PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT ADVICE FROM EXPERTS by ALEXANDER POLO - HTML preview

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BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Science Books

1. Interesting Information Encyclopedia / Tutku Publications.

2. Universe 101 / Carolyn Collins Petersen.

3. Medicinal Plants / Any optional publication can be purchased.

4. First Aid Book / Any optional publication can be purchased.

5. The Amazing World of Animals / Passion Publications.

6. Can I Ask Something / Deniz Dinçer.

7. Real Medicine / Aidin Salih.

8. Interesting Information / Fazlı Kazar.

9. Our Interesting Body / Telescope Popular Science Publications.

10. Strong Memory / Ahmet Yıldız.

History Books

1. Events That Shook the World / Mehmet Bicik.

2. A Short History of Major Events / Tufan Gündüz /

Two volumes.

3. Great Disasters in History / NakitBeyaz publications.

4. How Sects Emerged / Ismail Mutlu.

5. Firsts in the World / Yeditepe Publications.

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6. History of Islam / Any optional publication can be taken.

7. History of the Prophets / Any optional publication can be purchased.

8. Geography of Countries / Any optional publication can be taken.

9. Brief World History / Any optional publication is available.

10. Brief History of Turkey / Kemal H. Karpat.

11. Turkish Foreign Policy / Any optional publication can be purchased.

Personal Development Books

1. Success Stories of Celebrities / Fazlı Kazar.

2. Atlas of Universal Words / Hasan Çalışkan.

3. Are You Ready to Be Successful and Happy / Ahmet Avcı.

4. Body Language, Diction and Rhetoric / Any optional publication can be purchased.

5. 101 Life-Changing Stories / Cengiz Erşahin.

6. Professions Guide / Any optional publication can be purchased.

7. Practical English Speaking Guide / Any optional publication can be purchased.

8. Provinces of Turkey Encyclopedia / Any optional publication can be purchased.

9. Turkish Cuisine / Any optional publication can be purchased.

10. Things You Are Wondering About / Tutku Publications

11. Those Who Rob the World and Their Methods /

Ismail Tokalak

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Religious books

1. Basic Religious Information / Directorate of Religious Affairs Publications.

2. The Life of Our Prophet, the Master of the Universe

/ Salih Suruç.

3. What Kind of Servant Does Allah Want / Ismail Mutlu.

4. Islamic Ethics / Mehmet Dikmen.

5. The Quran by Topic / Ömer Özsoy.

6. Great Islamic Catechism / Ömer Nasuhi Bilmen.

7. Hadith Handbook / Ömer Sevinçgül / Short four volumes.

8. Islamic Faith with Evidence / Mehmet Bulut.

9. El Edebul Müfred (Decency and Ethics of Muslims with Hadiths) / Imam Bukhari.

10. Riyazu's Salihin / Any optional publication can be purchased.

11. Quran Path Turkish Translation and Interpretation /

Diyanet publications / Five volumes.

12. Risale-i Nur Collection (Simplified) / Ismail Mutlu /

Mutlu publications.

13. Living World Religions / Diyanet publications.

14. Chemistry of Saadet (Formula of Happiness) /

Gazali.

General Culture Books

1. Encyclopedia of Practical Information That Wil Make Your Life Easier / Zeynep Masal.

2. Journey to Wisdom / Orhan Erdem.

3. 111 Tips That Will Contribute to Your Life /

B.Cengiz Bahar.

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4. Courtesy and Manners in Our Daily Life / Ayşenur Kurtoğlu.

5. Inspiring Success Stories / Ziya Baran.

6. General Culture Encyclopedia / Any optional publication can be purchased.

7. Constitution of the Republic of Turkey / An optional publication can be purchased.

8. Economics 101 / Alfred Mil

9. Beautiful Words and Advice for Success and Happiness / F. Cemil Coşkun.

10. Interesting Information that Surprises and Makes You Curious / Living Faith.

11. Pharmaceutical and Chemical Terrorism in the World

/ Ismail Tokalak.

12. Psychological Problems in Children and Their Treatment / Esan Gül / Çıra publications.

Note

These books were selected by examining hundreds of books. If you cannot access the books, you can purchase a different publication with the same name. While reading the books, be sure to take notes or underline important points. Don't just stick to these books, read more, constantly research books, read useful ones.

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COURTESY EXPRESSIONS

1. What To Say To Those Leaving On A Trip

 Have a good journey.

 Have a safe trip.

 You have a nice voyage.

 Take care.

 May God grant peace and protect you from accidents and troubles.

 Take care of yourself, say hello to everyone.

2. What to Say to Those Who Get Married

 Congratulations, good luck.

 May God make you happy.

 Good luck and may God make you happy.

 Good luck, I wish you both happiness.

 I wish you both a lifetime of happiness.

3. What to Say to a Person for Condolences

 My condolences.

 May he/she rest in peace.

 May God not show us any more pain.

 May God give long life to those left behind.

 May God rest his/her place in heaven.

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Expressions that can be said in response: God bless / May God give you a long life / Thanks, God bless / Thank you, God bless you.

4. What to Say to the Host When Rising Up from a Meal

 Good health to your hands and abundance to your purse.

 May God give you more.

 Good health to you and God bless you.

 May your purse be abundantly ful .

Expressions that can be said in response: Bon appetit.

5. What to Say to a Person Who Has Just Had a Child

 Good luck, may God raise him/her with his parents inshallah.

 I wish you good luck, may God give him/her a healthy and long life.

 I hope he/she will be a good child for the country and the nation.

 May God bless you and give you a healthy and long life.

6. What to Say to a Person Who Has Bought a New House

 I hope your home will bring you nice things.

 May your home be blessed and may God grant you peace and happiness.

 May your home be blessed and may God grant you good times.

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 I hope your new home will be lucky, peaceful, and that you will live in it with happiness.

7. What to Say When Entering a Workplace or to Someone Engaged in Work

 Power to your elbow.

 Hello, good luck.

 As-salamu alaykum, power to your elbow

 Good day, good luck, I was going to open a bank account, can you help me?

 Good day, hello, I want to become a member of the library, can you help me?

8. What to Say When Leaving a Workplace

 Good deeds.

 Good luck, have a nice working day.

 May God grant you good earnings.

 God give convenience.

 Have a nice day.

 Have a good day.

 All the best, good luck.

9. What to say during visitation

 I hope you get well soon, and may God heal you.

 I hope you get well quickly, and may God grant you a speedy recovery.

 I hope you will recover soon.

 I hope you will recover quickly and return to us as soon as possible.

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 I hope you get well soon, and may God grant you good health and wellness.

 I wish our brothers and sisters injured in the earthquake to get well soon and hope they recover as soon as possible.

 I wish a speedy recovery to our injured police officers.

10. What to Say When Someone is Setting Off to Serve His Military Duty

 Good luck, good wishes.

 I wish you success in your military service.

 The homeland is entrusted to you, I hope you go and return safely.

 God bless you, our prayers will be with you.

11. How to Apologize When You Make a Mistake

 I'm so sorry; it wasn't intentional.

 I'm so sorry; it was unintentional.

 I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you.

 I'm sorry; I don't agree with you.

 I'm so sorry; excuse me.

 I'm sorry I won't be able to attend your invitation; I have to attend a business meeting at the same time.

12. Meeting or Introduction Expressions

 Let me introduce you to my friend.

 Please allow me to introduce myself.

 Very pleased to meet you.

 Let me introduce you to my friend Murat.

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 This is my friend Murat that I told you about.

 I'm glad to meet you.

13. What to Say When Leaving After a House Visit

 It's late; we should be leaving now.

 I need to ask for your permission.

 With your permission.

 Let us ask for permission.

 Please allow us.

 Let me ask for your permission, don’t be disturbed.

14. What to Say While Going Out of the Door After a House Visit

 Adieu.

 Thanks for everything.

 We are waiting for your visit next time.

 Take care, see you.

 Good evening, see you.

 Good night, see you.

 God bless you, take care of yourself, see you.

 Good night, God bless you, see you.

15. What to Say (Usually at the door) While Seeing Off a House Guest

 It’s still early; sit a little longer.

 It’s early; we were having a good time.

 Thank you, we look forward to seeing you again.

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 We are waiting for you again; say hello to everyone.

16. What to Say to Someone Who Has Had a Haircut/Shave or Who Has Just Has a Shower?

 Good Health to you.

Expressions that can be said in response: Thank you, God bless. / Thanks a lot.

17. What to Say When Giving a Gift

 I bought you a gift; I hope you like it and use it happily.

 I will give you a gift, I hope you like it. Enjoy it and may it bring you happiness.

 I have a gift for you, I hope you like it and will remember me every time you look at it; enjoy.

18. Expressions of Thanking

 Thank you very much.

 Thank you you're so kind.

 Thank you for your help.

 Thank you for everything you’ve done.

 Thank you for your interest.

 I appreciate your help.

 Thank you, you are very thoughtful.

 Thank you very much; I will never forget your kindness.

 Thank you very much, sorry for the trouble.

 We are grateful for the welcome given to us, we sincerely thank you.

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 Thank you very much for your good wishes.

 I appreciate you for this behavior.

 I am grateful for your support.

 I would like to thank all my colleagues and express my gratitude.

 I offer my respects and love to all of you.

 I would like to express my gratitude to all my friends who supported me.

19. Expression in Reply to Someone Thanking You

 You're welcome.

 You're welcome; don’t mention it.

 It’s nothing.

 Of course.

 It was my pleasure.

 I thank you too.

20. What to Say to a Person Who Has Bought a New Car

 Good luck, enjoy it with God’s blessing.

 Enjoy your new car, may God protect you from accidents and troubles.

 Best wishes, may God grant you the ability to use it without any accidents.

 Congratulations, may God grant you good days to use it.

Expressions that can be said in response: Thank you very much / God bless / May God grant it to everyone in need.

21. What to Say to a Person Who Has Bought New Stuff 102

 Enjoy it.

 Enjoy it; use it in good times.

 Enjoy it; use it on good days.

22. What to Say When Receiving a Gift?

 Thank you very much; you are very thoughtful.

 You shouldn’t have; thank you very much.

 Why did you bother, there was no need; thank you very much.

 Thank you very much, I'm glad to have you.

 I like it very much; I’m very happy, thank you very much.

 Thank you very much; I will never forget this gift.

23. What to Say on Someone’s Birthday

 Happy birthday.

 Happy birthday, so glad to have you.

 I hope God gives you a long and healthy life.

 I hope you have many happy, peaceful and beautiful years.

 May God grant you all that your heart desires, happy new age.

24. What to Say in Answer to Those Who Celebrate Your Birthday

 Endless thanks to all of you, I'm glad to have you.

 Thank you very much for not leaving me alone on my birthday.

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 Thank you very much; I am very lucky to have valuable friends like you.

 I would like to thank each and every one of you, I'm glad to have you.

 Thank you very much for remembering me on a day like this; I'm glad to have you.

25. What to Say in Response to Other Celebrations

 I would like to thank you with my sincerest wishes.

 I thank you with my most heartfelt feelings.

 I would like to thank everyone, I'm glad to have you.

 Thank you very much for your good wishes.

 Thank you very much; you are very thoughtful.

 Thank you very much for remembering me on a day like this.

 You are very thoughtful; you made me very happy. I'm so glad to have you.

26. What to Say When Someone Gets Engaged

 Congratulations, good luck.

 May it be auspicious and may God help you see it to the end.

 Congratulations, may God help you see it to the end.

27. Greeting Expressions

 Hello.

 As-salamu alaykum

 Good morning.

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 Happy mornings.

 Good day, hello.

 Hi, how are you.

 Have a good day.

 Good evening Sinan, how are you?

 Good evening. (Early in the evening.)

 Goodnight. (Late in the evening.)

 Love and respect to everyone.

 Greetings, love and respect to everyone.

 Hello, what's up, how are you?

 Happy evenings.

 Happy nights.

28. What to Say When Asking for Something

 Excuse me, can I ask something?

 Sorry, may I ask something?

 Excuse me, can you look here please?

 Can I ask for some tea?

 This way please.

 How can I help you?

 I'm so sorry I can't help you.

 Can you please give me this file?

 Sorry, could you please can you get in line?

29. Expressions of Courtesy in Phone Conversations

 Good day, am I talking to Mr. Yusuf?

 I'm Ali; I think you dialed the wrong number.

 My father is not at home right now, if you have a note, I will forward it to him.

 This is Ahmet, whom were you looking for?

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30. Expressions of Farewell

 Take care, see you, have a nice day.

 God bless you, see you, good night.

 Have fun, see you later.

 Adieu, stay safe and sound.

 Take care of yourself, goodbye.

 Good luck to you, see you tomorrow, good evening.

 Have a nice holiday, have fun, see you.

 Take care of yourself; send my greetings to your family.

31. Expression of Personal Inquiry

 Hello Serkan, how are you? Are you okay?

 What's up, how are you doing?

 Hello Yavuz, how are you, what's up?

 How's life?

 How are the people at home? Is everyone okay?

 How are you feeling, how is your family?

 How is your health? Do you have any problems?

 How are you doing, are you all right, is everything okay?

 How is your family, your siblings, your parents, is everyone okay?

 It's been a long time since we've seen each other, how are you, what's up, is there any change in your life?

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32. Expression to Respond to Someone Inquiring About You

 I’m good thank you, how are you?

 I'm fine, thank you very much, are you okay too?

 Thank you, how are you?

 Thank you, I'm fine, how are you?

 Thank you, God bless you, I'm fine, how are you?

 Thank you, God bless you, thankful y I'm fine.

What about you, how are you?

 Thank you Serkan, how are you, what's up?

 Thank God, I'm fine, how are you?

 Thank God, how are you?

 I'm not well, I'm a little uncomfortable.

 I'm a little tired.

 Praise be to God, thankfully I'm fine, how are you?

33. Expressions to Celebrate New Year

 Happy New Year; I wish you many healthy, happy and successful years.

 I hope the new year brings health, happiness, joy, success, love and peace to you and all your loved ones. Happy New Year.

 I hope it will be a good and fruitful year.

 I hope the new year brings health, happiness, success and abundant income.

 Hoping that the new year will be a healthy, peaceful, happy and peaceable year for all humanity.

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34. Expressions of Wishing Success and Celebration

 I wish you success, good work.

 May God give you clarity of mind.

 I congratulate you and wish you continued success.

 May God grant you success.

 May you always have success.

 I congratulate you on your success, may your path be clear and bright.

 God bless you.

 I wish you great success in your life, and offer my respects.

 So you’ve been accepted to medical school, congratulations.

 Congratulations, you did a good job.

35. Expressions to Celebrate Eid

 Happy Eid.

 Have a blessed Eid.

 Have a great Eid.

 Happy holidays.

 Have a blessed Ramadan holiday. May Allah accept your fasts and other prayers.

 I hope the Eid al-Adha brings happiness, peace and prosperity to you and your loved ones, have a blessed Eid.

 I hope you have a healthy and peaceful holiday with your loved ones.

 We wish you to spend many holidays together, ful of love and peace; have a blessed holiday.

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36. Expressions to Celebrate Holy Days, Nights and Kandils

 I congratulate you on your holy month and wish you many happy kandils filled with health, happiness and peace.

 May your holy night be blessed, may Allah accept all your prayers and worship.

 May your prayers and worship be accepted, may your kandil be blessed.

 Have a blessed night of power, may Allah grant you a happy and peaceful life with your loved ones.

 Have a blessed kandil.

 Happy Friday, have a blessed Friday.

 I congratulate you and your family on the holy night and pray to Allah Almighty that it will be a blessing. Happy Kandil.

37. Expressions of Wishes

 I hope they come back from the mistake.

 I hope they have a safe, trouble-free and fruitful week.

 I hope there will be no loss of life in the earthquake.

 Our hope is that this ceasefire will last.

 I hope that the court will make the right decision.

 I hope the results will be beneficial for all the people of Izmir City.

38. Expressions of Offering Help

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 Do you need something?

 Is there anything we can do?

 Do you have a request from me?

 Is there anything I can do for you?

 Do you want anything?

 Tell me whenever you need anything.

 If you need anything, you can always call.

 If you need anything, be sure to let me know.

 If you need anything, I'm here.

Expressions that can be said in response: Thank you very much. / Thank you, may God bless you. /

Thanks a lot, nice of you to think about it.

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HOW TO PREPARE A SELF-

DEVELOPMENT NOTEBOOK

What is a Personal Development Notebook?

It is an organized and categorized notebook in which short notes are taken to prevent forgetting important information and experiences learned and read.

Features of the Notebook

Since you will carry the notebook with you while reading books and researching on the internet, don’t use a large notebook that will weigh you down, any medium-sized notebook will be sufficient.

Preparation Stages of the Notebook:

 First of all, bind the notebook and name it to prevent wear and tear.

 Don’t use pencils in your notebook, because writings written with pencil will be erased over time, so use a ballpoint pen.

 Write the title on the first page of the notebook, you can use “Personal Development Notebook”

or “Information Notebook” as the title.

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 On the second page of the notebook, write a title called “Contents” and write the sections of the notebook underneath.

Advices

 This notebook will be your most important notebook, so keep it in a safe place.

 Don’t throw away the notebook after reading it once, keep it for a lifetime and read it every now and then so that the information is not forgotten.

 When the notebook is finished, buy a new one and divide it into categories in the same way, adding new sections if necessary.

 Don’t write down every information in your notebook; only write down important information that you don’t want to be forgotten.

 Write your notes briefly in the notebook; don’t use long sentences.

 When dividing the notebook into sections, allocate more pages to the sections where you will take more notes, and less pages to the sections where you will take less notes.

Sections of the Notebook

You can divide the notebook into sections according to your own interests and wishes. To give you an idea, I will write the sections of a sample personal development notebook below with headings and explanations.

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Sample Notebook Headings and Explanations Contents

1. Important notes from the books I have read 2. Questions to research on the internet 3. Nice words I like

4. My passwords

5. My computer experiences and notes from programs 6. My internet experiences, important notes, useful sites 7. Meals I cook, brief summaries and important notes 8. My goals, ideas and plans that I think of doing in the future

9. Things to do in my free time

10. Names, authors and categories of all the books I have read

Explanations of Content Sections

1. Important notes from the books I have read: This is the section where you will take notes of the parts you consider important from the books you have read. No matter what book you read, always take some notes, because most of the information learnt while reading a book will be forgotten if notes are not taken or the text not re-read.

Therefore, keep this notebook with you while reading a book and take brief notes of important parts.

2. Questions to research on the internet: Every day, dozens of questions come to our minds to which we wonder the answers. We learn some of them by researching them online when we remember them and find the time, but most of the questions are forgotten because they are not noted down at that moment. That's why every question that 113

comes to mind should be noted immediately. You can write these questions on your phone or anywhere at that moment. Later write these questions in this section of the notebook and search the answers on the internet one by one when you have time.

3. Nice quotes I like: This is the section where you will write the nice words you have read in books, newspapers or magazines, or learned from TV or from someone wise.

Don’t write every word in this section; take note of the words that impress you, that you want to memorize or that you want to pass on to others.

4. My passwords: You can write down any password you don’t want to forget in this section. For instance, your email password, e-government password, bank account password, computer password, Wi-Fi password, your login passwords to the websites you are a member of, etc.

5. My computer experiences and notes from programs: Take notes in this section to prevent forgetting the important experiences you learned while using computer programs or solving computer problems. For example, detailed process steps in office programs such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, steps to format the computer, shortcuts on the keyboard, Photoshop program detailed process steps, animation or coding program tips, video editing program detail processes, etc.

6. My internet experiences, important notes, useful sites: We meet a new website every day while doing research on the internet, or we meet a new YouTube channel every day while watching videos. Be sure to take notes of the ones you discover from these sites or channels, in case you 114

forget the ones that are comprehensive and useful for you.

Also, take note of your experiences, detailed transaction steps and tips when using the websites you work on or perform transactions.

7. Meals I cook, brief summaries and important notes: Cook once in a while, improve yourself in this regard, and gain experience. Start with simple meals first, watch videos, read cookbooks, watch people cooking and ask questions that come to your mind. Then write down your experiences in this section of the notebook to prevent forgetting. Take brief notes to write the names of the dishes you cooked, the steps of how you make them, how many ingredients you used for each dish, and practical information, etc.

8. My goals, ideas and plans that I think of doing in the future: Every day, some ideas, plans and dreams pass through our minds, but we cannot realize them because the conditions don’t allow us at the time. It may take years for the conditions to develop. Will you be able to remember the dozens of ideas that crossed your mind years later? Or will most of them fade into oblivion? In order to be successful in this subject, notes must be taken, because sometimes excellent ideas come to mind. Make your notes in this section of the notebook, and then read them from time to time and think about ways to achieve your goals.

9. Things to do in my free time: Using free time correctly and in a planned manner is very important for personal development. For this, think about what you need to do in your free time and how you should spend your time, and write it in the form of a list in this section of the notebook, writing important and priority tasks at the beginning. Then read them and do them whenever you have time.

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10. Names, authors and categories of all the books I have read: It is necessary to read plenty of books for self-development. But you cannot improve yourself by constantly reading many books from the same category.

For instance, you cannot improve yourself by only reading books from the story and novels category. Books from every genre should be read. Books on history, self-development, psychology, education, science, religion, health and general culture should also be read. In this section, be sure to write the name, author and genre of each book you read. Because to evaluate yourself, you need to know how many books from which genre you have read.

Then look at this section of the notebook every year, evaluate yourself by looking at these notes to see how many books you have read in a year, whether you reached your annual target number of books, whether you have read enough books from each genre.

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TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN SCHOOL AND EXAMS 230

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