Self Improvement Newsletter- Issue # 496

Self Improvement Newsletter
Issue # 496, March 11-12, 2008

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* Self Improvement and Personal Growth Weekly Newsletter * Issue # 496, Week of March 11-12, 2008 Publisher: David Riklan - http://www.SelfGrowth.com In this issue: -- Quotes of the Week -- Personal Growth Products and Services -- Article: 6 Simple Energy Shifts to Relieve Stress - By Barbara Schiffman, C.Ht. -- Article: Why Good People Do Bad Things - By Debbie Ford -- Book Review: Why Good People Do Bad Things: How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy - By Debbie Ford -- Brief News of the World -- How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe from this Newsletter Current Subscribers - 265,111 subscribers Removal instructions are listed at the end of the newsletter. ------------------------------------------------------------ *** Quotes of the Week *** ------------------------------------------------------------ I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. - Patrick Henry, 1736-1799, American Politician and Prominent Figure in the American Revolution Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all the others. - Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, English Politician and Author Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. - Dale Carnegie, 1888-1955, American Author and Achievement Expert ------------------------------------------------------------ *** Personal Growth Products and Services *** ------------------------------------------------------------ * FREE Business Coaching Consultation for Women Entrepreneurs! * Isn't it time you and your business break through and create the success you know is possible? You don't have to do it alone! Find out the difference business coaching makes with Ann Hession, the Women Entrepreneurs Business Coach. Click here for your free consultation: http://ontrackandonpurpose.com/page/ccc * Anthony Robbins "Sacred Blessings" New Release * "Sacred Blessings" consists of music inspired by the world's great faiths... "Sacred Blessings" begins with an introduction by Anthony Robbins explaining how inspirational he and his wife Sage have found the music on the album to be. "Sacred Blessings" musically unites all the faiths, beginning with a Hindu mantra "Devi Prayer" and ending with a Christian hymn "I Love You Lord." Sacred Blessings feat. Deva Premal, Mitten and Craig Pruess. http://www.sacredblessingsmusic.com/ * Fate? Please... * Luck is made. Learn the 4 principles of creating your luck by visiting TheLuckFactor.com (based on the book by Dr. Richard Wiseman). Get started here: http://www.selfgrowth.com/products/theluckfactor.html * Interested in Becoming a Coach but Short on Time and Money? * iPEC's Accredited Life Potentials Training was created JUST FOR YOU! Our three-day program teaches you the Core Energy Coaching process, high potential concepts and success skills that transform lives! Sign up for an info session to learn more at http://www.selfgrowth.com/products/lifepotentials2.html or call 1-866-72COACH today! How often do your hear yourself saying? - "No I haven't done it Yet, I've been meaning to..." Free report Reveals: * 10-second focus technique * The Ultimate Productivity Formula * 4 words that are crushing your efficiency * Simple Tricks to eliminate overwhelm and skyrocket productivity * Crush your critical voice in 2 steps Grab It Now! Click Below... http://www.gettingthingsdonenow.com/freemindreport * Don't Let them Turn You Into a Woman * Many drugs and treatment options you're likely to get for a swollen prostate have a feminizing effect - making you fat, slow and tired. Some will leave you impotent for life! Click on the link below to get your FREE report on how you can protect yourself from these dangerous options. http://www.alsearsmd.com/signup/Prostate/Prostate-SG.html * Relief From Stomach Pain w/o Drugs, Surgery Or Bland Foods * Acid Reflux. Constipation. IBS. IBD. Ulcer. Gastritis. Diverticulitis. Heartburn. Colitis. Symptoms for all these illnesses can now be stopped without drugs, surgery or bland foods. Get your free guide, 'Pain-Free in 1 Day.' Continue=> http://www.greattastenopain.com/r/s-080310rel.asp ** How to Add a Description of Your Website Here ** If you want to share information about your website, your business or your book in our newsletter, please go to the following webpage and fill out the form. Visit our website at http://www.selfgrowth.com/form-ad-newsletter.html ---------------------------------------------------- *** Article: 6 Simple Energy Shifts to Relieve Stress - By Barbara Schiffman, C.Ht. *** ---------------------------------------------------- "Stress is the trash of modern life" according to writer Danzae Pace. "We all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life." For 21st century humans, it's nearly impossible to live a stress-free life. Even if you're doing what you love and have a fulfilling relationship, stress piles up like daily trash whether we notice it or not. It's natural to feel stressed out by life-changing events like serious illness, divorce, marriage, graduations, or new babies. But it's the gradual accumulation of pressures, delays, and unexpected demands that usually causes us to explode or implode. As our to-do lists grow longer, our email and voicemail boxes overflow, our loved ones demand more attention, and our goals get bigger, stress relief can seem like an impossible dream. Authors Susan Mitchell and Catherine Christie ("I'd Kill to Have a Cookie") commiserate that "sometimes it seems your ever-increasing list of things to do can leave you feeling totally undone." It's no surprise that few people regularly take actions to relieve stress until they reach their breaking point. So it helps to experiment with simple stress management techniques when you're not already stressed out. As a Life Balance Coach and Certified Hypnotherapist, I've learned that reducing stress is an essential part of ongoing Self-Care for my clients. Taking baby steps on a regular basis relieves their stress and helps them handle the inevitable new stresses of daily life far more easily and quickly. My favorite Stress Management Techniques include: * SHIFT Your Perspective: When you feel "infowhelmed" after working at a computer for hours or talking non-stop on the phone, changing your environment will instantly relieve both physical and mental stress. If you're inside, go outside and take a walk around the block. This stimulates blood flow and deeper breathing which naturally relieves stress and also creates new brain synapses to boost your creativity. * TOUCH the Earth: Most people spend the majority of their waking hours inside these days, so we rarely make direct contact with the Earth anymore. We're all running on Electronic energy which moves faster and more continuously than Earth energy. The energy of the Earth ebbs and flows, and is more in tune with human energy rhythms. So managing stress by gardening, hiking, swimming, or just sitting in a park near trees and flowers can renew us quickly when we feel drained. Tuning into Earth energy rhythms -- like the gentle flow of water, the slow growth of trees and plants, the peaceful movement of stars or clouds -- recharges our physical energy plus gives us emotional balance and mental clarity. * RELEASE Negative Thoughts, Tension, and Expectations: Releasing physical tension and unrealistic expectations about ourselves, others, and life in general can shift our thoughts and emotions from negative to positive in an instant. Doing any type of meditation, deep breathing, stretching, or yoga (especially Laughter Yoga) erases physical and mental stress like magic. Hypnosis or guided imagery works well for people whose active minds are "too busy" to "calm down and float away" through Zen or Eastern-style meditation techniques. Listening to music -- soothing tunes that calm you down or ones with an energizing beat that makes you want to dance -- can also shift your state of being from drained to dynamic. * EAT to Boost Energy: Eating more protein and fresh veggies when you're stressed out helps maintain strong muscles as well as clear your thoughts. High sugar or carbohydrate snacks can create drops in most people's blood sugar levels, which in turn creates the physical sensation of anxiety followed by the emotional/mental feelings of overwhelm. Frequent snacks of high protein foods like yogurt, cheese, sliced turkey or chicken, and almonds not only boosts physical energy but also erases anxiety. So if you feel anxious, eat something to boost your blood sugar in a healthy way and then notice how quickly your anxiety evaporates. * SLEEP Soundly and Deeply: When we work and play hard, we tend to naturally sleep well at night. But when we're running on Electronic energy and eating foods that spike our blood sugar levels, especially in the hours before bedtime, it's often hard to fall asleep much less slumber peacefully throughout the night. Since our minds and emotions "clean house" -- i.e. relieve stress -- via our dreams whether we remember them or not, getting at least 6 hours and preferably 8 of deep sleep is critical to feeling calm and balanced when we're awake. Creating the habit of thinking positive thoughts or visualizing your goals as you drift off to sleep also helps your dreams strengthen your positive energy plus your commitment to fulfilling your desires. * SPEND Time with Positive People: As I get older, I'm drawn only to people and things that are fun and positive. If someone's complaining all the time, I can't afford to let them drain my energy anymore. Spending time with positive people actually relieves stress and raises your energy, especially compared to being around people who are energy-drains. Doing things that are fun with positive people who also enjoy them naturally gives you a double dose of energy plus stress relief. Trying these easy energy shifts to reduce stress can transform your body, mind, and emotions from the inside out. But if they work quickly and seem "too easy," please don't discount them. That's just a sign that stress management techniques like these are working for you. Keep in mind that stress relief isn't about being calm all the time -- it's about becoming more centered so you bounce back from life's challenges quickly and easily. As Dr. Hans Selye, the psychologist who coined the term "stress" in 1950, reminds us, "Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one." Shifting your attitude any way you can is the best first step to relieving stress. About the Author: Barbara Schiffman, C.Ht., is a Life Balance Coach and Certified Hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She's also the host/producer of the Internet radio show LIVING IN BALANCE at BigMediaUSA.com and a Certified Leader of Simple Abundance® Workshops. She is the creator of the Life Energy Tune-Up Workbook/CD Kit and the New Moon*New Beginnings Meditation CD Kit which are based on her life balance teleclasses. Barbara works with groups and individuals all over the world in person and by phone. Visit her website at http://www.HypnoSynergy.com for info on her programs, services, products, and resources. Check out the Experts page for Barbara Schiffman, the Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Stress Management: http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/barbara_schiffman.html ---------------------------------------------------- *** Article: Why Good People Do Bad Things - By Debbie Ford *** ---------------------------------------------------- Our headlines are full of stories of good people gone astray. They show up on the evening news, on the front page of newspapers, and splashed across the weekly tabloids. In many ways, these sad stories have become a national obsession. We're all so busy projecting on these people we see in the media. We think, "She's out of her mind," "He's an idiot," "Why would he risk everything?" We think we are judging the people whose fall from grace occurs in the heat of a national spotlight, but in reality we're just seeing ourselves. Countless acts of self-destruction and sabotage take place in our families, in our communities, in our circle of friends. Most of us were taught that if we just wrap ourselves in enough layers, create a convincing enough persona, or hide behind an attractive enough mask, people won't discover (or, even more to the point, WE won't discover) that we are flawed, imperfect, and insecure. It's downright exhausting to keep hiding and denying parts of ourselves. Eventually, like a beach ball held under water, they pop up and snack us in the face. The act of hiding who we truly are and shaming the parts of ourselves that are less than perfect is what causes us to shut down, to disconnect, to be able to see our dreams but not be able to reach them. This is the birth of self-sabotage. The Shadow Process is dedicated to helping people come into complete alignment with all parts of themselves. It is based on the understanding that each of us is a human being, and each of us is a divine being. We all have a multitude of different aspects -- some we love and some we hate -- but most of us were taught as children to hide and deny the "bad" parts of ourselves, to reject them, and suppress them. Let me give you an example. Imagine that as a child I acted selfishly, eating all the cookies on the plate or wanting all the toys in the store. Depending on the reaction I received from those around me, I may have decided that my selfish self is bad. If, as an adult, I am uncomfortable with this side of myself, I will continue to try to hide, suppress, or camouflage this part of me. Maybe I decide it would be better to become a selfless human being who is always giving. Inside the restrictions of this belief, I can never say no because if I do, someone might discover that I'm selfish. So I'm a prisoner of my shame around being selfish. I have no freedom. Then I wind up being a people-pleaser, a caregiver, giving away my time and my energy, even when doing so compromises my health, my relationships, or my long-term goals. Then, when an opportunity arises that requires me to focus exclusively on myself, I find that I'm locked inside the persona that I created. We all have aspects of ourselves that we run from. We say, "I don't want to be selfish like my mother. I don't want to be angry like my father," but the fact is, we are all angry and selfish at times. My work is about showing people how to come to terms with all aspects of their humanity, how to love the aspects of ourselves that we've hated so we are free to be who we are each and every moment of every day. At the crux of this journey is self-love. When we love and accept all parts of ourselves, we establish inner alignment. And of course, when we have alignment in our inner world, everything shifts -- the way that we see ourselves, the way that we see other people, the way we treat people in relationship, and the way we relate to the global world. Three things are guaranteed when you make peace with your shadow: The first guarantee is self-confidence. Most people are riddled with doubt and a feeling that they are not good enough in some area of their lives. The moment we find the gifts and the blessings of the so-called flawed parts of ourselves, we lift them out of the darkness of our shame body and use them to move us forward. The second guarantee is peace, a deeply quiet mind, and liberation from the internal noise that most of us listen to day in and day out. And the third thing I can promise that you will receive when you embrace your shadow is the freedom to be yourself, to set boundaries, to say no instead of yes when you don't want to do something. When you no longer have to hide parts of yourself out of fear, you'll have the license to be fully self-expressed and to follow your heart. About the Author: Debbie Ford is an internationally recognized expert in the field of personal transformation and the creator of world renowned Shadow Process. A pioneering force in incorporating the study and integration of the shadow into modern psychological and spiritual practices, Debbie's work is based on the core belief that outer transformation occurs when we experience an internal shift in perception. Debbie is the founder of the Ford Institute for Integrative Coaching at John F. Kennedy University. Since its inception in 2000, the Ford Institute has trained and certified over 500 coaches worldwide. Debbie is a #1 New York Times best-selling author whose books and programs have sold more than 1,000,000 copies and are translated into thirty-two languages. Her newest book is "Why Good People Do Bad Things." ***** A bold new book by bestselling author Debbie Ford, "Why Good People Do Bad Things" guides us to heal the split between our ego and our soul and live the authentic life that is well within our reach. Find out: * How you can participate -- for free -- in three powerful group coaching sessions with Debbie Ford * Whether you are unknowingly headed down a path of self-sabotage * How the Beach Ball Effect is operating in your life * Whether your essential nature is that of a predator or a prey http://www.debbieford.com/newbook.php The list price of this book is $24.95. To purchase it from Amazon.com for $16.47, a 34% discount, go here. ------------------------------------------------------------ *** Book Review: Why Good People Do Bad Things: How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy - By Debbie Ford *** ------------------------------------------------------------ "Why Good People Do Bad Things" exposes the pervasive and often hidden impulses that influence our everyday decisions. The headlines are full of stories of good people gone astray. They show up on the evening news and are splashed across the weekly tabloids. In many ways, these sad stories have become a national obsession. Yet countless other acts of self-destruction and sabotage take place in our families, in our communities, in our circle of friends. Despite good intentions, "good people" do very bad things -- often without understanding why. New York Times best-selling author Debbie Ford guides us into the heart of the duality that unknowingly operates within each one of us: the force that compels us to live by our values, give and receive love, and be a contributing member of the community; and the force that holds us back, sabotages our efforts, and repeatedly steers us toward bad choices. Ford begins with an examination of what she calls the Beach-Ball Effect -- the way in which suppressed emotions eventually rise to the surface -- revealing the origins of self-destructive behavior. By describing the never-ending battle between our light and dark sides and then identifying the signposts for potential disaster, Ford helps us understand how we end up damaging the lives we've worked so hard to create. She then breaks new ground by helping us recognize the masks we wear to protect ourselves, including the People Pleaser, the Victim, the Bully, Mister Cool, and the Jokester. Understanding these masks and what they cover up allows us to go beneath the surface, wake up from denial, and become the person we always intended to be. With "Why Good People Do Bad Things," Ford has created her most enduring, expansive, and powerful work to date. Providing the tools to unlock the patterns of self-sabotage, Ford ultimately knocks down the facade of the false self and shows us how to heal the split between light and dark and live the authentic life within our reach. ***** When you buy Debbie Ford's new book, you'll gain instant access to some great bonus gifts! Learn more at http://www.debbieford.com/newbook.php The list price of this book is $24.95. To purchase it from Amazon.com for $16.47, a 34% discount, go here. ------------------------------------------------------------ *** Brief News of the World *** ------------------------------------------------------------ Positive: * Stephen King, bikinis help heat Maine * The low point in Kimberly Henderson's struggle to keep her family warm came in early January when she was too broke to order an oil delivery and had to buy a 5-gallon container to take to her dealer to get enough fuel to make it through the night. But later that month, with the gauge on her 275-gallon tank again approaching empty, Henderson's fortunes turned around when she got a phone call from a local clergyman: He just received a donation that would provide her with 50 gallons of heating fuel that day. (Click here for complete news story) * Comedians to gather for autism benefit * After being surrounded by the dramatic heavyweight stars of the Oscars, Jon Stewart will play host again, this time amid a bevy of comedians. Stewart will host the second biannual "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education" on April 13 at the Beacon Theater in New York. The show will air live on Comedy Central (8 p.m. EST). (Click here for complete news story) * Bill Gates Encourages New Health Ideas: Gates Foundation Sets Aside $100 Million For Unorthodox New Global Health Projects * If you have an unorthodox, unproven idea that can prevent HIV infection or help protect against infectious diseases, one of the richest men in the world wants to hear from you. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has set aside $100 million to encourage innovation in global health research, offering grants to those with innovative ideas on four topics: Tuberculosis, HIV, infectious diseases and drug resistance. (Click here for complete news story) ** For more positive news, please visit http://www.selfgrowth.com/news.html Other: * Rare white killer whale spotted in Alaska: 'I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it' * The white killer whale spotted in Alaska's Aleutian Islands sent researchers and the ship's crew scrambling for their cameras. The nearly mythic creature was real after all. "I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it," said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. "It was quite neat to find it." (Click here for complete news story) * Happiness can be inherited, research finds * You can't buy happiness but it looks like you can at least inherit it, British and Australian researchers said on Thursday. A study of nearly 1,000 pairs of identical and non-identical twins found genes control half the personality traits that make people happy while factors such as relationships, health and careers are responsible for the rest of our well-being. (Click here for complete news story) * Knitters Dress Up Trees for Public Art * No, that's not a hallucination. That pear tree is wearing a sweater. Wrapped around the trunk is a colorful, crazy-quilt skin made up of panels of yarn knitted individually by residents and visitors alike. Good-luck charms cling to the yarn. Family photos, poems and jokes peek out of knitted pockets. The art project in this southwest Ohio village, already known for its offbeat art, has become a conversation piece and even a photo op. (Click here for complete news story)

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