Think And Grow Rich - Free e-Book Now Available

Once in a while, a book comes along that has the power to change lives–millions of them–for the better. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, is one of those books.

Hidden within its pages, visible for those who are ready to see, is the wisdom of the ages. Wisdom so profound that it is often passed over for more complicated reasoning and conjecture. The wisdom that is in Think and Grow Rich will, if you learn and embrace it, guide you to riches and wealth well beyond what you can imagine today.

Distilled from a 16-volume work that was the culmination of 25 years of research into the success secrets of the worlds wealthiest and most successful men, Think and Grow Rich has helped more people build wealth than probably any other published work. Hill studied men such as Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, the Rockefellers, and dozens of others, to find and quantify just what qualities these men possessed and used to become wealthy.

Download your free copy here.

Albert Einstein - The World As I See It

“How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people — first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving…

“I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves — this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts — possessions, outward success, luxury — have always seemed to me contemptible.

“My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a ‘lone traveler’ and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude…”

---

“My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the few ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware that for any organization to reach its goals, one man must do the thinking and directing and generally bear the responsibility. But the led must not be coerced, they must be able to choose their leader. In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality… The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery — even if mixed with fear — that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man… I am satisfied with the mystery of life’s eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence — as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.”

The essay was originally published in “Forum and Century,” vol. 84, pp. 193-194, the thirteenth in the Forum series, Living Philosophies. It is also included in Living Philosophies (pp. 3-7) New York: Simon Schuster, 1931. For a more recent source, you can also find a copy of it in A. Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, based on Mein Weltbild, edited by Carl Seelig, New York: Bonzana Books, 1954 (pp. 8-11).

Being In The Flow (Video)

“If you follow only one link from this blog in your life, let it be [this one],” wrote Freakonomics author Steven Levitt, pointing his readers toward this performance by pianist and composer Jennifer Lin.

Lin demonstrates the process of composition and the state of flow, when she can improvise beautiful music instantly — a state of mind that cannot be forced.

Having prepared a deck of index cards by writing a single musical note on each, she asked for a volunteer from the audience to select five at random. Her volunteer – actress Goldie Hawn – complied, and Lin sat down to improvise a theme based on the notes.

What happened is perhaps best described by someone who was there. Red Herring weblogger James Daley wrote: “Biologists may write books about the complex neurological, chemical and electrical functions that occur in order for certain stimuli to produce complex human emotions,” he wrote. “All I know is that as Jennifer continued to play the hairs on my arm stood on end. A buzz crackled through the audience as the beauty of her composition unfolded. Several people nearby had eyes that were moist with tears.”

Being In The Flow. What does that mean? Being in the flow is a high level of concentration and focus on a limited field of attention where there is a loss of that feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness are one. We can all do this regardless of our careers… here, pianist Jennifer Lin wonderfully demonstrates the process.

The Secret Behind “The Secret” - A Review

In my humble opinion, Esther Hicks / Abraham is the preeminent voice in helping others understand our interaction with the universe. Jerry and Esther Hicks have recently released a 2-DVD set that helps set the record straight on ‘The Secret.’

As Abraham states… “To call the Law of Attraction a secret is compatible to calling gravity a secret, as if you could keep it’s obvious results from being noticed.”

“The secret they continue to hide, because of they’re fear of the response from the general public, is that non-physical voices have once again, in your time, revealed with precise detail, your reason for being, your relationship with all that is - and the power of your own connection with Source.”

“By editing out the heart and basis of this message, they have omitted any means of your understanding the affect of the Law of Attraction in your life. Without an understanding of the relationship between you and the Source within you, you are without guidance.”

“And so, the world that surrounds you often seems secretive and ridden with problems beyond your control. We smile in our awareness that the movie called ‘The Secret’ is still not revealing the secret.”

These are the words of Abraham as spoken by Esther Hicks. By way of introduction, and for those ready to hear the collective consciousness of Abraham, the new 2 DVD set is an absolute masterpiece.

This is leading edge material that not everyone will have an open mind to accept. And the message is… that is ok. There are many individuals that are not ready to entertain the message or the messenger, or for that matter, accept it as plausible. But for those that are… it’s a wonderful exploration into how the universe works.

‘The Secret Behind The Secret’ is a much deeper and thoughtful presentation of how we interact with the universe than ‘The Secret’. It touches on many different levels brought forward through the interviewer - Peter Beamish. The question and answer format explores many of the same concerns we all have about life and death and the “why” of events that happen in between.

It was interesting to hear Jerry Hicks discuss the beginnings of his search for the answers to life’s larger questions. How he found Napolean Hills book - “Think and Grow Rich” and how it would never have been published in it’s original form had it not been edited in such a way for the public to accept the concepts. (Turns out, the word “vibration” was edited out numerous times)

There are three episodes of about 50 minutes each. The first episode is an interview with Jerry and Esther detailing the beginning of they’re journey. It follows somewhat closely with some of they’re previous books, but it comes to life when viewed first person.

The second and third episodes are the question and answer sessions with Abraham. The interviewer’s questions are wonderfully answered by Abraham. These episodes are obviously the most compelling and moving parts of the film. For example, when pressed for proof of Abraham’s existence, Abraham responds, “we are not so much interested in that you believe in our existence, as we are interested in that you come to adore your own.”

If you’ve never listened or read the Abraham material and are open to the concepts of an intellectual intelligence, then I would highly recommend you get the DVD set. ‘The Secret Behind The Secret‘ will take your awareness to a new high and transform your life to levels you previously thought impossible.

Written by: Robert Hunt

The Secret Behind The Secret
Amazon.com

10 Traits Of The Greats

So you want to be a creative genius… If you really want to become a creative genius, my first advice for you is: surround yourself with creative geniuses for a few years. Work with them, play with them and take great notes. If you’re short on time and Spielberg refuses to return your calls, take my second advice: Read this column.

During the last 20 years, I’ve had the good fortune to work closely with dozens of brilliant and successful creative people. I’ve also studied the lives and works of many early creative geniuses — pioneers of the arts, science, exploration and business.

I can’t read enough about people like Edison, da Vinci, Hawking, Jobs and Mozart. In studying these innovators, in person and on the page, I’m constantly looking for the traits, attitudes and actions that set them apart from their contemporaries.

I am a prospector panning for creative gold. This is no fool’s gold; this is genius gold — creative currency. I’m far from done with my quest, but here’s a glimpse at some of the nuggets I’ve uncovered so far. Keep in mind that this is a living list that will evolve as I continue to read, listen and learn.

Call it a starter set. I call it the Traits of the Great Creatives.

1. Optimism. They believe most things are possible.

“The thing always happens that you really believe in;
and the belief in a thing makes it happen.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright

Every great creative mind I’ve ever encountered has been optimistic. I don’t mean that they were starry-eyed and Pollyanna. They all approach their challenges believing that a brilliant solution can and will be found; a breakthrough discovery will be made.

This optimism includes confidence in their abilities. Joe Rodhi, the Imagineer responsible for designing Disney’s Animal Kingdom, once told me that optimism was a key ingredient of the creative ego: “We first have to believe that it can be done. Then we have to believe that we are the ones who have the power to do it. If we don’t believe those two things, the battle is lost before we start.”

2. Persistence. They never give up.

“Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to strong resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.”
— Leonardo da Vinci

Throughout history, great creatives have shown that persistence is a personality trait that can move mountains. Two good examples revolve around light and flight.

Thomas Edison spent 52 years perfecting the incandescent light bulb. In the process, he extended the life of the average light bulb from 40 hours to 1,500 hours. That progress took persistence and stamina. If he had given up after 50 years, you might be reading this magazine by candlelight.

Da Vinci executed the designs on dozens of flying machines because he desperately wanted to fly. As each design failed to get off the ground, he’d immediately begin working on the next concept. He continued to pursue flight until his death in 1519. Although he never achieved flight during his lifetime, da Vinci’s ideas have contributed to the development of several working flying machines, including the modern helicopter.

3. Imagination. They see all of the possibilities.

Teacher: What are you drawing, Amy?
Amy (age 5): God.
Teacher: But Amy, nobody knows what God looks like.
Amy: They will when I’m done.

So many of the great minds I’ve worked with and so many famous creators throughout history refer to the power of the imagination with great reverence and respect. And no imagination gets more
respect than that of a child. I’ve heard so many gifted people refer to the minds of kids with a sense of awe and wonder.

Some creative geniuses, like Picasso, considered the child’s imagination to be an absolute benchmark of creativity. Imagination is the talent that allows us to see our ideas before they are realized. It’s an ever-changing set of mental blue prints and emerging concepts. For the creative genius, the imagination is a mental gymnasium where they can work out their ideas.

Einstein bolstered many people’s perception of the value of imagination when he said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

4. Passion. They love what they do.

“Neither a lofty degree of intelligence, nor imagination, nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.”
— Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

There is no creative genius without passion. It’s a driving force and the buoy that keeps creators afloat through failure and adversity. It’s what keeps them awake at night.

Passion is both a driver for the creator and an irresistible force which attracts people to follow and support their creative efforts. It’s an essential trait of the greats and it is also one of the sources
of their often abundant supplies of energy.

Annie Leibovitz talks of loving the people she photographs. Einstein spoke of his love of mankind and Shakespeare wrote sonnets to express his passions.

5. Energy. They keep going and going and going…

“My mind is always going a thousand miles an hour. My body feels a need to try to keep up.”
— Jonathan Bailey

Another trait that seems to connect the vast majority of successful creative people is high energy. It’s rare to find a lethargic creative genius. I’ve yet to meet one. This may explain some of the extraordinary productivity that so often accompanies creative genius.

I once commented on the endless physical energy of Jonathan Bailey, a brilliant young architect whose structures are changing the face of the planet. He’s not alone. Edison was renowned for his energy often working 18 hours a day, surviving on catnaps and four to five hours of sleep per night.

An over-the-top example of pure creative energy is the frenetic force of Robin Williams. Thankfully, not all great creative thinkers bounce off the walls like Williams, but his energy is a reflection of his mind — in speed, versatility and endurance. It’s an enviable gift.

6. Curiosity and Learning. They want to know more.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
— Walt Disney

The brightest minds I have ever known have also been the most curious minds. Creative minds are often insatiable, hungrily consuming information related to their passions. I have never met a creative genius who was not actively in the process of learning something new.

The greats are lifelong learners. At the height of his success as a sculptor and a painter, Michelangelo told his patrons “I am still learning.” It’s both humbling and inspirational in the same breath.

7. Focus.They choose a target and get lost in their work.

While I was working on a project for the Kennedy Space Center, Story Musgrave, a 30-year NASA veteran and astronaut on six space shuttle flights, told me that a rocket was really nothing
more than a controlled explosion. He said the difference between a rocket and a bomb is that the rocket focuses its explosion in one direction.

I know several creative people who have learned to harness the explosive power of their minds in a similar way. They have an ability to aim all of their high-powered brain cells toward a specific challenge at a specific time and the result is “Lift Off!”

When we think of creativity, we tend to think of free flowing ideas, originality and divergent thinking. We don’t typically think of focus. Yet focus is clearly a cornerstone of creative genius. Many of the greatest minds I’ve encountered have the ability to control their focus like a mental zoom lens, making the shift from big picture to infinitesimal detail with ease.

8. Courage. They reach beyond the boundaries of fear.

“I’m not funny. What I am is brave.”
— Lucille Ball

Great creatives are courageous spirits. They put their reputations and successes on the line everyday in pursuit of the next great idea. They are known for breaking the rules, ignoring conventional wisdom and forging into uncharted territory.

The path to creative genius is paved with insecurities, misunderstanding, rejection, ridicule, and in some cases, outright hostility.

Consider the fate of Galileo who was deemed a heretic long before history reclassified him as a scientific genius. Most of us are only risking our careers and reputations when we leap out of the box. People like Galileo were risking their lives.

The basic rule stands true in creativity as it does in the real world: No guts, no glory.

9. Communication. They teach the value of their ideas.

I remember struggling to communicate an idea to my dad when I was 10 and failing miserably. He told me then, “It doesn’t matter how great your ideas are. If you can’t effectively communicate
their value to the people, who will benefit?” Dad’s not a creative genius, but he introduced me to one of the more valuable tools of the trade: communication.

Da Vinci’s hundreds of schematic drawings are legendary because they so effectively communicate both the value (why) and the mechanics (how) of his ideas. There are enthusiasts today who entertain themselves by building da Vinci’s machines using his original drawings as blueprints.

For a more contemporary example of brilliance, watch Steve Jobs on stage at the next Apple product launch. He uses the full power of his mystique, his environment, and his technology to show people how Apple’s latest innovations will change the world.

10. Bias for Action. They don’t just think, they do.

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
— Walt Disney

Most of the great people throughout history have been people of action. Great creatives are no different. In fact, all acts of creation require action. This is another reason that creative geniuses tend
to be very prolific during their lifetimes. Most share a compulsion to create.

Picasso didn’t just sit in the Paris cafés thinking about painting; he painted — sometimes all day and night. “Sometimes I don’t want to paint.” Picasso would tell his friends “Sometimes I must
to paint.”

Jobs and Steve Wozinak physically built the first Apple computer in that legendary garage because having the great idea wasn’t enough. They had to do something with it. Action is not an option for the creative genius. It’s a vital part of the formula.

There is no one formula for creative genius, but these 10 traits represent some of the most important ingredients. Keep stretching, keep searching, and until next time, stay inspired!

Written by Bob Kodzis
Reprinted from Create Magazine

Your Age In Days

I thought this was interesting and wanted to pass it along. Peter Russell has a site that will calculate the number of days you’ve lived… a much different perspective than counting by years. According to Peter… “The day is the natural cycle of our lives. The cycle of light and dark, wakefulness and sleep, has more significance than the cycle of the seasons. Indeed, in equatorial latitudes, you hardly notice the passing of the seasons. The day is what counts.” There are some great articles on consciousness as well….

… check it out!

The Lazy Man’s Guide To Enlightenment

Thaddeus Golas originally published his ideas on human consciousness in 1972. This timeless underground classic has taught millions how to improve the quality of they’re life, how to feel better about themselves, and to determine, for each of us, what is real. The Lazy Man’s Guide To Enlightenment is full of useful tips on how to live a more fulfilling, conscious life.

An excerpt from “The Lazy Man’s Guide To Enlightenment”:

“I am a lazy man. Laziness keeps me from believing that enlightenment demands effort, discipline, strict diet, non-smoking, and other evidences of virtue. There is a paradise in and around you right now, and to be there you don’t even have to make a move.”

“All potential experiences are within you already. You can open up to them at any time. There is an odd chance that this is what someone needs to read in order to feel better about himself. If you are a kind person and want to know what to expect when enlightenment strikes and why it comes to you, this is for you.” “It’s all right to have a good time. That’s one of the most important messages from enlightenment.”

I’ve added a download link here.

22 Ways To Kick That Afternoon Office Rut

If you’re like many people, shortly after lunch, your head begins buzzing, your concentration plummets, your eyes droop, and the top of your desk begins to look as cozy as a feather mattress.

No one knows exactly why some people get the midday dips, but there are many plausible theories: the morning surge of hormones has petered out; you’ve used up a goodly part of your stored energy from last night’s sleep; and perhaps most obviously, some degree of “brain tedium,” i.e., boredom, has set in. The afternoon doldrums also may have something to do with what you ate for lunch. Not only does the midday meal divert blood from your brain to your gut, but, depending on what you ate, also bumps up levels of the soporific serotonin hormone.

While the midday doldrums are common, they’re not inevitable. In fact, if your current daytime program includes such a post-lunch torpor, it’s time to write a new program with the tips in this article.

BEFORE LUNCH

1. Head outside and sit in the daylight for 10 minutes. Better still, have your lunch outside, and divide your break between eating and a walk. Here’s why: Your office probably has about 500 luxes of light, which is equal to about 500 candles. That compares with 10,000 luxes at sunrise and 100,000 at noon on a July day. So when the afternoon doldrums hit, go outside and sit in the sunlight. It will help reset your chronological clock, kick down the amount of melatonin (the sleep hormone) your body produces during this circadian dip, and give you a valuable boost of beneficial vitamin D, reducing your risk of osteoporosis as well as various cancers.

2.Take a brief midmorning break for tea, coffee, and/or a snack. Use this time to relax and refocus, but more important, to consume a few calories that you might otherwise eat at lunchtime. Shrink lunch accordingly, which in turn will allow for a smaller, less stupefying midday meal.

3. Snack all day long. Simply snack on nutritious foods whenever you get hungry, rather than eating lunch per se. Then use your lunch break for some kind of exercise, whether it’s in the company gym, walking around the campus, or running up and down the stairs.

DURING LUNCH

4. Choose activating protein vs. energy-sapping carbs. So a tuna salad without the bread is a better choice than a tuna sandwich. A green salad sprinkled with low-fat cheese, a hard-boiled egg, and some sliced turkey wins over a pasta salad. The change can really make a difference. When researchers compared men who ate a 1,000-calorie lunch with those who ate a 300-calorie lunch or skipped the meal altogether, they found that when given a chance to nap after lunch, nearly all the participants did so. But while the lunch-eaters slept an average of 90 minutes, those who skipped lunch slept for only 30 minutes. These were also high-carbohydrate lunches (carbs stimulate serotonin release, which increases sleepiness), which may have contributed to the napping. We’re not suggesting you skip lunch altogether, but the combination of eating less and eating fewer carbs should lead to less sleepiness.

AFTER LUNCH - Part I

5. Enjoy teatime. The British have it right. Every day around midafternoon they have tea, getting over the doldrums with that little bit of a caffeine burst and a few quiet minutes. Now, while we’re not suggesting scones and clotted cream, we do think you can do better than a Lipton’s tea bag plunked in your unwashed coffee mug. Keep a selection of exotic flavored teas (preferably caffeinated) in your office and an aesthetically pleasing cup just for tea. When the doldrums hit, brew yourself a cup of tea and sit somewhere quiet (not your office) to sip and reflect. The meditative time will soothe your frenzied brain, while the caffeine will give you just enough of a kick start to get through the rest of your day.

6. Make an “I was thinking of you” phone call. To your wife, your kid, your siblings, your parents, a friend, a retired coworker. A five-minute keep-in-touch call will lift your spirits for hours and reinvigorate you to get your work done so you can go home a little early.

7. Clean your desk off and clean out your e-mail in-box. Both are relatively mindless tasks that don’t require great gobs of concentration or clear thinking, and both will leave you feeling more energized because you’ll have accomplished something visible as well as reduced energy-sapping clutter.

8. Defer the work you most want to do to the time of day when you least want to work. Get through the grunt work in the early a.m. so it’s behind you, then stave off the midday doldrums by turning to the work you care most about or enjoy the most. Nothing stifles sleepiness like genuine enthusiasm.

9. Have an afternoon snack designed to get the blood flowing. That would not be a candy bar. The high glycemic index (i.e., jolts your blood sugar up) in the candy bar might give you a temporary boost, but once that jolt of sugar is gone, you’ll sink faster than the stock market after an interest-rate hike. Instead, you want a snack that combines protein, fiber, and complex carbs (like whole grain crackers or raw veggies) to steadily raise your blood sugar levels and keep them up. Snacks like:

* Low-fat milk and high-fiber cereal. Milk provides the protein as well as valuable fluid (tiredness is an early sign of dehydration), while the high-fiber cereal will curtail any sudden blood sugar rushes.

* Peanut butter spread on whole wheat crackers. Again, good source of protein in peanut butter, a bit of fat for staying power (healthy fat, as well), coupled with the fiber and complex carbs in the whole grain crackers.

* Cut-up vegetables dipped into hummus. These days, you can buy both these ingredients at any food store. Eaten together, you get the high fiber, antioxidants, and valuable vitamins of the vegetables, coupled with the fiber and protein of the hummus.

* Low-sodium tomato or vegetable juice with soy nuts or peanuts. The nuts provide a healthy dose of protein and monounsaturated fat, while the tomato juice provides not only the lycopene and other phytonutrients found in tomatoes, but energy-sustaining liquid as well.

* A piece of string cheese and an apple. Portable, easy, and a great pair. The cheese, with its fat and protein, cushions the fruit sugars from the apple, while the apple provides you with one of those all-important fruit servings for the day, along with a healthy dollop of antioxidants and fiber (make sure you eat the skin).

10. Go for a 10-minute walk and resist that candy bar. When researchers at California State University in Long Beach compared study participants who ate a candy bar or who walked briskly for 10 minutes, they found the candy bar subjects felt tenser in the hour afterward, while those who walked not only had higher energy levels for one to two hours afterward, but reduced their tension.

11. Drink a cup of caffeinated coffee or tea. The caffeine will perk you up; studies also find it will enhance your memory and make you more productive on tasks requiring concentration.

AFTER LUNCH - Part II

12. Put a drop of peppermint oil in your hand and briskly rub your hands together, then rub them over your face (avoid your eyes). Peppermint is a known energy-enhancing scent.

13. Roll your shoulders forward, then backward, timing each roll with a deep breath in and out. Repeat for 2 minutes.

14. Put on some high-energy music and dance for five minutes. If you have an office, great. Just close the door. If not, bring a Walkman, head to the bathroom or an unused conference room, and let ‘er rip! Get pumped, rather than pooped!

15. Consider a morsel of dark chocolate. We’re not encouraging overindulging, but dark chocolate at midday has some unique advantages. Unlike milk chocolate, it is truly a “healthful” food that is more in the category of nuts than candies, given the high levels of healthful fat and antioxidants it contains. Plus, it has abundant fiber and magnesium. Additionally, it provides a bit of caffeine, as well as a decadent feeling. Stick to one piece, though.

16. Chew some “spicy” gum such as Dentyne Wintermint Ice Chewing Gum — or MintABurst Mint Chewing gum. Strong minty flavors are stimulating, and the mere act of chewing is something of a tonic to a brain succumbing to lethargy. Plus, the act of chewing stimulates saliva, which helps clear out cavity and gum disease-causing bacteria from lunch. Just make sure to go sugarless.

17. Plan group activities for midday. If you often work on your own, try to cluster work involving others at the time of day when your concentration might otherwise be waning. We are social animals, and interactions always rev us up. Just make sure it’s an interesting, interactive activity. Sitting in a room listening to someone else drone on and on will just send you snoozing.

18. Do your filing. It’s a physical activity that gets you up from your desk, bending and stooping and pulling and stretching. Plus, it’s something you can lose yourself in, and any activity that enables you to get into a “flow” will pull you through those doldrums as easily as an 18-wheeler could pull a MINI Cooper.

19. Take 10 minutes for isometric exercises. Isometric exercises involve nothing more than tensing a muscle and holding it. For instance, with your arm held out, tense your biceps and triceps at the same time and hold for 5 to 10 seconds. You can do this with your calf muscles, thigh muscles (front and back), chest, abdomen, buttocks, shoulders, and back. In fact, if you wanted to, you could work a rotation, or cycle, of isometric exercises involving almost your entire body into your desk job every day. The total workout would be quite significant, despite never interrupting your work, and never breaking a sweat. Plus, you’re not only toning your body, you’re toning your mind.

ALL DAY LONG

20. Weave variety into your workday. Tedium taxes the mind, and induces somnolence. Most studies suggest concentration for anything wanes after an hour, and is pretty near to pitiful at 90 minutes. So divide your tasks to maximize a balance between variety and productivity. For instance, if you have a large report to get out, work on it for 30 minutes, switch to something else for 30 minutes, then return to the report.

21. Get up whenever reasonable and possible. Just because you have an intercom and e-mail doesn’t mean you always have to use them. Try darting down the hall or up the stairs even for simple questions or messages. Studies find that short bursts of even very modest activity burn calories, help tone muscles, and keep your mind brisk and alert.

22. Keep a rosemary plant in your office. Not only will sharing your space with a live, growing thing provide its own mood boost, but studies find the scent of rosemary to be energizing. Whenever you need a boost, just rub one of the sprigs between your fingers to release the fragrance into the air. Or, if you’re really wiped out, clip off a sprig and rub it on your hands, face, and neck to saturate yourself in the scent.

From the book: Stealth Health
Available from Amazon.com

How You Can Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

You probably already know the impact emotional intelligence can have on your life beyond your career and the effects EI has on your relationships, self awareness, mood management and empathy for others. Cultivating your emotional intelligence can enhance your sense of personal mastery and competency over your own life.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

EI is not any one thing in and of itself. It includes elements of self awareness, emotional management, empathy, and social skills. It’s understanding how you behave and gaining insight to your feelings.

Emotional management allows you to keep your moods in perspective while your measure of empathy allows recognition for the feelings of others to help create better relationships. This also relates to your social skills and the ability to manage conflict resolution, negotiations and interpersonal skills. EI is the unique intersection between your heart and your head.

Without a healthy, productive emotional IQ, our relationships struggle to grow and mature for positive change. Your career can suffer if your boss thinks your a loose cannon or you don’t really have empathy or care about the individuals you manage. Friendships are few and far between or lack depth and no great sense of connection.

So with that in mind, I’ve come up with a list that may help tweak some areas of your life that have helped me learn and grow.

1.Take ownership for your emotions. Blaming someone else for making you feel a certain way is relinquishing your responsibility to take charge of how you feel. Just because someone made you angry doesn’t mean they forced you to be angry. If your still holding a grudge, it’s because you choose to keep hanging on.

2. Recognize the feelings of other’s. Nothing goes further than genuinely letting someone know that you can understand how they’re feeling and can appreciate they’re point of view.

3. Keep good company. Spend more time with people who are concerned with your feelings. Spend less time with self absorbed, critical, self centered individuals. Find friends who are empathetic to your feelings as well as those you can feel empathy for.

4. Compel yourself to improve. Challenge yourself on what you can do to develop new and productive patterns of behavior. Develop a strategy to channel emotions to help achieve a goal. Regular visits to myselfdevelopment.net is a good start.

5. Listen more, criticize less. Resist the urge to criticize, judge or make negative comments. Listen with understanding of other’s feelings, rather than judging their actions. If you feel the urge to butt in and get your point across… count to ten.

Written by Robert Hunt

Free E-Book Now Available - As A Man Thinketh

I’ve just added a link to download a free e-book: As A Man Thinketh. In my opinion, this little book is a must read for those who thrive on personal responsibility and yearn to find the cause of our personal issues. Allen reveals how each of us can harness our personal power to master our destiny. The wisdom contained in this little book provides a profound and valuable guide for life.

Download: As A Man Thinketh

8 Ways To Stay Calm When You’re Really Pissed Off

You know that feeling you get when someone says or does something that makes your blood boil? Your face turns red, your heart starts pounding, the muscles in your throat tighten and you get that queezy feeling in your stomach? When someone really pushes my buttons, my voice quivers.

Anger is the one emotion scientist have clearly correlated to physical illness. A little bit is fine and very natural but consistent anger is dangerous. When you lose your cool, your body releases epinephrine, your fight or flight hormones, which in turn tells your body it’s under stress, and in response, tenses up. Constant tension is linked to high blood pressure, heart attacks… you get the idea.

Controlling your anger means understanding why you feel it. Learning to release your anger in healthy ways will also allow you to live longer by helping reduce your stress. Whatever your physical or emotional reaction, here are some tips to help keep your cool to live another day.

1. Take a deep breath. When your ticked off, the body releases adrenalin that makes your heart rate increase and your blood pressure skyrocket. By taking a deep breath, you help lower your heart-rate which in turn sends a signal to your brain that the adrenalin isn’t needed. It also helps clear the cobwebs and bring clarity to the situation.

2. Remove yourself from the situation. If you feel your temperature starting to rise, walk away. Allow yourself to regain control of your emotions. Let the other person know you need a moment and you’ll be right back. After your out of view, take those deep breaths, splash water on your face, jump up and down, and mutter a few choice words. When your thinking clears up, return to the situation and deal with it.

3. Write it out. If your pissed off all the time, then a journal might be a way to draw out your frustrations. Document who you’re mad at and why. Getting your thoughts out in the open where you can read them can help release some pent up frustrations. If you want to start a journal… here’s a great place to start: MySelfDevelopment Journal. Best of all, it’s private and free.

4. Be aware of your trigger points. Pay attention to what it is that sets you off. What is it that pushes your buttons? Once you’ve identified some characteristics, take action when you find yourself in those situations. For example, if you know that you are easy to anger when tired, then don’t even attempt to carry on a major or emotional discussion with a significant other late at night. Just tell’em this really isn’t a good time and request you talk about it in the morning. Your not trying to avoid the situation, just reschedule it.

5. This too shall pass. Just keep reminding yourself this. It works. Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. Any short term anger your feeling in the moment will pass. It’s only temporary. Don’t do something stupid you’ll regret later.

6. Rationalize your anger. I’m not talking about excusing it, but rather throwing some logic behind the emotion. Consider the reasons why your angry. This often makes the anger lose it’s punch. For example, if your angry because of jealousy over your significant other for whatever reason, then more careful consideration of the situation may bring some sanity to the circumstance. A good way to keep yourself in check is to ask a friend if your anger is warranted. Just make sure that when you relate the situation to the third party that you include all the details, which may mean admitting some fault and accepting some things that you may have been trying to deny.

7. Release. Believe it or not, lashing out actually increases the tension in your body. Instead, try to do something constructive with that energy like going for a run, doing some sit-ups, push-ups or whatever exercise your can do…. anything short of punching someone out.

8. Have some empathy. If it’s possible, try to understand the reason behind someone else’s behavior - true or not, it becomes less of an affront. For example, when someone cuts you off in traffic, consider why they may be in a hurry - perhaps he’s late to his daughters first piano recital - which is her last because she is dying of cancer.

Just some simple ideas that might make it a tad easier to deal with in the future. Take ownership of the anger and understand the reasons behind the emotions. It’s also important to make an apology when you have caused damage with your anger. If you’ve acted in a way that’s less than admirable, it’s probably a good idea to apologize. This helps mend the relationship and ensures that others aren’t smoldering in their anger toward you. And, oh yeah…. try to relax.

Written by: Robert Hunt

Test Your Personal Flexibility Skills

Are You Ready for Change? How well do you know your flexibility and strengths? Take this simple four part test that measures your willingness and ability to change your position on issues, initiate action, make decisions and your ability to work well with others.

Personal Flexibility Skills Test

10 Great Ways To Get Less Out Of Life

There’s a great read over at secretgeek.net on sure fire ways to stay depressed. My personal favorite is no.4 - Let’s apply a label! Labels can stop common-sense in its tracks! They’re perhaps the most powerful tool in our depression-pack, and oh-so versatile. We can apply them to people around us, and for added sadness we can apply them to ourselves as well!

Read the rest: SecretGeek.net

Pearls Before Breakfast

There is a fascinating article in today’s Washington Post that has to be read to be believed. A world famous violinist sets up in a Washington Metro subway station as an experiment to see how many would stop to listen. It’s a great study on human behavior. Can one of the nation’s great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Check out some of the video.

Click for the article

Religion vs Spirituality

I ran across this article while doing research for another and thought I would share. It was written by Sri Chinmoy, philosopher and teacher who emigrated to the U.S. in 1964.

Religion is a path to God. Spirituality is also a path to God. However they have differences in approach.

The essence of religion: Fear God and obey God.
The quintessence of spirituality: Love God and become another God.

1. Past vs Present. Religion tends to take great inspiration from the past. It reveres the ancient religious texts, as the way to achieve salvation. Spirituality is not so concerned with the past. Spirituality believes in the eternal now. To attain liberation we need to live in the present. It is not the past or the future that gives us liberation. We achieve peace of mind only when we concentrate on doing the right thing here and now.

2. Fear vs Love. Quite often religion takes the approach of fearing God. Religion is a reminder to do the right thing so will not suffer in the future. The spiritual approach to God is through the path of love. Spirituality teaches us not to fear God, but approach him through the path of love.

3. Where is God? Often religion talks of God as being high in the heavens. At times God can seem far from the reach of aspiring humanity. Spirituality shows us that God is omniscient and omnipresent and can be felt as a living presence in our own heart. Furthermore not only is God reachable but we can attain the inner realization of God.

4. Universality. Many followers of religion feel that only their path can lead to salvation. They have tremendous faith in their own religion, but at the same time they feel other religions are wrong and cannot lead a seeker to God. Spirituality feels that all religions are valid. Spirituality knows there are many paths to the same goal. Spirituality embraces all the world religions, but at the same time, is not constrained by any religious dogmas or forms.

5. Outer worship vs Inner Worship. Religion places great emphasis on outer forms and outer rituals. These are helpful for giving a sense of formality to the worship of God. But spirituality is not concerned with outer rituals. Spirituality says that what is important is a seeker’s inner attitude. Through practising spirituality we seek to develop an inner shrine in our own heart.

Religion and spirituality have their differences but at the same time Religion can embrace spirituality. Through following their religion great saints have attained the fruits and realizations of a mystical approach to God. This includes Christian mystics such as Teresa of Avila, St Francis of Assisi. Sufi Saints like Rumi, Hafiz and Attar. In fact each religion has produced spiritual seekers of the highest order.

Written by Sri Chinmoy

Next Page »