Need Inspired?

Invest In Yourself

If you are interested in personal development it is important you commit to investing in yourself. No matter what it is you want to improve, no matter what you want to achieve, it will almost certainly require an investment or will be much better and be achieved much quicker with the right investment. Start by listing the areas of improvement to which you wish to commit. This can be in a very wide area, and I am not limiting myself at all to one particular niche. Have a look at my previous articles.

Take a look around and see what resources are out there which could help you make serious inroads on those improvements you desire. Examine them carefully. There are a lot of scams out there, but there are also a lot of diamonds if you look carefully enough. Try to find at least one for each of the areas on your list. Don’t worry at this stage about how much money they may cost. All that should concern you right now is whether you believe they will help you achieve your goals better or faster, or both.

Once you have come up with the list of investments you want to make in yourself and are reasonably comfortable that, at least for now, this is a fairly complete list, the next step is to work out how you will pay for them. One problem many people have, though, is that after they have paid all their monthly bills there is no money left to invest in themselves. What may surprise you, though, is that no matter how much you earn you will almost certainly still find there is no money left after paying the bills. How can this be?

 Parkinson’s Second Law The answer lies in Parkinson’s Second Law. You have probably heard his First Law – “work expands to fill the available time”. But perhaps you missed the Second Law – “expenditure rises to meet the available income”. Parkinson’s Second Law is often applied to bureaucracies and they way they can needlessly spend our money. But it is equally applicable to personal expenditure. The corollary of Parkinson’s Second Law is that if you look carefully at your spending you will always find cuts you can make without impacting noticeably on your overall lifestyle. Your first step should therefore be to examine your budget very carefully.

Pretend you are a business which is not making profit. Step back and look at that business as if you were the finance director (or maybe the bank manager!). I think you will be surprised by some of the cuts you could make and still continue to enjoy life just as much. Pay Yourself First Once you have done this, regard yourself as your own primary creditor. You owe yourself a lot of money, so start paying it back. Pay yourself first. Before you pay anyone else. Do not feel guilty about doing this. Every day of your adult life up to now you have paid everyone except yourself. Now it is your turn! How much should you pay yourself?

Well, that depends, of course. It depends on many factors. Not least of which is how much you managed to save off your budget – make sure at least half of this goes to you. Some coaches suggest it should be a minimum of 10% of your gross earnings. But again I stress this depends on your own circumstances and budget. Just don’t allow it to be whittled down to almost nothing! Put it in savings and investments that you resolve not to touch except when investing in yourself. Create a Second Income

Whether you work for someone else or have your own business you should consider ways of creating a second income. You can then reserve most of this new income to invest in yourself (well, the profit on it - as there will always be expenses). One way you can do this is to set up an online marketing business. There are some major advantages of choosing this route rather than, for example, finding an additional part time job somewhere.

The first advantage is that you will be completely in control. You can invest as much or as little time as you like. As your business grows you may decide to give up your "day job" and spend all your working hours moving your internet business forward - but that is entirely up to you. There will be no boss looking over your shoulder telling you to speed things up or do things differently. Of course, you should also recognise this can be a disadvantage - you will need to have some good self-discipline to ensure you spend enough time doing the right things.

The second advantage is linked to the first. You do not have to work on specific days or at specific times. You can choose when to do this work. If you wake up in the middle of the night and cannot get back to sleep you can sit at the computer and do something to move your online business forward.

 The third advantage is that once you have set up your business properly it will begin to generate profits for you even if you do not put a lot of effort in to grow it. You will need to continue doing some work in order to maintain it, so I do not believe it is correct to call it "passive income", but it should certainly generate you high profits for not a great deal of work as long as you have built it correctly.

Be aware, though, that as with any other business an online marketing business will require you to invest time and effort. Do not be misled by claims you will often see that suggest this is a miracle "instant millionaire" formula. It is not! You can certainly become very wealthy if you choose to do so, but this will not happen over night. You will also probably find there will be a few false starts before you get your own formula right. Ideally you should take advice from an internet marketing coach who has been there and done that and who can stop you needing to re-invent the wheel yourself.

This will not be cheap, but it will save you making costly mistakes and ultimately ensure you reach your goal faster if you choose the right coach. Invest in Yourself Once you have started this habit of paying yourself first, and have perhaps additionally created your second income, start to invest with this money. Not in company shares. Not in bricks and mortar. You are going to invest in something far more valuable than that. You are going to invest in yourself!

Motivational video "Change your mind in just 2.50 mins" .

How to Create Your Own Luck

"Luck is simply the end result of consistent, persistent effort towards a meaningful goal."
~Tristan Loo

Almost all the people I've interviewed who considered themselves failures in life, blamed bad luck as being responsible for their life's failures. Surprisingly, when I interviewed the most successful people I know, they also related similar stories of misfortune, hardships and tragedy in their lives similar to those who considered themselves to be failures. The difference between the two types of people was that the highly successful people saw their misfortunes as crucial steps closer in the direction of their goals, while those "unlucky" people chose to blame their misfortunes and not take responsibility for their lives. This article will discuss the concept of luck and how to attract more luck into your life.

What is luck?
Princeton University Dictionary defines luck as being an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event, good or ill, to result in a person's life. I tend to disagree with this definition. I define luck as simply being the end result of consistent, persistent effort towards a meaningful goal.
A good example of this is in the 1995 movie Apollo 13. There is a point in the movie where things were going disastrously wrong for the crew of the spacecraft Apollo 13 and the NASA Director comments, "This could be the worst disaster that NASA's ever faced." NASA Flight Manager, Gene Kranz, played by Ed Harris overhears this comment and proudly retorts, "With all due respect, Sir, I believe that this is gonna be our finest hour." Both NASA command and the crew of Apollo 13 turned their "bad luck" into good luck with consistent, persistent effort towards a meaningful goal.

Case Studies of the Luckiest Unlucky People Alive
Arguably the luckiest person in the world, Evelyn Adams did the unimaginable. In 1985, she won the New Jersey state lottery for $2.4 million dollars. Then in the following year, she won the 1986 New Jersey lottery again for another 3 million dollars. Now ask any mathematician at the sheer statistical impossibility of this ever occurring. Adam's total winnings were $5.4 million dollars. With such luck like that, we would have thought that she'd be retired and traveling the world enjoying paradise, right? Wrong. Today, Adams is broke and living in a run-down trailer after having lost all of her money towards her gambling additions and to greedy friends and relatives.
Another lucky fellow is William "Bud" Post who won a whopping $16.2 million dollars in the 1988 Pennsylvania lottery. With that kind of money, he should have been stress-free for the rest of his life, but instead, Post is now broke and living off of a $450 dollar per month social security check and food stamps. After he became the lucky winner of the $16.2 million dollars, his former girlfriend successfully sued him, he got suckered into a bunch of bad business ventures with his siblings, and his brother hired a hit-man to murder him. In little more than a year's time, Post had lost everything and was one-million dollars in debt.
According to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, nearly one-third of all lottery winners become bankrupt. The reason why so many lucky lotto winners go bankrupt is that they really never developed the mindset to accept wealth into their lives. They never developed any real money consciousness--the internal ability to create and sustain wealth. They weren't comfortable enough to accept their wealth and so their subconscious mind forced them to go back to their comfort zone, which in their case was based not in abundance, but rather in scarcity.

The Successful Create Their Own Luck
Herein lies the main concept of this article: Highly successful people create their own luck, while unsuccessful people wish, hope, and pray that luck will find them.
The truth is that highly successful people experience more luck that those who fail because they work hard to put themselves in the right place at the right time, rather than hoping that their life will somehow cross paths with fortune. Those who fail in life might fall into the right place at the right time, but they won't recognize it when they do and they won't be able to repeat it afterwards. To the outside world, it might seem that successful people appear to have all the easy breaks in life, but in reality, they work incredibly hard to put themselves in the path of those breaks.

Keep Firing and You're Guaranteed to Hit the Bulls-Eye
Imagine you're holding a pistol and you're pointing it at a target 100 yards down range. Unless you're an expert marksman, there's only a small statistical probability that you're going to hit the bulls eye the first time. But if you keep firing and correcting your aim, the law of statistical probability dictates that eventually you must hit the bull's-eye. Creating luck in your life obeys the same law of statistical probability--if you keep performing actions that lead towards your goal, eventually you are going to reach that goal. So luck in life is guaranteed, you just have to be willing to try enough times.

Practical Tips for Attracting Luck Into Your Life
Through my years of consulting and coaching clients, I have distilled some secrets about creating luck and success in life. The ability to consistently attract luck into your life is a way of life--a pattern of thinking that you must adopt for yourself. Once you integrate these secrets into your life on a daily basis, then I guarantee that you will attract a greater amount of fortune and happiness into your life as well.

1. Identify your target and keep firing. Rarely does anyone hit a bulls-eye on their first try and those that do hit it usually can't repeat those results. But if identify your target and you put enough bullets down-range, then by the law of statistics, eventually you have to hit the bulls-eye. It's guaranteed, so keep firing.

2. Keep a luck diary. At the end of each day, spend a couple of minutes reflecting back on your day and write down all the positive things that happened to you during the course of the day, whether or not you created it yourself, or it happened by chance. Everyday, just keep adding to that list. In a couple of months, you will see exactly how lucky you really are. It's a powerful motivating tool that I highly recommend as part of your life journaling practices.

3. Be someone else's luck. Luck doesn't work if you only wish it upon yourself. Be willing to be someone else's luck. Be the person to lend a helping hand. Be someone's hero. When you become someone else's luck, then it allows that universal energy to circulate and it eventually returns back to you in abundance. If you block that circular flow of energy by being selfish, then you'll prevent good things from coming back to you. Give from the heart and you will attract luck into your life.

4. Be willing to take risks. Those that consider themselves to be unlucky are stuck in their comfortable little daily routines that they can't break free from. They fear change and they fear anything that is new or different. On the other hand, those people who are "lucky" seek out new things, challenges and opportunities. They are prepared to take risks and they are quick to recognize new opportunities when they come along.

5. Believe that you are lucky. The law of attraction states that you will attract into your life that which you focus on. If you're in a constantly negative state of mind where you believe that the only luck you get is bad luck, then you'll attract even more negative luck into your life. Conversely, if you are constantly in a positive state of mind and look at the bright side of every situation, then you'll attract good things into you life.

6. Develop and trust your intuition. Lucky people learn to listen to and trust their intuition also known as their "gut feeling." They go with what feels right inside. They also spend a great deal of time developing and focusing their intuition through journaling, art, and meditation.

7. Know what makes you happy. This is a simple, common sense point, but surprisingly many people out there really don't know what genuinely makes them happy in life. Some might think that money makes them happy, when in reality it's healthy relationships that make them happy. If you don't know what makes you happy in life, then you will never recognize good fortune in that area when it presents itself. Remember that 80% of luck is identifying it when it comes into your life.

8. Create flexible plans. Planning and setting goals attracts good luck into your life, but improper planning or no planning at all will inevitably result in bad luck sprouting in your life. You have to expect that things won't go smoothly in your efforts to pursue your dreams and it's your ability to create flexible plans that accounts for these variables that produces success.
© Copyright 2006 by Tristan Loo. All rights reserved.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/380192

How to Improve Everything in Five Minutes (or Less)

1.) Efficacy

If you don't know the word, get acquainted with it. More or less, it means that your understanding of the universe is that you carve your own fate. The world isn't happening to you (fatalism or determinism). You are crafting it however you see fit. When you find yourself complaining about how you aren't successful because of some outward variable, you aren't in a state of efficacy. And good luck, because luck is all you're counting on. Instead, when you start looking for ways that you personally can change the landscape, that's how you choose your destiny. And that destiny is whatever you want within your control. So take control.


2.) Visualization

I can't impress this upon people enough. There has never been or ever will there be a successful person who doesn't picture what they will accomplish. Get a handle on visualization exercises. The human mind is the most powerful thing on the planet. It is responsible for subjugating all animals under its dominion. It has built empires and moved mountains, literally. It understands the particle physics of the sun and can predict the cycles of the celestial bodies. It can reap terrible consequences both for good and for evil. If you aren't taking a minute or two on a regular basis to focus your thoughts on end goals, you aren't just lazy, you're broke and broken in spirit.

3.) Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously

Humility is great because it keeps you from getting out of control. But it also helps you realize that we're all just people tripping our way through life. You aren't better than anyone; and no one is better than you either. If you fail, it's okay. It really isn't the end of the world. You get another chance as long as you're on this side of the dirt. Do you really think everyone else has their lives together? All are prone to mistakes. Get used to it. Be OK with it. Attain a certain level of sublime freedom in screwing things up from time to time. At the end of the day, princes and paupers both lie down to sleep and get another chance upon waking.

4.) Work. Period.

Find a grindstone and put your nose to it. Don't burn yourself out all the time. BUT LEARN WHAT IT ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE TO BURN YOURSELF OUT. A lot of people think they've worked too hard before they've even begun to push it. And I would argue that you can't burn yourself out doing something you love while reaping all kinds of success and benefits from it. You are never going to learn what you're capable of by playing it safe, staying within your comfort zone, or simply making it through the day. Have an obsession, if only for a moment. Have passion. Lay it all on the line, just once. Be too much. Be over the top. Have some character. It's true that no one on his deathbed ever said, "I wish I would've spent more time at work." But no epitaph ever read, "I regret that Olympic Gold Medal," "I regret that Pulitzer Prize," or "I wish I would've never cured my digestive health, become pain free, lost 100 pounds, remedied my hypothyroidism, reversed my diabetes and attained all of my wellness goals."

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7504698

Motivational Mind-Set Shift

Here's a simple and effective 'shift' technique that helps add more motivation to your achieving your desired outcome.
 You can 'stack' this simple technique on top of any other goal-setting strategy. You can apply this simple technique to all goals in life - stopping smoking, losing weight, starting a business etc.

As most of us have found, it's often that first step to achieving our desired outcome or goal that's the hardest. Why? Fear. Fear of failure, embarrassment, ridicule, or just the unknown.

We are driven by two forces:
Fear - driving us away from failure or embarrassment (avoidance and procrastination)
Desire - driving us towards pleasure, success and achievement (inspiring)

If your fear of failure or embarrassment overpowers your desire to succeed, it will hold you back. If you allow this overpowering fear to prevail, you will remain static and achieve nothing.

So let's say you're having problems taking that first step - leaving that dead-end job, starting a small business venture to boost your income or clear your debts, start studying again, moving home - but your head is just full of doubt and apprehension. Sound familiar?

Well, now ask yourself the following questions:
If I do nothing, what does that look like for me in 5, 10, 20 years from now?
What if I'm stuck here forever?
How does that make me feel?

How does that make you feel? Probably quite a negative experience, right?
This is the consequence of you not taking action!

So there's going to be more pain and misery if you don't take action, than if you do! Now remember I said fear is a driver? You can't get rid of the fear, but would it not be better to turn it into fear of not achieving, instead?

By associating fear with consequence of inaction rather than possible consequence of action, we create a positive shift, turning that fear into a positive force that helps drive us towards what we do want, rather than away. It just requires a simple shift in focus.

This 'away-from-towards' strategy provides greater motivation than just fear or desire alone, it's like flicking a turbo switch that just propels you faster to achievement.

So next time you're experiencing doubts about taking that first step, just apply this simple mind-set shift, and notice how it changes the way you feel about taking that first step now.
Make sure your goals are clear, SMART and written down!
Remember, nothing is ever going to change unless you do something, so do something!

'Imperfect action is better than perfect in-action' (Harry S. Truman)

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7491575

What is Love?

Poets and authors have tried to define love for centuries, whereas scientists have only recently started. Many of us know intuitively that love is a major purpose for living; that connection is inherent in all that we do, and without love, we cannot survive as a species.
But what is love, and how do we know when we're in it? First, let's start off with what love isn't.
What Is Love?

 It Definitely Isn't...

•Manipulation. "If you loved me, then you would..." isn't love, but rather infatuation.

•Compromising who you are. If someone asks you to do or say something that isn't in your nature, that isn't true love. Although love does involve compromises between partners, someone who is in love with you will never ask you to change who you are in order to be loved.

•Violent. Passions can definitely become inflamed with someone you love, but a relationship with physical or emotional violence isn't true love.

•Just lust. Yes, chemistry and physical attraction are important, but true love also includes commitment, trust and respect.

So then, what exactly is love?

True Love Is...

•True Love is Caring. The ancient Greeks had many different names for different forms of love: passion, virtuous, affection for the family, desire, and general affection. But no matter how love is defined, they all hold a common trait: caring.

•True Love is Attractive. Attraction and chemistry form the bond that allows people to mate. Without this romantic desire for another individual, a relationship is nothing more than lust or infatuation.

•True Love is Attached. Like the mother-child bond, attachment comes after the initial attraction. Attachment is the long term love that appears anywhere from one to three years into a romantic relationship (sometimes sooner and very rarely after), and you'll know you've found it when you can honestly say, "I've seen the worst and the best you have to offer, and I still love you," while your partner feels the same way.

•True Love is Commited. When it comes to true love, commitment is more than just monogamy. Its the knowledge that your partner cares for you and has your back, no matter what the circumstances. People who are strongly commited to one another will, when faced with seemingly negative information about their partner, see only the positive. For example, a friend comments that your partner doesn't say a lot. "Ah yes, he's the strong, silent type," you reply. People with less commitment to their partner would instead say something like, "Yeah, I can never have conversation with him. Its annoying."

•True Love is Intimate. Intimacy is a crucial component of all relationships, regardless of their nature. In order to know another, you need to share parts of yourself. This self-revealing behavior, when reciprocated, forms an emotional bond. Over time this bond strengthens and even evolves, so that two people merge closer and closer together. Intimacy by itself if is a great friendship, but compiled with the other things in this list, it forms an equation for true love.
By Bonny Albo

Origin of Valentines's Day

People have been in love from time immemorial. It would be unjust to ascribe any particular history and origin to love and the feelings that come with it. But Valentine's Day, the day which celebrates love worldwide, sure has a history and origin of its own.

 February is historically chosen to be the month of love and romance and the month to celebrate Valentine's Day. Can you possibly overlook the deluge of love-drenched feelings, the slushy outbreak of 'being in love' and the pervasion of the color red all around when the calendar turns to the month of February? No. None of us can! For, the one thing that's inextricably linked to the month of February is Valentine's Day--the most coveted celebration after Christmas and a day kept aside to let love rule everywhere.

 Come what may, the hype and hoopla surrounding Valentine's Day never goes unnoticed, no matter which part of the world you are placed in! And Valentine's Day incidentally is the 2nd largest card-sending occasion, after Christmas.

Valentine's Day has shadows of both the Christian and Roman traditions. Celebrated famously on February 14 every year, some believe that Valentine's Day has its history and origin in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. The latter was an annual feasting and celebration by the Romans to keep fearful wolves at bay from damaging their crops. Lupercalia was celebrated on February 15 with the young men striking the women because it was believed that these blows would make them more fertile.

 This association of Lupercalia with fertility is probably one reason why Valentine's Day is linked to this ancient Roman festival. Also, on the eve of Lupercalia, which is on February 14, it was quite popular for young women to find their partners for the festival. The romantic origin of Valentine's Day can even be traced to this practice.

No matter what the history and origin of Valentine's Day includes, it sure includes this patron saint named St. Valentine. Now history even has it that there has been more than one legend related to St. Valentine. Summing two legends, we now know that there were two saints (of the same name Valentine) belonging to the early Christian church. One legend holds that when the Roman Emperor Claudius II forbade young men to marry to make better soldiers out of single men, a priest named Valentine defied the orders and secretly married young couples. Consequently he was beheaded on February 14 for his 'crime'. Some even hold that Valentine was killed for trying to help Christians escape the atrocities prevailing in the Roman prisons.

But whatever the facts, ever since, February 14 came to be celebrated as Valentine's Day commemorating this great patron of people in love worldwide. The other story talks of another Valentine who was a children's favorite but was despised by the Romans for his religious defiance. The Romans had him behind the bars but the children still managed to send fond messages to their favorite Valentine. The current custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day might have roots to this age-old tale.

Yet another legend holds that when Valentine was in prison, he fell in love with the prison guard's daughter. And history states that before his death, he wrote a letter to his beloved signing off as 'From your Valentine'. It's not known to which extent these Valentine's Day legends related to its origin are true, but this expression 'From your Valentine' sure caught hold like wildfire. And people still send gifts and cards on Valentine's Day with this tag hanging from them--'From your Valentine'! So you keep the tradition going too.
Probably, the Americans began exchanging handmade Valentine's Day cards in the early years of the eighteenth century. And around 1840, a person called Esther A. Howland began selling the first big production of Valentine's Day greetings in America.

Now, apart from all the facts and figures of Valentine's Day history and origin, one thing that's for sure is the choice of February as the month for celebrating love. In ancient Rome, February was the official kick-off month for the season of spring and was a time to feel happy all over again. Then in the Middle Ages, it was quite a popular belief in France and England that February was the birds' mating season. All these and many more taken together contributed to the consolidation of mid-February as the time for Valentines.
Finally, around 498 AD, Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 as St. Valentine's Day!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/400704

Learning To Love Yourself

Making the decision to love yourself is a tough but important one to make. It is only at the point that somebody chooses to love herself that she can move forward happily with her life.

One of the first steps on the way to self-love is to think about all the things that make a person great. People can nurture themselves by thinking of things they enjoy about themselves. They should also understand how important it is to become their own best friend and to genuinely enjoy their own company. Making mistakes is an important part of self-acceptance.

On the journey to finding self-love, every little step counts. Staying motivated can help somebody by allowing her to acknowledge even her smallest accomplishments. These small accomplishments add up, and soon there is undeniable progress and effort. It is hard to build up this sense of self-trust, but it is vital.
Learning to love yourself also requires one to stop worrying about the past and forgive any minor blips that have already occurred. Forgiveness and letting bygones be bygones are important factors involved in self-acceptance. There is no use crying about things that nobody can go back in time to change. Working toward a brighter future is the key. If somebody focuses her efforts on making do with what is actually possible, relaxation and love are easier to come by.

Learning to share gratitude and kindness with others helps to create love in two ways. Not only will others learn to love the person who initially shared with them, but the sharer will also feel better about it. Participating in random acts of kindness is also a big confidence booster, as it helps to build a strong sense of value for oneself.

Taking care of the body is essential to living a long, happy and healthy life. It is more important for somebody to look the way she wants to look than to adhere to another person's standard of beauty. Health is not as objective as many people like to think, so it is a good idea to consider making doctor, dentist and psychologist appointments if it is necessary.

Mental health is just as important as physical health when it comes to finding self-love. While seeing a counselor or therapist is the best way to seek professional guidance, it is also a good idea to begin journaling. Keeping a daily log of thoughts and activities is a great way to build insight and keep track of memories for years to come.

If one is able to see beauty where others do not, or to acknowledge that every single thing has some beauty to it, she is one step closer to finding self-love. Becoming happy with what one can actually receive and not worrying about material possessions is essential to finding a sense of happiness and self-worth.

The road to loving yourself is not as difficult as it may seem. Those who take action by being selfless, insightful and self-aware are more likely to achieve their goals than those who stay oblivious. Understanding the road to self-love and self-respect are the key components on this journey.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7482858

An Old Blind Man

An old blind man was sitting on a busy street corner in the rush-hour begging for money. On a cardboard sign, next to an empty tin cup, he had written: 'Blind - Please help'.

No-one was giving him any money.

A young advertising writer walked past and saw the blind man with his sign and empty cup, and also saw the many people passing by completely unmoved, let alone stopping to give money.

The advertising writer took a thick marker-pen from her pocket, turned the cardboard sheet back-to-front, and re-wrote the sign, then went on her way.

Immediately, people began putting money into the tin cup.

After a while, when the cup was overflowing, the blind man asked a stranger to tell him what the sign now said.

"It says," said the stranger, " 'It's a beautiful day. You can see it. I cannot.' "

Treat Money Well To Attract More

Your ability to attract money has a lot to do with how you behave toward it.

The Law of Attraction works to send you more of what you think, feel and do. So the way you deal with money has a direct relation to how easily and abundantly it comes to you.
Imagine that money is a guest in your home and ask yourself: Would I treat a guest the way I treat money? Here are three ways we can show hospitality to guests - and money.

First, welcome your guests. Truly appreciate, from your heart, each visit and every visitor. A friend of mine welcomes money to his home by displaying each check he receives on a coffee table in his living room. He spends a few days appreciating his "guest" before depositing it into his bank account.

Since I receive most of my income electronically, I keep a spreadsheet of every transaction that comes my way. I love watching the total grow and I appreciate each person through whom the money came to me.

Second, remember that guests like to go places and do things and buy stuff. Money loves to go to restaurants, amusements and specialty shops. But money doesn't discriminate between pleasurable and "have to" activities. It also enjoys visits to the power corporation, the phone company and the firm that holds your mortgage. Money simply loves to be in circulation. It looks for people who understand that the more money you circulate, the more money you attract to circulate.

Third, a guest who has been treated well will tell others and soon you'll have MORE guests. Money that is enjoyed, spent, circulated or given will attract MORE money. Actually, it's your attitude of enjoyment, pleasure, excitement or delight with money that attracts MORE money to you.

There are so many ways that you can make money feel like a treasured guest. Start by appreciating ALL the money that comes to you. If you find a penny or a dime, pick it up and celebrate how easy it is for money to find you! Spend time valuing every refund or coupon that you receive.

Do something special with your paycheck or other forms of income. Record in a journal or notebook all the unusual ways you attract money. Notice how easily it comes to you when you are happy, joyous and open-handed about money.

Perhaps you're thinking, "I could treat money well if I had a lot of money." The truth is, you have to treat money well in order to have an abundance of it.
Do you have a secret dream, desire or hope?


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/16551

The Way to a Longer and Healthier Life

We all want to get fit and feel that we are enjoying a fulfilling life. However we are not all starting out from the same point. This will mean that it may take longer for some of us to reach that level of health with which we are satisfied.

Where ever your starting point is we all know that we need the right amount of nutrition and exercise for our lifestyle. The distance between your starting point and your goal fitness is measureable. The simplest, and in many cases the most significant, is the ratio between your body mass and your fat mass. Often referred to as your BMI, or Body Mass Index.

Just enter your height and weight into any of the free BMI tables on the internet and you can readily see if you need to lose weight.
Next, check your cholesterol level and you blood pressure. With these three results, exclusive to you, you can see the size (sic) of the problem.

Like most of us you may have noticed that every year, it becomes even more difficult to eat whatever you want and still stay slim.You may also have learnt that your Basal Metabolic Rate decreases as you get older. Depriving yourself of food in the hope of losing weight also decreases your BMR, foiling your best intentions. However, a regular routine of cardiovascular exercise can increase your BMR, improving your health and fitness when your body's ability to burn energy gradually slows down.
Having ascertained the goal that you wish to reach, if you are serious about a long and healthy life, you can now take action.

All three of these areas can be improved by changing your dietary habits and daily exercise regime.
Your diet will now have to exclude convenience foods. Many of these, when combined with an indolent lifestyle, will increase the amount of free radicals in the body. Free radicals can be very harmful and are especially linked to a reduction in longevity.

Decreasing the free radicals in your system is accomplished by the intake of antioxidants. Whilst antioxidants are of great value, those taken as supplements can be counter-productive. In the event that you take too many supplements, particularly those high in vitamins A and E, the surplus is unused and is stored in the liver. This initially causes the liver functions to become impaired and in severe cases can cause harm. Some antioxidant supplements are claimed to become carcinogenic in the body.

Antioxidants are best taken in the form of fresh fruit and vegetables. They will need to be included in your daily diet. Include as wide a variety as possible but not tinned or cooked. Cooking vegetables or fruit not only spoils the taste; it destroys all most all the health giving properties.

Just by simply increasing your raw fruit and vegetable intake whilst reducing your reliance on convenience foods will dramatically reduce your cholesterol level.

You may find that for the first few weeks of changing your exercise and dietary habits that you feel tired. Don't worry about this as you will be sleeping more deeply and in a few days you will awake feeling more invigorated than you have for years.
If we have dealt, at least in part, with diet, nutrition and vitamin supplements, we must turn our attention to exercise.

There is no need to groan at this point, I am not going to force you into life-long gym membership or turn you into a galley slave. The point about exercise in this case is its purpose to help in improving or attaining a good BMI, cholesterol level and blood pressure.

It is most likely that you need more exercise or, in many cases, some exercise.
Whilst it is true that some is better than none, never the less we don't want to embark on an exercise routine that can cause harm.

Start slowly, build gradually.

The most useful piece of equipment that I have come across for general health improvement is the elliptical machine. It does more than the old treadmill in that it also allows you to work your upper body.
The primary reason for my recommending an elliptical machine is that it gives a low impact level. If you are to start physical activity after any period of inactivity we shall need to be gentle. It is a safe assumption that you are overweight and to subject your joints to doing anything more that carrying you from the dining table to the sofa must be done gradually.

In addition to being more up to date than the old treadmills the elliptical trainers now include a LED or LCD display. This gives instant feedback and monitoring of your progress. There are usually recommendations of workout programs that you can follow.

There are many makes and models available and I would suggest that you take your time and try them out at your local store or stores. Do be sure that you select a model that has those heart or pulse rate monitors, always useful when starting out. Your initial enthusiasm may outweigh your early abilities.
Talking of your local stores, there is an important consideration when buying any type of gym equipment. Since safety is of prime importance with these pieces of equipment they will of necessity be robust and substantial. Therefore they will usually be of considerable size and weight.

Once having selected the make and model of your choice you may search the internet for a supplier. Before you dismiss your local store do take into consideration the delivery cost. Your local store will frequently deliver free which may make him a better purchase than what at first appears an internet bargain.
Once you find your general level of health and fitness being restored you may wish to move on to a higher level of health.
Whether this includes weight training or any of the other activities than can be considered extreme I would urge that you only undertake them with some professional guidance.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7490000

For All Those That Work

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: 'Daddy, may I ask you a question?'

DAD: 'Yea...h sure, what it is?' replied the man.

SON: 'Daddy, how much do you make an hour?'

DAD: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the man said angrily.

SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'

DAD: 'If you must know, I make $50 an hour.'

SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: 'May I please borrow $25?'

The father was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.'
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

'Are you asleep, son?' He asked.

'No daddy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.

'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the man. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for.'

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you daddy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man saw that the boy already had money and started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the father grumbled.

'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.

'Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.'

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.
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It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours... But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.