GOOGLE PAGE RANK AND ADVENTURE BUSINESS

“Is that what you really want, or did nobody ask you? Is that what you really think or did nobody care? Is that who are you really are or did nobody notice? Is that what you really want or did nobody dare? Are these your most precious dreams, or did you leave them behind you, when you were a young one just to get through?” Lyrics from “Is That What You Really Want?” by Libby Roderick

What are your deepest, most precious dreams? Are they so buried that you have forgotten what they are? Or do they see the light of day but get buried again? Do you begin to pursue your dreams but negative thinking stalls the movement or you get sidetracked by other things?

We all have important dreams and when we pursue these dreams we are filled with passion and excitement. When we lose track of these dreams and follow the well trodden path of “what you are supposed to do” there is a deadening of our spirits. When I travel I like to be the last one on the airplane so I can see everyone when I walk on the plane. What I notice when I look at all of the faces as I’m walking through is that there is a lackluster, autopilot, flat energy that three-quarters of the people on the plane usually have---what I look for are the alive, passionate ones—they are like light bulbs beaming up from their seats---when I see them I breathe a sigh of relief and gratitude. “Yes,” I think to myself, “There is hope”. I think that because our individual energy affects the collective energy. Those “light bulb” people add positive, uplifting energy to the collective energy on the airplane. The more “light bulb” people on the planet, the higher the positive vibration of the collective energy. If I would sit down and interview the light bulb people on the plane they would be the ones pursuing or living their deepest dreams and passions. Is your light and passion hiding deep within you—or are you letting it shine and be free?

I work as a psychotherapist and I see my role as supporting my client’s light and passion to shine. I utilize breathwork and a psychospiritual process called Inner Bonding. In Inner Bonding we talk about the core essence---which is that bright shining light that you came into the world to be---it is your special creativity, your gifts, your unique intelligence, your caring, lovingness and compassion. If your parents were not connected to their own unique essence and living from their essence, they could not see or support this in you. They couldn’t see you clearly because they weren’t able to see themselves clearly. In response to this most people develop what Inner Bonding refers to as wounded adult child parts to handle the environment with their disconnected parents. The core essence than goes in hiding because of lack of support and the wounded adult child parts take over.

The wounded adult child parts absorb the fears and false beliefs that the parents have. Some of the false beliefs are: 1. I’m unworthy just as I am—I have to be perfect to be loved. 2. My worth is dependent on my performance---if I perform well I’m O.K. if I don’t I’m not O.K. 3. I have to be what others want me to be to get love. 4. If other people are unhappy or upset it’s my fault and I have to do something to make them feel better. As you can see these false beliefs lead one to be very outwardly focused---defining one’s worth through what other people think. When our focus is more on what OTHERS think we lose connection with what WE really think and who we really are (which is our core essence). This covering over of one’s core essence is exactly related to the disconnection with one’s dreams and passions. Our core essence contains our true dreams and passions---our special purpose for being on the planet. The process of Inner Bonding involves developing an Inner Loving Adult who can heal the false beliefs of the wounded adult-child and allow the true self, the core essence to come forward.

An Inner Loving Adult is essential in being able to fully allow the core essence to be expressed. Most people don’t have a loving adult operating within themselves on a consistent basis; they are mostly operating out of wounded adult aspects of themselves.
That is what is happening with the three-quarters of the people on the airplane with the flat energy—there is no loving adult taking action on the passions of the core essence—they are only operating from the fears of the wounded adult child. The light-bulbs—the alive and passionate people-- on the other hand are able to be the loving adult and tune into the voice of their core essence –and take action.

An example: Let’s say you knew your core essence wanted to dance to express itself creatively---if the wounded adult child was in charge the inner dialogue would sound like this: “You can’t dance---You know how uncoordinated you are---You will make a fool out of yourself—What will people think!” If there was an Inner Loving Adult the dialogue would sound like this: “I will fully support you to dance because I know how much you want to do this---Let’s just go and express ourselves and have fun---it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks---I will be there to talk lovingly to you as you try new things-it’s O.K. to make mistakes, that’s part of learning!” As you read the different dialogues can you feel the difference in your body? The first dialogue is harsh and critical and stops any creative energy---whereas the second dialogue is loving and accepting—supporting this creative energy to be expressed. You can see if the wounded adult child is in charge that many of the dreams and passions are not going to get very far with this kind of critical inner dialogue.

I suggest to people that their job as the Loving Adult is to really tune into their core essence---tune into what they really want in this deepest part of them—and than to not lose sight of this—this is their deepest truth. Their job is to take action on these deepest dreams and desires. What is important is that you pursue these dreams not that you succeed at them. What do you mean—you ask? The wounded adult child self is concerned with outcome, performance, success/failure---because these are the ways to seek validation of the self. The Loving Adult supports pursuing a dream as a way to express the self –for the joy of expressing---not for a particular outcome. The Loving Adult sees the beauty of the core essence and does not need others to see or validate it.

An example: When I was a child I loved to play out scenes from movies with my friends. I would be the director and have them act out different scenes that I was seeing in my mind. I loved this and it felt very natural for me. It was my core essence expressing itself through the creation of movie scenes. My loving action as a loving adult is to pursue this passion in some form to continue this expression that I was so connected to as a child. If my wounded self gets focused on outcomes it may say something like, “Do you know how hard it is to make films and to get into this field---What are you thinking?” But if I pursue this from my loving adult the outcome is irrelevant---it is the joy of doing what I once loved again that is important.

The Loving Adult stays focused on the dreams of the core self and does get sidetracked by the fears and false beliefs of the wounded adult child. Another example: I have a client who is very clear that her essence would love to move to a warm climate. She was taking steps to move towards this dream last winter (being a loving adult) but when spring/summer came along she began to enjoy the warm weather and stopped her planning for her move. When I saw her in early fall she said, “I don’t think we are going to move. We are going to buy a house and do some other things I’m excited about.” When we discussed what was happening it became clear that her wounded adult child was very fearful about moving and taking the risk of following her dream---so it came up with another plan which is what I call a “pacifier plan”. A “pacifier plan” is substituting something good, but safe, in place of the real dream, the real deal. She was able to see this and attend to the fears of the wounded self directly and make plans to reassure/calm her fears so she can stay on track with following her true dream, which is to move to a warm climate.

What are the dreams of your core essence, your true self? Make a list of your dreams and passions. It could be dreams you had as a child or dreams you have as an adult. If you could live your life in any way you would like, how would you be living it? Would you be living somewhere different? Would you be working part-time or in a different job altogether? Take time to unearth your deepest dreams. One of the biggest obstacles to uncovering dreams is being too busy. We need time to reflect and allow the true core essence to emerge. A friend of mine who worked 60-70 hours a week since graduating from college 18 years ago made a conscious decision to take a significant pay cut to work the standard 40 hours. After 6 months of being on his lighter schedule he said to me “I feel like I’m coming alive again---the last 18 years is a blur.” Family members and friends started to notice his old self re-emerging. It had been so long they had forgotten the playful, lighthearted guy they used to know. Ask your friends what your dreams are. Sound strange? What I have noticed is sometimes people’s core essence will come out and reveal their true dream to a friend or family member and then it goes underground and the person forgets they even said it! In this moment ask yourself what you really want. Close your eyes and tune into your body and see what pops into your head. This may be your first step to opening up to more of your aliveness and passion. We need more alive, passionate shining Light Bulbs. Won’t you let your light shine!

By: Shelley Riutta

The core of most personal goals is self-improvement. Everybody wants to be better at the things they do or as a person. In your quest to improve yourself, you must have realized early on that there are rarely short cuts to your goals and that you have to work on it from day to day. Finding the daily motivation to continue your efforts is oftentimes the biggest hurdle to achieving your goals.

You may have written down your goals and the first steps toward them may be clear in your head but there are just so many distractions and stressful situations that happen every day, that losing daily motivation is not surprising. Nevertheless, if you falter today you need to get back up tomorrow because that is the only way you will realize your goals. If you need some help finding daily motivation, here are some quick suggestions:

Re-create the desire you have for your goal. Visualize yourself when you have achieved what you wanted. For example, if your goal is to lose 30 pounds, imagine yourself finally doing that and being able to wear the clothes that you want. Imagine the approving looks of your friends or acquaintances when they see you. Just try to think about what it would feel like to be 30 pounds lighter. Immerse yourself in this exercise for some high-level daily motivation.

Do the opposite of the above tip. Instead of imagining yourself succeeding in your goals, think about what would happen if you failed. The thought of failure can be frightening so most people actually find this exercise more effective in boosting daily motivation.

Re-evaluate your goal. Is it really something you want or maybe other factors went into play when you were goal-setting? Losing daily motivation a few times is understandable but if you have lost interest in your goal for more than a week now, that is as good as quitting and you may need to re-assess your goals or the actions you are taking to achieve them. If a particular task is holding you back and zapping your daily motivation, re-focus on the bigger picture. If, on the other hand, you are suddenly overwhelmed by your goal then fuel your daily motivation by taking it one step and one day at a time. Look back at what you have accomplished after a week, and you will see that you have actually done a lot of work.

Lastly, take care of yourself. If you do not have the physical energy, it will be hard to sustain daily motivation so make sure you sleep well, eat a balanced diet and get some exercise.

These are just some few suggestions to motivate yourself but everything still depends on you. Try one or two of them to get you right back on track.

By: Lucile Taylor

To be the best motivational speaker, you need to learn from the best. Giving motivational speeches, trainings and seminars requires study and training. But before you can even begin practicing to become the best motivational speaker, you need to make some basic decisions first about your chosen career. For example, who is your target audience? What general field of interest will you speak about? There are hundreds of subjects that you can focus on as a motivational speaker from business management to sales to health and self-improvement issues.

Make sure to pick a subject that either you are truly an expert on or something that you are passionate about and willing to master because, obviously, you cannot be the best motivational speaker on your chosen topic and gain the confidence of your audience if you lack the knowledge about it. Studying resources is just a part of building mastery of your subject. You need to hear and see the current motivational speakers in action. Do not just take note of what they are saying like every other attendee but observe how they express their views, their choice of words and manner of delivery. Personally observation is the best way for you to learn how to become the best motivational speaker.

On the other hand, if you or your company is looking for the best motivational speaker for a business conference, industry meeting, company retreat or any other event, make sure to be careful with your choice because your selection is as equally important as the location or the timing of your event. Perhaps even more important because the words the speaker will impart to the audience –employees, industry peers, or clients – have the power to motivate action. Hence, hiring the best motivational speaker will help you maximize the value of attendance and the return of your investment by inspiring positive changes within the company.

The best motivational speaker is one who can tailor an entire presentation to the specific needs of a business or company. There are many speakers who recycle old speeches or presentations, changing just a couple of things here and there. The best motivational speaker understands that every business and organization is unique and develops presentations that are aligned to individual business goals. While most, if not all, motivational speakers are effective in rousing the emotions of audience, only the best motivational speaker knows how to equip people with concrete and actionable ideas that lead to the desired results. Through powerful stories, illustrations, humor, and insights, the best motivational speaker challenges the audience’s will and drives positive action.

By: Lucile Taylor

When we think about motivation, things like gift cards and trips come to mind. We reward team members for positive behavior by giving them things that they value. I would challenge this idea by asking leaders who they spend most of their time with, and how they delegate much of the daily work.

Let's say you are a front-line leader for a team of 10 people. Like most teams, you have 3 team members that are superstars, far exceeding performance goals. You have 5 team members that are average in every way, they never cause any issues and 'meet' expectations every month. And finally, you have 2 people on your team that are in the middle of every 'issue' you deal with. They come in late 2-3 times each month. Their performance often falls below the 'acceptable' level, and team members complain often about the behavior of these 2 problem team members.

One of the ways leaders reward team members is by spending time coaching and mentoring them. When we look at how we spend our day, specifically with those on our team, we find that most of our day is dedicated to improving performance of the bottom 2 team members. We create a success plan to improve performance and document our actions. We document attendance issues ans address each situation according to the policies. All these things end up taking any available coaching time we have, and leaves the better performers to assume they are needed and valued.

When we fail to coach the middle performers, we often see one or more fall into the bottom level of performance or even leave the organization. And those top performers, they rarely stay there without seeing rewards and recognition for this performance. With little time to spare, it's just a matter of time before you are looking for a new superstar to replace the one that left. So we reward the poor performers by spending the majority of our time coaching them.

We also penalize top performers in another way. When we delegate tasks, we consider who can perform the task the best, with as little direction as possible. We don't want to add additional work onto poor performers since they are struggling already. So we load even more work on those that are performing well.

When we consider how this all impacts our best performers, we can see that what we are actually doing is rewarding poor performance by delegating less work and spending more time coaching them. And we punish our best performers by adding more work and spending little to no time with them coaching to improve even more.

So take a look at how you spend your time, and how you reward those around you. There is much more to motivation than just handing out gift cards and trips.

By: Kreg k Enderson

1. Possess Self Confidence
Feel the Difference

Your strength lies in your own vision and outlook. Build the confidence and
be optimistic. Proceed ahead ‘I can do it and I will win’ The game is yours
and you are the ‘Winner’ – Quite Naturally!

2. Mental Drive & Physical Energy Achieve aims with active mental drive and
physical force by ‘Meditation’ and ‘Keep fit - Eat healthy attitude’ Pursue
mental and physical drive excercises and aim for completion of tasks
undertaken

3.Check your Potentialities Turn your talents into engines of success.
Believe in your ownself and the things that you can do. Its simply amazing
to find your own key factors to develop your potentialities to boost morally
to climb the steep steps of success. It needs determination, vision,
confidence alongwith competitive spirit.

4. Self Evaluation Develop qualities of self assessment. Recognize and learn
from mistakes and failures. Measure success levels and check those decisions
and actions, weaknesses and drawbacks. Discover within.

5.Set Goals Aim high to reach the skies. Goals are essence of planning and
should be ambitious but achievable. Add zest with dynamic Leadership and
motivated team

6.Understanding ‘M’ Power Express plans in words and sure, you will start
counting numbers. Manage cash flow. Don’t build castles in air lest it would
cripple you down. Use money wise. Money saved is money earned

7.Competitive Edge Competition results to effective competitive edge.
Brainstorm promoting creativity and stimulating ideas to adopt, adapt and
apply the techniques or qualities that make winners a success. Build own
standard principles and accept challenges. Grab opportunities, eliminate
weaknesses.

8.Influence Powers of influencing others and convincing accepting
compromises. Sometimes, just a word, a glance, an inspiration, motivation or
lack of one can make a big difference.

9.Planning Ahead Plan to achieve more than you expect. Your success is
measured positive. You will be rewarded with big results or else you may
land up with setting up your ownself ‘Independent’

By: www.streetdirectory.com

"Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice."
-Stephen Covey

I saw the movie Pearl Harbor over Memorial Day weekend. It
served as a good reminder of the tremendous cost of freedom.
There is also a tremendous cost to not having freedom.

In a physical sense, most of us enjoy freedom. In an
emotional or psychological sense, however, an estimated 80%
of the population puts themselves into a self-imposed prison
cell on a regular basis. We forfeit our freedom of choice
through our own thought processes. I frequently hear my
clients say, "I have to" or "I gotta" or "I should" And when
I hear those phrases I often ask, "Do you have to or do you
choose to?" There are very few things in life that we have
to do. Yet some of us forfeit our choice to the point of
seeing our options in life as limited. This generally leads
to a feeling of hopelessness.

There are indeed times when you are not at choice. When you
are not at choice, you may be a victim. And sometimes you
might slip into the victim role when, in fact, you do have
choices. The first step toward getting out of a self-imposed
victim role is to recognize the choices you have.

Exercise Your Free Will

"Independent will is our capacity to act. It gives us the
power to transcend our paradigms, to swim upstream, to
rewrite our scripts, to act based on principle rather than
reacting based on emotion or circumstance."
-Stephen Covey

We have been given the ability to examine our conscious
thoughts and choose how we react in any given situation. We
learn at a very early age that if we act a certain way, we
will achieve a certain result.

Often the result we opt for is safety. And safety is
necessary to preserve our physical well-being. However, our
desire to be "safe" sometimes paralyzes our ability to
exercise our free will. From childhood on, most of us have
been programmed to "play it safe," and this often affects
the choices we make as adults. We tell ourselves, "That was
so disappointing before, so I better not take that chance
again."

Do you allow your fear of hurt, rejection, or failure to
determine how much risk you are willing to take? What is the
cost of doing this? Perhaps you're stuck in a job or career
path you hate, or you are in a relationship that does not
serve you, or you've chosen not to pursue a relationship you
want. Do you struggle with low self-esteem and self-
confidence? If so, you are probably severely hampering your
ability to manifest what you want in your life by convincing
yourself that you should not try, or that you do not deserve
what you really want. Our choices are strongly influenced by
our disempowering emotions. By learning to recognize and
step out of experiencing these emotions, a whole new world
of possibility will be available to you.

I know this from personal experience. For 13 years I chose
to stay in a stressful career that I did not find
fulfilling. The more time I invested in that career path,
the less at choice I felt. At one point I took an exam to
receive a special certification in my field. When I passed
the exam and was certified, I felt like there was no turning
back! I told myself, "I can't leave this field now look how
much I've invested in it!" And besides, I had no idea what
else I could possibly do. Fear held me back, until one day
the pain of not making a change outweighed the fear of the
unknown.

Susan Jeffers, author of Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway,
teaches us how to stop negative thinking patterns and
reeducate our minds to think more positively. In her book,
she shows us how to risk a little every day, how to turn
every decision into a "No-Lose" situation, and much more.

When my clients focus on their values -- what is most
important to them at the core -- they are more at choice and
less at effect. They recognize that they have the freedom to
choose based on their own values, versus being influenced by
limiting beliefs, circumstances, or the opinions of others.
One of the great joys of being a coach is that I get to
journey with my clients as they create the work and play
they are most passionate about. When passion and
talents/skills intersect, there is no limit to the
possibilities!

Inside-Out Thinking

"If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good
to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not
success at all." -Anna Quindlen

Most of us grew up with an "outside-in" model of thinking.
In other words, we have been influenced by the advice and
opinions of others rather than trusting the answers from
within. When we follow the outside-in model, the results do
not usually bring about a deep level of satisfaction or
fulfillment. Outside-in thinking means that we try to
change, improve, or transform ourselves and our
circumstances based on what others think. Outside-in
thinking represents a reactive model, based on external
circumstances. Not only is this less effective, but it
usually takes more effort and energy.

The "inside-out" model of thinking represents a proactive
model, which is based on accessing one's own internal wisdom
and core values. The word "proactive" means more than merely
taking initiative. Our behavior is a function of our
decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings
to values. We have the initiative and the responsibility to
make things happen. When we align our actions with the
essence of who we are and what we value most, we are using
the inside-out model. As each of us more fully honors our
essential selves and our values, outer conditions begin to
change, improve, and even transform.

One of the best illustrations of the power of "inside-out"
came to me when I was a child. I went to see the movie
Papillon. For those not familiar with this story, Henri
Charriere was a Frenchman who was convicted in 1931 of a
murder he did not commit. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he
spent 12 years in the penal colony of French Guiana. After
eight unsuccessful attempts to escape, he finally got away
to Venezuela. More than 20 years later, when he was 60,
Charriere wrote his story, which became an international
best seller and was made into a movie. One scene from the
movie has stuck with me all these years. Charriere was
locked in a dark, small cell in solitary confinement almost
24 hours a day. The only living things sharing the tiny
prison cell with him were the roaches. He chose to make
these roaches his "friends" and actually looked forward to
seeing them on the occasions when a beam of light would come
into his cell so he could see.

Now, if you're like me, I was taught that roaches were not
my friends. This scene in the movie taught me a very
important lesson in life: It is not our circumstances that
make or break us, but rather our response to those
circumstances. Jack Canfield illustrates this beautifully in
his book, How to Build High Self-Esteem, by sharing this
simple equation: E (experience) + R (response) = O
(outcome).

In Charriere's case, the experience was that he was
imprisoned in solitary confinement in a very small roach-
infested cell with little or no light. The response was that
he chose to think of the roaches as welcomed guests in his
home -- his way of honoring his own value of having
companionship in his life. The outcome was that he was able
to maintain his sanity by inviting the roaches to provide
him with the companionship he so desperately craved while in
solitary confinement. Had Charriere's response been
different, I'm certain he would have experienced a
completely different outcome. As I recall, the movie
paralleled Charriere's life with that of another prisoner in
the same penal colony. Although the two prisoners shared
similar experiences, their responses were quite different.
The other man ended up losing his sanity and dying during an
attempt to escape.

Although we may never find ourselves in Charriere's
circumstances, I believe most of us are mentally imprisoned
by our own response to experiences in our lives. When we
experience emotions like fear, anger, and jealousy, we have
chosen thoughts that put us in the smallest of jail cells.
These emotions completely paralyze our freedom of choice.

We have the ability to be completely at choice about how we
see things, how we feel, and what we do as a result. In
Stephen Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People, he explains how these things are all connected: Our
paradigms -- the lens through which we view things -- inform
our thoughts. Our thoughts inform our feelings. Our feelings
inform our response. Our response affects the outcome. This
explains how two people working from different paradigms can
experience the same event and yet experience completely
different outcomes. To illustrate, Stephen Covey tells of an
experience he once had:

Mr. Covey was sitting on a New York subway one quiet Sunday
morning when a man and his children got on his subway car.
The man sat down next to Covey and closed his eyes, while
his children immediately began yelling back and forth,
throwing things, and even grabbing people's papers. Although
the children were being very disruptive, the father made no
attempt to control his kids. It appeared that he was
oblivious to the situation. Covey grew more irritated by the
minute. Clearly everyone else on the subway felt irritated,
too. So Covey finally turned to the man and said, "Sir, your
children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if
you couldn't control them a little more?" The father lifted
his gaze as he became conscious to the situation, and he
said, "Oh, you're right. I guess I should do something about
it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died
about an hour ago. I don't know what to think, and I guess
they don't know how to handle it either."
At this point, Covey shifted from feeling irritated and
judgmental to feeling compassion, concern, and empathy. In
other words, as Covey got more information, it shifted his
paradigm, which shifted the way he thought about the
situation, which shifted his feelings about the man and his
children. And all of these shifts helped Covey to choose a
different response, which changed the outcome for both Covey
and the other man.

By: www.streetdirectory.com

One of the most exciting activities you can engage in is
goal setting. The future is bright and filled with endless
possibilities, and by carefully planning a set of actions
and milestones you can achieve nearly any goal you commit
yourself to.

After you make your plan, the first few weeks are
energizing as you see yourself moving toward the goal.
Your vision expands and you can feel the positive energy as
you visualize the future and your anticipated
accomplishments.

But sooner or later it's inevitable that you will face an
unforeseen obstacle that seems impossible to overcome. The
obstacle may be financial in nature, such as unplanned
expenses or a failure to achieve initial revenue targets.
It may come in the form of a person or a group of people
who stand in direct opposition to your plans. You'll know
when you encounter one of these immovable obstacles when
you find yourself feeling defeated. It's at this stage
that most goals get derailed.

I think of these immovable obstacles as mules. Mules have
three key characteristics.

1) They will completely stop your progress. They seem to
wait until you're moving full steam ahead, and then step
out in front of you to block the path to your goal.

2) They're stubborn. When you attempt coax them to move,
they ignore you. When you try to move them out of the way,
they plant their feet and refuse to budge.

3) They don't go away. They seem determined to keep you
from achieving your goals.

When a mule steps out in front of you to block the
achievement of your goal, you essentially have four
options:

1) Abandon your goal. You can rationalize that the goal
isn't really important, or you can simply give up and feel
defeated. This is a common response to mules, especially
for people who are in the early stages of working toward a
goal. Hopefully, you're committed to achieving your goals
and have the determination to overcome any obstacle.

2) Wait for the mule to go away. This will generally lead
you back to option one, because if the obstacle is truly a
mule, it won't go away. Goals, properly set, include
milestones and are time-sensitive. The longer you remain
in a stalled condition waiting for a mule to move, the more
milestones you'll miss, and eventually you'll be forced to
admit failure.

3) Move the mule out of the way. This will also generally
lead you back to option one, because if it's really a mule,
you won't be able to move it. One of the most common
pitfalls in attempting to achieve a goal is getting
de-focused. Trying to move a mule is a totally frustrating
experience, and you'll dissipate your energy in the
process. If you want to succeed, you've got to keep your
eye on the goal and not on the mule. Remember, your
objective is to achieve your goal; not to move the mule.

4) Go around the mule. This is easier said than done,
because it's the mule's nature to completely block the path
to your goal. Keeping your eye on your goal, you simply
concede that the mule is truly a mule and will not be
moved. Therefore, you find another path to the goal.

A Case in Point

Last year, my daughter came up with a business plan to set
up an art gallery, a dream she had thought about for years.
The cost to lease and renovate a space in a prominent
location was well beyond her means, but after several
months of diligent effort, she found a backer who was
willing to invest the money to get her started.

She was so excited! After finding the perfect space, she
began working out her goals down to the smallest details.
She was finally on the road to achieving her dream. Then,
just before she was to sign the lease agreement, a mule
stepped out into the road. Her backer backed out of the
deal. Without the finances, there would be no art gallery,
and after an exhaustive search for another backer she was
ready to give up in the face of an immovable mule.

Before the mule had exhausted all her energy and vision,
she began refocusing on her goal, which was to start an art
show business. A friend of hers owns a popular night club
and offered to let her host an art show at the club on a
week night. After a tremendous job of creative planning,
she held her first show and completely packed out the club.
It was a total success.

She recently finished her third highly-profitable,
standing-room-only show, and is well on her way to building
a successful art show business without the expense of a
permanent gallery. In going around the mule, she found
that she could eliminate the need for a major expense and
at the same time take advantage of the established
clienteles of successful night clubs. Today she's more
fired up about her goal than ever, and realizes that the
mule turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Learn to Recognize the Real Mules and Go Around Them
It's often difficult to spot a mule when it blocks the road
to your goal. Unexpected obstacles often get in the way,
and generally with creativity and determination you can
successfully move or eliminate them. But when a real mule
comes along, learn to recognize it by its stubborn,
immovable nature.

When you initially define a goal, you should attempt to
anticipate the obstacles and roadblocks you'll meet along
the way, and plan accordingly. But once you get started,
when you run into an unexpected mule, step back and focus
on the essence of your goal. Get creative. Look for high
ground and assess the landscape. There may be an even
better path to your goal that you've overlooked, and if you
can find it you'll have the mule to thank!

By: www.streetdirectory.com

We all have our cherished dreams. Held close to our heart
and sometimes hidden even from our closest people, we expect it
to be realized one day. But how do we do it.

Dream vividly: Let the dream flow. Try to see all the details. Feel
as if the dream has already happened. Fantasize like a child.

Visualize: Visualize your dream now. Let a vision about that cherished
dream be formed. Picture all details like a three dimensional movie with
colors, sound, objects. Believe to the core that it already exists and
you only have to go through the motion of completing it.

Make a model: Make a miniature model of your vision just like an
Architects building model. That is give the vision a form. This can
be a concrete plan also with all the details. Become obsessed with
this model and see it regularly.

Manifest: Begin the process of manifesting the dream. Act on your
gut feeling. These inner signals are very important and is beyond
logical explanation. Calmly and with full belief go through the
motions willingly. Soon the obvious signals of that cherished dream
manifesting on the physical plane will become self evident. You
might suddenly bump into a stranger who has the perfect solution
to a solve a problem. Or you might 'accidentally come across the
article which might give you a better idea.

Realizing your dream is simpler than it's made out to be.

By: www.streetdirectory.comv

Yesterday morning I was looking out of my office window at the trees in
my front yard. The trees were filled with brown, shriveled, dead
leaves. These leaves were once healthy and green. They had turned
brilliant colors under the fall sky. But now they were old and dead.

The wind was blowing strong yesterday. As the wind hit the trees, the
dead leaves came flying off. It looked liked a leaf shower. I could
almost hear the trees laughing with glee that the dead things hanging
from their branches were finally flying away.

As I watched, the thought hit me that every once in a while, we humans
need to have a clean, refreshing wind blow through us to blow off all
those dead things - ideas, attitudes, mindsets - that hang on us and
weight us down.

What kinds of dead things are hanging off your branches?

Dead Thing #1 - I Can't Do This

Do you realize that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to
do? Your mind is a powerful instrument. If you believe you can do
something, your mind is a powerful catalyst toward getting it done.
Rather than sit on your couch and repeat over and over, *I can't,*
start saying out loud (yes, out loud), *I can do this. I am able.
Nothing is too hard for me.* Once you say it enough, you'll come to
believe it. Then watch out world!

Dead Thing #2 - I Don't Know How

The people who really are rocket scientists didn't know how to build
rockets until they learned. It's OK not to know how to do something.
The problem is when we let this attitude keep us from attaining our
goals. There are many resources on the Internet, in your local
library, on your town's college campus. Take advantage of these
resources and learn how to do what you need to do.

Dead Thing #3 - I'm Stupid

My husband was told this very thing so often while he was growing up,
that eventually he came to believe it himself. Yes, some of us are
able to access more of our brain power than others, but that doesn't
mean that you are stupid. If you've heard this through your life from
others, or if you've been telling yourself this, turn this around by
repeating to yourself often throughout the day, *I have the power to
learn. I will learn. Nothing can stop me.* It may take you longer
than some to reach your goal, but you will get there.

Dead Thing #4 - It Will Never Happen for Me

Hogwash! If you keep repeating to yourself that nothing good will
happen to you, then, of course, nothing will. Just like when taking a
picture with your camera, what you focus on, develops in your life.
There is nothing different between you and the successful person. You
can learn to be successful. Success is more of an attitude than a
state of being. Get up every morning and say, *Something good is going
to happen to me today.* Look for those opportunities that sneak by and
jump on them. Be determined. If it happens for someone else, it can
happen for you.

Dead Thing #5 - I Have Nothing to Offer

You don't have to be a world-famous, multi-degreed person to be of help
to someone else. Each one of us has experiences in our lives that we
have come through. There is always someone who is still in the middle
of that same experience. Share what you have learned. Let others know
what did and did not work for you in that circumstance. You'll be
surprised at just how many people want to hear how you've overcome.
Your down-to-earth practical counsel based on experience is worth more
educated supposition.

If any of these dead things have been hanging around on your branches,
it's time to blow them off! You can change the way you thing, how you
look at life, and your attitude. It may take some time, but it's well
worth the effort.

See, don't you feel lighter already?
By: www.streetdirectory.com

Every person on Earth has a comfort zone, whether it be
in their personal life and/or their business life. I define
this zone as "the place where one feels safe that is devoid
of challenges or threatening circumstances".

When in business, this zone can be the determining factor
of whether one succeeds or fails. It is very easy to get
locked into that which is comfortable to us and just try to
work a business within those boundaries. But it doesn't work,
it doesn't stretch us to better our business or become the
successful, enlightened person most of us want to be.

Again I ask, where is your "Comfort Zone"?

What part of working your business makes you most
uncomfortable?

Is it still being done anyway?

For some it, is picking up the phone and making that
business contact, or writing their first newsletter or
setting short and long term goals and sticking by them
or revising them as things change. For others, it might
be talking person-to-person trying to network, or writing
a vision statement of where they eventually want to end up
or even asking someone to be their mentor.

The first step to "stretching that comfort zone" is to
replace the negative thought:

I can't...
I will fail...
Who will listen to me...
They will just say no...
I'm not a writer...
I'll make a fool of myself... and so on and so on......

With just the opposite:

I can...
I will succeed...
They might just listen and if they don't, well I'll move
on to the next person...
Hey, let's ask, they could say "yes"...
I've never written anything before but I can give it a
shot...
I will only make a fool of myself if I don't try...

Believe me, there is no quick fix here. It takes constant
positive mind talk to get to the place where one's self-
confidence and "I can do it" attitude kick in.

The second step after working on the mind, replacing
those negative thoughts, is to take ACTION! The only true
way to break out of that comfort zone is to do the thing
in business that we want to constantly put off - possibly
due to fear or lack of self-confidence. To coin the Nike
phrase -- "Just Do It!".

Yes, it is easier said than done but how important is
it to us to succeed in our businesses?

How important is it to us to make contact with the right
kind of people?

How important is it to build a customer base or find the
perfect partners?

To most, these things are very important but they will not
be possible unless we are willing to do the things that are
the most uncomfortable to each of us.

For me personally, the 2 major struggles were writing a
newsletter and making phone contacts. With the newsletter,
I had never written one and just didn't know where to start.
After spending several days reviewing other online newsletters
to get a feel for the formats that could be used, I made
myself sit down and write one. I told myself I couldn't do
anything else until it was done.

Because I did this mind talk and mentally prepared myself
for the task, it was done in about 2 hours. I did, later, do
some fine tuning but the point it I sat down and got it done.

With the phone calls, I told myself I had to make at least 5
calls before I could move on to other business issues. Right
from the start, I found after the first 5, I wanted to make
more. I still struggle from time to time pushing my comfort
zone to make the first call but after that it gets easier.

What can you do today that would stretch you and be good for
your business?

Sit down, make that call, write that newsletter, write down
your goals, network your business or whatever it is that makes
you uncomfortable (or may even scare you). Push yourself and
do it now! Not only will it help you build your business but
think how good you will feel afterwards to be able to say,
"I did it and it wasn't so bad after all!"

Make a commitment to yourself to either once a day or once a
week (depending on your schedule) to do at least one
"uncomfortable" act to build your business and put you closer
to succeeding.

STRETCH THAT COMFORT ZONE!!

By: www.streetdirectory.com

According to a new survey carried out by Alliance & where ID_NUM=9270;
Leicester, one in five small business owners view tax as
their greatest concern. The Chancellor has announced in his
last budget that companies with profits below œ10,000 will
not have to pay any corporation tax with effect from 1 April
2002. The question to be asked is: does that announcement
make incorporation a more attractive option compared to
being a sole trader?

The answer is that from a tax point of view, it is
advantageous to trade through a limited company as long
as the income is drawn from the company by the owners as
dividends from their shares and the amount of dividends
drawn is restricted below the 40% band rate (i.e. œ31,063
for tax year 2002/03). That way, the owners have no further
personal tax ("income tax") to pay. Moreover, dividends are
not subject to national insurance contributions. This is
excellent news of course. But, if dividend income falls
within the higher rate bracket of income tax (i.e. above
œ34,515), they will be taxed at 22.5% on the excess, which
of course will increase the tax burden. The company profits
are subject to corporation tax rates. Those are lower than
income tax rates.

The most catastrophic scenario is when the director takes
his reward from the company as salary. Then his/her salary
is taxed at income tax rates (like a sole trader's income).
That is because, unlike sole traders, the tax system treats
companies as separate from their owners because a company is
a separate legal entity. The problem is that the income
taxes are higher than corporation tax rates. On top of
that, they will be subject to employee and employer national
insurance contributions, which of course increase the tax
burden and render his position worse than even an
unincorporated business ("sole trader"), because NIC Class 1
on payroll are higher than NIC Class 2 paid by self
employed.

In contrast, a self employed person ("sole trader") is taxed
at income tax rates on the profits from his business, which
are added to his other sources of income. As it has already
been mentioned, income tax rates are overall higher than
corporation tax rates. On top of income tax, national
insurance contributions class 4 are payable on the business
profits within a specified band (7% on profits between
œ4,615and œ30,420). National insurance contributions Class 2
are also paid by self-employed people, although those are
lower than those payable by company directors on their
salaries.

To illustrate the above, let's take a simple example. We
have a limited company and a sole trader. They both make
œ60,000 profits each in the tax year 2002/03. We assume that
the company director takes a salary equal to the amount of
his personal allowances (untaxed income) of œ4,615 and the
balance as dividends. The company will pay corporation tax
at 19% equal to œ10,523 and nothing else. The sole trader
will pay income tax œ16,542, National insurance Class 2 œ104
and National insurance Class 4 œ1,806. Total œ18,452. The
bottom line is that the person that has incorporated his
business into a limited company will make a tax saving of
œ7,929 compared to a sole trader! Isn't that fantastic?

Somebody might be wondering: why is this entire happening?
The official explanation is that, this government, to help
the economy grow, encourages people to leave as much profits
within their businesses to be reinvested, instead of being
taken out and spent.

The "unofficial line" is that, as a matter of fact, for
years the Inland Revenue has tried to reclassify the
self-employed. The 1% in NIC hike on staff salaries above
the NIC threshold from next April adds to both the
employees' and employers' tax burden and may more than
offset the saving from the corporation tax zero rate on the
first œ10,000 of profits.

Aren't there any other matters to consider in deciding
whether to incorporate or not?

Higher administration costs to comply with company law,
payroll and bookkeeping is one factor. Another issue is
pension planning. Extracting profits out of the company as
dividends rather than salary means that there will be no
"net relevant earnings" and therefore pension contributions
can't be made. But the advent of stakeholder pension plans
has meant that contributions up to œ3,600 per year can be
made without the need for any earnings. If a person does not
wish to transfer funds in existing plans into stakeholder
because of high charges, there is a way out: the best net
relevant earnings (i.e. salary) in five consecutive years
can be used for making contributions for the next five
years, even if there were no salaries in the remainder four
years. It is comforting to know that entitlement to basic
state pension is not affected by taking a salary from the
company at the level of a person's personal allowances i.e.
œ4,615.

Furthermore, an individual may decide not to bother with
pension plans and instead invest in ISA. Often, these can be
more efficient than pensions but that's beside the scope of
this article. If that option is taken, no salary is
necessary.

Another factor is business motoring. It might be tax
advantageous for an unincorporated business that owns many
cars not to incorporate because if these cars have some
private use there will be benefits in kind taxed on the
users. These are generally higher than the straight
apportionment between private and business for all car
running costs in the case of sole traders.

The conclusion is that there can be considerable tax savings
waiting the sole trader who decides to go down the
road to incorporation. But, one needs to proceed with
caution and careful planning. And don't forget the biggest
advantage of incorporation, which is Protection
from Personal Liability. Incorporating is one of the best
ways to protect a business owner from personal liability.
Shareholders of a company are generally not liable for the
obligations of the company. Creditors of a company may seek
payment from its assets, but not the assets of the
shareholders. This means that business owners may engage in
business without risking their homes or other personal
property.

Thank you for taking the time to read this Article. I hope
you've found it useful. If you have, please drop me an email
and let me know what you think.


You can email me at...

constantinesavva@accamail.com

Alternatively, you can visit our website at
http://www.tax-accounting-london.info and read a series of
other full length articles that present the complete picture
on a variety of interesting topics.

If you would like to know how to save tax and make sure that
more of your hard earned cash stays with you to expand your
business and increase your profits, we have a Free Special
Report addressed to small businesses either starting up or
already in business. This Exclusive Free Special Report is
available automatically when you subscribe to our regular
series of Free Newsletters on finance advice and tax
planning by visiting our subscription area on our website
www.tax-accounting- london.info. It is complied from real
life situations dealing with small business tax affairs for
over 10 years and it is loaded with down-to-earth advice and
practical, understandable examples.

LEGAL NOTICE
Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this
article, the author cannot accept responsibility for any
errors or omissions. Proper professional advice should be
taken at all times.

We retain copyright for the contents of this article. Any
unauthorized copying or onward distributions are prohibited
without our consent.

By: www.streetdirectory.com

It was once believed that the earth was flat. Columbus sailed around it and proved otherwise. It was once believed man could never fly faster than the speed of sound. Chuck Yeager exceeded
Mach 1 in the Bell X-1 and proved otherwise. It was once believed that no one could run a mile in under four minutes. Roger Bannister ran the mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds and proved
otherwise. They all achieved the impossible because they were able to break through self-imposed barriers and self-limiting beliefs!

Do you hold self-limiting beliefs that are preventing you from reaching your goals? If you won’t or can’t let go of these beliefs, you’ll likely find yourself doing the same old thing for
years, thinking that nothing will ever change for you. Sadly, nothing ever will, unless you can shake those self-imposed limitations.

Interestingly, even though there are millions of different people with millions of different personalities, many share the same negative beliefs. Do these sound familiar to you?

I Don’t Deserve It

Do you think that success and wealth are things other people deserve, but not you? Do you really think that you were created in some inferior manner
compared to everyone else? That is not true. You were created just like everyone else and have the same right and the same potential as everyone else
to achieve your goals.

It’s Not Possible

Do you feel that your goals are impossible to reach? Sailing around the world, breaking the 4 minute mile,
and breaking the sound barrier were all said to be impossible. These were limiting beliefs which were eventually changed.

It’s Too Hard/Too Much Work

Too many people today are looking to make a quick buck by doing nothing. They’ve been led to believe that they will simply fall into a gold mine and achieve wealth with little or no effort. Hey, even the people who did fall into gold mines during the gold rush had to do a little digging! However, it doesn’t have to be hard and it can actually be FUN to make some changes in your life.

I'm Too Stupid

This is a common one. Everyone possesses a lack of confidence in certain areas or feels limited in their
knowledge. This is natural, and there are very few people who really do know everything (you must know a few who THINK they fall into that category.) All of us, however, have an area of expertise, whether we realize it or not. In addition, we are all capable
of LEARNING. Did you know that you can become an expert in anything if you study it for 5 years? Yes, YOU! An EXPERT!

I Don’t Have Time

“Five years! I don’t have that kind of time!" you say. So who says you have to become an EXPERT? Think about how much you can learn in two years or one year or even six months. The point is that you have the ability to learn. You simply have to decide on the subject and how much time you want to devote. Then, take Action.

I’ve Always Had Bad Luck/Nothing Comes Easy to Me

How many times have you used this one? It’s easy to blame your lack of success on bad luck or bad timing or bad friends or the bad economy, etc. There will always be things that happen that are beyond your control, but if you persist in your efforts, you can
overcome anything. Perseverance is the key.

Are you holding on to any of these self-limiting beliefs? If so, are they a result of past programming? (We talked about that in the last issue.) If so, get RID of the negative programming and eliminate those self-limiting beliefs. They are guiding your actions and creating your reality! Believe that you can do anything and have anything you want, and you will!

Once you break through a self-imposed barrier, you can sail like Columbus, you can fly like Yeager, or you can run like Bannister in the direction of your
dreams!

By: www.streetdirectory.com

It seems that lately I’ve been reading an awful lot of articles in e-zines about the difficulty of doing business online. They talk about all the hype, all the scams, all the lies and false promises. They talk about all the worthless web sites, loaded with affiliate links, promising millions and delivering nothing. They talk about the undeliverable and returned e-mail, the fake addresses, the junk mail and the spam. They talk about server problems, software problems, hardware problems, too many ads, too many viruses, not enough content, lost messages, lost lists, lost customers, and lost dreams!

SHEESH! All this negative stuff really makes ME want to do business online! How about you?

I’d like to take a moment here and tell you about some of the POSITIVE stuff that has happened in my life since I started doing business online.

First of all, I’ve learned, for FREE, more about marketing, promotion, and ad writing than I could have learned for $80,000 at an Ivy League school. I’ve learned more about human nature than I could have learned if I’d become a psychiatrist. I’ve encountered both the folks who create elaborate schemes to rip people off and the ones who do an honest business online. It has been a valuable learning experience in both instances.

I’ve learned that you don’t have to create something new or re-invent the wheel to make money online. You can join an affiliate program to get started with your first business. I’ve learned that wealth can happen, and that it CAN happen to me!

I’ve learned that my college economics professor was wrong when he said, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch." You really CAN advertise online for free, and there is NO catch!

I’ve also made more friends and business acquaintances on the Internet than I’ve made in my 30 years of working in corporate jobs. It’s amazing how many friendly, helpful people there are out there. I’ve been able to help people out as well, which has been extremely satisfying.

I’ve learned the ins and outs of my PC and I’ve learned to deal effectively with my ISP. I’ve even learned about installing routers and ether net cards, downloading what needs to be downloaded, and configuring what needs to be configured! WOW. All this from a technically challenged 50-year-old woman!

And, best of all, I’ve come to really know myself--my ability to persevere, my desire to succeed, my willingness to learn, my talents I didn’t know I had. I’ve become more creative and intellectually stimulated than I’ve ever been before, and I’m really excited about this whole business of doing business online!

Hey, I’m not saying I don’t run into problems here and there just like everyone else. Some days I have more spam in my inbox than I know what to do with, and some days I can’t even get online. But, all in all, I’m really having fun. Maybe I’ll grow a little more cynical after I’ve been doing this for a few years, like other folks out there. But, for the moment, I’m trying to be positive.

I’ve decided that doing business online is the only way to do business in the future. The Internet is here to stay, and I plan to be part of it. I believe that the nonsense we’re putting up with today, like spam and scam, will be just a bad memory some day. The Internet will make many more millionaires and the future promises to be exciting and profitable!

Don’t you want to be part of it? I DO! So I’m not listening to the complaints and the moaning and groaning. I don’t have time for that. I’ve decided to GET POSITIVE and get busy and get creative and see what happens. Guess what? Wealth happens.

By: www.streetdirectory.com

What have you been programmed to believe? Throughout your life, you have been programmed by your parents, your friends, your siblings, and yourself. Programming occurs as a result of repeated actions or messages. This programming creates your beliefs, your beliefs guide your actions, and your actions create your reality.

Positive programming results in optimistic beliefs and gratifying realities. For instance, if you were programmed, when you were six years old, to think the tooth fairy would give you a quarter for your tooth, you probably believed it. The result of this belief was most likely a gratifying experience. You were programmed by your parents, friends, or siblings to think there was a tooth
fairy and you believed it. This belief guided your actions and you put your tooth under the pillow. This action created the gratifying reality, (i.e., you got your quarter!)

Unfortunately, not all programming results in beliefs as benevolent as the tooth fairy. Negative programming results in detrimental beliefs and
disappointing realities. If you were programmed by your parents, friends, or siblings to think it is too risky to start your own business, you probably believe it. This belief guides your
actions and you stay at your job. This action creates your disappointing reality, (i.e., you get a limited paycheck and give half of it to Uncle Sam.)

You’ve probably received a lot more negative programming than positive in your lifetime. You may have been told you weren’t very good at something, or you’d never make a living if you chose a certain career path, or you’d never
get a good job if you didn’t go to college, or you’d poke your eye out if you ran with a stick. In addition, as if all that wasn’t enough, you managed to impose your own self-limiting beliefs as well. You may have taken on the belief that you’re too fat, too tall, too dumb, too skinny, too uneducated, or too lazy to pursue and
accomplish your dreams.

Beliefs are such an important factor of success that you must learn to get rid of the negative, self-limiting ones and create positive, self-enabling beliefs. If programming creates your beliefs, and your beliefs guide your actions,
and your actions create your reality, wouldn’t it make sense to get rid of the negative programming?

So, what have you been programmed to believe? If you are letting negative programming create your reality, you must learn to rewrite the program!

By: www.streetdirectory.com

Earl Nightingale once said "What the mind can conceive and truly
believe, it can achieve!"

Was he right? Well you tell me, the proof is right in front of you! Take
a look around, right now, this very moment. Everything you see before
you, the consumer goods, the furnishings, the decoration, they all began
as a flicker of an idea in someone's imagination.

The truth is, you can achieve absolutely anything you want to. But you
have to be realistic here, you have to take account of your own physical
limitations. I mean, if you're currently enjoying the autumn of your
life, I'm sorry to have to tell you, you ain't going to win an Olympic
gold medal in the 100 metres sprint. And if you throw yourself off the
top of a hundred storey building, flap your arms as much as you like,
but rather than soar with the birds you'll still make a nasty mess on
the pavement.

If you're still with me, you'll appreciate that there's an absolute
limit to your potential that I'll call your "real ceiling". Now unless
you're pretty peculiar, the chances are that you're currently living
under a "false ceiling" that you've created and installed all by
yourself. Didn't know you were a craftsman did you?

This "false ceiling" is severely restricting your growth. It's so low,
you're banging your head on it every time you try to stand up straight.
Your banging your head so much, trying to achieve anything is a constant
headache. Ouch! There you go again!

A lot of people have made a big mistake, they've built their "false
ceiling" no more than three or four feet from the floor. They can't even
sit up straight without banging their heads. Are you one of them?

So how high is your "real ceiling" then? Imagine you're standing in an
atrium, or even a cathedral, where the ceiling towers above you by as
much as 100 ft or more. There's your "real ceiling"! Look up, how high
is that? You'll get a stiff neck just looking.

This "real ceiling" is the limit of what you can realistically and
absolutely achieve in your life. But here's where it gets interesting.

I want you to imagine everything you've ever desired, even in your
wildest dreams, the fast car, the big house, the money, the power, the
happiness. How high is your "dream ceiling"?

Believe it or not, in order to achieve everything in your wildest dreams
you would only have to reach a ceiling of about 50 ft. "But hang on a
minute" I hear you cry "that's only half the height of my real ceiling!"
Exactly! It's well below your "real ceiling", so you should be able to
reach it easily shouldn't you? Your wildest dreams are all easily
achievable.

Just imagine for a moment that you've broken through your self-imposed
"false ceiling". You're standing up straight and tall, and for the first
time in your life you're not banging your head. You look up and can
clearly see your "real ceiling" towering above you. You can do
absolutely anything that any other person who has abilities similar to
yours has done. What's more, you could even surpassed them. How
fantastic is that?

Yes, you could become very successful online if that's what you want.
There are tens of thousands of people around the world making a
successful living online. It can't be that difficult otherwise all those
people wouldn't have achieved it, right? These people aren't special,
they're just like you and me. The majority are just honest, hard-working
people who have access to exactly the same opportunities and knowledge
as you.

So what's stopping you? Quite simply, you are!

No, not your background, upbringing, education, partner, the government,
next door's cat, or even the man in the moon. They're all excuses that
reinforce your "false ceiling" and make it harder for you to smash your
way through.

You've got to start taking responsibility for your own life. All it
takes is a little self belief and you can begin hacking away at that
"false ceiling" of yours. Imagine how much you can save in Aspirin from
all those headaches! Even better, imagine where you'll be this time next
year when you're used to standing tall and gazing up at your "real
ceiling".

Remember, you can achieve everything that your mind can conceive, so
long as you truly believe. But first, you must believe in yourself.

Be successful.

By: www.streetdirectory.com

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other
plans." --John Lennon

I just got back from a business trip to the East Coast.
While I was away several hundred email messages accumulated,
in addition to a tall stack of postal mail and a full voice
mail box. Had I been here to respond to all of it as it came
in, I would have spent much more time doing so. When faced
with the massive volume, I became much more efficient. I
asked myself, "What's most important?" And my clarity and
focus were much sharper as a result. When I returned from my
trip, what I really wanted was to spend time with my
family... not with my email, inbox, or telephone. With great
clarity and intent, I deleted much of my email without even
reading it.

While on my trip I came across a book titled, "The Superman
Syndrome: Why the Information Age Threatens Your Future and
What You Can Do About It," by Robert Kamm. In his book, Kamm
notes that Americans are working an average of six weeks to
three months more per year than they did just a decade ago.
Additionally, more than 70% of people in offices work
weekends and more than 70% of American parents feel they
don't spend enough time with their kids. Kamm says that the
Superman Syndrome is characterized by an inability or
unwillingness to throw the off-switch... whether on a cell
phone, the computer, or in our own brains. We are the most
distracted generation in the history of the human race. And
distracted people make for distracted and unavailable
parents -- perhaps one of the biggest threats our growing
generation faces in the 21st Century.

Clients often come to me feeling overwhelmed. They want more
control and balance in their lives. I explain that the
control comes from within. Shedding the Superman cape is the
first step! I tell my clients that they must be willing to
bypass the external distractions and demands on their time,
look inside to their own values and priorities, and then
make choices so their focus and activities match these
values and priorities. For example, if you truly value your
health and your family, but you are working too many hours
to take care of yourself or to be home while your family is
still awake, then you've lost control of your life.

Kamm notes that the commitment to slow down and focus on
things that really matter in life must be made at the
corporate as well as the individual level. He states that
"the Superman Syndrome is a dangerous workplace success
formula that forces men and women to leap tall buildings and
outrun speeding bullets -- at the expense of personal lives,
families, children and even business productivity. This
represents a major hypocrisy implicit in nearly every
boardroom in America: The belief that we should be
accountable to work but not to our families."

This begs the question, "What does it matter if you win the
rat race?" You're still a rat!

Change -- even good change -- is stressful for most people.
And today, the speed of change is doubling exponentially
every 18 months. The deafening roar of change is the reason
that 70% of illness is due to stress, and the top six
leading causes of death for American adults are stress-
related. It is not change itself -- but our inability to
adapt to change -- that creates the rub for most of us. We
are creatures of habit, and old patterns are hard to change,
even when they no longer serve us well. Health care
professionals note that we are so addicted to our fast-paced
lives that it often takes a life-threatening crisis such as
a heart attack or cancer to slow us down. Making the changes
necessary to leave the fast lane behind is not quick, and
for most, it is not easy. That's why practices such as yoga,
meditation, and working with a life coach have become so
popular.

Time to Graduate: Get a Life!

As we approach the time of year to celebrate graduations, I
find it particularly fitting to share excerpts from a
commencement address made by Anna Quindlen. As she began her
speech to the graduating class of Villanova University in
Pennsylvania, this novelist told the audience, "My work is
human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse
the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of
the first."

Quindlen went on to share some important life lessons that
all of us can benefit from:

"You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one
thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of
people out there with your same degree; there will be
thousands of people doing what you want to do for a
living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole
custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire
life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus,
or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your
mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank
account but your soul.

Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next
promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you
think you'd care so very much about those things if you
blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your
breast?

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you
love, and who love you. And remember that love is not
leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email.
Write a letter. Get a life in which you are generous. And
realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you
have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply
about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take
money you would have spent on beers and give it to
charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or
sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do
good too, then doing well will never be enough. It is so
easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, our minutes.
It is so easy to take for granted the color of our kids'
eyes, the way the melody in a symphony rises and falls and
disappears and rises again. It is so easy to exist instead
of to live.

I learned to live many years ago. Something really, really
bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways
that, if I had my druthers, it would never have been
changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today,
seems to be the hardest lesson of all. I learned to love
the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not
a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee
you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world
and try to give some of it back because I believed in it,
completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part,
by telling others what I had learned. By telling them
this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz
on a baby's ear. Read in the backyard with the sun on your
face. Learn to be happy . And think of life as a terminal
illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and
passion as it ought to be lived."

Just Do It!

"Time is the most important currency, but once you spend it,
it's gone." -Rod Steiger

If you struggle to "get a life," here are some concrete
action steps you can take, beginning TODAY!

==> Action Idea #1: Identify what you love to do.

· If you had more time, what would you do? (Or, if you had
a terminal illness, what would you want to do with the time
you had left?) Write down your response.

· What is holding you back from doing this now? Do you
choose to wait for a terminal illness to come along before
you make time for what you love most?

· Get your calendar out and schedule time to do some of the
things you wrote down.

==> Action Idea #2: Identify your values.

· Jot down the names of 10-20 people whom you admire. They
do not need to be living, and you may have never met them or
known them personally.

· After you've completed your list, write down the
qualities that you admire in each person you listed. For
example, if I listed Mother Teresa, I might describe these
qualities: compassionate, generous, unconditional love,
lived with meaningful purpose. The qualities that you admire
in others are YOUR values.

· How do you honor your values regularly? What is getting
in the way of you honoring your values?

==> Action Idea #3: Identify your priorities and passions.

· Pretend that you are attending your 100th birthday party
and your closest friends and relatives have gathered to
honor you. What would you want them to say about you? What
would represent a life well lived with no regrets?

· What matters most to you? What are you most passionate
about? Write it down.

· What one thing could you do, that if you did regularly,
would make the biggest difference in your personal life? For
your professional life?

· Get out your calendar and begin planning to do these
things regularly.

We get what we settle for. It's never too late -- or too
early -- to settle for more. When you are ready to settle
for more -- professionally or personally -- contact me.

By: www.streetdirectory.com

In the recent movie, "The Castaway," Tom Hanks played
the role of a FedEx delivery man. His job was to fly all over
the world making sure that the packages were delivered on time.

One fateful trip found his cargo plane flying through a nasty
storm somewhere in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean.
The plane crashed near a tiny, deserted island. The only survivor
was Hanks.

Upon awakening the next day, Hanks found himself all alone.
Alone with nothing except the clothes on his back.

So picture this: no matches, no tools, no food, no shelter, no
communications, only 1 small flashlight along with a few packages
containing some useless items that had washed up on shore.

He learned to survive a meager existence sleeping in a small
dark cave. His food came from coconuts and the few fish he
managed to catch.

Tom Hanks was captured and held prisoner on an island with
seemingly no hope of ever escaping. Every day the island
dictated to him how he was to live.

He was trapped on that island because he saw no way of
escape.

His fears of losing what small sense of security the island
provided, as despicable as it was, prevented him from trying to
escape to a better life. A life he knew existed, but now only
dreamed about.

Looking out over the vast expanse of the ocean, he constantly
thought about that better life. But those thoughts soon returned
to seeing the opposition and competition that prevented him from
returning to what was rightfully his.

4 long years later, Tom Hanks made a decision.

He had grown sick and tired of having a nothing life.

It was either die a nobody, going no place, on a nowhere
island, continuing to live a struggling and pitiful hand to mouth
existence, or......die trying to escape to a real life.

The Pacific Ocean was the obstacle. His opponent was
his own fears of overcoming that obstacle.

He made a plan to escape. The day arrived and Hanks set sail
aboard a make shift, rinky dink raft of logs tied together
with tree bark and video tape.

He met every adversity the South Pacific could throw at him.
It wasn't easy, but finally, the rescue came.

The movie portrayed a very intense drama. An analogy of what
life is like for many people. Thousands of folks every day feel
trapped in a nowhere life. They feel like their life is being wasted,
like they are going nowhere, on a nowhere island with little hope
of escape.

Every day these people trudge off to a boring and hopeless
job that offers only an existence but no real sense of satisfaction
in life as accomplishing anything.

These people know there is a better life out there, a life they
so desire, yet it seems so far away. They are trapped on their
own island of despair.

Held there, not by the island itself, but by their own fears of
not being able to overcome the adversity and opposition that lies
between them and their dreams.

A few do escape from that island. They are the ones who
finally become sick and tired of living a wasted life, they are the
ones who overcome the fear inside.

They start out from their island, not really knowing if they will
make it or not. But they look that sea of difficulties square in the
eye and say, in the unforgettable words of Admiral David Farragut,
"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead."

By: www.streetdirectory.com

John Chapman was a man who saw opportunity when
everyone else saw garbage.

Chapman had a vision, a tremendous vision for his future
and the future of his country. That vision destined him to
become an American folk hero.

He developed a business plan for his vision which included
learning everything he could about his business, paying attention

to details, asking the local markets about their opinions, and
making adjustments along the way.

In the early 1800's, John "Appleseed" Chapman would visit
cider mills and spend entire days running his hands through
the garbage picking out tiny apple seeds one by one.

It was dirty, dull work. But to Johnny Appleseed, those tiny
seeds were as precious as rubies. His idea was to take those
seeds, plant them, then sell the apple trees to settlers as they
moved westward.

Chapman made himself a student of nature. He learned where
the best soil was for planting. He learned his market by
becoming friends with the local folks and taking the time
to have them develop a trust in him.

At the time the law required each settler to plant 50 apple
trees on their plot of ground. As the settlers moved further
West, Appleseed kept ahead of them planting more and
more seeds.

His business thrived as settlers were more than happy to pay
Johnny for his pre-started seedlings. By the end of his life,
Chapman had planted hundreds of orchards on thousands of
acres across the American Northwest territory.

In 1949 he was declared an American "culture hero" by
the "Journal of American Folklore." In 1966 the US Postal
Service issued a commemorative stamp to honor him.

John Appleseed Chapman became a success in his life and
in his business because he had a passion for what he did. He
was a religious man and saw his work as being an integral
part of his faith.

Once Chapman was asked to describe what he would
do in Heaven. He said, "I would follow the same occupation
as I do here."

Every orchard he planted, Johnny remembered. He cared
deeply about his trees, kept track of them and would go
back every year to prune and repair them.

Besides his business, he loved his customers. As he became
more successful, he realized that serving and caring for his
customers was the best way to grow his business.

Even though life on the frontier was often difficult and
hard, Appleseed didn't look at the hardships. His words
were, "Love what you do and work becomes effortless."

Johnny Appleseed believed his life's mission was to plant
apple trees. He never retired, for him tending apple trees
was a labor of love.

By: www.streetdirectory.com

Or, all the reasons why you cannot? Do you want to
think differently, but are unsure how? Would you
like to look at your life and say yes instead of no?

The path to believing that you can starts with your
thoughts, and your thoughts can be shifted. Your
life can go exactly as you desire. You just have to
believe it first.

So, How Do You Believe That You Can? Follow These
Easy Steps:

1. Acknowledge That You Think You Cannot.

You might as well admit it. Denial will only make it
worse. Once you accept both sides of your thoughts
(the good and the bad), then you do not have to hide anymore.

2. Realize That You Cannot Because You Have Been
Saying You Cannot.

Your words have more power than you realize, and they
do influence your actions. If you are unable to find
a new job, a new relationship, or a new place to
live, it may be what you are saying to yourself.
Tell yourself that you can. (What do you have to
lose?) Try it, and see what happens.

3. Accept That Reaching Your Dream May Not Be The
Answer.

What if you reach your dream only to find out that
it is still not "it?" What will you do next? At
least with a dream, it is something that will happen
some day in the future. You cannot fail at a dream
that has not happened yet. Instead of worrying that
it will not work out, how about going for it? You
can always tweak it when you get there. At least you
will be closer to what makes you happy. Isn't this
worth the risk?

4. Pretend You Can.

Your subconscious does not know the difference
between pretending to be positive, and being
positive. (And, it does not care!) Pretend, at
least in the beginning, that you can do whatever you
set your mind to. After a while you will find that
you are doing exactly that.

5. Be Afraid And Do It Anyway.

If you wait until the day fear disappears before you
take a chance, you will be waiting for a long time.
Fear never goes away. It only subsides when you move
yourself forward despite not knowing the outcome.
So, basically you are stuck with fear. (At least in
the beginning.) It is up to you whether you will let
it stop you or not.

6. Take The First Step.

All change starts with the first step. And, it does
not have to be a big one. All that matters is that
you are taking a step in a positive direction.

7. Reward Yourself For A Job Well Done.

It is not easy shifting your thoughts, especially
when you have been thinking the same way for a long
time. You should be proud of yourself for trying
something new. Not everyone looks at their life and
puts actions in place so it can be better.
Congratulations for being that person.

So, believe that you can today! You only have one
life to live so it might as well be a life you love.

By : www.streetdirectory.com