Self Improvement Newsletter
Issue # 508, June 3-4, 2008
FREE Self
Improvement Newsletter, Click here!Please Visit Our Sponsors
Self Improvement Newsletter
Issue # 508, June 3-4, 2008
FREE Self
Improvement Newsletter, Click here!
Please Visit Our Sponsors
* Self Improvement and
Personal Growth Weekly Newsletter *
Issue # 508, Week of June 3-4, 2008
Publisher: David Riklan -
http://www.SelfGrowth.com
In this issue:
-- Quotes of the Week
-- Recommended Product of the Week
-- Article: Creating and Recognizing Opportunity - By Keith Matthew
-- Article: Is "Earning a Living" Stopping You? - By Stacey Mayo, MCC
-- Book Review: The Last Lecture - By Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
-- Brief News of the World
-- How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe from this Newsletter
Current Subscribers - 267,010 subscribers
Removal instructions are listed at the end of the newsletter.
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*** Quotes of the Week ***
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He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. - Benjamin
Franklin, 1706-1790, American Scientist/Publisher/Diplomat
I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for
me. - William Hazlitt, 1778-1830, English Writer and Literary Critic
Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving
happier. - Mother Teresa, 1910-1997, Albanian-born Humanitarian and Missionary
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*** Recommended Product of the Week
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*** Article: Creating and Recognizing Opportunity - By Keith Matthew ***
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The ability to create and recognize opportunity is very important for us if we want to start growing our personal lives, deepening our connections with people, as well as, of course, the money that's in our pockets. In fact, if you just focus on what we're about to talk about, and focus on no other part of this success system, you'll definitely get your worth out of it.
Get into the mindset of making sure that you get a return on your investment.
If it's an investment of energy into a relationship, an investment of your time into a project, or your money down on a personal development product, start expecting of yourself that you're going to get a return on your investment.
I went to a seminar and paid a couple thousand dollars just to get in. That doesn't even take into account airfare, meals, and all the other expenses incurred. I formed new relationships with people that could be very beneficial to my business -- to grow it.
When the seminar had ended, I returned home and the busyness of my life took over again. I have to be here, I have this appointment, I have these clients to work with -- you know how it is.
Two weeks...three weeks...a month went by. The bottom line is: I put several thousand dollars down as an investment in my business and in my position in my life, to better it, and I didn't take ACTION on it, so I basically threw the money away. Make it a mantra that when you do something, you're going to make a commitment and have the expectation that you're going to get a return on your investment (ROI).
Going along with that idea, of course, you're going to have to take action and have a plan, so you can make sure to have this ROI. It doesn't have to be money. If you have energy invested in a relationship and you're not getting your "ROI," you have to take a look at why. Is it because you're not putting something in that needs to be there to get the return back? Does the relationship have to be changed? Start expecting this. In talking about "Creating and Recognizing Opportunity," how do we prepare for something like this? We don't know where opportunity is, when it's going to show up, or what is going to be expected of you in order to take advantage of the opportunity. You don't know what the outcome is going to be if you do jump on and take advantage of an opportunity.
You also don't know if it's going to be worth your time or worth the risk involved, so there are a lot of unknowns with opportunity. You can't even see it, let alone quantifying whether it's going to be worth it for you. Yet, finding opportunity in your life and around you is very vital to your success.
Really good opportunities, a lot of times, come and go quickly. Either somebody next to you jumps on it, or it just passes by like a moment and then you're still in the same spot you were in before, which is not why we're here. We're here to learn how to move from spot A to B to C. The truth of the matter is, opportunity is everywhere. It's everywhere in your life right now -- all over the place. It's incredible how much it's in your life, but most of the time we don't see it. Why do you think we don't see opportunity?
We each have a perspective on our lives. Whatever your perspective is, is pretty much consistent from day to day because that's how your world is shaped, that's how you have shaped it. So we have this perspective, and we really have to work on changing it.
When you work on and start to be able to change your perspective, and you can see things in a different light or from different angles, different viewpoints, then you're starting to get on the right track to seeing opportunity. When you open up your mind and allow for these other possibilities, you start to see that they are all around you.
About the Author:
Keith Matthew has been teaching Law of Attraction and wealth-building techniques for 18 years. Visit http://www.selfmasterysecrets.com/ns-freecourse.html to sign up for a Free 7-Day Success Workshop or go to http://www.selfmasterysecrets.com/ns-freecd.html to get a Free 'Limitless Wealth' CD.
Check out the Experts page for Keith Matthew, the Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Success Principles.
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*** Article: Is "Earning a Living" Stopping You? - By Stacey Mayo, MCC ***
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Every year, people resolve that this year will be different: "This will be the year that I write that book, start that new venture, double my income, take more time off to spend with my family," and the list goes on and on. However, when people think about pursuing their dreams, they often squash the idea because it doesn't seem practical.
Does this sound familiar? You have a dream, but are afraid that if you pursue it, you would risk giving up what you already have. It is easy to put it off to a later date -- a time when there will be more money, more time, and/or when the kids have graduated from college.
However, there is never a time when everything in your life is perfect for carrying out your goals. Don't wait for everything to be lined up. Once you actually commit to your dream, things will begin to fall into place. Know that is possible to live out your fondest dreams AND make a great living!
After supporting thousands of people across the globe in making their personal and professional dreams a reality, I have found the following strategies to be most effective:
* First, design your life around your priorities. Many people try to fit their dreams into their life and complain there are not enough hours in the day to make it happen. If you want your dream to become a reality, make it a priority.
For example, Stacy Allison, the first American woman to climb Mt. Everest, chose to live just outside of Zion National Park, so she could climb rock cliffs in her own backyard. Climbing was her priority for many years, and she made choices in alignment with that.
* Second, handle the basics (food, clothing, and shelter), then reach for fulfillment and self-actualization. If you can't stand your job any longer or have been forced out and you need a source of income, get a low-stress interim job to pay the bills while your pursue your dream.
* Visualize every step of your dream and watch the magic unfold. For example, an experiment conducted by Australian psychologist Alan Richardson found a 23 percent performance improvement among subjects who visualized every day for 20 days.
Mary Youngblood went from welfare mom to Grammy-award winner. Mary visualized herself out of welfare. She did this by writing a short story about a young welfare mother. It was her story, basically, and how she was discovered having great talent and was able to get herself up and out of welfare. She pictured it happening in her head and then took action in alignment with that picture.
* Laser in on one idea, business, or income stream at a time. One of the mistakes people make is diversifying too quickly. This is true whether you are trying to build multiple streams of income or are just working on several different ideas at one time. The key is getting the first stream or idea up and running and having systems in place so it will keep running without you before going on to the next unrelated stream.
This is one of my biggest lessons, as it is for many entrepreneurs and creative people. When I was writing, "I Can't Believe I Get Paid To Do This!" I was also looking for real estate investments, which was a new venture for me. I wasn't making much progress on either count. When I put the real estate to the side and committed to finishing the book, it happened quite easily.
* And last but not least, develop your resilience muscle by bouncing back from setbacks. You will very likely have setbacks along the way. Don't get stopped by these bumps in the road; learn from them.
About the Author:
Stacey Mayo established the Center for Balanced Living to carry out her life's work. She and a team of powerful coaches have counseled thousands of people to clarify and make their dream a reality. She is a Master Certified coach and has been featured on the CBS Evening News and Forbes. She is author of the award-winning book, "I Can't Believe I Get Paid To Do This" and "Is Your Ladder Leaning Against the Wrong Wall?" Visit http://www.balancedliving.com to subscribe to her FREE ezine, Living Your Dreams, and receive a free self-assessment.
Check out the Experts page for Stacey Mayo, the Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Career Change.
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Take part in Stacey Mayo's FREE 30-day Stillness Experiment! Stillness is the
practice of being in the moment rather than in the past or future. It is a place
inside of you where inner peace can be found. To sign up for the Stillness
Experiment, go here:
http://www.Balancedliving.com/stillness.html
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*** Book Review: The Last Lecture - By Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow ***
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A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave -- "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" -- wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.
*****
The list price of this book is $21.95. To purchase it from Amazon.com for
$12.07, a 45% discount,
go here.
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*** Brief News of the World ***
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Positive:
* Mr. Rogers' memory lives on in scholarships *
The man in the cardigan himself would've been glad to welcome the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship winners to his neighborhood, his widow said. The three college students, whose names were announced Sunday, are part of a series of "wonderful young people" who've been recognized by the 4-year-old scholarship program named for her husband, the children's TV host, said Joanne Rogers. (Click here for complete news story)
* Networks Join Forces to Fight Cancer: In Historic Collaboration, CBS, ABC, NBC Unite for TV Special to Raise Funds for Cancer Research *
In an unprecedented network partnership, CBS, ABC and NBC will donate one hour of commercial-free primetime for a nationally televised fundraiser to fight cancer. The event, which will air on Sept. 5, 2008 (8 p.m. EDT and PDT), supports "Stand Up To Cancer," a new initiative aimed at raising dollars and ending cancer's reign as a leading cause of death. (Click here for complete news story)
* Moore, Kutcher raise funds for homeless initiative *
Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and several of their famous colleagues -- including newlyweds Charlie Sheen and Brooke Mueller -- spread their wings Saturday night at the exclusive Butterfly Ball fundraiser benefiting Chrysalis, a Los Angeles-based organization that helps homeless men and women find jobs and homes. "We love it, and we really believe in it," Moore said before the event. (Click here for complete news story)
** For more positive news, please visit http://www.selfgrowth.com/news.html
Other:
* Japan awards Kenyan, Briton new Africa health prize *
Japan has awarded a lucrative new medical prize for Africa to a Kenyan who has fought to stem HIV infections and a Briton whose research is credited with stemming malaria on the continent. Emperor Akihito presented the new Hideo Noguchi Prize, which comes with 100 million yen (one million dollars) for each recipient, at a summit attended by 40 African heads of state in Yokohama, near Tokyo. (Click here for complete news story)
* Lifting the Veil of Depression: Experimental Electrical Pulse Therapy Can Shift Moods, Possibly Cure Depression *
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 21 million Americans suffer from some kind of depressive disorder. For about 4 million of the most severe cases, no treatment can help. But there is a promising experimental therapy now in clinical trials that, in essence, "rewires" the brain. It is most definitely medicine on the cutting edge. (Click here for complete news story)
* Living computers solve complex math puzzle: Tweaked bacteria show promise in problem-solving applications *
Scientists have genetically tweaked E. coli bacteria to create simple computers capable of solving a classic math puzzle, commonly called the "Burnt Pancake Problem." The resulting advance in synthetic biology, according to researchers, hints at the ability of tiny "living computers" to aid in data storage, evolutionary comparisons and even tissue engineering. (Click here for complete news story)