Self Improvement Newsletter
Issue # 509, June 9-10, 2008

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* Self Improvement and Personal Growth Weekly Newsletter *
Issue # 509, Week of June 9-10, 2008
Publisher:  David Riklan - http://www.SelfGrowth.com

In this issue:

-- Quotes of the Week
-- Recommended Product of the Week
-- Article:  Five Questions That Help You Make the Most of Your Time - By Rodger Constandse
-- Article:  Break Through the Illusion of Limitation - By Guy Finley
-- Book Review:  The Essential Laws of Fearless Living: Find the Power to Never Feel Powerless Again - By Guy Finley
-- Brief News of the World
-- How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe from this Newsletter

Current Subscribers - 267,178 subscribers
Removal instructions are listed at the end of the newsletter.


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*** Quotes of the Week ***
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Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. - Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, 3rd President of the United States

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. - Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian Political and Spiritual Leader

You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. - Irish Proverb

 

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*** Recommended Product of the Week ***
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*** Article:  Five Questions That Help You Make the Most of Your Time - By Rodger Constandse ***
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Questions have the power to instantly change your focus and put you into a productive frame of mind.

These five simple time management questions will immediately direct your attention, your focus, and your thinking toward your top priorities and away from distractions.

Just ask yourself these questions habitually throughout the day, and you will start making better use of your time.

1. What is the most valuable use of my time right now?

This is a slight variation of a question developed by time management expert Alan Lakein.

The purpose of this question is to shift your focus to what is most important and valuable at this moment. It is a perfect question to ask whenever you are unsure about what to do next, whenever you face an unexpected interruption, or whenever you feel that you are not making good use of your time.

For example, let's say you find yourself with an extra 20 minutes of unscheduled time. Asking yourself "What is the most valuable use of my time right now?" will help you find an important task for the time you have available.

2. What am I ultimately trying to accomplish?

The purpose of this question is to focus your thinking on your real objectives and goals -- the real reasons you are working on your projects and tasks.

Asking this question habitually will help you avoid getting sidetracked, drifting into trivia, or falling into perfectionism. You can use this powerful question for all your projects.

For example, while preparing a presentation, you can easily get sucked into less valuable work when you start playing with the formatting, or adding bells and whistles, instead of working on the content.

The work seems important because it is connected to your presentation project, but when you take a closer look, you realize that you are wasting your time on details that don't really matter.

Asking this question will help you refocus your efforts on your real objectives and away from trivial matters. If it turns out that the formatting details are important for this project, you'll recognize this as well and give them the attention they deserve.

This question can also help you find and eliminate useless tasks that don't contribute toward your ultimate goals.

3. What am I giving up to do this?

Whenever you choose to do something, you automatically reject everything else you could have done during that time.

The purpose of this question is to help you realize what you are giving up in order to undertake a task or project. Once you recognize the true cost of an activity, you may decide that it is not how you really want to spend your time.

Asking this question before you take on a new task or project will help you stay focused on what really matters. It will also help you recognize when you should be saying no to that new request.

You should also ask this question about activities that you are already doing on a regular basis. These could be things like volunteering to do some work for your trade association, chairing a committee, or serving on the board of a community organization.

While all of these things may be valuable undertakings, you may be sacrificing something even more important to do them. Asking "What am I giving up to do this?" may turn out to be a real eye opener.

You probably wouldn't consciously sacrifice time with your family in order to participate in a committee you don't care about, but you might be doing it by default if you don't examine your existing commitments on a regular basis.

4. What are my three most important projects or tasks today?

The purpose of this question is to help you make use of the 80/20 rule every day. The 80/20 rule states that 80 percent of the value is contained in only 20 percent of the items. The top two or three projects and tasks in any given day could account for up to 80 percent of your day's value, so give them the time and priority they deserve.

If you practice weekly planning, you can change this question to "What are the three most important projects for this week?"

5. Should I continue doing this?

This is a slight variation of the first two questions, but shifts the focus toward what to stop doing rather than what to start doing.

Deciding to stop doing something that is no longer valuable is often more important than actually deciding to start doing something else.

This is a perfect question to ask whenever you feel you may be wasting time trying to perfect something that should already be done, or when you feel stuck in a commitment that is no longer serving your long-term objectives.

Keys to Success:

* Make it a habit. At first, you'll have to keep reminding yourself to ask these questions over and over again. However, if you keep asking consistently, eventually they will become a habit that will serve you for the rest of your life.

* Use these three steps whenever you have to make a time management decision: pause to think before you react, use questions to put you in the right frame of mind, and do the right thing.

* Keep asking until you get an answer. Sometimes you won't get an answer to these questions right away; just keep asking while you review your projects and task. The right answer will come.

About the Author:

Rodger Constandse is the founder of Goals to Action, a website that helps visitors reach their full potential and connect their daily actions to their mission, vision, and goals. http://www.GoalsToAction.com

Effective time management helps you take control of your time, get things done, and truly enjoy everything that life has to offer. Get your free Productivity Start-Up Kit today and discover how to get the most from each day! Go to http://www.GoalsToAction.com/FreeProductivityKit/

Check out the Experts page for Rodger Constandse, the Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Time Management.

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*** Article:  Break Through the Illusion of Limitation - By Guy Finley ***
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Here's a strange paradox of the upward path that runs through Real Life: the more conscious we become of what limits us, the more limitless becomes our reality! So, take as long as you need to understand the following special lesson; it sheds much needed light on a certain dark state that stands between us, and the higher freedom for which we long.

The sole purpose of discouraged feelings is to keep your thoughts on what you can't do. And with your attention fixed in this fashion -- on what seems impossible -- there's no room for discovering what is possible -- for what you can do.

In other words, the only thing discouraged states do is to keep you busy doing nothing except feeling sorry for yourself...which is the perfect guarantee that your situation will remain hopelessly the same. Enough is enough! You don't have to put up with one more discouraging moment, let alone a life limited by its darkness. There's another choice you can make besides falling into those familiar feelings of being a "failure." The next few insights will empower you to start thinking about old discouragements in a new way.

Whenever we suffer over what we aren't able to do, create, or work through, where is our attention in these moments? It's riveted on our own thought-produced reality that's telling us we're stuck! Maybe you can recognize some of these heavy-hearted inner voices that come with being victimized by such dark thoughts. In one way or another, they say...

"I'll never get out of this mess."
"It's too late!"
"I'm too set in my ways to change."
"This is hopeless."

Now on the surface of things, these all-too-familiar whispers of defeat -- that speak to us with our own voice -- seem genuinely concerned about our unwanted condition. But a deeper look tells a much different story. These troubled thoughts are part of an unseen "conspiracy of limitation" taking place in our own consciousness! Follow the next four ideas to their stunning conclusion. They prove that self-illumination and self-liberation are one and the same power.

1. The more these gloomy voices talk to us, the more discouraged we feel.

2. The more discouraged we feel, the more certain we are there's no other choice but to feel that way.

3. The more convinced we are that we have no choice, the less choice we have.

4. The act of identifying with this dark inner dialogue actually produces the dead-end we fear!

And so it goes: now we're convinced of our own captivity! There's no way past the limitations we perceive as being real. The key idea here lies in the word "perceive" because it rhymes with deceive. That's just what this perception is: a secret deception. Here's the liberating proof.

There are no dead-ends in real life.

Of course you must prove this bright fact to yourself, and here's a good place to start: in any given moment there's always something higher to do with your life than sit there and suffer over what you think you can't have, do, or be. Why wallow this way when a small amount of interior work will forever change how you see reality? For instance, see that the "size" of your discouragement is directly proportionate to how strongly you insist life conform to your demands. Verifying this self-imposed limitation empowers you, immediately, to let it go and start over.

Here's another example: maybe you've felt discouraged because you wanted to learn something new -- a higher skill or a difficult lesson -- but felt sure that certain limitations of yours placed this possibility beyond your abilities. Now you can do something much higher than just resign yourself to feeling discouraged.

Instead of falling into those familiar feelings of futility over yourself, deliberately drop those discourage-filled thoughts telling you the limit of your present view is the limit of your possibilities. Who you have been matters only to those dark states that want you to remain that way so that they can continue to rule the day. Refusing to dwell in the world of discouraged thoughts and feelings is the same as opening the door to a new world without limits. Just start working with who you are now!

In other words, do what's in your power and refuse to be discouraged about anything else. Keep repeating this new action one step at a time until you've walked away from the whole false idea that there's no further you can go!

Here are three special key lessons to help you strengthen and then actualize your wish to live in a world without limits:

Any conversation you permit yourself to have with discouraging thoughts guarantees you'll wind up with a good reason for feeling discouraged.

When you know that what you're looking for is what you already are -- and not what you may become -- you stand on the threshold of the limitless life.

The universe itself is actually set up for you to succeed with realizing the limitless life, which means you are made for whatever happens to you!

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Adapted from Guy Finley's newest bestseller, "The Essential Laws of Fearless Living," a Red Wheel/Weiser publication. For a limited time, you can order this groundbreaking new book for a deeply discounted price, PLUS, receive over 108 free bonus items including Guy Finley's bestselling 60-minute DVD, "The Power to Never Again Feel Powerless." It's a complete life-changing package! Quantities are limited. Visit http://www.selfgrowth.com/products/essentiallaws.html right now to take advantage of this incredible offer.

About the Author:
Guy Finley is the acclaimed author of more than 35 books and audio programs on the subject of self-realization, several of which have become international best sellers. His popular works, published in 17 languages, are widely endorsed by doctors, professionals, and religious leaders of all denominations.

Finley is the founder and director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit center for self-study located in Southern Oregon where he gives talks four times each week. Visit http://www.guyfinley.org for a wealth of free helpful information, free audio and video downloads, and to request your free Self-Improvement Starter Kit.

Check out the Experts page for Guy Finley.

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*** Book Review:  The Essential Laws of Fearless Living: Find the Power to Never Feel Powerless Again - By Guy Finley ***
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"The Essential Laws of Fearless Living" is a step-by-step manual for all who aspire to realize their ultimate potential as a human being. In its seven chapters of 40 concise essays, Finley explores deeply personal and meaningful ideas, revealing the secrets of the universe itself; but he does so in a way that makes the journey fascinating, compelling, and comforting at the same time. A great hope fills the heart that the untold mystery of human existence has not only been revealed, but solved.

Then, most importantly, at the close of each chapter readers are given specific insights and practical exercises that empower them to make real and lasting changes in their lives. Loneliness, stress, anger, and fear are replaced by a contentment, ease, compassion, and freedom that never fade away.

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If you want a happier life, now is the time to act! Order Guy Finley's life-changing book from Amazon.com today for just $10.17! When you do, you'll receive 108 FREE bonus gifts; these bonuses, along with the book, will show you how to lift your life to breathtaking new heights. Go to http://www.selfgrowth.com/products/essentiallaws.html

The list price of this book is $14.95. To purchase it from Amazon.com for $10.17, a 32% discount, go here.

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*** Brief News of the World ***
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Positive:

* MLB honors Negro Leaguers in Draft: Clubs selected former ballplayers to represent historic legacy *

Bobo Henderson realized the significance of the day. "It's just like being born again," Henderson said on Thursday as he sat waiting for what had been decades in coming. Finally, Henderson, a shortstop and outfielder with the Kansas City Monarchs, and 29 others from Negro Leagues' yesteryears were welcomed into the family of Major League Baseball. It was a day Henderson won't forget. Nor will the people behind the idea. (Click here for complete news story)

* Tongue Cancer Survivor Wins Top Chef Award: Grant Achatz Says Training at California Restaurant Taught Him How to Cook, and Survive *

A Chicago chef known for his ethereal cooking - as well as the tongue cancer that nearly ended his life - was named the nation's top chef Sunday by the James Beard Foundation. The award marked another victory in a tumultuous year for Grant Achatz, who last July was diagnosed with Stage 4 tongue cancer, underwent aggressive treatment to save his life and sense of taste, and by December was cancer free. (Click here for complete news story)

 
* Nobel winner reunited with sister lost in WWII

University of Utah geneticist Mario Capecchi got a bonus after winning the Nobel Prize for medicine last fall: He learned he has a younger sister. Capecchi, 70, and half-sister Marlene Bonelli, 69, met last month in northern Italy. It was technically a reunion, but really more of an introduction; they were too young to remember when they were separated in the early days of World War II. (Click here for complete news story)

** For more positive news, please visit http://www.selfgrowth.com/news.html

Other:

* Michelle Williams Helps Fund Heath Ledger Scholarship *

It's been five months since Heath Ledger's shocking death at age 28. But the young actor was still very much on the minds of his colleagues at Thursday night's Australians in Film 2008 Breakthrough Awards in Beverly Hills. The emotional highlight of the evening came when Gregor Jordan -- who became good friends with Ledger after directing him in 1999's Two Hands -- announced the formation of a Heath Ledger scholarship fund to help struggling Australian actors. (Click here for complete news story)

* Junk dealer's $100,000 gold cup found under bed *

Englishman John Webber thought nothing of the small, shiny cup, passed down from his junk dealer grandfather and stashed under a bed for years, until appraisers said it was an ancient Persian artifact. The 5½-inch gold cup, which experts have dated to the third or fourth century B.C., fetched $100,000 at an auction in Dorchester, southern England, Thursday. The identity of the winning bidder wasn't immediately known. (Click here for complete news story)

* Employers Get Tough on Workplace Gossip: That Little Bit of Juicy News You Spread at Work Might Get You Fired *

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