12 Bad Behaviors That Could Be Holding You Back
Issue #2220
- WEALTHY: A breakthrough program for novice investors (Charles Delvalle)
- HEALTHY: Are you getting enough of this vitamin? (Kelley Herring)
- WISE: W. Somerset Maugham on bad habits
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Which bad habits are putting a wrench in your goal-setting process? (Bob Cox)
- Avoid this fuzzy and ambiguous word in your writing (Don Hauptman)
- It’s Fun to Know… about extreme temperatures
- Add "toper" to your vocabulary
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ETR Insider Report: A Simple Lesson From an Options Expert
In the 10 months that I’ve known him, Rick Pendergraft has taught me a lot about trading options. And chances are, you could stand to learn a lot from him if you’ve been interested in options but a bit intimidated until now.
That’s why I am so excited about a new investment program he’s getting ready to launch. Just yesterday, Rick gave me a sneak peek at it. It takes you, step by step, through everything you need to know to trade options successfully. He explains the ins and outs of technical investing, the importance of understanding the mental side of trading, how to identify a trade that’s gone bad, and much more.
Now this program wasn’t designed for professional investors. It’s meant for people who know nothing about options and are just starting out. But even if you already know what you’re doing, it will help you fine-tune and perfect your trading discipline.
Rick came to ETR with stellar credentials. For one thing, he was named the top trader at Schaeffer’s Investment Research for two years running. He’s been frequently quoted by Reuters, Business Week, Forbes, USA Today, and The New York Times. And as editor of ETR’s investment service, The ETF Options Trader, he has unlocked gains of 376 percent in 11 days.
But what I really admire about Rick is how knowledgeable he is. If you have a question about sentiment or technical analysis, he can give you the most detailed answer you’ll ever hear. And because he has a background in teaching, he has a knack for breaking down complicated subjects into material that’s easy for even the novice investor to understand.
If you want to learn more about Rick’s new program, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. We’ll keep you posted on when it will be released and how you can get it. In the meantime, I want to share with you one of the best pieces of advice he ever gave me about trading.
Rick taught me to look at market sentiment in order to evaluate a trade that I’m considering. For example, if a lot of analysts rate a stock as a "buy," you should be willing to make a bearish bet on that stock - a trade that makes money when the stock price goes down. That’s because when a majority of analysts rate a stock as a "buy," they can’t rate it any higher. But they can rate it lower. And the minute they change their rating from a "buy" to a "sell," that’s going to push the price down. Using this type of analysis has helped me fine-tune my own options trading, increasing my percentage of winners from 40 percent to 67 percent.
[Ed. Note: Charles Delvalle is a contributing editor to ETR’s Investor’s Daily Edge newsletter, and a regular contributor to INCOME. INCOME lets you in on the safest high-dividend-paying companies, with the goal of providing you with a total return (dividends plus capital gains) of at least 14 percent per year.]
"An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones."
William Somerset Maugham
12 Bad Behaviors That Could Be Holding You Back
By Bob Cox
Lots of people bite their nails… chew with their mouths open… swear like sailors… whine when they don’t get their way. If you’re aware that you have one of these bad habits, you’re probably taking measures to change it. But here’s something you might be surprised to learn: You could have bad habits you’re not aware of that could be preventing you from achieving your goals.
Many years ago, I needed to install a new phone system in my office. The new system would make it easier for people in the company to interact with clients. Plus, the system’s conference feature was going to enable us to speak with colleagues and clients all over the country. It may sound like a small thing, but getting this system installed was going to help me achieve my goals of growing my business.
Roy Speer - who was one of the inspirations for The Billionaire Way - recommended a specific vendor for the phone system. But when I contacted the vendor, he acted like he was doing me a "favor" by speaking to me. This set me off. Because of his attitude and approach, I didn’t want to work with him. And after I got done yelling at him, he didn’t want to work with me either. So I was back to the drawing board, looking for another vendor.
When I told Roy my version of the story, he didn’t agree with how I’d handled the situation. He patiently showed me how my negative behavior delayed the result I was after: getting a new phone system installed. And by delaying that, I was impeding the overall progress of my business.
Roy taught me four valuable lessons:
- Carry your strength behind you and call on it only when appropriate. Do not wear it like a shield in front of you that pushes people away.
- Whether speaking on the phone or in person, assume you are being tape-recorded and govern yourself accordingly.
- Being too aggressive can alienate people. And that is the exact opposite of what you want to do. Rather, you want to bring people to you for their guidance, assistance, ideas, and services. Who wants to be around someone who seems too intense and aggressive? No one!
- I used to be "over the top" and easily triggered to come right at you, almost in your face. I thought I was being passionate about my beliefs. And how could that be offensive? Well, when you exhibit too much intensity in your words, demeanor, deeds, and actions it can come across as aggression. But I have since learned to cultivate a less offensive approach to dealing with people and handling situations. And it has undoubtedly prevented me from slowing down my own rate of success.
Now if you think you’re exempt from the success-inhibiting behaviors I’m talking about here, you’re wrong. We ALL have some behavior or personality trait that could use some work.
Identify the Habits You Want to Change
Think about the behaviors that annoy you in other people. These are often the same ones you should be avoiding. Off the top of my head, I can think of 12 common behaviors that keep people from achieving the success they deserve: impatience, anger, procrastination, being defensive, being critical, being negative, being too controlling, being too shy, being too aggressive, being inflexible, not being punctual, having a hard time making decisions.
The first step to identifying behaviors you want to change is to look at your behavior patterns HONESTLY.
Like I said, I dismissed my aggressive behavior as an expression of my passionate nature. It took two incidents to get me to realize it was a problem and that I needed to make a change. The first was the conversation I had with Roy Speer about the phone vendor. The second was when my wife, Karin, kindly mentioned that I sometimes came across as "intense."
So take a good hard look at your behaviors. Are you really the perfect angel you think you are? Probably not. Pinpoint the behaviors that could be holding you back and commit to eliminating them from your life.
Change isn’t easy. But if you work on changing your bad behaviors, you can accomplish your goals that much faster.
Remember: There is a difference between learning what to change and implementing the changes. And once you’ve implemented the changes, you must sustain them.
Over a period of time, sustaining your new and positive behavior will become second nature. You may not lose the anger, aggression, impatience, or controlling habit altogether… but you will be aware of it and thus can quickly "nip it in the bud."
3 Tips to Help You Banish Your Bad Behaviors
Tip #1: "Check" your emotions at the door, just like you would check your coat before going into a party. You don’t want to bring emotional baggage into the office, into meetings with co-workers and clients, or to social and networking events.
Tip #2: Train yourself to BE IN THE MOMENT when working on your goals or when you’re with people. Don’t think about your upcoming deadlines, what to cook for dinner, or the weekend’s plans.
Tip #3: DON’T OVERSCHEDULE yourself. This will reduce impatience, irritability, and the feeling of being rushed.
Your 14-Day Self-Improvement Plan
Over the next two weeks:
- Choose two behaviors to focus on changing.
- Post reminders in a place where you’ll see them every day - on your refrigerator or bathroom mirror or in your daily planner.
- Write down some solutions for change. For example, if you tend to be defensive, you’ll practice not explaining yourself so often.
- Ask others to support you in this effort. Tell your "support team" (family, friends, or co-workers) what you are working on and ask for their feedback. Be willing to listen and learn from their comments and suggestions.
- At the end of the two weeks, grade yourself on how well you did.
It is normal to "relapse" occasionally into your old behavior patterns. Simply recommit to changing those habits and go through the same 14-day process.
[Ed. Note: Bob Cox is the creator of The Billionaire Way He’s also the voice of ETR’s Total Success Achievement Program, which aims to help you get out of debt… lose 10 pounds… start a profitable business… and blast through any obstacle along the way. We’re putting the finishing touches on our 2008 Total Success Achievement Program right now. So keep reading ETR for more details about how to make 2008 the year you accomplish all your dreams.]
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A B-Vitamin Bone Builder
Are you getting enough folate to fight osteoporosis? We’ve long lauded the health benefits of folate. It reduces homocysteine, an amino acid that contributes to heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Now, new research from the Hordaland Homocysteine Study (HHS) suggests homocysteine poses yet another health risk: thinning bones in women.
Researchers followed more than 18,000 people for seven years. Those with raised homocysteine levels not only had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, and cognitive decline, but also osteoporosis.
The good news is that finding folate in foods is much easier than it used to be. Eat a whole-foods diet rich in dark leafy greens and beans. Try whole-grain cereals fortified with folic acid. And make sure your multivitamin supplies at least 400 mcg of folic acid. You’ll help protect your bones, brain, and heart.
[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the founder and CEO of Healing Gourmet and the author of the new e-book, Guilt-Free Desserts: 20 All-Natural, Fail-Proof, Low-Glycemic Desserts Just in Time for the Holidays. Learn more about how simple lifestyle choices can improve your health by reading ETR’s free natural health e-letter.]
The Language Perfectionist: As You Like It
By Don Hauptman
Consider the following sentences, all of which I found in newspaper articles:
- The employees are often from places like Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Senegal, Grenada, Guyana, and the Ivory Coast.
- [Judy Woodruff] joined CNN in 1993, and was frequently the anchor on breaking news like the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
- Greg Garrison, a pioneering television director who worked with stars like Dean Martin, Jack Benny, George Burns, and Lucille Ball in a 40-year career, died on March 25.
A reader might infer from these sentences that the instances cited may not be genuine. Did Greg Garrison really work with those celebrities - or with people "like" them?
Of course, most readers understand that the references are intended to be literal. Nevertheless, I find this common usage grating. Moreover, it’s ambiguous and invites deception. Suppose a merchant were to claim, "The jewelry we sell is made of metals like gold and silver."
Alternatives? To eliminate ambiguity, the final example could be revised as follows: "Greg Garrison, a pioneering television director who worked with many stars, including…" Optionally, a list may be concluded with "… among others." And "such as" is usually appropriate in place of "like."
[Ed Note: Don Hauptman, a direct-response copywriter for more than 30 years, may be best known for the space ads he wrote with the classic headline "Speak Spanish Like a Diplomat!" He also writes books and articles on language and wordplay.]
It’s Fun to Know: Extreme Temperatures
The next time you find yourself complaining about the weather - that it’s too hot or too cold - remember this…
- The hottest temperature recorded (in El Azizia, Libya) was 136 degrees Fahrenheit in 1922.
- The coldest temperature recorded (in Vostok, Antarctica) was minus 129 degrees Fahrenheit in 1983.
- The hottest temperature recorded in the United States was 134 degrees Fahrenheit in California’s Death Valley in 1913.
- The coldest temperature recorded in the United States was minus 79.8 degrees Fahrenheit in the Endicott Mountains of northern Alaska.
(Source: LiveScience and Infoplease)
What If There Was A Way To Legally Beat A Traffic Ticket?
“When Attorneys Get Speeding Or Traffic Tickets, This Is What They Do… No Points, No Increased Premiums & Definitely No Stupid Driving School. These Tricks Work Like Magic.”
If you’re like me then the simple sight of a police car in your rear-view mirror is enough to send shivers down your spine, but…
When the lights start flashing…
There Goes That Safe Driver Discount… Right? Not anymore…
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Toper
A "toper" (TOH-pur) is a drunkard. The word - from the French for "agreed" - was originally used in proposing a toast.
Example (as used by Isaac Bashevis Singer in Reaches of Heaven): "Although he was no toper, God forbid, he took a glass of aquavit."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker … build your self-confidence and intellect … increase your attractiveness to others … just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007