Here they are:

Powerful Tip #1 – Get your health in order.

In his book “The Art of Money Getting or Golden Rules for Making Money”, the infamous P.T. Barnum wrote:

“The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum fortune; it is also the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick. He has no ambition; no incentive; no force. Of course, there are those who have bad health and cannot help it: you cannot expect that such persons can accumulate wealth, but there are a great many in poor health who need not be so.”

How true…

Good health *is* the very foundation upon which wealth is built.

As a matter of fact…

As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it in his book “The Conduct of Life”:

“The first wealth is health.”

Because, as he went on to explain:

“Sickness is poor-spirited, and cannot serve any one: it must husband its resources to live. But health or fulness answers its own ends and has to spare, runs over, and inundates the neighborhoods and creeks of other men’s necessities.”

Hmmm…

Just about says it all, doesn’t it?

The bottom line is…

Just as it’d be far easier for you to build a house when you’re healthy than when you’re not…

Wealth, success, happiness, and love are a whole heck of a lot easier to “build” when you’re healthy than when you’re not.

It’s that simple.

Powerful Tip #2 – Decide what you want to be when you grow up.

Let me ask you…

When you think of Bill Gates, what do you think of?

Software, right?

When you think of Warren Buffet, what do you think of?

Investments, right?

When you think of Michael Dell, what do you think of?

Computers, right?

When you think of Donald Trump, what do you think of?

Real estate, right?

When you think of Sam Walton, what do you think of?

Discount stores, right?

When you think of J. K. Rowling, what do you think of?

Books, right?

When you think of Ray Kroc, what do you think of?

Fast food, right?

When you think of Wayne Huizenga, what do you think of?

Garbage, right?

When you think of Oprah Winfrey, what do you think of?

Television, right?

When you think of Tiger Woods, what do you think of?

Golf, right?

Now…

Think about it…

Besides having “a lot” of money, by most anyone’s standards, what do *all* these “rich” folks have in common?

The answer?

Simple…

They all made their “money”, at least initially, just as all great fortunes have been made, in *ONE* business or profession, *NOT* ten different businesses or professions, *ONE* business or profession.

In other words…

They got rich by deciding what they wanted to be when they grew up, choosing the *ONE* business or profession they wanted to be in, and then they focused on that *ONE* business or profession until they “made it”.

Therefore…

If “riches” and “wealth” are what *you* want…

That’s *exactly* what you must do as well!

Decide what it is you want to be when you grow up…

Choose the *ONE* business or profession you want to be in…

Then focus *exclusively* on that *ONE* business or profession until you “make it”!

Powerful Tip #3 – Spend more high-quality time with your loved ones NOW!

I can’t even begin to tell you how many people have emailed me, over the last several years, telling me they wanted $1,000,000 so they can spend more time with their loved ones, more often than not their children.

Yep…

I can see it now…

There they are in one room, beating their head against their computer monitor trying to figure out how to make $1,000,000 on the Internet, while their son or daughter quietly sits in another room wondering why mommy or daddy won’t play with them.

Ridiculous?

Sure is.

Farfetched?

Not in the least.

As a matter of fact…

Sadly…

That’s *exactly* how the vast majority of people spend their entire lives…

Don’t you be one of them!

Here’s the deal…

You don’t need $1,000,000 to spend more time with your loved ones.

As a matter of fact…

You don’t need any money at all to spend more time with them!

All you need is to make the commitment and the time to do so.

With that thought in mind…

I wish you and your loved ones the absolute best of holiday seasons and a wealthy, healthy, successful, and happy New Year!

————————

Tony Mase is a serious student of the works of Wallace D. Wattles and the publisher of the “The Personal Power Course: Ten Lessons in Constructive Science, Teaching You How to Use Your Own Subconscious Energies for Health, Prosperity and Personal Achievement” ebook by Wallace D. Wattles… http://www.thepersonalpowercourse.com

But this year I have made a resolution. I have decided to wipe out all traces of the ‘split personality’ in myself!

I was the kind of person who never believed in researches and comments made on split personality, but yes, now some real life experiences have made me re-think the issue.

I say that most of the people suffer from split personality. Haven’t you observed that we are different when we are happy and calm and at peace, and we become very different when we are upset and angry and annoyed! Isn’t this a case of split personality?

I will say a big YES; though there are chances that researchers will plan to slay me after reviewing my write-up.

I have observed that even those who like to stay in peace end up fighting when at times things don’t turn up to their expectations. To explain more, let’s take an example.

Suppose you have a small happy family and you don’t like your child asking permission for late night parties. What would you do? The first few times, you will handle the situation calmly, but what after that what? Won’t you slap your child saying what most parents say under these circumstances, “how many times have I told you not to ask and go for such parties?”

It was a very small example but I am sure it would have rightly portrayed split personality.

This New Year I wish to have one whole personality rather than the split one. Healing the split is my resolution.

I have discovered some tips for this as well:

1.    Always remember who are you.
2.    Always remember what impact will your second personality could have in future.
3.    Don’t make decisions when you are not feeling like ‘original’ you.
4.    Start behaving exactly opposite when you feel that the ‘second’ person wants to come out, like if the ‘second’ person wants you to shout at someone, go and give a hug to the same person and so on.
5.    The most important, always remember this is your NEW YEAR RESOLUTION!

–

Priyanka Thakur is currently part of the HR team at Delphi Automotives Pvt Ltd, Greater Noida, responsible for recruitment, training, employee engagement activities and HR interventions. She writes regularly for HRD Newsletter. Contact mailpriyankain@gmail.com

I do not believe in making new year resolutions because I want to live my life naturally without any harness. And a new year resolution is nothing but a harness. We live once only. I don’t want to spoil it all by allowing new year resolutions to have the better of my life.

Every year many of my friends ask me about my new year resolution. My reply to their query is always the same – to break all resolutions that I am not going to make. I enjoy the shocked looks I receive from them.

Pushing myself to do something I am not naturally inclined to do is not my cup of tea. There is no point in being at war with myself. I do not believe in being harsh to myself.

The purpose of making new year resolutions is to make life more beautiful. If forcing new year resolutions upon you is going to make you unhappy, the whole purpose gets defeated. Then why make resolutions in the first place?

Making fun of those who perpetually work at disciplining themselves makes me happy. So I just do that. And yet I do make resolutions. But they are no grand things at the beginning of new year. I make them every day depending on what needs to be done and what is important to me.

So relax if you have already started breaking your resolutions. Follow my example and make daily resolutions – tiny bite-sized tasks that will bring you happiness. And if at all you break these resolutions, you won’t feel miserable. On my part, I do follow my daily resolutions without forcing myself to do so. It is not tough at all and it makes me feel good.

Life is short and every day is a new day. Live it fully without putting yourself in harness.

1. Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.  ~Author Unknown
2. Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it’s twice as onerous a duty. ¬†~John Selden
3. Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.  ~Oprah Winfrey
4. Every man should be born again on the first day of January.  Start with a fresh page.  Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.  ~Henry Ward Beecher
5. New Year’s Day: ¬†Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. ¬†Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ¬†~Mark Twain
6. Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.  ~Oscar Wilde
7. But can one stillmake resolutions when one is over forty?  I live according to twenty-year-old habits.  ~Andre Gide
8. It wouldn’t be New Year’s if I didn’t have regrets. ¬†~William Thomas
9. May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions. ¬†~Joey Adams
10. He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool. ~F.M. Knowles
11. I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s. ¬†~Henry Moore
12. Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year.  Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.  ~Thomas Mann
13. I made no resolutions for the New Year.  The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.  ~Anaïs Nin

Now is a perfect time to reflect upon what your declaration would say. It is interesting that in our culture, the New Year does not begin in the springtime, the season of rebirth and planting new crops, but rather in the winter, the season for withdrawing and reflecting. Keeping this in mind, when preparing your Living Willfully Declaration, you first need to spend some quality, quiet time, contemplating the bigger picture. Here are some questions you may want to ponder and perhaps write about in a new journal: Who is the person I want to become before I die? What values do I want my life to reflect? Who do I want to share my life with? What supports do I need to put in place to help me on this path? What do I still need to learn? How can I realize my utmost potential?

What other questions might you want to ask? Asking the right questions can be more powerful than seeking the right answers. The answers to such cosmic questions are often beyond the scope of rational thinking or one’s present level of wisdom. By asking good probing question, you are setting an intention and creating the opening for unexpected answers.

It may be bit overwhelming to create a definitive Living Willfully Document. As with every great expectation, it is best to begin one step at a time. So you may want to start with setting an Intention or Living Theme for 2010. The word ‘intention’ comes from the Latin root intendere, meaning to stretch toward something. It is not a goal that has a specific outcome. An intention is an aim that guides your actions; it is something realized not achieved. Simply stating an intention invites your intuition, creativity, and the universes’ natural goodwill to play apart in the answer’s unfolding.

This is very different from a New Year’s resolution. Unlike a resolution, an intention is not based on something you want to fix about yourself, but rather how you can elvove into the person¬† you want to be.¬† An intention is receptive and keeps you in the present moment, focused on the process; whereas a resolution is driven and keeps you in the future, focused on finishing.

Again by crafting a Living Theme as a question, you are inviting a certain outcome without forcing a particular agenda or result. It also keeps it off your to-do list and away from self defeating should’s.¬† Some examples of Yearly Intentions are: “How can I live more lightly upon the earth?” “How can I invite greater integrity into my life?” “What do I need to do to express more joy in my life?” “Can I allow myself to be more loving?”

Have fun with this. Try out a few variations until you find one that truly resonates with you and then let it organically unfold. Wishing you a wonderful, willful New Year!

————————

Karin Marcus, Certified Life Coach / Retreat Leader
“Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do” Rumi
Karin@Steppingoutcoaching.com 610-667-5247

http://www.SteppingOutCoaching.com

Download your complimentary “Walking with Intention: A Self-Guided Mini Retreat”

http://www.SteppingOutCoaching.com/newsletter.html

This is in continuation of my earlier post ‘Stay happy’… I continue to think of how the beginning of the day is so important to set the pace and mood for all that follows; till the day ends… But, most of us are in an awful mood in the precious morning hours. Lets break that jinx, here and now.

Here are 10 simple and great ways to begin your day in a nice way..

1. Begin the day with some great music you love; let it be of any genre. just that it has to pep you up, and fill your mind. And wear a smile on hearing that. Most morning mood issues are just because we are blank in the mind, and the void attracts negativity. And by doing things listed here, we are just attempting to get positive energy flow into us.
2. Ensure in the first few minutes after you wake up and get done with your usual morning chores, you get going with some brisk activity… can be a jog, some cycling, laughing with your wife and children, reading little of  a good book.. Anything that does not keep you idle… Morning idleness is the biggest sinner.. Be extremely active…
3. When you get up from the bed, get up and move around with deliberate gratitude. Count your steps as you do your morning chores, and for each step, say thanks to anyone/everyone you chose – can be your spouse, some friend you touched you, your loving kids… could be just anyone whom you can express gratitude. And there are so many of them, who we come across by the hour, everyday. Just that in our purposeless activities, we fail to see them.
4. Visualize a great day in your mind…. with all details, color and candor of what your perfect day should look like.. that sale close, that great meeting, your best pitch, shopping with your spouse etc.. In most times, what is visualized becomes real later in the day.
5. Start the day with a to-do list creation as the 1^st task… Let it contain not only professional tasks, but even personal and social task.. Including something mundane and as light as watering the tree, or cleaning up the desk… and off-course having fun with your family and friends. End of day, tick off what you have done… it gives you a feeling of achievement, and when you make this list, you will do most of what is important.
6. Take a piece of paper, and quickly jot down 5 things you did right the previous day, and also 5 things that you messed.. include all trivia, like not smiling at the receptionist of your workplace, abusing someone in the traffic snarl… This is one of the best ways to introspect.. and get to being a better person.
7. Make one or two small resolutions for the day… not necessarily big and life changing, but simple ones that will make you a better person than the previous day… like ‘I will smile at every human encounter’ or ‘I will say thanks to all during the day’…..
8. Help in the household chores… Pick up some simple household chore and help your spouse quicken the morning chores.. again anything simple would do.. Most of all, it keeps you active, and also saves time in the family for more things to be done.
9. Close the doors and sing a song, dance a few steps, laugh at yourself looking at the mirror, admire you from head to toe, look at how confident and nice you are as a person…
10. As your kid wakes up, lie down next to him or her, and just catch up with what they think… could be about their friends, school, a fight in yesterday’s gully cricket, some conflict in them… Just start of and run a conversation for just 5 minutes… You will see a different world, and get a perspective of what things are…

By no means are these are not the only ways you can start of… There could be many and you can design a positive start to the day, with any of these as cues….

Have this as a daily mantra… the first hour after you wake up is the golden hour, that sets the ball rolling rest of the day… By making this active  and positive, your day can be worth its weight in gold… in joy, happiness, and fulfil ment.

( and you can also do all these at anytime during the day to make a great life!!)

Understandably, when a new year arrives, we all start to look for new resolutions. But to me, the resolutions need not always be new. And it need not be only a resolution but can also be a reflection. Preferably more of a reflection rather than resolution. Also, it can be a continuation of the previous year’s resolution(s) except that you may want to re-adjust and re-align it to suit your ambitions or plans in the new year.

So, what I will do first is to reflect and then have a resolution if I need any new one. If not, I will stick to the present and/or previous resolutions and continue with them. The way I look at it is like this: as long as I have not achieved the old resolution (if I have one), I won’t start on a new one even though it is a new year. I figure that we don’t have to have new resolutions just because everyone else is having one.

I would want to reflect on my relationships with my siblings and parents, especially with those whom I have taken for granted and¬† hardly know who they are as individuals even as we grow older and apart. It may sound surprising¬† but many of us don’t really know our sisters, brothers and parents.

Then, I will want to look at my other relationships with people outside my family circle. Do I need to continue or discontinue with them or network for new ones? I look for reciprocity in any relationships. It’s not just that I like your face and I want to be your friend kind of thing.

Not forgetting my career, where am I going with my career? Do I want to continue working ‘makan gaji’ or do I want to do something else on my own for a change. Also, what about my contributions to the society? That, too, needs to be looked at in order to share the knowledge that is in me so that it won’t lie wasted.

Last but not least is the need to look at self-management i.e. my daily life, my debts, my time, my place, etc. What went well? What can be done better? What did I learn?

Welcoming new year sounds looks like a tall order. But the need to go through all that is vital if you need to renew yourself. So, just having a resolution is not enough but one needs to first reflect, reflect and reflect before coming up with any resolution.

God willing, may 1430 Hijriah, New Year 2009 and Lunar Year of the Ox bring us much success, happiness and prosperity!

I’m in advertising Рwhich by default is a volatile business. Especially because the pace is hectic and the demands on your time, always on stretch mode. It’s a playing ground where tempers fray, decibel levels go up and you just might say or do something that you’re going to regret.

Something like that happened last year with a client, who is known to shoot four-letter exclamatories all the time. Harmless really, but can be disturbing when you’re wearing thin on patience. Over the years, his own employees had learnt to ignore his profanities – all of it just “bounced off their walls” as far as they were concerned.

So, on a particular job when he went ballistic without reason, I probably reacted with a little bit of aggression. It was just a teeny-weeny snap back, but the client lost face on his own turf.

And since the event was unprecedented in terms of an agency response, it didn’t go
down too well. The meeting was hurriedly terminated and within a fortnight Рyou’ve got to believe this – the account was moved to another agency.

It was not a large account, so the arithmetic in terms of a loss didn’t weigh us down; but I had lost a friend. Here was someone who took my advice on anything from dreams to diapers; someone who loaned me some of the best books I have ever read. A client turned friend, who planned meetings around one in the afternoon, so we could stay back for lunch.

It wasn’t just the shifting of the account Рthe face-off seemed to have long term withdrawal symptoms. If we met at movie theatres, one of us made sure we were not in the same air space. If we walked into the same lane at parking lots, one of us side-stepped to do a long and meaningless detour. (When you bump into someone at a blind corner, even a stranger comes up with a smile.)

As write this, I look at my desktop calendar and notice that it is the 27th of December, 2009. And I wince momentarily when I realize that we didn’t send each other cards for Christmas. We had even deleted each other’s names from our address books.

As reality dawns and wisdom makes a sneak appearance, I wonder if I should add an important task to my list of new year resolutions. I wonder if I should just call my friend and make peace – to rekindle a relationship that did mean something to both of us.

I know that it just takes one person to make that move Рand the other will invariably greet you with open arms and a warm smile. Quite simply, it was a question of one step forward, one move, one gesture… one person picking up the phone and saying “Happy New Year…now let’s just put this behind us in 2010.”

And that was the first thing on my list of resolutions.

As the clock struck 12 on New Year’s, I think I was one of the first to call my friend. He told me he was so happy, that he actually had tears in his eyes. We met the next day for lunch and opened a whole new chapter for 2010 and beyond.

Importantly, we decided to keep business out of it.

–

Sharath Bhat is a freelance copywriter in from Bangalore, India. Interested in Creativity & Innovation, Content Management & Blogging,  Technology & Computers. Fascinated by the limitless expanse of the internet, where you can share ideas across time zones – in a world without boundaries. He blogs at www.indianink.in.

What is the sign of life? If someone is alive, a clear sign is that of the person responding to stimulus. If spoken to, a reply; if smiled at, a smile returned; if hurt, a cry, etc. If a person does not respond, he/she may as well be dead.

But a response is not just about reacting. It is also about reacting with some thought around it. Reaction is negative. Reaction is impulsive. Reaction is instantaneous. For example, if someone insults us, a normal person would react with another insult or a feeling of hurt. Responsiveness is to go beyond the normal pattern. It could be, in this example, to introspect and understand the reasons for the provocation and form a positive response to address it.

The two extreme positions to avoid are complete lack of response and an instant reaction without thinking. The middle path as recommended will bring you a better understanding of the world around and better relationships with all.

Forget and forgive!!

Life is short. With an average age of around 70 years of which a good 25 years spent in sleep and resting, we have hardly 40-45 years of waking time. If one takes off the time spent in childhood pranks and old age sickness, one hardly has 20-25 years of productive time. This is just too short to be wasted on undesirable pursuits and practices.

When we feel hurt and remember the hurt, we are only re-living the experience over and over again. And when we hope, pray or plan to hurt others or take revenge, we are going through the same pain again. Anger is like carrying a burning coal in your hand with the intent of throwing it at others. You are only hurting yourself.

Instead, if you can ignore, forgive and forget, you are instantly relieved of the burden and find instant peace. It gives you more time for productive pursuits, ideating or creating things that bring joy to yourself and others around you. It creates a positive image about you and makes you irresistible to others.

Think of children and this is what distinguishes them from adults. They have no ego and forgive easily. This is what makes them so lovable and endearing to us. So do yourself a big favour – start forgiving and forgetting from this moment onwards. The past hurts will fall off immediately and you will reap the benefits form this instant onwards. Enjoy Life!!

Spread positive energy !!

There are times in life when, whether we want it or not, we do feel low and depressed. It could be due to some expectation or desire not being fulfilled or some other disappointment. At such times, we need some help in getting over our misery and we need someone to cheer us up. And when such an event happens, we feel great and relieved.

If we can tune ourselves to get this sort of positive energy from within, how wonderful life could be! We could rid ourselves of our pain points in no time. If we choose to be positive and look at everything with this outlook, not only do we help ourselves but we also ensure that our misery does not get transferred to people around.

By being positive, we can also help people who interact with us when they have similar moments. And thus we can create a great environment around us. People will value our company and seek us out. We will have more friends and eventually benefit in more ways than one!

What is the secret of being positive? Well, in my opinion and experience, positive attitude comes from the realisation that worrying and fretting and fuming and being anxious do not help in any way. Rather, such emotions have a negative and adverse effect. Being positive helps us look at the brighter side of things, become more energetic and enthusiastic and come up with solutions to every situation.

So, what do you think? Be positive and see it for yourself!!

Treat everyone equally!!

The world comprises of so many different people and characters. I have always found it useful to watch with the curiosity of a child and observe the differences in people without attaching a value to them. Some people are frank, some bold, some stupid, some secretive, some faithful, some suspicious etc.

Initially, I used to get attracted to people with positive and desirable attributes and used to detest the rest. However, time and grey hair have taught me that it takes all kinds to make up the world. In fact, the world would be a very boring place if everyone was alike or if everyone was nice. As they say, all five fingers of the hand are different but together they can do so many useful things, I have come to believe that diversity is not only good but also necessary. It is but natural that I tend to appreciate differences and prefer to encourage them.
Also, at the core everyone is the same. Each one has similar set of physical endowments, similar desires and similar dreams. Each one is striving for the same thing and it is better to recognize this and appreciate everyone.

Treating people equally and well also has its advantages – people respond positively to you and the amount of reciprocal behaviour is well worth the effort (if any). So, if you have a cranky neighbor, a nasty acquaintance or a naughty child, go ahead and smile at them and let them know that you accept them as they are. And see the difference!

Vish is a chartered and cost accountant who works with a leading bank in Mumbai, India, looking after their risk management. His interests are reading, travelling, spirituality, thinking and physical fitness (not necessarily in that order). Contact vish.sesh@gmail.com.