What needs to be accomplished to move closer to meeting your goal by the end of year one? Year two? What can you do today to start moving toward your long-term goals?
   
   • For some goals, it might help to start working backward. Imagine yourself as you'd like to imagine yourself in five years, and then imagine what needed to happen for you to get there. If you imagine yourself with a graduate degree and a good job, living on a mountain somewhere, what needed to happen in the weeks leading up to that image of your yourself. What happened the previous year?
6. Narrow your focus. Make each list as specific as possible and continue breaking it down to make the list more manageable. How deep you get will depend on how much you have to add to each item on the list, and how much guidance you require for a five year plan. If you want to get a graduate degree in the next five years, what do you hope to have done by the end of this year? What can you finish at the end of the week to move yourself closer? What can you do right now?
   

EditTackling the List

1. Use realistic timelines. Set a specific time frame in which you will achieve what you set out to do. If you wanted to run the Boston Marathon, you might give yourself a time frame more around a year or two, instead of trying to rush things.
   
   • Try not to get discouraged. Remember, you're thinking long term. Keep breaking down those big goals until they become a small series of things you can do. Set smart goals and make plans to accomplish them.
2. Cross things out as you accomplish them. Don't neglect the importance of giving yourself a visual reminder of getting closer to your goals. Keep your five year plan somewhere easily accessible and cross each item out when you're finished with it. This will help give you a visual reminder of your accomplishments.
   
   • Take a minute to celebrate each time you finish something. You're getting that much closer to accomplishing a life goal, so treat yourself to something special. Dinner, drinks, a spa day. Take some time for yourself.
3. Pay attention to what new objectives present themselves. Five year plans can be a moving target. The job market can change drastically and quickly, and the more you move up the job ladder, the more you'll learn about what it takes. It might have seemed straightforward to get a job as a lawyer in five years a couple years ago, but deep into law school, now you've got a better sense of what needs to happen.
   
   • Periodically amend your list of goals to take into account these new observations and goals that come up. Revise your five year plan to account for the new information. This isn't a failure, it's a sign you're learning more and getting closer to those goals.
4. Memorize the highlights for job interviews. A hidden benefit of the five year plan is that often employers will ask you to describe yours in a job interview. If you have prepared one, discussing it in specific detail can do a lot to present yourself as a dedicated and organized person, with clear goals in mind. Contextualize the job that you're applying for as part of that goal and you're much more likely to appear like an attractive candidate.
   

EditTips

• A technique to see through to your goals is rewriting them every day in the present tense, to hammer them into your subconscious brain.
• If new methods pop up to you, review your main goal and your 'A methods' to see if it will work into your plan. If necessary, rewrite your main goal and methods to see if anything has changed.

EditRelated wikiHows

• How to Set Goals
• How to Form a Plan
• How to Set SMART Goals

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How to Make Drinks

The next time you invite your friends over for drinks, knock them out of the park with your beverage knowledge. Whether you want to serve some liquor on the rocks, a mixed drink, cocktail, frozen cocktail, or mocktail, wikiHow has the recipes and tips you need to make it a memorable night.

EditSteps

EditMaking Alcoholic Mixed Drinks

Mixed drinks are alcoholic beverages that require only two ingredients (and maybe a garnish or two).

1. Make a Gin & Tonic. Gin & Tonic is one of the most popular drinks of all time, thanks to its wonderfully simple, yet refreshing quality. To make the perfect Gin & Tonic you will need: a large highball glass, plenty of well-frozen, clear ice cubes, a lime, a chilled bottle of tonic water and the best quality gin you can get your hands on. To prepare:
   
   • Roll the lime beneath your palm to release the juice, then use a sharp knife to cut it across the center. Turn one lime half onto its flat side and cut it into four equal quarters.
   • Take one lime wedge and squeeze its juice into the highball glass, then drop the wedge into the glass. Grab your bottle of gin and pour a double measure (1.50z) into the glass. If you don't have a measuring cup, you can use the cap of the gin bottle. Three cap-fulls plus an extra dash is about right.
   • Fill your glass with as many ice cubes as you can fit, then use a long spoon to stir the drink for a couple of seconds. Open the bottle of chilled tonic and pour 3.5oz into the glass. Stir the drink again to combine the gin, tonic and lime juice.
   • If needed, add more ice to bring the level of the liquid about away from the rim of the glass - don't add any more tonic water. Take another lime wedge and slot it onto the rim of the glass to garnish. Add a clear straw, if desired.^[1]
2. Make a Rum & Coke. Rum & Coke is another classic drink whose flavor can vary depending on the type of rum you use - you can go for regular dark rum, spiced rum, coconut rum, whatever you feel like! The traditional Rum & Coke uses light rum, and when garnished with a lime wedge becomes a drink known as a Cuba Libre. To prepare a perfect rum and coke:
   
   • Fill a highball glass with well-frozen, clear ice. Measure out 2 oz of your chosen rum and pour it over the ice.
   • Measure 4 oz of Coke (or another cola brand) and pour it into the glass, stirring with a long spoon as you pour.
   • Garnish the glass with a lime wedge for a Cuba Libre, or with a maraschino cherry if using spiced or coconut rum.^[2]
3. Make a Vodka & Cranberry. Vodka & Cranberry is a tasty alcoholic treat whose vibrant color makes it a popular choice in bars across the world. Though many people prepare Vodka & Cranberry juice just using those two ingredients, the traditional recipe also calls for a dash of Rose's lime juice and a dash of orange juice, to really enhance the flavor of the cranberry. To prepare:
   
   • Half-fill an old-fashioned glass with clear, well-frozen ice. Measure out 1 oz (or 2 oz if you want a stronger drink) of vodka and pour it over the ice.
   • Add 4 1/2 oz of cranberry juice and, if using, a dash of Rose's lime juice and a dash of good-quality orange juice. ^[3]
   • Serve with one or two straws and garnish with a wedge of lime.
4. Make a Whiskey & Ginger Ale. Although whisky buffs may decry the notion of mixing whiskey with anything other than ice, this drink is growing increasingly popular thanks to its crisp, flavorsome nature. It's most commonly made with Jameson Irish whiskey, but also works well with bourbon and rye whiskeys. To prepare:
   
   • Fill a highball glass with clear, well-frozen ice. Measure out 1.5 oz of your chosen whiskey and pour over the ice.
   • Open a fresh, chilled can of ginger ale and pour into the glass, until the level of the liquid is about away from the rim.
   • Squeeze the juice from a lime wedge into the drink, then drop the lime wedge in. Use a long spoon to stir the drink, and serve.^[4]

EditServing Alcohol Straight Up

Sometimes alcohol needs to be served simply, on its own, in order to truly appreciate its individual flavors and merits. No mixers necessary.

1. Serve straight gin. Gin can be a difficult drink to drink straight, unless it is of a very good quality. Nevertheless, a good gin can make an excellent drink served chilled over ice on a hot summer day. Simply fill a highball glass with ice cubes, pour over a measure of your finest gin (Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray are two good options), and add a twist of fresh lime juice, if you like.^[5]
   
2. Serve straight whiskey. How you drink whiskey will really depend on the alcohol volume and personal preference. Any whiskeys with an ABV (alcohol by volume) over 50% can usually benefit from a splash of water or a couple of ice cubes to dilute the alcohol slightly, thus allowing you to pick up on the flavors more easily. Whiskeys with ABVs between 45% and 50% can either be diluted with a little water or ice, or left on their own - it's really a matter of which taste your prefer. ^[6]
   
   • Whiskeys with ABVs less than 40% should technically be drunk neat (no water or ice, unchilled) as they have already been cut down to this volume in the distillery and don't require any further dilution.
3. Serve straight vodka. Vodka should be stored in the freezer overnight or for at least a few hours before serving. Freezing vodka brings out its ideal flavor and consistency. You should also place your serving glasses (2 or 3 oz glasses are best) in the freezer for about an hour to get them nice and cold. Once they're ready, pour a shot measure (1.5 oz) of the frozen vodka into the chilled glasses. Do not add ice. Warm the glass in your hand for a minute or two before drinking, to bring the vodka to ideal drinking temperature.^[7]
   
4. Serve straight rum. Really good rum is considered a great after-dinner liquor. Like whiskey, rum can be served by itself, with a splash of water (5 to 6 drops), or over ice--it really depends on your personal preference. The best glass to use for rum is a snifter--the opening of the glass is rather small, allowing the rum's vapors and aromas to become concentrated.^[8]
   
5. Serve straight tequila. While most lower-range tequilas are served in a shot glass, good quality tequilas should be served in a snifter or a similar glass that has a small mouth. When serving tequila straight, it is important to 'warm up' your mouth. If you were to take a large gulp of tequila, it would taste fiery and some of the liquor's flavor would be wasted. Instead, warm up your mouth by taking a tiny sip of the tequila and letting the liquid run over all of the surfaces of your mouth--gums, tongue, and cheeks included. After this warm up you'll be able to taste and fully appreciate the subtle flavors of the tequila.^[9]
   

EditMaking Cocktails

Cocktails are more advanced alcoholic beverages--they require more than two ingredients and have their own set of tools that make creating these drinks much easier.

1. Make a Cosmopolitan. The perfect drink for a girl's night out (or in!), this vibrantly colored cocktail rose to prominence in the 90s when it was the poison of choice for Carrie Bradshaw and the rest of the Sex in the City crew.
   
2. Make a Dirty Martini. While the dirty martini we know today (gin or vodka, dry vermouth and olive juice) has been around since the early 1900s, this drink has become world famous thanks to one man--and his name is Bond--James Bond. The spy has ordered this drink (shaken, not stirred of course) throughout numerous books and movies. Get your 007 groove on shake up one of your own tonight.^[10]
   
3. Make a Tequila Sunrise. Tequila Sunrise gets its name from the beautiful layered effect created by the yellow juice and bright red grenadine. Tequila Sunrise is a very easy cocktail to make, but definitely makes a favorable impression at parties.
   
4. Make a Long Island Iced Tea. The Long Island Iced Teas is a strong, liquor-heavy cocktail that dates back to the 1970s, when it was supposedly created by a bartender in Long Island, New York. Whatever its origins, the Long Island Tea is now one of the top five most ordered cocktails in the world.
   
5. Make a Sex on the Beach. Sex on the Beach is a sweet, fruity drink with an intriguingly risqué name.^[11]
   
6. Make an Old Fashioned. The Old Fashioned is reputed to be the original American cocktail, served since the 1800s in one form or another. It's experienced something of a renaissance recently, thanks largely to its status as Don Draper's standard drink of choice. There are lots of variations on the Old Fashioned, many of them involving muddled fruits and other unnecessary extras, but the classic version stands out for its simplicity and style.^[12]
   
7. Make a Mojito. The Mojito originated in Cuba, and is said to be one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite cocktails. They are pretty much the perfect summer drink, thanks to the zesty, refreshing combination of mint leaves and lime, ideal for daytime barbecues and late-night dance bars alike.^[13]
   
8. Make a Margarita. The Margarita is a refreshing, tequila-based drink from Mexico, which has become popular worldwide. In fact, it is the number one tequila-based cocktail in the United States and no Mexican-themed dinner party is complete without a couple of pitchers of Margaritas doing the rounds.^[14]
   
9. Make a White Russian. The White Russian is a creamy, coffee-flavored, vodka-based cocktail which is perfect as an after-dinner drink. If you leave out the cream, you have what's called a Black Russian which is a lighter alternative.^[15]
   
10. Make a Singapore Sling. Since its creation in 1915, the Singapore Sling has been shrouded in debate and mystery. The Raffles hotel in Singapore is credited with inventing this drink, but even they are uncertain about the original recipe other than the fact that it was like a gin sling with one addition--a mystery ingredient that has been lost to the sands of time. Today, this drink is made with plenty more ingredients and remains intriguingly delicious.^[16]
    
11. Make a Lemon Drop. Like the lemony liquid of this drink, its history is a bit murky. Some say that it gained popularity in San Francisco where it was marketed as that blooming creation--the “girly drink”. Whether considered “girly” or not, men and women alike can agree its pretty darn tasty.^[17]
    
12. Make a Tom Collins. There are several stories surrounding the naming of this cocktail. One fact is actually true--the Tom Collins has its own poem about the man who inspired the drink. That little diddy goes something like this: “My name is John Collins, headwaiter at Limmer’s / Corner of Conduit Street, Hanover Square,/ My chief occupation is filling brimmers / For all the young gentlemen frequenters there." But wait, you might be saying, the drink is called a Tom Collins--not John! Well some time at the turn of the century, bartenders started using Old Tom gin to make the drink, and voila! The Tom Collins was born.^[18]
    
13. Make a Daiquiri. The history of the Daiquiri is steeped in that place of cigars, dancing, and rum--Cuba. Apparently one night, a man named Jenning Cox ran out of gin while entertaining guests so he turned to that glowing island liquor known as rum. Let this drink transport you to the white sand beaches of Cuban paradise.^[19]
    

EditMaking Frozen Cocktails

Frozen cocktails are traditional cocktails blended with ice. They take on the appearance and texture of a Slurpee but are so much more delicious.

1. Make a Pina Colada. You’ve probably heard that Jimmy Buffet song about a guy who replies to a personal ad in the newspaper only to find out it was his own wife who intrigued him so much. One of the most famous lines is, ”If you like pina coladas, and gettin’ caught in the rain.” Well now you can reconnect with your own darling and sip on this delicious drink.
   
2. Make a blended Daiquiri. This offshoot of the original, unblended daiquiri is a fantastic beverage to drink poolside, particularly if you are a fan of sweeter, pinker drinks. Skip the store bought watery stuff and make your own frozen daiquiri to drink at your next pool party.
   
3. Make a frozen Margarita. The first frozen margarita machine was invented by then 26-year-old Dallas resident Mariano Martinez in 1971. Of course, you don’t need to go out to indulge in this blended concoction--try making it at home for yourself!
   
4. Make a Frozen Mudslide. If you love ice cream, alcohol, or both, look no further than the frozen mudslide. This drink is considered a “trio” cocktail because it combines three different types of alcohol in one drink--Malibu rum, Kahlua, and Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur. Recently, however, bartenders have been favoring vodka over the traditional rum.^[20]
   

EditMaking Mocktails

Mocktails are generally the non-alcoholic version of traditional cocktails. However, some mocktails are a creation all their own, rather than a cocktail recipe minus the alcohol.

1. Consider some tips before trying out a mocktail. What mocktails lack in alcohol, they make up for in strong flavors and fun looks. Just because you’re making a non-alcoholic beverage doesn’t mean you can skimp on the ingredients or the garnish. In fact, when making mocktails its actually more important to use fresh fruit and not-from-concentrate juices because they are the foundation of your drink.^[21]
   
   • Use fresh fruit and good juice. To give your mocktail the best flavor possible, use the tastiest ingredients available. Buy fresh fruit from your local farmer’s market. Buy juice that
   • Know the importance of the garnish. Garnishes are fun--no one can deny that. Match your garnish with the flavor or personality of your drink. Go wild--everyone will be jealous of your mini-umbrella, pineapple chunk, and maraschino cherry.
2. Create a base for a homemade cocktail. If you are making up your own recipe, you should start with a solid base. Mocktails that are too sweet can be a little overwhelming so a good base for pretty much any mocktail is one ounce of lemon or lime juice mixed with ¾ ounce of fresh simple syrup. From there you can muddle away to your heart’s content, or add some club soda to get your sparkle on.^[22]
   
3. Try out some non-alcoholic versions of classic cocktails. If you’re not in a very creative mood and would rather stick to a cocktail you know, minus the alcohol, there are plenty of recipes out there for that. In particular, cocktails made with vodka can very easily be turned into mocktails--vodka is a neutral flavor so its absence won’t really change the cocktail too much. Try out some of these classic mocktail recipes:
   
   • Make a Safe Sex on the Beach mocktail. All the risque of the original drink, without the risk.
   • Try a Mojito Mocktail. Mint, limes, club soda...what’s not to love?
   • Make a strawberry margarita, minus the tequila. Get your groove on but not your booze on.
4. Make a non alcoholic pina colada. Nothing says poolside quite like a pina colada--now your kids can enjoy these booze-less versions while you enjoy your own drink.
   

EditTips

• When blending ice with an electric blender, blend the ice first then add other ingredients by using the drop slot or the hole on top of the blender. You can add more ice until desired consistency.
• When you mix a drink, add the ice first, then the alcohol (e.g. vodka, tequila) and then the mixers (e.g. orange, cranberry, lemon juice).

EditWarnings

• Do not drink and drive.

EditThings You'll Need

• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Drink mixer
• Blender
• Old fashioned or lowball glass
• Highball glass
• Martini glass
• Hurricane glass
• Margarita glass
• Collins glass
• Ice
• Straw
• Stir stick

EditRelated wikiHows

• How to Make a Tequila Martini
• How to Make a Cherry Vodka Sour
• How to Make a Lemon/Lime Mixer for Ice Tea or Margaritas

EditSources and Citations

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source How to of the Day http://ift.tt/1FlVePz