The Beginning of Wisdom by Alex Green

I watched in horror as my 11-year-old daughter Hannah plunged 150 feet down Cheakamus Canyon toward the river raging below.

My wife Karen and I had both tried to talk her out of it. But she wouldn't be dissuaded.

She wanted to jump.

Of course, she was attached to a bungee cord, one that "exceeded Australian specifications" (whatever that means). And Whistler Bungee -- an hour north of Vancouver and just below Whistler's 2010 Olympic Village -- has been in business for seven years with a perfect safety record.

Still ... I got the willies just looking down through the 300-foot span as we crossed it. This was a murderous height. It would have taken at least three burly men to get me out on that platform.

"You don't have any problem with this?" I asked a member of Canada's Olympic ski team who was suiting up for a jump as we arrived.

"Not at all," she laughed. "What could go wrong?"

"That's the difference between you and me," I said. "I have more imagination than that."

Of course, I knew my fear was emotional not rational, otherwise I would never have let my daughter jump.

That she wanted to jump still astonishes me. After all, this is the same girl who insists on cracking her bedroom door at night so she can see the light in the hallway.

We hate to admit it but most of our fears are irrational. Everyday life just isn't that dangerous anymore.   Technology, engineering, and modern medicine have eliminated most of the sharp edges.

Yet we can't escape our past. Our fears evolved as a basic survival mechanism. They arise in response to perceived threats, triggering a "fight or flight" response.

For most of us, it's flight (or avoidance). And studies show our fears are fairly universal: spiders, snakes, heights (... yo!), public speaking, and death.

As Jerry Seinfeld once said, "According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Does that sound right? This means at a funeral most people would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy."

Our greatest inhibitor, of course, is fear of failure.

Consciously or not, it can paralyze us, keeping us from applying for the promotion, taking the risk, meeting the girl, asking for the order, experiencing the unknown.

It's always easier to stick with the safe, the comfortable, the familiar.

Yet every time we choose safety we reinforce fear. We nurture it. Only when we overcome this debilitating emotion do we really begin to live.

"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life," said Ralph Waldo Emerson.

How is fear conquered? By doing what we think we can't do, again and again.

When I was young, for example, public speaking made me nervous. Today, I relish the opportunity.

After a particularly turbulent flight 30 years ago, I was a white-knuckle flier. Now, I can't keep track of all my frequent flier miles.

Fear is the great barrier to success. It gives small things big shadows. It is the inverse of faith, trapping us between regret for the past and anxiety about the future.

Yet few things warrant the fear we grant them. We run not from genuine threats but imaginary bogeymen.

Perhaps that's why philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom."

And the rewards are many. Waiting for you on the other side of fear is freedom. Freedom from anxiety. Freedom from regret. Freedom from a life unlived.

Fortune, it turns out, really does favor the brave.

As Marianne Williamson wrote, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? ... We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Does this mean -- like Hannah -- that I'm willing to embrace "Whistler's Ultimate Adrenaline Rush" and plummet toward the Cheakamus River?

That depends. How many burly guys have you got?

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving  health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit the Early to Rise website.

What is a Debt Consolidation Loan?

Debt consolidation loans are loans aimed in reducing your debts by consolidating it, which is replacing many payments each month into a single payment, making your money management easier. Knowing how to use these loans for debt consolidation is helpful in determining how to properly manage your money and free yourself from debts.

The advantages of debt consolidation loans are that it lowers the risk of you being late in paying your debts because it is already consolidated into one payment while paying off your debt in a shorter time. It will also have a good effect on your credit rating. But, on the other hand, since you consolidated your debts, your monthly bill will be much larger, so you have to be careful.

Financial institutions, especially the banks, offer various types of loans for debt consolidation. This is answer to the seemingly uncontrollable customers’ debts. The loans offered by the banks for debt consolidation includes several financial services such as personal loan, personal lines of credit and home equity loans.

Using home equity for debt consolidation is one way of paying off your debt. Home equity is the part of your home. Equity is built as the value of a home appreciates and as the principle in the mortgage is paid off. It is the difference between the mortgage and the value of a house and can be use for debt consolidation if you are living in your house. This is done through borrowing against your home equity.

Home equity can help you pay your creditors by debt consolidation. Through borrowing against your home equity, you can reduce your interest rates so that a major portion of your payment can go to your principal balances. There are two options in using your home equity for debt consolidation, the home equity line of credit and the home equity loan. These two options are secured by your property, and are called second mortgages. These options must be repaid over a period of 15 years, which is much shorter than the period set up to repay first mortgages.

In home equity line of credit, you will borrow a specified amount of money from a lender, usually the bank or other financial institutions. The lender will give the money up to the credit limit. It works like a credit card due to its revolving balance, in a sense that the given money can be acquired using debit and credit cards, as well as, check books. It is more flexible compared to a home equity loan. The interest rates of the home equity line of credit fluctuate and the payments depend on the rates.

Home equity loan, on the other hand, is type of a home equity wherein you get a second mortgage. It lets you borrow an amount of money with a fixed interest rate. This can be considered as a good option for debt consolidation because it works best when you need to, all at once, borrow an amount of money.

In using home equity for debt consolidation, banks have a formula in determining the available amount of your home equity to be used as a loan. Your debts can then be consolidated into one payment. However, it is important to settle your monthly payment so it will not lead to the lost of your collateral, which is your home. When you use it for debt consolidation, your home will be the guarantee or your collateral. If there comes a time when you cannot be able to repay the debt, the bank can sell your home, in which case you will be forced to vacate it.

Related links:
 Debt to Wealth
 Common Sense Debt Secrets
 Debt Buster Systems

The Law of Receiving

The Law of Receiving is one of the 11 Forgotten Laws.  If you have heard about the Law of Attraction or seen the movie, you may have been disappointed with the results, because the movie does not go far enough.

Basically, the movie is a watered down version of a technique that has worked for hundreds of millionaires and can work for you, too.  The focus of the movie is on the power of positive thinking, which is important.

Thinking positively on a consistent basis attracts positive things into your life.  But, it becomes difficult to think positively when you see your world crashing down around you.

One of the steps that are barely mentioned in the movie has to do with the Law of Receiving.  There are many ancient proverbs and old sayings that have their roots in this law.

Ask and you shall receive.  As you sew, so shall you reap.  The more you give, the more you get.  You can probably think of others.

Being charitable is not something that we do simply because it is the right thing to do.  We are also well aware that what we give, we will get back, multiplied over and over again.

It’s one of the 11 Forgotten Laws, as mentioned above.  There is no single law of the universe that is more important than any other.  We need to be aware of how the universe works at all times.  Otherwise, we will fail.


The Law of Attraction, as you may or may not know, has to do with like attracting like.  Good attracts good things.  Positive thoughts attract positive things.  It’s really quite simple.  Once you get in the habit of living your life this way, it becomes second nature.

Another of the 11 Forgotten Laws is the law of supply.  Learning that one and applying it in your life will allow you to achieve your goals more quickly than you ever believed possible.  Olympic champions have used the rule to break their own records and win, time and time again.

Once you learn everything that there is to know about the Law of Attraction, the Law of Receiving and the other 11 Forgotten Laws, you will start to see changes that seem almost magical.  It will be impossible to be negative, because your life just seems to keep getting better and better.

There are people that downplay the importance of the Law of Attraction or talk about how it didn’t work for them.  It’s not that those people are trying to prevent you from advancing.  It is simply that they did not know all of the facts.

The Law of Receiving may have been the thing that was missing from their lives.  Or, it could have been any one of the other 11 Forgotten Laws.  It isn’t always necessary to implement all of them into your life.  You could experience some success just by taking advantage of the Law of Attraction.

But, if you want everything that this life has to offer, you need to learn to use the Law of Receiving to your advantage.  It may be better to give than to receive.  But, the people that say that have probably experienced the abundance that comes from giving.

I Do Not Choose to be Common

It is my right to be uncommon--if I can.
I seek opportunity--not security
I want to take the calculated risk:
To dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence;
The thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence
nor my dignity for a handout.

I will never cower before any master
nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit
of my creations and to face the world
Boldly and say,
This I have done.

~"My Creed" by Dean Alfange

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,

and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool

for love, for your dream,

for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,

if you have been opened by life's betrayals

or have become shriveled and closed

from the fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,

without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,

if you can dance with wildness

and let ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes

without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic,

to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;

if you can hear the accusation of betrayal

and not betray your own soul;

if you can be faithless

and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty

even when it is not pretty every day.

And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure,

yours and mine,

and still stand at the edge of the lake and

shout to the silver of the full moon,

"Yes."

It doesn't interest me to know

where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,

weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done

to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me

who you know or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me

and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom

you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you

from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself

and if you truly like the company you keep

in empty moments.

Inspired by Oriah Mountain Dreamer,

Native American Elder, May 1994

Forgiveness and Why People Hurt You

It's time to face the cold, hard, ugly truth:

We each suffer at the hands of others:

Those we love, those that anger or attack us... even at the hands of strangers.

None of us gets through life unscathed. But I believe conflict empowers us.

In this new video, Chris Cade shows you specifically how to explore the challenges and traumas you've endured... and transform those stories into empowering vehicles for success and empowerment.

Watch the Video Now.

I don't know about you, but after watching this video, I was acutely aware of traumas I've held in the past... with a lot of guilt and anger about what others have done to me... and what I LET them do to me.

It's not an empowering feeling. In fact it had given me every excuse not to try, not to dream or hope, not to love.

What Chris articulates so well in this video is that these things that happened to me... the things that have happened to you...

It's not anyone else's fault. It's not your fault either.

It's just one more story... and it's the hardest thing for most people to change.

Chris invites us to unearth the story we may be holding - the story that leads either to hatred, anger and guilt... Or to forgiveness and abundance.

Inscribe Forgiveness & Empowerment into Your Life!

Your story is YOURS to mold and create as you
choose. Chris shares exactly how in this video he
just shot with speaker, author and coach Jaime
Mintun.

You'll learn:

• Why there's a connection between writing and our personal transformation
  
  
• How our personal story develops... and how we can re-write it
  
  
• Why we see the global story unfolding with a collapsing economy, PLUS why that's not such a bad thing...
  
  
• Why people hurt us
  
  
• How to heal the traumas in your life and move into forgiveness: of others and more importantly of yourself
  
  
• Some specific techniques you can use to change the story in your life to help move you into what most people say is the hardest step in their healing and growth
  

Get it All Right Here.

The Best Advice a Father Can Give

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I couldn't believe I'd missed it before. I'd read the book many, many times - but this time was different. A secret was revealed to me - and today I'm going to give it to you.

If you are open and receptive to what you are about to read, you can expect a major breakthrough.

Here it is:

"Psychologist David Seabury says that the best piece of advice his father ever gave him was to practice positive mental imagery - immediately and 'on cue,' so to speak, whenever he became aware of negative feelings. Negative feelings literally defeated themselves by becoming a sort of 'bell' which set off a conditioned reflex to arouse positive states of mind."

Now read that passage again. It comes from the 35-million-copy bestseller, Psycho-Cybernetics. Pay particular attention to the words "the best piece of advice his father ever gave him." Why? Because whenever something is "the best piece of advice" someone can give you - especially your father - you know it's got to be good.

In reading this passage, I not only see it as the best advice I can give my son - but myself, and everyone I teach at my seminars and in my coaching programs.

Many people wonder why I am always so calm, cool, and collected. Many wonder how I am able to speak before a crowd in such a nonchalant, totally relaxed way and still have everyone totally riveted.

It's mostly because I have no thoughts of resistance when I speak. I'm not concerned about offending anyone. I'm not even trying to get people to like me. I am simply ME, take it or leave it.

Very few people are like this. They're always trying to figure out how to get others to approve of them or like them. Not good. Because the more you NEED others to like you the less they will like you.

Same goes with money. The more you NEED it, the more it will stay away from you. Money and friends go where they are wanted - not where they are needed. There is a world of difference between want and need. One attracts. The other repels.

Want comes from a vibration of "I'm happy already and I'd like to have this, too." Need comes from a vibration of "I'm miserable and frustrated and I need this thing to make me happy."

Become aware of negative NEED feelings when they arise. And when they do, learn, through practice, to have those feelings immediately trigger the thought to change your vibration into a "feel good" one.

Most people have never been taught to do this by their fathers - or by anyone else. They've been taught to set goals, to have a burning desire, to be optimistic and have a positive attitude.

But what do you do when you look at the state of your finances and you feel bad? What do you do when the reality of your situation begins to ruin your day? What do you do when you're feeling frustrated, fearful, and worried? You do what Dr. Seabury's father told him to do... and what I'm telling you to do.

First, you "recognize" that you are feeling bad.

Second, you understand that this "feel bad" vibration REPELS what you say you want. Your want is not a want. It's a need that comes with the expectation that something outside of yourself will make you happy.

Third, you recognize that this "feel bad" imagery sends a signal to the Universe that you cannot be happy "for no particular reason." And that's not good.

There is a balancing act between having a burning desire and having a desire that burns you.

Having a burning desire creates the necessary mindset that will attract the thing you want. On the other hand, if the desire is connected to "I'm miserable unless I have this thing" - then you are chasing success and that success will always run faster than you do.

Your objective is to attract success, not chase it. Chasing success is repelling success. You never get what you are chasing.

Several years ago, a man sent me an e-mail in which he accused me of "chasing the almighty dollar." He was wrong. At that point in my life, I couldn't even form a mental image of myself doing what he said I was doing.

When I did chase the almighty dollar - and I did it for years - I had no money. When I stopped chasing and learned to attract it, it flowed into my life so fast I was nearly knocked over.

The forces of attraction and repulsion are always at play. Whether you attract more than you repel or repel more than you attract is simply a matter of how strong those forces are. If your repelling energy is stronger, you go deeper into debt. If your attraction energy is stronger, you get wealthier. If both are equally strong, you feel "stuck."

Now the question is... what do you do if you are repelling more than you're attracting?

The answer:

1. You change the way you feel by changing the mental picture you have of your situation.

Every time you feel a negative emotion, you sound the alarm in your head. "Uh, oh. Not good. Change the mental picture to a positive one." You do this over and over, and before long the feel-bad vibe lasts less than a second and you're back to feeling good.

2. You begin each day with exercises that help you go through the whole day without resistance.

You don't just read inspirational messages and books. You stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself what you want. You picture what you want when you speak. You recall previous successes and link them to your future.

3. You have a burning desire in mind, a goal.

You don't expect the goal to give you happiness. You don't let the desire for it burn you by feeling bad that you don't yet have it. In fact, even though you WANT the goal, you are able to "walk away" from it emotionally. If, for example, you want more money - you don't expect more money to give you happiness. You simply want more money - and you put yourself into happiness mode NOW.

If you're happy even though you don't yet have in your possession the thing you want - then you are attracting it to you.

If you're unhappy because you don't yet have in your possession the thing you NEED - then you are repelling it.

So get happy NOW.

Recognize that fear, frustration, and angst are only there to help you change course. They're there to help you see that your mental picture is off-target. Put the right mental image back onto the screen of your mind and watch how the Universe lines things up in your favor.

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This article by Matt Furey appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit the Early to Rise website.

How to Make Room for What's Important

I learned a new trick about how to make time for what's important. If you feel like you have no time left for what's important to you, try this simple exercise. Write the following down:

My goal is to ____________. I can take out ____________ and ____________ to make room.

For example:
My goal is to exercise 3 times every week. I can take out watching sitcoms and get up earlier to make room.

My goal is to spend more time with my family. I can take out playing golf on Sunday and reduce working late to make room.

This exercise shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes. I hope it helps you to prioritize. Let me know how well it works for you.

Overdosing on Loneliness

Michael Jackson's close friend Uri Geller, talking to Fox News by phone after Jackson's death, said that one time when Jackson was sitting on a couch in Geller's living room, he asked the "King of Pop" if he was a lonely man. According to Geller, Jackson paused, then slowly looked up and said, "Uri Geller, I'm a very lonely man."

After decades of observation, I have concluded that Jackson's sad response could have come from any one of millions of people. A lonely person's giveaway is his eyes. No matter what happy disguises he may wear, his eyes betray him.

This brings back memories of John Belushi, Freddy Prinze, Andy Gibb, Marilyn Monroe, and, more recently, Anna Nicole Smith. We only know what we've read and heard about these tragic figures who were so revered by those afflicted with Tinseltown Derangement Syndrome, but what we've read and heard is pretty grim.

The truth about these false idols should give Americans hope as they watch the economy push them from false prosperity into poverty. While vacation cruises, golf outings, and fine dining continue to disappear from our lives at an accelerating pace, it's helpful to remember that material wealth has failed to buy happiness for many of the rich and famous.

And what they all seemed to have in common was loneliness. Who but the most narcissistic among us would not trade fame and wealth for love? The tabloid crowd provides a lot of laughs for folks at the checkout counters, but their marriage-divorce... marriage-divorce... marriage-divorce cycles are not at all humorous.

When I think of Angelina, Britney, Lindsay, and Madonna, I think of loneliness. All of them appear to be Michael Jacksons waiting to happen.

I recall a brief encounter I had with Sammy Davis Jr. in the early 1980s when we were sitting next to each other on the dais at a charity event in Los Angeles. He was a warm and gracious man with many similarities to Michael Jackson - African-American, slight of build, multi-talented, and a life of nonstop troubles. In a birthday tribute to Sammy, Jackson sang the heart-wrenching song "You Were There."

Years earlier, I had read Sammy's memoir, "Why Me?" It just as easily could have been Michael Jackson's memoir. In the book, Sammy was forthright about his addiction to a life of drugs, booze, chain smoking, kinky sex, and lavish spending.

One story, in particular, that I recall from "Why Me?" is about a multi-girl orgy Sammy had arranged to have set up in his hotel suite after a performance in Las Vegas. When he entered the bedroom, he found the girls already "engaged" with one another. He said it made him sick to his stomach, and he walked out of the room feeling like the loneliest man in the world.

But when it comes to loneliness, Elvis was The King. We've all heard his ex-friends talk about how, after every show, he would have parties in his hotel suite that lasted till dawn. The word from those closest to him was that he couldn't stand the thought of being alone.

It's no wonder that so many songs have been written about loneliness. People can relate. It's a common problem. More often than not, I suspect the songwriters and performers themselves feel very lonely.

Which brings me to Neil Sedaka. I don't know how much loneliness he may have experienced in his life, but he sure grabbed us with his classic song Solitaire:

"There was a man, a lonely man
Who lost his love, thru his indifference.
A heart that cared, that went unshared
Until it died within his silence.

"And solitaire's the only game in town,
And every road that takes him, takes him down.
While life goes on around him everywhere,
He's playing solitaire.

"And keeping to himself begins to deal,
And still the king of hearts is well concealed.
Another losing game comes to an end,
And he deals them out again."

Heavy words. Great songwriters write to a broad audience - and the audience for a broken heart and loneliness is very broad indeed. In the final analysis, perhaps all of us simply expect too much from life, thus setting ourselves up for disappointment when it fails to deliver the endless happiness we envisioned when we were young.

Nineteenth century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer summed up this discouraging reality when he wrote:

"There is only one inborn error, and that is the notion that we exist in order to be happy. ... So long as we persist in this inborn error... the world seems to us full of contradictions. For at every step, in great things and small, we are bound to experience that the world and life are certainly not arranged for the purpose of maintaining a happy existence... hence the countenances of almost all elderly persons wear the expression of what is called disappointment."

(From The Consolations of Philosophy, Alain de Botton)

Granted, Schopenhauer was not the kind of fellow you would have wanted to invite over for an evening of small talk and laughs, but he may very well have zeroed in on an underlying cause of the many early deaths that followed a meteoric rise to fame and fortune.

Weighing in on the Michael Jackson tragedy, renowned psychiatrist and bestselling author Dr. Keith Ablow spoke of "people who are not at one with themselves," mentioning their inability to feel comfortable with their age, gender, race, and sexuality, among other factors that contribute to their feelings of isolation. In other words, their inability to accept themselves as they are.

I think most of us would be far better off if we focused on getting to know ourselves better rather than placing so much emphasis on having an active social life. After all, if you can't enjoy your own company, why should you expect others to enjoy it?

Fittingly, I shall defer to Thoreau for the final word on this subject: "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude."

---

This article by Robert Ringer appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit the Early to Rise website.

The Power of Negative Visualization

When Norman Vincent Peale wrote The Power of Positive Thinking 60 years ago, he received a stack of rejection slips from publishers.

Dejected, he threw the manuscript into the trash, forbidding his wife to remove it. She didn't.

The next day, however, she took the manuscript, still inside the wastebasket, to a publisher who accepted it. The book became a foundation of the human potential movement, selling more than 20 million copies in 47 languages.

Much of Peale's homespun advice sounds quaint or even amusing to us today. Still, the book did a good job of articulating a basic truth:

To a great extent, you create your world with your thoughts. Most personal achievements begin with an abiding faith that we can and will accomplish them.

Even realizing your goals, however, will not lead to lasting satisfaction. That's because human wants are insatiable.

Most of us are trapped on what psychologists call the hedonic treadmill. We work to achieve what we desire. Those things satisfy us for a while, but we soon adapt to them and dissatisfaction returns. So next time, we set the bar a little higher...

Our lives can easily become a pastiche of unfulfilled desires. We yearn for a better-paying job, more recognition, greater social status, a newer car, a bigger house, a firmer abdomen, perhaps even a sexier spouse.

Dissatisfaction is not all bad, of course. Desire can motivate us to achieve good things in our lives, too.

But a continual sense of lack creates anxiety. It undermines our satisfaction. Peace of mind eludes us.

Fortunately, the ancient Stoic philosophers had a technique you can use to override the adaptation process and recapture the contentment we seek. It's called negative visualization.

The technique is to spend some time each day imagining that you have lost the things you value most. Vividly imagine, for example, that your job has just been terminated, that your house - with all your possessions - has burned to the ground, that your partner has left you, or that you have lost your sight, your hearing, or the use of your limbs.

This sounds horribly bleak, I know. But the Stoics were onto something here. They understood that everything we enjoy in life is simply "on loan" to us from Fortune. Any of it - all of it - can be recalled without a moment's notice.

Epictetus reminds us, for example, that our children have been given to us "for the present, not inseparably nor forever." His advice: In the very act of kissing your child, silently reflect on the possibility that she could die tomorrow.

The Roman philosopher Seneca advises us to live each day as if it were our last, indeed as if this very moment were our last. He's not suggesting that you drop your responsibilities and squander the day in frivolous or hedonistic activities. He's encouraging you to change your state of mind.

Maybe you are already living the dream you once had for yourself.

Along the way, however, you became jaded, bored, numb to the blessings that surround you. The goal of the Stoics would be to wake you up, to make you appreciate what you have today.

Some will argue that negative visualization is fine for those who are happy, healthy, and prosperous - but how about the troubled, the less fortunate?

Negative visualization works for them, too. If you have lost your job, imagine losing your possessions. If you have lost your possessions, imagine losing the people you love. If you have lost the people you love, imagine losing your health. If you have lost your health, imagine losing your life.

There is hardly a person alive who could not be worse off. That makes it hard to imagine someone who wouldn't benefit from this technique.

Adaptation diminishes our enjoyment of the world. Negative visualization brings it back.

It also prepares us for life's inevitable setbacks. Survivors of tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, for example, may suffer terribly. Yet afterward, they often tell us that they were just sleepwalking through life before. Now, they are joyously, thankfully alive.

No one should need a catastrophe to feel this way. You can attain the same realization through negative visualization. Moreover, it can be practiced regularly, so its beneficial effects, unlike a catastrophe, can last indefinitely.

Try it and you'll see. I've found it's perfect for when you're standing in line or stuck in traffic, time that would be wasted otherwise.

By contemplating the impermanence of everything in your world, you can invest all your activities with more intensity, higher significance, greater awareness.

In sum, Norman Vincent Peale got it half-right. Positive visualization helps you get what you want. Negative visualization helps you want what you get.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit the Early to Rise website.

How Much Would You Pay for 5 Minutes?

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein."
-H. Jackson Brown


If you could get an additional 5 minutes in a day, how much would you be willing to pay for it?

That's really a moot question because it's impossible to do. That is why time is priceless. Everyone gets the same amount of time each day and how we utilise our time determines the results in our life.

One thing you should know is that there is no such thing as time management. Time cannot be managed. We can only manage our activities - often easier said than done (in my case).

Because we cannot retrieve lost or wasted time, it's imperative that we make full use of every second of our life. I'm still struggling with it - to make the most of my time - but I'm making headway.

One thing I find difficult to do is to complete tasks I don't enjoy doing. From time to time, I would have a few tasks that I dread. Tasks that I must do but I don't really enjoy it, so I often end up putting them off. And that doesn't make completing them any easier.

Recently, I read an article about how to manage tasks we don't enjoy. Allocate 5 or 10 minutes a day to doing it. I've been doing this for the past week and I found that it makes it easier for me to complete the tasks.

If I allocate, say 30 minutes, when the time comes to start doing the task, I found myself thinking "Urgh!", and time just seemed to drag on. That's why I dread it and I keep procrastinating.

On the contrary, when I allocate only 5 minutes to the task, I find it easier to do and I don't drag my foot on it because I know it's only going to take 5 minutes of my time. 5 minutes a day works out to 30 minutes a week. The task finally gets done.

Not only do I get things done, I'm also making better use of my time. And I am so much happier! :-)

Are You Trying Too Hard?

Have you ever been trying to do or achieve something and you feel frustrated because you do not see the fruits of your hard work?

I was feeling a bit frustrated a few months ago. I talked to a friend and she advised me to stop expecting it to happen. Do your best and let go, she said.

Then today, I read this, and it makes perfect sense.

Imagine life as a fast-moving river. When you're acting to make something happen, it will feel as if you're going against the current of the river. It will feel hard and like a struggle.

When you are acting to receive from the universe, you will feel as if you're flowing with the current of the river. It will feel effortless. That is the feeling of inspired action, and of being in the flow of the Universe and life.

So do whatever you need to do and then let go and trust that it will be delivered to you in due time.

Good luck! May the force be with you. :-)

How to Survive the Global Economy Crisis

If you've been watching the news, you'd have heard all the doom and gloom story about the global economy. Things are getting tough. People are laid off. Not a pretty picture.

I do not pay any attention to the doom and gloom news because I don't want to be infected by the negativity. Yes, we're in the middle of an economic downturn but it's not the end of the world. I can choose to not let it affect me. I can choose to not let it control me.

We always have a choice - we can let the environment and circumstances control us, or we can choose to respond (not react) to our environment and circumstances. Responding and reacting are two very different things.

Did you know that some of the wealthiest people actually made a fortune during economic downturns? Read about it here - it's a free wealth report.

In case you haven't read "The Science of Getting Rich", it's available for free too.

Are You Willing to Let Go of What's Good?

Let's say you have a closet full of clothes. Some you probably haven't worn in years. Your closet is so full and cluttered that there's no room for new clothes. If you want to make room for your new, more stylish clothes, you have to be willing to discard the old stuff in you closet to make room for the new ones.

It's like that for everything in our life. Our unwillingness to let go of what we have creates a block that prevents us from receiving better things.

Perhaps you're holding on to a relationship because you're afraid you won't find someone else. By holding on to it, you cannot make room for someone better to enter your life.

Sometimes it's not just about letting go of what is not good in our life. Sometimes we may even have to be willing to let go of what's good to make space for what's great.

So ask yourself what you're willing to let go and make space for something great. Get a pen and paper. Sit down and write down the following.

"I now choose to let go of ______________ and make space for magic to occur."

Feel free to let go of as many things as you want to. And you might want to repeat this exercise regularly.

What Are Your Carrying?

Two monks were walking on a long journey. They arrived at a river and standing by the river was a beautiful young woman.

She asked the monks, "Could you please help me across the river? The current is too strong and I'm afraid I'll be swept away. I cannot swim."

The monks looked at each other. They had taken a vow to never touch a woman.

The elder monk, without saying a word, picked up the young woman and carried her across the river. The young monk was incensed. How could the elder monk do that? Had he forgotten their vow?

When they reached the other side of the river, the elder monk put down the young woman. She thanked him and they went their separate ways.

The monks continued their journey in silence. The young monk waited for an explanation from the elder monk, but the elder monk didn't say a word.

An hour passed by.

Two hours passed by.

Four hours passed by. The young monk couldn't stand it anymore. He almost screamed at the elder monk, "What were you thinking when you carried that woman across the river? Have you forgotten our vows? Are you out of your mind?"

The elder monk said calmly, "Oh, are you still carrying her? I put her down four hours ago."

What burden are you carrying that you should have put down long ago?

What guilt are you carrying? What "should-haves" or "should-have-nots" are you carrying? What regrets? How many what-ifs have been burdening you?

All those are burdens that will get in the way of getting a better life. It's like driving with the hand brake on.

Believe me, I know about carrying a burden. I carried one for years. The day I let go, I felt like a free person.

I also know that it might not be easy for you to let go of that burden. So every day, ask yourself how you can let go and be free of it. The answer will come to you sooner than you expect.

Which One Are You Feeding?

On the first day of "Master Your Mind", T. Harv Eker started by telling a story that goes like this.

A grandfather and a grandson were walking in the woods. While walking, they saw all sorts of animals - rabbits, deer, birds and so on.

The grandfather asked the grandson, "Do you know what are the two most important animals in our life?"

The grandson thought for a while and said, "I don't know. What are they, grandpa?"

The grandfather said, "It's the two wolves in our mind. One wolf is loving and nurturing and supportive and tells us we can be whatever we want to be. The other wolf fills us with fear, self-doubts and belittle our dreams."

The grandson asked, "Which wolf wins?"

The grandfather said, "The one you keep feeding."

Which wolf are you feeding?

It's A New Life

I was at T. Harv Eker's "Master Your Mind" seminar last weekend. The most important thing I accomplished was forgiveness.

There were a few people who had hurt me badly in the past. For a long time, I carried a burden of pain inside me.

I knew that I need to forgive them unconditionally if I want to be free of the burden of pain I've been carrying with me for years. But I found it so hard to forgive and let go because I simply cannot understand why they would hurt me that way.

Last weekend, at the end of "Master Your mind" I was finally able to forgive and let go unconditionally to free myself of the burden I've been carrying for years. When I made the decision, I felt free. I haven't felt so free until now.

It's true - we forgive people who wronged us for us, not for them.

I'm ready to start a new life. It's a new beginning. In front of me is a blank white canvas and I'm going to paint a beautiful picture because life is beautiful.

Are You A Good Receiver?

Do you know anyone who says, "I'll give when I have more money" or "I'll give when I have more time". People who think this way believe they have to get before they can give. The attitude of getting is the law of life in a congested state. As long as "getting" dominates our mind, the mind is in a paralysed condition.

Giving is the fundamental law of life, it is the first law of all creation.

We can wish and dream and pray, but that doesn't make us ready for receiving. So what prepares us to receive? Giving always precedes receiving. Giving could be in the form of your money, thought, work or energy. As you give freely, you receive freely.

Here's my experience on how giving opens an opportunity for me to receive. Last year, I got involved in a project to raise money to help a children center for underpriveleged children. It was a purely fund raising project with no monetary gain on my part.

In the middle of working on this project, I was introduced to a potential partner for a new business venture. We got together, talked about what we could do for each other. The business was launched in September last year. The business hasn't turned a profit yet, but we have lined up a series of products to be launched in June this year that should be very profitable. We're very optimistic about it.

I never thought that a simple desire to help underprivelged children would lead me to a business opportunity. :-)

Keep this important aspect of the Law of Receiving in mind:

"When we give our best in some useful service, forgetful of self, concentrating on the joy of giving instead of concentrating on the return, we find that our purpose and the purpose of money have blended and we come together in righteous and eternal good."
- from "The 11 Forgotten Laws"

"If you give money and the idea is wholly one of bargaining, your mind is not free; therefore, your results cannot be free and full flowing."
- from "The 11 Forgotten Laws"

Stop expecting to receive and start giving. Watch what then comes your way.

Do You Know What You Want?

I'm serious. Do you know what you want?

Energy flows where attention goes and results show.

What do you focus your attention on? What you want, or what you don't want?

One of the laws of the mind is that the mind cannot process a negative. If you focus on "I don't want all these debts", you're focusing your attention on debt. It doesn't matter that you don't want it. The mind doesn't process negatives. What you resist persists. Since your focus in on debt, you get more debt. If you find this confusing, go listen to the teleseminar recording of "Awaken Your Mind Power". It explains the 3 fundamental laws of the mind.

To get what you want, focus on what you want. Push what you don't want out of your mind. Instead of thinking, "I don't want anymore debt", think "I'm grateful I make more than enough money to meet my needs".

What you want wants you. The first time heard that statement, I thought, "Yeah, right. If it wants me, where is it? Why isn't it here?"

In retrospect, I find that if I wanted something badly enough, eventually an opportunity is presented to me. I dare say 70% of what I want, I've achieved. I'm still working on the other 30%.

The other thing I noticed is that things happened when I'm ready for it. If what I want isn't appearing, it's because there is something I need to learn, something that needs to happen to help me grow so that I'd be ready to receive it.

So don't worry or give up if what you want is not happening. The setbacks and so called "failures" are a way of preparing you for it. Never ever give up.

In Chapter 4 of "The 11 Forgotten Laws", Bob Proctor and Mary Morrissey talk about how to attract what we want. Here's an important principle:

"The principle involved is that you cannot long or yearn for anything unless it already exists, if not in form, then in substance, and desire is the motive power for calling it forth into visible appearance or physical effect."

Isn't that powerful? Whatever it is we want is already there. We just need to figure out how to manifest it in our life.

Another important thing to remember when deciding what you want is to not concern yourself with how it's going to happen. Once you focus your attention and energy on what you want, the way to achieve it will be shown to you. Maybe you'll be introduced to someone, or maybe you'll be presented with an opportunity. How it's going to happen is not your concern. The path will appear in due time.

Stop Begging! Start Manifesting

Do you remember that first spark of hope you felt when you watched "The Secret"? I clearly remember the desire that filled my heart, knowing that - Yes, I can make my dreams come true - FINALLY!

But how many of you soon saw that hope dwindle into frustration? How many of you (and be honest now) started muttering things like:

• "It seems to work for other people, but I just can’t get it right."
  
  

• "I’m frustrated that sometimes I can get it to work, but sometimes I can’t. What’s the trick?"
  
  

• "Why am I having so much trouble?"
  
  

• "I think the universe is against me."
  
  

• "I’m trying very, VERY hard but still nothing is happening!"
  

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. About 97% of people also couldn’t make the Law of Attraction work for them the first time round. Think about it, just like anything else, you have to practice many times before you see success. A child doesn’t learn to walk without falling over a couple of times, right?

But in practice, everything is easier said and done. When you’re frustrated, it’s hard to stay positive. And it’s especially harder to stay positive when the evidence all around you is screams negativity like the unstable economy or senseless acts of violence such as those recently seen in Mumbai.

And do you know what happens when you fail to stay positive? That’s right - you start attracting negative things in to your life.

So how can you make the Law of Attraction work for you - without getting frustrated? How do those who successfully implement the Law of Attraction do it with such confidence and finesse?

Well, here’s three quick tips so you will never feel frustrated or tired of begging from the universe, because you know how to start manifesting like a pro.

1. Allow Yourself To Receive

Just like a lost child who approaches a police officer and asks, "Excuse me Sir, can you tell me how to go to the post office? Can you? Can you? Can you? Can you? Can you?" Well, if the child goes on and on asking, the police officer can’t even give an answer, right?

Well, it’s the same thing with your mind. If the only thing your mind is doing is transmit, transmit, transmit, the universe - which is trying to respond - can’t give you a single thing because you’re not allowing yourself to receive!

So, have the confidence in yourself and stop exhausting yourself by running around person to person begging for riches, and then wondering why nobody is dropping a penny in your cup (Hint: It’s because you’re running away too fast for them before they can even reach for their wallets).

Just think of your desires and leave it out there, go away, and trust that your cup will be filled with gold coins (or whatever it is you asked for) when the time is right.

2. Be Patient With Yourself

Receiving takes time.

Sadly, many people give up just a couple of steps before the finish line because they’ve decided that if it’s not working by now, it’s never going to work at all. Worse still are those who throw in more and more energy because they think that with more resources, the results will come faster.

This is like expecting 9 mothers to conceive and deliver a baby in 1 month. You also can’t bake cookies in half the time by doubling the temperature. You’ll incinerate those cookies to ashes!

In simple terms: Everything in this world has a natural development time, and this fact will not change no matter what resources you throw at it.

So relax and be patient. Remember that you too, as part of the universe, are also governed by the laws of the universe, and you cannot change the natural development time.

If you remember this, you will less likely work yourself up into frustration, or worse, push yourself into a downward spiral of negativity.

3. Support and Educate Yourself

Like the child who is learning how to walk, you need support. You also need to guidance on how to do it, and also the role models to look up to.

Many people give up because they think that "The Secret" is the "be all and end all" solution. Well, it’s NOT. "The Secret" is just a small portion. It was never intended, and has never been, the whole answer.

Coming to the conclusion that the Law of Attraction doesn’t work when all you ever did to educate yourself was watch "The Secret" 19 times (without looking at changing the habits of other areas of your life) is like coming to the conclusion that exercising is not an effective way to lose weight because all you did is run on the treadmill for 2 hours a day (but you’re still stuffing yourself with fried foods and cheesecakes).

So seek and be hungry for new knowledge. Also, make an effort to be amongst people or communities where you can support each other, learn from each other and also share new knowledge that you have found.

While the Law of Attraction is not an overnight delivery service, it will indeed deliver, if you do your part too!

Check out The 11 Forgotten Laws website.