Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health

Celebrating 10 years of helping hundreds of thousands of women achieve pregnancy, avoid pregnancy naturally, and gain better control of their health and lives, the 10th Anniversary Edition of the classic bestseller will include:

•New 'Preface to the 10th Anniversary Edition"

•Updates on new fertility technologies

•Natural approaches to conception

•Updated Resources and Books

For any woman unhappy with her current method of birth control; demoralized by her quest to have a baby; or experiencing confusing symptoms in her cycle, this book provides answers to all these questions, plus amazing insights into a woman's body. Weschler thoroughly explains the empowering Fertility Awareness Method, which in only a couple minutes a day allows a woman to:

•Enjoy highly effective, scientifically proven birth control without chemicals or devices

•Maximize her chances of conception or expedite fertility treatment by identifying impediments to conception

•Increase the likelihood of choosing the gender of her baby

•Gain control of her sexual and gynecological health

Price: $24.99

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Teaching As Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher's Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap

A road map for teachers who strive to be highly effective leaders in our nation's classrooms

Teach For America has fought the daunting battle of educational equity for the last twenty years. Based on evidence from classrooms across the country, they've discovered much about effective teaching practice, and distilled these findings into the six principles presented in this book. The Teaching As Leadership framework inspires teachers to: Set Big Goals; Invest Students and Their Families; Plan Purposefully; Execute Effectively; Continuously Increase Effectiveness; Work Relentlessly. The results are better educational outcomes for our nation's children, particularly those who live in low-income communities.

• Inspires educators to be leaders in their classrooms and schools
• Demystifies what it means to be an effective teacher, describes key elements of practice and provides a clear vision of success
• Addresses the challenges every teacher, in every classroom, faces on a daily basis

An accompanying website includes a wealth of tools, videos, sample lessons, discussion boards, and case studies.

Price: $22.95

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The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing It Is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time

When it comes to race in America, we must face one uncomfortable but undeniable fact. Almost 50 years after the birth of the civil rights movement, inequality still reigns supreme in our classrooms. At a time when African-American students trail their white peers on academic tests and experience high dropout rates, low college completion rates, and a tendency to shy away from majors in hard sciences and mathematics, the Black-White achievement gap in our schools has become the major barrier to racial equality and social justice in America. In fact, it is arguably the greatest civil rights issue of our time.

The Black-White Achievement Gap is a call to action for this country to face up to and confront this crisis head on. Renowned former Secretary of Education Rod Paige believes we can close this gap. In this thought-provoking book, he and Elaine Witty trace the history of the achievement gap, discuss its relevance to racial equality and social justice, examine popular explanations, and offer suggestions for the type of committed leadership and community involvement needed to close it. African-American leaders need to rally around this important cause if we are to make real progress since students’ academic performance is a function not only of school quality, but of home and community factors as well. The Black-White Achievement Gap is an unflinching and long overdue look at  the very real problem of racial disparity in our schools and what we must do to solve it.

Price: $22.00

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The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms

“Engrossing” (The Christian Science Monitor), “fascinating” (TimeOut New York), “delightfully nuanced” (Entertainment Weekly), “terrific” (New York Newsday), “inspiring” (Bust magazine). “You know a book is good when you actually welcome one of those howling days of wind and sleet that makes going out next to impossible” (The New York Times).

The Earth Moved has moved reviewers across the country. In witty, offbeat style, Amy Stewart takes us on a subterranean adventure and introduces us to our planet’s most important gatekeeper: the humble earthworm. It’s true that the earthworm is small, spineless, and blind, but its effect on the ecosystem is profound,moving Charles Darwin to devote his last years to studying its remarkable attributes and achievements.

With the august scientist as her inspiration, Stewart investigates the earthworm’s astonishing realm, talks to oligochaetologists who have devoted their lives to unearthing the complex web of life beneath our feet, and observes the thousands of worms in her own garden. Stewart’s “ease in gliding from worms to plants to humans will remind readers of John McPhee’s essays on canoes, oranges, the geology of America” (Providence Journal). “Stewart’s book paddles along in [Rachel] Carson’s wake. Read her book and you’ll start to see how the rhododendron bed in front of your house is a kind of Mars for frontier science” (The Boston Globe).

Price: $12.95

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On The Roots of Chance, Isn't it Time to Dance?

They say if you don't know where you're going, that any road will take you there. And leaving things up for chance, may not lead you in the right direction, or maybe you will get lucky. But the best way to get lucky is to be prepared to accept opportunities as they come forth, and they surely will. After all, life is a series of choices, and if you make all the right moves, you may get further faster than anyone else, or you might make a decision that appears to be the correct one, but would have been better off leaving it up to chance, and braving the future while doing a dance.

Occasionally, it makes sense to just play it by ear, and not make any plans at all. Chance can be a wonderful thing, going with the flow and not worrying about where it's taking you. To do this you must trust yourself, and know that you will figure it out as you go, and you must be unafraid and unabashed, and although it isn't for everyone, those who often throw caution to the wind, and are willing to figure it out as they go, fall into some great opportunities. I know I have.

Living a structured life is one choice, choosing to dance is quite another. Perhaps a combination of the two is right for you, but I would submit that if one lives a life by others terms, in a structured environment, one which is preplanned, and predestined, it can't be all that fun. Being willing to adjust your schedule, or figuring it out as you go well, there is a lot to be said for that. Perhaps you want to start a business and you have an entrepreneurial personality?

Perhaps you are a creative type involved in improv, maybe you are an artist, musician, and maybe you just like to innovate, to be different, or go against the grain once in a while. Life is to be lived, and if you live a life being told what to do, and you are careful only to do the politically correct, the appropriate thing each and every time, in the end you may have lived a decent life, but you will never know what you missed. And by the time you figure out what I just said, your life might be over, or coming to a close. Indeed, I also hope you choose to dance, and thanks for listening, my name is Lance.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 23,300 articles by May 23, 2011 is difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off.

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One Easy Way to Be Successful in Life

If you want to successful in life, your attitude is one of the most important aspects. If you have a bad or negative attitude, you most likely will not succeed, however, if your attitude is good and positive, you most likely will have a successful life. Your positive attitude will make you want to work toward success.

Even if you already have a good attitude toward life, there are always benefits to learning more about maintaining that attitude and using it to get you through rough times.

Below are some helpful tips that might help improve and maintain that positive attitude you need for success:
Make a list of what you want to achieve. If you make a list, chances are you will feel obligated to yourself to work hard to make those dreams a reality. Check to see you are doing the things on your list that are helping you achieve the goals you've set.
If you aren't on the right track, make the changes necessary to get back on track. A slight adjustment might be just what you need to help you realize where it is you wanted to go in the first place.
Discover what inspires you. If you follow whatever it is that inspires you, you will be a happier individual which will motivate you to succeed. Do whatever it is necessary to find your inspiration.
Make sure your friends are positive thinkers. You don't want to be around people who are always thinking the worst or who don't inspire you to be the best you can possibly be. They will just bring you down and make you begin to doubt yourself. Be positive and be around those who are positive with you. Those people can't always be avoided, but do what you can to let what they say go in one ear and out the other.
Take some risks. Make your list and just jump right into life and see what happens. Some things might not work out just right, and other things might be awesome. You won't know until you try and that involves taking a risk every now and then.
Regain your focus. Sometimes your focus can be a little off track with things are unavoidable. When this happens move back to your list and start over again if you have to. You have your positive attitude to push you through and things will fall back into place.
Mistakes are acceptable. Everyone makes mistakes. It is a reality of life; it's how you handle those mistakes that make you stand out from the crowd. So what, something didn't quite turn out the way you expected. Learn from that mistake and move on. Do it differently next time for different results.

If you practice some of the tips above, your positive thoughts and attitude will bring you through the worst of things. You will be successful in life!

For extra tips visit my site http://www.mywaystosuccess.com/ or download your free report - 6 Top Tips For Self Improvement

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Only One Thing Can Prevent Your Success!

Only One Thing can Prevent your Success - and that one thing is FEAR!

In most cases we have no idea that fear is affecting us, but it does, and it does so incessantly through our inherited insecurities and patterns of doubt.

We all walk around with fear. It is within us, but it follows us always like a shadow.

Our own success is also within us, and this ultimate success is a blueprint, a plan or package, and we will never see what's inside that package because it comes with a deceptive cover - this cover is fear.

Admittedly, for some fear presents itself as a horrifying monster, but for most of us it shows itself like an old friend - an old, worn and well-used blanket that we are comfortable with.

However, instead of looking under that blanket to see what it conceals, we wrap ourselves in it with our hopes, and its promises, that it will keep us warm.

Fear makes us averse to what we think of as risky, and risk tells us that if we dare to try something new, we could lose the little we already have - and so, we play it safe, and we never truly Go For the GOLD!!!

Fear is the killer of minds. It prevents our free-thinking, and our freedom itself. It imprisons us without bars. It tells us that we are free, and safe from danger. Fear prevents us from being BOLD, but allows us to admire those that are. We admire those who have seized their lives and succeeded in making their dreams come true. We worship those who go beyond their fears, but don't allow ourselves to do the same.

You can easily tell when fear is having its way with you. Your emotions will guide you in this with their various responses to fear such as discomfort, depression, sadness, anger etc. The solution to fear is really quite simple, and it becomes easy with practice. Change your feelings to something that feels less uncomfortable by changing your thoughts or activities. Once your feelings change you fear dissipates. Then, you can move on towards what really provides contentment in your life, and that is the pursuit of your dreams!

Fear affects us deeply, but we don't know what it really is. Forget this thing you don't understand - recognize it as being irrelevant and go beyond. Go deeply into your dreams and pull them out of yourself to attract all things you desire to you. Paint your life with your dreams and know them to be attainable - and REAL!

Gregory Evans, Global Information Network Member and Mentor invites you to join GIN as a free affiliate - information can be found at http://natural-abundance.weebly.com/affiliate-benefits.html. Further information can be found on GIN's official website at http://www.globalinformationnetwork.com/. Be sure to use invitation code NATABUNDANCE to sign up.

Article copyright 2011 - all rights reserved

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Persistence Is Key

Whether it is your chosen sport, online tutoring or raising children, I believe you must have persistence to achieve results. Without persistent effort success will be absent.

The above statement is the result of a small yet thought-provoking event that occurred in my life last weekend and the motivation for this article. My wife, Jacqui, and I are expecting our first child and over the last couple of months (we're in the third trimester) we have conversed considerably about how our parenting style will be, our morals and mostly how we believe events will unfold in our household (It's all about getting on the same page). Up until last weekend I would have been more than happy to let others know what I felt about how to parent in different areas (not thinking I know it all), however one of Jacqui's friends has changed this for me and reinforced the idea of persistence as an extremely obvious choice in the production of results.

The conversation over some fish and chips by the beach turned to Jacqui's friends' 2 year old daughter and her potty training. Now I can appreciate how difficult it must be to teach a young child to use the potty for the first time, although I didn't feel the reaction was warranted when Jacqui told her friend what plan of action we had discussed to use for our child. It was like one of those hold in the laughter, how naïve, what could you possibly know about it reactions. Not being one to back down Jacqui simply mentioned that we have other friends you have had great success potty training in the particular method suggested.

As a couple we are not one to judge other parents on their methods however it seemed obvious to us at the time that the couple with the results acted with persistence from an early age, where as the friends having trouble seemed more reactive to circumstances. Basically the potty success came down to putting the child on the potty after each toilet from an early age. That way the child got accustom to sitting on the potty and started to make an association between the potty and going to the toilet.

Reflecting on the conversation has leaded me to realize that any area of my life that I enjoy success in has been the result of consistent effort of a pre determined plan/idea. I have taught for 10 years and am involved in online tutoring, and if there is one area where students who achieve success and those that don't differ, it's persistence. A sunny weekend, some snapper and chips and parenting conversations leaded me here but persistence will take me anywhere.

Chris is school teacher who was looking for another way to help students achieve their desires at school. He found that most students were struggling at times to complete study and homework at home without help. Therefore his online math tutoring was born in order to provide an environment where students and parents can experience success through learning.

http://www.skoolm8.com/

http://www.skoolm8.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=40

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Pitchmanship: Applying Marketing Nichemanship to Job Hunting

Niche marketing is a bona fide and well-tested approach to strategic selling. Some firms have had stellar success building their business around their pursuit of specialized niches. They say it pays to know your niche as well as your name.

Pitchmanship is a term I use to describe how to apply niche marketing principles to pitching yourself in a job search. There are some perilous myths surrounding niche marketing. Similarly, there are dangerous assumptions you steer clear of when you pitch yourself and your credentials for a job.

Myth one: A pitch has to be chic. Don't assume that organizations are always on the prowl for cutting-edge talent. Some companies posture themselves so low-key that they expect their people to have state-of-the-art skills, but the culture demands they present themselves with "Aw, shucks!' understatement. Study the organization and the style of the CEO in speeches and articles. It may be impractical to tailor your resume for each and every company you pursue, but your cover letter should reflect some understanding of what the organization is about.

I call this the turtle Wax Lesson because of how this old car-care staple is marketed. Turtle Wax has held a dependable-and sizable-share of the car-wax market for decades. This task is synonymous with something people hat to do. They do it with a product that has a reputations for being harder to apply than others, by exploiting a niche out there of people who literally "love" their cars. What better way to show dedication to your set of wheels than by lavishing care and devotion on the object of one's affections? Working hard to get a shine that shines through. Romantic stuff, huh?

Turtle Wax-style employers don't like people with instant, easy solutions. They cherish people who love to apply elbow grease in liberal quantities. And they tend to be skeptical of people who are finished products-people whom they can't change or polish in their own style.

Myth two: A pitch has to be flashy. There are a lot of companies that are going back to basics. That mantra has become one of the hottest marketing mantras in the present downturn. This doesn't mean accountants are now being recruited for their skills with an abacus or their ability to chisel Roman numerals onto a slate. In a back-to-basics organization, hard-nosed skeptics are generally rewarded. They find a way to make do with what the organization has. The back-to-basics types often overlap with the Turtle Wax sorts, but not always. Some back-to-basics advocates have no interest at all in working harder. They just don't want things to cost more.

Myth three: A pitch shouldn't be too narrow in its demands. Don't assume that because your niche is larger, it's better. In marketing, wouldn't you rather be fighting for half of a 28 percent segment than one-seventh of a 44 percent one?

You may have lost your job as IT director for a mature $200-million company. An offer comes along for a position with the same title at a $100-million company with high growth prospects at half the salary. Many companies, as I point out elsewhere, are skeptical about people willing to take large salary cuts. However, if you really want the job, you can make a convincing case that you're committed to signing up with a shooting star. After all, doesn't the fact you're on the pavement say it all about the risks of being attached to a butchered cash cow?  

Myth four: A pitch has to be neat. Although most searches are much more sharply defined these days, not all of them have the sharpness of a surgeon's scalpel. On the retail sales front, there are liquor stores in the toniest sections on Manhattan, Chicago's Gold Coast, and Beverly Hills that do as much volume in Chateau Ripple, vintage Wednesday, as Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, vintage 1895.

Again, research is king. Some companies are wildly inconsistent in the way they are willing to spend money. The corporate offices could be lavish, but everyone may be expected to travel coach and lunchtime dining could mean a trip to the fast-food court. Learn the profile and so your best to squeeze yourself into the company suit.

Mackay's Moral: You'll never please everyone, but you only have to please a few people to get an offer.

For more job search and job hunting tips click here.

If you or someone you know is looking for more information on how to find a job, how to get an interview, and how to get hired click here.

Harvey Mackay is the author of five New York Times bestsellers (three of which went to #1), including Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. The NEw York Times also named Swim With The Sharks and Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt as two of the fifteen most inspirational business books of all time. His books have sold more than ten million copies worldwide and have been translated into thirty-seven languages and distributed in eighty countries. Mackay is also a nationally syndicated columnist for United Features Syndicate and one of America's most popular and entertaining business speakers. He's been named one of the top five speakers in the world by Toastmasters International.

Mackay is chairman of MackayMitchell Envelope Company, a $100 million company he founded at age twenty-six. He has been married to his wife, Carol Ann, for fifty years. They have three children and nine grandchildren.

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Positive Action

Is your Life starting to get old? Like you are following a repetitive pattern which hardly seems to change! You may find that your only escapes are to go out with your friends, have some drinks, or end up in front of the t.v. All the while you feel as though you are missing something, something of importance, something that is truly exciting and ignites your inner passions. You may feel as though you are capable of much greater, but seem stuck when it comes to formulating a plan. Are you ready to change, but just need some simple guidance to help you get motivated and excited about your passions? If so, then this article is DEFINITELY for YOU.

In my experience, a majority of people have a vast amount of potential bottled up within themselves, yet seem unable to take the proper action to capitalize. When it comes to the word Success, you could say that it is the most sought after in the dictionary, along with Love and Happiness. As you can probably guess, most, if not all of us want to become successes in life. When we look at ourselves, or are talking with others, oftentimes we give the portrayal that we have an endless amount of talents and abilities, and we are simply waiting for that big break or opportunity that is long over due.

In this article, I am going to talk about how you can start turning your inner desires, as well as promises to others, into Action. If you were to take a close look at Success, and find the common denominator for all those who have Succeeded, you would most Certainly find that Action would be the single greatest part of nearly every Success since the Beginning of Time! For every Great idea known to man, a form of Action had to follow. Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford and Bill Gates are just a few examples of people who took Action. Had they not taken action, they would have just been another name, a name who could have been known, but because of their lack of Action, never made that tremendous breakthrough, and never reached their true potential.

Each and Every one of us has Tremendous Potential Within. This is why we are here! Now is our time for Action!

The first, and most important thing to creating success for yourself, will be to write out a PLAN on paper. We are 5 times more likely to accomplish a goal when it has been written out on paper, so this is where you must begin. Then, as you begin writing this plan out, do so in a way that seems achievable. Create a series of small goals that you can easily accomplish, leading up slowly to your big picture, therefore allowing yourself to build confidence and a sense of accomplishment. If you were to create difficult goals in the beginning, goals that were full of anticipation as well as excitement, you would quickly burn yourself out from frustration. The greatest things in life are so because they were built. You are no different. To achieve greatness, you must first build, so look at each of your beginning goals as if they were the foundation of your new home. Without a solid foundation, your entire masterpiece will certainly crumble.

Once you have put together the Foundation of your success, you will then need to associate deadlines with each of your specific goals. Without specific deadlines, we are much more likely to put things off. Think of each deadline you create as a "promise" to yourself, something that you know you can achieve and follow through with. Our amount of action will be the determining factor between success and failure, so we must always approach each goal and deadline with complete concentration.

As this is just an overview to the world of success, it can however, be a tremendous starting point for anyone and everyone willing to take their first step. Listen to your inner passion. Ask yourself if you are ready? Decide, here and now, if you are willing to stand up for your future and create your very dreams. For you to even be reading this article shows that you understand what I am talking about. Now it is up to you! Best Of Luck!

Christian Bryant is a Powerful and Effective Motivational speaker and author. With a great deal of his teaching as a direct result of his own life experience, his main goal is to write about empowering topics in a way that can be easily understood by everyone. You can find a lot more on his website, including videos, articles and proven formulas at http://www.dream-to-believe.com/

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Power in Groups - Mastermind Your Way to Success

On the journey of life and following a path of success, there is ultimately nothing more powerful than working with the power of a group that understands where you want to be in life and helps you move in a direction that propels you forward. These success groups also known as Mastermind groups were really made famous by the life changing book: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

But the truth is that the power of the Mastermind group has been around for millennia. Think about Jesus and his 12 disciples. So what is it that makes being part of a Mastermind group so powerful and what I believe to be the ultimate fast forward to success and reaching massive goals.

To first understand why working in a mastermind group is so powerful we need to first realise that we are all already members of groups whether that be social, work, family, religious etc etc. So if we already have groups that we interact with on a continues basis- WHY be in a mastermind.

One simple reason and a very important success principle, which is:

If you want to be successful, surround yourself with like minded people.

Now this is by no means a knock on your existing groups, but ask yourself this. Are the people you surrounding yourself and spending time with always: Building you up, encouraging you to follow your dreams and holding you accountable to reach the goals you have set. Do they even have the same vision of success and doing what it takes to get it.

We are social beings and take on the behaviours and values of those we most associate ourselves with. These behaviours acted on in a continues manner ultimately become our own habits and conformity to the group is established. The pressures of conformity effect all of us and the impact can be less than desirable depending on your existing groups that you continuously interact with.

The Power of A Mastermind Group

Having a Mastermind group that has a like minded vision will allow you to unleash your creative thought patterns in an environment that has a common goal. It gives you the ability to share and interact with other people that will be accepting of your ideas and then give positive feedback of how to implement them or if need be give positive criticism that will guide you to an improved direction.

We all know that it is only when we are pushed to our limits that massive change takes place, and being part of a mastermind takes you out of old comfort zones. Being part of a mastermind pushes you to expand and go beyond your old limits.

Your mastermind group holds you accountable and helps you keep focused on your goals. Doing anything in life can be a task some of the time, especially if there is no one checking in and helping you along the road. Having a group of people that are expecting results from you does an amazing thing and knowing that these people actually care about your results only propels you take action.

As Napoleon Hill said:

"Analyze the record of any man who has accumulated a great fortune, and many of those who have accumulated modest fortunes, and you will find that they have either consciously, or unconsciously employed the 'Master Mind' principle."

So start masterminding with people that share your vision. This can start with just one person that you can reach out to and begin to share ideas with and hold each other accountable to achieve set goals.

Make the decision today to start the process of Masterminding with someone who shares the same vision as you and will hold you accountable to achieving the success you deserve.

The results that will come from doing this will exponentially expand your results.

Terrick Romer is a performance coach and online mentor. He has a focus on personal development and entrepreneurship and teaching others the necessary skills needed to reach Massive Success.

http://terrickromer.net/

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Procrastination - How Is It Costing You?

I've always liked to think of myself as a 'do it now' sort of person. But I've realized that actually I sometimes use 'busy-ness' as an excuse not to do the things I know I really should. Not the little things (like cleaning out my kitchen drawers), but the bigger things... like putting together proposals, writing my next book, or launching a courage coaching workshop -- stuff that will require more time, more commitment, and involve a bigger risk of failure.

So it got me thinking about this whole subject of procrastination. In a quick mini-survey, I realized that I am among good company. Perhaps even yours! In fact, I think it's something everyone does from time to time. Sometimes it's mundane stuff like filing taxes. But more often, it's the bigger stuff, like ending a relationship that's dragging us down, beginning the process of pursuing a more rewarding career path, getting back into shape, or pursuing a long-held dream.

Philosopher William James once wrote, "Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an unfulfilled goal." Of course, people come up with all sorts of creative reasons why now just isn't the right time. Too busy. Too broke. Too stressed. Economy too unstable. Too risky. Too inexperienced. Too old. Too young. Too disruptive. Sometimes those reasons are valid. But more often, they are simply excuses for avoiding the discomfort inherent in creating change in our lives, even change for the better, and confronting our fear of failing in the process.

While on the surface procrastination often looks like laziness, at the heart of it lies fear. Fear of failing, fear of success, fear of rejection or fear of our inability to have what we truly want. And so our fears drive us to hang on to the hope that if we procrastinate long enough, our misgivings about our ability to achieve what we want will magically evaporate -- replaced with a newfound sense of clarity about the steps we need to take, courage to take them, and confidence in our ability to overcome any obstacles we may meet along the way.

Unfortunately, the reverse is generally true. As the days roll steadily by, our fears grow larger, not smaller, until they eventually lead to a burial ground for unfulfilled dreams and untapped potential. All the time, the knowledge that we are whiling away our precious life waiting for the planets to perfectly align before we take our first step forward pulls more heavily on our hearts and minds. We are loath to admit it, but in putting off until tomorrow what we can do today (the word procrastinate come from the Latin pro, meaning 'forward,' and crass, meaning 'tomorrow'), we are selling out ourselves and all that we can be. And one way or another, it is costing us. Not only can it cost us in our finances, careers, relationships and physical health, but it costs us our peace of mind and the opportunity to experience a far deeper sense of personal fulfillment.

Life rewards action. Nothing great has ever been accomplished without it. Nothing ever will be. So if you are tired of procrastinating, make the decision to choose at least one of the seven strategies below (the more the better!) to help you step forward in action. Make tomorrow even more rewarding than today. Delay is increasingly expensive!

Seven Strategies for Overcoming Procrastination

Before you go further, first determine whether what you are procrastinating about is something that is actually aligned with your most important values. If you decide it's actually not that important to you (i.e., the consequences of failing to do it are low), then do yourself a favor and take it off your list.

If you decide that the activity is important to you, read on:

1. Write down your goal, and how you will feel when you achieve it. Visualize yourself having achieved it. Try to imagine the emotions you will feel once you have achieved it.

2. Set a deadline. A goal without a deadline can be put off indefinitely. 'Someday' is not a day of the week.

3. Write down how you will feel a year from now if you continue to procrastinate. Get really present to the cost of continued inaction. Remember, if nothing changes, nothing changes!

4. Break the goal into small pieces. If the whole seems too big to tackle, break it into manageable, bite-size pieces. Remember that you don't have to know every step of the journey; you just need to take the next few steps immediately ahead.

5. Set up a reward system. Make it commensurate with the task. An afternoon cleaning out your office or signing up for a fitness program may be worth dinner out, while writing a business plan or running a 5K might warrant an entire weekend away!

6. Create accountability. Enlist a support team, an accountability partner or just a plain old 'nag-buddy.' Ask them to check in on you every week to make sure you're staying on track (and to give you a hard time if you have veered off the rails).

7. Take the first step forward today. Yes, do something as soon as you can (before you come up with another excuse!) The longer you delay, the harder it will be to step into action. A Chinese proverb: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." So just take it... forward momentum is everything!

Now off to clean out those kitchen drawers!

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Remembering Grete Waitz - A Marathon Marvel!

Grete Waitz has died aged 57, on Tue 19th Apr 2011. The Norwegian athlete was a huge figure in the marathon world, at the forefront of changing perceptions of what women can achieve. There are huge goal achievement and self improvement lessons to be taken from her, so I thought I'd pass them on...

Although remembered as a marathon runner, Waitz competed in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics at the 1500 metres. Let's not forget the huge goal achievement of competing in *any* Olympic Games!

Then she ran her first New York marathon in 1978, out of curiosity and being encouraged by her husband. She had never run more than 13 miles before.

Now, standard marathon training will definitely have you run more than 13 miles. I should know, as I ran London in 2008. The goal lesson here is that the route to most goals has already been laid by others before you. That was certainly the case with me.

Despite being in pain for the whole second half of the race, her natural athleticism combined with her well known determination, not only saw her finish, but in a world record! 2 hours 32 minutes.

She went on set the record 3 more times, and 33 years after her 1978 run, the record as of Apr 2011, is 2 hours 15, by Britain's Paula Radcliffe.

That shows just what an achievement Waitz's run was, and she went on the win the New York marathon 9 times in total!

She missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the US boycott. Another life lesson there, is that sometimes there are things we have no control over, and Waitz just continued running (and winning) New York.

In 1984 she got her Olympic marathon run, picking up the silver medal. It seems hard to believe now, but 1984 was the first women's marathon in the Olympics. It had previously been considered too arduous for women!

Again, this was not something Waitz could do anything about directly, but she indirectly had a *huge* influence on changing the perception of women athletes, and it gave her that Olympic medal. Rather than accepting beliefs about what she and other women could accomplish, she went out to change those beliefs.

The development of the big city marathons now makes it easy for any woman to run the marathon. I say 'easy' with a note of caution, because running a marathon is not 'easy', but the opportunity *is* accessible to anyone who wants to apply to do it.

2 hours 32 is not an earth shattering time in 2011, but it still a world class time. Names like Paula Radcliffe may have taken over from Grete Waitz at the forefront of the event, but Waitz's achievements were huge.

Something else that should be noted - she was liked by all. Humble, polite, down to earth. You don't have to be superior to achieve superior results.

Grete Waitz has lost her battle to cancer after a 6 year fight. She didn't give a lot of public details about her illness, she was quite a private figure, but I will remember watching her on TV, and will think of her with some great achievements, and some great lessons we can all take benefit.

Gordon Bryan is the author of 'Transform Your Life in 21 Days!' which has been described as 'motivational magic.' Read about it at: http://www.transformyourlifenow.com/

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The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do About It

In The Global Achievement Gap, education expert Tony Wagner situates our school problems in the larger context of the demands of the global knowledge economy. With insights gained from visits to classrooms in leading suburban schools, he analyzes performance by considering the skills needed to get a good job and become a productive citizen. Highlighting discussions with young people and the adults who work with them, Wagner also explains the ways in which today’s generation is differently motivated to excel.

A manifesto for the twenty-first century, The Global Achievement Gap is a must-read for anyone interested in seeing our young people achieve their full potential.

Price: $16.95

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Reward Yourself for Accomplishment and Achievement and Train Your Brain to Do the Same!

Would you like to accomplish and achieve more in your life? There are ways to do that, there are ways to motivate yourself without any help from anyone else. Yes, businesses do this all the time to help motivate their employees, but what if you don't have a boss? What if you are self-employed, what if you are retired, what if you are in school, or what if you are "other than" the breadwinner in your family?

Okay so there are some things that I have tried to help myself achieve more and accomplish more. Because I am self-employed, I don't have a boss telling me what to do, coaxing me to work harder, or trying to motivate me to help make him or her make more money. Therefore, I motivate myself, and I've come up with several strategies to help increase my performance even though there's no one around to tell me what to do. Let me explain one technique I use, I call this method; SRS or Self Reward Scheduling.

Perhaps you've used something similar yourself. Have you ever worked real hard, and achieved something, and then decided that you needed some way to celebrate? Well it's similar to that, but what I do is I breakdown a major achievement, accomplishment, or goal into several incremental pieces. After I achieve each piece, I reward myself in some way. Over the years, I've done quite a bit of writing online, and each time I write an article, I may reward myself with a slice of an Apple, a cold glass of fruit juice, a piece of chocolate, or something of this nature, always something good as to not develop bad habits.

After I complete five articles, I may have a small bowl of nuts, or healthy chips with salsa while continuing. After I complete 10 or 15 articles, I might reward myself by going to Starbucks. Sometimes, I tell myself that after I write two or three articles, I will read another section of the newspaper, since I love to stay up on the news, it motivates me to complete those articles so that I can go onto a more favorable task. Indeed, I might write an article, and then agree that I will allow myself to watch the financial news for 15 minutes.

Then, I learn more information, which I may use in future articles. By eating nuts, fruit, and other things which are good for me I am feeding my brain, which is helping me at my task. This works very good for me, and it is my way of micro-scheduling using a very simple and powerful tool of self rewards. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this, and try it for yourself. And I'd love to hear about your progress. Let me know how well it's working for you, maybe next time you can give me some of your tips.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 23,444 articles by June 4, 2011 is difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off..

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The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement

With unequaled insight and brio, David Brooks, the New York Times columnist and bestselling author of Bobos in Paradise, has long explored and explained the way we live. Now, with the intellectual curiosity and emotional wisdom that make his columns among the most read in the nation, Brooks turns to the building blocks of human flourishing in a multilayered, profoundly illuminating work grounded in everyday life.

This is the story of how success happens. It is told through the lives of one composite American couple, Harold and Erica—how they grow, push forward, are pulled back, fail, and succeed. Distilling a vast array of information into these two vividly realized characters, Brooks illustrates a fundamental new understanding of human nature. A scientific revolution has occurred—we have learned more about the human brain in the last thirty years than we had in the previous three thousand. The unconscious mind, it turns out, is most of the mind—not a dark, vestigial place but a creative and enchanted one, where most of the brain’s work gets done. This is the realm of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, personality traits, and social norms: the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are made. The natural habitat of The Social Animal.
 
Drawing on a wealth of current research from numerous disciplines, Brooks takes Harold and Erica from infancy to school; from the “odyssey years” that have come to define young adulthood to the high walls of poverty; from the nature of attachment, love, and commitment, to the nature of effective leadership. He reveals the deeply social aspect of our very minds and exposes the bias in modern culture that overemphasizes rationalism, individualism, and IQ. Along the way, he demolishes conventional definitions of success while looking toward a culture based on trust and humility.

The Social Animal is a moving and nuanced intellectual adventure, a story of achievement and a defense of progress. Impossible to put down, it is an essential book for our time, one that will have broad social impact and will change the way we see ourselves and the world.

Price: $27.00

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Self-Help: Work Hard, Play Harder

'There is no substitute for hard work" - Thomas A. Edison.

Nothing is truer than the above quote from Edison. However, just working hard all the time may not give you the sense of achievement you are looking for. You need to play hard too. In fact, you need to play harder.

All the successful people I have interacted with, not only work hard, but also play harder, finding time to pursue their passions, hobbies and interests. This is a form of self-motivation and a very effective one too. Make sure that you allocate time for play when you plan your activities. It does not necessarily mean that you start playing when you are at work, but by setting aside an hour for doing something you really like, gets you to achieve your goal faster. I know a group of friends from the San Francisco Bay Area, all senior IT professionals, who work really hard during the week. However, come Saturday, they meet at a local gym for yoga lessons and then they wind down at the Starbucks nearby over a good coffee. This really keeps them motivated.

Some organizations really care about creating an atmosphere of work and play. While I was working with Microsoft in Singapore, we had a corporate gym membership. Working out at the gym during the day was encouraged. I actually found that I was more productive during the second half of the day, if I went out for a one hour workout around noon. The mornings also ended up being more productive. Since I knew I had to go to the gym, I made sure that my meetings ended on time and was more efficient with my work. In fact, more organizations are encouraging an environment of 'work hard, play harder' as part of their corporate culture.

Some tips from my experience, to help you work hard and play harder:

Always, stretch your goals. This way, you will need to work really hard to achieve them, but you will end up playing harder too. This has been my personal experience.
If you are a team leader or a manager, make sure your entire team works harder and plays harder too. Lead by example. Ensure that you finish off your work on time and then take time to pursue your interests/hobbies. This way, your team will also be encouraged to do the same. Also, make sure that there is a team reward for achieving something. This could be a trip to the cinemas or an evening at the local bowl. If budget permits, include the spouses or partners of the team members. This is a very effective since you will now have spouses of your team members encouraging them to work hard.
It is highly recommended that you include 'play' in your lifestyle on a daily basis. After a hard day's work, make sure you spend some time doing something you like. If this does not sound practical, at least make sure you spend time during the weekend for your favorite activity. This really refreshes you to resume work on Monday.

Remember - All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!

Shyam (Sam) Cholayil has about 25 years of industry experience, having worked with world leaders like Microsoft, Oracle Corporation and Sun Microsystems in various senior management positions. Sam is a strong believer of the fact that 'Experience is the best teacher' and focuses on 'Experiential Learning', a concept, which helps people learn through others' experience. Sam is a workshop facilitator and presenter and is committed to helping people succeed professionally and personally. Visit http://bit.ly/selfhelpblog for tips, tricks and a lot more. Do not forget to download the FREE 'Self-help handbook', a great resource for helping you improver yourself.

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Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement

Anthony Robbins calls it the new science of personal achievement. You'll call it the best thing that ever happened to you.

If you have ever dreamed of a better life, Unlimited Power will show you how to achieve the extraordinary quality of life you desire and deserve, and how to master your personal and professional life. Anthony Robbins has proven to millions through his books, tapes, and seminars that by harnessing the power of the mind you can do, have, achieve, and create anything you want for your life. He has shown heads of state, royalty, Olympic and professional athletes, movie stars, and children how to achieve. With Unlimited Power, he passionately and eloquently reveals the science of personal achievement and teaches you:

* How to find out what you really want

* The Seven Lies of Success

* How to reprogram your mind in minutes to eliminate fears and phobias

* The secret of creating instant rapport with anyone you meet

* How to duplicate the success of others

* The Five Keys to Wealth and Happiness

Unlimited Power is a revolutionary fitness book for the mind. It will show you, step by step, how to perform at your peak while gaining emotional and financial freedom, attaining leadership and self-confidence, and winning the cooperation of others. It will give you the knowledge and the courage to remake yourself and your world. Unlimited Power is a guidebook to superior performance in an age of success.

Price: $16.00

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Self-Improvement Tips

Character is the real foundation of all worthwhile success. The question you must always ask yourself is, what kind of advice do I give to others that I need to follow myself. Living a double life will not get you any where. Thoughts lead to purpose; purposes lead to action, actions lead to habits; habits decide character and character fixes our destiny. To change your character, you must begin at the control centre - the heart. "If you think about what you ought to do for people, your character will take care of itself."

None of the secrets of success will work unless you take action. Often, the simple answer to your problem is: go to work. When you hear and do not do you allow deception and inaccuracy to come into your life. That is why you know people who read good books, go to church, listen to tapes and are still poor.

They do not put into practice what they have learned. There is an old saying that. "Laziness travels so slowly, poverty soon overtakes it". The world is divided into people who do things and people who talk about doing things. You must belong to the first group because there is far less competition. What keeps us from doing things is fear. If you are looking at your future from the position of fear, that view is inaccurate and distorted. It is never safe to look into the future with the eyes of fear. The worst liars in the world are your own fears.

Worry is a magnet that attracts negative conditions, faith is a more powerful force that creates positive circumstance. An old man was asked what had robbed him of joy in his life. His reply was, "Things that never happened." Fear wants you to run from things that are not after you. Go farther than you can see. Do not just look at the present. Think the unthinkable thoughts, see where no one is looking and take action before it is obvious.

You have reached stagnation when all you ever exercise is caution. Too many people expect little, ask for little, receive little and are content with little. Having a dream is not trying to believe something regardless of the evidence; dreaming is daring to do something regardless of the consequences. Let your faith run ahead of you.

Act bigger, believe larger and associate higher. Your outlook determines your out-come. So. Make your plans big. Talk with people smarter than you. Listen to those more spiritual than you. Ask questions of those more successful than you. Lend a hand to those less fortunate than you. You are destined to grow, learn and improve. The biggest room in our lives is always the room for self-improvement. Learn from the mistakes of others you can never live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself. The person who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning. Only hungry mind can grow. In the words of W.Fussellman "Today a reader, tomorrow a leader." It is fun to keep learning. Learning brings life to your life.

It is never too late for you to start thinking more creatively. Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a person from his potential. Thinking of new ideas is like shaving,; if you do not do it every day, you are a bum. Everyday, ask God to give you a flow of new, exciting and powerful ideas in your life.

For articles on jobs and employment visit: http://www.jobopenng.com/ Jobs, Employment, Job/Recruitment Portal and Career Search

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Stand Out Today

Do you feel that you have the ability to stand out from the rest? Are your gifts, talents or abilities unique from the rest? Have you been told throughout your life that you are "special" or are full of amazing potential? Whether we know it or not, each and every one of us has the ability to stand out from the crowd. You see, we are all unique in our own way, as there is not a single person on this earth exactly like us. Even though there may be many people with the same skills and abilities, none of them are you. Their personality is different. Their friends are different. Their goals are different. Everything about them is unique to them.

A lot of times, people become discouraged when it comes to standing out from the crowd. Many of us may feel as though there are already other people out there who are known, and well respected, so why should we even bother. We may look at some of these people as possessing greater abilities than us, or that they were luckier in one way or another then we were. No matter what we may think or feel about our abilities, it is important to know that the only thing holding us back from our true potential is ourselves.

Each of us have specific influence over the people around us. Often times, we may be the greatest influence any of these people will ever come across. It is for this very reason that we have the ability to succeed, and stand out from the others. When you stop making excuses, and begin accomplishing your goals, you Will stand out from the rest. You will impact the people's lives which are closest to you. In fact, you are already impacting those same people's lives RIGHT NOW. The question you must ask yourself is "am I making an impact for the good? Or instead, am I making a negative impact on others around me". Do you inspire others to accomplish things because of your hard work and determination? Or do others look at you and see a person with little drive or ambition, and a person who sees very little in life?

Once you find out how you are impacting those around you, you will have found a powerful starting point at becoming a leader. A leader will look at what they need to change, and work at this change until it is accomplished. Each and every one of you have the Potential to be a Great Leader! Why? Because you are unique, and there in No One else like you! Show those around you who you really are! Show them why you will stand out from the crowd at whatever it is you desire. Show them why they should Follow You!

Christian Bryant is a Powerful and Effective Motivational speaker and author. With a great deal of his teaching as a direct result of his own life experience, his main goal is to write about empowering topics in a way that can be easily understood by everyone. You can find a lot more on his website, including videos, articles and proven formulas at http://www.dream-to-believe.com/

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The 3 Things That Get In The Way Of Your Dreams

We all have dreams and goals that we want to achieve in our lives. For most of us mere mortals this is a difficult, on-going process. We seem to get focused, take a few steps forward, a step back, or for some reason or other our plans seem to get de-railed completely.

Sometimes this is because of factors beyond our control but often our success or lack of it lies more with us than we realise.

Over the years, working with many different people, I have found that there are probably 3 common areas that hold us back. I have also learned that as soon as you can "see" these behaviours as something that you do and "recognize" when you start to do them again - the easier it is to eliminate them or stop doing them. Think of this as shining a bright light on your own personal "blind spots".

So what are the 3 traits that I have identified?

Indecisiveness.

Sometimes people can be so scared of making the wrong decision, that they make no decisions at all.

One of the traits that all great entrepreneurs share is that they all make decisions and make them rapidly. They learn to trust their instincts and GO FOR IT! Does this mean they are always right? Not at all, but they would rather make a decision and perhaps make a mistake, than just sit on the fence. The thing you have to know is that any decision made can be changed. In fact life or business is probably more a small series of on-going decisions than just one single life-changing one.

If you struggle to make decisions or if you perhaps get caught up in Analysis Paralysis then focus on "just moving forward". Stop thinking about everything too hard, and think instead - how can I move forward. You don't need to solve everything - just take 1 step in the right direction, follow it with another step, then another, then another. You will be amazed at how far this simple technique can take you, and get you out of that paralyzing cycle of indecision.

Going Slow.

I often teach my clients that 80% is good enough! Rather just send that email, launch that programme or get that website up! These days technology has sped everything up. Launching a new product used to take months of planning. These days with the power of the internet, social media and technology that can be brought down to a matter of weeks not months.

The old saying "the early bird catches the worm" is now more applicable than ever - however it should probably read "the quickest bird catches the worm". Don't worry about getting your web copy 100% - you can always alter and "tweak" it once the page is up. Don't agonise for weeks over your company logo and the exact shade of blue that you should be using. Just have some cards printed, so you can start handing them out - you can always make changes on the next print run. Think of speed as your friend, not your enemy. Never before have we been in a position to launch a new product so quickly. Instead of waiting months for money in our bank account - we can now influence our turnover today, this week, this month! Make speed part of your life - always look for a way to do it quicker & see the results on your bottom line!

The third thing that holds us back from our dreams is:

Faith in Yourself.

This is probably the number one reason we don't make decisions or take things slow and steady - lack of belief in yourself. You have to believe in what you are doing and trust yourself before you can achieve. Self-belief is what will sustain you when the going gets tough, when the money just isn't coming in like you initially thought it would. Self -belief is the rock that great businesses are founded upon. Think of it this way - if you don't believe in yourself and your ability to grow a great business - no-one else will!

You can hire a Coach, and they will be able to support and encourage you to keep going, but ultimately belief comes from within. Allow yourself to believe it is possible and watch what happens!

So - what are you going to do to make sure you achieve your dreams?

Do you need to make decisions?

Do you need to speed up and make things happen?

Do you just need to believe it can be done?

What do you think you could do today or this week that would make a difference in your business or your life? Then JUST DO IT!

Adele Howell-Pryce is an innovative Business Coach who works with Small Businesses and Solo-preneurs especially in the area of Sales and Marketing. Her goal is to help you get more organised, find more Clients, close more sales and make more money in your business. You can check her at out http://www.1stopmarketingsuccess.com/.

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The Best Way to Ignore Distractions

I had every intention of finishing this article this morning, but I made the mistake of opening my email reader. I was looking for a really important email to show up in my inbox. But two hours later, it still had not come. I wasn't exactly sure who it would be from, but I was sure someone would send me an email that would require my immediate attention. There were a few emails that weren't important, but I enjoyed reading them.

The original title of this article was going to be How to maximize the use of your time, but it wound up being the best way to avoid distractions. So here it is in the afternoon and I am just now finishing it. I could have been finished before noon if I hadn't stopped for lunch. It's very hard to concentrate on writing when your stomach is growling.

I happened to glance out the window and saw some pretty nasty looking clouds. You never know when a thunderstorm might pop up. I thought it was a good idea to go to the weather website to look at the weather radar. There was rain in the area, but nothing severe. I was about to leave the website when I saw an article about the possible link between cell phones and cancer. I am a heavy cell phone user and I wanted to read the article and find out exactly what form of cancer cell phones cause. There was also an article about the hurricane season and what preparations need to be made. I don't live on the coast, but this is hurricane season, and it is always a good idea to be prepared.

I have had lots of experience with distractions. They pop up everywhere. They are insidious. I try to avoid them. Sometimes I succeed; sometimes I don't. I guess my inability to resist distractions is a sign of weakness. I definitely have no one to blame but myself. And. even as painful as it is to admit it, there have been a few times when I have been guilty of procrastination -- moments of laziness when it's easy to give in to distractions as a way to put off doing what I need to do. it could be that I have a short attention span. I do get bored easily. And there are times when the distraction is a lot more appealing than what I should be doing. I am a curiosity seeker. I like to explore. I like to take things apart and see what makes them work. I am a little impatient. As a kid I was always asking my parents " are we there yet?"

I do know there are two kinds of distractions: avoidable and unavoidable

Some distractions just cannot be avoided. Every sailor, at some point, encounters a storm on the open sea that blows his ship off course. The consequences of the storm have to be dealt with. But the storm does not end the trip. The destination is still there. The sailor must figure out where he is and plot a new course to the destination.

Most distractions can be avoided by identifying them for what they really are: time wasters. And you can do that by asking yourself one question: is it bringing me closer to or taking me further away from where I need to be? If the answer is the latter then reject it and don't pay it any more attention.

Accomplishment is a time management issue. The level of accomplishment is in proportion to the amount of time and devotion we give to whatever it is we are working to accomplish. All achievers are tenacious, too. They stick with a task until its complete.

When you encounter temptation to leave what you are doing take a moment to close your eyes, take a deep breath and relax. With your eyes closed, focus your attention back to your task and review the reasons why you are doing it. Are you under a deadline? If you are, how much time do you have left to finish? If you don't have a deadline, create one. Your time is valuable. Don't waste it. Open your eyes and continue your task with renewed determination. It is not so much that we win the race, but that we finish the race. To quote Winston Churchill: "never, never, never, never give up."

There will always be temptations to waste time, but that doesn't mean we have to give in to them.

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The Illusion Of Greener Grass

How to free your mind from obsessing about what you don't have and allow it to see the abundance that fills your life - right now and always.

Are you ready to discover a strange quirk about yourself?

I want to share a strange little thing most of us seem to do that can destroy our happiness in a split second. We don't do this all of the time but, I invite you to have a look at your life and see when and how this is happening with you - and what effect it is having on your choices for your life.

If you can catch this bizarre tendency in the instance it is happening at opportune moments, you will not only be a thousand times richer, you will also experience increased grace, peace, and love. If you don't change this prickly little habit, you may continue to waste millions of precious thoughts and hours trapped in a strange state of confused torment - and, like most people, wonder what's happening to you.

Here's the thing to watch for...

Have you ever found yourself having a great day; taking stock and being happy with your lot in life? Then...like a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky a curiously dramatic shift occurs. All of a sudden your awareness is jolted into noticing someone else has something you want more.

Do you recognize those moments?

They are the milestones where you immediately feel something is missing from your life and in an instant you forget what you do have and become fixated on what you see as missing. Alas, your happy-ness feelings come to an abrupt end and you can't see your lot any more. No longer able to be present with what you have right now, you forget what you were enjoying and instead feel a craving in your solar plexus. Your mind, your body, your heart are now reacting to a state of lack - and lack hurts.

The trigger could be:

a chance meeting of another person that you'd rather spend time with more than your current partnera restaurant moment when the meal someone else ordered looks tastier than what the server brought youwhen you're driving down the highway in your sporty convertible with the top down only to see a sportier one or newer model in the next lanewhen your buddy's computer game is way more fun with a better graphics card and faster processora time when you are walking down the street feeling flirty in your new dress only to see someone else getting attention in a more stylish dressThe problem is you've noticed something that catches your attention in a way that makes it appear better than what you have. And, in some small or big way it makes an impact on you - you are now in a state of wanting. It's the point we see someone else in the position of 'having' or 'experiencing' something at the exact moment we aren't is when we begin the obsession process. We just can't leave it alone or get it out of our mind.

A personal story that changed my life

Some years ago I was in an informal on-and-off relationship with a girl for about seven years. During this time we became close and bonded to some degree, but in the end we went our separate ways. She and I both had the same feeling that our connection was not serving either of us and it was better that we stop seeing each other in this manner. It was not only a sad decision, but the discussion about the decision, the time leading up to the discussion and the ensuing feelings really hurt my heart. At the same time I knew that it was not the end of the world and life would go on - and so it did - so I thought.

One day, however, something happened that felt like it truly was the end of the world and my whole life had fallen apart.

After our mutually agreed relationship finale I set off to India for a bit of me time. Upon my return I found my new ex-girlfriend had started hanging out with my roommate. After some time I noticed their sense of fondness for each other and the clue hit me they had something wonderful going on. Then, something else hit me.

Now, this is the point of knowledge that totally destroyed my life for many months that followed. I was not able to eat any food or attempt any work, because I felt these sick twisting knots in the pit of my stomach most of the time. I became suspicious to the point of wanting to know what they were doing and saying whereby I found myself listening in on conversations - I totally lost my sense of myself. It was so painful and crippling few words can even begin to describe it.

During the peak of this emotional bender I found myself lying down in the park with my arms spread out wanting and waiting to die so the pain would stop - death seemed the only solution for my predicament. I was shocked, humbled and amazed at the power of the sensations brought on by this situation had on me. Boy oh boy...I knew something seriously needed to be addressed and changed - but quick.

Was I being a hypocrite?

By this point in my professional journey I had been a meditation teacher for many years. Strangest of all, here I was teaching classrooms of people in the knowledge of non-attachment and soul conscious relationships of freedom. Then, after class was over and just as soon as I was alone, I completely fell to pieces because of what I saw OTHER PEOPLE doing - they were getting it and somehow I'd lost it - I wanted it back.

Further adding to my grief was that I couldn't see my life or any of the blessings in it at all; I could only see what wasn't happening in it and to me. I could logically rationalize that my life was great, but the obsession toward what wasn't great was stronger. By being obsessed with what was not happening I somehow allowed dark emotion and jealousy to control my faculties. I became blind and needy. I lost my life.

Just before my ex-girlfriend and roommate started hanging out I was very happy and content with things and aware of the blessings around me. But...as fast as a slap in the face showed me what was happening between them I felt I was missing something - I felt I had lost something.

Had I actually lost anything?

No! Nothing had changed except my attention had been drawn away from my own blessings and toward a tunnel vision of what I felt someone else was getting - in the process I was unable to see what I had anymore. It felt as though I had lost everything - even though I had lost nothing.

Isn't that part of life fascinating?

Fortunately, that experience propelled me to move half way around the world to Hawaii, where I feel I am truly at home at last. In that respect the pain turned out to be extremely beneficial - like a sign that I was ready for my change. One thing I won't forget now and added to my curriculum is: Even when things seem tough, there is always a hidden blessing somewhere if you open your mind to it and look out for it.

So, despite all of the pain in those many tormented moments, I learned two big lessons on that day lying in the park awaiting death to rescue me.

It's very easy to react out of character in strange new situations that seem to cause a person to go blind from the truth and mad from the frustration of losing sight of that truth.It's extremely important to focus our energy on the HAVE that we are living - and not project fantasies about the HAVES that other people are living. The reality of which if left unchecked will ultimately destroy our very life and livelihood.Reality Check

Let's face it....the truth I mean.

Each of us is an individual and no two people will EVER have the same relationships with anyone else as you or I. That is what makes life so perfect and wonderful. Each situation, each relationship is unique and it's a good thing to realize that we can't possibly have what someone else has or is - because, what IS for one IS for that one.

Now to take it up a notch to a higher level of thinking, we CAN definitely have what we do have - and it is extremely important to realize this. If we don't realize this all-powerful fact, we will lose what we CAN HAVE purely through our own lack of understanding, our own ignorance - no bliss here.

Put it this way. If you want to have a 'special' relationship with someone based on what you think his or her relationship is with another person, you are setting yourself up for a serious emotional letdown. Your body will be host to a soul-sickening craving, because it is simply not possible to be that someone else or live another person's feelings.

Check the reality! Each relationship is in a word 'unique'. When we start to want what we can't have, we somehow start to loosen our grip on our own reality and can't see the truth in our own lives any more. We may even go so far as to imagine what it would be like to live as someone else and have their things. However, it is impossible to be anyone else in any way - that kind of thinking can tear us up inside - but, only if we let it.

How ridiculous is it?

Imagine this: If the only thing you think will make you happy is turn into a cat and fly to Mars - you will live a sad and discontented life. Then imagine spending the rest of your life always being unhappy about it. Pretty ridiculous thinking isn't it?

Why do we obsess about things we can never have? Isn't that a weird waste of time?

However, if we focus on making each relationship we actually do have with whomever we meet as wonderful and magical as we can and not look at what we think others have, we will be happy with our lot again. We can make things wonderful when we realize what we do have - and our happiness will keep growing stronger.

We will see how rich our own life is and realize it's in our hands and within our power to make our lives even more wonderful and lovely. We are in control, we are blessed, and we are the lucky ones - but, just for ourselves.

Where does the gratitude and satisfaction begin?

The first relationship we have is always with ourselves - in the way that we love and know ourselves. So, to find that information out, you can answer questions of yourself in whatever way is the most comfortable for you.

Do I/you love my/your self?Do I/you appreciate my/your own company?Do I/you know my/your self deeply?Do I/you feel complete with my/your self?Regardless of all the speculation about what we think other people have got, one thing is for sure - no one will ever know you as you know yourself. Only you can have the most intimate and satisfying relationship with YOU.

YOU are the most important person in your life and the greatest and deepest satisfaction you will ever experience is within you right now. 'Know thyself and to thyself be true'

What happens when you are feeling jealousy in the face of someone else's success, their new job, or their new house?

Does it make you feel good?Does it help you attract more success in your own life? orDoes it ruin your gratitude and ability to focus along with your ability to attract what you actually want?Are we going insane?

We seem to play this game of wanting what we can't have in so many ways - it's shocking to see ourselves in this light. We might feel like we're on the brink of insanity.

Before we go too far into this 'want' trip, we need to find that place within where we are happy and grateful for all of life's abundance. The more we focus our attention on what we do have the more wonderful moments we will have - our lives will instantly become richer.

Just say to yourself "Whatever anyone else is doing with anyone else is not my business. Period. I need not become obsessed with it. I am content, I am empowered, and I am complete". There...that'll work.

If you start spinning out about what you don't have, then you make it a problem and you can't see the blessings in your own life. The madness has taken over simply because we are trying to do the impossible - we are trying to experience another person's blessings. We can go from kings and queens to total beggars, literally in a split second when we start looking at what we can't have - with just the flip of a mental switch.

On the other hand, when we let other people's lives be what they are, relax in knowing the "I am valuable" statement as truth and pay attention to all the grace in our lives, we feel safe and secure. We can observe their success and allow it to inspire us rather than destroy us - which, is how we should be seeing it.

We can never lose what we don't have

Let us remember all experiences are subjective. No matter what we think it may be like to be with someone else or live in a different place, none of that has any real significance - it's individual. This is because your experience will always be different from someone else's - even in the same situation.

Look at it this way. No two people really see the same sunset; no two people taste the same wine. We all see the color 'green' but we don't think about the fact that it's not the same shade of 'green' each of us are seeing. Oddly, some see 'red' and not 'green' at all - so, now you can imagine the vast range of 'green' that can be seen by every person on the planet.

Things are not what we sometimes like to let ourselves think.

Here's something for those who fantasize about being a multi-millionaire, because they think they want it. Apparently, many of the richest people in the world are on Prozac. Haven't you noticed how miserable, unhealthy and unhappy many of them are? You'd think with all of that money they could buy all the best therapy in the world, but they don't - their minds aren't there - just the money. Wouldn't you rather have your mind to be happy first - then rich only if you could still be happy?

Let's get real.

What is your experience?

What are you grateful for?What irrational thoughts could you LET GO of and live free from?Are you spinning your wheels about something you can't have?How much are you noticing your personal blessings and increasing them?The answer to any one of these simple questions is what makes the constant choices that subsequently make the difference between a beautifully rich life and a life being swallowed up by disappointment and envy. What do you want? What is your choice?

You are so rich right now. So, go ahead. Ask and answer yourself the most powerful question: "What am I grateful for today?"

Let us remain free and happy from today. Let everyone else enjoy themselves - and you just focus on having your own best day ever - every day.

by Michael Mackintosh, founder of Living in Magic. He is a spiritual teacher who lives on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii.

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The Key Secret Of Success Is Preparation (What If You Knew You Would Succeed Before You Begin?)

Imagine if you already knew you will never be involved in a road accident! Wouldn't you sleep a little easier? More spring in your step during the day? How could you ever be sure of this? Simple - never go anywhere by road!

You might feel this is a little radical for you but if you are serious about living as long as you can then you will be very careful each day to make decisions that ensure your long term success. So by minimizing the road travel you take you can really maximize your likelihood of never being involved in an accident.

So many of us spend time on the road when we need not: we could be doing something far more fruitful with our lives! Do you recall the 1970's when there were still so few cars on the roads? Didn't we all have better things to do than sit in traffic blocks? Not nowadays it seems! Think before you drive: is your journey really necessary? What else could you do?

I have actually managed without an auto for the past two years to see if I can slow my life down. I am beginning to discover other things which count for more than just jumping in my car and burning fuel! I have to make better decisions about how I want to spend each day. I find I am learning the basics of careful preparation in life!

Since I have taken away the option of driving to get what I need I now find I don't even want so many things: the effort required now to go get them makes me value my time more. So I have a lot more time each week to do really cool things, and my life is a lot safer, too!

I no longer feel rushed so I make much better "good for me" decisions. I am cool and collected. Going by car is no longer an option so I know I won't be involved in a horrific road accident! I sleep much better!

What has all this got to do with your key to success?

I want to challenge YOU today to believe that the decisions YOU make each day have long term effects on your life and the lives of those around you!

My town is cluttered 24/7 with parked cars which go no place. Imagine if the owners sold those vehicles and walked instead - it would have a big impact on our society and our planet! We don't actually need to make all the pointless short journeys every day - we can achieve a lot more by being organized and harnessing the mind blowing power of Preparation.

What is Preparation?

Preparation is the reality of taking the effort to be prepared ahead of events.

Preparing ahead means YOU take responsibility for events in YOUR future! You decide to stop blaming 'Fate' and just get on with doing the best you can.

So the first step is to decide what you want to take place in the future: visualize the best case scenario you would like to occur. Quit dreading unforeseen circumstances and make your life open up and happen as you wish!

Why should things go bad for you? It can make no difference to the universe so decide to tip the scales in your balance as from today! Decide to prepare ahead so everything goes well for you.

Now sometimes something unforeseen happens - that's something you didn't foresee in your preparation. So always allow a loophole or two for the unexpected. Put your energy into projects where you already have a high chance of success before you start. Approach your ambitions in a step by step manner.

One of the greatest keys to my ability to prepare constantly for success in every project I attempt was learning to play a musical instrument. How has this helped me? Even before you begin, you set yourself a grand but easily measurable challenge. Believe me, you don't need any musical talent to learn to play any instrument proficiently. It is no magic art but just a set of daily disciplines which will enable you to enjoy more proficiency on your chosen instrument year by year. Anyone can learn music and you will make a lot of friends through this, too, but the great end result is that you achieve self belief in being able to master any challenge you set yourself. Following daily disciplines also develops powerful self mastery.

Put your energy into projects you can succeed in with a step by step approach. Choose to spend your time on projects which enthrall you. Quit spending time on needless journeys and opt to achieve the things you really want to do! Stop putting things off until later in life - start the things you want to do now. Don't worry about what you will do when you retire! Do cool things now. Get involved.

Why is Preparation the Key to Your Success?

Because nothing happens randomly. Things occur in your experience because you set the patterns in motion beforehand. You decide to go to art college, then chances are you'll become an artist. You decide to argue with your partner then chances are you'll feel anger. Anger needs careful management - does it really have any purpose in your life? I reject anger and opt for cool calmness instead.

Being cool and calm is the best mindset for preparation in all things. Look ahead and imagine something you would enjoy coming to fruition. What is it, and how can you achieve this?

You really can achieve anything you set your mind to. Have no doubt about this. But everything takes time to achieve. What are the best steps to take to ensure your success? I research online to find people who have already achieved what I want to: say I want to invest on the stock market and achieve a 12% annual return, then I will find people who already regularly achieve this and decide how I will emulate them. Say I want to play a beautiful trumpet solo in a concert? I will buy trumpet, take the daily steps to learn to play, join a band - I will probably need a tutor! Find people who can assist you in achieving your goals.

People want you to succeed, especially your tutor, mentor, coach or advisor! So get yourself a success team. Be prepared to learn. Enjoy every step of the way! Be willing. Share your new found knowledge.

Your success team will advise you on the preparation you require. Prepare. Know that your act of preparing is your key to success!

1. You have chosen a worthy project.

2. You have teamed up with someone who knows how to achieve success in this project.

3. You prepare in the appropriate manner in order to be ready for the successful result you desire.

4. You take persistent action.

5. You begin to attain your goal.

6. Share your success with others.

I like projects where the attainment is never a clear horizon: that's why I gain so much from learning to play music. I first have the goal to become proficient on the instrument, then to perform, then to widen my repertoire, then to meet with other musicians - it's an enjoyable on going process.

Blogging is a similar process - you start a blog, perhaps just a journal at first, then it grows and you become a skillful writer leading a social community online! You have widened your circle of influence.

What will you gain?

Each project you prepare for and take the persistent action to achieve success in builds your confidence for the next. This amazing but surefire method adds zest to your life, lengthens your days, increases your energy, promotes your abilities and brings you enjoyment and a real feeling of attainment. Suddenly you have become the master of your destiny, no longer swayed by the four winds to end you know not where!

Gradually through preparing carefully and methodically to achieve each project, you build unshakable belief in your ability to achieve everything you want to. Each project is a step by step process of learning and achieving. You learn that each decision you make is powerful because it determines your results in life. No one tells you what to do - you choose!

Self reliance allows you to do everything you want to. You choose and you see things through to the end. You realize that the universe belongs to you because it is there to do your bidding. This is the key to preparation: knowing you are in command. And preparation is the key to your success in all you do. So take command today and enjoy the success you can achieve every time through methodical preparation and persistent action! No more excuses! Do your thing!

Looking ahead

You can confidently expect success before you even take the first action because each project can be broken down into measurable actions and you can easily find people who have already done this before to help you on your way.

Money is no issue - cultivate relationships which will lead you to the knowledge you require to take the daily action steps to success. Network frequently. Develop a giving nature. Believe there is a way to succeed and expect to find it. Do what it takes.

Look ahead and figure what will arise as a result of actions you take. Compare possible scenarios. Decide which end result you'd prefer. Strive to take the persistent action to achieve the result you truly want rather than letting other people boss you about and being content with whatever result 'destiny' hands you. Destiny is merely the default setting you attain for failing to decide how you want your life to develop. Make your own choices, build your sense of purpose, and above all: learn to value your time and effort! Well done!

It's finally time to wake up and enjoy the rest of your life! Determine to become the person you really want to be no matter what the cost! Read more and enjoy FREE video training on how to achieve the Success Mindset on my Success and Web Resources blog today!

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