"Good Things Come to Those Who Ask" by Jack Canfield

Asking for what you need is probably the most underutilized tool for people. And yet, amazing requests have been granted to people simply because they've asked for it!

Whether its money, information, support, assistance, or time, most people are afraid to ask for what they need in order to make their dreams come true.

They might be afraid of looking needy, ignorant, helpless, or even greedy. More than likely though, it is the fear of rejection that is holding them back. Even though they are afraid to hear the word "no", they're already saying it to themselves by not asking!

Do you ask for what you want or are you afraid of rejection?

Consider this: Rejection is just a concept. There is really no such thing as rejection! You're not any worse off by hearing "no" than you were before you asked. You didn't have what you asked for before you asked and you still don't, so what did you lose?

Being rejected doesn't hold you back from anything. Only YOU hold yourself back. When you realize that there's no merit to rejection, you'll feel more comfortable asking for things. You may just need a bit of help learning how to ask for what you want.

How To Ask For What You Want

There's a specific science to asking for and getting what you want or need in life. And while I recommend you learn more by studying The Aladdin Factor, here are some quick tips to get you started:

1. Ask as if you expect to get it. Ask with a positive expectation. Ask from the place that you have already been given it. It is a done deal. Ask as if you expect to get a "yes".

2. Assume you can. Don't start with the assumption that you can't get it. If you are going to assume, assume you can get an upgrade. Assume you can get a table by the window. Assume that you can return it without a sales slip. Assume that you can get a scholarship, that you can get a raise, that you can get tickets at this late date. Don't ever assume against yourself.

3. Ask someone who can give it to you. Qualify the person. Who would I have to speak to to get...Who is authorized to make a decision about...What would have to happen for me to get...

4. Be clear and specific. In my seminars, I often ask, "Who wants more money in their life?" I'll pick someone who raised their hand and give them a quarter, asking, "Is that enough for you?" "No? Well, how would I know how much you want. How would anybody know?"

You need to ask for a specific number. Too many people are walking around wanting more of something, but not being specific enough to obtain it.

5. Ask repeatedly. One of the most important Success Principles is the commitment to not give up.

Whenever we're asking others to participate in the fulfillment of our goals, some people are going to say "no." They may have other priorities, commitments and reasons not to participate. It's no reflection on you.

Just get used to the idea that there's going to be a lot of rejection along the way to the brass ring. The key is to not give up. When someone says "No", you say "NEXT!"

Why?

Because when you keep on asking, even the same person again and again...they might say "yes"...

...on a different day

...when they are in a better mood

...when you have new data to present

...after you've proven your commitment to them

...when circumstances have changed

...when you've learned how to close better

...when you've established better rapport

...when they trust you more

...when you have paid your dues

...when the economy is better

...and so on.

Kids know this Success Principle better than anyone. They will ask the same person over and over again without any hesitation (can you relate!).

Getting a good perspective on rejection and learning how to ask will make a world of difference for you as you work toward your goals. Practice asking and you'll get very good at it! You'll even speed your progress by getting what you need, or improving yourself in order to get it later.

Make a list of what you need to ask for in all areas of your life, and start asking.

Remember, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE...if you dare to ask!

10 Ways To Be Happy And Healthy In 2010

1) It's Easy Being Green

Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan, carnivore or pescetarian, vegetables should be a central part of your diet. Often referred to as a "protective food," dark green foods provide essential vitamins and nutrients to your body that protect you from many of life's worst diseases.


The Food and Drug Administration recommends three to five servings a day for pristine health. This is not as hard to accomplish as it sounds. Examples of one serving include: two broccoli spears, three tablespoons of green beans or three sticks of celery.

2) Get on Your Feet

If you're a biker or a swimmer, you may need to add an additional element to your workout regime. Dr. Warren Levy, Ph. D., of Unigene Laboratories reminds people that, "when it comes to the risk of thinning bones, it's the weight bearing nature of exercise that signals bones to create more mass. Without such stress, bones do not get stronger, and become more prone to injury."

There is still a lot to learn about bone health, but in the meantime, it is important for both men and women to partake in exercises that get you up on your feet. This is a fact. If you're a biker or a swimmer, squeeze in some walking or a run a couple of times a week.

3) Brush Your Teeth

We are all aware of the cosmetic benefits of keeping those pearly whites, well, pearly, but there are additional benefits hidden between the bristles of your brush.

Brushing and flossing your teeth not only prevents tooth decay, but it prevents gum disease, which has been linked to heart attacks and strokes. Healthy gums are one more way to keep that heart pumping strong.

4) Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Pick up your local newspaper once in a while! There is more information out there than you can imagine. Sift through the bounty of news because when it comes to your health and healthcare, no one is more responsible for their management than you are.

Instead of following what your office mate or carpool buddy says, take the time to understand the healthcare debate and arm yourself with knowledge. A good place to start?

5) Be a Small Fry

Don't try to deny it. Everyone has something they can't get enough of. Whether it's ice cream, cheddar cheese or dinner out, take the opportunity to start the new decade off with a little less on your plate.

You don't have to deprive yourself, just regulate. By ordering a small fry from McDonald's versus a large, you save yourself from 270 calories and too much artery-clogging grease, but are still left with the sweet nectar of a delicious fried food.

6) Give Yourself a Break

Not only are vacations an important part of maintaining your sanity, but there are many other positives about sneaking away for a week or two (or three!). Studies have proven that employees come back to work post-vacation more creative and more productive.

Investor Relations Group CEO and Founder Dian Griesel encourages her employees to take vacations. "It is so important to get away from the daily routine to recharge your batteries and reconnect with family or friends," says Griesel.

7) Scrub a Dub Dub

The easiest way to avoid infectious diseases a common cold, the H1N1 virus is by hand washing. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is important to lather up and wash for at least twenty seconds, but don't use antibacterial products. Antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Even worse, using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product's antimicrobial agents making it harder to kill these germs in the future.

8) Lend a Hand

A study at Vanderbilt University found that volunteer work was good for both mental and physical health. People of all ages who volunteered were happier and experienced better physical health and less depression. Other studies have found the volunteering has even helped alleviate chronic pain. Not to mention the benefits of volunteering to society.

Think about something you like to do in your spare time anyways running, cooking, shopping and there will be an easy way to incorporate volunteering into your lifestyle.

Think about something you like to do in your spare time anyways running, cooking, shopping and there will be an easy way to incorporate volunteering into your lifestyle.

9) Treat Yourself!

It's just as important to help yourself, as it is to help others. Think about something you have always wanted and start the decade off with a plan in mind to have it in your grasp before year's end. Whether it's a nice bottle of wine, a new suit or a fresh hairdo, rewarding yourself with a treat shouldn't be just for little kids anymore.

10) Start With a Clean State

Finally, position yourself to be on the upward climb at the beginning of the new decade. Rather than thinking about mishaps of the past ten years, focus on your goals for the next ten.

Think about it this way: Recall the excitement leading up to a new school year? It was so exciting to pick up new pencils, notebooks, a new look for the first day of school and most importantly, to think about how this would be your year. Channel that same excitement into the year ahead and who knows where you will end up!


Source: Investor Relations Group

The Misunderstood Emotion: Anger by Vincent Harris

Many people, over the years, have initially looked at me in dismay when I tell them “There are no ‘bad’ feelings; all feelings and emotions are useful in some context!” After all, most of us have been conditioned to think of emotions like anger, for example, as being “bad” and something to work at avoiding at all costs.


What is anger? What is its role? When we are angry, it’s that part of us that keeps track of things that we don’t have the resources to monitor consciously saying “I’m pretty sure what’s going on here is not fair!” Anger is an honest appraisal-in that moment- of the perceptions and pint of view you are using to filter the experience.

Now, keep in mind, anger is FEAR-based; whenever we are angry, we fear that the situation we think might be inequitable may also have the ability to cause us damage on some level. At times, our perception may be accurate; many times, though, it is not.

First, do not be afraid of your anger; be willing to feel it fully and to express yourself from this frame of mind in a useful way. Sometimes, however, before you can channel it in a useful way, you may need to channel it in a not so useful way first. Just have places you can safely do this.

When I am good and pissed about something, before I can channel it into something constructive (and I always do now) I want to “go off” and “rant” first. I don’t over analyze this; I just know what works for me. I don’t “rant” to just anybody, though. That can have a great deal of backlash; I “rant” to people who I know will still love me after I’m done, and know that it’s part of my process. When I’m done, I get my a*& in gear and channel all of that energy before it dissipates; never miss an opportunity to capture the untold energy behind a good dose of anger.

By the way, on a side not, my friend Kevin Hogan told me years ago, that as far as emotions are concerned, when people are angry they are in a very persuasive frame of mind. Why? Because when we are angry, we tend to be overly optimistic. What’s that mean for us when we are ticked off? It means that our usual “limitations” are suspended and that we can get more bang for the buck when we focus on our work.

When you are angered, realize that it’s based in fear, and later seek to discover what you are afraid of. If you truly find something that is a problem that is going to cause you harm, DO something about it ASAP! Remember, our perceptions are always involved in emotions.

Many people, when angered, suppress the anger and do so until their nervous system say’s “ENOUGH!” At this point, as a protective mechanism, they slide into depressed thoughts and feelings. I don’t know if you have noticed, or not, that feeling depressed is not the most productive state of mind and body in the world. Sure, you may avoid upsetting other people when you keep quiet and habitually suppress your anger, but the destruction you cause yourself is immeasurable.

Anger is like a raging river; you can either allow it to destroy everything in its path, or you can re-route it, and provide enough electricity for a major metropolitan area. To attempt to stop the flow of the river of the river altogether would be far less than intelligent, and very wasteful.

Over the years, I been around a fair share of personal development “gurus” and had a chance to get a behind the scenes look at how they live their lives. Believe me when I tell you that many who promote “love and peace” in every situation are some of the most unstable and incongruent people I have ever met. What you see, is not what you get with many of them.

Make no mistake about it, I get pissed off from time to time, and not only do I have no interest in changing this aspect of my personality, I sometimes worry that I’ll wake up one day and this “skill” will be gone. When I meet “gurus” who tell me “I never get mad”, I know I’m either dealing with a liar, or someone so flat and monotone that I’d have no interest in hanging out with them for more than about 20 minutes at a time.

Stop working so hard to change yourself. You can succeed just the way you are. Learn to take what you have, and use it to accomplish great things.


Vincent Harris
http://www.vinceharris.com/
© Copyright 2009-Vincent Harris-All Rights Reserved.

Crucial points covered in "How To Win Friends And Influence People" compiled by Richard Anthony

In 1936, Dale Carnegie published one of the first personal development books to hit the market place…

"How To Win Friends And Influence People"…

It has sold over 15 million copies since its original publication…

Some of the major points covered in the book are…

Fundamental Techniques In Handling People

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

6 Ways To Make People Like You

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a man's Name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in the terms of the other man's interest.
6. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.

12 Ways To Win People To Your Way Of Thinking

1. Avoid arguments.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never tell someone they are wrong.
3. If you're wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Start with questions the other person will answer yes to.
6. Let the other person do the talking.
7. Let the other person feel the idea is his/hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
9. Sympathize with the other person.
10. Appeal to noble motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge.

9 Ways To Change People Without Giving Offense Or Arousing Resentment

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to other people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes first.
4. Ask questions instead of directly giving orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise every improvement.
7. Give them a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Encourage them by making their faults seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest.

14 Rules For Making Your Home Life Easier
1. Don't nag.
2. Don't try to make your partner over.
3. Don't criticize.
4. Give honest appreciation.
5. Pay little attentions.
6. Be courteous.
7. Don't criticize her before others.
8. Give her money to spend as she chooses.
9. Help her through her feminine moods of fatigue, nerves, and irritability.
10. Share at least half of your recreation time with your wife.
11. Keep alert to praise her and express your admiration for her.
12. Thank her for the little jobs she does for you.
13. Dress with an eye for your mate's likes and dislikes in color and style.
14. Compromise little differences of opinion in the interest of harmony.

Notes

 

Criticism is futile because it puts a man on the defensive, and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wound's a man's pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses his resentment. When someone speaks harshly of people, say, "Don't criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances."

When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotions, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity. "I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody" - Benjamin Franklin, who became American Ambassador to France. It takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving. "A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men" - Carlyle.

The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important. Many people who go insane find in insanity a feeling of importance that they were unable to achieve in reality. They have found in a dream world of their own creation the feeling of importance which they so deeply desired. If some people are so hungry for a feeling of importance that they actually go insane to get it, imagine what miracles we can achieve by giving people honest appreciation.

Almost Everybody Wants...

1. Health and the preservation of life.
2. Food.
3. Sleep.
4. Money and the things money can buy.
5. Life in the hereafter.
6. Sexual gratification.
7. The well-being of our children.
8. A feeling of importance.

One of John D. Rockefeller's partners, Edward T. Bedford, lost the firm a million dollars by a bad buy in South America. John could have criticized, but he knew Bedford had done his best. Rockefeller found something to praise; he congratulated Bedford because he had been able to save sixty percent of the money he had invested. "That's splendid! We don't always do as well upstairs" said Rockefeller.

"Every man is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him" - Emerson.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Why should people be interested in you unless you are first interested in them? The road to someone's heart is to talk to them about the things they treasure most.

Almost every man you meet feels himself superior to you in some way, and a sure way to his heart is to let him realize in some subtle way that you recognize his importance in his little world, and recognize it sincerely.

It isn't what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about. The first thing to learn in intercourse with others is noninterference with their own peculiar ways of being happy.

"I'm sorry to trouble you...Would you be so kind as to...Won't you please...Would you mind...Thank you...This may, perhaps, be worth thinking of, gentlemen...you might consider this...do you think that would work? What do you think of this? Maybe if we were to rephrase it this way it would be better...It so appears to me at present..."

To make a woman fall in love with you, all you have to do is to talk to her about herself!

Everyone is hungering and thirsting for sympathy. Give it to them, and they will love you. The child eagerly displays his injury, or even inflicts a cut or bruise in order to reap abundant sympathy. For the same purpose adults show their bruises, relate their accidents and illnesses. Self-pity for misfortunes, real or imaginary, is practically a universal practice.

"Tis not love's goings hurts my days, but that it went in little ways."

Why prove to a man he is wrong? Is that going to make him like you? Why not let him save face? He didn't ask for your opinion. He didn't want it. Why argue with him? You can't win an argument, because if you lose, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it. Why? You will feel fine. But what about him? You have made him feel inferior, you hurt his pride, insult his intelligence, his judgment, and his self-respect, and he'll resent your triumph. That will make him strike back, but it will never make him want to change his mind. "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."
If you want enemies, excel your friends; but if you want friends, let your friends excel you. When our friends excel us, that gives them a feeling of importance, but when we excel them, that gives them a feeling of inferiority and arouses envy and jealousy.

In talking with people, don't begin by discussing the things on which you differ, but emphasize the things which we agree. Keep emphasizing that you are both striving for the same end and our only difference is one of method and not of purpose. Remember the other man may be totally wrong, but he doesn't think so. Don't condemn him, any fool can do that. Try to understand him.

"I don't blame you at all. If I were you, I should undoubtedly feel just as you do." An answer like that will soften the most cantankerous old cuss alive.

Examples

How to influence people

The only way to influence the other fellow is to talk about what he wants and show him how to get it. If, for example, you don't want your son to smoke, don't preach at him, and don't talk about what you want; but show him that cigarette's may keep him from making the baseball team or winning the hundred-yard dash.

Ralph Waldo Emerson and his son one day tried to get a calf into the barn, but they made the common mistake of thinking only of what they wanted. Emerson pushed and his son pulled. But the calf did just what they did; he thought only of what he wanted; so he stiffened his legs and stubbornly refused to leave the pasture. The Irish housemaid saw their predicament. She thought of what the calf wanted; so she put her maternal finger in the calf's mouth, and let the calf suck her finger as she gently led him into the barn.

Andrew Carnegie's sister-in-law was worried sick over her two boys. They were at Yale, and they were so busy with their own affairs that they neglected to write home and paid no attention whatever to their mother's frantic letters. Carnegie offered to wager a hundred dollars that he could get an answer by return mail, without even asking for it! Someone called his bet; so he wrote his nephews a chatty letter, mentioning casually in a postscript that he was sending each one a five-dollar bill. He neglected, however, to enclose the money. That did the trick. Back came the replies by return mail thanking "Dear Uncle Andrew" for his kind note and ...you can finish the sentence yourself.

The next time you want to persuade someone to do something, before you speak, pause and ask, "How can I make him want to do it?" Get the other man's point of view and see things from his angle as well as from his own.

Avoid Arguments
  (If you're a Ford salesman) When someone says, "What? Ford's cars are no good! I wouldn't take one if you gave it to me. I'm going to get Chevrolet cars." Say, "Brother, listen, Chevrolet's cars are good cars. Their cars are made by a fine company and sold by good people." He's speechless then. There's no room for an argument. If he says Chevrolet's cars are the best and I say sure it is, he has to stop. Just agree with him. He can't go on all afternoon when I'm agreeing with him. We then get off the subject of Chevrolet's cars and I begin to talk about the good points of Ford's cars.

Never tell a man he is Wrong   If a man makes a statement that you think, or know, is wrong, begin by saying, "Well, I thought otherwise, but I may be wrong. I frequently am. Let's examine the facts." You'll never get into trouble by admitting you may be wrong. That'll stop all arguments and inspire the other fellow to be just as fair and broad-minded as you are. It'll make him want to admit that he, too, may be wrong.

We sometimes find ourselves changing our minds without any resistance or heavy emotion, but if we are told we are wrong, we resent the imputation and harden our hearts. We are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs, but find ourselves filled with an illicit passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship. It is not the ideas themselves that are dear to us, but our self-esteem which is threatened. We like to continue to believe what we have been accustomed to accept as true and the resentment aroused when doubt is cast upon any of our assumptions lead us to seek every manner of excuse for clinging to it. The result is that most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.

When we are wrong, we may admit it to ourselves. And if we are handled gently and tactfully, we may admit it to others and even take pride in our frankness and broadmindedness. But not if someone else is trying to ram the fact down our throat.

Raised Rent   When one was informed he had to pay 3 times as much rent as formerly. "I was a bit shocked when I got your letter, but I don't blame you at all. If I had been in your position, I should probably have written a similar letter myself. Your duty as the manager is to make all the profit possible. Now, let's take a price of paper and write down the advantages and disadvantages that will accrue to you, if you insist on this increase in rent."

Advantages: You'll have the advantage of having the ballroom free to rent for dances and conventions, for affairs like that will pay you more than I can. Disadvantages: First, instead of increasing your income from me, you're going to decrease it. In fact, you're going to wipe it out because I cannot pay the rent you are asking. I shall be forced to go to another location. There's another disadvantage to you also. These lectures attract crowds of educated and cultured people to your hotel. That's good advertising for you, isn't it? In fact, if you spent $5,000 advertising in the newspapers, you couldn't bring as many people to look at your hotel as I can bring by these lectures. That is worth a lot to a hotel, isn't it?"

Kids   When 3 year old refused to eat. A bully next door kept knocking him off his tricycle. He was told if he eats his food, he could wallop the daylights out of the bigger kid someday. When he wet his bed, he was wearing a nightgown in his Grandma's bed. He wanted pajamas like Dad and his own bed. So, when he got them, he promised not to wet the bed because his pride was involved. He wanted to act like a man, so he did. A 3 year old daughter wouldn't eat breakfast. She loved to imitate her Mom. So, one morning they let her cook breakfast and she ate it, because she was interested in it, she achieved a feeling of importance, and found an avenue of self-expression.

Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves   When someone returns at item to you, listen to their story from beginning to end without saying a word. Then say, "what would you like me to do with this product? I'll do anything you say. If it isn't satisfactory we'll give you one that is. We are sorry to have caused you this inconvenience."

A customer denied owing 15 dollars. After getting letters from credit department, he went to the manager and said not only is he not going to pay the bill, but he won't but anything else from them again. The manager listened patiently to all he had to say without interrupting him. Then said, "I want to thank you for coming to me to tell me about this. You have done me a great favor, for if our credit department has annoyed you, it may annoy other good customers. Believe me, I am far more eager to hear this than you are to tell it. We'll wipe off the 15 dollar charge, because you are a very careful man with only one account to look after, while we have to look after many. Therefore, you are less likely to be wrong than we are."

If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically   When an officer warned someone about not putting his dog on a leash, and he was caught again, he didn't wait for the officer to start speaking, he beat him to it with, "Officer, you've caught me red-handed. I'm guilty. I have no excuses." Officer might say, "Well now, I know it's a temptation to let a dog run around when nobody's around." "Sure it's a temptation, but it's against the law." "Well, a little dog like that isn't going to harm anybody." No, but it might kill squirrels." "Well, I think you're taking this too far. Just let him run over the hill where I can't see him and we'll forget all about it." The officer wanted a feeling of importance. So when you begin to condemn yourself, the only way he could nourish his self-esteem was to show mercy. Isn't it much easier to listen to self-criticism than to bear condemnation from alien lips?

An art director delighted to find fault with someone's drawings. He gloated over his chance to criticize. "If what you say is true, I am at fault and there is absolutely no excuse for my blunder." The art director started to defend him! "Yes, you're right. But it's not a serious mistake. It's only..." "Any mistake may be costly and they are all irritating.” He started to break in, but he wouldn't let him. "I should have been more careful. You deserve the best, so I'm going to do this drawing all over." "No! No!. I wouldn't think of it." The artist's eagerness to criticize himself took all the fight out of the art director. Any fool can try to defend his mistakes, but it raises one above the herd and gives a feeling of nobility to admit one's mistakes.

Robert E. Lee blamed himself and only himself for the failure of picket's charge. Lee was far too Nobel to blame others. As Picket's beaten and bloody troops struggled back to Confederate lines, Robert E. Lee rode out to meet them all alone and said, "All this has been my fault. I and I alone have lost this battle." Few generals in all history have had the courage and character to admit that.

During a course in human relations, a class wrote down criticisms to a certain man to let him see himself as others see him. One man was broken hearted because he was denounced for being too sure of himself, too self-centered, too domineering, an egoist, trouble-maker, and a communist. One of his critics ordered him to get out of class. Instead of denouncing his critics, he said, "Boys, I certainly am unpopular. There can be no mistaking that. It huts me to read these comments, but they are good for me. They have taught me a lesson. I long for friends just as you do. I want to make people like me. Won't you help me? Won't you please write me some more criticisms and tell me what I can do to improve my personality? If you will, I'll try hard, awfully hard, to change." He wasn't faking, he spoke straight from his own heart; so naturally he reached the hearts of his critics. The very men who had denounced him one week earlier were now for him, His soft answer had turned away wrath.

Begin in a friendly way   Here's a fable about the sun and the wind. They quarreled about which was the stronger, and the wind said, "I'll prove I am. See that old man down there with a coat? I bet I can make him take his coat off faster than you can." So the sun went behind a cloud and the wind blew until it was almost a tornado, but the harder it blew the tighter the old man wrapped his coat about him. Finally, the wind calmed down and gave up. The sun came out from behind the cloud and smiled kindly on the old man. He mopped his brow and pulled off his coat. The sun then told the wind, "gentleness and friendliness were always stronger than fury and force." Friendliness and appreciation can make people change their minds more readily than storming at them can.

Let the other fellow think the idea is his   Theodore Roosevelt forced through reforms which political bosses bitterly disliked. Here's how he did it. When an office was to be filled, he invited the political bosses to make recommendations. If they chose someone he disagreed with, he'd tell them, "to appoint such a man would not be good politics, as the public would not approve." Then they'd make another, and he'd say, "this man will not live up to the expectations of the public. Find someone more fitting for the post." When they name the sort of man that Roosevelt would pick, he'd express gratitude for their assistance, and he'd let them take the credit for the appointment. He'd tell them that he did these things to please them and now it was their turn to please him.

A doctor was building an addition and preparing to equip it with the finest X-ray department in America. He was overwhelmed with salesmen, each praising his own equipment. But one of them wrote a letter stating, "Our factory has recently completed a new line of X-ray equipment. They are not perfect, we know that, and we want to improve them. So we should be deeply obligated to you if you could find the time to look them over and give us your ideas about how they can be made more serviceable to your profession. Knowing how occupied you are, I shall be glad to send my car for you at any hour you specify."

This doctor never had an X-ray manufacturer seek his advice before. It made him feel important. The more he studied the equipment the more he liked it. Nobody tried to sell it to him, he felt the idea of buying that equipment for the hospital was his own. He sold himself on its superior qualities and ordered it installed.

Be sympathetic with other people's ideas and desires   Someone made an error in an announcement over the radio and got deluged with indignant and insulting letters. One in particular was from a woman who he thought, "Thank God, I am not married to that girl." He was going to write her a letter stating although he made a mistake in geography, she made a bigger mistake in common courtesy. But any hot-headed fool can do that. So he controlled himself, and resolved to turn her hostility into friendliness. After all, if he were her, he should undoubtedly feel just as she did. So, he called her up and said:

Him: Mrs. so and so. You wrote me a letter a few weeks ago, and I want to thank you for it.
She: (in a cultured, well-bred tone). To whom have I the honor of speaking?
Him: I am a stranger to you. My name is Dale Carnegie. You listened to a broadcast I gave about Louisa May Alcott a few Sundays ago, and I made the unforgivable blunder of saying that she had lived in New Hampshire. It was a stupid blunder and I want to apologize for it. It was so nice of you to take the time to write me.
She: I am sorry, Mr. Carnegie, that I wrote as I did. I lost my temper. I must apologize.
Him: No! No! You are not the one to apologize; I am the one to apologize. Any school child would have known better than to have said what I have said. I apologized over the air the Sunday following and I want to apologize to you personally now.
She: I was born in Concord, Massachusetts. My family has been prominent here for over two centuries and I am very proud of this state. I was quite distressed when you said she was born in New Hampshire. But I am really ashamed of that letter.
Him: I assure you that you were not one-tenth as distressed as I am. My error didn't hurt Massachusetts, but it did hurt me. It is so seldom that people of your standing and culture take the time to write people who speak on the radio, and I do hope you will write me again if you detect an error in my talks.
She: You know, I really like very much the way you have accepted my criticism, You must be a very good man. I should like to know you you better.

So, by apologizing and sympathizing with her point of view, he got her apologizing and sympathizing with his point of view. He had the satisfaction of controlling his temper, and returning kindness for an insult.

Dramatize your ideas   A manufacturer of a new rat poison gave dealers a display that included 2 live rats. Sales zoomed to 5X their normal rate.

An auto supply dealer had a display for an indestructible spark plug. It was smashed up and down against a rock. 1000X.

Instead of giving data verbally about a study done on cold cream, open a suitcase and dump 32 jars of cold cream on top of a desk, and on each cold jar have a tag of itemized results that briefly and dramatically tells its story.

Throw down a challenge   To get a factory to produce and meet their quota when they were lagging behind, the big boss asked the day shift how many heats they made. They said "six." Without another word, he chalked a big "6" on the floor and walked away. The next day, the boss saw the night shift had rubbed out "6" and replaced it with a "7." So, the night shift thought they were better than the day shift, huh? They made 10 that day.

Charles Swabb said, "The way to get things done is to stimulate competition. Not in a sordid, money grabbing way, but in a desire to excel." The challenge! An infallible way of appealing to men of spirit. The chance for self-expression. The chance to prove his worth, to excel, to win. The desire for a feeling of importance.

Begin with praise and honest appreciation   Calvin Cooledge said to his secretary, "That's a pretty dress you are wearing this morning, and you are a very attractive young woman." It was so unusual and unexpected, that the girl blushed in confusion. Then he said, "Now, don't get stuck up. I just said that to make you feel good. From now on, I wish you would be a little bit more careful with your punctuation." It is always easier to listen to unpleasant things after we have heard some praise of our good points.

Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other man   When you want to call attention to someone's mistake, say, "You have made a mistake, but the Lord knows it's no worse than many I have made. I have been guilty of so many stupid, silly things myself. I have very little inclination to criticize you or anyone else. But don't you think it would have been wiser if you had done so and so?"

Let the other man save his face   General Electric had to remove someone from the head of the department. He was a genius when it came to electricity, but was a washout as the head of the accounting department. The company didn't want to offend him, he was indispensable and highly sensitive. So they gave him a new title of "Consulting Engineer of the General Electric Company." A new title for work he was already doing. He was happy, and General Electric let someone else head up the department.

Give people a fine reputation to live up to   Someone hired a servant and told her to report to work, but he telephoned a former employer and all was not well. When the girl came to work, he said, "Nellie, I telephoned the other day to a woman you used to work for. She said you were honest and reliable, a good cook and good at caring for the children. But she also said you were sloppy and never kept the house clean. Now, I think she was lying. You dress neatly, anybody can see that. And I'll bet you keep the house just as neat as your person. You and I are going to get along fine." And they did. Nellie had a reputation to live up to and didn't want to be untrue to his ideal of her.

A servant girl brought Georgette her meals. She was called "Marie the Dishwasher" because she started her career as a scullery assistant. She was a kind of monster, cross-eyed, bandy-legged, poor in flesh and spirit. One day, while she was holding a plate of macaroni, Georgette said to her point-blank, "Marie, you do not know what treasures are within you." Accustomed to holding back her emotions, Marie waited a few moments, not daring to risk the slightest gesture for fear of a catastrophe. Then she put the dish on the table, sighed, and said ingenuously, "Madame, I would never have believed it." Then she went back to the kitchen and repeated what Georgette had said. She began taking care of her face and body so carefully that her starved youth seemed to blossom and modestly hid her plainness. Two months later she announced her coming marriage with the nephew of the chef. "I'm going to be a lady," she said and thanked Georgette. A small phrase had changed her entire life.

If you must deal with a crook, there is only one possible way of getting the better of him. Treat him as if he were an honorable gentleman. Take it for granted he is on the level. He will be so flattered by such treatment that he may answer to it, and be proud that someone trusts him.

Make other people happy about doing the thing you suggest   A mechanic was complaining that the hours were too long, that there was too much work, and that he needed an assistant. The shop didn't give him an assistant, or shorter hours or less work, and yet he made the mechanic happy. How? He was given a private office. His name appeared on the door, and with it his title "Manager of the Service Department." He was no longer a repair man to be ordered around, he was now the manager of a department. He had dignity, recognition, a feeling of importance.

A man had to refuse many invitations to speak from who he was obligated. He didn't merely say how busy he was. After expressing his appreciation of the invitation and regretting his inability to accept it, he suggested a substitute speaker. He didn't give the other man any time to feel unhappy about the refusal, but had him thinking of some other speaker he may obtain.

People don't blame Themselves   Dutch Crowley was know as a "cop killer" who would "kill at the drop of a feather." One day he was necking a girl in a car and a policeman walked up to the parked car and said, "Let me see your license." Without saying a word, Crowley drew his gun and cut the policeman down with a shower of lead. Then he grabbed the officer's gun and shot him again. Crowley later wrote, "Under my heart is a weary heart, but a kind one - one that would do nobody any harm."

Crowley was sentenced to the electric chair. When he arrived at the death house in Sing Sing, did he say, "This is what I get for killing people?" No, he said, "This is what I get for defending myself." Crowley didn't blame himself for anything. Al Capone, America's Public Enemy Number One, regarded himself as an unappreciated and misunderstood public benefactor. So did Dutch Schultz.
Warden Lawes of Sing Sing said, "Few of the criminals in Sing Sing regard themselves as bad men. They are just as human as you and I. So they rationalize, they explain. They can tell you why they had to crack a safe or be quick on the trigger finger. Most of them attempt by a form of reasoning, fallacious or logical, to justify their anti-social acts even to themselves, consequently stoutly maintaining that they should never have been imprisoned at all.

If these desperate men behind prison walls don't blame themselves for anything, what about the people with whom you and I come in contact? The late John Wanamaker once confessed, "I learned thirty years ago that it is foolish to scold. I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence."

What is Mass Persuasion?

Answer: The ability to connect with a vast number of ready and willing buyers for your products or services.

What are the secrets of Mass Persuasion?

Answer: I wish I can answer it in detail but it would be very lengthy. So it is best that I let this website give you the answer...

Discover The Latent Power Of Self-Suggestion

Psychologists have long known about the power of "Self-Suggestion".

It's the process of repeating affirmations over and over, effectively "reprogramming" how the brain works. It's technically known as "Programmed Rehearsal" and can bring about great results in just DAYS.

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How to live a life free from FEAR.

Access a brand new e-book for free! 22 Powerful Tools to Transform Your Fear Into Happiness, Peace and Inspiration.

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The system uses a variety of techniques including advanced brainwave entrainment, sacred geometry, NLP, sound medicine, dream programming, conditioned responses, hypnosis, energy healing, affirmations, and meditation.

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What if you can make the whole world conspire?

Heard of this phrase: "When you know your personal legend, the whole universe will conspire to help you achieve it"?

It comes from "The Alchemist", a book authored by one of the greatest Brazilian writers, Paulo Coelho.

A young shepherd named Santiago went for a quest and later on found the greatest treasure he can ever have in this world...

No, it's not a bag of gold.

It's the power of WILL.

And so, a person with great will makes everything happen without hesitations, without any fears of not achieving it...

Those with great will think with positivity, for great things unfold to those who think right and to those to believe.

It's time to unlock your endless potentials...

How?

Download your free "Crack The Secret Code" e-book, and come on the long journey of unfolding beautiful revelations and thoughts in your life.

Discover the power of outrageous goals...

Have you ever set a goal that you DIDN'T achieve?

When you experience the pain, heartbreak and crushing disappointment of setting an amazing goal you really want to achieve and then NOT achieving it or falling way short, suddenly you find yourself lost...

You doubt yourself, and ask questions like: "Am I asking for too much? Should I lower my expectations?" or "Am I really good enough, talented enough, skilled enough...?"

You get the picture. Have you been there and done that? I sure have.

But what if you had a simple formula that put the power at your fingertips (literally) to set the big, fat goals that you thought you couldn’t achieve, and then cut through your internal resistance to achieving those goals like a hot knife through butter?

Well, I just discovered an amazing solution that will do just that.

One lady has really cracked the code on setting AND achieving massive, outrageous goals…but more importantly, she has a simple technique for smashing right through any resistance to achieving a huge goal.

Margaret Lynch is going to share this technique and more strategies in a FREE 2-part video and the most astounding part is that you can learn this in minutes and be well on your way to claiming and achieving your most outrageous goals today!

I'm willing to bet that you're going to experience a dramatic shift just a few minutes from now after you watch this just as it has an impact on me.

Free 30-Day Wealth Maps, but hurry…

First off, before I say anything else you *need* to click the link below and sign up for this NO-COST 30-day personal growth and wealth building program...

(It's worth at least $20,000 to you and probably a LOT more. I'll explain how in a second but seats are going VERY fast and I don't want you to miss out because you were stuck reading an e-mail.)

Here's what this is all about...

Starting on August 12th, my good friend Lance Hood is reopening a 30-day Wealth and Success Marathon and he wants to share the results with you at absolutely no cost.

You see, Lance has somehow managed to convince 22 of the world's greatest wealth and success coaches living to GIVE AWAY their best and most profitable secrets in a series of "feet to the fire" teleseminars...

On each call, Lance is going to ask one of these wealth and success "gurus" to cut through the BS and reveal EXACTLY what you should do to start building *real* wealth RIGHT NOW (when times are "tough") and in just 30 short days.

No guess work, no vague suggestions, no real "work" on your part at all. Just easy, step-by-step instructions for you to follow RIGHT AWAY to finally grab the lifestyle and the wealth that you've wanted for so long.

You can sign up for the whole "30 Day Wealth Map" series here (and see the "who's who" list of experts Lance has assembled. I really don't know how he convinced so many "heavy hitters" to give away their secrets), but you really should hurry because...

HERE'S THE *WEIRD* PART...

Lance first *tried* to start promoting for his "30 Day Wealth Maps" series a few days ago and within just a few short hours his server had CRASHED AND BURNED...

So many people tried to sign up for this astonishing no-charge offer that the server just couldn't keep up and tens of thousands of people were stuck staring at an error screen.

NOW HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS...

After a LOT of long talks with his "tech guys" Lance has managed to "harden" his server and get it ready for the crush of traffic he's expecting.

Which means that if you go there *right away* you can still sign up for "30 Day Wealth Maps", PLUS when you go to the page you'll learn how you can win over $20,000 worth of one-on-one coaching from this "A-Team" of Wealth And Success Gurus, blast through your emotional blocks to success and end the year wealthier (MUCH wealthier) than you are now.

Grab your seat now. Lance can only take so many students on the calls and they're going VERY fast.

Don't Quit.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must; but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

Gain Credibility While Selling

Do you want people to trust you and trust their money in your ideas? Before you gain trust, you have to be viewed as a credible person. Here are a few ways that you can increase your credibility with your prospects during sales calls.

• Give general benefits - Cite general benefits your company provides that relate to the buyers needs, wants and issues.  Prepare and research the prospect before you communicate with them. When you present the ideas it will show that you were interested in helping the prospect not just making money.

• Be specific - Give results of how past clients have benefited. Talk specifically about return on investment. Instead of saying that "This product improves efficiency", say "Company XYZ started using this product last year, since then they have $500,000."
  

• Suggest similar benefits - If a company is going through the same issues as previous companies, tell them. Since you have already given general benefits and then given specific examples it is logical to tie them together.
  

• Don't sell - Focus on the buyer. By knowing the wants, interests and needs of the prospective client, giving specific examples of results, and then connecting them together, you are appealing logically to a client. Make the logical connection and prospect will know you are not just another sales person.

Contributed by Dale Carnegie Training.

Inscribe your life TODAY!

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This one-of-a-kind program teaches you how to banish your fears...trump conflict...embrace forgiveness...and literally WRITE your life into existence exactly as you want it.

The writing's already on the wall. Now it's your time to decide if its YOUR words...or someone else's.

Join Inscribe Your Life Today!

Who hurt you (and why)?...New Video

It's time to face the cold, hard, ugly truth...

We each suffer at the hands of others...

Those we love, those that anger or attack us...even at the hands of strangers.

None of us gets through life unscathed. But I believe conflict empowers us.

In this new video from Chris Cade, he shows you specifically how to explore the challenges and traumas you've endured...and transform those stories into empowering vehicles for success and empowerment.

Watch this video now.

I don't know about you, but after watching it, I was acutely aware of traumas I've held in the past...with a lot of guilt and anger about what others have done to me...and what I LET them do to me.

It's not an empowering feeling. In fact it had given me every excuse not to try, not to dream or hope, not to love.

What Chris articulates so well in this video is that these things that happened to me...the things that have happened to you...

It's not anyone else's fault. It's not your fault either.

It's just one more story...and it's the hardest thing for most people to change.

Chris invites us to unearth the story we may be holding—the story that leads either to hatred, anger and guilt...or to forgiveness and abundance.

Inscribe Forgiveness & Empowerment into Your Life!

Why conflict is your best friend.

I just finished watching a video I think you’ll enjoy.

It’s refreshingly different…and not your typical hyped “Law of Attraction” stuff. Check it out and see how a simple shift in the way you see conflict can change EVERYTHING for you.

“How Can Conflict Get Me My Happy Ending?”

The video comes from Chris Cade, creator of “Inscribe Your Life”. He’s been using story-telling as a path for self-discovery and spiritual growth. His unique approach has changed his life and the lives of those he coaches.

I’ve never seen anyone approach personal development quite like this and I have to say it’s fascinating and exciting. We all love stories! We relish getting lost in Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, George Lucas’ galactic battles, or the magic of Harry Potter.

What if we could use story to get ourselves from where we are now to our own storybook ending…the same way these magnificent authors get their heroes to their happy endings?

Chris Cade shows us how.

Because stories work just like life does: they’re only satisfying when our hero encounters and trumps conflict.

Conflict is what makes a hero—what allows him (or her) to discover who he is and what he’s made of. There’s no happy ending without it.

You can use conflict to achieve YOUR storybook ending as well! It’s only when we run away from it that it can defeat us.

By watching the free video you’ll also receive 2 additional bonuses:

* Another inspirational story video (think Chicken Soup for the Soul)

* A leaked chapter from Chris’ new spiritual writing package, “Inscribe Your Life”, about how to overcome your doubts and fears.

Hope you enjoy them!

Why are some people more successful than others?

A lot of people who claim to be rich and successful—and I say "claim" because we don't know for a fact that they are—act as if it's all them...and that luck had nothing to do with it.

But the fact is, there are 6 specific factors that contribute to anyone's success or lack thereof—and luck is clearly one of them:

#1 - Intelligence.

Some people are just smarter than others.

Intelligence is a result of genetics and environment—your upbringing.

Since heredity and the home you are born into are determined purely by chance, intelligence is largely a matter of luck.

By the way, by "smart" I don't mean "book smart".

I mean smart at anything that can make money—whether it's business, art, computers, or whatever.

#2 - Knowledge.

Successful people are students for life.

They are constantly acquiring specific knowledge in their business or field—as well as a large storehouse of knowledge on all sorts of other topics.

As a rule, the more you learn, the more you earn.

#3 - Effort.

The cliché about working smarter, not harder, is B.S.

Successful people work both smarter—and harder—than others.

#4 - Attitude.

Successful people have an attitude. But it's not an attitude of ripping people off...or making as much money as they can any way they can.

It's an attitude of service: of giving their customers (and others) more value than they have any right to expect.

Many successful people are also goal-oriented, and it is important to them to become successful. So they focus their efforts on achievement of that goal.

#5 - Aptitude.

We tend to be good at things we like and have an aptitude for.

Financially successful people just happen to have an aptitude and talent for things that make money.

Warren Buffett has said that the reason for his great wealth is that he was born with aptitudes and talents for which our society offers huge financial rewards.

Some of us are good at stuff, but not stuff that pays well. And if we pursue those interests exclusively, our incomes can be limited as a result.

#6 - Luck.

As you can see, the key success factors of intelligence (#1) and aptitudes (#5) are determined mainly by chance—and are largely beyond our control.

Yes, Warren Buffett studied finance, worked hard, and had the right attitude.

But he was also lucky, as is virtually every person who has achieved significant wealth, success, or accomplishment in life.

The honest ones admit this and are thankful.

Any rich or successful person who said luck had no part in his achievement is either in denial or unwilling to come clean.

Therefore, if you are successful, you should be humble, not arrogant and boastful.

After all, you were lucky. Right?

The History Of Money

Money

Money is a medium that can be exchanged for goods and services and is used as a measure of their values on the market, including among its many forms as commodities such as gold, an officially issued coin or note, or a deposit in a checking account or other readily liquefiable account.

In the modern world we take money for granted.

However, pause for a moment and imagine what life would be like without money. Suppose that you want to consume a particular good or service, such as a Macbook. If money didn't exist, you would need to barter with the retailer for the Macbook that you want.

Barter

Barter is the process of directly exchanging one good or service for another. In order to purchase the Macbook, you would need to have something to trade for the Macbook. If you specialized in growing orange, you would need to bring enough boxes of oranges to the retailer's shop to purchase the Macbook. If the retailer wanted your oranges and you wanted his Macbook, then a double coincidence of wants would exist and trade could take place.

But what if the retailer didn't want your oranges? In that case you would have to find out what he did want, for example, chicken. Then you would have to trade your oranges for chicken and the chicken for Macbook.
But what if the person selling chicken had no desire for oranges, but instead wants a cooker? Then you would have to trade your oranges for a cooker and it would take a lot of oranges to buy a cooker. Then you would have to trade your cooker for chicken and the chicken for Macbook.

But what if...??

It would become easier to make the Macbook yourself or to just do without.

The Evolution Of Money

Somehow at some point money became the universal commodity that has no other uses other than for value exchange.

Money evolved as a way of avoiding the complexities and difficulties of barter. Money is any asset that is recognized by an economic community as having value. Historically, such assets have included, among other things, shells, stone disks (which can be somewhat difficult to carry around), gold, and bank notes.

The modern monetary system has its roots in the gold of medieval Europe. In the Middle Ages, gold and gold coins were the common currency. However, the wealthy found that carrying large quantities of gold around was difficult and made them the target of thieves. To avoid carrying gold coins, people began depositing them for safekeeping with goldsmiths, who often had heavily guarded vaults in which to store their valuable inventories of gold. The goldsmiths charged a fee for their services and issued receipts, or gold notes, in the amount of the deposits. Exchanging these receipts was much simpler and safer than carrying around gold coins. In addition, the depositors could retrieve their gold on demand.

Goldsmiths during this time became aware that few people actually wanted their gold coins back when the gold notes were so easy to use for exchange. They therefore began lending some of the gold on deposit to borrowers who paid a fee, called interest. These goldsmiths were the precursors to our modern fractional reserve banking system.

Functions Of Money

Regardless of what asset is recognized by an economic community as money, in general it serves three functions:

* Money is a medium of exchange.
* Money is a measure of value.
* Money is a store of value.

Money as a medium of exchange: Used as a medium of exchange, money means that parties to a transaction no longer need to barter one good for another. Because money is accepted as a medium of exchange, you can sell your lemons for money and purchase the desired Macbook with the proceeds of the sale. You no longer need to trade lots of lemons for a cooker and then the cooker for chicken and then the chicken for the Macbook. As a medium of exchange, money tends to encourage specialization and division of labour, promoting economic efficiency.

Money is a measure of value: As a measure of value, money makes transactions significantly simpler. Instead of markets determining the price of oranges relative to cookers and to chicken and to Macbook, as well as the price of cookers relative to chicken and to Macbook, as well as the price of chicken relative to Macbooks (i.e. a total of six prices for only four goods), the markets only need to determine the price of each of the four goods in terms of money. If we were to add a fifth good to our simple economy, then we would add four more prices to the number of good-for-good prices that the markets must determine. As the number of goods in our economy grew, the number of good-for-good prices would grow rapidly. In an economy with ten goods, there would be forty-five good-for-good prices but only ten money prices. In an economy with twenty goods there would be one hundred and ninety good-for-good prices but only twenty money prices. Imagine all of the good-for-good prices in a more realistic economy with thousands of goods and services available.

Using money as a measure of value reduces the number of prices determined in markets and vastly reduces the cost of collecting price information for market participants. Instead of focusing on such information, market participants can focus their effort on producing the good or service in which they specialize.

Money as a store of value: Money can also serve as a store of value, since it can quickly be exchanged for desired goods and services. Many assets can be used as a store of value, including stocks, bonds, and real estate. However, there are transaction costs associated with converting these assets into money in order to purchase a desired good or service. These transaction costs could include monetary fees as well as time delays involved in the liquidation process.

In contrast, money is a poor store of value during periods of inflation, while the value of real estate tends to appreciate during such periods. Thus, the benefits of holding money must by balanced against the risks of holding money.

Summary

Money simplifies the exchange of goods and services and facilitates specialization and division of labour. It does this by serving as a medium of exchange, as a measure of value, and as a store of value.

How would you like to have your very own "Saturday Business?"

What's that you ask?

Here's a video from Sam Crowley, founder of Every Day Is Saturday, explaining exactly what it means.

With a Saturday Business, you're able to monetize your passion and get paid to do what you love.

Everyone has a Saturday Business in them...but only a few people figure out how to make it happen!

Sam has opened up the doors on a very limited (30 people) 'live' workshop, where he'll pull back the curtains on Every Day Is Saturday and how to go after your entrepreneurial dream.

Here's just a sampling of what makes this weekend so special...

- Sam's daughter Madeline asked him "Is tomorrow Saturday, Daddy?", and he decided to make EVERY day Saturday by quitting his job and starting his own business

- He quickly became an international motivational speaker, and generated over 30,000 subscribers to his regular podcast

- He now has a community of 1,000 Champions learning to pursue their dreams, and he has put together a special workshop for 30 people only...

Are you up for the challenge of creating the kind of business you can be TRULY passionate about?

Join Sam at The Every Day Is Saturday 'Live' Workshop and you'll find out.

Venue: Orlando Crowne Plaza, just minutes from the Orlando International Airport
Date: June 13th and 14th

Ode To Love

How will this pure white blossom grow,
How will it bloom through storm and snow;
Through wind and hail and falling rain,
Will it survive, remain the same?

Born in the early days of Spring,
It woke to hear a robin sing;
And lifting up its eyes did sign,
To see a rainbow in the sky.

Through all of life's trials - that come and go,
Its roots go down deep - of this we know;
And, like our love, it shall not die,
But bloom forever beneath God's sky.

Aimee Love © November 15, 1954

The Banker And The Fisherman

An investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.

The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."

The banker then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The fisherman said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The banker then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, go for walks with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. As you can see, I have a full and busy life."

The banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat! With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the capital city. After that, who knows, maybe you could take on the world!"

The fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the banker replied, "I'd say about 15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the fisherman.

The Banker laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?…Then what?" the fisherman continued prodding.

The banker said, "Then you would retire, move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, go for romantic walks with your wife, and in the evenings you could sip wine, play guitar and sing songs with your friends!"

To which the fisherman mused, "Now isn't that strange? Isn’t that what I'm doing now?"

Achieving Fame, Wealth And Beauty Are Psychological Dead Ends, Study Says

ScienceDaily (May 19, 2009) — If you think having loads of money, fetching looks, or the admiration of many will improve your life—think again. A new study by 3 University of Rochester researchers demonstrates that progress on these fronts can actually make a person less happy.

"People understand that it's important to pursue goals in their lives and they believe that attaining these goals will have positive consequences. This study shows that this is not true for all goals," says author Edward Deci, professor of psychology and the Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences at the University. "Even though our culture puts a strong emphasis on attaining wealth and fame, pursuing these goals does not contribute to having a satisfying life. The things that make your life happy are growing as an individual, having loving relationships, and contributing to your community," Deci says.

The research paper, to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Research in Personality, tracked 147 alumni from 2 universities during their 2nd year after graduation. Using in-depth psychological surveys, the researchers assessed participants in key areas, including satisfaction with life, self-esteem, anxiety, physical signs of stress, and the experience of positive and negative emotions.

Aspirations were identified as either "intrinsic" or "extrinsic" by asking participants how much they valued having "deep, enduring relationships" and helping "others improve their lives" (intrinsic goals) versus being "a wealthy person" and achieving "the look I've been after" (extrinsic goals). Respondents also reported the degree to which they had attained these goals. To track progress, the survey was administered twice, once a year after graduation and again 12 months later.

This post-graduation period was selected because it is typically a critical developmental juncture for young adults, explains lead author Christopher Niemiec, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University. "During this formative period, graduates are no longer in the home or at the university. For the first time, they are in a position to determine for themselves how they want their lives to proceed."

As with earlier research, the study confirmed that the more committed an individual is to a goal, the greater the likelihood of success. But unlike previous findings, this analysis showed that getting what one wants is not always salubrious. "There is a strong tradition in psychology that says if you value goals and attain them, wellness will follow," says Niemiec. "But these earlier studies did not consider the content of the goals."

What's "striking and paradoxical" about this research, he says, is that it shows that reaching materialistic and image-related milestones actually contributes to ill-being; despite their accomplishments, individuals experience more negative emotions like shame and anger and more physical symptoms of anxiety such as headaches, stomachaches, and loss of energy. By contrast, individuals who value personal growth, close relationships, community involvement, and physical health are more satisfied as they meet success in those areas. They experience a deeper sense of well-being, more positive feelings toward themselves, richer connections with others, and fewer physical signs of stress.

The findings in this study support Self-Determination Theory, a well-established theory of human motivation developed by two of the paper's authors, Deci and fellow University psychologist Richard Ryan. The theory holds that well-being depends in large part on meeting one's basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Intrinsic aspirations make people happy because they fulfill these foundational needs, conclude the authors. "Intrinsic aspirations seem to be more closely related to the self, to what's inside the self, rather than to what's outside the self," Niemiec explains.

Striving for wealth and adulation, on the other hand, does little to satisfy these deep human requirements, at least within this early career stage of life. In addition, this was a well-educated sample, and the authors stress the need for research in other demographics and age ranges. Yet for this young adult group, the authors suggest that time devoted to extrinsic pursuits, like working long hours, often crowds out opportunities for psychologically nourishing experiences, such as relaxing with friends and family or pursuing a personal passion. Craving money and adoration also can lead to a preoccupation with "keeping up with the Joneses"—upward social comparisons that breed feelings of inadequacy and jealousy. And unlike the lasting benefits of caring relationships and hard-earned skills, the thrill of extrinsic accomplishments fade quickly; all too soon, the salary raise is a distant memory and the rave review forgotten.

The research was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

How do Mobile Entrepreneurs live and work?

Have you ever dreamed of achieving the proverbial "4-hour work week" lifestyle and traveling, living or working from anywhere you choose? Well, Internet Marketer, consultant and adventurer Bryant Jones certainly had that dream. And for him it's now a reality because he went out and proved it could be done.

For the last 6 months Bryant lived in Thailand, Indonesia, and Mexico. No he's not rich, but he lives a very fulfilling lifestyle because he can work from anywhere and he doesn't have to worry about it.

Plus he sets his business up in a way that he only has to put in around 10-15 hours a week most weeks. If this sounds attractive to you, you need to go check out this site right now.

Bryant just launched a new coaching program to help you live the life you dream of and become a Mobile Entrepreneur. Judging by the feedback on his blog my guess would be his "Exit My Job" program will sell out in no time.

Have you ever drunk water from a river?

Anyone with outdoor survival experience will tell you the same thing—it's better to drink from further upstream.

Why? Because the closer you get to the source, the less chance there is of contamination, and the higher your chances of drinking pure, clean, uncontaminated water.

Similarly, if you're looking for a rock-solid solution to the financial, emotional, and even health-related uncertainties coming from challenges like the global recession, the best material you can find for complete control over your mind (and wallet) comes from the source—an extraordinary man known as Jose Silva.

Does that name ring a bell? Well it should, because it belongs to the man credited with bringing modern meditation to the West, numerous breakthroughs in mind control, and of course the Silva movement, a million person-strong movement that in its time changed the face of spirituality and personal development as we knew it.

And while Jose passed away in 1999, his daughter Laura Silva has picked up the torch (and over $2 million in cutting-edge scientific research) to present an updated, perfected and optimized version of her father's revolutionary teachings—perfect for the modern person with no time but plenty of issues—financial, mental, spiritual and physical—that need fixing.

The result is the Silva Life System—an incredibly powerful home-study course based on principles used by millions to find true success, contentment and happiness.

Whether you're feeling even the slightest bit stressed, stuck, lost, sick, depressed, or even if you just need a little boost from time to time (and who doesn't?)—this is material that I simply cannot recommend enough.

Click here get in on the life-changing powers of the Silva Life System.

The Masters Gathering 'Live' On June 5th And 6th.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock or something, you no doubt have heard about the largest collection of the world's transformation experts called The Masters Gathering.

This was once the most complete, sold-out life-enhancing mentorship program featuring the most etablished names in the self-development and entrepreneurship industries like T. Harv Eker, Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Joe Vitale, John Demartini, just to name a few.

It is now coming back as a 'live' event in San Diego on June, 5th and 6th.

This seminar will be hosted by yet more famous people like John Assaraf, Bill Bartmann and Chris and Janet Attwood etc.

Tickets are selling fast and it's pretty cheap for a 2-day event. What's more you can bring one guest for free! Access this page to get all the details.

Attracting Elephants, Karaoke And Chilli Fried Crickets...

That was what my friend Bryant Jones did in Thailand. In the last 6 months he had traveled in Mexico, Thailand and Indonesia leisurely.

In September of last year he was able to walk away from a job most people dream of, and as he told it, it was exactly in line with what he wanted to manifest in his life. Of course I asked why...

His response was a passionate oration about how he was "living a lie" by working a JOB that he hated and letting his passion for life be "strangled to death" by the boss, the morning traffic, his (good-hearted but) incompetent co-workers and what he called "the fishbowl"—the confines of the office. He got so worked up I thought he might lose it for a sec...

He caught his breath and calmed down a bit. Then he started telling a story about how 2 years ago when he lost his business and his wife walked out on him, he sat down to create a document that detailed his perfect day and how focusing on that "dream life" finally had him get in line with what he really wanted...

And here's where you come in...

Bryant told me he is now on a personal crusade to make sure that anyone that has a dream of getting out of the rat race or wants to travel, work and live anywhere has the tools and support to do so.

When I heard this I asked him if he would help you and he gave me a resounding YES...

Go here to ask him any question you have about following your dreams while living, working and traveling anywhere and it will be answered next week on a FREE teleseminar. Go get the details now.

Sign up for his affiliate program here.

It's a "Who's Who" list at Success Trace.

I've just gotten confirmation that Mark Joyner will also be sharing his wisdom in Success Trace!

If you don't know who's Mark, here are his credentials...

Mark is widely recognized as one of the early pioneers of Internet Marketing and is responsible for introducing many of the technologies and tactics you see used on the Internet today (most notably e-books and integration marketing). Mark has also wrote an e-book that was downloaded over 1,000,000 times (when he stopped counting in 1998) and turned his fledgling one-man operation into a multi-million dollar international corporation with customers in every Internet-connected country on the planet.

He has wrote many best-selling books including Mind Control Marketing, The Irresistible Offer, The Great Formula and Simpleology, which is also listed in the Wall Street Journal Bestseller.

Hundreds of thousands of people learn from Mark through his personal development program, including a 3-time Olympian.

To name a few, his list of testimonials include gurus like Joseph Sugarman, Brian Tracy, Chet Holmes, Kevin Hogan, Al Ries, Bart Baggett, Dave Lakhani, John Assaraf and Randy Gage.

The only way for you to hear this rare interview is to join the Success Trace Private Membership today so that when Patric interviews Mark in the near future, you'll be notified and won't miss this chance.

The last time we've seen Mark being interviewed by others was in a $1,997 program. And I believe he's very selective towards those who gets to interview him.

Success Trace doesn't cost you thousands or even hundreds. It will cost you less than the price for a cup of coffee.

Mark plays a pivotal part in transforming Patric's life because Patric pays attention to what Mark says, teaches and does. Maybe you'll get NOTHING listening to his interview with Mark. Or perhaps, it'll give you the 'million dollar' idea that will completely transform your life to success that you've never imagine before?

Only you can tell.

When you join Success Trace today, you'll also be accessing his other interviews with other great minds like Ted Nicholas, Bill Bartmann (a billionaire!), Mike Litman, Dr. Joe Vitale, Jerry Clark, Jim Straw, Dr. Joe Rubino, Terri Levine, Christopher Guerriero, John Harricharan and others in months to come.

And when you join now, you will get to access to the archive way back since January 2009 and his $97 best-selling home course for free!

Do you think there's a better for you to spend your $4.95 today?

Get back value worth $332.90 here.

Have you experienced these?

You've read books about motivation but you're still not motivated.

You've attended seminars teaching you how to create wealth but you did not become wealthy after that.

You've gone through courses to guide you how to use "Law of Attraction" but you still haven't attract anything you want yet.

If you've experienced these or similar cases, then you have to watch this free video called The "What You Don't Know You're Missing".

In the video, Patric reveals the most important factor that you need to achieve success. Most people forget about it and that is why they are still not anywhere close to their goals. Perhaps you'll find your answer in here.

Is genius natural or cultivated? Does practice make perfect?

David Brooks wrote for the New York Times and article titled "Genius: The Modern View" which advocates internalization of skill via repetitive practice, with many comments opposing it. What's your stand?

Ever wonder what goes on inside a baby's mind?

For many, many years, from the outset, adults perceive babies as just plain dumb, nothing more than a lump of need, a bundle of reflexes that can only eat and cry. To think like a baby is to not think at all.

A recent article by The Boston Globe is going to dispel all the myths about a baby's mentality and intelligence. Let Jonah Lehrer take you inside the baby mind and discover what all young parents must know.

When Thoughts Become Things...

A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will bring forth.

If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts.

By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life.

He also reveals, within him, the flaws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of character, circumstances, and destiny.

Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state.

This does not mean that a man's circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought-element within him that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development.

Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts, which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err.

This is just as true of those who feel "out of harmony" with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them.

As a progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson, which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances.

The Environment Is But Your Looking Glass

Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow; he then becomes the rightful master of himself.

That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition.

So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.

Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance.

Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.

Our Inner World Equals To Our Outer World

The outer world of circumstances shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors, which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both of suffering and bliss.

Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he allows himself to be dominated (pursuing the will-o'-the wisps of impure imaginings or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and high endeavour), a man at last arrives at their fruition and fulfillment in the outer conditions of his life.

Extracted from "Chapter 2: Effect of Thought on Circumstances" of "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen.

When all seems hopeless...

It is a sad sign of the times when I am receiving increasingly more messages from people who are in what they perceive as a "desperate situation".

From time to time I receive messages from people who believe their situation is so hopeless that they are contemplating or intending taking their own life.

The situations of these people varies from having a home repossessed, or under threat of repossession, homeless without an income, cannot meet even the most basic living requirements due to the huge increasing costs of electricity, fuel and gas, foods, and other necessities. Often these people have young children to consider as well, which makes their situation seem that much worse.

Now I am not going to comment on the "economy", the "credit crunch", house prices, cost of living, or home budgets etc, and in any case is not really relevant in the great scheme of things, all being human constructs, often for specific agendas that most are not aware of.

So what can you do if you find yourself in this sort of situation?

Well, the first thing to do is fully accept the fact that you brought your current situation upon yourself, and thereby must take full personal responsibility for your situation.

You can say, "Well, it is not my fault that I lost my job, or house prices fell, or loan repayments increased, or the cost of electricity, fuel has escalated in price etc." But the truth is that every single one of us creates and therefore must take full responsibility for our own reality. Whatever situation you find yourself in now is the always the direct result of previous thoughts, feelings and emotions.

Or to put it another way, whatever you are experiencing today originated first as a Thought Form in your Mind, which is subsequently, in accordance with immutable Universal Principles, manifested in to your experiential reality.

The sayings "Change your Mind and change your life", "As a man thinketh, so he is" and "thoughts are things" are absolutely true.

So how then do you proceed, if you find yourself in an unwanted situation?

The first thing you must do is to stop thinking negatively and also to stop allowing any form of negative feelings and emotions.

The Law of Attraction is plain and simple—the more you worry about your situation and "FEAR" for the future, the more you will attract more of the same—every time without fail.

It should be clear to everyone therefore that worrying, fear, anxiety and other negative thoughts couldn't possibly do you any good or resolve your situation in any way.

So the first course of action is to fully and unconditionally accept the fact that you have brought your situation upon yourself, thus to be able to move on by acknowledging and disavowing your present way of thinking to disengage from your present state of reality.

Alternately, take inspiration from Eleanor Roosevelt's most popular quote: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." In the same way, nothing in the present crisis can leave you defeated without your consent or permission. Believe in a workaround for every stumbling block and you WILL find a way. I've been finding my way since 9/11 and I'm not even American (if I supposed they were the most affected people). Will 2009 be the first GREAT year to a brand new quality of LIFE?

"If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." – Michael Jordan

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." – Michael Jordan

This is modified from a forum thread by Handsome Wong.