Michael’s 4-Step Plan for Dealing with Disaster

Issue #2419

• WEALTHY: This sector’s in crisis - so steer clear (Rick Pendergraft)
• HEALTHY: A healthy replacement for sugar and fat (Kelley Herring)
• WISE: Richard Bach on disaster

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• The worst has happened. Now what? (Michael Masterson)
• Should your articles "speak to" the search engines? (Brian Edmondson)
• It’s Good to Know… about sports injuries in kids
• Add "redoubt" to your vocabulary

== Highly Recommended ==

How To Legally Profit With The Insiders…

There’s no question the  “insiders” have the advantage when it comes to making money.  And ‘they’ have perfectly legal and ethical ways to consistently keep income streams flowing their way…

But what if you could reap the same consistent profits the “insiders” do week after week?  Actually, you can.  I was one of them.  Had access to all the secrets they use to make enormous amounts of money.  And I’m willing to share that information with you for two reasons.  To discover those reasons and how I know for a fact you can easily make great money following a few fairly simple steps, click here…

IndyMac Goes Down, Who’s Next? 

By Rick Pendergraft

What started last summer with news of credit problems and uncertainty in the mortgage industry has now claimed its first major bank. The FDIC took control of IndyMac Bancorp on July 13, in what is the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history. 

I remember reading numerous articles last summer about how the damage would be limited to the financial sector and would not bleed over into the rest of the economy. I also remember writing an article for Investor’s Daily Edge disagreeing with that general consensus.

How can a tightening credit environment not affect the entire economy when, as a nation, we rely on credit so heavily? 

Until the housing market stabilizes, the financial sector will continue with its struggles. And I don’t look for the housing market to turn around until later this year or early next year.

IndyMac may have been the first bank to fail during this financial crisis, but it won’t be the last. My advice is to steer clear of financial stocks for the foreseeable future.

[Ed. Note: There's so much turmoil in the economy right now, it's hard to believe you can ever make money again. But you certainly can - especially when you discover investment expert Rick Pendergraft's "embarrassing" secret. Learn the details here.]

"There’s no disaster that can’t become a blessing, and no blessing that can’t become a disaster."

Richard Bach

When Disaster Strikes

By Michael Masterson

Your doctor reads your EKG and says, "Holy Cow! I’ve never seen anything like this before!"

That "party girl" you woke up to New Year’s Day tells you she missed her period.

You left your bag, with all your IDs and banking information, on the subway.

Sometimes life dishes out these little disasters. How you react to them says much about your character and bears heavily on your ability to carry out a successful life.

The first time I lost my wallet, my first thought was doomsday: a highly skilled theft ring had taken it and already emptied all my bank accounts. That tells you I am prone to panic. K will attest to that. She has had to remind me on countless occasions not to panic, that "chances are everything will turn out fine."

Having a positive disposition is very helpful when you are faced with a challenge - big or small. But I’ve learned that even bleak-minded people like yours truly can overcome their fears and respond to crisis positively by following a few simple guidelines.
 
My nephew is a lot like his uncle. Recently, he got himself into a bind at the college he goes to. He acted imprudently and broke a few rules. Now he’s facing disciplinary action. What had begun as a very promising college career at a great university has metamorphosed into a potential disaster.

He’s worried, he told me - so worried that he can’t think straight. He’s imagining Armageddon. Sleeping fitfully. Distracted at work.

I know how he feels. I’d feel the same way if I were in his situation. But I’ve had enough experience by now to know that you can’t give in to your fears. When you are faced with a threatening challenge, it’s difficult to push ahead. But if you don’t find a way to do so, your productivity can quickly shrink to zero and your life can be put on permanent hold.

You don’t want that to happen. So the next time disaster strikes you, follow the protocol I suggested to my nephew in an e-mail this morning:

1. Make friends with the devil.

What is it that is scaring you? It is probably some "worst-case" scenario that you keep running through your mind.

Some people will remind you that most of the time worst-case scenarios don’t unfold. That’s why they call them worst-case. "Don’t worry about that," they’ll tell you. "It probably won’t happen, so get it out of your head."

But such advice is useless to the person who has already got the worst-case scenario in his head. It is, after all, a very scary movie. And he’s the star of it. Not thinking about it is not an option.

The solution that works for me is to let the movie play itself out in its entirety. I allow myself to imagine the worst, vividly and in detail. And then I find some way to see myself living satisfactorily with that dire reality.

If, for example, I am imagining identity thieves stealing all my assets and leaving me in penury, I imagine myself being happy to go back to work and start over again. I run a mental movie of myself waking up the next day and starting a new business on the change that is in my pocket, and gradually rebuilding my wealth and a successful career.

By letting the bad movie play out and giving it a happy ending, you can exorcise the fear and return to an emotionally positive state. Only by finding a way to "accept" the worst can you find the peace to take positive action.

Chances are things will not turn out as you have imagined, but if they do you are emotionally prepared for them. You won’t panic. You won’t cry. You will move forward according to your plan.

2. Look for the silver lining.

Every disaster has a silver lining. Even terminal cancer does. You have some amount of time to organize the end of your life and say your goodbyes. You wouldn’t have that chance if your fate was to get run over by a train.

Identify what is good about a bad situation and spend some time thinking about that. If you do it sincerely and repeatedly, it will bring you some emotional comfort.

Eventually - if you are very successful at doing this - you may even find yourself feeling grateful for the problem.

3. Develop a plan.

You need a plan to deal with the problem. The plan should be multi-leveled, since you can’t know how the situation will play out.

A good disaster plan should deal with at least three eventualities: worst case, bad case, good case. Articulate each one clearly and in detail. Then find solutions to, or at least responses for, each of those details.

4. Take action.

Making friends with the devil, finding a silver lining, and developing an action plan will make you feel 100 percent better - and you can do all that in a matter of hours, days at the most. But that improvement in your emotional state won’t last unless you start acting on your plan.

Action - as in all other areas of life - is critical when you are faced with disaster. The moment you start moving your response plan forward, you’ll be making progress and lessening the chances that things will end up really bad.

You’ll feel better about yourself the moment you start, and will continue to feel better so long as you are taking positive action.
 
[Ed. Note: Setting goals is important - but knowing how to get back on track when something goes wrong is critical to your success. You can learn more proven techniques for accomplishing your goals from your own personal success mentor. Find out how to make your dreams come true right here.]

== Highly Recommended ==

What’s Wrong With this Picture? 

By now, you could be forgiven for thinking making money online is akin to some kind of black magic! You’ve probably heard the talk about SEO, XML, PPC and ended up more confused than when you started.

But you know, it’s really very simple. Make no mistake, what I’m about to share with you (for FREE) is THE secret. It only fills a couple of lines but this is the truth you’ve been denied by so many of the so-called “gurus.”

Ready? Here it is (drum roll please)…

Click to comment on this article.

Inside the Internet Money Club: How to Write Search-Engine-Friendly Articles

By Brian Edmondson

Writing articles and submitting them to article directories (such as ezinearticles.com) is a great way to increase your ranking in the search engines and get ever-growing amounts of traffic back to your website. And I often recommend that aspiring entrepreneurs who may be short on time use inexpensive freelancers to write those articles.

But should you give your freelancer a list of the keywords you are targeting?

That’s the question an Internet Money Club member asked last week. "I am in the process of outsourcing content on Elance. Should I give the contractor the keywords to write articles based on my keyword research?"

In short, the answer is yes.

When you write and submit articles, you want to get ranked for the specific terms your target audience is searching for. You can research the keywords your target market is searching for by using a simple keyword research tool such as Word Tracker (WordTracker.com).

When writing your articles, or having them written for you, you should focus each article around the keyword or keyword phrase you have selected. This would include having it in the title of the article, and sprinkled throughout the beginning, middle, and end of the article.

I usually aim to have a keyword density of around 2 percent. You can use a free tool at Live-Keyword-Analysis.com to check the keyword density of your articles.

Let’s say you’re writing an article on dog grooming. You may want to target the keyword phrase "dog grooming." (But stick to that one keyword phrase. Don’t try to target other phrases, such as "poodle haircut" or "dog toenail filing" in the same article.) Once you’ve selected your keyword or keyword phrase and written your article, you can run the article itself through the keyword analysis tool to determine its keyword density. If the keyword density is too high or too low, you can adjust it.

Also be sure to include the keywords you are targeting in the title of your articles - e.g., "Dog Grooming Mistakes and How to Avoid Them."

Keep in mind that you are writing for a human audience first. The search engine rankings are secondary. (You don’t want to go overboard and end up "keyword stuffing" your articles. Write naturally and be informative - and then use the keyword tools to get the most benefit from your articles.)

[Ed. Note: High-level "secrets" to success on the Internet aren't necessarily complicated. While you can't get personal mentorship from Internet Money Club Director Brian Edmondson until the IMC Class of 2009 opens up, you can still get help to take your Internet business to the next level. ETR's team of Internet marketing experts have laid out a step-by-step program for creating a money-making business online. Get the details here.]

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Inulin: Fiber of the Future

By Kelley Herring

The latest advancements in food technology are bringing a myriad of power-packed "functional food" ingredients to tables across the globe. And one of the most potent and unique of these is inulin.

Inulin is a sweet-tasting fiber derived from a wide variety of foods, including agave, garlic, and artichokes. Chemically classified as a fructan, inulin is a chain of fructose molecules linked together. And the unusual way that these molecules are linked is what gives inulin its fantastic functionality and low glycemic score.

You see, inulin can’t be digested by the enzymes in your body - which means it has no effect on blood sugar levels. And that means less work for your endocrine system.

But the benefits don’t end there. Inulin also acts as a prebiotic, helping to boost friendly bacteria in the digestive tract - especially the important Bifidus variety. Boosting these healthy "germs" helps to reduce inflammation, fuels your immune system, and even helps guard against cancer.

Oddly enough, inulin’s extraordinary chemical structure gives it not only a sweet taste, but a creamy, fat-like texture too. That’s right, inulin fiber can be used to replace both sugar and fat in foods.

You can find inulin at your local health food store, and stir sweetness, fiber, and prebiotic protection right into your favorite beverages. Or look for cutting-edge products formulated with inulin (like Stonyfield Farms yogurt).

[Ed. Note: By making simple changes to your lifestyle, you can reap huge health benefits. Start feeling better and getting healthier right here.

Inulin can amp up the healthfulness of your favorite desserts. Nutrition expert Kelley Herring has used it to help create a delicious and completely guilt-free chocolate cake. Find out how to make rich and healthy desserts right here.]

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It’s Good to Know: Young Athletes, Grown-Up Injuries

If your kids play sports, take note. In recent years, doctors have seen a dramatic rise in the number of young children requiring treatment for common adult-athlete injuries, including stress fractures, tendonitis, cartilage damage, and even torn ACLs (anterior cruciate ligaments). In some cases, these injuries result in permanent damage that can affect the child’s physical development.

Sports medicine specialists say that a major contributing factor is that children are picking a favorite sport at a very young age and playing it year-round, often with no breaks. To counteract this trend, doctors recommend regular breaks from organized sports, and improved strength and conditioning training for child athletes. They also recommend that coaches and parents become more aware of the causes of these serious injuries and how to prevent them.
(Source: Associated Press)

Click to comment on this article.

== Highly Recommended ==

How to Make Fast Profits From Your Own Internet Import Company for Just 48 Cents a Day – Starting in Less Than 24 Hours

Right now, corporate America is getting filthy rich off of you.  And they do it every time you shell out money for almost any item – large or small.   These profits come from the massive mark-ups on imports from places like China, where a widget may cost a buck or two, but sells for $19.95.

But now the tables have turned on the corporations - thanks to the Internet and our global economy. And you can be the one reaping windfall profits from the import business.  Best part:  You can easily run the entire business online, with no employees, no previous experience or knowledge, and with as little as $50 in start-up costs.

All you need to do is simply follow a proven, step-by-step plan that is handed to you with this turnkey system. Just a few hours of “work” (if you want to call it that) is all it takes to set your business up.  Then, the whole thing runs on autopilot, freeing you to live life however you wish.

OK, so let’s get going - learn how you can get started right now!

Word to the Wise: Redoubt

A "redoubt" (rih-DOWT) - from the Latin for refuge - is a small, usually temporary, defensive fortification.

Example (as used in The Economist): "Evicting the intruders from their mountain redoubts with ground forces alone was beginning to look like a protracted and expensive task."

[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.]

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2008

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