Women's Safety Information

The recent tragedy of actress Natasha Richardson stands as a shining example of the importance of women’s ski helmets. Unfortunately, her story had an unbelievably tragic end, but it serves as a reminder to women all over the world that they must take safety precautions before hitting the slopes to have a fun day of skiing. While we may never know, it is possible that wearing a simple ski helmet may have saved this wonderful woman’s life.

It does not take much force to cause a head injury, especially if someone is hit in just the wrong spot. This is what often happens when someone bumps their head and later dies. The bump often seems like a non-event, but hours later can develop into a crisis. People can have bleeding in their brain and not even know it, which is what happened in the case of Richardson.

There are some safety tips that women must consider before buying a ski helmet:

When looking at used helmets, it is imperative that you take some time to research whether there have been any recall notices about the helmet in the past. Many times a person will sell an old ski helmet online without realizing that it was the subject of a recall, so you must do your due diligence. Make sure that the outside of your helmet is made from polycarbonate material which is very strong and sturdy. Try on the helmet if at all possible. It needs to feel lightweight (to avoid straining your neck) and comfortable. You will be wearing it for hours at a time, so comfort is an important factor. Know what the venting system of the helmet is. This will tell you how cool or warm your head will feel, and will give you an idea whether the helmet will help you maintain your body temperature while you are out in the frigid temperatures. There are fashionable helmets available that appear to be just a regular snow hat, but underneath feature a full ski helmet. For those who are fashion conscious, this is a great option to have! Look for helmets that have been designed specifically for women. There are some helmets that have fur built in the inside, so this may be an option for you if you are more cold natured. Some helmets feature visors built in that will help shield your eyes from direct sunlight as well as keep you from being temporarily blinded by too much reflection from the sun.

As you can see, there are all kinds of options when it comes to women’s ski helmets. There is no reason to choose the very first one that you find, but do spend some time researching different brands, prices and features. In the end, your safety is very important so it pays to take a little extra time to make sure that you are protecting your most important feature – your brain.

By: Gary Rogers

About the Author:

Although everyone needs personal boundaries, women are the caretakers of the world and ironically, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to a point of being drained until we can no longer take care of anyone, including us. We must care for ourselves first in order to be there for others, right?

Great News!

There is a happy medium between being selfish and being selfless and I’m going to show you what it is!

At one time or another, we have all felt less than empowered by something someone else said or did. Wouldn’t you agree? What do you do when someone is disrespectful to you? What do you do when being around someone gives you the creeps? Have you repeatedly put yourself in a situation where you emerged feeling worse that you did beforehand? Did you know it would happen but “didn’t want to offend anyone,” by making waves or backing out?

We’ve all been there and if you are ready to create a more empowered future with more respect from yourself and others, greater self-esteem and much more peace of mind and laughter, you will definitely need to establish and enforce personal boundaries! They are the keys to much of our happiness yet so often overlooked.

How to Establish Personal Boundaries

First of all, let’s determine what is okay with you and what isn’t. That would be acceptable people, places and situations and unacceptable people, places and situations. You probably know several of them already. Decide what empowers you and what weakens you by picturing a person, place or certain situation and noticing the feeling in your gut. This is the quickest way to know if something or someone is beneficial or detrimental to you as a woman.

We will get into gut feelings in depth in the #5 Personal Safety Secret for Women but for right now, the first thing you feel is what you want to go with, good or bad. If you have an indifferent feeling, put it in the “good” category. If you have a good gut feeling about the person, place or situation it is put on the acceptable list. If you have a bad gut feeling, that person, place or situation is put on the unacceptable list.

Where to Put Personal Boundaries

You now have an acceptable list and an unacceptable list. Next, picture yourself in the middle of a circle. The line of the circle extends approximately 18-24 inches from your body. Picture the acceptable people, places and situations inside the circle with you and all of the unacceptable people, places and situations outside the circle.

You might have heard or said something like, “He got in my space,” or “She stepped over the line,” right? The space is the space inside your circle. It is your personal space and I am giving you permission to protect it. The line is your personal boundary line between what is acceptable and unacceptable to you. So, now you will have a visual the next time someone talks about “the line” or “my space” though if is more of a saying than actually understood my the person speaking it.

About Enforcing Personal Boundaries

First of all, enforcement of personal boundaries is easiest when you first meet someone because they don’t have to change their behavior. When someone you have known for a long time suddenly learns that you will not be putting up with the disrespectful way they speak to you anymore they are not happy. However, you may have had people like this in your life at one time or another and it is impossible to reach your true potential with them knocking you down all the time. Some of them will leave your life, others will respect you and stay.

Sore Losers vs. Those Who Truly Care

Why would someone you’ve known forever leave your life just because you choose not to be mistreated by them anymore? Because they are in the attacker mindset (Personal Safety Secrets #1) and you just stopped playing their game. People who care about you will be happy to adjust their behavior so that you feel better and many will appreciate the heads up; not realizing they had been inconsiderate in the past.

As you can see, establishing personal boundaries is a breeze compared to enforcing them. It takes guts to stand up for yourself and others will either respect it or resent your ability to do so.

How to Enforce Personal Boundaries

If someone speaks to you disrespectfully and you have just deemed it as unacceptable, you need to determine what you will say or do the next time it happens. Here are some options (none of which include guarantees):

“When you speak to me in that tone of voice I feel like you don’t respect me. Is that how you wanted me to feel?”

In this response, you are putting the ball in the other person’s court. They have two options: confirm they wanted you to feel bad or apologize and change their behavior.

Note: Remember that you are not saying, “You make me feel…” because no one can make you feel a certain way without your permission. That means they can inspire or threaten you into feeling a certain way but you are in control of your own feelings. (This is uncomfortable for some people to swallow because it means taking responsibility for their thoughts, behavior and current situation in life.)

If your teen is speaking to you disrespectfully, you may choose to be more forceful in saying something like, “Speak to me with respect. Anything else is unacceptable.”

The key is determining what you will do or say ahead of time. This is how we protect ourselves. Establishing personal boundaries includes figuring out how we handle the boundary breakers. The best part is that since you know what is acceptable and unacceptable, you can see when someone is getting close to “getting in your space” or “crossing the line” so that you can prevent it!

If you determine that an annual holiday party gets wild each year by 11:00 pm, your personal boundary may be to attend until 10:30 pm.

Maybe a person at work tells you an uncomfortable amount of personal information so you tell him or her that you appreciate that they consider you a friend to share their life with but that you will feel more comfortable keeping your relationship on more of a business level. Realize that the person who shares too much personal info seeks attention and will probably be mad at you and may even talk behind your back after you enforce your personal boundary. Why would he or she do this? Because it will get them attention. Consider the source and the reason people are pushing your buttons in the first place. There is always more to it than meets the eye. Trust your gut feelings above all else.

Where is the Empowering Part of Personal Boundaries?

I’m glad you asked! When you are treated with the respect you deserve and treat others in kind, you will be amazed at how long you allowed yourself to live without this natural high! How you see yourself improves. How others see you improves. You feel stronger knowing you have the right to protect yourself from verbal, mental, emotional and physical attacks. Your life gets much simpler because there are rules and those who choose not to abide by them are not a problem for you anymore. Remember, you have to have your own back before you can expect anyone else to. You must nourish and care gently for yourself before you can care deeply for others. You deserve to be happy. Do you lose some “friends,” acquaintances and others in your life? Yes. But were they friends if they mistreated you? No. Do family relationships get an overhaul? Many times, yes but refer to the answer to the previous question.

Live the Life You Deserve

In order to be who you need and want to be; in order to accomplish your life purpose, you need to feel whole, important and qualified to live your best life. This means protecting yourself from attack. Unclear about your life’s purpose? You will see how much more clearly you see after you respect yourself enough to establish and enforce personal boundaries. It is the #4 personal safety secret for women!

By: Kelly Rudolph

About the Author:

Women, children and the elderly are the most common victim prospects for attackers but everyone of every age is vulnerable. That is the bad news but there is plenty of good news too!

Something as simple as using your voice correctly and knowing the correct things to yell make your voice your #1 weapon.

It’s as simple as that.

If you are like me, you learned what to scream if you were in danger, right? This was good in theory but far too ineffective for reality.

Here’s the deal:

Screaming is weak and defensive Yelling is strong and offensive Most of the things we were taught to scream don’t work I’ll tell you what does work
Screaming vs. Yelling

When screaming is heard, it is thought to be either playing or too dangerous a situation to get involved in. Most people want to avoid “helping” for fear of getting hurt. (They are smart!)

When yelling is heard, it sounds like something is about to happen but hasn’t yet. It is strong and gets a completely different kind of attention than screaming does. Most people are interested in helping to prevent something.

What To Yell

Stop! Back Off! 911!

These are the most effective things to yell. We won’t go over the others we have heard all our lives because there is no reason to fill our minds further with things that don’t work.

How To Yell

Inhale to fill your lungs and tummy Deepen your voice by putting your tongue low in your mouth Yell until you are out of air, inhale, yell again Yell so that people blocks away can hear you
Benefits Of Yelling

Startles the attacker – catching the attacker off-guard puts you in control temporarily Calls attention to your situation – the last thing an attacker wants is everyone looking his or her way Makes you stronger – gets your adrenaline flowing in order to help you think clearly, strike harder and run faster
When To Yell

When you have a bad gut feeling about someone who is approaching (usually after they have disregarded your stern “Stop”) When someone grabs a hold of you without your permission When someone is taking you with them against your will As you are running to safety

You are now capable of scaring off most attackers before they approach, during an approach and in the third phase of attack – physical contact. Women, please share this information with kids, teens and men as everyone needs to know how to use their voice as their #1 weapon. As women, we are more likely to seek safety information than men so it is great when we can share it with loved ones and coworkers of both genders and all ages.

By: Kelly Rudolph

About the Author:

As women, we are often responsible for teaching kids and teens about personal safety and there is one word that must deleted from our vocabulary to do it effectively. This one word has been used so often it is a habit for most of us; a habit that doesn’t mean anything and doesn’t even absorb into the subconscious mind, which is why it gets people killed every day. That one word is “don’t.”


“Don’t” is one of the most dangerous words in the english language and puts people of all ages in jeopardy every hour of every day.

The reason for the danger of this word is that the subconscious mind (the mind tells our body what to do) does not understand it because it can’t visualize not doing something. It can visualize doing something else, which is why we must express what TO do instead. This fact is serious enough to be taught by every teacher and should be a top story on every news broadcast but instead, “don’t” is used relentlessly by the very people who are baffled by its ineffectiveness.

Have you ever wondered why you told someone not to do something and they did it anyway? Did you think they were trying to make you mad or purposely go against your wishes? Maybe, but chances are much higher that they got a picture in their mind of doing exactly what you told them not to do. Negative words like “don’t,” “not,” “no” and “never” cannot be visualized and so they are ignored.

Danger: the subconscious mind takes in everything as if it is the truth; as if it is a viable option.

So, as we teach kids and teens (and other adults, for that matter) about safety, it is vital that we teach what TO do instead of what not to do. This cuts the communication in half and only provides the correct and safest option.

Scary Example: What if your 10 year old learns 10 things about a specific dangerous situation and eight of the ten things are what not to do while only two of the ten things are what TO do? All ten things learned enter the subconscious mind as viable options. That means, should that situation arise, your child only has a 20% chance of choosing the right thing to do.

So when you teach kids and teens about personal safety, make sure and focus on what TO do and delete the word “don’t” from your vocabulary.

By: Kelly Rudolph

About the Author:

We find ourselves in unexpected, sometimes dangerous, situations and oftentimes the best way to handle it comes to mind after it’s over. But is there one simple question to ask ourselves that gives us the proper way to handle everything while it is happening? Yes.

Whether you are being called from work to pick up your sick child at school, get invited to something you really don’t want to attend or end up in a bank during a robbery, you need to know how to keep your cool and handle the situation correctly.

The most important question to ask yourself in any situation is this:

“What is the best way to handle this situation?”

The reason this is the best question is because your mind will answer whatever you ask it. Your mind is the most powerful of computers yet, if you’re like the rest of us, you are more accustomed to searching the internet (created by someone’s mind, incidentally) than checking in with own your built-in computer.

The key is to ask good, positive questions to get good, empowering answers. For example, your child gets sick at school and you need to leave work in the middle of an important project with a fast approaching deadline. Your first thoughts are a flurry of questions; none of which will help you.

“How did he get sick only an hour into the school day when he was fine this morning?”

“How am I going to meet this deadline now?”


“What is my boss going to say when I just took time off yesterday for a doctor’s appointment?

“If my son is still sick tomorrow, who will I get to stay with him or will my boss let me work on this from home and what if I get sick too, then how will I get my work done…?

Although these questions won’t help you, they will certainly raise your stress level because contemplating their answers inspires new disempowering questions. What you need to do in this situation is go pick up your son, period. The other questions can all be answered later and, amazingly enough, by asking the same simple question: “What is the best way to handle this situation?”

So, if you’re in a bank robbery and you are one of the 9 out of 10 people who gasp and hold their breath, freezing up under stress. Simply asking the one simple question: “What is the best way to handle this situation?” You may get an answer like, “Exhale.” It’s simple but it will allow your adrenaline to circulate and that allows you to think clearly. Thinking clearly may entail asking that same simple question 15 more times during the ordeal but it will always give you the best answer and course of action.

By: Kelly Rudolph

About the Author:

There are as many opinions on how to recover from rape as there are books, services, articles and blog posts on the subject. I choose to share mine with you because I’ve seen and read much from jaded, negative, cynical “victims” who are still living as victims. Your following their advice can only lead you to live as a victim yourself. I am one of the few rape survivors, I’m aware of, with a positive attitude about men, dating, safety and life in general, so let’s get you on the same path!

1. Realize rape is not personal

Every attack, from name calling to rape and murder, is all about the attacker and the power-fix he or she seeks. Although you can put yourself in a dangerous situation, the blame always lies with the attacker.

2. Release it from your subconscious

Talking will prolong your agony and lead you in circles. Hypnosis, EFT, and other energy techniques that reach the subconscious mind (where the situation is filed) will help if you truly want recovery.

3. Check your self-esteem

After I achieved healthy self-esteem, I realized having it earlier would have prevented the rape situation in my life and many other less positive experiences.

4. Establish and enforce personal boundaries

Determine, ahead of time, what is acceptable and unacceptable to you to prevent yourself from entering dangerous situations. Doing this will boost your confidence, which results in healthier self-esteem.

5. Choose to live as a survivor

My definition of victim: “Someone who is currently being attacked.” The rape is over; you cannot be a victim of it any longer. You can, however, choose to live as a victim of your own negative attitude like many of the aforementioned “authorities” on surviving rape.

6. Chin up, live life

Allowing a creep from the past to control your present and future is giving all of your power away. Women are the strongest creatures on the Earth; join the party!

So rape is something that occurred in your life as it did in mine. We move forward strengthened from what we’ve been through, not weakened because of it. In seeking information on how to recover from rape, make sure you want the life of the person you’re taking advice from. I live positive, happy, grateful and abundant every day.

By: Kelly Rudolph

About the Author:

Are you tired of that certain friend dumping her toxic emotional waste on you? Do you ever notice how happy she is once she gets it all out and how lousy you feel afterward? She’s usually ready to go have fun in a few minutes while you feel like a building just fell on you. Do you realize attackers (by the way, this “friend”