Hello,

When I mention beliefs, most people immediately relate this in some way to religion. That’s not the belief that I’m referring to, although that is one type of belief of course. I’m talking about what you believe to be true for yourself and your future. What you believe, deep down, about yourself internally. Our beliefs about who we are can be created by many things, mostly by our environment and how we were brought up. In addition, our experiences in life have a great impact on our beliefs. What were you taught when you were young about the possibilities for your future, what occupation you should pursue, how much income you would have?

If you’re like most people, including myself, not much was ever said so you just looked around you and made your own assumptions. If you grew up in a small town where nearly everyone worked in a coal mine, then your future looked pretty dark, literally. However if you grew up in a well-to-do area where nearly everyone was college educated and had either a solid profession or a business, then you probably saw many more possibilities for yourself. Regardless, other factors have a great impact on your beliefs.

One of the most important things that effect our beliefs is the way we talk to ourselves internally. When you are presented with a task, either at school or at your job, if you tell yourself there’s no way I’m going to get this done, then chances are you won’t! When I say “tell yourself”, that’s exactly what we do, by a method known as internal dialog. We don’t of course consciously tell ourselves, but on an almost subconscious level we have mini-conversations with ourselves every minute of every day! They are constant and never ending, and cause us to make decisions that are vital to our lives. Wouldn’t it be better if we had more control over these decisions, these thoughts that are constantly bouncing around in our heads? In order to change our actions, we must learn (through habit) to control this dialog as much as possible in order to control our actions. Internal dialog is such a major force in our lives that we must learn to change, and use it to our benefit instead of our detriment. Of course, it may be impossible to control completely, because external forces are always causing us to lose our focus in so many ways. But believe me the sooner you learn to believe in what you can do in a positive way, and block out all of the negative self-talk that floods most peoples minds, the sooner you will be on your way to reaching your goals. At the end of this book I have some exercises that will help, make sure to check those out!

Most people have other beliefs that need to be changed as well, ones that cripple us every day without our even knowing it. Limiting beliefs about not only what we can or can’t do, but also what we deserve in life. Many people unfortunately have a negative self-image that limits them in life, almost like a “governor” on a large engine that only allows 50% of the power to be used! This negative image is a constant nagging reminder that says “I’m not good enough” or “I could never make a million dollars”. Don’t believe it for one minute! The only difference between the mindset of someone that makes a million dollars and one that makes $20K a year as a sales clerk is BELIEF in what they can do. You must begin right now to tell yourself every day that you are indeed capable of becoming whatever you wish to become, whether it’s a millionaire, successful at your chosen career, an actor/actress, a writer, or whatever your goals are. Remember, if anyone can do it, you can repeat that persons success by first believing that you can do it, then following their example and modeling their behavior.

There are many ways to model another persons behavior, you can find a mentor and copy their strategies for success at whatever skill you need to learn. Even learning from a book about this person, if you can’t find a mentor that can teach you directly, will suffice. The key is to learn how others perform and duplicate their process, whether you are learning to ski, trade stocks on Wall Street, or run a business successfully. The principles need to be learned from someone who is already successful, and copying someone that’s already doing what you want to be skilled at will help speed this process.

Another very important aspect of belief is a little thing called “self-esteem”, something many people are woefully short on. The problem with building self-esteem is that our belief in what we can accomplish in life is so embedded in our minds by the time we are adults, it takes a very strong process to repair if it is damaged. You see a lot of our beliefs are formed when we are quite young, by accident or by someone simply telling us we are “stupid” or we’ll “never amount to anything”, or similar words that sink into our subconscious and take hold without our knowing it. In order to change our thoughts internally and thus our beliefs, we must change that thought process. How do we do it? By talking to our subconscious mind, repeating phrases that help to strengthen our self-esteem once again. This may sound strange to some people but try this anyway; it works and has worked for thousands of people. Write several phrases down on paper, things that you want to believe in that will improve your self-esteem, and repeat them to yourself at least twice a day in the morning and before going to bed at night. Things such as “I can accomplish anything in life I desire”, or “my success is up to me, and I chose to be successful”. From now on make sure that you have a strong conviction that anything you want in life can be accomplished, because your belief will make it so. If at first you aren’t sure you really believe it with all your heart, continue to “act” as if you do anyway. In time, your beliefs will be in step with the new you. Remember that beliefs held for a long time may change slowly, but with a powerful desire and passion to change them you are destined for success and happiness. This I assure you…

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Happy New Year & hello,

Every year many people typically make some kind of New Years resolution – whether it’s to quit smoking, lose weight, make more money, be on time, or whatever. Usually it’s something that they would like to do or quit doing, and that would improve their lives in the long run. So what’s wrong with that? Nothing, nothing at all. It’s a positive step in the right direction for most people, so that’s the good part. The bad part about resolutions is that in most cases they just don’t work, period. Have you ever in your life known anybody that actually quit smoking on the first day of a new year, and never started again? How about losing weight – do you know anybody that lost a bunch of weight and kept it off after starting a new diet on the first day of the year? I haven’t…

Ok, I’m not one to be negative. I’m always finding positive in everything so what can I find that’s positive about resolutions? The best thing about them, as I said before, is they are a positive step in the right direction. If people only think about changing themselves once a year, on the first day of that year, so be it. Some people never even consider that at all! So the good thing is at least it’s a start. The keyword is “start”, because it’s never the end all for anyone. If getting yourself to see your bad habits once a year get’s you to make some changes, that’s good. Of course it would be much better to think that way all year long, but most people are “too busy” to think about that stuff on a regular basis. Sad, but true. So what about making a New Years resolution to start being a better person all year long? Wow, if only we could stick to that for more than a few days.

I believe most people have other reasons for making resolutions, too. The passing of another year has a psychological impact on everybody, like a marking of time that has passed before our eyes. If you have a really big, landmark birthday coming up, it’s even more significant. Are you turning 30 this year? Maybe a decade or two more than that? Ok, you know what I mean then. The passing of certain birthdays really mean a lot to us, a realization that we are not only growing older, but may be missing our chance to do certain things or become what we really want to be as a person. Did you always wish you could travel around the world, but realize that time is running out for you? Or maybe go back to college and finish your degree, or get training for that job you always wanted. The passing of time makes us a little nervous about reaching these landmark changes in our lives, and I believe that has something to do with the whole resolution thing.

So does that mean we shouldn’t make resolutions, since most of us won’t adhere to them anyway? Of course not! What we should do is make resolutions more often, but call them goals instead, and write them down. Writing things down has a way of making them more real, and in some ways holds our feet to the fire a little bit. If you make a New Years resolution and don’t even write it down, the odds that you will even remember it in 2-3 weeks are slim, let alone still be pusuing it! So my advice (which I do myself, of course) is to write down your goals for the year coming up, and seriously think about ways to achieve them. Then post them on your mirror in the bathroom or somewhere you will see them every day. This way you won’t be able to forget them. It might even help if you tell a loved one or spouse about some of them, which will give you some support to really take this seriously. Ultimately, only you have the power to make changes in your life, so get busy living!

Visit us at the happiness place for more helpful articles!

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Even though I am well aware of the risks inherent in making assumptions, I am willing to take those risks for the purposes of this review.

I am assuming that you have decided that there is more to life than you are presently experiencing. You have seen, heard about, or read about the small percentage of people who truly live the lives of their dreams. Something deep inside you has told you that you have a choice of doing nothing different in your life which means very little if anything is going to change.

The desire inside you to live more of the life you would like is strong enough to motivate you so you have decided to make the attempt at mastering your mind power and to improve your life. You have even realized that small changes are not sufficient. You have accepted the words of the Rich Dad of Robert Kiyosaki who said just living differently is not the solution. You must live the OPPOSITE of your present existence.

To identify what your OPPOSITE life would be, you have mapped out all of your present consistent thoughts, mental images, and beliefs that you would need to remove from your life. You have wrestled mightily with that thought because living OPPOSITE might mean giving up your present comfortable surroundings, which may include some of your friends and family, your present job, and certain relationships. It will certainly mean ceasing to engage in many, if not most, of the thoughts, ideas, and mental images that consistently register on the screen of your mind daily.

You probably now have a better understanding of how your self image (ego, personality, map of reality) developed and how it became a subconscious mental vault for most of your consistent beliefs. You know more about how your most of your beliefs really belonged to your parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, teachers, church members, and others in your environment from your past.

You realize they were in positions of influence and were able to succeed in passing their beliefs on to you. Since your mental faculties were not yet developed to the point where you could reason effectively and consciously filter out beliefs that did not serve you in a positive way, you simply accepted their beliefs as your own. Many of those beliefs from that time of long ago are still very much alive and still wielding their influence in your life today.

I assume you see how your self image is so very protective of your beliefs and will not readily allow any new incongruent thoughts and images to enter into your subconscious mind to become new beliefs. This is a huge paradox for you. To build a life that conforms to your dreams requires that you develop new (OPPOSITE) consistent thoughts, mental images, and beliefs. For that development to take place, you must find a way or ways to get those new (opposite) consistent thoughts, mental images, and beliefs past that tyrannical sentinel, the self image.

I am also assuming that you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, so you have, however reluctantly, identified at least some new consistent thoughts and beliefs you wish to make your own on your own. You have identified a process for change that includes a regimen of repeating affirmations. However unsure you may be, you begin!

This I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

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There is a really cool story about a guy in heaven who went to visit an old friend of his who, unfortunately, landed in hell.

He was completely surprised to find that the underworld had all the amenities you would expect to find in a great leisure community. His friend was so happy to see him. He took him all around and gave him a really nice tour. When it was time for lunch they went to the community restaurant. The spread was fabulous! Everything you could imagine was on the table and it looked great.

The only weird thing was the forks, which were about 2 ½ feet long. His friend said “This is the problem here.  We have to eat with these darn forks and we have to hold them at the end so we can never get the food in our mouths. It’s very frustrating.”

The guy from heaven watched as everybody wiggled and turned and did everything they could to get the food in their mouths but nobody was successful. And then, at the end of the lunch period, all the food suddenly disappeared and all the unhappy folks from hell wandered off to do their thing. After a bit and the downtrodden hell guy asks his heavenly friend what it is like up there.

The guy from heaven said actually everything was almost identical, even the long forks.  But in heaven, we use those forks to feed each other.

Now ask me about relationship compatibility. It always boils down to the same thing, the more you give, the better you live.

Someone asked an elderly lady who just celebrated her 50^th wedding anniversary what her secret formula was. When she first got married she decided she would write down 10 of her husbands flaws and always forgive him for those 10. However, she never got around to writing them down and anytime her husband did something wrong, she would say, “You’re lucky that’s one of the things that I promised to forgive you for.”

Real relationship compatibility is based on only one thing: love! The more love you give, the happier you will be.

Read more on http://www.lessonsforahappymarriage.com

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Most of the fears we experience are irrational. In other words, there is no valid reason that we should be influenced by them because they are not based on any real, physical event, person, or thing. The effect on the vast majority of people in our society, however, is poverty-mindedness and inability to enjoy the wealth that is all around. Fear is the single greatest reason that you and millions of other people have not and are not now living more of the lives you desire.

Irrational fear has become the filters through which your self image directs nearly every decision you make, especially if the decision involves finances. Irrational fear is a major factor that keeps 95% of the population either in poverty or struggling to live on paycheck to paycheck jobs. Since, in a the state of fear, calm, rational thinking is literally pushed aside, any decision you make in this state is generally not going to be in your best interest.

Obviously, in order for you to succeed at mastering your mind power and having more of the life you desire, some of your fears must be faced and overcome. Please do not despair. The overcoming of fear is not as difficult as it might sound, and I am not suggesting that you overcome all of your fears. Remember, some of them may be so deep seated that the services of a qualified, professional therapist might be required.

It is critical that you identify the fear or fears standing between you and your desires. Here is a process that worked for me. I began to consciously observe my reactions and feelings whenever (for example) money issues came up in conversations with my wife or other members of my family.

If something as simple as an extended vacation came up, I would begin to sense those fear feelings in the pit of my stomach that we would need the money that we would spend on the vacation for something more pressing, and I would produce various reasons why an extended vacation was not a good idea. If something as serious as starting a business or investing in capital properties entered our conversation, the fear of the possible loss of our hard-earned money would sometimes become so acute that I would have trouble sleeping at night. Keep in mind that I was earning a six figure income, but that did not deter the fear.

One day it dawned upon me that I had learned from my studies that I needed to focus on my desires more than I focused on fear. Once I began to consistently imagine the joy of seeing and visiting with my family, old friends, and new places, the fear of needing the money for something more pressing faded more and more. There really was nothing more pressing.

As for starting a business, I reasoned that by choosing the right kind of business, there were some tax breaks available to me. By taking advantage of them, I could possibly keep more of the earnings from my job and make a profit sooner from a business by learning and using good money management principles. In other words, the imagined gain and joy of achieving my desires became greater than the imagined fear.

You too must go through a process of your choosing to overcome the fear within you. Life on this planet is too short to give it over to fears, most of which do not exist in reality and never will. One of the saddest commentaries on human history is the abundant availability of great wealth but fear all too often succeeds in blinding us to the possibility of having that wealth.

However, this I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

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Who are you? What do you believe? What do you really need?

When we discover who we really are, we stop living on auto-pilot and start to live with intention, focus and purpose. Our choices become clearer. We begin to make active choices in our life, instead of making excuses or passively living with the status quo.

If you feel a disconnect between your work and your life, then maybe your initial plans haven’t been very successful at helping you carry out your passion about who you are, what you believe, or what you really need.

Think about these questions and consider actually writing down your answers. This gives your thoughts a permanent home, and once you have them out of your mind, you not only have a reference for what to work on, but you also have a clearer head to do so.

• What makes you happy?
• What ideas or thoughts do you have that you haven’t expressed?
• What do you value most?
• What unique gifts, talents and skills do you bring to the world? How are you using them (or not)?
• Who do you need to forgive? How about yourself?
• What beliefs are holding you back or getting in your way?
• What can you let go of in your life?
  

Be honest. Now is the time to start being candid about who you really are. Encouraging those unlived parts of ourselves to emerge can provide an exhilarating sense of discovery and optimism, a new source of energy to carry out your passion and define a new path for your career.

Why this matters…

Successful entrepreneurs know how important it is to stay connected to their dreams.

Performing this exercise when you’re feeling frazzled or out of touch can help you assess what’s missing and give you a clearer picture of your status. You can then begin to plan a new course or slightly deviate from the one you’re on to better connect your actions with your passions.

Have feedback?   I’d love to hear it.  Drop me a reply at joy [at] a25hourday.com.

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Faith is the most powerful of the emotions a human being experiences. Applied faith is the quickest and most definite way to move our lives toward what we desire. Although I believe the best working definition of faith is found in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1 of the Bible, I do not wish to necessarily infer a religious connotation. Faith, as referred to in this article, works equally for all.

The Biblical definition of faith is: FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN. I believe conclusions reached by many researchers in the field of Quantum Physics support this definition. While researching atoms, the building blocks of the Universe, these scientists have concluded that even though more and more particles are being discovered that are smaller that the atom, all of these particles are energy (including the atoms themselves. Everything in the physical world is made of energy.

Energy then is the very SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR. THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN consists of the images of the things you desire that you carry around in your mind. These images in your mind are unseen to everyone else until they are manifested in the physical world.

Most of us think of faith as a strong belief. It is much more than that, for even a strong belief is at times susceptible to being challenged by the self image. Faith is more of a law than a belief. As you may recall, a law, like the law of gravity, works automatically and unconditionally. For a belief to become faith means that the belief is so complete in your inner consciousness that your mind (thus the self image) no longer rejects it.

Anything that you desire to be, do or have must be attracted to you if you use the filter of faith through which you sustain focus on your desire. The mental images on which you focus (through faith), in your own mind, are the blueprints that the Universe uses to create your desires for you.

Here is more good news for you. Napoleon Hill states in his book Think And Grow Rich that faith is a state of mind which you may develop at will. He goes on to say: REPETITION OF AFFIRMATION OF ORDERS TO YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND IS THE ONLY KNOWN METHOD OF VOLUNTARY DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMOTION OF FAITH.

From this day forward, never look upon yourself as a person without power over your life. Never again allow yourself to think that life happens to you. You have everything you need right now for mastering the power of the mind, developing your faith, and for directing life, through the great Law of Attraction, to bring you what you desire.

This I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

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Each year millions of people around the world purchase inspirational, self-help books, programs, CDs, and DVDs. Thousands of them pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend lectures, speeches, boot camps, and seminars. It has been estimated by some sources that personal development is a 2.5 billion dollar industry. This certainly indicates that a large segment of the population of the world, perhaps you included, recognize the need and even hunger to gain greater control of the mind in order to experience life outcomes that are more in line with what we desire.

Yet only a relatively few people succeed in their quest. How can that be? I believe people really do want to improve. I believe you want to improve. Information and instructions on mastering your mind power from master teachers in the self-help field are readily available, much of it for free.

For modern generations, the preeminent self-help book is Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Mr. Hill identified 13 principles of success. Many if not most succeeding authors present some form of those principles. I am sure that people who attend lectures and seminars absorb as much as they can from the lessons.

The question I ask myself is just how much new information and instructions do the attendees allow to reach the subconscious levels of their minds? If the information that can help you re-direct your focus to consistent thoughts, ideas, and mental images that are aligned with your desires is not internalized, desirable outcomes will never materialize.

I am reminded of a statement made by a person who was about to embark on an attempt to row a boat around the world some years ago. A news person asked him if he was fearful that his relatively small boat could easily be sunk by the vast stretches of water. His response was that all of the water in all of the oceans of the world can not sink even the smallest row boat…unless it somehow gets inside, and it was his intent to keep water from getting inside his boat.

I believe this analogy highlights why more people are not making significant improvements in their lives. It is because too few new success principles and too little positive information is getting inside. The self image stands as a barrier to the subconscious mind with the intent of not allowing new and different thoughts, ideas, and mental images to get in. Therefore, the information, including success principles, is not being sufficiently internalized to make much of a difference.

Here is what you should know. You possess your mind. Even though you might not be in total control of it right now, it is still your mind; and it is in your sole possession. By consistently bringing the outcomes you wish to experience into your conscious mind, the self image must yield to you and gradually relinquish control of your mind to you.

More and more of the things and circumstances you wish to have and experience must be consciously carried around in your mind each day and night to improve the probability that they will become targets on which you focus and will be accepted and internalized by your subconscious mind.

This I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

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1.The Leader must aspire for more than what they have!

What is the point of entering the internet marketing scene if you don’t want to improve you standard of living, make life long friends and grow as a person? If you don’t want these 3, then don’t bother. If you don’t have a dream of what you would like your life to be like, get 1! Dreams are the beginnings of success.

2.The leader must have a superior mindset to those that they lead!

Your affiliates learn directly from you. For this reason you must have the best possible mindset. If you are negative all the time how can you expect your downline to be productive? Be positive! Always look for new ways to better yourself and your team. Show them how exciting the industry really is, otherwise you will end up sad and broke!

3.The leader is responsible and admits when they have made a mistake!

When you spend all your money on PPC advertising, using the wrong keywords because you haven’t done your research and you don’t get anywhere, don’t go complaining to your sponsor because they told you to use PPC advertising! Look at yourself every time something doesn’t go as planned and ask “why did this happen the way it did and what can I do to fix this”? Take the blame and learn from it! Don’t pass the buck, hit the books! You will only be successful if you admit your faults and learn from them.

4.The leader is a decision maker!

If you see an opportunity, exploit it! To get anywhere in this industry you must make decisions. Don’t hold back because you are afraid to commit! You must be willing to take risks in this business, be that purchasing a product to help you or spending your time trying something new. Just because you are unsure doesn’t mean you should not take action. Do your research, ask your upline and if it is sound, go for it!

5.The leader puts those they lead first!

If you are selfish and won’t help your own team you wont make a single cent! Every day, go out of your way to help those in your downline! They are the ones that will bring you success, every time you help them, you are helping yourself. Sometimes we all get greedy and don’t want to share something because of fear that we will no longer benefit from it. This is the worst possible attitude to have! Share everything you learn. Treat your people as they deserve to be treated and this alone will skyrocket your profits.

6.The leader sets the example by leading the troops into battle!

Make no mistake about it, you are competing against a massive market. There are millions of people making money off the internet that don’t want to see you succeed. The onus is on you to make the decisions needed to get ahead. Show your people what you are doing and why you do it. They need to learn from experience so provide them with it! Every time you try something, let them know how it goes so they don’t waste their time and money!

7.The leader displays integrity and character!

If you do the dodgy, what sort of example are you setting to your people? If they see you doing something wrong and your benefiting from it, they will do it, and before we all know it, the industry is in disrepute and no one wants a part of it! Be truthful and don’t lie to someone when they ask you a question. If you don’t know, tell them you’ll find the answer and get back to them.

Make sure you show your personality. Don’t reply to an email with a one word answer. Get to know your people and interact, create a relationship! Without this you are simply a name on a screen. Once you start to build friendships you will be amazed to notice your profits growing!

8.The leader strives for success!

Don’t do anything by halves. If your not going to do it properly, don’t do it at all. If people see bad work they will pay no attention. You will waste your time and money unless you use all the tools you have to make the best possible product. NEVER give up! The second you put down tools and walk away, all your hard work is lost! The industry is a hard egg to crack, but once you crack it, it’s the best darn egg you’ll ever eat!

9.The leader strives for personal growth!

If you think you are perfect I suggest you go challenge god to a duel. Everyone can better themselves! There are so many resources on self improvement on the internet its not funny! Use all of these to your advantage. As you grow as a person, your business will follow suit. The way you react to situations, the way you converse with people, the way you look at something and the way you see yourself are all things you can improve to give yourself the “edge” in the industry!

10.The leader is the definition of persistence and determination!

When time get tough…and they will, it is the leader who pushes forward! The leader does not take “NO” for an answer. The leader is constantly moving forward and giving no ground to the enemy! Who is the enemy? FAILURE! Let failure retreat. The leader is determined to be successful and will not fail! Look at yourself in the mirror and ask “am I a leader”?

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Each one of us at some point in our lives is faced with adversity. It might be an adversity that is so monumental and horrific as to defy description. It has been my experience that so-called small adversities never seem to come knocking. All of them, at least for a time, seem so large as to look insurmountable. Nearly all of them in some way have a financial basis.

For most people, the response is automatic and predictable. As soon as an adversity appears the ever lurking fear, in which Robert Kiyosaki says is deeply ingrained into the non-rich 95% of the population, seizes the opportunity, takes control, and projects the adversity as a larger than life presence. Other emotions that are closely associated with fear also show up. Thinking becomes cloudy. The bodily fight or flight systems activate to some degree. Physical discomforts are also a possibility.

Have you ever asked yourself why people are so greatly effected by what are mostly irrational fears? I certainly did not ask myself that question for many, many years. I just thought it was the natural thing to do. Even more years passed before I received my answer.

It came to me one day while I was doing some clean up on my car with the trunk of the car open. My four year old grandson was serving as my help mate. In the trunk was a pair of binoculars that my help mate wanted to explore. As he looked through them, he said what he was seeing was fuzzy. He asked me to help him see clearly. I chose a target and adjusted the zoom until the target was clearly in view.

It was then that my answer flashed into my mind. Focus. While I was focused on my target through those binoculars, the target was all that I could really see, and the target is what occupied my conscious mind. I did not consciously see anything else but the target because anything that was fuzzy or only slightly perceptible, I disregarded. Focus is the key that led to my understanding of why adversities loom so large.

Allegorically, the self image uses irrational fear as its binoculars when adversity appears. As you focus on the adversity through fear, all other thoughts and ideas become fuzzy and are pushed into the background. Only the adversity is crystal clear, looming larger than life. The longer you focus on it, the larger it seems. Various scenarios, driven by the fear, probably flash across your mind, each of which has a seemingly dreadful outcome.

Here is a question for you. Since none of these fear-driven destinations is what you desire, why would you continue to focus on any of them? What prevents you from changing your focus? In truth, nothing can prevent you from re-directing your focus if you decide to do so. By mastering the power of the mind, you have the power available to focus on any thought, idea, or mental image you want!

Stop focusing on the adversity. Instead, focus on what you desire. By presenting to your mind an end result that you desire and by choosing to use PMA (a positive mental attitude) as allegorical binoculars, your desire takes center stage in your mind. The longer you focus on it, the larger it grows. You will be amazed how quickly the fear and its related thoughts fade farther and farther into the background.

This I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

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Truths are remarkable things.  We claim something is true, thus it is – for a little while at least.

How many things do you really know?  A thousand things? A million? How about a billion?
And of these things that you ‘know’, do you really know them? Or did someone else tell you that they were true or are they assumptions made after observations?
Facts and figures (true and false) are infinite.  Even the best word smith, trivia buff or collegiate professor cannot honestly claim to know but a little knowledge.  Common sense often helps us fill in the gaps between what we ‘know’ and what we can grasp, which definitely works in our favor.  The truth about us and our limited knowledge does not have to be a hindrance to us, it should instead encourage us to grow and learn more about ourselves, our world, our universe, and the stuff we haven’t even begun to name yet.

Consider this for just a moment;
1. The deeds of the great and the terrible are recorded according to whoever is most victorious in battle, should we really consider their perception as unbiased?  The record of events is often times presented differently to different peoples of different countries and cultures, yet we are generally only exposed to the one deemed ‘correct’ by those currently in power.  Was Hitler an evil person, or a great leader, or maybe even both?  What would the classrooms be teaching today if he had been more successful in his endeavor of world domination?
2. Science, the great study of all things in a supposedly unbiased way, has often come to ‘truths’ that were flawed or wildly inaccurate as well.  Is the world flat?  What really happened to the dinosaurs?  Is global warming real?  Do aliens exist?  Many ‘truths’ are expounded for these topics and millions of others, which are really true?  Does popular belief constitute truth?
3. Ever heard of the ‘new math’?  Was the ‘old math’ wrong?
4. Americans are the best!!  Have you ever asked peoples from another country what they think of Americans?

We obviously need to know things.  History teaches us mistakes to avoid and challenges we must face.  Science is simply a method of growth.  It’s ok for us to get it wrong, we are still learning as a whole.  Facts, figures, and “truths” are all around us.  Some might really be true, but many are flawed or biased.  Sometimes it matters, other times it is sufficient as it is.  Question the ‘truths’ that you hold and accept the true fact that you and ‘they’ might be wrong, and remember that’s it’s perfectly ok to be wrong (and you probably are…).

We know millions and billions of facts.  Our knowledge is deep and rich.
At least we say it is …..

Popularity: 14% [?]

Even though I am well aware of the risks inherent in making assumptions, I am willing to take those risks for the purposes of this review.

I am assuming that you have decided that there is more to life than you are presently experiencing. You have seen, heard about, or read about the small percentage of people who truly live the lives of their dreams. Something deep inside you has told you that you have a choice of doing nothing different in your life which means very little if anything is going to change.

The desire inside you to live more of the life you would like is strong enough to motivate you so you have decided to make the attempt at mastering your mind power and to improve your life. You have even realized that small changes are not sufficient. You have accepted the words of the Rich Dad of Robert Kiyosaki who said just living differently is not the solution. You must live the OPPOSITE of your present existence.

To identify what your OPPOSITE life would be, you have mapped out all of your present consistent thoughts, mental images, and beliefs that you would need to remove from your life. You have wrestled mightily with that thought because living OPPOSITE might mean giving up your present comfortable surroundings, which may include some of your friends and family, your present job, and certain relationships. It will certainly mean ceasing to engage in many, if not most, of the thoughts, ideas, and mental images that consistently register on the screen of your mind daily.

You probably now have a better understanding of how your self image (ego, personality, map of reality) developed and how it became a subconscious mental vault for most of your consistent beliefs. You know more about how your most of your beliefs really belonged to your parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, teachers, church members, and others in your environment from your past.

You realize they were in positions of influence and were able to succeed in passing their beliefs on to you. Since your mental faculties were not yet developed to the point where you could reason effectively and consciously filter out beliefs that did not serve you in a positive way, you simply accepted their beliefs as your own. Many of those beliefs from that time of long ago are still very much alive and still wielding their influence in your life today.

I assume you see how your self image is so very protective of your beliefs and will not readily allow any new incongruent thoughts and images to enter into your subconscious mind to become new beliefs. This is a huge paradox for you. To build a life that conforms to your dreams requires that you develop new (OPPOSITE) consistent thoughts, mental images, and beliefs. For that development to take place, you must find a way or ways to get those new (opposite) consistent thoughts, mental images, and beliefs past that tyrannical sentinel, the self image.

I am also assuming that you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, so you have, however reluctantly, identified at least some new consistent thoughts and beliefs you wish to make your own on your own. You have identified a process for change that includes a regimen of repeating affirmations. However unsure you may be, you begin!

This I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Even though I have spent significant time talking about using a rubber band as an efficient, effective tool for subduing tail enders as you work toward mastering your mind power using affirmations, there are other tools that are available and effective. Some of these tools include EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), self hypnosis, professionally administered hypnosis, the use of subliminal media, visualization, various positive immersion workshops, and retreats.

There are probably even other tools that I know nothing about. Perhaps you already have your own. If do and if it is effective in subduing the tail enders to the degree that you are able to get new consistent thoughts, ideas, mental images, and beliefs into your subconscious mind, by all means use it.

I have also used self hypnosis and EFT to help me handle tail enders. I do not believe I ever learned to use self hypnosis properly as I did not obtain any noticeable success with it. With EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), however, my success rate was substantial. This tool teaches a technique of tapping certain areas of the body with your fingers.

The premise of the founder of EFT is that all negative emotions are the result of disruptions to the electrical system of the body. Immediately tapping on prescribed locations, in a prescribed way at the time of the disruption brings the body back into balance. In the state of balance, conditions are much superior for your subconscious mind to be receptive to your affirmations. The key is to tap while the tail ender is present and you physically feel the disruption.

My difficulty with EFT is when tail enders appear at work, at social gatherings, or other public places, tapping often generates stares, comments, questions about what you are doing, and even jokes. Any of those responses may produce more tail enders. At a minimum, you might feel some embarrassment, which is another form of tail ender.

If you are unable to tap immediately in these settings, the electrical disruption subsides but the body remains unbalanced. At a later time as soon as you are in comfortable surroundings, You should mentally re-play the situation that produced the tail ender to elicit some degree of the electrical disruption to your body that you experienced earlier and perform the tapping sequence to restore balance.

One of the reasons I prefer the rubber band technique is I can do it any time and nearly any place. I just need to be able to snap my wrist with the rubber band sufficiently hard to become acutely aware of the impact. In that instant, my focus on the tail ender stops. That brief moment presents me with my moment of power, during which I can refocus on any thought, idea, or mental image I choose, including my affirmation.

I am not aware of any tool that is 100% effective for 100% of the people who use it. Different people respond differently to different tools. Ultimately, you must test and you must choose what works effectively for you.

This, however, I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Are you lost? Searching?… I was, but maybe my experience can help you make sense of your own situation.

About me

I’m not someone who is easily convinced about anything and am of the philosophy if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. So first, let me give you a little information about myself. I am in my forties, married with one child. I am employed as a Fire-Captain/Paramedic in a suburb of Chicago. I have been on the job for about 26 years. I tell you this because I think I am a pretty average normal guy and have at least been around the block once or twice – I hope! Eight years ago, if I would have heard someone say they were “saved” I would have thought they were some kind of religious freak. So, bear with me! If you have found this article, I now truly believe there is a greater reason you are reading it.

Who did I write this article for? Well . . .

First, if you are a bible scholar, then I am sure you will soon be painfully aware that you are not reading an article that measures up to your caliber. I am writing this for people who, maybe like I did, feel lost or feel as though something is missing in their lives. Also possibly, for the new believer who’s life has been affected or changed in such a way that they feel “compelled” to investigate this new conviction and need some direction.

This article isn’t for . . .

As I stated earlier, it is neither for the bible scholar nor for the debater or “my faith is better than your faith” person. I am an “average Joe” and offer this only for those people who find themselves in a situation similar to mine – 8 years ago. I am only equipped to defend my own position and beliefs. This is my personal story plus some helpful (I hope) advice – So now is the time to turn back if you think reading this will be too painful!

My Story

One morning, about 8 years ago, while I was driving to work, I was going through my usual routine of trying either to find a good morning talk radio show or music station with a song I wanted to hear. I came to a busy intersection and had to make a left turn into traffic to proceed on my route. Just before I made the turn, I pressed the scan button on my radio and it landed on a religious station. I remember thinking “Oh Brother”, and that “as soon as I make this turn I’m going to turn this nonsense off!” But, ‘something’ the guy who was talking said, caught my attention and I felt compelled to leave it on. The person who was speaking was Pastor Greg Laurie. I remember thinking this guy is pretty funny and also thinking most of what he was saying really seemed to make sense.

Let me back up a little at this point…

My wife and I had recently experienced tragedies that had either personally touched our lives or touched the lives of our close relatives and we had begun to question subjects like our life purpose, beliefs, and faith – or should I say lack there of it. Each day, listening to this guy (Pastor Greg) really hit home and I found myself really looking forward to hearing his show. On his broadcasts, he would share personal stories about his life and I learned that, compared to where he was now in his life, he had come from a very different path. He was very funny and presented his sermons on the level with no sugar coating. I was able to relate to a lot of what he said. Most of the guys I work with or my friends are straight talkers – no bull. And as I listened to this guy, I could tell he was giving it to me straight. Many times when I listened, I felt as though he was speaking directly to me. There would be sermons he presented discussing subjects or questions that were almost identical to the subjects and questions my wife and I had been discussing recently and often in just the previous night’s conversation. Many times, I would call my wife and tell her to turn his broadcast on and listen. I would say something like, “you’re not going to believe what Pastor Greg is talking about right now!” I also began to feel like I was starting to get some direction in my own life. There was a point at the end of each show where Pastor Greg would ask if the listeners wanted to say a “prayer” regarding a request. Well I always felt compelled from day one to do it, but I initially didn’t, mainly because of my previous faith background. Well one day at the end of one of his shows, I said the prayer and made the request that Pastor Greg stated. I repeated the prayer and it changed my life. Now there weren’t fireworks or lightening bolts, but a peace came over me, like a weight lifted off my shoulders and I knew in my heart that I had made the right decision. I also felt a wave of emotion that sort of took me by surprise.

I’m not Mr. Emotional mostly because of my upbringing. My dad – don’t get me wrong –is a good guy; he was a sergeant in the army and then in construction, but I don’t think he ever lost that sergeant thing! He always kind of ran our household like a mini boot camp and sayings like “I’ll give you something to cry about!” taught my brother and I early in life to “suck it up” and move on. But when I said the prayer and the first time I shared my story with a pastor at my church, it really got to me. I didn’t really understand it then, but I do now! As you grow in your faith, you too will increasingly understand the stakes involved and the cost of the gift offered to you.

Saved?….

For the new Christian, you have heard and should understand this term, but for the person who is searching, you may not understand this term or many of the other terms you will begin to hear. But hang in there, it will shortly become very apparent how many of these terms will apply to your new Christian life. That day, I repeated the prayer Pastor Laurie stated and I was saved. Now if you’re new or searching, don’t get nervous . . . just hang in there and keep reading, it will soon make more sense. There was no mystery and the prayer was all I needed to meet the requirements of being “Saved”. OK! Here was the context of what I said; I repeated: “Lord Jesus I know I’m a sinner, but I believe you died on the cross for me. I turn now from my sin and receive you as my Savior and my Lord and I choose to follow you from this day forward. Thank you for calling me and accepting me. In Jesus’ name I pray.” It was and IS that simple. I meant it from my heart! Meaning…everything in me told me it was right. I said it, meant it, and I felt relieved. As I stated, there weren’t fireworks or lightning bolts, but I felt a peace in my life, a relief. It changed my life.

It changed my life . . . . .

When I say it changed my life, I don’t mean it was immediate and I surely do not mean I picked up a sign, grew a beard and started yelling at people through a megaphone. But I do have to say that if today, I saw someone doing what I describe in that scenario, the bearded guy and megaphone, I wouldn’t think less of that person. Although it might not be the method I would use to get the message out, it might be the method someone else feels convicted to use and I wouldn’t think he or she were strange. Well, maybe she – with the beard thing – just kidding! In general, here’s how it did change my life. Instead of living a selfish life, pursuing my own desires, I started to try and live my life for others. Instead of trying to fill that gap in my life with financial pursuits, parties and the next “good time”, I started to look at what was really important in life.

As for God, I always believed in God, but I thought of Him as very distant from me. I thought of Him more like a Judge with a good and bad list. Each of our names headed a list and there were check marks in the bad and good columns of each person’s list. I always hoped that if my time came, that I would have enough checks in the good column and be able to “get in”. I felt that God was “up there” somewhere watching me and if I screwed up, he would shake his head and place a mark in the bad column of my list. If I did pray, it was half hearted or more along the lines of “if you can do this for me, I will never do that” or “remember when I did that ‘good deed’, now I need something.” It was often a bargain session, rather than true prayer. There was always a gap and I felt like I could never measure up, but I now know God has filled that gap. God made the ultimate sacrifice and provided the answer to that problem in His Son. I also learned that, to my surprise, God isn’t looking for the perfect person and he most often uses the “second string”, the common and many times broken man to accomplish his greatest work.

Many other things changed and continue to change in my life. Don’t get me wrong though. Does this mean that everything started to go great in my life and I became a “choir boy”? NO! I did get on solid ground and had a more clear direction. I made peace with God, but in some ways, my life got complicated. Overall my life has become more fulfilling and peaceful. I try, with God’s help, everyday to live for Him and others. Try is the key word here; if anyone tells you they are the poster child for the perfect Christian- you probably want to steer clear of them. I’ve heard it said and I subscribe to it – “put your faith in God, not men”. Look to God for your Christian life example and you will continue on the right path. I have learned that serving God by serving others is how you begin to live a Godly life. Also, that moderation in some things and elimination of others is how you stay on the right path. If you have trouble with moderation in any given area of your life, you need to eliminate that problem. Now, I could give you specific examples or opinions of things you should avoid, but I would risk being a hypocrite. For me, I can give you an example I have expressed to some friends and guys I work with. “I don’t think God, my creator, is happy when I drink, get drunk, and act foolish.” As I said, this is an example of mine. I unquestionably am the last one to pick up stones and start launching them. I will say however, I now do believe that if you have a buddy (brother) who has difficulty with moderation in this or any other area, you should help him by not causing him to stumble because of your actions. Also, let’s face it. If you are reading this article, you’re no dummy. I mean, you apparently have the basic skills down. Therefore, I believe you are also smart enough to know that moderation is moderation. In view of that you know, some things in life do not fall into the category of any “-RATION”. For me, now I have an understandable “life guide” to go to for advice on most anything this life has to throw at you. You should try it! Previously, when I would hear people say that the bible was an old book and out of touch with today’s life style, I would have somewhat bought into that philosophy! That was until I actually read it and then realized the old adage, “history tends to repeats itself”, is as true today as in biblical times. Many of the problems and issues we face today were also present in biblical times.

OK, here are some things that helped me as a new believer…

Read your bible! When I became a Christian I began reading the bible. In addition to reading the bible, I also tried to find a bible study, but I was very apprehensive because I knew my knowledge of the bible was almost non-existent. I was “fortunate” to know a guy at work who I considered religious. I thought of him in this way because I formerly believed that anyone who would even utter the name Jesus Christ in public must be “very religious”. Well, this friend from work introduced me to a man named Hank from his church and the three of us had an informal bible study for about a year. The study, along with guidance I received from Hank, really helped me in my faith walk and helped me find a church. Regarding the bible, I would suggest that you get a copy of the NIV Study Bible or a Life Application Study Bible. At times in my life, before I became a Christian, I would feel lost and think maybe there is something in the bible that can help. I would then pick up a copy of the King James Version bible that we had collecting dust on our book shelve, and try to make some sense of it. Well for me, the language they used made an already unfamiliar book, even harder to understand. Needless to say, my reading session would be very short and unproductive. Now, I read either the NIV Study Bible or the Life Application Study Bible. If you are searching, I suggest you get one of these versions and start in the book of John. (Gospel of John)

You will find as you read the bible, on the surface that in many chapters, this book wasn’t necessarily written as a “feel good” book and many times leaves you with more questions than answers. Also, it often appears we/people (I’m included in that we) have the “what’s in it for me” mentality. Well again, on the surface this isn’t a great advertisement for that – which in my opinion makes my faith in this book even stronger. Because the bible is a no frills, no sugar coating, in your face kind of book, people do not want to accept it. Most of us want to believe we are in control of our own destiny. Well, the gift God offers us is free – all we have to do is accept it! It’s that simple, but He is not going to make you accept it. It’s a choice that we are going to have to make and in a world where absolutes seem grayer and grayer everyday, I think many people think it can’t be that black and white or simple. There are only two answers to the offer extended, yes or no, but it’s your choice.

You may think why doesn’t God just give us a taste of the “good life”? I believe if God had given us a crystal clear window into what our afterlife would be like, it would be too easy and our choice would be skewed. We wouldn’t be making a decision based on faith or belief; we would be making it on the “OH! I see what’s in it for me attitude!” I believe that He has given us a view and if we are really seeking HIM, He will reveal it. He states it best in his own words: Revelation 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in, and eat with him, and he with me.” OR John 3: 16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Attending a Christian Church

First of all, it is going to be different! What I mean is, if you have never attended a Christian (Protestant) Faith based church it will seem strange. The language you will hear might and/or will seem overboard, weird, cultish. I have a hard time explaining exactly how I initially perceived the first Christian Protestant faith church I attended, but here are some examples of things I would see or hear that made me uncomfortable because at the time, I really didn’t understand my faith. First, I would see people raising their hands and swaying back and forth when they sang praise songs and I would hear them sometimes shout out various phrases during a sermon, like “Praise Jesus” or “Amen”. Initially, I would think “man, that’s kind of weird!” “Am I in the right place?” Are these people just trying to put on some kind of act?” Then there was the “weird” way they talked the terms or phrases they used either while singing or in conversation. Things like “we are all washed in His blood”. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus can save us”. “Can you feel His Spirit?” “We are all crucified in Christ”. “His Spirit is moving in you right now!”

I really can’t remember everything, but those were the highlights. Now if you were raised as a Christian, things like this are familiar and normal to you, but for me, this just added to my confusion over my new found faith. Since I have grown in my own faith, I now understand these actions and this “lingo”. Before, I would have thought this stuff bordered on over the top freak cult behavior. I’m now ashamed to say it, but I would have categorized people like this as “Jesus freaks” and I would have steered clear of these people. I now can tell you that although I may not act or speak entirely as many of my Christian brothers and sisters do (see I just did it!) I totally understand the actions and each day understand more of the “lingo”. I now know why people are raising their hands and what it means to have His Spirit move you. I was formerly of a different faith, and mostly only a Christmas and Easter attendee. You may have heard the term or joke people would use when asked what faith they were and they would say they were “Chreasters”. That was how I would describe my faith to people and again I am ashamed to say that I actually thought that it was funny to use that line. After I was saved, I did attend my former church, but for ME I believed I needed to find another church. When I listened to the message I found it vague and had a hard time applying it to my life. In my own experience, I can tell you that if I sang a song at my former church, I would kind of just mouth the words with a lot of the other attendees. Now as I stated earlier, I understand how people can be moved to really show their feelings for God during worship. Today when I worship at Sunday Services, while singing praise songs, sometimes I get choked up because the words point to how much I have been freely given and I have to stop singing because I really am being moved by His Spirit. There are times now where I have either said or done things that I never would have in my “former life”; for instance, sharing my faith with a friend who is experiencing a low point in their lives. I now ask for guidance and, if I can get out of the way long enough and allow God to work through me, He will provide that guidance, not only in my request, but also in all areas of my life.

There is no perfect church

It’s been said there is no perfect church and if there was, you or I wouldn’t be members there, if you get my drift! But, you will find, like anything in life, there are going to be things you like and dislike. Unfortunately, if you answered that persistent knocking at the door later in your life, as opposed to being born into it, there are going to be people who think of you as a “Johnny come lately”. You may find it’s initially hard to relate to the “Christian Scene” and therefore feel like you don’t fit in. You have to remember this is a “two way street”. You may also find tight knit groups that may not allow you into the inner circle. That being said, you have to remember why you are there. It’s not for any other reason but to serve God. So get involved, volunteer, serve, just give freely of yourself just as He gave freely of himself. Pray to God to bring people into your life that will help you in your new found faith and He will! Get into a bible study. When we searched for a church, we used Pastor Greg’s number one rule of advice. Find a bible- based Church that teaches from the bible and adheres to biblical principles. We looked for a church following this principle and one that would help our child grow in faith. Ask the experts, go online, do a little research. We attended several churches until we finally chose a church. I would suggest you do the same.

In conclusion

As I stated, I wrote this for the person who is searching or who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior but is thinking now what? I have only scratched the surface, but I felt “moved” to do this! In the fire service, we use the acronym KISS which stands for “keep it simple stupid”. So that’s what I have tried to do. I could hit you with a lot of catch phrases and terminology that would probably just cause confusion or add to your frustration. So I have kind of given you a blue-collar view. If you are trying to sort this all out, first pray about it! Really, if you are truly seeking and praying about it, you will be amazed at how God answers your prayers!

Second, listen to Christian radio and find a good pastor on the radio. As I said, I really love Pastor Greg Laurie. You can cut and paste this link into your browser to go to his website www.harvest.org. I feel God really uses him to reach people. His shows are powerful and additionally you can listen to him either on his website or download his pod cast. He never talks down to you and his messages are a benefit to all believers, regardless of your stage as a believer.

Third, get into a good church. A church that teaches from the bible and adheres to its principles.

Lastly, read your bible. Some people say it’s an old book with old ideas and problems. Well, read it and you be the judge. It seems to me we are still repeating the same mistakes of ancient times. It also seems apparent to me that if we would just follow the advice given in this book, we might find that life is a great deal easier, but again, you be the judge. I suggest you start in the book of John. (Gospel of John)

Popularity: 13% [?]

Male Survivors know rage intimately. Rage can be a resource or a detriment. It can be harnessed with skill or consistently be used as an inappropriate defense mechanism. Some men may bask in it and others may be terrified of the emotion, afraid of how it could negatively manifest. Either way the explosive nature has its roots in the violation.

When you are forced to do something against your will, you feel powerless. As an adult, this can show up by approaching the world from a place of

1. Being meek and severely introverted or
2. Having a violent temper and addiction to chaos.

Rage can be oppressively apparent, like a heat source in your body. That in itself can feel powerful. However, do you know how to harness its force?

Hurting Those We Care For

Many times it can be used against those we love in the worst moments. And it scares them. A lot. Outbursts of rage can be followed by the intense guilt of hurting someone close to you. Paradoxically you may be defensive of expressing the rage as it releases the sense of victimization that is ever so present.

A Sense of Empowerment

The sense of empowerment can bring up confusion as to why you would ever want to let it go. It’s as if there is a bond between your body and mind that feels very alive, ready to take on the world. The fear, usually so present, is absent during this time. However, this freedom is short-lived or carries its own sense of overwhelm.

The empowerment is real but its negative impact on others is the problem; the very thing you need to avoid as the repercussions spin you into a cycle of abuse. Guilt and shame may follow an outburst making you feel isolated and misunderstood. You may set yourself up to repeatedly rage at close loved ones in order to complete this cycle, only to find yourself pushing away those who matter most and creating a reputation of a ticking time bomb.

Riding the Rage’s Wave

There is a way to use rage in an incredibly creative capacity. There is the option to transform the essence of the feeling into a deep understanding of how you connect with others and yourself on an emotional level.

Do you notice the followings states accompanying an experience of rage?

*Hypervigilance: This is when your awareness of your surroundings is heightened to notice a pin dropping. You are prepared to attack anything and anyone who seems to be a threat.

*Severe Overwhelm: This results when the rage hits a tipping point or peak and stays there. You have a difficult time not feeling pissed off about everything. Its not that you want to be the center of the storm but you feel you have no choice in the matter.

*Bitterness: All who have wronged you are in sharp focus. You revisit the past going through tapes of past hurts and pains ranging from embarrassing to dire humiliation. You play out in your mind how you would take revenge on these perpetrators.

Perhaps even reading the above indications can bring up an uncomfortable sense in your body. Know that the raw emotion itself is not the problem but how you attach it to thoughts and past situations that bring the upheaval.

Hold On a Minute…

“This feeling of rage has so much power. Why would I want to let that go (rid myself of it, suppress it, etc.?”

The raw essence of rage isn’t the issue, it’s the misuse of power you exalt towards others that is the problem. Remember this power dynamic is exactly what was happening when you were abused. The reason why expressing this anger (without holding anything back) feels so good is because you weren’t able to do it at the time of the abuse.

However you can learn how to create healthy boundaries without causing harm or detriment to your close relationships. The goal is to take you out of the roles of victim and perpetrator altogether.

“I don’t get how you can use rage creatively. That doesn’t seem possible.”

When you are in the midst of rage channeling it constructively may not seem possible. There are many ways to bring awareness to the raw feeling so that when you feel the first inclinations of it happening you have a functional system in place. This will provide you with options and choices of how to work with rage successfully.

By tapping into these new avenues of being with rage you create solutions that fit the situation and environment. Imagine being able to take that power and use it towards something that not only benefits yourself, but others as well.

“I’m afraid that if I feel this rage I will spin out of control. I don’t trust myself when it comes up.”

The crucial word in here is trust. Your trust was violated at the time of the abuse. That distrust can transfer onto your own feeling states and ways of acting “out of control”. The purpose of working with rage is not about confronting it but rather befriending the emotion so that you are using its power instead of the rage draining yours.

When you are able to use a systematic approach to feeling rage and using it beneficially you also are able to access other emotional states (some for the very first time) that enable you to deepen your intimate relationships and be in line with your life’s work.

Steps to Working with Rage

1. Slow down and breathe. When you get triggered into a rage state you may go on auto-pilot ready to lash out at those around you. Remember no one can take this feeling away from you but you will need to maintain control of it.

Excuse yourself from the situation, find a quiet place and close your eyes. Take deep breaths in and exhale slowly out of your mouth. While you do this monitor where you feel the rage in your body and keep sending breath there.

2. Get Physical.  Go for a walk or hike, preferably out in nature. If you can’t do this because of the situation try and do some form of cardio-vascular exercise (push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks) for even two minutes. This will help to move the emotion to a new state.

3. Create without Judgment. This is different for everyone. Write, journal, draw, paint, play guitar, sing. The purpose here is not to work on something formal or to get caught up in whether or not you are “creative”.

Just go for it with no end result in mind. When you were in kindergarten you were an artist. You didn’t need to prove anything. You didn’t wonder whether something was good or not. You just did it. If one creative process doesn’t work for you try another.

Regardless of what you do for a living this will give you inspiration for how you are in the world. The freedom to create without boundaries can help catapult you towards healing in a way you never thought possible.

What’s Next?

Subscribe to my free newsletter at http://healingthesurvivor.com/ for more helpful information on how to deal effectively with the feeling states that accompany sexual trauma.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Body and verbal language can be confusing. But what message are your clothes sending? Sometimes we don’t know what are clothing is saying about our inner selves. Do you need a makeover or color consultant? If you said, “yes,” then this article is for you. I know that the issues than men and women face are different when it comes to fashion, so I’ve written two different articles to address the issues; one for men and one for women. This article is “Style for Men.”

I know that most men do not think as much about fashion as most women, but that doesn’t make it any less important. In order to make the right impression on your boss or potential partner, wearing the right style for men is important. As a color consultant, I want to tell you how important choosing the right tones really are. To figure out the right colors for you, first take a look at your natural contrast. If you have dark hair and light skin and dark or medium eyes, you have a high contrast look. If you have medium-brown hair, medium-light skin and medium-dark eyes, you are a medium contrast person. Lastly, you are a low-contrast look if your hair, skin and eyes are softly blended, such as blonde hair, light blue eyes and light skin. If your coloring is dark, look at the contrast of your hair, skin and eye color and compare that to the whites of your eyes and teeth. If your teeth or eyes are bright white, it is high contrast with your complexion, soft bone to soft gray would be medium contrast and deeper gray or beige is low contrast. Now that you’ve figured out your natural contrast, it is time to pick the right colors for you.

As a color consultant, I know that style for men (or anyone for that matter) can be difficult. There are so many shades and tones to choose from. When you pick clothes, keep your natural contrast in mind. Men with high contrast can wear color combinations that are also high contrast, like black and white or dark brown and ivory. Medium contrast looks can wear what would be the equivalent to the values of brown mixed with camel or brown and orange. Low contrast looks need to shoot for very blended looks and can wear values of ivory and peach or black and brown.

How does your contrast help you make the right statement? If you wear something that is too high-contrast for you look, people will notice is what you are wearing, not you. Another mistake made in style for men is choosing an outfit that is too low contrast. If you do this, people will not see you. Any color consultant will tell you that choosing the right contrast is important in communicating the right message.

Another thing you want to keep in mind when choosing the right style for men is to wear what best represents your personality. This means choosing not only appropriate colors, but the right patterns, textures and accessories. Sure this seems complicated at first. A trade secret of every color consultant is go with what you feel most comfortable wearing. If you are a real outgoing, go-getter and want to send that message, make sure you dress the part. Wear patterns, colors and accessories that fit with your contrast and draw lots of attention. If you try to tone down your personality by choosing an inappropriate style for men (such as pastels); people will feel confused and betrayed to find out that you are not a pastel kind of a guy. Conversely, if you are a calmer, more introverted man, choosing a flashier look to draw attention to yourself may backfire. The best suggestion I can give you as a color consultant is to wear some subtle eye-catching accessories that make a statement without overpowering your natural energy.

Style for men does not need to be difficult. As a color consultant, I advise you to dress to make the best statement possible. That means choose the right look that fits with your contrast. That way you will be noticed for you and not just your outfit. Also remember the importance of dressing to express your true self. Any color consultant will tell you, the people you meet make assumptions about who you are by the type of style for men you choose. Make sure you give them the right impression and make a statement that will help you get ahead.

About the Author

Jennifer Butler is the leading expert in the sociology of style, color and make over. Her experience lies in the art of visual communication. Jennifer leverages over 35 years in the fashion industry and degrees in sociology and art history. www.jenniferbutlercolor.com

Popularity: 18% [?]

Do you fear public speaking, or work situations such as giving a presentation or negotiating a raise, or even simply approaching an attractive member of the opposite sex? Do you have an overall lack of confidence? This article is for you! Here comes an incredibly easy “mind game” with powerful results.

Confidence! We all want that in our lives, the assurance and calmness and clarity of mind that comes from knowing we can do it! This quick technique is one we can utilize to combat those “lack-of-confidence” feelings that may arise in any particular setting and enable us to trust and believe in our own capability. This is a fantastically powerful NLP™ process (NLP™ stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming™, learn more about it by clicking this link: NLP™, http://www.mindworkshypnosis.net/mindworks_nlp.html.) It’s known as: “The New Behavior Generator.” You’re creating an internal road map of how to be confident, utilizing unconscious learning.

Follow these simple steps, in your mind, if you will!

1. 1. Think about a very specific situation in which you’d like to feel more confident. Think about the context. Where and with whom would you like to feel more confident? How would it be to be more confident? Would it be appropriate to feel more confident?

2. 2. Identify someone that you can use as a role model, someone you believe demonstrates the confidence you would like to have. For example, if you’d like to feel more confident as a public speaker, picture someone you know who is a riveting and exciting and confident public speaker. Maybe it’s Oprah, maybe it’s Johnny Carson. Maybe it’s Ryan Seacrest.

3. 3. Look at the role model in your mind, and see what they do in the context you’ve chosen. Pretend you are watching a movie on a screen. See how they act, evaluate their behavior. What behaviors are they using that demonstrate success and confidence? How do they look? How do they stand? How do they talk? How do they walk, breathe, and move…and so on? How are they feeling? Tinker with it, manipulate their behavior in your mind until it is precisely the embodiment of perfect confidence, perfect and compelling.

4. 4. Now, watch the movie again, and see yourself in the action onscreen in place of the role model. You are watching yourself onscreen, the confident you in your chosen setting. You are using the identical behaviors, postures, words, etc. of your role model in the previous version of the movie.

5. 5. Now, step INTO the movie. You are not watching the movie, you are the actor. You are the confident one. Feel it. Know it. Strut it! Experience the behavior fully, exactly as you’d like it.

6. 6. Imagine yourself in the future using the new powerful behavior. You feel different now, more confident, don’t you?

These simple steps help convince your mind that you are what you imagine yourself to be. And, once you believe it, you become it. It’s magick!

Connie Brannan is a Neuro-Linguistic Hypnotherapist and Licensed Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming™, certified Stage Hypnotist, and co-creator of Mindworks Hypnosis, http://www.mindworkshypnosis.net , a therapy practice in the Seattle, Washington, area. She is a published author and creator of several self-help audio hypnosis products, a speaker and a teacher. She is a member in good standing of professional organizations including the National Guild of Hypnotists, the International Hypnosis Association, and the Society of Neuro-Linguistic Programming™.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Mastering your mind power does not have to be expensive. The tool I used and recommended is a rubber band. You can buy a whole bag for less than a dollar! The work that you do is mental, and you are the only one who can do that work for you. It is unfortunate that in the world of today, most of us do not place value on anything unless we pay a great deal of money for it.

Of course you can spend several thousand dollars for a week long or weekend retreat. You can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars for various audio or video programs. Perhaps you have done so already. If you did and you received the results you desired, that is terrific! We are talking about your life after all and how YOU choose to live it.

Some of those programs are based on some of the latest research in brain wave manipulation, some on hypnosis, and still others are based on various forms of meditation, usually accompanied by some kind of music or other sounds. By the way, finding a master teacher and practicing traditional meditation under his or her instruction is also an option.

The truth is no matter what program you choose to assist you to bring the power of your mind under your control, the success of that program depends on three critical components. First, you must make a DECISION on a program. Secondly, you must make a COMMITMENT to the process of that program. Third, there must be appropriate TOOLS at your disposal to help you through the down times and apparent set backs.

There indeed are going to be apparent set backs with any program you choose. As I have stated earlier, your self image has habitually been allowed to control your mind power and most of what you think. Therefore, it has controlled most of what kinds of experiences have entered your life.

Your thinking happens within you, in your mind. You cannot take any program, no matter what it costs, cut your self open, and neatly place that program inside your mind. Those programs can only assist you in installing thoughts of your choosing to replace the ones you no longer want to have in your mind consistently, but you must do the work. No one else can do it for you.

Assuming you have now decided to take or take back the control of what you will habitually and consistently think. Your self image is not going to release its seat of control easily. It has no choice but to release control to you, however, if you consciously decide to take control, make a commitment to a process to do so, and persist in that process until your new thoughts become habitually consistent.

This is something I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

Popularity: 26% [?]

After the breakup or the divorce, you may have been trying to set your life straight but somehow you could not. You still long for your wife and wonder how she is now and how she spends her time. Love is a difficult thing to deal with. It could drive you nuts when you lose your wife. There is no fast and easy manual on how to get your ex-wife back. Most of the time, you will be by yourself trying to find out by trial and error what works and what doesn’t.

Thankfully, there are couples who got back together after a divorce and you can learn from their experiences. Although each person is unique, there are a number of lessons you need to learn regarding how to get your ex-wife back.

You should remain social and stay as active as possible. This will prevent depression and will help you deal with the difficulties of the divorce. By becoming physically fit and active, you also become more confident. When you are confident, you start to think clearly than if you are depressed. Go out with your friends regularly so they can encourage you to pursue your ex-wife. If you remain solitary, you will only reinforce feelings of loneliness and depression. When you are with your friends and your ex sees you with them, it sends her the signal that you are doing well.

When you are not with the kids and you are not seeing your ex-wife, you need to look back to your marriage and try to look at the things that went wrong. What was your role in the breakup? What went wrong? Don’t just dwell on what your ex-wife did. Breakup and divorce is almost always due to the actions of two people and not just one. Blaming your spouse will get you nowhere so you better get your acts together and look at how to best deal with the situation.

There will be times you meet your ex-wife. These meetings may be purely accidental because of your kids or some coincidence. Perhaps such a meeting is the fruits of your labor in winning her back. You need to enjoy each other’s company and try not to bring up issues that separated you. In doing this, you are not putting undue pressure on yourself and on your ex-wife to get back again.

Give some time to rediscover each other. Show her that she still has a special part in your heart and you want her back. When you shall have warmed up to each other again, then you are making the most important step of all—the chance to get your ex-wife back.

Teecee Go writes and contributes article focusing on helping people save their marriage and anyone treasure relationship dearer. Find reviews, products and free information on how to get your ex or love one back by visiting http://www.BreakupCures.com

To learn how this article can help you, visit http://www.TheMagicOfMakingUp.com
Get FREE Relationship Advice from author TW (T Dub) Jackson and read feedback/stories from hundreds of satisfied readers from all over the world.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Where do you start? Start from where you are. Start by stop taking the power of your mind for granted. Seek to understand to the best of your ability what the self image is, how it assumes control over what enters your unconscious mind, and what it prohibits from entering.

Begin by understanding that your unconscious mind is the power that brings everything you experience into your life, and it is the self image that filters and dictates how you view those experiences and how you react to them. I cannot over state how important this understanding was for me, and I believe it is equally important for you.

Here is a simple 30 day, two-part exercise I recommend for you. Part one requires you to observe for the next few days, which arm or leg you put your garment onto first as you get dressed. After you have identified which it is, you will see that a habit has been formed so firmly that you put your garment onto that limb without your attention. You are observing the power of habit.

In part two of the exercise, get yourself a rubber band, one that is large enough not to constrict your flesh and blood vessels but small enough that it will not easily slip off your wrist and hand. Put it on either wrist and keep in on for the full 30 days.

This is a tool (the rubber band) and technique that was so very helpful to me. It will allow you to be convinced that you can break this very powerful habit, and by inference, nearly any other habit you may choose.

If you have determined that you habitually put your garment onto you right arm (or leg), for example, consciously tell yourself that you are now going to put it onto your left arm (or leg) first for a period of 30 days. Remind yourself that you are breaking the old habit.

If during the 30 days you should forget and fall back into your old habit, whenever you become aware that have done so, pull the rubber band 4 or 5 inches from your wrist and let go. As you feel the sting from the snap of the rubber band, firmly remind yourself that you have decided that you will no longer habitually put your garment onto the right or left arm or leg (whichever is appropriate). You are forming a new habit and you will now put the garment onto the left or right arm or leg (again, whichever is appropriate) first.

After the first week or so you will begin to notice that any time you put on a garment, you will begin to consciously choose the reverse of the old habit as you gradually develop the new one.

This is something I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

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Harold L Lowe retired at age 62 when his six-figure income position was eliminated. He now wishes to share some of what he has learned since then and some of his experiences as well through articles. He is now studying The New Think And Grow Rich with the author, Ted Ciuba, a founding member of the World Internet Summit. You Must See the FREE Report – How To Access Your FREE MasterMind Training. Get Access Now at http://www.MasteringYourMindPower.com

Popularity: 20% [?]

As an aspiring or an established entrepreneur, you are an expert in something, but does the rest of the world know? You have a wealth of information, experience and knowledge that you can package into a book that will benefit others. This truly is the information age and people want to know what you know.
1. A book will give you unbelievable credibility, which increases the respect you will receive from customers and business associates. Wouldn’t you be more likely to purchase widgets from the business person who wrote the book on widgets? New customers are more likely to take advice from, or purchase the services/products from, an established author. Many consultants increase the levels of their business simply by writing a book on their area of expertise.
2. The typical business person might run into roadblocks when seeking media recognition and publicity for their product or service because the media tend to see this kind of exposure as advertising. However, books receive exposure in the form of reviews or features all the time. Books make great print stories and authors make great featured guests on radio and television shows. Sure beats pulling together an advertising budget.
3. Writing a book gives you instant expert status. If you wrote the book, you are now seen as the authority on that subject by others. And you are! You will have now proven that you know what you are talking about. You will show, in writing that you know your business area inside and out.
4. Most entrepreneurs love to hear that publishing a book can easily lead to increased fees. People will pay more to work with an established expert then someone who seems less established in a business. Your book has just given you instant added credentials. It would be nice to add “author of…” behind your name, wouldn’t it?
5. If you are not already a consultant, a book along with your proven expert status could bring you new consulting opportunities where you can bill for your time to educate, speak to and work with other companies and individuals helping them succeed through what you know.
6. If you have a service business or you are selling products already, a book will allow you to add a product to your existing business. Expanding your line is never a bad thing and will open up all kinds of doors in your marketing plan.
7. If you are not already on the internet (and you should be, but that is another article), you can add online marketing to your marketing plan with your book. There are loads of places to sell your book online and having an information product to offer will give you a second stream of revenue with huge potential.
8. Expanding your marketing opportunities and focusing on opportunities for residual income is what you should be focusing on as an entrepreneur. Quit trading your hours for dollars and start working smarter.
Your own book will be a complement and a supplement to your current business. It will also mean an additional source of revenue added to your bottom line. I would be willing to bet that you have thought of writing a book at some point in your career. Almost every single person has. Use your passion. Take your knowledge, package it and sell it. People are willing to pay for what you already know.

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www.infozabout.com
www.publishing.infozabout.com

Popularity: 20% [?]

If only I had known about the self image as I consciously began my journey to self improvement! I think of all the dust that could have possibly fallen on the ground to help some plant grow instead of collecting on the many self help and inspirational books, magazine articles, and tapes on my book shelves.

I could have enjoyed some really great wines and a cruise or two with the money I used to attend various self improvement workshops and seminars, only to have the information fade into oblivion. I could have saved myself days, weeks, months, even years of frustration.

I would somehow be introduced to a book like Think And Grow Rich, I would purchase a copy, read it, and began applying what I had learned as outlined. My motivation was high (as least I thought I was). Six months would pass, and I would see no visible changes in my life. Doubts would gradually appear. The inner voice (of the self image) would chime in with things like: I knew this stuff would not work. If it worked for those other people, they must have had something that I don’t have.

Soon discouragement would ease its way into my thoughts. I would gradually stop applying lessons and return to my old conditioned life. A year or a few years later, I would bump into another book, maybe The Magic of Thinking Big, and I would literally repeat the above process and again and again.

I can say without a doubt that those of you who were born into families who are in the 95% group face a 100% certainty that your self image will deploy its full arsenal of doubts, fears, and phobias to challenge your efforts toward mastering your mind power. Remember, the self image has been in control of nearly every thing you have done most of your life. Now I do not mean that negative stuff is in total control of your mind all of the time. I do not believe that there is such a thing as a totally positive mind, nor a totally negative one.

If you can speak a language, drive a car, ride a bike, use a computer, or enjoy a beautiful sunset, then your self image has allowed some useful, positive thoughts, images and beliefs to enter your unconscious mind.

Ask yourself: What are my consistent thoughts? How do I feel about my job? What thoughts and images flash into my mind when I think about money, or my lack of money? How do I react when things do not go the way I think they should in my relationships? Your answers will give you a clear indication whether the power of your mind is under the influence of positive or negative control.

Here is something I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

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Harold L Lowe retired at age 62 when his six-figure income position was eliminated. He now wishes to share some of what he has learned since then and some of his experiences as well through articles. He is now studying The New Think And Grow Rich with the author, Ted Ciuba, a founding member of the World Internet Summit. You Must See the FREE Report – How To Access Your FREE MasterMind Training. Get Access Now at http://www.masteringyourmindpower.com

Popularity: 29% [?]

Now that you have the three major components you need in your quest of mastering your mind power, these questions might come to you, “What do I do now? Where do I start?”

Both are great questions; but before I give you my answer, or more truthfully, my suggestion, I’d like you to drift back in your imagination to the day of birth. I’d like you to also imagine that you’re being born into a family that’s among what I call the “five percenters,” that 5% of the population that understands how the mind works and knows the importance of filling your clean-slate mind with positive, nurturing, success-producing thoughts, ideas and images.

Your parents know that by instilling positive, wealth-building beliefs into your mind, your life-long, consistent thought patterns will grow. They would teach you that these are the kinds of thought patterns that will allow you to do, to have, and to be what you want during your life span. They would tell you that by consistently controlling and mastering your thoughts and beliefs, you will control and master your mind power, and therefore your life.

Your parents would also teach you how to identify thoughts, ideas, images, and beliefs that will not allow you to do, to have, and to be what you want during your life. They would teach you how to not allow those negative thoughts, ideas, images, and beliefs to become your consistent thoughts, by training your mind to not focus on them and to especially not feed them with your emotional energy. They would say that you should acknowledge them for what they are, quickly dismiss them, and turn your focus to their opposite; the things, conditions, and circumstances you want to experience.

Now, chances are you were not born to parents like those. Your life was probably like most people born into the 95% of the population. You can get a glimpse of that life in a previous article entitled, Your Mind Power – Who Is In Control Of It?

The consequences for you is by the time you even begin to consider going after more of the things, conditions, and circumstances you want from life, your mind is so filled with thoughts, ideas, images, and beliefs that have become your consistent thoughts and bring you so much of what you do not want that you simply do not believe that life can be better for you.

Over time, you build up an inventory of thoughts, images, feelings, habits, beliefs, actions, and even abilities, the sum total of which makes up your self-image. This self-image is your blueprint or the picture of yourself. Your self-image forms your perceptions of “who you are” or “the sort person you are”. Here then is your single greatest challenge to mastering your mind power, your self-image.

Here is something I know for sure, however, you can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

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Harold L Lowe retired at age 62 when his six-figure income position was eliminated. He now wishes to share some of what he has learned since then and some of his experiences as well through articles. He is now studying The New Think And Grow Rich with the author, Ted Ciuba, a founding member of the World Internet Summit. You Must See the FREE Report – How To Access Your FREE MasterMind Training. Get Access Now at http://www.masteringyourmindpower.com

Popularity: 23% [?]

Internet offers vast possibilities for self improvement, once of which is for learning to speak and read a second language. It would be an edge to be bilingual in our world where there are many languages used in different countries. This advantage can be used on workplace, school, traveling on a foreign country and other circumstances.

Below are OzFree’s guide on learning a second language online
1. According to CIA World factbook the top 10 most spoken languages are Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, Japanese and German, in that order.
The first step is to determine which language would be very useful for your career or personal life. If you plan to live to another country, research on the widely spoken language in that area. If you’re working locally but have foreign clients, you should research the most popular language used by most of your clients.

2. How much you can learn will depend on you and your determination. If you want to learn for free, there are many free resources available online, it is up to you to research and find those useful tutorials. The flip side of having these open resources available online is we cannot immediately validate if the information is correct. It will be helpful to have several resources and compare if it contains the same tutorials.

3. Another option is to subscribe to online learning courses offered for different languages. The main advantage of this is the maximum assistance given as part of their service. This type of tutorial will benefit those who are not so fond of reading and would want a direct communication over pronunciation of words and other detai

4. After you have learned the basics of the language, you can practice your new skill by communication through a native language speaker. You can do this by joining local chatrooms, forum and other related websites. Aside from experiencing to speak the language casually and spontaneously, you can also gain new friends

5. Try out other supplementary educational materials for your second language tutorials. Some websites offers notes or resource with audio or visual aides that can help in your learning process.

Learning a second language is not a MUST but definitely a PLUS factor. There are many availble methods online waiting for you to be explored.

Annyong, Adios, Paalam, Sayonara, Ciao, Zai Jian, Goodbye!

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Mei recommends the Education free online ads section of OzFree for your online resource of educational materials.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Stress can be caused by almost anything around us, traffic, job, lack of money, family and the list goes on. Some can handle stress well and remain calm while others need to release it to start functioning well again. For both cases, it is important to face that you are undergoing a stressful situation and come up with an immediate plan to resolve it. Simply ignoring it will not make it go away, rather it can haunt you in the future. There are medical studies that proves that psychological stress can add up to the immune-related disease that can make you very sick.

1. Know your problem. The first step is knowing your enemy and acknowledge that you are undergoing a
fight over stress. Then you need to determine the type of stress that you are dealing with. There are two basic types, long term and acute stress. A long term stress is the stress that you endure daily, everything that you encounter in your life can add up to this. On the otherhand, acute stress is caused by more specific events like a recent fight with your mother or an accident. Both type of stress can affect your health in the long run so you need to determine the root of this worries and find specific means to eliminate it.

2. Find ways to eliminate the root of your stress. After accepting that you have a problem you should further evaluate yourself and what causes these stress. Is it family related? Is it about your Job? A debt problem perhaps. After determining the root of your stress, think of ways how you can eliminate this to change the situation. Fix that family problem, get a new job or hold a garage sale. There’s always a solution to any problem, the key is to not give up until you find that solution
3. Take time to smell the roses. Living in a fast paced routine can build up stress that is more than you can handle. It wouldnt hurt to take things slow and take control of your life as well as the situations that you’re getting into. There’s no need to rush so take your time and live a little. Learn to be carefree once in a while so that you can appreciate what you have right now instead of always running for what you want.

4. Set aside a “me” time. Add a “me” time in your daily routine wherein for few minutes you forget everything that you worry about. Reflect on how have you changed throughout the years, what goals have
you accomplished so far and what will you do today, next month or this year to further achieve your other
goals.

5. Satisfy your adventurous bone. Do different things once in a while since a daily routine can make you
feel bored. move out of your circle and try new things that can spice up your live.

People will always encounter stressful situation that can make life harder but in a way spice up your daily routine. You should not ignore it rather face it and come up with a solution to eliminate the root of your stress because there’s so many things to do in life than be stressed.

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Mei recommends the Free Classifieds section of OzFreeOnline for free ads posting for Health and Medicine products and services.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Do you ever get blank stares when trying to explain
your dreams to friends and family?

It’s all to do with belief systems. Let me explain what I
learned in Jim Francis’s amazing mind power research which
is so obvious, yet many of us miss it…

Everyone’s mind is a result of a lifetime of cumulative
influences and experiences. E.g if you’ve been told as a
child that telepathy doesn’t exist then you accept this
subconsciously as a fact. This is your inherent belief
about telepathy, not a fact… but you believe this to be
true.

If someone was to demonstrate that telepathy actually
exists, your subconscious cannot accept it. When proof is
offered to a skeptic they simply block it from their mind.
It’s almost as if they skip to a different reality zone.

If you’ve tried to explain something new to someone and
they’ve developed a glazed look in their eyes, if their
attention drifts off, this could well be their mind
blocking out your information.

Some people just aren’t as open minded as you.

Don’t let disinterested or disbelieving friends and family
stand in your way of following your dreams. Maybe from their
perspective, successful people are just ‘lucky’. It’s
unlikely you’ll change their belief system.

Let their skepticism motivate you to prove them wrong.

It can be a great motivator. Or try this…

Think about the most important BIG goal you’ve set
yourself. Think about how you’d like to be really motivated
to reach it, and to be really motivated to take action on
those smaller goals that will lead you there.

Now, think back to a time in the past when you were really
motivated. Think about how you took action on that
motivation and did whatever it was you set out to do.

Run through that event and make the pictures bigger,
brighter and more colourful. Feel what you felt and suck
that motivation into your body as if you were there now,
doing it again for the first time.

Make the emotions stronger and stronger, and keep building
up the feeling of taking action and successfully doing what
you set out to do. Run the story through your mind several
times, each time building the momentum.

Now, as your motivation builds up, rub the palm of your
dominant hand on your thigh. As you do so, think about even
more occasions when you were highly motivated and increase
those sensations even further.

Keep rubbing your thigh, and know that whenever you want to
call upon that highly motivated feeling, all you have to do
is rub your thigh.

Finally, while still rubbing your thigh, think about your
most important BIG goal and all of the smaller goals you
must complete to make it. Imagine reaching them with
everything going well, reaching that big goal right on your
deadline.

Can you see what we’re doing here? We are taking your
motivation – which you clearly have – and adding it first
to the motion of rubbing your palm on your thigh, and
secondly adding that motivation to the thought processes of
reaching your most important goal.

Now the great thing is that you can do that exercise for
every goal you set yourself. By imagining it all going
perfectly well and reaching every goal on time, you’re
increasing your self-belief and getting your motivation
flowing around your body.

And when you’re highly motivated and you take action on
that motivation then you’re much more likely to reach your
smaller goals which, in turn, breeds even more motivation.

If it helps, do that exercise a few times. You’ll soon feel
incredibly motivated and, when your motivation starts to
subside, rub your palm on your thigh to start bringing back
all of those amazin*g motivational feelings!

And if at any point in the future you find your
rub-your-thigh motivational trigger subsiding, simply do
the entire exercise again.

Still struggling to stay motivated? Here’s how I keep going…

My biggest motivation is fear. It’s not the fear
of NOT achieving my dreams that scares me, it’s imagining
a life where I knew my dreams were possible but giving
up on them. That’s whats scares me the most.

That’s what drives me on.

Many people live a life where their dreams died along with
their childhood. What was once a life filled with unlimited
possibilities, has now become a life of boredom and
mediocrity. By reading this article I know you’re
different.

You’ve opened your eyes and your mind. You’ve discovered
your potential.

You can now choose a life of purpose and passion… or a life
filled with regrets.

Isn’t that motivation enough?

---

Iain Legg is editor of The Dream Life newsletter, and creator of Real Mind Power Secrets.

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What’s the difference between success and failure.?

One Degree!

Have you ever seen Tiger Woods play golf?

Tiger Woods knows the importance of one degree. Why?

Well, think about this for a moment.

What’s the difference between Tiger hitting a perfect straight shot and him hitting a shot that goes way off to the right?

You guessed it. One Degree.

One degree of difference in the angle of his club can mean hitting a perfect shot or hitting a shot that goes nowhere close to the direction he wanted it to go.

So what does that have to do with you, especially if you don’t know anything about golf?

Everything!

You make decisions everyday of your life that will dictate where you end up in life. One wrong decision, if not corrected properly, can make your life go in a completely different direction than where you wanted it to go.

Now, don’t get discouraged about that. Everyone makes wrong choices in their life, finances, career, and relationships.

But how do you learn to correct those things and then how to avoid making many of those mistakes in the first place?

You need what Tiger Woods has.

You need a coach or mentor.

Tiger may be the best golfer in the world, but imagine if he didn’t have a coach. He would be out there with no one to help him correct the things that are throwing his game off. He would be out there all by himself trying to figure out what was going wrong.

You see, Tiger’s coach may not play golf as well as Tiger, but he can see and recognize the things that Tiger may not be doing correctly. He can see little things like the way Tiger is standing, the swing of his club, the angle of his club, and countless other things that Tiger may not even know. And if Tiger does know that he is doing something wrong, he may not know how to correct it.

Well, it works exactly the same way in your life. Coaches and mentors will help you get to your goal much faster because they know what you need to do, what you need to stop doing, or what you need change in order to get you to where you want to be.

Think of it this way.

You have been told that you have greatness on the inside of you. To realize that greatness you have two roads that you can choose to travel down. On the first road you must go alone. They tell you that this road is more or less the same as the second road. Both roads have potholes, speed traps, dangerous bends, detours, unnecessary exits, or unexpected obstacle.

The second road however, has a tour guide who will help you on your way. If you listen to the guide he can help you avoid many of these dangers. And if you do happen to get into some type of trouble, he knows ways to help you get back on course.

So which road would you choose?

Decide today that you are going to surround yourself with coaches and mentors in your life to help you achieve greatness in your life.

bio = Jason and Rebecca Osborn have dedicated themselves to changing thousands of lives by helping people find their greatness and true potential through their Find Your Greatness Newsletter. To get your free 7 part e-course, subscribe at www.findyourgreatness.com.

View their website at: http://www.findyourgreatness.com

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You can be confident! All you have to do is rid yourself of confidence killers. Confidence killers are self-defeating thought patterns. Many of us walk through life with these harmful assumptions.

See if you’ve got any of these evildoers in your thoughts:

1. The All or Nothing Sniper:

This way of thinking is the reason you can’t seem to enjoy even the small wins you’ve been getting in life. I’ll bet you were the kid in school who went home crying when you got one wrong on a test!

You think you are a complete failure when your performance (whatever it is) is not perfect. You’d be confident if you didn’t spend so much energy being so hard on yourself!

2. The Dark Cloud of Destruction:

Look out! There is a disaster hiding behind every corner. Expect it. The Dark Cloud of Destruction makes you think silly things like: ‘I failed my chemistry test; there is no point in even thinking about college, now.’

3. Warlord of Negative Magnification:

If you listen to this confidence killer you’ll never be confident. He’s got a warped idea that if it’s good- it doesn’t really count. He’ll take any little negative anthill and magnify it like it’s a mountain.

If you won 8 singing contests but had a cold for the 9th and came in second, he’ll harp on that ninth and you’ll never look at the 8 trophies as the great achievements they really are.

4. The ‘If I feel it, it must be so’ Monster:

This is like a computer worm that shuts down all the clear thinking parts of your brain! A person with this can never be confident until they learn that how they are feeling doesn’t necessarily match up with the truth. We all have days when we don’t look our best or perform at our best.

The ‘I feel stupid so I must be stupid’ syndrome allows us to let our emotions run our lives. Don’t blindly accept emotions as truth. Be confident enough to think that tomorrow you probably will be feeling different.

5. The Sinister Should:

Perfectionists are good at should statements. Should statements are more about what your think other people expect from you than what you really want.

Should statements can be something like: Everybody should have an education plan. The person then thinks ‘ Oh, no! I don’t have an education plan! There must be something really wrong with me.’

6. Libellous Labeller:

Let’s throw this one in jail and throw away the key. You know the thought. It’s the one that we use to blame things on something. ‘I am a loser. It must all be my fault.’ If you are going to think labels, label yourself a confident person.

7. Compliment Constrictor:

This creepy crawler just can’t seem to let you accept a compliment. For once, if someone tells you that you look good in that dress, don’t let the slimy one takeover and say: ‘Really? I think it makes me look fat!

The good news is that recognizing any of these villains is half of the battle. So put on your white hat- train yourself to cancel these confidence-killing thoughts.

bio = Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. This report reveals the secret strategies all high achievers use to communicate with charm and impact. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: http://www.howtotalkwithconfidence.com/report.htm

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We all need some confidence building from time to time. Part of feeling confident has a lot to do with how we feel about ourselves. Feeling like we can accomplish things we set out to do is important to feeling confident.

Remember that we all have talents and gifts. Whether we feel confident in these skills is very much part of thinking like a winner. Here is an easy way you can train yourself to think like a winner.

Make yourself a ‘to do’ list. Before you start complaining that you’ve tried that already in the past and it didn’t work, let’s go over the rules for this list. This is a list to make you feel like a winner.

It is your job to help yourself to feel as much like a winner as possible by making a list that is fun and easy to get done. I mean super easy. Ridiculously easy, even.

Here’s a sample list:

1. Get out of bed.
2. Brush my teeth and comb my hair.
3. Get dressed.
4. Eat something.
5. Eat something else.
6. Walk to a car, bus or another room.
7. Smile.
8. Answer the phone. But only if it rings.
9. Put socks on…

Are you getting the idea? This isn’t your average ‘to do’ list. This is a sort of self-conditioning list. Seeing all those check marks or seeing everything crossed off your list will make you feel like you’ve had a productive day. You’ll gain confidence in your abilities to get things done.

If you practice this fun list making, you’ll come to think of yourself as a winner. If you forget to write the list one morning, write a ‘done’ list at the end of the day. Just list ‘got out of bed’, etc. and mark them off.

As silly as this confidence building list making may seem, bear in mind that the subconscious doesn’t care about what is real or imagined. All it will see is a list that has been checked off every day. Eventually, you’ll notice yourself feeling more confident. You can then start adding real tasks to your list and doing them with the same ‘feel good’ attitude you had when you made your practice lists.

Don’t add too many, to start. Camouflage the real items you want to accomplish with your stand-by easy ones. The reason you don’t want to do a complete shift in list writing is that feeling good is an important element of confidence building.

Just look at someone you know to be confident. Are they down in the mouth or smiling? Allow yourself the joy of having fun with life. You’ll feel like a winner!

bio = Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. This report reveals the secret strategies all high achievers use to communicate with charm and impact. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: http://www.howtotalkwithconfidence.com/report.htm

Popularity: 27% [?]

Here are six tips for improving your communication style:

1. Knowing how to improve communication skills will come easier once you become aware of your own communication style.

Each person has a unique way of communicating. Listen to your own speech. What sorts of words do you use? Which sort of body language and what tone of voice are you using?

Now, think of someone who, in your opinion, is a good communicator. Compare your style to theirs. You’ve just taken an important first step in how to improve communication skills.

2. Now that you are aware of your own style, study the style of those around you. How do the most important people in your life converse? How do they say things? Look for approaches you can model and make your own.

3. Adjust to the other styles of communication. Don’t think it is too late to change your way of conversing because it’s been years. You had to learn to communicate in the first place and you can unlearn certain behaviors or change them. Sometimes we get stuck in a communication rut.

A father once was having a hard time with his teenaged daughter. She was growing and he thought she didn’t tell him what was going on in her life. They were in a heated discussion when he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Her answer was that she had, but he was too busy lecturing her to hear her. He learned that adjusting his style to his daughter would involve listening first before jumping right into solving the problem.

4. To build rapport, during a conversation try and match the other person’s movements, posture and verbal style. Don’t do everything they do, but mirror one or two things. For example, if the person gives mostly short answers to questions, you follow suit.

Or, maybe they talk at a slower pace than you usually do-slow your speaking speed to match theirs. This may sound simplistic but it is a very potent way to make someone feel very relaxed and comfortable in your presence.

5. The way you communicate at home may not be the same as in a different environment. Make sure you change your style to suit the different setting. Some comments you might want to tell your best friend, in private.

Other things can be shared in a group setting. Learn how to improve communication skills by altering your style for the appropriate setting. Many of us know someone who offers far too much information in a group setting.

6. Don’t criticize others for communicating differently. If we all communicated in the same way, we’d soon be bored with each other.

Getting a good grasp of your communication style and finding ways to accommodate other peoples’ styles, is a good way to improve your communication skills.

bio = Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. This report reveals the secret strategies all high achievers use to communicate with charm and impact. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: http://www.howtotalkwithconfidence.com/report.htm

Popularity: 27% [?]