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Official Guide for Motivation

Les Brown

Les Brown is the Official Guide for Motivation on SelfGrowth. One of the most recognized motivational speakers in the world, he teaches people how to build lasting drive from the inside out.

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Motivation

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The Secret To Instant And Lasting Motivation

Do you have a list of goals and desires that have yet to be fulfilled? Do you find yourself generating exciting new ideas only to find that you lose the motivation to complete them shortly after you get started? Perhaps you talk yourself out of that great new idea even before you even begin to pursue it.nnThe good news is that there is a very simple yet powerful technique that you can adopt immediately to help you commit to completion. The technique is called decision. Proper

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Article
By Cassie Lang
Keep Going!

There are so many ups and downs when running a business and it’s impossible to fully prepare yourself for the realities until you are actually doing it! Sometimes the downs may over shadow the ups and you wonder 'Can I really do this?' But the answer is YES...YOU CAN DO IT! Remind yourself that the lessons you are learning right now are an important part of the future success of your business. I try to find time each week to write down any worries so I can re-evaluate and c

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Article
By Steve Scott
Indecision: The Second Enemy From Within

Indecision is the second enemy or fear that comes from within. Success, in business and life, more often than not, is not as much about circumstances and things as it is about how we see ourselves. Once again, just like the first enemy, indifference, in the previous post, there is a time where it is absolutely necessary to be indecisive. Yet, if you let indecision rule you, it creates a fear that will leave you out of more opportunities in business and life than you can imag

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Article
By Brian Johnson
Seneca on Your Ideal State

“Man’s ideal state is realized when he has fulfilled the purpose for which he is born. And what is it that reason demands of him? Something very easy—that he live in accordance with his own nature.” ~Seneca from Letters from a Stoic rnMarcus Aurelius, another Stoic Philosopher (and Roman Emperor a hundred years after Seneca), said something very similar in his classic “Meditations” (see Notes ): “Everything - a horse, a vine - is created for some duty... For wha

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Article
5 Forgotten Secrets To Beating Procrastination At Home

It's not easy to stay motivated and beat procrastination while being at home. Too many distractions and feeling that tasks can always be delayed until tomorrow or the next day can cause procrastination at home to set in. The phone rings, you check your e-mail, watch a little TV and before you know it procrastination at home has stolen your day and what have you accomplished? Then the guilt sets in and you promise yourself that tomorrow will be better, but will it? It can b

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Article
By TJ Philpott
All Top Entrepreneurs Have It – Passion

Looking at the top entrepreneurs in any field will show one common quality to which they can attribute their successes. In most every case their business success is a direct by-product for the passion they possess. No where is this more true than with internet entrepreneurs being that in most instances their passion is their chief major resource. For many working online their financial resources are limited therefore they must call upon other resources to compensate as a resu

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Article
Secrets to Setting An Intention

When you set an intention, you're focusing your energy to create a new behavior, attitude, or experience in your world. You're saying to yourself, and the Universe, "This is what I want." The Universe always says, "Yes," to your goal, for It supports all of your endeavors. However, your subconscious mind needs to be convinced. It knows your intention, but it will always act on your prevailing thought. Which may not agree with your current desire. It will follow the idea with

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Article
By Chip Conley
Book Review: Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow

This book review is part of a series that covers the topic of Motivation . The Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Motivation is Keith A. Shaw . Motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior which demonstrates desire and willingness to do something. nn Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow is a valuable resource for people interested in motivation , and it is available through Amazon.com .nn From Publishers Weekly nDespite u

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Article
By SelfGrowth Contributor
Improvise Over the Beat of Life

Lately, I’ve been thinking about rhythm. nnBrimming over with ideas for work projects and collaboration, I tend to get impatient with the relaxed pace of August in New York, when everyone’s on vacation and business slows down.nnAt the same time, I’ve been learning about jazz improvisation from a flutist friend (daunting for a classical musician used to having every note and tempo marking spelled out by the composer). As a newcomer to jazz, I started off play

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Article
By Anu Bhadwaj
Famous Personalities Of India Like Girish Vishwa

GIRISH VISHWA rnMusic is your participation, your thoughts, your knowledge. assuming that you don't live it, it won't become out of your beak. - Charlie ParkerrnEthnic music sounds old fashion? Well, read about Girish Vishwa to change your perception, an amazing Dholak player. He was born in 1964, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He completed his graduation from a Christian college, Indore. Girish started his music career at the age of 14 by playing music with "Jhankaar and Chatterjee

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Article
New Years Resolutions Obstacle Course

The New Years Resolutions Obstacle Starting Line Imagine going for your resolutions as a marathon with many obstacles and walls. At the start of the marathon, almost everyone is off to a great start. There are a few who will still be stretching out, preparing and waiting for everything to be ...The New Years Resolutions Obstacle Starting Line Imagine going for your resolutions as a marathon with many obstacles and walls. At the start of the marathon, almost everyone is off to

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Article
Beating The Procrastinators Creed To Achieve Your Goals

Oftentimes, we can get to the place where we begin to look to others to help us, when we know very well, that that is not where the answer lies. To ask how we get the motivation to do something that we very well know that we ought to do, and wait for that answer, is evidence that it doesn't take much of an excuse to not do it. The procrastinators creed is still around - having its effect. If you were to be asked, "Where do you get the motivation to go to work every day?", wo

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Article
By A. GAURI SANKAR
THE DANCE OF LIFE

Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump and much less dance. Nevertheless, they go on to live for a long time. Friends, dance of life does not mean that one has to dance through life. It is just finding some rhythm in life. In nature, everything is rhythmic. Planets revolving round the Sun, seasonal changes, flow of rivers, waves of the ocean, blooming of flowers and in millions of other things we find that rhythm. Commanded by unseen divine order every other form of

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Article
By TJ Philpott
What Keeps You from Starting an Online Business

Starting an online business is one of the most 'embraced' ways many have of pursuing their life long goal of financial freedom. The internet super highway is now being used for much more than simply finding information. Online entrepreneurs are coming out of the 'woodworks' to test new ideas on how to make money online from home. Some succeed and some fail but regardless the entrepreneurial spirit is definitely alive and well on the internet. With little investment required a

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Article
By Ted Ciuba
Create Your Life By Design

How important is that one definite burning desire… that one obsession, so to speak? Just that it’s the tuning fork by which you measure every single tone. That’s the thing that lets you know if you’re on target or off target.nnIt’s the overarching “definite chief aim” of your life, your company, or your project. What are they going to say about you when they write your obituary? What did you accomplish?nnFor instance, if a person&#821

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Article
Stop Procrastinating By Understanding Your Personal Procrastination Style

Procrastinating is a very common problem in our society today. It seems to be more of a problem especially in the workplace. There are many factors that play a part in procrastination and why humans do it. So how do we stop procrastinating? We need to realize that we are doing it in the first place. Human nature allows us to do things and then disguise them as other issues. We tend to make excuses for our bad habits and usually end up blaming them onto other things or peopl

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Article
By Cassaundra Vergel
In Response: 10 Tips For Twenty Something Transformation

I am 21 years old. I'll be 22 in November. I don't know if I really qualify as a 20-something since I've only hit my second decade of life two years ago. But I do know that after living with college freshmen (17 - 19 year olds) for 9 months, it doesn't matter if you're 21 or 28 - there is a very clear discrepancy between the teens and the 20-somethings.rn Christine Hassler of the Huffington Post wrote an interesting post a couple of days ago called "10 Tips for 20 Something T

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Article
By Jordan 'Jomo' Molotsky
What I REALLY Learned in College Part 1

Although my degree didn’t give me what a majority of the population deem “the typical post-collegiate path,” I don’t regret going to college ONE SINGLE BIT for 2 reasons: 1) I DON’T HAVE REGRETS!! I believe that everything that happens to you in your life, good or bad, should be viewed as a learning opportunity, and whether you actually learn from it is COMPLETELY up to you (depends upon whether take the time to analyze it or not). Personally, I LOVE analyzing BOTH

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Article
By Anthony L. Bell
If You Can't Say Anything Nice...

Do you know that the average person talks to himself or herself about 50,000 times a day. According to psychological researchers, it is 80% negative; most people say things such as I shouldn’t have said that… I’ll never lose this weight… I can’t just lick this problem.. I am always running late, etcnnThis got me to thinking, have you ever heard the saying ”If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”? Well, I wonder what are you saying to yours

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By Iain Legg
How To Stay Motivated Forever

Do you ever get blank stares when trying to explainrnyour dreams to friends and family? It's all to do with belief systems. Let me explain what I rnlearned in Jim Francis's amazing mind power research which rnis so obvious, yet many of us miss it... Everyone's mind is a result of a lifetime of cumulativerninfluences and experiences. E.g if you've been told as arnchild that telepathy doesn't exist then you accept this rnsubconsciously as a fact. This is your inherent belief rn

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Article
By Ross Brandmeier
Precautions to Take while Selecting a Home Based Earning Opportunity

Nowadays, home based business opportunity seekers have various benefits. The advantages are plenty when compared to those who had come earlier. The main advantage for the new home based job seekers is the availability of numerous jobs, which were not available a decade ago. Even though there are various sources online to make money and are known worldwide, most of the home based business opportunity seekers fail to make money online. The main issue with the new job seekers is

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Article
By Yumi Sakugawa
This Week on Intent: Tell Us How to Overcome Challenges

This week on Intent, we want to hear your advice on overcoming challenges. What can we all do as individuals to successfully overcome any hardship that stand in our way? Challenge is essential for character growth, but also has an annoying way of making us anxious, intimidated, insecure, confused and sometimes downright scared. Challenges can be as mundane as adjusting to a new work environment or sticking to a healthy diet. They can be as drastic as a break-up of a long-term

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Article
By Ali Rodriguez
Are you choosing “Freedom” in 2011?

Early in the year, everyone talks about planning, changes, moving-forward, transformations, and some interesting and well-meant resolutions that seldom come to fruition. However, how about “Freedom”? Yes, freedom to be who you are without feeling the “need” to please anyone but yourself? I often ask my clients for themes to kick-start their New Year, or new quarter, or a new era in their lives, and this time, without asking, a young mentee of mine, took the theme from

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Article
By TJ Philpott
Rekindling Your Motivation When Working Online

Your motivation is one of the single biggest assets you have as an internet entrepreneur and without it everything you do is more difficult! Working online places a lot of demands upon the individual since in most cases people tend to work alone. It therefore stands to reason that when you lack motivation your productivity will suffer as a result! Well fear not since there are 3 simple ways you can rekindle your enthusiasm as an internet entrepreneur when you do lack motivati

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Article
By John Kiely
Creative Games for the Mind

Playing games is a fun filled way to relax the mind and the body, but games do not necessarily have to be restricted to playing out in the open or that which involves strenuous physical activity. Many of us are ignorant of the fact that the mind needs to be engaged in some sort of exercise to keep it intact and lively. We seldom pay attention to playing creative games that can be played indoors, outdoors or while traveling. This creative game provides the mind with a lot of e

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Article
Never Give Up!

Who said starting a business was going to be easy? For those of you who are about to give up,let me share with you the story of 2 people who never gave up and came out on top! The first one is about a lady by the name of Mrs.Debbie Field's,she is the C.E.O of Mrs Fields' Original Cookies,Inc.When she was only 13 years old she would bake chocolate chip cookies for her family and friends.Years later she baked some cookies for her husband's business associates,as word of mouth s

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Article
Show People You Like Them And Win Friends

Within the first thirty seconds of meeting someone for the first time, we make many observations of which we translate into judgments about that person we are meeting. Every human being does this. We do this naturally and automatically with little, if any, real awareness of this process. This means that if we all do it, those we come into contact with are observing and making judgments about us, like we are them. If you happen to demonstrate a disliking attitude this informat

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Article
5 Ways To Feel Good, Now

How often do you get up in the morning and feel great?nnFor most people, the answer is not very often if ever at all. The standard mode is getting out of bed because you have to and from there living the rest of the day with a low level feeling of unease.nnJoy and generally feeling good doesn't even enter the equation, we tend to just keep busy with all the endless things there are to do and then look forward to the weekends as a reprieve. It's not much of a life!nnSo here ar

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Article
Self-Motivation Strategies For Greater Achievement

The key to self-motivation is setting goals. Without goals, it really doesn't matter how self motivated a person tries to be. They have to know what it is that they are motivated for. There must be a reward or benefit for it to be motivation. That is what drives us as humans. Without this factor, there will not likely be success in self-motivation. That is the reason why it is very important to make a list of goals. This first step will get you started in the right directio

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Article
By Sharmen Lane, The Official Guide to Motivation
***CPR…Choices and Personal Responsibility

How often do you say, “I didn’t have a choice” or “I don’t have a choice?” If you start to pay attention to the words you say I would bet it’s more often than you think. What would you say if I told you that no matter what, you ALWAYS have a choice? nnI think it is incredibly empowering to look inside yourself and say, this was my choice. Then you can accept your situation and make better choices to improve it.nnRobert F. Bennett the US Senator for the Utah said

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Article
By Yumi Sakugawa
Best of the INTENTernet: Getting Inspired, Overcoming and Kicking Butt!

In celebration of this week's theme on overcoming challenges, we have gathered the best content around the web that will make you believe in yourself and start kicking some serious butt. We are all vulnerable to some really scary challenges and we may all sometimes feel like giving up, but at the end of the day, we have so much more potential than we give ourselves credit for. So soak up some inspiration and start scaling those metaphorical and literal mountains of life. If t

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Article
Have You Given Up Who You Are to Please Someone Else?

In Anthony De Mello's book "The Way To Love" he talks alot about our attachment to people and things. In particular he mentions our need to be loved by another as if we would die if they did not exist.nnWhen we give up who we are to please another person we do what I call prostitute our being. We are no longer ourselves but instead begin to conform to what they want/expect of us. Even when we think we know what it is another person wants there are no guarantees that we will g

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Article
Bad Belief Systems You Must Lose if You Want to WIN: Socialism

You've heard of such interesting words as magnetism, tourism, and individualism. Recently, I asked myself, "What precisely is an ism?" Dictionary.com had the answer: an –ism is a suffix added to the end of a word to indicate that the word represents a specific practice, system, or philosophy. Using -ism at the end of a word also suggests the word is related to a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as an authority by a group or school of thought. Then I noticed that there are good, bad, and neutral isms.

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Article
Trading Your Life

Whether you realize it or not, the way you choose to spend your day is ultimately a trade off. You are literally trading the minutes, hours and days of your life in exchange for your current activities. Most of us spend 40 (and often more) hours per week trading the precious moments of our life for our job. Two questions immediately rise to the surface:nn1. Do you consciously recognize and appreciate each day of your life with the awareness that none of us know how much or ho

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Article
By HJ Foundation
Charitable giving that gives back

How might you provide for philanthropy while accommodating your family in the meantime? Utilizing beneficent trusts—all alone or in conjunction with contributor prompted assets—could offer you more noteworthy adaptability and control over your proposed magnanimous commitments while helping you satisfy your generous objectives, and furthermore assisting with bequest arranging and expense administration. A more critical take a gander at magnanimous trusts A beneficent trust

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Article
By Rhodri Jones
Motivation in Sport: The Best Proven Ways to Keep the Ball Rolling

The motivation I had to play rugby was there for me from a very young age. The love my father had for the game, and travelling all over the country to watch my two brothers play, made playing rugby something I was naturally meant to do. I loved the sport and the motivation to train, play and enjoy was never ever a problem. Watching both my brothers become successful players in their own right was all the motivation I needed to become the best I could be. The one thing present

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Article
By Kalyna Kapur
Ralph Smart- the Motivation Behind the Man

The secret is out…. Well the truth is it’s been out for some time and millions of people around the world are in on it thanks to the intellect, persistence and creativity of celebrated YouTube sensation Ralph Smart. Through his own personal experiences, Ralph Smart has unlocked the secret to living your ultimate life and is now using his various platforms to invite others to do the same. This solution is ideal for people who are dissatisfied with their lives or disillusio

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Article
By Brian Johnson
No One’s Perfect (not even you! :)

There are no perfect human beings! Persons can be found who are good, very good indeed, in fact, great. There do in fact exist creators, seers, sages, saints, shakers, and movers...even if they are uncommon and do not come by the dozen. And yet these very same people can at times be boring, irritating, petulant, selfish, angry, or depressed. To avoid disillusionment with human nature, we must first give up our illusions about it.” ~ Abraham Maslow from Motivation and Person

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By Anica Oaks
4 Inventive Ways to Make Money on the Side

In today's changing economy, more and more people are trying to find ways to diversify their streams of income. Luckily, there are now more opportunities than ever for practically anyone to earn extra income. Here are four inventive methods you can use to make extra money on the side in your spare time. Learn to Build Websites rnOne of the most lucrative part-time opportunities out there today is freelance website design and development. All modern businesses need websites, a

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Article
Paying The Price

As I sit to write this we are literally only days away from the 20th Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. At a recent speaking engagement someone asked me if I would be competing and I pointed out that I had retired from the sport due to a knee injury I had sustained years ago.nnAs I later contemplated my answer I realize that that was only part of the truth. In Nagano, Japan I hobbled around on a knee swollen one and half times its size and thought nothing of it. Having co

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By A Thomas
Be Outrageous!

Inside of you is a BIG dream. I’m not talking about big by other people’s standards. It’s a big dream to YOU. Maybe your big dream is to be in a passionate and loving relationship. Maybe it’s to have children. Perhaps you want to be a celebrity, a best-selling author, or a seven-figure business owner. Whatever your particular big dream is, it’s something that you are truly longing for. It’s because it’s so important to you, the thought of not achieving it scares

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How to Improve Self Confidence- Great Tips to Improve your self confidence

This article will illustrate on the great tips to improving your self confidence. The first things that we need to focus on is that self confidence are most effective to gain through ourselves, all we need to is believe and learn the techniques to do that.nnSelf confidence bring out the best of us to counter our fear, self confidence can be build in an individual as the positive thinking in a person increase over time, when it increased over time, our motivation and self este

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By A O` Brien
DO YOU TRUST YOURSELF? 7 TIPS TO BUILD CONFIDENCE

Getting intuitive guidance is one thing, but acting on it is quite another. Many of you have confided in me that you hear voices, have dreams that come true, or have hunches that you do not always follow. How do you build the confidence to follow your hunches? And, more importantly, how do you know when you should? Here are my top tips: 1). If you hear a voice, see a vision, or feel something unusual, always ask first, “Where is this coming from?” When we pick up the phon

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Article
So What's So Great About Life Coaching?

I often wonder what is the common factor of the sports teams and athletes that are successful year after year in competitions and I personally think it all boils down to having a great coach. A great coaches assesses the talent they presently have and will work to maximize the athlete's strengths. This makes the individual and team better at what they do.nnNow what do top business professionals like Bill Gates, have in common with these athletes? They realise that to accompli

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By Peggy McColl
The Power of Goals

Is there any power in having a goal? You bet there is! The first thing that comes to my mind is the old saying "A person without a goal is like a ship without a course." Just think of the ramifications of being a ship without a course. Where will you end up? Sure you can enjoy the journey but you could also quite likely end up aimlessly floating around, wasting time, with the possibility to end up on the rocks. Before we go any further, please know that having goals does not

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By Ted Ciuba
There’s So Little Real Luck

It doesn't matter how ambitious we are, it doesn't matter how many times we talk about, "Well, we're not looking for everyone, we're looking for the few." It doesn't matter—there's always some who say they want wealth, riches, achievement, conquest… and they just can't seem to get around to doing anything about it.nnHmmm. You've heard the old saying, "I'm waiting for my ship to sail in." But what do you think are the chances that a ship loaded with fabulous cargo and grea

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Article
Motivation - The Fires Burning Within

Even with close-up shots, it is impossible to see the boiling cauldron of intensity that exists at the bobsled start. The steely resolve etched on the athletes' faces and hidden behind their helmets foretells the tremendous power that only becomes apparent when they push the 650 pound sled with a little help from gravity and without the use of any mechanical motor, accelerating from zero to speeds in excess of 80 mph in less than 15 seconds. Only by using this smoldering fire

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Step Into Your Greatness. . . Where Playing Small Is No Longer An Option™

Step into Your Greatness. . . where playing small is no longer an option™ is my brand, my tag line and an invitation all in one. This single line creates remarkable (but not surprising) responses. They are usually of the “I want that!” variety, or they express wistfulness and a lack of belief in the possibility of it.nnPeople recognize and relate to playing small much more than they do to greatness. Playing small is a habit, and one that not a single one of

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By Linda LaRue
Congratulations to Meet You

Last year I was given the book, Eat, Pray, Love by one of my girl friends. I placed the book on my coffee table, and there it sat for well over a year. Recently, just by a lark, I decided to give it a read. I couldn’t put the book down. In it was a section where the author meets an old shaman who greets people by saying, “Congratulations to meet you.” My interpretation was to try something new, and make sure that give yourself a pat on the back for trying—even if you

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