Living Without Limits
Archives: Daily Issues
- WEALTHY: Who are the key players in the economic game? (Andrew Gordon)
- HEALTHY: Master these 5 rules before you go out to eat (Craig Ballantyne)
- WISE: Zadok Rabinowitz on dreams
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Are you dreaming enough? (Brian Tracy)
- A great little sideline that could be perfect for you (Don Hauptman)
- It’s Good to Know… about sugar substitutes
- Add “serendipitous” to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended ==
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Market Analysts, Economists, or CFOs – Who to Trust?
Behind door number one are the market analysts. Behind door number two are the economists. And behind door number three are the CFOs. In a survey done about a month ago, they were all telling us very different things about the economy. Which group should we believe?
• The market analysts hail from Wall Street – which is one gigantic buying machine. The more clients buy, the more Wall Street makes. They thought earnings would balloon come the fourth quarter. These people are incorrigible optimists. Why believe them?
• The economists hail from the government, academia, and think tanks. They can be a dour bunch. They thought earnings would rise only 7 percent come the fourth quarter. They’re decent at seeing trends but not very good at recognizing big reverses and predicting crises. If banking, hedge funds, or housing doesn’t slip into crisis mode, they have a shot at being close. But if the financial sector continues to fall apart – and the government is doing its best to keep that from happening – they’ll look pretty dumb.
• The CFOs are from Main Street, USA. They have their pulse on the real economy. And, at the time of the survey, they were much more optimistic than they were in March. Perhaps they had taken note that input prices were easing, gas and oil prices were dropping, and the dollar was getting stronger. Yet, the more telling part of this survey says they expected to spend and hire less than they previously thought they would. Their message: “Things are looking up, but seeing is believing. We’re going to proceed very cautiously.”
In other words, even before the big government bailout, the CFOs didn’t quite believe their own slightly optimistic view. Unlike analysts and economists, companies aren’t just observers. They’re the key players in the economic game. If companies are sitting on the fence and waiting to see proof that a recovery is right around the corner, they may be sitting for a long time.
Not surprisingly, of the three groups, it’s the CFOs who always give us critical clues about the future of the economy. So keep an eye on what they’re doing when you’re making decisions about where and how to invest.
[Ed. Note: You'll be seeing equal parts gloom-and-doom and optimistic predictions in the coming months. But keep looking toward the CFOs for your best glimpse of where the economy is headed. In the meantime, be on the lookout for one of the greatest investment opportunities of the 21st century. It's happening right now. If you're looking to grow your money rapidly (and safely!) in a very tough market, read on here.]
“A man’s dreams are an index to his greatness.”
Zadok Rabinowitz
Living Without Limits
By Brian Tracy
The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same: Dream big dreams. There is nothing more important, and nothing that works faster, than to cast off your own limitations and begin fantasizing about what you can become, have, and do.
As a wise man once said, “You must dream big dreams, for only big dreams have the power to move the minds of men.” When you begin to dream big dreams, your levels of self-esteem and self-confidence go up immediately. You feel more powerful about yourself and your ability to deal with what happens to you. The reason so many people accomplish so little is because they never allow themselves to lean back and imagine the kind of life that is possible for them.
A principle that you can use to dream big dreams and live without limits is contained in what physicist Elihu Goldratt calls the “Theory of Constraints.” This is one of the greatest breakthroughs in modern thinking. What Goldratt found is that in every process, in accomplishing any goal, there is a bottleneck or choke cord that serves as a constraint. This constraint then sets the speed at which you achieve the goal. But if you concentrate all of your creative energies and attention on alleviating the constraint, you can speed up the process faster than by doing any other single thing.
Let me give you an example. Let us say that you want to double your income. What is the critical constraint or the limiting factor that holds you back? Well, you know that your income is a direct reward for the quality and quantity of the services you render to your world. Whatever field you are in, if you want to double your income, you simply have to double the quality and quantity of what you do for that income. Or you have to change activities and occupations so that what you are doing is worth twice as much. But you must always ask yourself, “What is the critical constraint that holds me back or sets the speed on how fast I double my income?”
So what is holding you back? Is it your level of education or skill? Is it your current occupation or job? Is it your current environment or level of health? Is it the situations that you are in today? What is setting the speed for you to achieve your goal?
Remember, whatever you have learned, you can unlearn. Whatever situation you have gotten yourself into, you can probably get yourself out of. If your real goal is to dream big dreams and to live without limits, you can set this as your standard and compare everything you do against it.
The three keys to living without limits have always been the same. They are clarity, competence, and concentration.
• Clarity means that you are absolutely clear about who you are, what you want, and where you’re going.
You write down your goals and you make plans to accomplish them. You set very careful priorities and you do something every day to move yourself toward your goals. And the more progress you make toward accomplishing things that are important to you, the greater self-confidence and self-belief you have, and the more convinced you become that there are no limits on what you can achieve.
• Competence means that you begin to become very, very good in the key areas of your chosen field.
You apply the 80/20 rule to everything you do, and you focus on becoming outstanding in the 20 percent of tasks that contribute to 80 percent of your results. You dedicate yourself to continuous learning. You never stop growing. You realize that excellence is a moving target. And you commit yourself to doing something every day that enables you to become better and better at doing the most important things in your field.
• Concentration is having the self-discipline to force yourself to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and stay with it until it’s complete.
The two key words for success have always been focus and concentration. Focus is knowing exactly what you want to be, have, and do. Concentration is persevering, without diversion or distraction, in a straight line toward accomplishing the things that can make a real difference in your life.
When you allow yourself to begin to dream big dreams, creatively abandon the activities that are taking up too much of your time, and focus your inward energies on alleviating your main constraints, you start to feel an incredible sense of power and confidence. As you focus on doing what you love to do and becoming excellent in those few areas that can make a real difference in your life, you begin to think in terms of possibilities rather than impossibilities, and you move ever closer toward the realization of your full potential.
[Ed. Note: Clarity, competence, and concentration will bring you very close to success. The final step is to take action and turn your dreams into reality. Brian Tracy - one of the world's leading authorities on the development of human potential and personal effectiveness - can help you discover a simple and easy-to-learn way to get everything you want out of life. Get all the details of his Ultimate Goal Achieving Package here.
Owning a multimillion-dollar business is no longer just an idle dream. You can get 12 specific strategies that will help you turn your online business into an Internet powerhouse at ETR's 2008 Info-Marketing Bootcamp. In fact, you could be making $1.2 million or more in 2009...]
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Critique the Work of Others – and Get Paid for It!
By Don Hauptman
Whatever your specialty or area of expertise, you may have overlooked an opportunity: critiquing the work of others for money.
Take my case. As a freelance advertising copywriter for 30 years, I was often hired to critique direct-mail sales packages – at $2,000 to $4,000 per assignment.
Aside from the payment, which was not too shabby, I enjoyed other rewards. These jobs served as a welcome break from copywriting. I could do them quickly. It was fun to be a coach or teacher occasionally, and I often learned as much as I taught.
You say you’re not a copywriter? That’s okay. Many others have seized this niche.
Consider Lori Haller, a top direct-response graphic designer. She does several critiques every month for clients for whom she routinely also does design work, but who don’t have the budget to hire her for every project. Another reason: Sometimes she doesn’t have time in her schedule for full design, even when the client is willing to pay. Like me, Lori talks enthusiastically about the numerous benefits this sideline gives her.
Shelly Perry, a freelance photographer, serendipitously discovered iStockphoto, a site offering millions of images for sale. She began uploading her own work to the site. Then she was hired as an “inspector” to evaluate the submissions of other photographers. Shelly is also a photography instructor and routinely critiques the work of her students, both in intensive one-to-one discussions and as a judge for student competitions.
Yet another fertile area is editorial critiquing. Many people review and comment on book manuscripts for authors and publishers, and are well compensated for their efforts. Others critique screenplays, songs, resumes… you name it.
Whatever your field, opportunities abound, often in surprising places. Early in our careers, neither I nor the other professionals cited above ever expected to enjoy this interesting and profitable sideline. So ask yourself how you might find ways to apply your experience and knowledge to a lucrative niche as a critiquer.
[Ed. Note: Don Hauptman writes ETR's Saturday column, "The Language Perfectionist." The above article was adapted from his just-published e-book The Versatile Freelancer: How Writers and Other Creative Professionals Can Generate More Income by Seizing New Opportunities in Critiquing, Consulting, Training, and Presenting. It includes additional advice on critiquing, along with details on diversifying into other rewarding sidelines. The book comes with a free bonus report and a 100 percent money-back guarantee of satisfaction. Order your copy without risk here.]
Restaurant Dinner Diet Secrets
When you eat dinner at a restaurant, it’s easy to eat more than 1,500 or 2,000 calories at one sitting. Yikes! That’s a full day’s worth of calories.
Pre-dinner bread & butter: 200 calories
Pre-dinner cocktail: 150 calories
Appetizer: potentially a 500-1,500 calorie bomb
Steak: 300-500 calories
Potato: 150-300 calories
Vegetable: 100 calories
Beverage: 150 calories
Dessert: 300-750 calories
After-dinner drink: 150 calories
And that’s only if you control yourself. If you go on a feeding frenzy, you could be looking at 2,500 or even 3,000 calories. Those numbers are scary.
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid this dietary nightmare while dining out. Here are five guidelines for cutting 1,000 calories from your restaurant meals…
1. Plan ahead and avoid restaurants that serve huge portions. (Cheesecake Factory and Outback Steakhouse, for example.)
2. Skip the bread. Eating it won’t stop you from eating your full meal too, so just send it back.
3. Don’t order booze or liquid calories of any type.
4. Avoid potatoes. Stick to your protein and your vegetables.
5. Reward yourself with only the tiniest bit of dessert, if any.
It’s all about taking responsibility for your choices.
[Ed. Note: You don't have to eat bland, boring food to stay healthy. But you DO have to make smart choices when it comes to your eating habits. For healthy and delicious meals you can make at home, check out ETR's natural health e-letter. It's free and packed full of advice that can help you become healthier faster.
And to burn the calories you consume at restaurants, begin a fat-blasting resistance-training regimen like fitness expert Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training program.]
It’s Good to Know: Sugar Substitute Not “Sweet” to Dogs
Xylitol may be a healthy sugar substitute for people – but it’s highly toxic to dogs. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, a dog that ingests xylitol could show symptoms of liver failure within 30 minutes, including seizures, weakness, and collapse.
With prompt medical attention, the animal’s life can be saved. Still, if you use xylitol as a sugar substitute, buy xylitol-sweetened gum, candy, or mints, or use xylitol-based products (toothpaste, mouthwash) to help prevent cavities, take extra care to make sure these things aren’t accessible to Fido.
(Source: AVMA.org)
Hey, Rat Race Runners… Need a Change?
If your soul has been screaming at you to get out of the never-ending rat race, here’s your chance. After all these years, don’t you deserve to live the good life? Get started making money for yourself instead of your boss.
Word to the Wise: Serendipitous
Something that’s “serendipitous” (ser-un-DIP-ih-tus) is come upon or found by accident. The word, coined by the English author Horace Walpole, was derived from Serendip, an old name for Sri Lanka.
Example (as used by Don Hauptman today): “Shelly Perry, a freelance photographer, serendipitously discovered iStockphoto, a site offering millions of images for sale.”
[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.]
Thanks for the short article on xylitol. We have a three year old miniature schnauzer and she means the world to us and the kids. I can’t imagine what we do if something happened. Among all the “money making” ideas that I usually shy away from in the newsletter I found this article to be a gem.
Hi. I’m hypoglycemic. I also have 28 sweet teeth. I’ve used too many artificial sweeteners. A few years back, tried stevia. It was horribly bitter. Then, I was reffered to the extracts made by nunaturals. I won’t have coffee without them. I’ve also taken up strength training over the last two years. Some of the low cal protein shakes, including egg powders, are pretty disgusting. I use the vanilla flavor and it makes them tollerable–not delicious, just tollerable. Just a recommendation for anyone currently using other sweeteners that either started out as insecticides or otherwise discovered and for those who don’t want to accidentally kill their dogs. Oh, my dad is diabetic (type 2). He loves this for his coffee and cereals.
Thanks for the newsletters!!! vance in iraq