By Brian Tracy
Excerpt from: Personal Success
Your goal is to organize your life in such a way that you enjoy a good income, a high standard of living, and that you are the master of your economic destiny rather than a victim of changing economic times.
Your goal is to organize your life in such a way that you enjoy a good income, a high standard of living, and that you are the master of your economic destiny rather than a victim of changing economic times.
Contribution is the Key
Your job is an opportunity to contribute a value to your company in excess of your cost. In its simplest terms, your job is as secure as your ability to render value in excess of what it costs to keep you on the payroll. If you want to earn more money at your current job, you have to increase your value, your contribution to the enterprise.
Add Value Every Day
If you want to get a new job, you have to find a way to contribute value to that enterprise. If you want any kind of job security, you must continually work at maintaining and increasing your value in the competitive marketplace.
And here's a key point. Your education, knowledge, skills and experience all are investments in your ability to contribute a value for which you can be paid. But they are like any other investments. They are highly speculative.
Knowledge and Education Are Sunk Costs
Once you have learned a subject or developed a skill, it is a sunk cost. It is time and money spent that you cannot get back. No employer in the marketplace has any obligation to pay you for it, unless he can use your skill to produce a product or service that people are ready to buy, today.
Prepare For Your Next Job
Whatever job you are doing, you should be preparing for your next job. And the key question is always: Where are the customers? Which businesses and industries are growing in this economy, and which ones are declining?
Where is the Future?
I continually meet people who ask me how they can increase their income when their entire industry is shrinking. I tell them that there are jobs with futures and there are jobs without futures, and they need to get into a field that is expanding, not contracting.
Never Be Without A Job
There are three forms of unemployment in America: voluntary, involuntary, and frictional. Voluntary employment exists when a person decides not to work for a certain period of time, or not to accept a particular type of job, hoping that something better will come along. Involuntary unemployment exists when a person is willing and able to work but cannot find a job anywhere. Frictional unemployment is the natural level; this includes the approximately 4 or 5 percent of the working population who are between jobs at any given time.
Three Keys to Lifelong Employment
However, there are always jobs for the creative minority. You never have to be unemployed if you will do one of three things: change the work that you are offering to do, change the place where you are offering to work, or change the amount that you are asking for your services. You should consider one or more of these three strategies whenever you are dissatisfied with your current work situation.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, look around you at your current job and find ways to create added value every day. There's always something more you can do.
Second, identify the kind of work you want to be doing in the future and then make a plan to develop the knowledge and skills you will require to do it well.
Brian Tracy is the most listened to audio author on personal and business success in the world today. His fast-moving talks and seminars on leadership, sales, managerial effectiveness and business strategy are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that people can immediately apply to get better results in every area. For more information, please go to www.BrianTracy.com.
Want more Brian Tracy Advice, Check out these books:
Eat that Frog: 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, by Brian Tracy
The Art of Closing the Sale, by Brian Tracy
Monday, November 26, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
THINK LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR
Do you own a home business or other type of small business? This article will help you to think like an entrepreneur.
If you don’t have a small business or home business, you can learn why you should at least consider starting one.
Entrepreneurial Thinking
By Jonathan R. Aspatore
There has never been a better time to start your own business. Major consolidation continues by large corporations in many industries creating profitable niches for new businesses to fill. The advances being made in technology and the Internet have created entirely new industries for business products and services, which are still relatively untapped. Even companies in the automobile and insurance industries are finding their way to the Web to capitalize on this rapidly growing medium. These developments represent dynamic changes for businesses in every industry and create the perfect chance for you to build a profitable company in your area of interest or expertise.
Entrepreneurial thinking is about recognizing opportunities in the marketplace and understanding how and when to capitalize on them. Becoming an entrepreneur is not necessarily an inherent trait. It takes time to train yourself to use your talents and experience to see opportunities where others do not. Each individual possesses a different perspective on products they would find useful and services they would like to see perform differently. It can often be just as profitable to improve upon an existing business. The advantage here is that you can learn from the mistakes of competing companies while still borrowing the positive aspects of their business for your own. Whether starting a completely new type of business or expanding on current ideas already in the marketplace, the key is learning to use your unique perspective to produce a product or service that provides increased value to potential customers.
No one could ever have imagined the impact the Internet would have on the global economy. New industries have developed in the last few years to support the advanced communications capabilities of this medium. Many of the entrepreneurs that had the foresight and skills to capitalize on these opportunities became millionaires almost overnight. In fact, the Internet is such a dynamic medium that there is still amazing wealth being generated from the creation of new companies, and this trend shows no signs of slowing. The development of dynamic new products and services in any industry naturally creates the need for complimentary types of businesses. By learning to think as an entrepreneur you will position yourself to be ready to capitalize on these opportunities as they develop.
Entrepreneurial thinking is relatively easy to learn. It involves training your mind to look at products and services in a different way and understanding how to improve upon them. How would you change the way a company you are familiar with is currently conducting business? Are there complimentary products or services that you feel would be of value to the same target market? Train yourself to be continuously learning about and evaluating other types of businesses. This is how to create ideas of your own and gain valuable insight into an industry. Project your understanding of a given industry into the future to get an idea for what types of products and services will be desired down the road. The marketplace of every industry is continuously changing, and those that have the foresight, ingenuity, and desire have the potential to capitalize on the opportunities that develop.
Although starting a business is never a sure thing in terms of success and prosperity, entrepreneurial thinking teaches you to capitalize on opportunities in your current job and other areas of your life as well. All of this does not mean that you should quit your job today. However, you should begin trying to lay the seeds for a type of business that interests you. What is it that you enjoy doing or have experience with? What demands are currently not being met in the marketplace? Why are companies not already doing this? The marketplace is full of opportunities and those that choose to take on the challenge give themselves the chance to create a type of wealth, happiness, and security that can be achieved by starting your own business.
Companies such as Yahoo, Amazon.com, and eBay were founded only a few short years ago and have enjoyed enormous success in their industry by generating significant value for their customers. These companies and many others often start in someone’s basement, garage, or dormitory. Being an entrepreneur has nothing to do with age, gender, race or education. Everyone must start somewhere, and those that have the drive and ambition to build their idea into a reality give themselves the chance for unparalleled success.
Starting a business is not something that happens overnight. However, it is probably not as difficult as you might imagine. The Internet has brought a wealth of information to your fingertips, if you know where to look for it. You can access information on almost every topic of interest to an entrepreneur by simply performing a search on any of the search engines. Speak with other individuals who have started their own business. They will provide you with a wealth of insight and possibly some useful contacts.
It is never too soon to begin contemplating starting your own business. This will only encourage your development as an entrepreneur and help open your eyes to opportunities in the marketplace that you never knew existed. The key is to believe in yourself, the idea, and have the desire to make it into a reality.
Jay Conrad Levinson The Father of Guerrilla Marketing Author: "Guerrilla Marketing" series of books Over 14 million sold; now in 42 languages www.gmarketing.com www.guerrillamarketingassociation.com
Books for Entrepreneurs:
Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara Winter
Click here
No Day Job
Guerrilla Marketing Online: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Earning Profits on the Internet by Jan Conrad Levinson
Click here
G Market Online
Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
Click here
G Market
Want to learn how to Market your small business or home based business?
Read Seven Steps for Creating Successful Marketing by marketing guru Jay Conrad Levison at
http://smallbusinesswinner.blogspot.com
Do you own a home business or other type of small business? This article will help you to think like an entrepreneur.
If you don’t have a small business or home business, you can learn why you should at least consider starting one.
Entrepreneurial Thinking
By Jonathan R. Aspatore
There has never been a better time to start your own business. Major consolidation continues by large corporations in many industries creating profitable niches for new businesses to fill. The advances being made in technology and the Internet have created entirely new industries for business products and services, which are still relatively untapped. Even companies in the automobile and insurance industries are finding their way to the Web to capitalize on this rapidly growing medium. These developments represent dynamic changes for businesses in every industry and create the perfect chance for you to build a profitable company in your area of interest or expertise.
Entrepreneurial thinking is about recognizing opportunities in the marketplace and understanding how and when to capitalize on them. Becoming an entrepreneur is not necessarily an inherent trait. It takes time to train yourself to use your talents and experience to see opportunities where others do not. Each individual possesses a different perspective on products they would find useful and services they would like to see perform differently. It can often be just as profitable to improve upon an existing business. The advantage here is that you can learn from the mistakes of competing companies while still borrowing the positive aspects of their business for your own. Whether starting a completely new type of business or expanding on current ideas already in the marketplace, the key is learning to use your unique perspective to produce a product or service that provides increased value to potential customers.
No one could ever have imagined the impact the Internet would have on the global economy. New industries have developed in the last few years to support the advanced communications capabilities of this medium. Many of the entrepreneurs that had the foresight and skills to capitalize on these opportunities became millionaires almost overnight. In fact, the Internet is such a dynamic medium that there is still amazing wealth being generated from the creation of new companies, and this trend shows no signs of slowing. The development of dynamic new products and services in any industry naturally creates the need for complimentary types of businesses. By learning to think as an entrepreneur you will position yourself to be ready to capitalize on these opportunities as they develop.
Entrepreneurial thinking is relatively easy to learn. It involves training your mind to look at products and services in a different way and understanding how to improve upon them. How would you change the way a company you are familiar with is currently conducting business? Are there complimentary products or services that you feel would be of value to the same target market? Train yourself to be continuously learning about and evaluating other types of businesses. This is how to create ideas of your own and gain valuable insight into an industry. Project your understanding of a given industry into the future to get an idea for what types of products and services will be desired down the road. The marketplace of every industry is continuously changing, and those that have the foresight, ingenuity, and desire have the potential to capitalize on the opportunities that develop.
Although starting a business is never a sure thing in terms of success and prosperity, entrepreneurial thinking teaches you to capitalize on opportunities in your current job and other areas of your life as well. All of this does not mean that you should quit your job today. However, you should begin trying to lay the seeds for a type of business that interests you. What is it that you enjoy doing or have experience with? What demands are currently not being met in the marketplace? Why are companies not already doing this? The marketplace is full of opportunities and those that choose to take on the challenge give themselves the chance to create a type of wealth, happiness, and security that can be achieved by starting your own business.
Companies such as Yahoo, Amazon.com, and eBay were founded only a few short years ago and have enjoyed enormous success in their industry by generating significant value for their customers. These companies and many others often start in someone’s basement, garage, or dormitory. Being an entrepreneur has nothing to do with age, gender, race or education. Everyone must start somewhere, and those that have the drive and ambition to build their idea into a reality give themselves the chance for unparalleled success.
Starting a business is not something that happens overnight. However, it is probably not as difficult as you might imagine. The Internet has brought a wealth of information to your fingertips, if you know where to look for it. You can access information on almost every topic of interest to an entrepreneur by simply performing a search on any of the search engines. Speak with other individuals who have started their own business. They will provide you with a wealth of insight and possibly some useful contacts.
It is never too soon to begin contemplating starting your own business. This will only encourage your development as an entrepreneur and help open your eyes to opportunities in the marketplace that you never knew existed. The key is to believe in yourself, the idea, and have the desire to make it into a reality.
Jay Conrad Levinson The Father of Guerrilla Marketing Author: "Guerrilla Marketing" series of books Over 14 million sold; now in 42 languages www.gmarketing.com www.guerrillamarketingassociation.com
Books for Entrepreneurs:
Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara Winter
Click here
No Day Job
Guerrilla Marketing Online: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Earning Profits on the Internet by Jan Conrad Levinson
Click here
G Market Online
Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
Click here
G Market
Want to learn how to Market your small business or home based business?
Read Seven Steps for Creating Successful Marketing by marketing guru Jay Conrad Levison at
http://smallbusinesswinner.blogspot.com
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Learn to Play the Reluctant Seller When You're Negotiating
byRoger Dawson
Imagine for a moment that you own a sailboat, and you're desperate to sell it. It was fun when you first got it, but now you hardly ever use it, and the maintenance and slip fees are eating you alive.
It's early Sunday morning, and you've given up a chance to play golf with your friends because you need to be down at the marina cleaning your boat. You're scrubbing away and cursing your stupidity for ever having bought the boat. Just as you're thinking, "I'm going to give this turkey away to the next person who comes along," you look up and see an expensively dressed man with a young girl on his arm coming down the dock. He's wearing Gucci loafers, white slacks, and a blue Burberry's blazer topped off with a silk cravat. His young girlfriend is wearing high heels, a silk sheath dress, big sunglasses, and huge diamond earrings.
They stop at your boat, and the man says, "That's a fine looking boat. By any chance is it for sale?"
His girl friend snuggles up to him and says, "Oh, let's buy it, poopsy. We'll have so much fun."
You feel your heart start to burst with joy and your mind is singing, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!"
Expressing that sentiment is not going to get you the best price for your boat, is it? How are you going to get the best price? By playing Reluctant Seller. You keep on scrubbing and say, "You're welcome to come aboard, although I hadn't thought of selling the boat."
You give them a tour of the boat and at every step of the way you tell them how much you love the boat and how much fun you have sailing her. Finally you tell them, "I can see how perfect this boat would be for you and how much fun you'd have with it, but I really don't think I could ever bear to part with it. However, just to be fair to you, what is the very best price you would give me?"
Power Negotiators know that this Reluctant Seller technique squeezes the negotiating range before the negotiating even starts. If you've done a good job of building the other person's desire to own the boat, he will have formed a negotiating range in his mind. He may be thinking, "I'd be willing to go to $30,000, $25,000 would be a fair deal and $20,000 would be a bargain." So, his negotiating range is from $20,000 to $30,000. Just by playing Reluctant Seller, you will have moved him up through that range. If you had appeared eager to sell, he may have offered you only $20,000. By playing Reluctant Seller you may move him to the mid-point, or even the high point of his negotiating range, before the negotiations even start.
One of my Power Negotiators is an extremely rich and powerful investor, a man who owns real estate all over town. He probably owns real estate worth $50 million, owes $35 million in loans, and therefore has a net worth of about $15 million. Very successful-what you could justifiably call a heavy hitter. He likes wheeling and dealing.
Like many investors, his strategy is simple: Buy a property at the right price and on the right terms, hold onto it and let it appreciate, then sell at a higher price. Many smaller investors bring him purchase offers for one of his holdings, eager to acquire one of his better-known properties.
That's when this well-seasoned investor knows how to use the Reluctant Buyer Gambit.
He reads the offer quietly, and when he's finished he slides it thoughtfully back across the table, scratches above one ear, saying something like, "I don't know. Of all my properties, I have very special feelings for this one. I was thinking of keeping it and giving it to my daughter for her college graduation present and I really don't think that I would part with it for anything less than the full asking price. You understand; this particular property is worth a great deal to me. But look, it was good of you to bring in an offer for me and in all fairness, so that you won't have wasted your time, what is the very best price that you feel you could give me?"
Many times, I saw him make thousands of dollars in just a few seconds using the Reluctant Seller philosophy.
Power Negotiators always try to edge up the other side's negotiating range before the real negotiating ever begins.
I remember an oceanfront condominium that I bought as an investment. The owner was asking $59,000 for it. It was a hot real estate market at the time and I wasn't sure how eager the owner was to sell or if they had any other offers on it. So, I wrote up three offers, one at $49,000, another at $54,000 and a third at $59,000. I made an appointment to meet with the seller, who had moved out of the condominium in Long Beach and was now living in Pasadena. After talking to her for a while, I determined that she hadn't had any other offers and that she was eager to sell. So I reached into my briefcase, where I had the three offers carefully filed and pulled out the lowest of them.
She accepted it, and when I sold the condominium a few years later, it fetched $129,000. (Be aware that you can do this only with a "For Sale by Owner." If a real estate agent has listed the property, that agent is working for the seller and is obligated to tell the seller if he's aware that the other side would pay more. Another reason why you should always list property with an agent when you're selling.)
So, Power Negotiators always play Reluctant Seller when they're selling. Even before the negotiation starts, it squeezes the other side's negotiating range.
Remember that when people do this kind of thing to you, that it's just a game that they are playing on you. Power Negotiators don't get upset about it. They just learn to play the negotiating game better than the other side.
Key points to remember:
Always play Reluctant Seller.
Playing this Gambit is a great way to squeeze the other side's negotiating range before the negotiation even starts.
The other person will typically give away half his or her negotiating range just because you use this.
Roger Dawson is a professional speaker and the author of two of best selling books on negotiating: Secrets of Power Negotiating and Secrets of Power Negotiating for Salespeople, both published by Career Press. He was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame in 1991. You can contact him at rogdawson@aol.com. His website address is: http://rdawson.com.
byRoger Dawson
Imagine for a moment that you own a sailboat, and you're desperate to sell it. It was fun when you first got it, but now you hardly ever use it, and the maintenance and slip fees are eating you alive.
It's early Sunday morning, and you've given up a chance to play golf with your friends because you need to be down at the marina cleaning your boat. You're scrubbing away and cursing your stupidity for ever having bought the boat. Just as you're thinking, "I'm going to give this turkey away to the next person who comes along," you look up and see an expensively dressed man with a young girl on his arm coming down the dock. He's wearing Gucci loafers, white slacks, and a blue Burberry's blazer topped off with a silk cravat. His young girlfriend is wearing high heels, a silk sheath dress, big sunglasses, and huge diamond earrings.
They stop at your boat, and the man says, "That's a fine looking boat. By any chance is it for sale?"
His girl friend snuggles up to him and says, "Oh, let's buy it, poopsy. We'll have so much fun."
You feel your heart start to burst with joy and your mind is singing, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!"
Expressing that sentiment is not going to get you the best price for your boat, is it? How are you going to get the best price? By playing Reluctant Seller. You keep on scrubbing and say, "You're welcome to come aboard, although I hadn't thought of selling the boat."
You give them a tour of the boat and at every step of the way you tell them how much you love the boat and how much fun you have sailing her. Finally you tell them, "I can see how perfect this boat would be for you and how much fun you'd have with it, but I really don't think I could ever bear to part with it. However, just to be fair to you, what is the very best price you would give me?"
Power Negotiators know that this Reluctant Seller technique squeezes the negotiating range before the negotiating even starts. If you've done a good job of building the other person's desire to own the boat, he will have formed a negotiating range in his mind. He may be thinking, "I'd be willing to go to $30,000, $25,000 would be a fair deal and $20,000 would be a bargain." So, his negotiating range is from $20,000 to $30,000. Just by playing Reluctant Seller, you will have moved him up through that range. If you had appeared eager to sell, he may have offered you only $20,000. By playing Reluctant Seller you may move him to the mid-point, or even the high point of his negotiating range, before the negotiations even start.
One of my Power Negotiators is an extremely rich and powerful investor, a man who owns real estate all over town. He probably owns real estate worth $50 million, owes $35 million in loans, and therefore has a net worth of about $15 million. Very successful-what you could justifiably call a heavy hitter. He likes wheeling and dealing.
Like many investors, his strategy is simple: Buy a property at the right price and on the right terms, hold onto it and let it appreciate, then sell at a higher price. Many smaller investors bring him purchase offers for one of his holdings, eager to acquire one of his better-known properties.
That's when this well-seasoned investor knows how to use the Reluctant Buyer Gambit.
He reads the offer quietly, and when he's finished he slides it thoughtfully back across the table, scratches above one ear, saying something like, "I don't know. Of all my properties, I have very special feelings for this one. I was thinking of keeping it and giving it to my daughter for her college graduation present and I really don't think that I would part with it for anything less than the full asking price. You understand; this particular property is worth a great deal to me. But look, it was good of you to bring in an offer for me and in all fairness, so that you won't have wasted your time, what is the very best price that you feel you could give me?"
Many times, I saw him make thousands of dollars in just a few seconds using the Reluctant Seller philosophy.
Power Negotiators always try to edge up the other side's negotiating range before the real negotiating ever begins.
I remember an oceanfront condominium that I bought as an investment. The owner was asking $59,000 for it. It was a hot real estate market at the time and I wasn't sure how eager the owner was to sell or if they had any other offers on it. So, I wrote up three offers, one at $49,000, another at $54,000 and a third at $59,000. I made an appointment to meet with the seller, who had moved out of the condominium in Long Beach and was now living in Pasadena. After talking to her for a while, I determined that she hadn't had any other offers and that she was eager to sell. So I reached into my briefcase, where I had the three offers carefully filed and pulled out the lowest of them.
She accepted it, and when I sold the condominium a few years later, it fetched $129,000. (Be aware that you can do this only with a "For Sale by Owner." If a real estate agent has listed the property, that agent is working for the seller and is obligated to tell the seller if he's aware that the other side would pay more. Another reason why you should always list property with an agent when you're selling.)
So, Power Negotiators always play Reluctant Seller when they're selling. Even before the negotiation starts, it squeezes the other side's negotiating range.
Remember that when people do this kind of thing to you, that it's just a game that they are playing on you. Power Negotiators don't get upset about it. They just learn to play the negotiating game better than the other side.
Key points to remember:
Always play Reluctant Seller.
Playing this Gambit is a great way to squeeze the other side's negotiating range before the negotiation even starts.
The other person will typically give away half his or her negotiating range just because you use this.
Roger Dawson is a professional speaker and the author of two of best selling books on negotiating: Secrets of Power Negotiating and Secrets of Power Negotiating for Salespeople, both published by Career Press. He was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame in 1991. You can contact him at rogdawson@aol.com. His website address is: http://rdawson.com.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Nap Today, Perform Better Tomorrow.
Copyright (c) 2007 BrainFit For Life
A couple of new reports came out this week addressing sleep in our culture. Everyone knows that they feel a little cranky when they don’t get enough sleep. It’s therefore no surprise that sleep affects your mood. What may be surprising, though, is that scientists know very little about why that’s true.
We understand quite a bit about why sleep disrupts your immune function, your metabolism and your ability to learn and remember things. I have discussed each of these in past articles. But we don’t know much about how sleep regulates mood. An interesting new study published in Current Biology by Michael Walker, sheds some light on this subject.
A loss of reason
A complex brain circuit that involves both higher thinking centers and reactive centers controls your emotions. It’s the higher thinking centers that separate us from other animals. We have the ability (although we don’t always use it) to evaluate our responses thoughtfully, before just reacting impulsively.
In the new study, volunteers were either deprived of a good night’s sleep or allowed to sleep normally. Researchers then looked at both their higher thinking and their reactive brain centers after presenting them with some emotionally negative images to stir their reactions.
They found that specific reactive centers of the brain acted the same whether or not the volunteers had slept well the night before. But certain higher thinking centers responsible for keeping those reaction centers under control, were much less active in the sleep deprived group.
The interpretation of this is that our ‘gut reactions’ are not really that affected by lack of sleep (at least in this situation) but our ability to reason and monitor those reactions is weakened, which can have all kinds of downstream consequences.
Is a longer workday productive?
Why is this important? Other studies show that we are getting far less sleep today than we did a century ago and throughout history. The advent of artificial light has extended the length of our daily ‘productivity’, but many argue that this is actually counter-productive. By not getting optimal sleep, we are decreasing our ability to function efficiently the next day, and actually getting less done.
In fact, another study just released shows exactly that. In this one, researchers, Patricia Murphy and Scott Campbell, showed that napping is actually productive. First of all, midday napping did not cause people to sleep less well at night, as many believe. Second, midday napping improved performance on math, decision-making and reaction-time tests. This increased performance was true after the nap and lasted all the way into the next day, following the nap.
Many of us are so busy that we steal hours from our sleep to attempt to get more done. But science argues that we are not getting more done this way. We are actually reducing our ability to be creative, make decisions, work efficiently and cooperate with other people. Perhaps a little more time invested in our rest could dramatically improve our career and personal relationships.
------
Master Brain Fitness techniques for you and your family. Your Brain Fitness holds is the key to unlock your maximum potential. Dr. Simon Evans and Dr. Paul Burghardt at BrainFit For Life put together the right ingredients in right amount to create the recipe for success. Visit http://www.BrainFitForLife.com for FREE Brain Fitness resources.
Copyright (c) 2007 BrainFit For Life
A couple of new reports came out this week addressing sleep in our culture. Everyone knows that they feel a little cranky when they don’t get enough sleep. It’s therefore no surprise that sleep affects your mood. What may be surprising, though, is that scientists know very little about why that’s true.
We understand quite a bit about why sleep disrupts your immune function, your metabolism and your ability to learn and remember things. I have discussed each of these in past articles. But we don’t know much about how sleep regulates mood. An interesting new study published in Current Biology by Michael Walker, sheds some light on this subject.
A loss of reason
A complex brain circuit that involves both higher thinking centers and reactive centers controls your emotions. It’s the higher thinking centers that separate us from other animals. We have the ability (although we don’t always use it) to evaluate our responses thoughtfully, before just reacting impulsively.
In the new study, volunteers were either deprived of a good night’s sleep or allowed to sleep normally. Researchers then looked at both their higher thinking and their reactive brain centers after presenting them with some emotionally negative images to stir their reactions.
They found that specific reactive centers of the brain acted the same whether or not the volunteers had slept well the night before. But certain higher thinking centers responsible for keeping those reaction centers under control, were much less active in the sleep deprived group.
The interpretation of this is that our ‘gut reactions’ are not really that affected by lack of sleep (at least in this situation) but our ability to reason and monitor those reactions is weakened, which can have all kinds of downstream consequences.
Is a longer workday productive?
Why is this important? Other studies show that we are getting far less sleep today than we did a century ago and throughout history. The advent of artificial light has extended the length of our daily ‘productivity’, but many argue that this is actually counter-productive. By not getting optimal sleep, we are decreasing our ability to function efficiently the next day, and actually getting less done.
In fact, another study just released shows exactly that. In this one, researchers, Patricia Murphy and Scott Campbell, showed that napping is actually productive. First of all, midday napping did not cause people to sleep less well at night, as many believe. Second, midday napping improved performance on math, decision-making and reaction-time tests. This increased performance was true after the nap and lasted all the way into the next day, following the nap.
Many of us are so busy that we steal hours from our sleep to attempt to get more done. But science argues that we are not getting more done this way. We are actually reducing our ability to be creative, make decisions, work efficiently and cooperate with other people. Perhaps a little more time invested in our rest could dramatically improve our career and personal relationships.
------
Master Brain Fitness techniques for you and your family. Your Brain Fitness holds is the key to unlock your maximum potential. Dr. Simon Evans and Dr. Paul Burghardt at BrainFit For Life put together the right ingredients in right amount to create the recipe for success. Visit http://www.BrainFitForLife.com for FREE Brain Fitness resources.
Friday, November 02, 2007
8 Habits of Wealthy People
One of the best books on creating wealth that I’ve read is “Automatic Wealth: the 6 Steps to Financial Independence,” by Michael Masterson. What makes this book so valuable is that Masterson doesn’t tell you how to “get rich quick.” That seldom works. Instead, he shows that building wealth is a process. If you follow the process, wealth will follow.
The book is filled with nuts-and-bolts advice, not theory. As a case in point, Masterson offers 8 habits the wealthy have that help them to not only acquire wealth, but to keep it.
So here goes:
They work hard. About 59 hours per week, on average. The good news is, most have found work they enjoy so it doesn’t seem like work. So I suggest that you find work or start a business that you really like.
They are good at what they do. They have confidence and poise because of their skill. “There is something palpable in the way they hold themselves and the way they speak,” Masterson says.
They have multiple streams of income. It is still critical to develop your core skill first, but once you have done that, look for other ways to bring in income on the side, such as investing, according to Masterson.
They live in (relatively) inexpensive homes. Keep in mind, the bigger the house, with its bigger payments, the more you will pay for taxes, insurance and utilities, as well as more expensive furniture to show off your investment, Masterson warns.
They are moderate in their spending. Don’t’ be a Mike Tyson, the boxer who earned $400 million in 20 years and by 2004 was $38 million in debt, according to Masterson.
They are great at spending less. They buy less expensive cars and eat at home, for example.
They pay themselves first. They developed the habit early on of always putting a predetermined percentage of their income in a savings account.
They count their money. Wealthy people always know where they stand in financial terms.
So there you have it. Eight habits that lead to wealth. This is a very small sampling of the great advice in “Automatic Wealth.”
To read some more excerpts from the book, click here.
Automatic Wealth Link
Or click on the image in the upper left hand corner of this blog.
One of the best books on creating wealth that I’ve read is “Automatic Wealth: the 6 Steps to Financial Independence,” by Michael Masterson. What makes this book so valuable is that Masterson doesn’t tell you how to “get rich quick.” That seldom works. Instead, he shows that building wealth is a process. If you follow the process, wealth will follow.
The book is filled with nuts-and-bolts advice, not theory. As a case in point, Masterson offers 8 habits the wealthy have that help them to not only acquire wealth, but to keep it.
So here goes:
They work hard. About 59 hours per week, on average. The good news is, most have found work they enjoy so it doesn’t seem like work. So I suggest that you find work or start a business that you really like.
They are good at what they do. They have confidence and poise because of their skill. “There is something palpable in the way they hold themselves and the way they speak,” Masterson says.
They have multiple streams of income. It is still critical to develop your core skill first, but once you have done that, look for other ways to bring in income on the side, such as investing, according to Masterson.
They live in (relatively) inexpensive homes. Keep in mind, the bigger the house, with its bigger payments, the more you will pay for taxes, insurance and utilities, as well as more expensive furniture to show off your investment, Masterson warns.
They are moderate in their spending. Don’t’ be a Mike Tyson, the boxer who earned $400 million in 20 years and by 2004 was $38 million in debt, according to Masterson.
They are great at spending less. They buy less expensive cars and eat at home, for example.
They pay themselves first. They developed the habit early on of always putting a predetermined percentage of their income in a savings account.
They count their money. Wealthy people always know where they stand in financial terms.
So there you have it. Eight habits that lead to wealth. This is a very small sampling of the great advice in “Automatic Wealth.”
To read some more excerpts from the book, click here.
Automatic Wealth Link
Or click on the image in the upper left hand corner of this blog.
THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILL YOU CAN HAVE
by Danek S. Kaus
The Most Important Success Skill You Can Have -- and How to Get It.
Whether you have a job or own your own business, the most important skill you can have is the ability to sell.
Now before you stop reading in disgust thinking that you don’t want to wear loud sports coats and white shoes, those days are over. The best sales people are highly skilled professionals who make a lot of money solving problems for other people. That’s what modern selling is about. Solving problems.
If you own a business, you understand the need to be able to persuade people to buy your goods or services.
If you work for someone else, consider getting into sales. Why? First, you can probably make more money than in your current position. Second, if the economy turns bad, the last people a company wants to let go are the ones who bring in the money – the sales people.
Even if you still decide that selling is not for you, it’s always helpful to be able to influence people in -- every area of your life. Learning sales and persuasion techniques can help you do that.
With that in mind, I am listing some of the best books and CDs I’ve come across on the subject of sales and persuasion.
"Power Persuasion: Using Hypnotic Influence to Win in Life, Love and Business,” by David R. Barron and Danek S. Kaus
Power Persuasion
“Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale,” by Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar 1
“5 Steps to Successful Selling,” by Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar
“Be a Sales Superstar: 21 Great Ways to Sell More, Faster, Easier in Tough Markets,” by Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy
“The Psychology of Selling: The Art of Closing Sales,” by Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy
by Danek S. Kaus
The Most Important Success Skill You Can Have -- and How to Get It.
Whether you have a job or own your own business, the most important skill you can have is the ability to sell.
Now before you stop reading in disgust thinking that you don’t want to wear loud sports coats and white shoes, those days are over. The best sales people are highly skilled professionals who make a lot of money solving problems for other people. That’s what modern selling is about. Solving problems.
If you own a business, you understand the need to be able to persuade people to buy your goods or services.
If you work for someone else, consider getting into sales. Why? First, you can probably make more money than in your current position. Second, if the economy turns bad, the last people a company wants to let go are the ones who bring in the money – the sales people.
Even if you still decide that selling is not for you, it’s always helpful to be able to influence people in -- every area of your life. Learning sales and persuasion techniques can help you do that.
With that in mind, I am listing some of the best books and CDs I’ve come across on the subject of sales and persuasion.
"Power Persuasion: Using Hypnotic Influence to Win in Life, Love and Business,” by David R. Barron and Danek S. Kaus
Power Persuasion
“Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale,” by Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar 1
“5 Steps to Successful Selling,” by Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar
“Be a Sales Superstar: 21 Great Ways to Sell More, Faster, Easier in Tough Markets,” by Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy
“The Psychology of Selling: The Art of Closing Sales,” by Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy
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