Mantra for Abundance

If you want to manifest abundance, try this mantra:

"I am so happy and grateful now, that money comes to me, in increasing quantities of wealth, from multiple sources, on a continuous basis, every hour of every day."

Say that again and again, day after day, and see how your abundance is impacted.
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How To Get More of What You Want

In a "thought for the day" from a marketing blog, I received this quote from Seth Godin:

"The goal is to create a product that people love. If people love it, they'll forgive a lot. They'll talk about it. They'll promote it. They'll come back. They'll be less price sensitive. They'll bring their friends. They'll work with you to make it better."

As I read this, my thought process transferred from how we create products to the product of OUR OWN SELF. Are we creating a person people love?

I think this thought carries through to our own life in learning how to get more of everything you want:

If we're someone people love, they'll forgive us for a lot. They'll talk about us. They'll promote us. They'll come back to us weeks after we may have last heard from them. They'll be less sensitive to our negative qualities or challenges of seeing us. They'll introduce us to their friends. They'll work with us to make our life better and suggest ways to live our dreams we share with them."

Yep. Seems true to me. Are you frustrated with friendships? Maybe you're not being the love you want to find? You know the cliche "be the change you want to see in the world" right? Maybe it is time to make changes. Now, if our life IS full of all this love, then KEEP IT UP!

When we make it easy for people to love us we will inevitably have (a) more luck, (b) more friends, (c) more success, and (d) live more of our dreams than people who are hard to love.

How can we get more of everything you want and become an easier person to love?

Here's a list, for starters:

1. Be more fun! Have fun ideas to contribute to conversations and events.
2. Make people laugh. If you haven't learned how to be funny yet, study comedians, read joke books, and learn how to be funny.
3. Accept others without judgment. People hate being judged. Accept people for who they are and you'll find they love you more.
4. Look for commonalities. Have you ever noticed that when people are really good at making friends, they find COMMONALITIES. Rather than look for differences, look for what you have IN COMMON and expand upon those traits and positive qualities. You'll be sure to grow more love with those you can relate to... thus, the word RELATIONSHIP! :)
   
5. Include others in your life. People will often out to you if you reach out to them. Just make it a practice whenever you think of someone to reach out to them.
6. Accept other invitations. When people invite you - GO! They would not invite you if they didn't want you to be there.
   
7. Be more forgiving. I remember a friend once told me "Gosh, Scott, I sure like that you don't hold a grudge." My Mom says I've always been that way. Internally, I may feel angst, but I try to be cheerful anyway. I find that this is part of a forgiving spirit that helps me maintain the love in relationships.
8. Be grateful. An attitude of gratitude goes a long way. It feels great when a friend calls and says "Thank you for...." George Bush Sr. rode the art of writing "thank you letters" all the way to becoming President of the United States. Think those letters had something to do with it? Be grateful for the love others show you and the love you receive will grow, too.

There's my list of eight ways you can get what you want. Did I surprise you? Maybe you thought there was a magic pill you could swallow. And, yes, there is! It's called the LOVE pill! Ha ha ha!

Can you think of additional ways to get more of what you want by showing more love to others? Please share your ideas in our comments!
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Join Our iNutrition Team!

Why Should You Join iNutrition and Top Team Today?

Do you want to get involved in the explosive healthcare, weight-loss, and fitness industries?

Have you ever thought "Yes, I'd like to join an network marketing company, but at the ground floor, not after 60 Million people are already in it?"

I just stumbled upon a BRAND NEW opportunity that is truly revolutionary and unique.

What makes an opportunity unique?

1. When there are truly NO MIDDLEMEN
   
2. When you deal directly with a 12 year old established manufacturer that has 700 established retail products.
   
3. When you help to mold new products from the manufacturer.

This BRAND NEW site explains it all.

Visit: http://aspirenow.inutritionopportunity.com/

Imagine being able to cut out the middleman and sell products directly from the manufacturer to the consumer. This is iNutrition. iNutrition is a well-funded company with a proven track record selling millions of dollars in superb nutritional products.

So how did this all start?

iNutrition has been purchased by Tim Connolly for $25 Million dollars. He is the CEO of INutrition.com and the person standing behind this amazing opportunity.

His vision is to take iNutrition to the next level: the US market. That's right, iNutrition already sells products in over 16 countries, but is just starting to tap the US market for penetration.

Imagine being able to introduce INutrition products to 200 million US households. Great, right?

But what's the money? The commissions, as MLM compensation goes, is off-the-hook! I am not talking about some 3-4% like many other MLM companies pay, but some substantial commissions that will put money in your pocket very quickly.

iNutrition is different than any other network marketing company because they actually own the manufacturing facility for their products. In addition, iNutrition produce 699 of the 700 products that they sell. This means we can introduce iNutrition products to the world at the lowest prices possible and keep a substantial amount of money for ourselves.

Unlike 99.9% of other companies, iNutrition manufactures 699 of the 700 retail products!

Most of you who know AspireNow's founder, Scott Andrews, know that he doesn't jump on 99% of most MLM opportunities. Why? Because they require a lot of work, time, and many actually take you away from your life and friends. iNutrition promises to be different. It's simple, easy, and their products deliver on the promise of good health. Learn more from the iNutrition page here:

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Focus On One Thing

A good friend of mine often engages in philosophical conversations with me. Last, night, we were sharing our success stories, as well as commenting on why some things took longer to succeed than we initially expected. Out of that conversation was the spark for this article idea:

It's the basis of why successful people win more often than others:
We often succeed when we are focused on one thing, and do it very well.

An example of this, in action, was Charlie Parker, who in the 1930's and 1940's became known as the greatest saxophone player in the world. As a sax player who plays in the 21st century, I can attest that Parker's styles and influence upon music remains strong, even today. Why did Charlie Parker become great? Well, for one thing, when he was developing his "sound", he practiced 14 hours a day. Not only did he practice a lot, and often, but he also had a way of practicing that created a unique style and sound nobody else played. At first, people didn't like his sound, and he was kicked out of clubs. Later, they loved him and everyone tried to copy him. Towards the end of his career, he became known more as a heroine addict and, sadly, died at the age of 36 with a liver pickled worse than a 60 year-old man. Drugs can do that. But, Charlie is a great example of a guy who focused on one thing and did it very well.

Oprah is someone who has focused on one thing, too. Oprah first became a movie star, then launched her show. Her show gave her more success and consistency than the movie career, so she focused on that. Now, she is established, and expanding her empire. Now, you'll notice that once a person has mastered one area, they have an easy time growing their wealth and winning more often. Once they've established themselves, it is easier to attract talent to their team, it is easier to launch new products, companies, and services (they have cash), and it is easier to get publicity (people already recognize their name).

The challenge of doing one thing and doing it well is you may become "pigeon-holed" as only good at that. I think this happened to John Grey, who wrote the popular "Women Are From Venus, Men Are From Mars" series of books. John later tried to break into the "purpose" series of books and had much less success, as far as I could tell.

However, that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea. With AspireNow, one of the reasons it took longer for my business to make money is because I didn't do one thing. I chose to do many things at once. I'm still guilty of this, to some extent, but the thing I do now is focus better.

For example, I host two radio show on Wednesdays at the following network:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37792
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798

By hosting the show(s) religiously, I build a following and the shows are growing in traffic by 5x.

In addition, I've been posting about 3 - 4 posts to each of my blogs per week:
http://arriive.blogspot.com
http://aspirenow.blogspot.com

By remaining consistent, my blog traffic is growing consistently. I can tell you, though, that if my blogs were more focused, I'd probably lose subscribers less often, and my base would grow quicker. It's a choice I made to offer a variety. As a result, it takes each of my interests longer to grow. I've been streamlining these offerings to really just offer one at a time, and in the process this is starting to show the fruits of my labor.

So, if you're just starting out, I recommend to you that you pick one thing and master it. Once you've become known as the expert in your industry for that topic, then move on to whatever people are asking you for the most as your next interest.

If you are doing multiple ventures, make sure to slice your time in such a way that you can focus 100% on each venture so that you do each project well. At the very least, you must do this to succeed wildly.

See if this formula doesn't impact your own success.
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Top Money Management Issues

I'm working on a series of articles about Money Management Issues. This will be a 10-part series, where I'm going to drill down into each one of these issues with separate articles (posts) to help with insights into each:

Ten Money Management Issues to master in order to grow financial abundance:

1. Be careful with credit. Credit is the #1 problem in America for people in managing their money. The most important advice regarding credit is to pay it off monthly, when the bill comes in. If you cannot pay it off in the first month, make sure you pay off the bill before you buy anything else on credit.

2. The most important lesson to learn about making money is not that hard work will make you money. It is that you want to build systems that serve as investments where your investment pays you. This is the lesson taught quite well in the book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," by Robert Kiyosaki.

3. Working harder will often result in making more money, but not always. For example, if you get paid $20 an hour to dig a ditch, and you work 8 hours a day, you'll make $160 a day for digging ditches. The logic would have it that if you worked 10 hours a day, you'd make $200. What this logic fails to consider is you'll be so exhausted from digging ditches that you might not be able to work 10 hours the next day. Not only that, but your incidence of injury increases with the higher hours. Rather than teaching people to work harder, sometimes we need to be taught to work smarter. The person who gives talks for free could start improving their talk and getting paid to do the talks (maybe even $1,200 per talk!). Another person who sells for a company might offer their knowledge in a program about how to improve selling (I do this, myself!).

4. Own our choices. It is hard to face the fact that the stock we bought at the all-time high in March of 2000 might not be worth more than 1/20 of the purchase price. But, we knew what we were buying. My point is that we need to own our choices. Taking responsibility for those choices helps us learn faster, so next time we won't make the same mistake.

One of our choices is about how we spend. The other choice is about our perspective about money. I really like the contrast as demonstrated by this quote from Rich Dad, Poor Dad:

One dad would say, "The love of money is the root of all evil." The other, "The lack of money is the root of all evil." Having two dads - and loving them both - forced me to think about, and ultimately choose, a way of thinking for myself."

Perspective is useful. Making sure we own our perspective about money is as important as owning the choices about how we spend our money.

5. Instant gratification and earning more money are not good partners. Most people who make a lot of money do not do it through winning the lottery. Most people who make a lot of money do it slowly, through time, good earning, spending, and saving habits, and making wise choices regarding usage of their money. It is easy to go out and blow a wad of money for things that depreciate: cars, furniture, clothes, etc., but the wiser thing to do is to put that money in an investment (real estate, stock, bond, business, 401K) that eventually earn us more interest or appreciation to be worth far more than the original investment.

6. Giving money or giving something often leads to others sending money back to you. Like the link exchange strategy in growing a website, if you offer a link to a site with high traffic volume, and they offer a link back to you, it only makes sense that you will both gain in traffic (and potential income) through sharing traffic. The Biblical principle of tithing money to a church or charity is a valuable discipline in money management.

7. When asked "What is more important, love - or money?" most people will respond "love". Yet, it is easier to pay for things in life when you have more money. Nevertheless, money does not buy you happiness. Most people forget that they are happiest when their life is most simple and their social networks are empowering to them.

8. Use a system to pay your self first. Most people have a hard time saving because they don't have a system to manage their money. When you have a system to manage your money, money will get appropriated more easily. For example, when I first chose to invest in an IRA account, I funded it at the end of the tax year, by writing a check to an account, rather than investing in it monthly. The following year I funded my 401K, but rather than investing at the end of the year, I withdrew money from my paycheck on a monthly basis. I noticed my pay seemed lower the first month of this deduction, but I adjusted to the change in net money shortly therafter. Over time, the 401K account filled until maximized the $10,000 to fund it each year. This is one of the best ways to create a fund like this. Pay your investments to yourself and your retirement first, before you pay your bills.

9. Self-employed people have to put an extra measure of effort into making sure they pay themselves first, by first sending money to their account, then to the 401K, then to the charity, then to their business, then to their bank account. I've started creating bank accounts for various things I am funding, so that I can track each separately.

10. Regarding buying anything new, I like to ask myself the following four questions:

(1) Do I need it?
(2) Can I afford it right now?
(3) Do I love it?
(4) Is this the best time to buy it?

When I follow these sets of rules, my money management is much better.
I'll be digging into this list further, and eventually offering the full series as a little money management e-book here at AspireNow and ARRiiVE.com. If you have suggestions or personal stories that might be fun to include in the e-book, please share in my comments!
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This article is written by Scott Andrews, Founder of AspireNow. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

This article is provided as entertainment, only. I always suggest talking to a financial advisor before making any change in financial investments. To receive more tips on money like this, subscribe to the A-Blog.

How To Discover Your Life Purpose

I recently read an article which stated you can discover your life purpose in less than 30 minutes. Is that true?

Yes - and no. For some people, who already know their purpose, but for some reason continually block their ability or willingness to LIVE their purpose, it really might be as easy as identifying the BLOCK to living your purpose, removing that, then go and live it.

For some people, this block is geographical in nature. In other words, if you just moved somewhere different, your purpose could flourish. Perhaps a change of locale would do you good. If you resonate with this, dig into it. However, be aware that every time you move you're basically looking at a 3-year reset in terms of your network, friends, social infrastructure, and more. It is costly to move - especially when you move to a different city more than a couple of hours away.

Other people block their purpose by living with the wrong person. If you're living with the wrong person, get out. Either that, or kick them out. The wrong person is usually someone who doesn't support your dreams. If the person you live with doesn't support your dreams, they're pulling you down. That won't fly if you're to live your HIGHEST purpose and FLY like an EAGLE, now will it?

The other way people block their purpose is to live in a routine that makes it impossible to manifest their dream. For example, they might work in a job that has them trapped away from what they need to be doing. Musicians and actors get trapped in this predicament quite often. This is the situation where chasing the almighty dollar (or whatever currency in your nation) becomes the focus, rather than doing what you love.

How To Discover Your Life Purpose:

You may have read "do what you love and the money will follow" and thought "Oh, so I just quit my job, go do my passion, and I'll get rich!" Well, guess what? That saying is WRONG! I know. I've done it. What the "experts" fail to tell you is that you can't just do what you love, you actually have to follow this formula:

1. Do what you love that people value the most.
2. Focus on providing the most of that value.
3. Remove blocks to your success.

You MUST eliminate time wasters - people, commutes, animals, video games, chatty phone calls, Internet surfing - whatever you do that causes you to waste time. Living your purpose may be challenging enough without putting thing in front of it that distract you.

Now, if you're still wondering exactly what your life purpose truly is, for you, I'll ask you the following question:

If you could do whatever it is that would make you most happy, where you are most loving, where you are providing the most value, and you're not limited by people, your gender, education, upbringing, society, or whatever else might stand in your way, what would it be?

If you can answer this question, you know your purpose. If you don't, well, then you might consider deeper investigation. I created a program for people who are struggling with this. It works. How do I know? I've used it myself. More than that, of everyone who has purchased it, the % of returns has been practically nil. That tells me it's working for people. It includes a CD, set of e-books, and additional bonus items.

You can get it here: Life Purpose Power Pack

If you don't want the whole CD and download package, and just want an easy to use, e-book download click here. Or you can start small and just get the 31 Success Tips e-book.

I have a lot of compassion for people discovering their purpose. It shows through my work. In fact, I prayed over it that it would impact your life to bring more love into your life, make you more successful, more happy, and able to love the life you live.

That's what AspireNow is about. It's what I'm about. If you resonate with that, please let me know! And, if you need personal help in discovering your purpose, contact me, as I can probably coach you through it in one or two sessions. I wish you success in living your dream life. Live like nobody told you, live the way you know you can, dance like noone is watching you, dance like a child. Life is what we make it. Make it what you want it to be in your grandest dreams.
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This article is written by Scott Andrews, Founder of AspireNow. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

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The Most Powerful Law In The Universe

Do you want to know how to Have, Be, Do, Or Get ANYTHING you want?

Today, I present you with an opportunity that is gaining momentum around the world:

What is our GREATEST CHALLENGE?:

We want TRUE LOVE. We want HAPPINESS. We want a BETTER BODY. We want a SOUL MATE. We want a HAPPY FAMILY. We want GOOD HEALTH. We want to BE RICH. We want to LIVE IN PARADISE. We want FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE. We want to MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the world we live in. We want to have MORE FUN. We want HOT SEX. We want to BUILD A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY. We want TO LOOK BEAUTIFUL. We want GREAT FRIENDSHIPS. We want to BE FAMOUS, Or have a BIGGER..... We want A GREAT JOB. We want to CREATE THINGS. We want to BE FULL OF JOY. We want to EXPRESS OURSELVES. We want to BE ACCEPTED AND LOVED. We want to LIVE A LEGACY.
We want to be AMAZINGLY SUCCESSFUL. We want TO HAVE THINGS IN ORDER. We want FREEDOM. We want A LUXURIOUS HOUSE. We want A FAST SPORTS CAR or LUXURY AUTOMOBILE. We want A BIG TRUCK.

We want LIFE: AND ALL IT OFFERS.

Do you know what you want?

Do you KNOW HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT?

How GREAT do YOU want to be?

The GREATEST PEOPLE IN HISTORY

The greatest people in history have learned how to get from life the things they want.

You've heard about the secret: how to have happiness, health, or wealth. You can have whatever you choose. What kind of business? To be a millionaire... healing in life, health, relationships.. and more.

I'll first explain The Secret that these great leaders knew:

1. We all work with one infinite power.
2. We're all guided by natural laws in our Universe. It is THAT PRECISE.
3. No matter who you are, you can have what you want, if you harness THIS POWER.

It all comes from one LAW: THE LAW OF ATTRACTION.

What you hold in your mind is what you attract to you.

LOOK: 3% of our population earns 97% of the financial wealth.

What does that meant to you?

To me, it means, 3% have figured out how to HARNESS the LAW OF ATTRACTION.

If LIKE attracts LIKE, then we will ATTRACT the most SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE TO US if that IS WHAT WE ARE FOCUSED UPON.

THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS

I wrote an article about the Law of Attraction before The Secret movie was released. I wrote this article in 2002. It was called OUR THOUGHTS MATTER and intended to illustrate the power of our THOUGHTS in our mind becoming our REALITY in our LIFE.

Are you thinking about debt, hurt, rejection, failure, or other things that cause you to get more of those things? Well.....???

If you focus on what you don't want, whether it is another bad relationship, being late for an appointment, or getting another phone call from a bill collector, then you're likely to attract those very things.

If you focus on what you DO want, such as a loving relationship, being on time, paying bills easily and effortlessly, then you're likely to attract THOSE more POSITIVE THINGS.

I focus on a successful website attracting millions of people to learn more about how they can love, live, grow, and experience more success, happiness, peace, joy, and love in their lives.

See what I mean? This is how it works... you are here now, largely because of this thought, this intention, that I have written on this page (thought becoming real).

By utilizing and harnessing the UNIVERSAL LAW of CAUSE and EFFECT, you will put yourself in position to maximize your abundance. That is because like attracts like. So, be like what you want, and it will come to you.

Your thoughts will DRAW TO YOU WHATEVER THEY ARE FOCUSED ON.

This is huge, isn't it?

Ask for what you want. Ask for it now.

Be who you want to attract. Be it now.

Ask for it with thought. Ask for it with FEELING.

Be it with thought, be it with FEELING. Feel GOOD. Build your frequency and focus on beautiful things.

If you want more material wealth, then FOCUS on MONEY coming to you. LARGE CHECKS. Print out blank checks. Write in what you want to attract. FEEL GOOD ABOUT CREATING AND BUILDING WEALTH.

Why not make a decision today to experience your goals and desires?

Do YOU want:
THE MAGIC CHECK or Universal Bank CHEQUE?

It's yours, brought to you by AspireNow and the creators of the Secret. Print this page out, fill this in, and put it on your fridge (you can't cash this one, but you WILL be able to cash a future check (cheque) that is soon to come your way. How much do you really want? The Universe is listening to YOUR COMMAND!

Start with GRATITUDE...

Here's an brief video on AFFIRMATIONS to get you STARTED:

I am so grateful for each and every person who reads this post. Whether you agree with this theory or not, I am grateful for you and send you L-O-V-E. Please pass the word and share positive things with those you love. Our life is so precious.

The following video is another great collection of aspirations and affirmations:

If you are someone who would like to learn more, you might gain further insight through these lessons from the teachers of "The Secret" that I can share with you here:

I have many more resources at AspireNow (see products) where you can find ways to Discover Your Life Purpose and implement ideas like this in your own life to create the success you've always dreamed about. Another way you can manifest more in your life is through collages, audio, and even more powerful digital storybooks.

Digital Storybooks are one of the coolest ways to create the Law of Attraction in your own life.

Has this post inspired you? I invite you to share it with others. If you have stories of abundance and ways you've manifested your dreams using the principles in this post, please share in our comments (below).

Learn more: Do you have a question relating to creating a Lifestyle of Abundance and how to implement the Universal Law of Attraction in your own life? Please email us at info (at) AspireNow (dot) com or contact us at 805-459-6939. Post by Scott Andrews, Founder of AspireNow.

Note: this article contains information Copyright © 1999-2007 by AspireNow and Copyright © 2006 by TS Production and producers of the Secret. Used by permission without intention of infringement.

Do you want to receive information like this automatically? Sign up for the RSS FEED for the A-BLOG: Seriously Fun Self-Help. You'll get a variety of ideas to help you manifest your dreams. "Abundant Living Awaits You..."

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.

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Stop Ogling My Google Article

I just posted a new article entitled "Stop Ogling My Google" to AspireNow. It offers humorous look at putting ads on a website to drive revenue based upon AspireNow's own experience. Want to make more money from your website? Read more here to learn more about it: http://www.aspirenow.com/leader_0607_stop_ogling_our_google.htm