From PESSIMIST to EMPOWERED: How To Overcome Being A Naysayer

"This won't work."

Have you ever found yourself uttering those words?

I am guilty of saying those words, myself. Is this comment a form of negativity? Being real? Truthfulness? Pessimism? Maybe all of the above? But do you think it EMPOWERS the audience or TEARS THEM DOWN?

There are times when we're trying to do something difficult and someone utters "this won't work."

I'm going to suggest a new approach:

The next time you find yourself saying these words, or anything like them, try ADDING two SIMPLE WORDS into the sentence:

"UNLESS WE"

So, instead of saying "I can't write this article" say "I can't write this article unless we..."

What's the point?

By adding "UNLESS WE" into the sentence, you force yourself to think of a SOLUTION to the challenge. You are no longer part of the problem, but by answering with "UNLESS WE..." you are part of the SOLUTION.

People who complain and say "it can't be done" are pessimists and naysayers.

People who suggest solutions EMPOWER others and help MAKE THINGS HAPPEN and GET THINGS DONE.

Agreed?
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Emotion and Goals: Mind Movies Create Your Future

What do you do when positive thinking, affirmations, reading books, and listening to interviews just aren't working for you?

Learn more about this powerful visualization tool here.

What happens when you know the Law of Attraction exists, and is supposed to work... but you just can't seem to raise your emotional vibration to where it needs to be to attract the life of your dreams?

Well, Ryan Higgins was in that boat, not too long ago. Working a job he hated, barely scraping by, and being generally miserable. He knew that visualization was a powerful tool to manifest what he wanted. But visualization isn't the easiest thing for many of us to do.

It's hard to see the pictures, it's hard to put yourself in the image, it's hard to get emotionally jacked up when all your mind sees is some dark and fuzzy attempts at a new reality.

Ryan is a completely different guy now...he has everything he ever dreamed of, does what he loves, and is the envy of all his friends.

Ryan discovered a secret, and now he's willing to share his secret with you. It's called a "Mind Movie" This is similar to the Dream Board software I've recommended to you before. It's a way to visualize integrating your EMOTION WITH YOUR GOALS.

If you can watch videos you can use this software. It's really that easy.

It doesn't matter if you can't raise your emotional vibration easily, as long as you like music. Any music, really... you get to choose. Although I do recommend you choose music that UPLIFTS you.

Mind Movies allow you to create a vision of what you want, together with your FAVORITE song… the one that makes you feel good, the one that makes you want to dance, the one that makes you smile and sing along.

Yes, a Mind Movie is an impressive multi-media tool that completely allows you to make your DREAMS and DESIRES a big, big part of what you SEE and HEAR every day. It's like a 3 minute slide show/movie of your perfect life.

Click here to learn about Mind Movies and start putting emotion and goals together for your own personal vision success.

You can watch it on your computer, or take it with you on a video iPod or mobile phone. And, the best part is --even if you have NO technical skills what so ever --Ryan and Natalie will help you make a Hollywood-quality representation of your ideal life in only one afternoon.

They show and tell you exactly how to write your script, using step-by-step memory triggers. Then they show you where to find the best free pictures to use to illustrate your perfect life.

Then they show you how to put it all together in a slick presentation, using breakthrough NLP strategies to help you shoot like a rocket towards your goals and ambitions.

These Mind Movies work, big time!

Want to try out a few Mind Movies first without spending just a few hours creating your own?

No problem, as a bonus you also get 6 pre-made Mind Movies that you can start using right away.

The pre-made Mind Movies are on:

1. Wealth
2. Spiritual Fulfillment & Gratitude
3. Health and Weight Loss
4. Closer Family Relations
5. Attract the Ideal Man into your life, or...
6. Attract the Ideal Woman.

These pre-made Mind Movies are specifically designed so
you can fast track your progress by watching them immediately
and they're also crammed with inspirational and effective ideas
to create your own Mind Movie.

If you would like to create the future of your dreams, let Ryan tell you more about Mind Movies and start manifesting your future now.

P.S. - You can also create your own

Mind Movie Affiliate Program.
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Dealing With Disappointment

Have you ever dealt with disappointment?

I have experienced disappointment and can empathize with the range of emotions you might experience when life, people, or circumstances don't deliver according to expectations, or even hopes, or maybe even human decency.

Sometimes, people let us down. Friends fail to say the right things. Lovers leave and don't come back. Jobs don't come through with the money they promised. Work isn't as exciting or productive as it used to be. Or, maybe people flake out and don't do what we thought. People can also be greedy, selfish, or uncaring. Our health may fail us. New opportunities we expected don't show up when or how we thought they might.

Let's face it: there's a whole bunch of ways we can experience disappointment with people, work, love, and life. Often, these circumstances create frustration, anger, sadness, and a general feeling that life isn't what it could be. These feelings can lead to judgment, criticism, and resentment. Left unchecked, disappointment can lead to feelings of unhappiness, lack, and even depression.

What can you do when you feel someone has let you down?

1. What can we control? Well, first, remember that you cannot control other people. In relationships, unmatched and unrealistic expectations can cause problems with resentment, which may lead to judgment, contempt, and disconnections. Other times, people communicate in ways that leaves the other party confused. If we expect others to read our mind instead of expressing concern, we're likely to struggle to get our expectations and needs met.

2. Have we made clear what we need? Also, if we are frustrated with how people communicate, but haven't made clear how important this is to our needs, we may have set up an expectation without foundation.

3. Can the other party deliver what we want? Last, we may have communicated our concern clearly, but if the other party is unable to do what we most want, we still may have an unrealistic expectation.

I experienced some of the problems in a relationship this past year. I was expecting my partner to greet me with cheer, to discuss positive topics, dreams, and goals when we talked, but she was unable to do that. She was mostly only able to focus on her concerns, rants, problems, and challenges, and expected me to hear those things, without the cheer. Over extended periods of time, this mismatched expectation led to a major disconnect in our relationship. I started to talk over her and didn't let her finish her sentences. I basically repressed her. She ended up feeling I was selfish and only wanted to talk about my things. Can you see how my expectation for positive, cheerful talk either was not communicated properly or was met with a response or inability to deliver? I believe that this communication disconnection was at the root of the breakup I experienced after things boiled over.

It is wisest if you can catch personal disappointment up front and determine if you've communicated your needs, and set an expectation that your partner is able to deliver upon. If you fail to do either of these, you may end up dealing with disappointment.

How are you communicating?


Usually, when we are disappointed, something in our own action and attitude contributed to the situation where the other party did not match our expectations. Take stock in how you are communicating. Are you stating why you want certain things? Are you clarifying the underlying reason how you want things done? Are you asking these things of people who are capable of delivering them to you? Try to get a "yes" answer in each of your interactions to maximize your satisfaction with personal relationships and friendships.

Sometimes, people just out and out lie, cheat, steal or don't fulfill what they promised. If this is your situation, well, use the experience as a springboard for the Golden Rule: treat others as you wish to be treated. If you don't want people to complain around you, don't complain. If you want others to be positive, be positive. If you want other people to respect you, be respectful of them, first. Often, we create our own reality by what we send out to others.

Pray and play together. I've read on a plaque that "A family that prays together stays together." Are you making it a point to pray together? Often, by putting our focus first upon God, it makes everything else more manageable. Second, are you PLAYING together? If one member of your family is off doing their own thing, they might be creating dissension. Sometimes, we all need to compromise a little in order to all have the time to play together and build better bonds.

What kind of quality TIME are you spending with the people you most care about?

My sister once told me that if I want to be closer to my nephew, that I ought to spend more TIME with him. It was a point well-taken. I went out and played golf with him that month and he later called me and said how much he enjoyed it. This, from someone who'd called me about twice in his life before that golf day. So, YES, the time we spend together matters.

What about the demands of parenting and time with each other?

Are you a single parent? Are you allowing your children to cut into the time you have with your partner to the point where you rarely have any quality time together? Are you a couple trying to raise children? Both single parents and coupled parents need to make sure they're spending time developing their relationship with each other instead of just parenting all the time.

Make the time for each other. Draw hard boundaries, and keep them. Make your time quality time. Do fun things together: go for a walk in nature, travel fun places, go dancing, go snuggle and make love. Make a "no cell phone except for emergency policy" and stick to it! If you make sure you get time that is specifically your time, and you'll have a happier relationship over the longer-term.

What can you do when an opportunity, job, or new growth of other sort didn't come through?

Sometimes, I wish I had a crystal ball I could look into that would show me both the macro and micro level of life and events around me. Wouldn't it make it easier? In reality, most people need to establish a master plan and then be flexible to adjust as life events might impact that plan. I try to first put it in God's hands.

I've personally been promised a job where the financial opportunity was supposed to be $20K a month, then found out later that most people in that job were really only making about $10K a month. It frustrated me to make less than I'd been promised. In that position, I had two choices: become obsessed over making $20K a month, leave for another job that might pay better, or accept the situation and make the best of it. It is not good to switch jobs every few months, so if you've faced this, you may be frustrated, disappointed, and even a little resentful or angry with your boss.

If this is your situation, focus on what you most want. Did you communicate your needs clearly? Have you taken the steps you need to take to achieve what you want with your job? Is this company, position, or boss able to deliver what you need if you make the right steps in your job? If the answer is "yes" to each of these questions, you're probably in the right position to meet your needs. If the answer is "no", then maybe it is time to consider other avenues of employment.

I've been in very difficult career positions in my past. One time, my company, Intelogic Trace, had filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In my first meeting with Delta Dental, the client handed me the bankruptcy letter and asked me if that was what I wanted to talk about. Yes, it was rough! At first, I let it get to me. I recall being so stressed out that I ripped my dress shirt in half when it was missing a button after a trip to the cleaners. My girlfriend at the time said "Oh, I'm staying away from you!" Yeah, I was stressed out. Then, the next day, I woke up and thought "Hmm. How bad could this be? I mean, yes, I could lose my job, but so what?! There are other jobs, and if I embrace this, maybe I can turn lemonade out of this lemon!" So, I dug in and decided to be a beacon of positive energy, success, and growth IN SPITE of the bankruptcy.

Guess what? People responded to my shift in attitude in a positive way. Over time, I came to be known as the top salesperson in my region and went to the company Summit Club for achievement three years in a row. Sometimes, it pays to be positive and persevere.

What can you do when life or God doesn't seem to be listening?

I spoke with a friend about this recently. I was feeling particularly disappointed with several different people, my company, another career situation, and even some friends. The disappointment led to feeling depressed and that led to me feeling like life sucked. Can you relate? We've all been there. Well, in my experience, and my belief in God is that God is in all things. So, God is always there. God is always listening. God is always guiding, slowly, surely, through all of it. Sometimes we are offered challenges to see if we can create something new and exciting.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was offered polio and used it to create one of the top rehabilitation centers in the country at that time. Louise Braille lost his eyesight through the slip of an awl and used it to create an alphabet for the blind.

In every situation, we almost always can find someone worse off than we are. So, before you go do anything drastic, re-frame your situation and release what you can't control and focus only upon what you CAN control. We cannot control other people's reactions to our brilliant ideas. Some people may even snicker or put the idea down. We can only control how we think, feel, and act about our own dreams and goals.

Put aside the cloak of disappointment for the coat of happiness and fulfillment

So, put aside disappointment. Often, we receive disappointment to help us clarify more of what we want in the future. We gain new clarity and insight, along with a dogged determination never to experience the failure, loss, or setback in communication, health, job, money, or love, ever again. It is up to us to seize the moment and be who we want to be, communicate clearly what we need and desire, and find the situations, people, and places that are most apt to be able to deliver to the expectation we've set forth.

By matching our expectations with reality, and putting out what we most want to get back, we are highly likely to increase our happiness and fulfillment, thus improving our life and leading us back to the road to success, love, and joy.
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Spring Can Represent Joy

Are you experiencing Joy in your life?

When we are sad, unhappy, or dissatisfied with life results, joy often fades.

What can we do to get JOY back?

Well, just like the seasons, sometimes after the cold winter and dying out of the old plant life, new seedlings take hold. When these new seedlings sprout up, the new plants, flowers, and trees grow and begin to bloom. I've noticed that many of these bloom in Spring, and others pop-up in Summer. Spring heralds the opportunity for new life.

If you've experienced a valley, gone through a relationship struggle, felt stagnated, or even died a little death inside, perhaps May 1 is a time you can embrace the NEW LIFE awaiting you.

Last night, I went to a spiritual healer's house to discover what type of healing they offered. During my healing, I noticed as they went over each area of my chakra, they discovered the areas out of alignment and also mentioned what they wanted to bring in. The result: they brought me back to my core power and brought me back to what I most want to be in this world: a happy, fun, playful, joyful person who shares that joy and fun with others!

Be who you really are...

Hallelujah! Sometimes, we forget who we are. We get all serious. we get bogged down in the "bummer" moments of life. But that's not what life is all about! Life is about playing, having fun, experiencing, making love, dancing, laughing, and savoring the beauty in each moment.

I'm going out today seeking new JOY in each moment.

What joy can you experience with your life?
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Purity of Light in Love

I'm investigating the work of Sukyo Mahikari right now.

From the Sukyo Mahikari website, it says:

Sukyo Mahikari has its roots in an organization that Mr. Kotama Okada founded on
August 28,1959, to promote Mahikari practice. This was in response to a
revelation he received from Creator God on February 27, 1959.

Mr. Okada's heartfelt desire was to help people live in a more God-centered and spiritual way based on the universal principles that God established at Creation. In this way, people will be able to fulfill God's prayer for humanity, which is to
create a Heaven on Earth, a world of peace and harmony. He said that it is God's
greatest joy to see his children happily co-operating with each other and living
fulfilled lives.

From this description, I was struck by the concept that God's prayer for humanity is to create a Heaven on Earth, a world of peace and harmony. At a time when our nation in America is at war in two countries, and other countries are struggling to emerge from industrial poverty into the limelight of industrial powerhouses (China and India), we find our microcosm of life to be pretty small, at times. Other times, we realize that it is our immediate thoughts, actions, and emotions that are influencing a great many people.

In your relationships, are you happily co-operating with each other and living fulfilled lives?

Sometimes, we sweep things under the rug. Other times, we just accept things and say "Well, that's just the way they are. Nothing will change even if I do speak up." Are we accepting less when we know we could have more together? Embrace your best self and become the great person you were meant to be.

It is a challenge, to get it right. We must live our most fulfilled life! Our partners, friends, and children ought to be supporting that objective. If they are not, our life is out of balance.

How can we get back into balance?

Answer: by embracing God and the natural energy and flow of our higher self. We must speak our truth, we must dig deep into the soul of our relationships and share our deepest thoughts with one another. We must live happily and be happy to see each other - and show it.

Have you been honoring your father-creator God's vision for you? You are a child of God. It is your right and destiny to claim your place in the joy, peace, and harmony awaiting your own Heaven on Earth.

Ask for the Divine Light - your own true light - to shine upon you, to relieve you of your guilt, burden, and challenge of being your best self. Then step into the light that washes you anew. (See picture of True Light healing exercise here). A new beginning is just around the corner...
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What Does Nature Tell Us?

Have you ever gone through a tough time and received the advice to "Spend time in nature. Let God or the natural Spirit of the Universe speak to you..."?

I've heard people say it to me. I tend to seek out nature when struggling with a difficult decision or process in my life. My two favorite places in nature: the beach (ocean) and the forest (trees/wind). What I've been noticing lately, though, is that the actual water in the ocean is powerful, strong, continual, ebb and flow of tides and the crashing waves on the beach make their own melody. But all around my feet and in the air above me is LIFE! It's everywhere. Seagulls are flying along one direction while a flock of pelicans cruise by at low altitude before raising speed in the wind current. A sand crab bubbles inside the sand beneath my feet. A starfish is attached to a rock making a path and blending in. Other crabs, anemone, and urchins sway with each wave. Life is everywhere. It is the same in the forest.

If you go into a grove of trees, you may notice the wind rustling the leaves, and hear the sound of the branches creaking and bending with the force of the breeze as it pushes the branch here and there. But, again, all around my feet and in the trees above me I notice LIFE! A squirrel jumps from one limb to another. A caterpillar crawls over my shoe. A spider hangs in between the branch of a small twig. Nearby, a fly is caught in the spider's web. Again, life is everywhere!

You see, there is a natural cycle with life. We, as humans, also have a natural cycle of life. What are we doing about it? Are we embracing our natural cycle? Are we being our most passionate, most loving, most dynamic, most peaceful, most empowered self? If not, are we in the down-cycle? Perhaps we are simply cycling back towards our own greatness!

I recently experienced one of these cycles. Sometimes, when we are in the middle of the valley, we wonder if work, love, relationships, health, and other factors are ever going to balance back the other way again. Then, one day, we sleep a restful sleep. We awaken and decide to choose joy, love, and happiness. And, finally, the Universe responds, and the cycle starts to swing back.

It's exciting to be part of nature. What would nature tell us, today?

Does nature want us to make war, or make love? Does nature want us to love each other? Does nature want us to abuse resources like our water, fossil fuel, forests, earth, and sky? Or does nature want everything to blossom again in full bloom next year, and the year after that.

Are we listening to nature?

The Native American tradition is to be able to stand strong not just this generation, but to continue to honor and nurture our nature 19 generations from now. Are we acting in a way that will leave little or no trace in 19 generations?

What does nature tell us?
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Are you RACIST?

What does it mean to be racist?

Is this really a problem in America, today?

Yes, it is. People close to me have mentioned being VERY upset about affirmative action. Over the past thirty years, many highly qualified people lost their jobs to LESS qualified people because they were the right color. People in that camp are resentful that minorities took their job and feel justified in being racist due to that.

Today, Barrack Obama suggested that we put aside these resentments.

I've also talked to people who told me that they were called "N.......r" just walking down the street. This gentleman worked at a major technology company. I recall him explaining how these threats led him to buy a hand-gun and keep it under his seat in his car! Let's face it: it wasn't so long ago that Billie Holiday sang the song "Strange Fruit" (written about the black man, hanging from a tree). Even Nat King Cole, just one generation ago, drove home to find that "N" word BLEACHED into his LAWN, of all things. African Americans struggle to overcome the feelings from racist comments made about them, or their forefathers, and probably rightfully so.

Barrack Obama suggested that this man put aside his fear. Perhaps he is the best person in the country to make such a suggestion. He also made a suggestion that we put aside reverse-racism and resentments on both sides. Today, a speech was made that might influence improvements between racial dividers for years to come. The speech encouraged people to acknowledge their past, and embrace the future from a higher ground. No matter what our political affiliation, this speech ought to inspire people to dig deeper into their own SELF and consider this candidates plea. Politics aside, are you going to take the speech for what it could mean in your own life?

Are you racist?

All this talk about "he should disown this person" and people who are saying "a black man against a white woman" in this election, is not that, in itself, a bit racist?

Are you racist?

Have you ever put down another person based upon the color of their skin?

Are you racist?

Do you find yourself uncomfortable in the presence of people of different races or cultural backgrounds?

Are you racist?

Are you putting down people based upon your own cultural background and perceived slights towards you by a race other than your own?

Perhaps we are all racist, to some extent.

You know, it is easy to call other people racist. We can only answer that question for our own self.

I've found myself the victim of "reverse-racism" on more than one occasion. I bristle over talk about "putting down the white man" when what did I do? Did I hang, insult, slur, enslave, or treat anyone improperly? I've not treated any of these people who are displaying reverse-racism towards me in a racist way, to my knowledge.

Yet, in spite of this bristling over reverse-racism, I'm not sure I've been perfect, myself.

I've been guilty in the past of making silly jokes or even an improper comment on more than one occasion. I can only ask for forgiveness and hope to do better in the future.

It is about a choice.

For myself, I decided today to renew my decision to NOT be racist to the extent possible within my conscious choice. I've decided not to judge others based upon their skin color. I've decided not to make off-color jokes based upon someone's racial or cultural background. I am choosing the HIGH ROAD, or as Stevie Wonder says, the HIGHER GROUND of rising up to the best self I can be.

Can you do the same? If I fail or fall down, I can only hope you will not judge me. If you fall down, I will do my best to not judge you.

What happens when we judge others?

If you ever judge others and point the finger at someone, have you ever noticed how many fingers are pointing back at you? So few of us are innocent in this matter.

May we all live according to our highest self, stop condeming others, and live out of a spirit of love. Can we move from a land of anger and resentment, to a land of hope, love, acceptance, unity, and courage? Each of us - the choices we make in each moment - can decide if this dream of a future can become reality.

Special link for people seeking to manifest more of their dreams:

Click here to get your own OrangePeel: Vision Board software.

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Give Me Hope

There are many, many people in the world who are challenged with some sort of condition or need:

Age
Gender
Handicaps
Health
Money
Poverty
Struggle
and so forth...

They want hope. They NEED hope. And, most of them are desperately seeking someone - ANYONE - to give them hope. Perhaps, you've said it yourself: "Please, give me hope!" Anything to hinge a dream on... anything to believe in again... anything to INSPIRE YOU to do what you know you must do.

Well, if there is any reason I write on this blog, offering you HOPE is one of the biggest reasons.

You might be thinking "Give me hope," and if you are, you realize that you may be facing a challenge. I've seen many challenges in my own journey. But, there is ALWAYS hope.

Think about anyone who ever did any thing great... did they struggle?

I'd wager almost everyone who does great things has struggled. Imagine, the struggle Franklin D. Roosevelt must have faced in opening the first center for Polio recovery. Polio, such a debilitating disease to pull the legs out from so many people - and so unexpectedly - struck the country throughout the early 20th century. Franklin Cook, my best friend as a boy, had a father who walked with crutches as a result of polio. I admired him for his strength in going on, for keeping a state of mind beyond "victim" and towards achiever. It wasn't easy.

How many of you struggle with something that causes you pain?

I used to experience back pain every day. One day, I started to say to myself "My back is strong and supports me." Now, this was not true at that time. At that time, my back hurt and caused me pain to the point of ingesting 4 - 8 ibuprofen a day. The pain didn't go away overnight. But, once I started to say this, I also decided to stop taking ibuprofen only when the pain was too much to deal with. Today, I maybe take 1 of those pills a week. I can't say I "never" experience any back pain, but, this is no longer a life-stopping problem. I'm no longer in unbearable pain and function much like most other adults my age. You see, I believed I could heal my back by changing my beliefs.

Now, it isn't always this easy, but it often truly is this simple: believe you can do it, and you can.

I wonder how many people said that blacks would never vote in America. I wonder how many people said that women will never be able to run a company because they give birth to children. I wonder how many people said "you can't do that" or "I'll believe it when I see it" to their children who were trying to launch a company?

If you're seeking hope in something, know that there is a force in the Universe that supports you. It is the universal strength of this conscious, spiritual energy that runs through all things. Some people call this force "God" others "Spirit" others "nature". If there is anything I know about God or Spirit I know this: that this energy is available for EVERYONE to tap into, grab hold of, and harness.

Once we grab hold of a belief and say "I stand for this," it becomes easier and easier to manifest that which we strive to attain. Believe it and you will see it. You see, it is opposite of skeptical wisdom, and running in the face of that as you believe you attract others who believe. Your passion will eventually be the force that taps into the spirit that attracts others to say, "YES" I believe.

People may doubt you. What you seek may even be impossible (with current technology). But, that doesn't mean you can't do anything about it. I think about Christopher Reeve, a modern superman. You know, Chris was trying to make a difference. He was trying to help people who were paralyzed. And, he inspired so very many people. He died before he could realize his dream. Others have been more fortunate. Thomas Edison tried 10,000 filaments before finding the one that could sustain light in a bulb. He lived to see his dream light up the world.

I love what Dana Reeve said to Christopher after his tragic accident that left him paralyzed: "You're still you. And I love you." While both Dana and Christopher Reeve are now passed, I wonder how much Christopher realized he did for people with spinal column injuries? Both of these two powerful people made a big difference.

Will you live to see your light shine in the world? Whatever that dream may be, I encourage you. I don't encourage you to be stupid, or to be foolish in your endeavor. I encourage you to be real. I encourage you to listen to your spirit, and trust in your own dreams. Stand up and be counted for your dream. It is yours. The only person who can change your dreams is you.

"Give me hope." You have hope. There is a way. You will find it. Do what you must do. Be true to you! Let your love be shone to others. Please, for everyone who matters to you - and even those who you may not yet realize it - do what you must do.

What will you do with the opportunity?
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The Right Place At The Right Time

Have you ever heard about that Chinese guy, Tai Ming?

How many times have you seen people say the secret to their success was TIMING?

Or, in love, that the TIMING was just right?

Or, with their business launch, that they were IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME?

Clearly, TIME is a factor that determines, at the least, an influence upon our success with life, love, money, and more.

For example, if you had invested ONE MILLION DOLLARS in the NASDAQ on March 29, 2000, you would have essentially put your money into a market at it's peak of over 20 years.

If that was all the money to your name, you would have been considerably poorer, had you left that money in the top technology stocks on the Nasdaq in March 29, 2000 until today. In fact, depending upon the stocks you invested in, you might have roughly 1/10 the money, now, that you had on that fateful day. In essence, it might take you 20 years to recoup the losses you'd face over the next three years. What would you attribute the loss to? Timing.

Another example: a single man meets a single woman. She is on a train heading the opposite direction from him. They talk on the train for 20 minutes. During that time, they form a connection, and decide to spend the evening in Austria. They end up spending an entire day together, and see jugglers, an accordian player, a poet, enter several bars, dine at a dinner, make love in a park, and experience life through each other's eyes. Their conversation changes their lives, forever. This story is the story of two people, as described in one of my favorite movies, Before Sunrise. They agree to meet again, back at the same train station in six months. The subsequent story that unfolds in the next movie is also due to circumstance, and, also timing.

TIME is the one condition that seems to bind us to the HUMAN experience.

If you took away time, you more than likely take away LIFE as we know it. Clearly, time is important. We run our alarm clocks based upon time to determine the moment we awake in the morning. We have a schedule, from school, to work, to the television, to many aspects within our lives, based upon TIME.

It can be frustrating, to have a dream, and to have taken so many steps towards the dream, only to have to wait until the TIME is RIGHT for our ideas to germinate and people to accept them, buy them, and spread the word. Some people give up, just before this time occurs.

What can we do about time?

Are there ways to speed up time?

Are there ways to cut corners with time and get more done in less time?

I'll offer five ways I've learned to maximize time, to the best of my ability:

1. Be an early riser. Some people claim they get more done, in less time, by rising earlier. They avoid distractions, interruptions, and think most clearly when they awake in the morning.

2. Be a night owl. There is probably an equal number of people who are not early risers, but rather late-to-bed. These people may also get more done because there are fewer distractions late at night. In addition, there are more quiet hours late night than at any other time of day.

3. Don't wait behind lines. If you can avoid lines, you will save time. I'm not advocating cutting in front of other people, out of rudeness. I'm simply saying that if you are approaching a stop light in your car, and there are 10 cars in one lane and 3 cars in the other, you will likely save time by switching to the lane with 3 cars. Or, at the grocery market, you may see a line with two big carts full of food, or two people with nothing more than milk and water in their hands. Who is going to check out first? Clearly, the lane with only a couple of items ought to be through the check out the quickest.

4. Avoid commutes. If you live close to where you work or go to school, you can reduce the time lost in the commute. I've heard people say "I can live in a bigger house if I buy my home an hour away from the city where I work." That may be true. I'd rather live in the smaller house and save the two hours. Those two hours represent time I can spend developing other products, services, and business ideas, or they could represent time spent with those I love the most.

5. Focus on trends. Amazingly enough, if someone had spotted search engines as a trend, and bought and held ONLY those who performed well, this investor would have made a killing on looksmart, yahoo, infoseek, and others. I know, because for a time, I accomplished this.

Another way to spot a trend is to look at the background of the Cabinet of elected officials when they take office. For example, had people bothered to look at the background of people behind George H. W. Bush, they could have easily predicted the background of people behind George W. Bush. People like Dick Cheney, and the like, had worked for Halliburton. You could have reviewed what these companies did, then invested in them. For example, Bush is big on oil and the military. Bush, as VP, President, and also Bush II have both built up the military. Many of Bush's cabinet members had backgrounds in Defense and with the military. So, it would only make sense that you might have considered investing in military-related companies once Bush took office.

Another trend is to spot when major wars break out, you can find some things that will go up in value. For example, Gold almost always goes up during times of war. I predicted, in 2001, that Gold would go over 500, and possibly much higher. As of the date of this post Gold is trading over $780 per ounce. At the time of my first prediction, I had several people tell me I was crazy and that Gold was already "high" by standards at that time. Well, time proved me right. But I knew Gold would likely increase, because we were entering into war.

Oil is a form of black gold. So, if Gold will go up, so, too, might oil. They are not mutually bound, but often oil prices will increase during war, too. The price ber barrel of oil has increased dramatically, from around $20 to up over $80 now.

These are good investments, if you can predict, in advance, that they are likely to occur. Another prediction I made was the housing market would increase as long as interest rates went down or held a low. And, that was true, too. I predicted that the housing market (at least in the US) would crash once the rates increased, and certainly if the rate went above 10%. The coming housing crash has already diminished values of homes in the Midwest by up to 50%, and in places like the SF Bay Area, by 15%. I feel that the worst is yet to come with housing, as rates are STILL quite low, comparing to rates from previous years decades ago.

What I'm trying to illuminate is the fact that you can CREATE your luck by knowing how to be in the right place at the right time.

If you know that a development is occuring, or a spurt of growth is occuring, you can target that growth. For example, my fellow salespeople called me "lucky" when I worked at D1, and later, at Data General. Why? Because deals would seemingly plop into my lap at the most opportune times. But, to me, although it would sometimes SEEM lucky, it wasn't really that lucky, at all. I just have the knack of knowing how to be in the right place at the right time. With the dot-com movement, I spotted the trend towards infrastructure, as with any boom it is the companies providing infrastructure that often succeed the most. Even Google, as a search engine, is a form of internet infrastructure. I also targeted firms like Brocade, Gadzooks, and Copper Mountain during that era, and found success with those firms.

You CAN build your luck, by spotting trends, and then moving to secure your own piece of the action within those trend areas.

I believe that my company ARRiiVE Business Solutions (www.ARRiiVE.com) is also in the right place at the right time, because ARRiiVE is targeting collaboration software at a time when businesses are struggling with the mountain of electronic information massing online. It is becoming more and more difficult to build teams, and CEOs will admit that they can't be the source of all original and innovative ideas: they need help!

If you're seeking a Big Idea to help you get in the right place at the right time, look to see a hole, something someone else isn't providing, and provide that (as long as you're passionate about it). An example of this is G-diaper: the GREEN diaper company. What a great idea! How many diapers are building waste on a daily basis? Billions! G-diaper is the first company I learned of who was figuring out how to offer biodegradable diapers to help de-clog our congested landfills. They're now making millions and I predict even greater success for this small company.

To recap, if you want to create your own luck, and maximize your time, try these tips:

1. Be either an early riser or a night owl. The extra hours you gain during quiet time (either morning or late at night) will be highly valuable to you in building your success.
2. Avoid waiting in lines. Lines suck up your time.
3. Avoid commutes. If you can avoid your commute, you may gain one to two hours a day. This tip could be worth THOUSANDS over one year, and over a MILLION over your lifetime.
4. Focus on trends. Watch the backgrounds of parties who take office (in major countries). Pay attention to emerging trends. If you hear people say "this is the next big thing" do a little research.

I'll never forget when I was out to lunch and overheard two well-dressed business women talking about their latest "stock finds" and mentioned Infoseek and Excite.

Keep in mind that this was back in the golden years of SEO : Go.com, Altavista, Excite, HotBot, Lycos and Yahoo were the more popular search engines on the market. These sites determined the Web 1.0 success of a website, prior to the dominance of Google. Well, in hearing about Infoseek and Excite, I went back to my office, did a little research, and after reading a Bottom Line recommendation on these sites, too, I figured it was worth a shot. I bought shares of those stocks. My initial investment in Infoseek and Excite grew over 5x over the next 2 years. Not bad growth, by any measure.

Another way to spot a trend is when people build up infrastructure to support something. For example, the trend SEEMED to be long-distance companies, when they put down all the pipes for Fiber Optic technology. However, they overbuilt. This opened the door for India, though. A wise investor, in spotting the early trend in outsourcing call centers and programming to India, might have invested a little money in those firms.

With love, it's often the same thing. Put yourself in places where people are HAPPY and living their best life. That may be school, work, church, and non-profit organizations. Join a cause you care about. Then go out to coffee or tea with those you meet. You just might find love.

Some people stay at home, watching television, killing hours of valuable time. Then, they wonder why they can't launch their business dream, or why they aren't meeting anyone.

See, with timing, we can create a more successful life, and maximize the time we have. It just depends on how aware we are with the time we've got.

_______________________________________________________

This article is written by Scott Andrews, Founder of AspireNow. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

You may republish this article only AS A COMPLETE WHOLE with ENTIRE LINKS and copyright messages attached. All rights reserved. To read more articles like this, subscribe to the A-Blog.

Second Life - What Ever Happened to Real Life?

Have you been caught up with the phenomenon of Second Life?

If this is the first time you've heard of it, Second Life is a virtual game experience recreating a world and entire persona, but from within a "virtual" or Internet environment. It's like taking Facebook or MySpace and having your friends and places you visit talk back to you, virtually. And, apparently, it is highly addicting.

There is something nagging at my mind behind this whole Second Life phenomenon. Before I dig into that, let's look at some questions about the virtual world people are living in:

What's behind the Second Life or the Virtual Life phenomenon?

Second Life is an online society within a 3D world where you can explore, build, socialize, and participate in their own economy. In fact, they even have a Second Life form of monetary exchange, called Linden. Residents retain the rights to their digital creations (a key to Second Life), and you can basically do what you want within the domain of this virtual 3D world.

How big is Second Life, really?

With a Google Page Rank of 7 and traffic numbers ranking over those of Oprah.com, Newsweek.com (until a recent surge), and almost as high of numbers as iVillage.com, SecondLife.com is doing an excellent job of building an experience people are drawn to. The SecondLife.com site is still not as big as Facebook, Yahoo, or MySpace.com, but it is bigger than other business networks like Ryze.com and LinkedIn.com (evaluation through Alexa.com and SecondLife.com).

The statistics are pretty interesting: First of all, there are a lot of repeat visits to their site. 35% of Second Life (SL) visitors are regulars, and 12% are ADDICTS. The site is mixed 50/50 male/female. The largest demographic is 18 - 24, but there is a surge in 35 - 44 year-olds at Second Life, too. Isn't that when people are supposed to be in their PRIME? Another demographic I noted is that Asians are highly drawn to Second Life. I wonder what in the Asian culture would cause them to find a virtual reality so highly attractive? Perhaps their belief in reincarnation is a play. I also noticed other ethnicities ranking high, so perhaps the basic belief in reincarnation could be a factor, as the lowest percentage visiting Second Life, as a ratio, is Hispanics (Catholic - no belief in reincarnation). Last, most of the audience drawn to Second Life has a college education. Visitors to Second Life seem to be a fairly techie, scientific crowd, from what I have experienced.

How do people benefit through Second Life experiences?

First of all, there is a lot to do there. The search menu shows events, discussions, entertainment, shopping, different types of groups (charity, arts, etc.), and more. The world is filled with hundreds of games, from multi-player RPG's to puzzles and grid-wide contests. There are also dance clubs, movie theatres, shopping malls, space stations, and even vampire castles. In my session today, I discovered roller skates, a broomstick (yes, you can fly in Second Life), and even a Hover Board. Kewl, sorta, in a techie, geeky kind of way. Although the game play was slow, for me, SL does make the idea of IM's, conference calls, or other communication with a long-distance friend intriguing.

What caught my attention is how you can interact with people through Second Life. Through a virtual world, you can be many places at once, either through teleporting OR through creating MULTIPLE avatars (your SL persona) which enable you to interact with people through their experience, and this creates more opportunities to exchange information dynamically, whether it be a film review, art review, or experiencing a "first look" together with other virtual friends. It is easy to make friends, just like in real life. You find some people chatting, ask what's up, and take it from there.

Some people are there to just check it out. Others are there to explore this strange online world. Others are there to SELL you things. Capitalism is alive and well in Second Life.

And, as in real life, in Second Life, people meet and fall in love. Here's one example from one of the Second Life employees, who manages some of their blog tips of the week. http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/1560541904/ Giant bunnies and romantic love. I've heard of falling in-love online, but I saw this and thought: "Wow. Alice in Wonderland meets the Chat Rooms of 1998". Things have changed a lot in the past ten online years, haven't they?

How are businesses benefiting through Second Life?

Here's something interesting: businesses have discovered that with the frequent visits to Second Life, there is a natural opportunity to MARKET to people through their second life experiences. If someone is spending 3 - 5 hours a day experiencing and living in this virtual world, they still have 20 other hours where they're living REAL LIFE experiences, right? And that presents a marketing opportunity. So much that I've read about companies targeting entire advertising campaigns into Second Life experience. The game experience, with Second Life, becomes more than a game. some companies are merely augmenting their online strategies, such as Reuters, who created a SL post just to pass more news around.

I saw a Pontiac ad on a billboard on one page. Many other corporate ads dot the Second Life adscape (landscape). But, frankly, much of what I experienced at SL was USER generated, by people practicing their graphic design skills, or other techie gadgetry, for fun, and yes, for money.

In May 2006, Sire Records and musician Regina Spektor launched an interactive, virtual listening party for her new album, Begin to Hope, inside Second Life. This marked the first time a REAL LIFE record company launched an album from within this virtual world. A record launch in Second Life is an innovative move by a record company who saw an opportunity to market to a young, hip audience and establish a land mark with their album.

Second Life lists over 35 different business occupations, ranging from event planner to tattoo artist to vacation resort owner, all within the game, yet making REAL life money through the Second Life experience.

The reason for this is The Marketplace, a unique feature of Second Life which currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online Linden Dollar exchanges. When I pulled up the Linden Exchange, the growth from two years ago to today is starting to look staggering (see Linden Exchange). That makes Second Life unique to virtual experiences, because now you have a unit of trade that can be exchanged with Real Life money. Interesting isn't a strong enough word for what happens from this: people are now even resorting to STEALING online content to get REAL life money (not to mention, the Second Life lawsuit posted today was over a SEX TOY!) Does it always have to come to that?

The money, for Second Life, is off-the-hook: $1,625US to buy your own "island" with monthly maintenance fees of $295US. (Note: that is US dollars = REAL DOLLARS). So, the Linden Labs folks get a pop up-front and a healthy annuity revenue stream from every island built in the game. These fees are separate from regular premium user fees of $9.95/mo. (US).

Sure, it's free to join and check it out, but if you want cool clothes, cool gadgets, and fun things to do (fly holding hands, etc.), these types of things cost Linden. Kaching. There are currently over 11,000 islands and over 700 more being added to SL each month (source: SecondLife.com). So, if you do the math, with $17+ Million in islands and millions more in monthly usage fees, plus several more million from the 300,000+ regular users, not to mention the fees from 7+ million monthly transactions, this is a multimillion dollar organization with huge potential upside, especially considering the growth displayed in the Linden exchange.

I keep thinking of the brainwashing program from the movie The Island, where the administrative voice repeated to the clones: "You WANT to go to the island." Yeah, I'm sure they want us to go to the island, at Second Life, too.

How deep is the impact of virtual reality with Second Life?

The exciting promises offered by "Second Life game" gaming experience is broad and expanding. For example, there are opportunities to test new ideas for products or services through the virtual world, that may have lessor impact than the real life might. Or, a trial ad-campaign could be run through a mock of Second Life less expensively than through Real Life production. Buildings can be rendered 3-D to give a better understanding of how communities might get built in the future. And, one aspect that I'm investigating, is the promise of education. The possibility of conducting a virtual 3-D conference might cost less than real life conferences and perhaps offer any time, any place, through the Second Life experience. How far can this go? Time will tell. However, it appears to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Will the phenomenon of virtual reality end with Second Life?

I don't think so. Here's why: there are enough negative circumstances, events, and facts occurring from real life to cause people, generally speaking, to want to ESCAPE REAL LIFE. As a result, they're seeking out other experiences, through video games, virtual reality, or through spending an inordinate amount of time on social networking sites, chat sites, and more. I'm seeing a growing trend, not a shrinking trend.

It's no wonder, either. What leads the morning and evening news? WAR. TERROR. DEATH. DISEASE. TRAGEDY. The familiar saying in news broadcasting is "If it BLEEDS, it LEADS." Does that concern you? People are conditioned to react strongly to fear. Hey, let's face it, our present administration in the USA has built an entire platform on war and terror. If you looked at the promises of the President PRIOR to taking office and see the spending after taking office, you'd see that a focus on reducing the military except for strategic initiatives was not delivered upon at all. What occurred, instead, was massive spending on military like this country hasn't seen since WWII. But who does all this spending on war benefit? A few rich tycoons, mostly. Who loses? Mostly the hard-working tax-payers, who are financing the war. How did they vote for it? By FEAR of terror and wanting something like 9-11 never to happen again. Yet, it shouldn't have happened in the first place, according to all the laws of nature, physics, and our own defense deparment manuals. Okay, I digress.

If you look at the evening news, you'll see that all of these negative images IMPACT us in such a strong way. Statistics on happiness indicate that people who DON'T watch the evening news are 5-7% happier. Count me among that statistic.

The fact is, people want to ESCAPE from all of the negativity of REAL life. Whether it be a difficult childhood, physical challenges, problems with work, or financial strain, so many people are stressed by the challenges life presents and just want to escape this to something that meets the dream, in whatever way they can find it.

The question nagging at me, when I look at Second Life, is this: "What ever happened to living a GREAT and EXCITING REAL LIFE?"

If you've lost yourself in a virtual world, can I encourage you a little bit?

I just had an exchange on Facebook with someone who confided that many of their friends made at Facebook were from dating sites. That's an admission of the addiction of the virtual world. Another friend mentioned he had spend time in Second Life, and then I saw an episode of the rather funny television show from The Office (airing on Thursday nights on NBC) showing a clip from one of the show's stars creating a virtual person in Second Life, only the person was almost exactly the same as the person in Real Life. Ironic, huh?

The reason why a virtual life is so attractive to so many people is largely because their REAL life sucks. Well, okay, maybe it doesn't suck. But there's enough negative hits from (a) popularity or unpopularity, (b) doing a job they DO NOT like or want, (c) being in a frustrating relationship, (d) not living the lifestyle they dream about, or (e) other frustration that causes people to find the escape of a virtual world much more satisfying. If you're ugly, it doesn't matter in a virtual world. Anyone might talk to you at SL. Of course, they can be rude, and block you, at SL, too.

Are you doing a job you hate in real life? In the virtual world, you could be a rock star, a writer for The Rolling Stone, or an actress. Are you in a relationship that leaves you wanting more love, more sex, more FUN, more ANYTHING other than what you've got? In the virtual world, people want you, people love you, people sex you up, and get you even more excited about future possibilities. See what I mean? To someone whose REAL LIFE is boring, frustrating, disappointing, or negative in experience, a VIRTUAL reality presents a world with entirely new possibilities.

My question is this: "Is the world of virtual reality TRULY satisfying you?"

If the virtual life satisfies you, then great, you've got a great outlet of fun and recreation that gives you a way to enjoy some spare time from your work life.

But, if your answer to that question is "no, it isn't satisfying me, because I still have to live my REAL life the rest of the time," then I challenge you to look deeply within yourself.

I challenge you to look at why you are feeling a need to escape.

I challenge you to say "Who am I and what do I really want to do with my life?"

And then, upon listening to your answers, start living your REAL life in congruent ways that match your real life with your DREAM LIFE.

In the end, isn't that what we really want from a virtual life? A second chance at living our dreams? Why not make our dreams come true in REAL LIFE?

It CAN be done. As the wonderful "imagineer," Walt Disney, once said, "If you can dream it, you can do it." I love that quote. Because it offers us a better way to live our REAL LIFE.

First, create a dream life, then take steps in your real life to make the two match. Dream, learn, build, develop, experience, evaluate, dream, learn, build, develop, experience, evaluate, and so on. This can become a method to break free from the bummer of a real life that we're escaping turn turn our REAL LIFE into a life more closely matching our DREAM LIFE.

I've been building this type of life for quite a while now. The more my real life matches my dream life, the more I realize I really LOVE my REAL life, and the more a virtual life loses the luster of appeal for me. I'm not perfect. But, as I implement this process, I continue to grow, develop, and build the life I want. What is the process:

DREAM. LEARN. BUILD. DEVELOP. EXPERIENCE. EVALUATE. (REPEAT)

Can you say that you're developing the life you want to live for your own life?

If not, try this:

DREAM. LEARN. BUILD. DEVELOP. EXPERIENCE. EVALUATE. REPEAT.

See how your own life begins to manifest more and more of what you seek to attract from your dream life into your real life. You might, like me, just find that your real life no longer requires a virtual life in order to be happy and living on purpose. Or, if you're living your Second Life, you might even apply this guideline to building an even better "in life" experience.

If you wish to learn more about the Law of Attraction, you might enjoy these additional articles on this subject:

Push Pins and the Law of Attraction

Wealth Beyond Reason

The Power of Conscious Intention

In addition, I've written an entire workbook on the subject of The Keys To Discovering Your Life Purpose. I encourage anyone struggling with the things discussed in this article to give it a serious look.

This article is written by Scott Andrews, Founder of AspireNow. Copyright 2007.

Second Life® and Linden Lab® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. All rights reserved. No infringement is intended.

You may republish this article only AS A COMPLETE WHOLE with ENTIRE LINKS and copyright messages attached. All rights reserved.

To read more articles like this, subscribe to the A-Blog.

How I Got Rid Of My Joint Pain In My Hands

I was listening to a program today about health and wellness programs. You know, so many people are focused on thinning their waistline, diets, workouts, but even more people are taking prescriptions for problems with energy, brain power (mental clarity), focus, stress, joint-comfort, and other diseases.

Are you looking for peak performance in your work, play and daily tasks?

I might have a solution for you, as simple as a daily drink of water (or other liquid), that costs less than a Starbucks cup of coffee.

Still here? Cool. I'll take the attention from your eyeballs as an expression of interest and permission to share more.

I recently got involved with a product that is delivering on this promise of lower stress, optimal health, higher joint flexibility, and better mental clarity. These are all things that, in running a site like AspireNow, I always have interest in learning more. How about you?

In just a short time after learning about it, the stories about this product are incredible.

For example, a friend of mine said she started taking this juice supplement after being diagnosed with Lupus (a mysterious blood condition). She started taking Xperia and after only one month was given a CLEAN bill of health.

Personally, I found that my mental accuity is more focused, my sense of taste and smell seems heightened, and more than that, the pain I'd experienced for the past year in my foot and hand WENT AWAY! Pain in the hand, which, by the way, a doctor had told me to "just live with it, you're getting older." I'm a saxophone player, so I can't have my hands hurt and play optimally.

My bass player, Jamie, who gifted me product to introduce me to this daily supplement, stopped going to the chiropractor and took off a knee brace he'd worn for 10 years after using this supplement regularly. As a result, his work production in his masonry business went up dramatically. He went back into his chiropractor's office with a box of this liquid supplement. The chiropractor said, "I haven't seen you in a while, Jamie, what's up?" Jamie said, "well, try this, Doc, and you'll find out why."

Shoot, if you ask me, CEO's ought to gift every employee in their company this product. Isn't productivity good for the bottom line? How much money do companies lose on "sick time" for mental, stress, and health issues?

Professional athlete coaches ought to get their athletes (and other personnel) using it... teachers ought to get their parents to give it to kids. One story I haven't personally experienced, but heard about from Jamie, was this kid who took Univera's products and went from being a "D" student, diagnosed with ADD problems, to an "A" student (with remarks about how quickly he changed and improved his focus).

I'm not giving you a sales pitch. This stuff doesn't need one. I just want people to get involved and at least TRY it. What could you lose? Yes, ask your doctor first. But try it... I'll offer it to you without charging you for your first try, that's how much I believe in it.

I can't promise that you'll have this same result, but if you're going to a chiropractor, taking meds, trying to lose weight (and struggling with it), experiencing pain, or simply want to live longer and sustain PEAK PERFORMANCE, visit my Abundance Awaits You website, sign up for the free gift, and try it out. Why am I gifting this free? Because I care about HELPING PEOPLE. You probably already know that from reading the articles at AspireNow.

You can learn more at my site for Univera:
http://www.univeraPowerTeam.com/AbundanceAwaitsYou

This is the only mention I'll make of this at my blog. I'll post more at http://www.advancedbreakthroughs.com/ and also probably a page that describes more at AspireNow in the future. As you can tell, I'm excited about Univera's products enough to post them here on the A-blog - but, hey, it's about SELF-HELP. I haven't had a product that literally healed me of pain (other than a temporary drug) and delivered on the promise before like this one, so can you blame me?

Learn more about it here:
http://www.univeraPowerTeam.com/AbundanceAwaitsYou

P.S. - There IS a business opportunity if you wish to share the product with your friend, too. I won't go into details on that, except to say that people are making anywhere from $500 to $27,000 per month (not kidding) after getting involved in this program. Just try the Univera product yourself for a while, and if you're convinced that you like the product, why not share it with others? I'll help you get started if you're interested. Also, there's a link for that at my site, too:

http://www.univeraPowerTeam.com/AbundanceAwaitsYou

Note: claims are true personal stories of the author and two of his friends. Your individual results obviously may vary. According to the FDA guidelines, consult a physician before beginning any supplemental diet program.

Smashing The Goal Barrier

Are you hitting your goals?

If you're like me, you set MONSTER GOALS. And, monster goals are not always easy to hit. So, it is sometimes helpful to have some aids towards hitting your goals.

Here's a few I've put together for today's AspireNow: Seriously Fun Self-Help Radio Show over at NowLive.com:

1. First, you've got to envision it. I like writing my goals down. I also put them in a spreadsheet program. And, once every year or two, I create a DREAM COLLAGE to help me visualize my goals.
2. Get specific. My friend Shari Carr, who works with me and with Tony Robbins, recently told me that my dream collage wasn't specific enough. So, I'm working on a more specific one. That's right, with EXACTLY the specific house, the specific sports, the specific state of mind, the specific money I want per year, per month, the specific car, EVERYTHING will be the EXACT one I want. That ought be more powerful, don't you think? With any goal, start with a vision, then get specific about what the vision ought to look like, and actually be when you get it. This is the first part of SMART (Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely). I've written about those things before, but I think the most important of these is being specific. As far as measurable, achievable, realistic -- I think the answer to all of these is YES - just depending on the time you want to invest or time you CAN invest in each. So, that's the part where we have to be realistic, measure, and achieve accordingly. Timely? Just do something when you're supposed to do it and the timing will work itself out.
3. Hang out with SUCCESSFUL people. If you're failing at your goals, who are you hangin' with? My feeling is that if we're an apple, we ought to be next to other apples. So, hang out with other smart apples if you want to be smarter and more successful. If the people around you neg you out, ask "am I negative?" If you are, change yourself. If you're not, change your friends. It can be done. Just make sure you attract what and who you want in your life.
4. Become an EXPERT. It is amazing how much faster you achieve your goals when you become an expert about something. I find that the most successful people know the most about what they are doing. People often wonder why they can't play saxophone like Charlie Parker. Well, you might be able to. For one thing, he practiced 14 hours a day, when he was honing his craft. Do anything for 14 hours a day, and see if you get good at it. You'll probably find that after a year or two, you'll be considered an expert. And, with your expertise, you will be able to hit your goals more easily.
5. Know your PRIORITIES. You've got to be focused properly if you're to hit your goals. If your priority is to create a website for your business this month, then get software, learn how to self-publish, create a layout, and post your website. Or, meet with a creative designer who designs sites you like, find out if their price meets your budget, and get them started on designing your site. Whatever it is, take action. I recently thought of organizing a jazz festival in San Luis Obispo similar to the festival in San Jose, CA. Guess what, 4 days later I had the URL for http://www.slojazzfest.org up and running. You hit goals when you take action. Don't take action on things you DON'T want unless you're willing to settle for those results. Take action for the things you DO want, and see progress every day. In the past six months, I've launched two radio shows, two blogs, three websites, and helped numerous other people do the same for their own business. How do I do it? By doing a bit on each one every day. I've always noticed when I do the most I've focused on the things that matter most, and prioritized what really matters the most at the top of the list every day.
6. Make sure to revisit your goals regularly. I have monthly goals, that roll into my yearly goals. Every week, I evaluate my monthly goals, and schedule my week (and days) to match my weekly goals, by day. If you don't have a system, get one, and stick to it.
7. Break it down. I can't talk enough about the value of breaking down goals into smaller steps. For example, you might want to buy a mansion that costs $2 Million. But, practically, it might require you first buy a $500,000 house, pay that down, then upgrade to $800,000 when your income and savings grows. Then make the move to the big one from there. Sometimes, a goal requires steps to get there. I had a goal in 2003 to form a band. I first recorded a CD. Then I moved to SLO, and I went out every night and networked with musicians. I made friends. I played with anybody who wanted me to play with them. And, I found people started to ask me "When are you going to be able to play our room? We're jonesing for your band here, man!" The CD was good, so my advance promotion worked. Then, a band I'd joined broke up. I took the conga player, the bass player, added a guitar player from another project, and found a drummer the night of the first gig who the guitar player brought in. Breaking it down was a key to success. It's also used in music when you're trying to get to the crux of the groove, you "break it down" to get to the bass, drums, then build on top of that. So, start with something.

Count your wins. When you break it down, then notice when you get the small wins. Small wins lead to big wins. For example, by writing this article, I enabled myself to have specific content for tonight's show on Now Live. So, now I'll go host it, and share more there about this subject.

This article was written by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions (http://www.ARRiiVE.com) and Founder of AspireNow (http://www.AspireNow.com).

What Are You Waiting For?

Got an idea? Does your job suck?

What are you waiting for?

I'm ahead of myself. Good lord. I just got off the phone with someone (name withheld to protect the innocent) who was complaining about their job.

I replied, "remember, J-O-B = just over broke!" to which they replied, "you're right! Oh my God! Why am I doing this?"

While looking in a mirror, the words just mumbled out of my mouth, "why are you doing this?"

He then went off for another five minutes about how he "had" to do his job because he "had" these commitments and he "had" this life he's created and blah, blah, blah. Blah!

I listened. Then, upon completing his JOB thesis, I heard him exclaim that he was going to just wait it out a little longer before doing anything to make a change.

I asked him, "what are you waiting for?"

He didn't have a good answer. Yet, he's still going to procrastinate.

If there is any advice I have for the person with the entrepreneurial itch who knows there's something burning but unable to take ANY action, whatsoever, I can only ask you "What are YOU waiting for?"

Because, frankly, you can do SOMETHING. Right? Any action is probably better than no action.

I'm not saying go rush out and quit your job without a plan to make money. I'm just saying that take SOME sort of positive action towards change TODAY. Better yet, right now.

You're reading this article because you've got an idea. Or, perhaps you're just dissatisfied with the way things are for you right now. But, if you're reading this, you know there's SOMETHING you're supposed to be doing and YOUR JOB isn't it!! Am I right, or not?

And, if it is something other than your job, more than likely you need to take action towards discovering what that is.

First step?

A journal. I started my first company, AspireNow, this way. Just start by keeping a journal of your journey: a journal of your big idea. With AspireNow, I maintained a journal for more than six months before launching the website. I'm glad I did, because then when I launched the website, I at least had a clue what I wanted to do with it.

Second step?

Describe it. If you need help with Life Purpose, you might consider a workbook to help you go through the ruminations of discovering your purpose. I've got a good one at http://www.aspirenow.com/products.htm, if you're struggling with how to do this. What's useful about using a workbook is that you gain exercises that really help you get clear on how to DESCRIBE what you want to do.

After all, if you can't give an elevator pitch (20 - 30 second description of your purpose) you probably don't have it down yet.

So, start with a journal, then start with a workbook to help you get clear.

At least, NOW you know you're taking some sort of action to CHANGE.

It isn't that hard, once you do it, in fact, it gets easier all the time, once you are clear.

So, if you're disgruntled with your job, but know you can do something different, what are you waiting for? Why not take action, today, towards your true calling in life.

20-something workers wasting more time than older workers?

I read a survey today on Salary.com that states 20-something employees are wasting more time at work than older employees. The statistics read as follows:

The 2007 Wasting Time Survey by Salary.com asked 2,000 employees across varying job levels how they spend working hours. The survey reported that out of an 8.5 hour workday, employees waste an average of 1.7 hours.

The age break-down on the wasted time looks like this:
20-29: 2.1 hrs. per day.
30-39: 1.9 hrs. per day.
40-49: 1.4 hrs. per day.

Interesting, that the admitted time waste is higher among people under 40. I think in my own career, when I look back, I may have wasted more time when I was younger. That was because back then I thought time was unending. As I hit 40, I realize now that I only have so much time on this beautiful Earth to live my dreams. It's do or die wondering why I didn't. I'd rather do - how about you?

From my perspective, I think that people in JOBS, per se, waste time because they are not EMPOWERED to fully utilize their skills at most jobs. I remember re-writing a sales presentation at a company because marketing didn't have a clue how to pitch to customers. First of all, they suggested LEADING with the presentation (a mistake: always lead with questions regarding their needs then FOLLOW with the presentation along with the findings and your solution to MEET their NEEDS!). I recall marketing later discovered my presentation and subsequently rolled-out their "new" presentation to the field, coincidentally utilizing 85% of the content from my presentation, and added in more fluff to dumb it down. Nice, huh?

Anyway, if people were really utilized properly, and recognized for what they brought in to the company, the issue of wasting time would become largely irrelevant. Sure, some people spend hours digging the net, spending time joking around with YouTube, and otherwise IMing (instant messaging) each other to waste time. It's part of life that people need a break. However, I don't know that computer/technology related breaks truly give us an escape from our work.

I eliminated IMing because I found that people who IM waste hours and hours of time. So, no IMs for me.

The survey failed to mention that cigarette smoking causes a humongous waste of time. If you figure a smoker averages one cigarette per 30 minutes, and each cigarette takes an average of 4 minutes to smoke (plus extended time talking to other smokers in smoking area I'll round up to 5 minutes), that means a smoker will spend 45 minutes out of every 9 hour day smoking. That's almost an hour less than a non-smoker. So, I suppose Salary.com could look into that.

If you find yourself wasting a lot of time at work, I'd challenge you with the following question:

"ARE YOU REALLY LIVING YOUR DREAM?"

Because people who are passionate about their job (career) don't want to waste time. They want to build success and create time with other people who are building success.

Consider these top-ranked time-wasting activities from the 2006 AOL-Salary.com Wasted Time report:

Top Time-Wasting Activities (%)
1 Surfing Internet (personal use) 52.0%
2 Socializing with co-workers 26.3%
3 Running errands off-premises 7.6%
4 Spacing out 6.6%
5 Making personal phone calls 3.9%
6 Arriving late / Leaving early 2.9%
7 Applying for other jobs .7%

At least the last category was honest about not wanting to be there!

If people are surfing the net for personal use, you gotta wonder why. I surf the net, but 95% of my searches are related to business issues, articles for AspireNow, and other things I'm working towards. Running errands, well, if I work late, those are made up for, and spacing out is just weird.

Organizations creating a culture that does not waste time in meaningless meetings, that encourages spending their daily time efforts wisely, will find that measuring some of these things will become mute IF employees are empowered in a modern way.

I don't personally believe that 20-somethings are wasting that much more time than their older co-workers. It is highly possible that they are faster at processing what they do. They grew up in a faster generation. It is also possible that they are able to balance things and surfing the net is part of that balance. Allowing people the freedom to surf the net is critical to success for business, because something unrelated to your business may be discovered from one of your employees surfing the net. The truly innovative organization encourages that type of thinking, searching, and discovery.

My suggestion is to create a system to empower employees based upon their skills, not based upon their job description or job title. Real contribution, measured in real success, ought to be rewarded. The other riff-raff ought to be cut loose so they can do what they need to do: their true life purpose.