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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Walk Away From the World of Being a Broken Human Being


by Guy Finley

Key Lesson: Disagree with the opinion of what others would have you believe is true, and they will secretly resent you; but quietly refuse to argue about anythingwith these same people, and they will openly cry out that you have abandoned them.
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This article is excerpted fromThe Secret of Letting Go(pages 66-68).
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The Source of True Self-Liberation

We have a definite conditioned dependency to think of things as worthwhile only if someone else recognizes their value. This painful kind of thinking not only leaves us trying to please others, but it also discourages us from embarking upon the exciting journey of self-investigation.
In our appearance-oriented thinking, we wrongly believe that unless someone else can see our inner efforts or in some way approve our self-discoveries, our work has been in vain. Nothing could be further from the truth. Inner work rewards the inner you, your True Self. Ever-present but as yet unrealized, your True Self is pleasing to itself and so needs nothing outside of its own elevated state in order to feel successful. This exalted inner condition, which is the source of true self-liberation, already lives within you. It is not something that you need to add to yourself, since it has always belonged to you. This special knowledge teaches us that this greatest of all prizes is a realization and not an acquisition.
"So if you can't give yourself this inner victory, how do you win?"
"You must learn to stop thinking in terms of beginnings and endings, successes and failures, and begin to treat everything in your life as a learning experience instead of a proving one."
"How will this help me to realize my truly successful self?"
"When approaching life in this new way, you will no longer waste your precious energies endlessly battling to prove yourself to yourself and others. Now your energies can be put to much higher use, which will initially enable you to clearly see how you have been stubbornly clinging to self-defeating ideas and beliefs."
"That doesn't sound like something I'm going to be interested in seeing!"
"The highest peaks of great mountains almost always have banks of dark clouds resting just beneath them. You must climb through these clouds in order to conquer the heights. Then the higher view belongs to you."
"I'm afraid I won't be strong enough."
"You don't need to be strong, only willing to see. If you will do your part, which is to reveal you to yourself, your higher nature will provide you with all the strength you need. It is this new strength that allows you to let go of the self-limiting and fear-producing thoughts and feelings which have been darkening your life and holding you down. Having dropped the unnatural heaviness from your spirit, you now naturally begin to rise. The higher you go, the easier flows your new life. Now the only direction you want to go in life is up!"

Stop Letting Your Impatience Push You Around



Key Lesson: Measure the degree of your impatience with people (and unwanted moments) -- that you instantly resist -- and you also know the extent to which you've forgotten who you really are... And the true purpose of (your) life.

Learn to Observe Self-Defeating States

What must we do to change the balance sheet of our lives so that for every measure of impatience and intolerance there may be at least an equivalent sum of compassion and consideration? How do we learn to use our relationships with others to realize a new kind of relationship with ourselves wherein we are able to discover that who we really are is all we need to be?
Our work must be to learn to bear consciously the appearance of self-defeating states within us when they surface. Life provides the field; we just have to be there to watch for the indicators. Like smoke before the fire, learning to observe impatience and intolerance in ourselves and others will ultimately prove rewarding. Watch these states closely. They will show you what sits beneath them.
To begin seeing that negative states such as anger, impatience, worry, and fear have lodged themselves into the hidden corners of your heart is to discover how they have managed to win their spot. Now it is clear. These internal imposters were able to convince you that their embrace is the same as the strength, safety, and love for which you long. They are not. Bring their punishing presence in your heart into the light of your higher awareness -- and your love of this awareness. Do this, and Love itself will not only banish these imposters but also empower you with the presence of a new and perfect fearlessness.
Every day, every moment you can, come wide awake to yourself and see the false friends you have been holding near and dear within your heart. Don't judge... just see. Let the facts speak louder than the protests of what they reveal.

Stop Letting Your Impatience Push You Around



Key Lesson: Measure the degree of your impatience with people (and unwanted moments) -- that you instantly resist -- and you also know the extent to which you've forgotten who you really are... And the true purpose of (your) life.

Learn to Observe Self-Defeating States

What must we do to change the balance sheet of our lives so that for every measure of impatience and intolerance there may be at least an equivalent sum of compassion and consideration? How do we learn to use our relationships with others to realize a new kind of relationship with ourselves wherein we are able to discover that who we really are is all we need to be?
Our work must be to learn to bear consciously the appearance of self-defeating states within us when they surface. Life provides the field; we just have to be there to watch for the indicators. Like smoke before the fire, learning to observe impatience and intolerance in ourselves and others will ultimately prove rewarding. Watch these states closely. They will show you what sits beneath them.
To begin seeing that negative states such as anger, impatience, worry, and fear have lodged themselves into the hidden corners of your heart is to discover how they have managed to win their spot. Now it is clear. These internal imposters were able to convince you that their embrace is the same as the strength, safety, and love for which you long. They are not. Bring their punishing presence in your heart into the light of your higher awareness -- and your love of this awareness. Do this, and Love itself will not only banish these imposters but also empower you with the presence of a new and perfect fearlessness.
Every day, every moment you can, come wide awake to yourself and see the false friends you have been holding near and dear within your heart. Don't judge... just see. Let the facts speak louder than the protests of what they reveal.

Craig's Suggestions!!!

Each day our thousands of readers post their business, time management, and motivation questions for me. It's really cool, because I learn a LOT about the obstacles people have to overcome to succeed.

Check out this recent session...

Q: Hi Craig! How do you personally keep track of all your daily goals and your weekly schedule? do you prefer pen and paper, white boards etc, or do you prefer electronically (eg google calendar). Which methods work best for you with personal productivity?

Answer:

I use a word document. Keep it as simple as possible. Too many people turn planning into procrastination.

Q: Hi Craig. Is it true that you should stick to big markets when building a product/affiliate business (i.e. health, business, dating), or is there room for small niches? I've kind of heard both ways, I guess depending on your goals for your business. Thanks.

Answer:

There's room for everything. If you want to make $10 million a year, obviously you'll need a larger audience, or a small one with a lot of money. If you want to make $100K per year, you probably only need 1000 customers. What you should really focus on is identifying where you can best provide value to the world and the BIG idea that you can use to communicate your message. Once you do that, $100K is simple, and $1Million is possible (within a few years).

Q: I am hoping to move my business to online. What sorts of resources can you suggest for website build and development. I currently have been using E-lance.com. Would you also suggest some school courses in SEO and web design etc, or would you just outsource?

Answer:

Outsource everything. Focus on making sales and get others to do the rest. Elance, Odesk.com, Guru.com, and even some stuff from Fiverr.com will help you get started. We cover a lot of this in Financial Independence Monthly.

Q: What's a good way for creative types (writers) to clear their head between projects, especially when juggling two or three things per day that require a "clean slate" mind to be most productive?

Answer:

Rituals. For example, when its time to finish working on one project and move to another, do a brain dump (write down everything in your head), then take a 5-10 minute break, and come back to your desk as if you were just starting the day again. Perhaps there is something you could read related to the new topic as soon as you sit down.

Q: What is the best way to deal with the issues of perfectionism and procrastination?

Answer:

The only thing that beats procrastination is action. It's really that simple. In order to get something done, you must first get started. That's it. It's painful and dreadful, but there is no easy-button solution. But those are small issues compared to real problems. You can and will overcome those and they will NOT hold you back from success.

Q: I get overwhelmed by everything I wish to accomplish in a day, and then I am angry and discouraged with myself for not being as productive as I should (and can) be. It's really, really frustrating. I am capable of so much more than I am accomplishing right now.

Answer:

Start your day by doing 90 minutes of focused work on the ONE major project that will have the greatest impact on your life. Celebrate that success. Listen, you have to stop trying to do a million things and understand that you just can't go on with that approach. Prioritize and attack your top priorities. Let the minor things slide. Every day try to get better and better at this approach. You MUST move towards prioritization. We all must. We are all running out of time to make an impact. Focus, focus, focus.

Q: I'm looking for perfection with the stuff that I do, and that paralyzes the starting process. Any advice to get over the fact that starting something won't be perfect?

Answer:

NOTHING is perfect. God created the world and look at all the problems down here. You're not going to do better. The sooner you get over it, the better. Sorry if you find this harsh, but you need to let it go. You will never, ever, ever, ever, ever get to where you want to go if you demand perfection. Just get out there and get something done and make it better as you go along.

Hope that helps.

Life Changing Discussions


Think back to a time you had a life-changing discussion. Who was it with? Where was it? How did it make you feel? That's the power of great conversation. Today, Alex Green shows us how to have great conversations and prevent them from becoming a lost art. 


Craig Ballantyne

No matter what the world throws at you today, you are going to handle it awesomely and you are going to emerge from the day a better and stronger person.


The Lost Art of Conversation

By Alex Green

My daughter Hannah has reached the age, 13, where being popular at school is only slightly less important than breathing.

The problem is, like most of us at her age, she is more than a little shy, self-conscious and socially awkward. Despite being an A student, for instance, virtually everything she encounters is "cool" or "awesome" and little more. Her reluctance to express herself better makes it tough to reach out to new friends.

She will outgrow this, I know. But lately I've been trying to tell her something about the lost art of conversation.

For most of human history, face-to-face communication was the core of our interaction. But not today. We text, we email, we blog, we friend each other on social networks. In the new age of electronic media, family and friends converse less than ever. As a result, we miss out on one of life's singular pleasures: a relaxed, civilized exchange of views.

Conversation offers infinite possibilities. It is great for polishing thoughts and generating new ones. It is unbeatable for beating the blues or forging friendships. The ultimate bond of all personal relationships – whether in business, friendship or marriage – is conversation.

Yet two opposing attitudes pull us away from it. The first is the mistaken belief that it is unnecessary. Why bother making the call or the visit when you can fire off an email? Unfortunately, text has difficulty conveying tone – the most important aspect of any communication. As well, think how much is conveyed with a smile, a glance, a wink, an eye roll or an arched eyebrow.

You really can't compare it with smiley face can you?

The opposite attitude is that conversation is too much work. So we don't really try. Look around the typical home today and you see not faces but the backs of heads. As we stare blankly into our electronic screens, the art of personal interaction is dying.

Yet, as I told Hannah, there are good reasons to exercise our conversational skills.

Society provides lavish rewards to those who express themselves well. (Studies show that no single factor better predicts your future income than the size of your vocabulary.) Good talkers routinely ace the interview, get the contract, close the deal, win the girl. Get on with others and you will get on in life – and enjoy it more.

There is a widespread misconception that the best conversationalists are the smoothest talkers. Not so. (Indeed, glib talk generally comes off as phony or insincere.) And few of us will ever display the conversational genius of, say, Oscar Wilde, whose legendary wit enthralled his contemporaries in the salons of London.

Conversation is not meant to be a performance art or a competition, but an opportunity for mutual appreciation. And the best conversationalists are not the best talkers. They are the best listeners.

History's wisest men and women have always known this:

Never speak of yourself to others; make them talk about themselves instead. Therein lies the whole art of pleasing. Everyone knows it and everyone forgets it.

Edmond de Goncourt

The great gift of conversation lies less in displaying it ourselves than in drawing it out in others. He who leaves your company pleased with himself and his own cleverness is perfectly well pleased with you.

Jean de la Bruyere

A gossip is one who talks to you about others; a bore is one who talks to you about himself; and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself.

Lisa Kirk

It is never necessary to try to impress your conversation partner. You can achieve that simply by demonstrating that they are worth the investment of time and attention it takes to find out what they are about.

It only takes a bit of curiosity. The idea is to find out more about the other person's attitudes, interests, nature and disposition. For too many, however, a verbal exchange is not talking and listening but rather talking and waiting to talk again. You don't learn much that way. Or score many points.

Some insist they are poor conversationalists because they are introverted or tongue-tied. In some cases, that may be true. But those who struggle may be trying too hard to say the right thing. Far more important is not succumbing to the temptation to say the wrong thing.

A few years ago, I was invited to a small dinner party at a well-known filmmaker's home in Telluride. The filmmaker, who was a liberal (big surprise), made some innocuous remark about Bill Clinton. A Wall Streeter at the table, who was a conservative (another shocker), made a snarky comment in return. That caused our host to defend his view. This, in turn, drew support or rebuttal from various guests. In an instant, the verbal spitballs were flying. It was over in a few minutes, but by then it was too late. A pall set over the table. What was about to be an ideal dinner party with interesting people and fabulous food in a gorgeous setting became instead a tense, strained affair. The group never recovered thejoie de vivre that had existed only moments before.

Don't get me wrong. Politics or religion can be fascinating subjects when open-minded friends are interested in a forthright exchange of views. (Although, in my experience, even these can be dicey.) But in a social setting? Consider the likelihood that no one cares what you think. Good conversation is about drawing out the other, not delivering a monologue or a position statement.

The truth is we are seldom better than our conversation. What you choose to talk about – and how you choose to say it – lays you bare. Every time you open your mouth, your mind parades alongside your words.

That doesn't mean your conversation needs to be sparkling and original. Nor does it need to have a purpose or a point. Quite the opposite, in fact. The best conversations ramble. They have no pre-destination. It is all about the rhythm and flow.

In sum, good conversation is one of life's most accessible pleasures. It connects us to one another, forges friendships, increases social esteem, raises our mood, generates goodwill, enhances our information and completes our education. And while prices rise and time shrinks, it is a luxury that remains free to us all.

True, conversation won't make you richer, thinner, or save your life. But it may save your marriage. As Charles Dickens said, "Never close your lips to those whom you have opened your heart."

So – as I told Hannah – we should value heartfelt conversation. Prioritize it. And reap the many benefits of a companionable, convivial life. 

Go to Work Immediately



When I discovered that procrastination was such a big obstacle to so many ETR readers, I did not hesitate to get working on an article to help you. The bottom line is that when you spot an opportunity, or when you have the desire to make a change in your life, you must go to work immediately. Don't let anything get in your way.

Craig Ballantyne

"Always have lofty explicit goals and visualize them intensely. Assume the attitude that if you don't reach your goals, you will literally die! This type of gun–to–your–head forced focus...survival pressure mindset, no matter how briefly used, stimulates your mind, forces you to use your time effectively...and illuminates new ways of getting things done. "– Kekich Credo #21


How to Beat Procrastination

By Craig Ballantyne

It was a question we've been receiving almost every day since our Facebook Question-and-Answer sessions debuted.

"What is the best way to deal with the issues of perfectionism and procrastination?", asked Wendy J.

Minutes later, Lukas F. posted, "I'm looking for perfection with the stuff that I do, and that paralyzes the starting process. Any advice to get over the fact that starting something won't be perfect?"

And just one day earlier, Mary K. asked, "How do you maintain focus? I'm a polymath, and it can be a challenge to see things through. I struggle staying focused on a single project."

All of these questions speak to the same ubiquitous obstacle in the way of success for thousands of Early to Rise readers, and millions of people around the world.

How can they beat procrastination?

When I look at all the folks asking me for help on this topic, I can't help but think, "Wow, just think of all the amazing accomplishments that would occur if all these people could just beat the procrastination monster. I have to do something about this."

Today, the problem is a multi-headed dragon more than ever before, a true mythological hydra. From constant social media updates to email addiction to multi-tasking on the multiple work projects you have, procrastination is easier than ever.

Cut off one head and another appears.

There are few proven solutions, but they do exist. It takes a little bit of planning and a lot of knowing your strengths and weaknesses, so that you can leverage what works and minimize what doesn't. But one word of warning, be careful with your planning techniques and keep them simple, because too often I see ETR readers turn planning into its own perverse form of procrastination.

If procrastination is an issue for you, then let's change that starting right now. Don't wait a minute longer in learning how to tame the beast. Let's start by looking at what I do.

The Early to Rise morning Facebook Q'n'A sessions are my favorite part of the workday, but I don't do them until I've gotten one big project done in my day.

Each morning I get up and go directly to writing. I force myself to sit at my kitchen table for 60 minutes, practically glue-ing my butt to my chair in order to crank out valuable content each day.

For example, this message was schedule to be written between 4am and 5am on Thursday, May 10, 2012, while I was in San Diego at a Mastermind Meeting. The article had to be completed before I was able to head over to "Fit Athletic", one of my favorite gyms in the country, for my morning workout.

In order to finish my mission, I forced myself to sit in my chair without the distractions of social media, Internet surfing, or text messages (not that many of my friends are even up at this time anyway – one of the benefits of being early to rise). Sitting in that chair was uncomfortable. I wanted to quit. Heck, I didn't even want to start. But each word typed was a victory. Each sentence a battle won. Each paragraph was a huge step in my conquering the procrastination demon.

There was no other time in my schedule for finishing this project. But because I know when my magic time is, and because I understand the power of the deadline, I knew that I would be able to take action and get this done – almost robotically – during the allotted sixty minutes. This is the benefit of knowing your strengths and leveraging them.

At first, the words struggled to find their proper place on the page, but the only thing that made writing this issue easier was more writing.

That's the big lesson. Action begets action.

It's what you'll find with all activities that you are procrastinating on. Scientific research supports it. The only thing that helps you overcome procrastination is to actually do the thing you are procrastinating about. That's it. You must take action. You may need to do so robotically. It may be unpleasant, but that's why you're procrastinating, isn't it?

Action is the simplest way to avoid procrastination. Get up and throw yourself into the battle. You must know your #1 priority and attack it with great energy.

This, of course, is not a magic silver bullet answer. After all, it's not so much that you don't know what to do, it's that you have a hard time putting the knowledge into practice.

The solutions are simple. We should get up early, work hard, and avoid things that waste time in our lives. Yes, it is easier said than done, but to be honest, reading another time management book is not the answer.

The real answer is that we must force ourselves to do the work. We must avoid the "chattering mind", as Steven Pressfield calls it in his recent book, "Do the Work".

It's really that simple. In order to get something done, you must first get started. In order to complete the project, you must do everything that needs to get done.

It's not rocket science. It's persistence.

How do you end procrastination? Just start. There's no other answer. In fact, that was the scientific conclusion of a 'how to beat procrastination' research study I once read.

Don't let information gathering become your procrastination.

Don't let planning become your procrastination.

Implement more structure into your life and you'll get more done and you'll have more freedom. I promise you.

In the end, the decision to move to action comes from what Dan Kennedy so rightly describes as 'behavioral congruence'. This means that you act in accordance with what you want to accomplish.

For example, if you say that you want to be on time for work every day, but you stay up well past an appropriate bedtime and you don't have your morning routine planned out, and you hit the snooze button five times, none of that is acting in behavioral congruence with your goals.

Frankly, most people just don't think about behavioral congruence. They are reactive, instead of being proactive.

You can start to solve this problem by creating a clear set of personal philosophies that guide your life. 

Continuous Improvement



Everywhere you look there are lessons. Every day you can turn these lessons into continuous improvement in your life. As Robert Ringer says today, "problems can be overcome by taking bold, courageous, individual action". That is the choice we have.

Craig Ballantyne

"The only race you have to win is the race against yourself. There will always be someone faster and stronger but there never be another you, so look within and push your own personal boundaries." – Author Unknown


Turning Losses Into Gains

By Robert Ringer

Sometimes it's difficult to muster up the positive mental attitude to see opportunity in a bad situation. Things get so out of hand that it's easy to become discouraged to the point of feeling despair. Those are the times when your mettle and sinew are really put to the test – sometimes very long tests.

The longest tests usually come in the form of mass oppression. To man's shame, history's list of brutal oppressions is a very long one. From the Jews in ancient Egypt to today's citizen slaves in North Korea, oppression has been an integral part of human history.

But there's also an interesting twist to oppression. In virtually all cases, the oppressed eventually escape or overthrow their oppressors and, quite often, begin life anew on a higher plane than before their oppression began.

How this phenomenon occurs is summed up in the words of English poet Francis Quarles. In his description of the concept of compensation, he opined that "there is no worldly loss without some gain."

Which is to say that every adversity brings with it an equivalent or greater opportunity for success. We see this in a macro fashion in the rise of previously oppressed peoples, such as American and South African blacks.

And, of late, we watch in awe as India continues its incredible rise to the top of the economic ladder. For nearly two centuries (1757-1947), the British had that vast Land of Enchantment by its political and economic throat. And, for the most part, Indians were loyal, well-behaved subjects.

There is no question that the British devoured India's vast wealth and kept its citizenry in check for nearly two hundred years. But, to its credit, when Britain finally threw in its colonial towel in 1947, Indians took over a country with a ready-made, highly educated workforce.

The British also left India with a language that made it easy for them to communicate with the rest of the industrialized world, a democratic form of government that protected both individual liberties and private property, and a reasonably modern infrastructure.

Given its pro-Western lifestyle and the fact that English is now the official language of the country, it would not surprise me if India became the world's number-one economic power in the next fifty years, surpassing both China and the U.S. in the process.

In the above examples, the one big problem is that the opportunities available to later generations do not do their oppressed ancestors any good at all. Since you have only one life to live, it would not have been a good thing if, for example, you had been born in the Soviet Union in 1918, lived there all your life, and died before the communist dictatorship collapsed in the late eighties. It's nice for your descendents to get a start on your shoulders, but it's even nicer if you can get a start on your own shoulders.

In the case of mass enslavements – such as that of the Jews in ancient Egypt, citizens of the old Soviet Union, and American blacks in the pre-Civil War South – an individual could not take much action against his bondage without being tortured or killed. But that's not the case on a micro level, because today any individual in a Western country can still take action on his own, at any time, without anyone's permission. His only constraints are those that he places on himself.

Some people, for example, feel oppressed by their jobs. An acquaintance of mine, well into his sixties, recently told me that even though he became financially secure by working for big corporations all his life, he regretted not having left the corporate world and going out on his own. He lamented that no matter how much money he made, he always felt like a highly paid slave.

It wasn't the first time I had heard such a complaint. But, guess what? Every person who has made that complaint had a choice. Golden handcuffs in the corporate world are not locked. You can always slip them off. All that is required is belief, determination, and action.

And that's true of any other area of life where you feel oppressed – even enslaved. Whatever the source of your bondage – job, peer pressure, unpleasant domestic circumstances, etc. – recognize that it is not a macro problem over which you have no control.

On the contrary, you have the power to escape at any time. The only question is, do you have the courage to utilize that power and transform it into action? You can make all the excuses in the world as to why the time isn't quite right to make your move, but that's all they will be – excuses.

Throughout history, oppressed peoples would have loved to have been in a position to escape their bondage overnight simply by taking individual action. But, sadly, they could not. In most cases, it took small actions by many generations – over a long period of time – to bring about an escape.

Isn't it nice to know that you don't have that problem? In a vacuum, your problems may seem big to you, but, in the overall scheme of things, they are micro in nature. And micro problems can be overcome by taking bold, courageous, individual action. Remember, the only constraints are those that you place on yourself. 

Stay Motivated



We're about to find out that life isn't fair, but we should look on the bright side of things. Keep your head up! It's easy to get down on yourself, but don't let a bad day or mean person get you down. Learn from your mistakes and stay motivated by focusing on your long-term vision.

Craig Ballantyne

The problem with Problems is they get bigger and worse than right now, leading to bigger headaches than if you'd tackled it now. Attack that problem head on. Solve that problem today.


What Do You Mean, Life Isn't Fair?

By Susan Fujii

"What do you mean, 'it's not going to be fair', Mom?" my eldest daughter asked.

That weekend we hosted an Easter egg hunt and champagne brunch for several of our close friends and their children. My eldest Kung Fu Kid was so excited to have her friends come over, and yet she was very caught up with the concept of "fairness"...she wanted to make sure that the hunt was "fair" and that everyone would find the exact same number of eggs.

At all of the local Easter egg hunts here in the Bay Area, the "competitions" are managed so that each child is only allowed to find a certain number of eggs, usually three or five. This makes it "fair" for everyone, and no one leaves disappointed.

Today, kids are often brought up to avoid any exposure to "bad" things like "failure" or "disappointment". At school, if you bring a Valentine, you must bring one for the entire class. If you pass out invitations at school, you need to invite everyone.

While I admire the fact that no one wants to disappoint a child (I don't either--I'm not an evil meanie!), unfortunately this doesn't prepare them very well for real life as an adult.

Because (as we all heard our parents tell us when we were little), life isn't "fair".

And that's the truth.

Believe me, I really wish it were! I wish that everyone could participate in "accredited" investments, and that everyone in the world had enough to eat, all of the time, and that no one was ever disappointed or scared or sick or sad. I truly wish that with all of my heart.

But unfortunately, that's not the way the world works. The world we live in rewards hard work and perseverance, followed by more hard work and more perseverance, followed by (you guessed it...), more hard work and perseverance! And if you really want to stack the deck in your favor, you need to throw in a little planning and strategizing along the way.

That is the path to success, and of course what we all want for our children.

So back to the Easter egg hunt--I hope we taught our daughter an important lesson. After much discussion with her and with the other parents coming, we decided to go with our original plan, the "free-for-all-scrappiest-hunters-get-the-most-bounty" idea.

Because that is how the "real" world works (and it's also a lot more fun).

Our daughter was so nervous before the hunt. She wondered if she would get as many eggs as her friends, wondered if she would find any eggs at all, and worried that the eggs that she did find wouldn't fit in her basket.

But I am happy to report that our egg hunt was a resounding success. And the strategies that we used to help our daughter successfully find a lot of Easter eggs are the exact same strategies that you can use to become a better investor.

1. Cultivate an Abundance Mentality

It is a big, wide, wonderful world out there filled with more than "enough" money and resources for everyone!

(For our Easter egg hunt, we were able to stack this deck in our favor by stuffing and hiding almost 200 plastic eggs--we knewthere were "enough" eggs for every child to find lots.)

Likewise, I feel the same about money and investing. There isplenty of money out there just waiting for you to discover it (heck, we've printed trillions of dollars in the past few years alone).

But seriously, knowing in your heart that this is true and that the world is filled with abundance and value gives you the confidence you need to embark on a quest where you don't necessarily know what the outcome will be, which is every day when investing.

We talked with our daughter before the egg hunt, and with all of the children, and let them know that there were more than enough eggs for everyone (they were all nervous about it as they are so used to everything being "fair" all of the time).

Because of this simple step, instead of complaining and worrying that it wouldn't be "fair", they confidently took off and ran around the yard and every single child's basket was overflowing by the end of the hunt. One little girl even came late and still found enough eggs to fill her basket.

2. You need to strategize to stack the deck in your favor

Before the egg hunt, we sat down with our daughter and asked her what her strategy was going to be for finding the most eggs that she could. At first she didn't have one other than to "run really fast and look really hard" but we tried to get her to elaborate on that and to formulate a better plan.

We asked her if she was going to follow all of her friends and look where they were looking, or if she would strike out on her own and go where she thought the best chance of finding eggs would be. She thought about it for a minute and finally replied, "I'm going on my own".

And sure enough, by following her own path and not just running around behind all of her friends and picking up their scraps, she was able to find a ton of eggs in a very short time-period.

This is rather like investing in "sanitized" investments such as your 401k...you are simply "doing what everyone else is doing" and picking up the scraps of the massive Wall Street financial machine.

Instead, I hope you will formulate your own alternative investing strategies that will yield you higher profits, like buying gold and silver bullion, investing in income-producing real estate, betting on foreign currencies, and many other so-called "alternative" investments that we cover here on Kung Fu Finance.

If you settle for the "average" strategy ("invest in your 401k", "buy and hold stocks and mutual funds for the long-term") you are guaranteed to get average results.

But the more "smart money" strategies you can learn, the more you stack the deck in your favor and the more likely you are to succeed.

Those who succeed in life simply have better strategies than those who struggle.

3. Improve your information

Now, in the investing world there is such a thing as "insider information", which of course is illegal, and that is not what I mean here.

However, it is true that the better your information is, the more likely you are to be successful.

As the adults were drinking champagne (we are all about fun andeducation here at Kung Fu Finance and in our Kung Fu Family...) and hiding the eggs, I noticed many of the children "peeking" out the windows from our porch.

This is a basic human instinct and it's a good one. They were simply trying to improve their access to information so that they could gain an advantage in the egg hunt and be successful.

You should work on improving your information, too, because believe me, everyone else is! Life isn't fair as much as we might wish it to be, and right behind having a great strategy comes having the best information.

Now I don't mean to say at all that I condone "cheating" or "peeking" or somehow illegally getting access to "insider" information (I certainly do not), but it is true that the better your information, the better your chances are of success.

Play by the rules, stay within bounds at all times, but continually work to legally and honestly improve your access to information, and watch your financial prowess soar.

A final word about the playing field...

In general, do you want to play where the deck is stacked against you, or play where you have the advantage?

If you are playing to win, I think you'll agree that you want to play where you have the advantage.

How can you gain an advantage in your investing? Can you go after an asset class where you have more control? Can you learn new and better strategies to give you an edge? What can you do to give yourself an advantage?

I would love to hear the strategies that you are pursuing in the comments that are outside the typical "mainstream" advice.

In closing, life isn't "fair", although we of course would like it to be and try to make it as fair as possible for ourselves and for our children.

Instead, you need to do all that you can legally and honestly do to stack the odds in your favor. That is what I try my best to do here at Kung Fu Finance for you--give you better information, better strategies, and alternative ideas and viewpoints so that you can be the very best investor that you can.

Here's to being a successful, scrappy, winner-take-all investor. Go on out there and stack the deck in your favor. 

Life Mantras


  • Lives based on having are less free than lives based either on doing or being.
  • Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.
  • If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.
  • Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.
  • Compared with what we ought to be, we are half awake.
  • Action may not bring happiness but there is no happiness without action.
  • Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
  • Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
  • Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.

How to Overcome the Energy Obstacle



Look at your body as if it were a race car. Would you put in cheap fuel? Absolutely not. Yet that is what millions of entrepreneurs and businesspeople do every day, even though they have high demands on their mental and physical performance. But poor fuel leads to poor performance and low energy. Today, Isabel De Los Rios fixes your performance problems by showing you how to eat for all day energy.

Craig Ballantyne

Look at the bright side of everyone and everything. For most people, the world has never had it so good. Look on the bright side of your struggles. Stay positive through everything. Change your perspective, change your life.


How to Get Energized
Psst. I want to let you in on a little secret.

The best sources of energy don't come from a can or a shot. They come from your plate.

Now I am not saying that energy drinks don't make you more alert, but many of these drinks contain caffeine, sugar and other ingredients which can over stimulate your body, and if consumed over time, can lead to adrenal burnout (leaving you chronically fatigued).

I recently met a nutrition colleague who knew firsthand the consequences of regularly consuming energy drinks. When she was in college, Elise used to work for a very well-known energy drink company. She and her friends would regularly receive cases of the drink to take home after their shifts. At first, she really liked having constant access to the product; she would drink a couple of cans a day and the energy boost would last throughout most of the day.

After the first two months, those two cans a day turned into four cans and Elise discovered that she didn't function as well without the drink. After realizing her dependence on it, she began to cut down on her consumption and eventually eliminated it altogether. During this time she experienced caffeine withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, anxiety and irritability.

Elise's story is more common than you think; many people in this country regularly consume energy drinks on a daily basis in an attempt to make up for a lack of sleep or a poor diet. I'll admit that the idea that a flashy can filled with liquid will give you energy that lasts for hours is pretty sweet. However, in real life, that energy always comes at a price.

If you want the benefits of an energy boost without the crash, pay close attention to the below statement.

"A proper diet is the key to long lasting energy."

Here's how you can use food to refuel your body and truly deliver all-day energy.

Blast Fatigue with B's

B vitamins fuel your energy levels. It's not so much that B vitamins shock your body with energy, as much as they help to maintain healthy energy levels. B vitamins, B-12 in particular, feed your nervous system and encourage mental clarity and concentration and memory function. B-12 is also involved in red blood cell formation, which is crucial in preventing anemia (the deficiency of red blood cells). Anemia can also cause fatigue and low energy levels and a B-12 deficiency can lead to anemia (or make someone who is anemic worse). B vitamins also boost your mood and help ward off feelings of depression.

Eating a diet rich in B vitamins is key to sustain a steady influx of energy all day long. Foods rich in B vitamins are:

- Avocadoes
- Dairy
- Meats / seafood
- Organ meats
- Eggs
- Caviar
- Green Peas
- Yams
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Turnip Greens
- Bell Peppers
- Spinach
- Peanuts
- Sunflower seeds
- Cashews
- Hazelnuts

I recommend eating at least one serving of B vitamin rich food with each meal for sustained energy that lasts.

Get your Zing with Zinc

Zinc, like B vitamins, is crucial for your energy levels. Zinc is an essential mineral that is needed for a healthy immune system, and supports growth and development. Zinc is also involved in energy production because it helps to make enzymes that we need in order to make energy. Symptoms of zinc deficiency include lethargy and low stamina. And for you guys reading this article, another reason to sneak in more zinc into your diet is that it increases libido. Oysters are very rich in zinc, are also a well-known aphrodisiac.

Foods that contain the most absorbable form of zinc are:

- Shellfish (Particularly Oysters)
- Eggs
- Poultry
- Liver
- Meat
- Yogurt

Foods such as: Shitake mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, pumpkin seeds and green peas are good sources of zinc, but the zinc in these foods are not as well-absorbed as those listed above.

Anti-oxidant C

Vitamins C is not known for energy boosts. This antioxidant generally doesn't improve energy levels independently, but works in conjunction with other nutrients to encourage healthy energy levels. For example, I briefly discussed how a deficiency in B vitamins can cause or add to an existing anemia. Anemia occurs when there are a lower than normal number of red blood cells. Red blood cells are responsible for bringing oxygen to your body's tissues. Iron is needed to create healthy red blood cells; without sufficient iron levels, a person will develop iron deficiency anemia and can develop constant fatigue and low energy. Vitamin C increases the absorption of vegetarian forms of iron (non-heme) found in foods such as, eggs and spinach, so that your body gets the iron it needs and so your energy levels stay high.

If you're anemic, be sure to eat foods rich in heme iron (meats, seafood organ meats) and non-heme iron and remember to always include a little Vitamin C.

Foods rich in vitamin C include:

- Strawberries
- Citrus fruits
- Bell Peppers
- Kiwi
- Guavas
- Papayas
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Brussels Sprouts
- Red and Green Hot Chili Peppers
- Kale
- Mustard Greens
- Thyme
- Parsley

Green Tea - Grab the Green 

Green tea consumption has exploded in recent years. One of the reasons for its popularity is its antioxidant levels, which have anti-cancer properties. Green tea also has B vitamins, which help to maintain normal energy levels and aid in how your body metabolizes carbohydrates. Although green tea contains caffeine (on average 15-50 mg per 8 oz. cup), it's still lower than an 8oz cup of coffee, which can contain anywhere from 90-120mg. If you want to further minimize stimulant intake, consider purchasing a green tea with lower levels of caffeine, such as Japanese Bancha or decaffeinated green tea. Also buy loose green tea, loose green tea contains less caffeine than tea in a tea bag.

The next time you feel your energy levels dropping, instead of reaching for a cold energy drink, fill your plate with the energy boosting foods I've mentioned, you won't be disappoin

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

When a Friend is Not a Friend


by Michael Webb



Friends. We all love to have them. Some of our friendships began
when we were in grade school. Others are as new as last week.
Friends add vibrancy to the fabric that we call life.

It is wonderful to maintain friendships but it is also wise to let
some fade away. Some friends are unhealthy influences from the
start. Others can become that way as one or both of you change your
values for living.

While good friends can bring much joy and aid to your marriage, bad
friends can possibly destroy it. How do you know if your
friendships are unhealthy? Here are some clues.

# A friendship needs to end if that friend doesn't get along with
your best friend (your spouse).

# You know you have an unhealthy friendship if they entice you to
do things you feel you shouldn't be doing. That could be going to
bars, smoking, swearing, being unethical at work or spending too
much money on unnecessary items.

# A bad friend constantly puts down other people and their
negativity gets you to be super critical too.

# A bad friend encourages you to seek revenge or "make your spouse
pay" if they hurt you in some way. They tell you to only care about
yourself.

# A friendship is unhealthy if a friend doesn't respect your
spiritual values and beliefs.

# A friend is no friend if they don't give back to the
relationship. If you want to improve your marriage, you probably
should fade away from friends who are financially, physically and
mentally draining

Sunday, May 27, 2012

You Are Not Your Ego



“Nothing is random,” Psychic Glenna ext. 5418 told me at the beginning of our interview. “We may not like it, but it’s certainly not random. Where we have control is how we perceive it.” That truth rang through me as I looked back at the situations I recently faced, and I was exhausted from dealing with everything. Not only that, but I felt at a crossroads in my career. Where was I to go to next? What she said next just about knocked me off my feet:
“We get in our own way.”
Here I thought I was working hard and being diligent on so many projects, but I thinkGlenna was right. I wasn’t finishing anything and, in some cases, getting nowhere on my dreams. I was getting in my own way. I was wrapped up in the little details so much I couldn’t see the bigger picture. I thought the little details were so important. Glenna has this uncanny ability to see all these challenges and then shift to the bigger picture. It’s like seeing where the road is actually taking you and why you’re on that path. She can even see when you’re headed down the wrong road.
In reality, I allowed my ego to take over and blinded myself along the way.
“When the ego gets involved, then fear creeps in and we start thinking, ‘What if…’ I help people to stay more focused on their inspiration and how we get in our way,” Glenna explained. Again, she was right. I was afraid to achieve my dream. I was afraid of success. I was afraid of taking the risk. I know achieving my dream would make me happy. I would feel successful and thrilled that I achieved it. And yet, I was unhappy, unsuccessful and I had not achieved my dream.
When you realize you’ve lost your connection to your inspiration or can’t see the big picture, that’s when the ego has taken over. Glenna recommends using a visualization to regain your focus. “See angels around you taking your inspiration and running with it. It’s now in angelic hands. There’s nothing else to be done. It’s being guided, inspired and you’ll look at it differently. You can trust it, because it’s stripped from the ego.” By doing this, you’ve detached yourself from it. You’re not letting it go, but shifting your perception. By doing so, you’re opening up space to step in a different direction.
“When you’re at a crossroads or putting your energy in the wrong direction, you have to be more structured within yourself and within your own schedule,” Glenna went on to say. “Create a cutoff date and slice time off at the end of the day to recharge. You’ll find when you consciously make the room to call what you want into your life, even if it’s a small amount of time, you’ll tip the energy scales to have things move in your direction.”

What Do the Numbers Have in Store for You?


Basic numerology is often the first step in learning for astrologers, Kabbalists andTarot readers. This first step is easily available to you, and a fun way to notice your monthly patterns.
Finding your birth number is simply taking all the numbers of the date of your birth and adding them together. You then add those numbers together until you reach a number of 1-9. Example: 2-14-1988 is 2+1+4+1+9+8+8 = 24 (2 + 4) = 6, and you have the beauty and form of the service number “6.”
The “Destiny and Heart’s Desire” method is simply using the full birth name as it appears on your birth certificate, applying a numeric assignment to each letter and adding the same way. Destiny is the full name. The Heart’s Desire is vowels only.
The numerical value of the letters is:
1 A J S
2 B K T
3 C L U
4 D M V
5 E N W
6 F O X
7 G P Y
8 H Q Z
9 I R
It’s that easy! So now that you’ve calculated your birth, destiny and heart’s desire numbers, you can find the dates that resonate with yours.
For those of you who have a strong “1” vibration, your action days are April 1, 10, 19 and 28. April 1 is as much of an action day as you could want, and the energy will be high for everyone, especially you! The 10th will bring out your passions and healing. On the 19th, your new project’s birth is right on the horizon and on the 28th you’ll be taking joy in this “birth.”
For you “2s,” April 2, 11, 20, and 29 are your focus days. With a strong 2 vibration, you’re all about relationships and balance, and earn the wisdom of understanding both. Your 2 days will bring this to a head with an intuitive feeling early in the month and a relationship “rebirth” on the 29th.
People with a powerful “3” love harmony and an easy flow of words in their lives. Your days this month are April 3, 12, 21 and 30. On the 3rd, you will be bringing people’s varied ideas together with a new sense of freedom arising. Your focus will be intense on the 21st with a fresh new view that will fill your heart on the 30th.
Your “4” energy makes you the foundation of your relationships – a safe “home” to come to for family and friends. Your days are April 4, 13 and 22. The 4th brings a forward-looking view, with the 13th also bringing a new sense of forward motion to all of your projects. By the 22nd, too much of a good thing should prove to be wonderful.
You god/goddess “5s” can’t help but be center stage with all energies attracted to you. Your days are April 5, 14 and 23. Your self-expression will be soaring on both the 5th and the 14th and you will be totally “plugged-in” and energized on the 23rd. Trust your intuition on this day.
The energy that brings love and beauty into form is “6.” Your days are April 6, 15 and 24. The 6th will be a magical day when people will be enjoying the great gift that you are in their lives. Take measure of your relationships on the 15th and you will see the blessings there. The 24th will flow with riches. If it rains, it will water your plants, not ruin your day.
Many “7s” may have already learned that you have the spiritual number of the seeker of the path. You delight in knowing more and more about yourself and life. Your days are April 7, 16 and 25. The 7th will be a special day of contemplation resolving a dilemma. The 16th will be productive regarding all of your dreams and the 25th will find you taking action on that dilemma of the past.
The Chinese hold reverence for the “uber-powerful” #8, and if this is your number, you are constantly amazed by your own strength and resolve. Your dates are April 8, 17 and 26. The 8th will bring a sense of your power while the 17th allows a brilliance to this force. The 26th brings a “dance” between your inner and outer self producing fine results.
Those of you with “9” vibrations are all about wholeness and completion. You are the teacher who shares your knowledge and wisdom. Your dates are April 9, 18 and 25. The 9th finds you at a crossroads in your life that, once you’ve made a choice will bring you to a new place in life. The 18th will be so inspired that you find a new direction and a forceful move forward by the 25th.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Get Started Early



I was lucky. Early in my teenage years I knew what I wanted my life to look like, and I went about designing it from that day. If you didn't get started early on lifestyle design, the best you can do is start now. Today, Jason Leister shows you how.

Craig Ballantyne

You can't change your genetics, but you can change your attitude, your persistence, your environment, the people you listen to and hang around with, and the things you do. You can change, so if you want to, just get started.

Lifestyle Design With Six Kids


By Jason Leister

When I first read Tim Ferriss' book, The 4-Hour Workweek, I was pretty sucked in. Who wouldn't want to work for only 4 hours a week?

As it turns out, I wouldn't.

I derive a lot of meaning and pleasure from working hard. For me, creating something and sharing it with others makes me feel good. It is what I like to do.

But that's just me. And that's the point.

Designing your life means designing your life. Comments, questions and criticisms from others, while helpful, are largely irrelevant. The only thing that matters is how you want your life to go.

First, Step Inside Your Own Faraday Cage

In 1836, an English scientist, Michael Faraday, designed a unique device able to shield its contents from electromagnetic radiation. The device was aptly named, a Faraday Cage. Objects inside the cage were effectively cut-off from outside energetic interference, which proved very helpful in certain experiments.

If designing your life is an important priority for you, then the first step is to make sure that your goals, priorities and ideals for that life are in fact yours.

I started out life playing defense. That means I spent most of my time living up to other's expectations of me.

Living like that doesn't leave a lot of room for "lifestyle design" because frankly, you outsource that function to someone else... to everyone else actually.

Given my history, one of my (many) weaknesses is that I sometimes fall back into "dealing with what life dishes me" instead of actively creating my future.

This is irresponsible.

I know that sounds weak, but it's the truth. I reveal things like this in public forums because it provides instant accountability for me. By telling a few hundred thousand people, I'm inspired to become a better version of myself.

Weird, but it works for me.

If you're going to go to the trouble of designing your life the way you want it, then make sure you are clear about what you actually want.

This means cutting yourself off from the influence of what others might think about your decisions.

You have squash your need to "keep up with the Joneses" or anyone else, for that matter.

Why?

Well, the biggest reason is that there's a good chance...

The Joneses Are Idiots

The average person just isn't interested in living life at the level of excellence you probably are. So to look to them for anything (except for a good reminder of what not to do) is not helpful.

And so we go in search of people who do exhibit various levels of mastery in their lives. And that's when things can get even worse.

It's easy to look around at the lives of others and just accept that what they want for their life has anything to do with what you should want for yours.

It's easy to be enamored by someone's dedication to an ideal and think that you should exhibit that kind of dedication.

It's easy to be impressed by the material wealth of someone and think you should have that too.

This is living life from the outside in, if you ask me. And I think that is a mistake.

How to Stand as a Giant Among Men

I'm of the firm belief that the only really responsible way to live life is to have the guts to live it exactly as you want.

Don't want to make a million dollars? That's your choice.

Don't want to work 80 hours a week to be "successful?" Again, it's up to you.

Want to wake up and spend 6 hours a day playing with your children while they're young enough to still want to be seen with you? Go ahead.

To the average person, living your life with such blatant "disregard" for others might be interpreted as an extreme example of selfishness.

But to the average person, talking about the weather and what they had for dinner last night is interesting.

To me, having the guts and the clarity to live life as you see fit makes you a giant among men... or among women as the case may be.

The point is that your unique value as a human being deserves a unique expression in the world. And to do that, you need to live with a blatant disregard for the thoughts and opinions of others if you're going to be a good steward of your gifts.

Are There Limits to This Lifestyle Design Thing?

As I sit here writing this, my five children (with a sixth expected any day) are milling around my house. One just woke up, another is pushing a stroller, and still another is outside watching the guy pulling weeds on our property.

This is how I want to live my life. I sit here and think, write and sell things. As the years go by, my vision for exactly how that's supposed to look for me improves. My clarity improves. My focus improves too.

On certain days, the fact that some people think I'm nuts gets to me. But on my best days, I simply don't care.

The hardest thing about "lifestyle design" isn't actually the doing of it. It's the pre-work that comes before the doing that can be challenging.

To get the right design for you, you have to be honest with yourself and respect yourself. What you want is valid. Period.

Understand that your decisions are your decisions.

Understand that your path is your path.

And know that your purpose is to spend your days walking that path as you see fit, no matter where it takes you.

That, to me, is a life well lived.