Self Improvement Newsletter
Issue # 525, September 29-30, 2008

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* Self Improvement and Personal Growth Weekly Newsletter *
Issue # 525, Week of September 29-30, 2008
Publisher:  David Riklan - http://www.SelfGrowth.com

In this issue:

-- Quotes of the Week
-- Recommended Product of the Week
-- Article:  Journaling to Self-Discovery - By Carol Adler
-- Article:  Successful Goal Planning - By Winsome Coutts
-- Book Review:  The Law of Attraction, Plain and Simple: Create the Extraordinary Life That You Deserve - By Sonia Ricotti
-- Brief News of the World
-- How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe from this Newsletter

Current Subscribers - 271,242 subscribers
Removal instructions are listed at the end of the newsletter.


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*** Quotes of the Week ***
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If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. - Jim Rohn, American Businessman/Author/Speaker

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. - Thomas Edison, 1847-1931, American Inventor and Entrepreneur

If I had permitted my failures, or what seemed to me at the time a lack of success, to discourage me, I cannot see any way in which I would ever have made progress. - Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933, 30th President of the United States

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*** Recommended Product of the Week ***
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Ex-Supermarket Employee Reveals the Secrets of How to Reprogram Your Body's "Metabolic Code" for Optimal Health: Record Numbers of Patients Avoid Cancer, Arthritis, Diabetes, Alzheimer's, and Other Devastating Illness...for Decades...

If you are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired...then please read this free special report. You'll see how the CEO of a $25 million publishing company, who juggles motherhood with a rewarding but stressful executive career, made a dramatic transformation in her own life and how you can too! Click here to read the free report now! http://www.selfgrowth.com/products/metaboliccode.html
 

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*** Article:  Journaling to Self-Discovery - By Carol Adler ***
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Journaling is one of the most creative ways to heal a fragmented self. Regardless of the identified condition -- post traumatic stress disorder, codependency, grief, depression, substance abuse, or some other type of addictive habit or behavior -- keeping a journal and making regular entries can often be the first step toward reconciliation of these disparate selves.

One could say that any type of creative expression -- painting, writing, sculpting, dancing, acting, composing, and performing music -- is a form of therapy because it transports us to another world, in the process releasing unwanted stress. Creative activities such as journaling also give us a chance to visit intimately with ourselves.

Details of daily living are basic to our health and well-being; we all know what it's like when we get too far behind in paying the bills or doing the laundry. By the same token, it's easy to get so caught up in the list of To-Do's that we forget to take time for ourselves.

* From the mundane to the sublime

The process of journaling can be magical. As a writer, I always feel the energy shift as soon as I sit down at my computer or curl up with a pad and pen in my favorite easy chair. Now I know it's "The Big I" that's on center stage, and I get a chance to star in my own show. That's what journaling is all about.

Establish a special time and place for journaling. At first that time may be only five or ten minutes, and then as you gather enthusiasm and momentum, lengthen it another five minutes, then another five... and so on.

Let your journaling experience be a "breath of fresh air" that you can look forward to. Give this time your best energy. Be rested and alert. Also, make sure you choose a place where you can write without being interrupted.

When you're journaling, ignore details of grammar, usage, and punctuation and "let it flow." Focus on being excited about the process of staying intimate and creative with yourself.

* Journaling helps us dream again

Having the courage to "look in the mirror" and then go to the source of the pain or discomfort can be the first step toward self-discovery. In subsequent journal entries, as we tell our story to ourselves, we may find the answers to issues that have been troubling us for many years.

In the privacy of our journal, we can start to be honest with ourselves and shed some of the denial that may have been holding us captive to unwanted beliefs, feelings, and habits.

Energy medicine or total body healing is about freeing blockages. The more releasing we do, the freer we become. The freer we become, the easier it is to align with our wishes and dreams. Journaling can build enthusiasm about this new life we are manifesting.

Some of the most valuable book manuscripts that are submitted to Dandelion Books, my publishing company, are from individuals healing from post traumatic stress disorder who have decided to write down their story. Often these are fictionalized autobiographical accounts of war experiences, or stories about getting involved with street gangs and drug dealing.

In both scenarios, alcohol, drugs, sex, and other addictive habits mask the pain of shame, self-blame, low self-esteem, and feelings of helplessness. Things are so bad, there's no turning back.

Then "the shift happens." Although no one can explain the dynamics of self-transformation, none of us can deny the experience when it occurs. That's when journaling can take on a whole new dimension. What happened? Why? How did WE participate in this experience?

We do know that if we create our reality, it's possible that we invited the challenges in order to grow from them -- and tell our story. For this we can only offer our gratitude.

Encourage your clients to journal; try journaling yourself. You don't have to be challenged by a serious mental or physical condition to experience the positive benefits. We are all works in progress; doing the inner work is an ongoing growth process, and one of the best tools for doing that work is self-expression.

About the Author:

Carol Adler, MFA's first ghostwritten book listing her name as co-editor, "Why Am I Still Addicted? A Holistic Approach to Recovery," was endorsed by Deepak Chopra, M.D., and published by McGraw-Hill. Other publications include three novels, four books of poetry, and well over 200 poems in literary journals. She has ghostwritten over 40 nonfiction and fiction works for a number of professionals in the education, health care, and human potential industries.

Carol is President of Dandelion Books, LLC of Tempe, Arizona, a full service publishing company. She is also President and CEO of Dandelion Enterprises, Inc., Write to Publish for Profit, and President of the International Arts & Media Foundation, a non-profit subsidiary of Dandelion Enterprises, Inc.

http://www.dandelion-books.com/

http://www.write-to-publish-for-profit.com/

Her business experience includes co-ownership of a Palm Beach, FL public relations company and executive management positions in two U.S. rejuvenation and mind/body wellness corporations, for which she founded publishing divisions.

Carol has served as editor of several poetry and literary magazines. Her career experience includes extensive teaching of college-level creative and business writing, and conducting of writing workshops in prisons, libraries, elementary, junior and high schools, and senior citizen centers.

Check out the Experts page for Carol Adler, the Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Publishing.

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*** Article:  Successful Goal Planning - By Winsome Coutts ***
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You hear a lot about goals and planning these days -- but is it just a waste of time, or does it really work? Won't just making a quick list of things to do be just as effective, and much quicker? Please consider these ideas.

There are several steps we can take to increase success, whether personal or business, individual or group. One of the major components of successful outcomes is goal planning. High achievers in business and in life know that goal planning is a cornerstone to success. Learning how to plan goals, and then implementing your plan, equals goal planning success. And goal planning success leads to overall success.

* What are goals?
The best way to define the word "goal" is to say that a goal is a marked point in a process that indicates progress. Think of goals as the path markers on a trail. Every time you pass one, you know you've made further progress toward reaching a predetermined end or the final goal.

* Why should I set goals?
You should set goals because of what they are -- a way to see if you are progressing toward an objective or final result. So goal planning leads to success by creating a sort of map for you to follow.

* How do I choose the right goals for goal planning success?
Well, that depends on the outcome you are hoping to achieve, but here are some guidelines:

First, determine exactly what it is that you want to achieve. Is it a fit body? A successful business? A happy family?

Next, define what that means. What exactly do you consider to be a fit body, a successful business, or a happy family? Your definition will not be the same as your neighbor's. Please don't let anyone else define that for you.

Third, map it out. Ask yourself, "What are the ingredients that I need to fulfill this outcome?" and "In what steps should the ingredients be added?" If your final goal is a fit body, the ingredients will be different types of exercise, healthy foods and drinks, maybe even spa treatments and massage. In what way do you need to put these together to equal a fit body? This is where you can see your goals start to take shape.

1. Goal one might be to check out the gyms in your area and join one.
2. Goal two would be to actually go to the gym a certain number of times per week to work out.
3. Goal three might be to hire a dietician to help you with your food choices.
4. Goal four would be to take that dietician's advice to heart and begin to follow an eating plan.
5. Goal five might be to do research on body treatments that help the look of your body or help detoxify your body.

As you follow these goals, you will start to notice changes in your body that are leading to your final outcome of fitness. Now, this example is a bit watered down, but you get the idea.

When you begin to understand how to use goals, you will experience goal planning success in every part of your life. Your life will become much easier, and you will experience fewer disappointments as a result. If you have work projects to finish and you are feeling overwhelmed, it will help to use goal planning as a tool for better organization and more success. If you need to accomplish certain tasks each day, goal planning will help with that. If you have personal goals, such as finding a wonderful partner or returning to college to finish your degree, you can use goal planning for those things too.

Goal planning success means a happier and more successful life. If you are unsure, use goal planning for a small project and see how well it works for you. Then begin to use it to accomplish larger successes. Before you know it, goal planning will become second nature and you'll enjoy a more successful life.

My verdict -- stop wasting time just wasting time! Set a goal and plan the steps to fulfillment, and get to work on achieving those steps.

About the Author:
Winsome Coutts has a passion for The Secret movie, The Law of Attraction, and Personal Development/Self Help: http://www.the-secret-dvd.net/

For free downloads, heaps of info, and self-help tools, visit her website:
http://www.4lifeselfhelp.com

Check out the Experts page for Winsome Coutts.

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*** Book Review:  The Law of Attraction, Plain and Simple: Create the Extraordinary Life That You Deserve - By Sonia Ricotti ***
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Readers of "The Law of Attraction, Plain and Simple" can live the life of their dreams, their "greatest life," by applying Sonia Ricotti's eleven simple steps to enjoy freedom and inner peace in every area of life.

The Law of Attraction states that we attract into our lives what we project into the universe. Written in concise, plain English and filled with stories, tips, and exercises, this book helps readers shift their thoughts, language, and emotions to emit positive vibrations and attract all they want in life. Using the eleven steps in this book, readers stop projecting negative energy and learn to project positive energy at all times. The eleven steps include:

* Decide What You Want
* Choose Your Thoughts and Feelings
* Unleash the Past
* Keep the End in Mind
* Connect Mind, Body, and Spirit
* Choose Your Friends Carefully
* Allow It (allow what you attract to arrive)

With "The Law of Attraction, Plain and Simple," Ricotti successfully strips away the esoterica often associated with Law of Attraction books, to present this universal law in a simple, commonsense, psychologically grounded way.

*****
Purchase this book today and receive over $10,000 worth of FREE GIFTS from some of your favorite teachers from "The Secret" (Marci Shimoff, Lisa Nichols, Bob Proctor, Bob Doyle, John Assaraf, and Joe Vitale) and many, many, other amazing self-help professionals! For more information, go to http://www.leadoutloud.ca/lawofattraction

The list price of this book is $15.95. To purchase it from Amazon.com for $10.85, a 32% discount, go here.

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

* Couple to give $45 million for new LACMA pavilion *

In a move that will significantly bolster the ongoing expansion and refurbishment of the region's largest public art museum, a Los Angeles philanthropic couple will give $45 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and be honored with a new exhibition pavilion bearing their names. The new Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, a one-story structure designed by architect Renzo Piano and enclosed in glass and travertine marble, will be named for the donors, Beverly Hills residents whose vast business holdings include a floral wire service, a bottled-water enterprise and some of the nation's largest orchards. ... (Click here for complete news story)

* NYC museum ship Intrepid coming home shipshape *

Almost two years after being pried ignominiously from the mud by a phalanx of huffing tugboats and towed off to a shipyard for a major overhaul, the historic aircraft carrier Intrepid is returning home. Freshly painted in naval "haze gray" and once again shipshape from stem to stern, the fabled survivor of Pacific war battles and five kamikaze suicide attacks will be towed up New York Harbor and slotted into its familiar Hudson River berth on Oct. 2. The floating military and space museum will reopen to the public on Nov. 8, with a large celebration on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. (Click here for complete news story) 

* The Wrist as a Route to the Heart: Emerging Method for Artery-Clearing Angioplasties Found Safer and More Affordable and Comfortable *

About a million artery-clearing angioplasties are performed in the United States each year, and the usual route is to thread a tube to the heart through an artery in the groin. But a major study this summer showed that going through the wrist instead can significantly lower the risk of bleeding, without the discomfort of lying flat for hours while the incision site seals up. Just one-in-100 angioplasties in the United States is done via the wrist, and the approach isn't for everyone. But the study promises to spur more specialists to use the method. (Click here for complete news story)

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

Other:

* Newman's legacy: Good works *

Paul Newman broached the subject of his philanthropic legacy several years ago while fishing with friends Robert Forrester and David Horvitz off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Even though he was a Hollywood icon -- a 10-time Academy Award nominee known for his performances in such classic films as "Cool Hand Luke" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" -- it was a rare moment in which Newman reflected on how he would be remembered after his death, Horvitz recalled Sunday. "Most of the time he didn't think about legacy," he said. "He was pretty much in the moment." (Click here for complete news story)

* Ladybug, ladybug, where have you gone? Some species have nearly vanished, while others are on the rise *

The nine-spotted ladybug was considered so common, charismatic and crop-friendly that it was adopted as New York's official state insect in 1989. As it turns out, the species may have disappeared from the state nearly two decades before that. Recent surveys in New York and the Northeast have found none of the once-ubiquitous beetles entomologists call Coccinella novemnotata -- or C-9, for short. (Click here for complete news story)
 

* Iditarod Dogs' Endurance Secret Revealed *

Racing sled dogs could be considered the Lance Armstrongs of the canine world, for their strength and endurance. New research sheds light on how they do it. Sled dogs are best known for "mushing" each March in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the world's longest sled race. The canine competitors cover 1,100 miles (1,770 km) from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, sometimes in just nine days. (Click here for complete news story)

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