Wintertime Whip security

Ran into a couple car myths online......I could use em, figured y'all could too.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, it's not what you don't know that can come back to bite you; it's what you know for sure that ain't true. When it comes to maintaining your car, misconceptions abound. And even the best intentions can lead you to spend more money than necessary or even compromise your safety. Here are common myths that can do more harm than good:

Myth: Engine oil should be changed every 3,000 miles.
Reality: Despite what oil companies and quick-lube shops often claim, it's usually not necessary. Stick to the service intervals in your car's owner's manual. Under normal driving conditions, most vehicles are designed to go 7,500 miles or more between oil changes. Changing oil more often doesn't hurt the engine, but it can cost you a lot of extra money. Automakers often recommend 3,000-mile intervals for severe driving conditions, such as constant stop-and-go driving, frequent trailer-towing, mountainous terrain, or dusty conditions.

Myth: Inflate tires to the pressure shown on the tire's sidewall.
Reality: The pounds-per-square-inch figure on the side of the tire is the maximum pressure that the tire can safely hold, not the automaker's recommended pressure, which provides the best balance of braking, handling, gas mileage, and ride comfort. That figure is usually found on a doorjamb sticker, in the glove box, or on the fuel-filler door. Perform a monthly pressure check when tires are cold or after the car has been parked for a few hours.

Myth: If the brake fluid is low, topping it off will fix the problem.
Reality: As brake pads wear, the level in the brake-fluid reservoir drops a bit. That helps you monitor brake wear. If the fluid level drops to or below the Low mark on the reservoir, then either your brakes are worn out or fluid is leaking. Either way, get the brake system serviced immediately. You should also get a routine brake inspection when you rotate the tires, about every 6,000 to 7,000 miles.

Myth: If regular-grade fuel is good, premium must be better.
Reality: Most vehicles run just fine on regular-grade (87 octane) fuel. Using premium in these cars won't hurt, but it won't improve performance, either. A higher-octane number simply means that the fuel is less prone to pre-ignition problems, so it's often specified for hotter running, high-compression engines. So if your car is designed for 87-octane fuel, don't waste money on premium.

Myth: Flush the coolant with every oil change.
Reality: Radiator coolant doesn't need to be replaced very often. Most owner's manuals recommend changing the coolant every five years or 60,000 miles. Of course, if the level in the coolant reservoir is chronically low, check for a leak and get service as soon as possible.

Myth: After a jump-start, your car will soon recharge the battery.
Reality: It could take hours of driving to restore a battery's full charge, especially in the winter. That's because power accessories, such as heated seats, draw so much electricity that in some cars the alternator has little left over to recharge a run-down battery. A"load test" at a service station can determine whether the battery can still hold a charge. If so, some hours on a battery charger might be needed to revive the battery to its full potential.

Myth: Let your engine warm up for several minutes before driving.
Reality: That might have been good advice for yesteryear's cars but is less so today. Modern engines warm up more quickly when they're driven. And the sooner they warm up, the sooner they reach maximum efficiency and deliver the best fuel economy and performance. But don't rev the engine high over the first few miles while it's warming up.

Myth: A dealership must perform regular maintenance to keep your car's factory warranty valid.
Reality: As long as the maintenance items specified in the vehicle owner's manual are performed on schedule, the work can be done at any auto-repair shop. If you're knowledgeable, you can even do the work yourself. Just keep accurate records and receipts to back you up in case of a warranty dispute on a future repair.

Myth: Dishwashing and laundry detergents make a good car wash.
Reality: Detergent can strip off a car's wax finish. Instead, use a car-wash liquid, which is formulated to clean without removing wax.

OUTFORMATION

Prof Griff speaking on some things. Whether you believe it or not- interesting none the less.

Lesson of celebs who went broke

In this current economy, unless you're a doctor or lawyer or teacher, your job could be GONE......These are all celebs who have made enough money to be set for a lifetime who made bad decisions and lost. Y'all know I drop movies,fly kicks,music and all that, but I also try to keep y'all up on the Winner mentality as much as possible. I share what I find interesting and this definitely was eye opening.

Top 10 Celebrity Bankruptcies You Can Learn From

Celebrities from around the world are often admired for their fame and their fortune. Let’s face it, practically anyone would love to live in the lap of luxury, with millions to spend on some of the world’s most extravagant and opulent treats. Whether it’s John Travolta’s Boeing 707 private jet(1), Donald Trump’s high-end real estate ventures(2), or Ryan Seacrest’s magnificent home theater(3), celebrities certainly know how to spend a pretty penny. Every now and then, however, stories of celebrities gone bankrupt come about. Whether they make it back on top or not, celebrity bankruptcies are some interesting stories to follow. Here are 10 celebrity bankruptcies that you might want to learn from on your way to making your own fortune.

Mike Tyson(4)

Michael Gerard Tyson, otherwise known as “Iron Mike” Tyson, is one of the most popular and controversial figures in boxing history. As the youngest-ever winner of a heavyweight boxing title, Mike Tyson gained fame and a fortune amounting to an estimated $300-million. In August of 2003, after being convicted of rape and getting back into the ring again, Tyson filed for bankruptcy due to uncontrolled spending and bad financial advice.
Kim Basinger(5)

Kimila Ann “Kim” Basinger was a model turned film actress who became famous for her roles in “Never Say Never Again,” “The Natural,” “L.A. Confidential,” and “Batman.” Winner of a Golden Globe Award, Academy Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, Basinger had a promising career. In 1989, Basinger and a few other investors put up $20 million dollars to buy a small town in Georgia called Braselton. After spending such a hefty amount, she was sued for $8-million for backing-out of the film “Boxing Helena,” ultimately leading to her filing for bankruptcy.
Burt Reynolds(6)

Burton Leon “Burt” Reynolds, Jr. is an actor who has become well-known for the hundreds of film appearances that he has made throughout his ongoing career. Reynolds had to file for bankruptcy in 1996, because of his lavish expenses, a failed business venture and a divorce from Loni Anderson. He rebounded from the bankruptcy within a couple of years.

Toni Braxton(7)

Toni Mechelle Braxton has gained much of her popularity as a singer and songwriter of R&B music, as well as a few acting roles. In line with a $3.9-million debt, Braxton had to file for bankruptcy in 1998, forcing her to sell many of her posessions to pay-off creditors. After filing for bankruptcy, she was offered a Broadway role in “Beauty and the Beast”, which helped her get back on track. She soon released a chart-topping album that catapulted her back into fame and out of bankruptcy.
MC Hammer(8)

Stanley Kirk Burrell, best known by his stage name MC Hammer, became famous during the 1980s and 1990s as a rapper and dancer. In 1996, Hammer had to file for bankruptcy after acruing a debt of $13 million. His extravagant lifestyle and decreasing album sales led to the bankruptcy. Since declaring bankruptcy, Hammer has released a number of albums and, in 2008, became host and CEO of a television show.
Wayne Newton(9)

Carson Wayne Newton, also known as Mr. Las Vegas, is an actor and entertainer who has had over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas. Despite his success as an entertainer, Newton had to file for bankruptcy in 1992, with a debt of about $20 million. The debt was largely due to a libel case that he filed against NBC. It was not until 1999 that Newton would be able to build his fortunes once again.
Marvin Gaye(10)

Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. is an iconic image in the soul and R&B music who became famous during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1979, Gaye had to file for bankruptcy due to tax problems, overdue alimony payments, and drug addiction. He moved to Hawaii and, later on, to Europe. Touring Europe and later returning to the US, Gaye began to regain fame until he was shot and killed by is father.
Meat Loaf(11)

Michael Lee Aday is a musician, stage actor and screen actor who is best known by his stage name Meat Loaf. Meat Loaf has been very successful as a rock musician, but he has had to endure two major bankruptcies during the 1980s. The first bankruptcy was caused when Meat Loaf found out that his managers, Dellentash and Sonenberg, were stealing money from him. Meat Loaf changed managers and was sued for breach of contract, leading him to file for bankruptcy. The second bankruptcy happened during 1986, when Meat Loaf’s new album failed to become a hit. Since filing for the 1986 bankruptcy, Meat Loaf has been able to rebound, touring and producing new albums.
Cyndi Lauper(12)

Cynthia Ann Stephanie “Cyndi” Lauper is an actress and singer-songwriter who has won an American Grammy and an Emmy award. Before becoming successful, Lauper was in a band called Blue Angel, which released an album that didn’t do well. The band broke up and fired their manager, who later sued them for breach of contract. The $80,000 lawsuit caused Lauper to declare bankruptcy in 1980. She later went on to success and fame in the mid-1980s. Lauper has released a total of 11 albums and more than 40 singles, with her total record sales amounting to over $25 million.
Gary Coleman(13)

Gary Wayne Coleman became popular during the late 1970s up to the mid-1980s as an actor in an American sitcom named “Diff’rent Strokes.” Coleman filed for bankruptcy in 1999, due to the mismanagement of his trust funds. Since declaring bankruptcy, Coleman has made a number of appearances on television and in movies, but he has never regained the fame that he had in the 80s.
While some of these celebrity bankruptcies may be inspiring “rags-to-riches” stories, others have not ended so well. It can be difficult to maintain one’s fortune after making it, which is why it’s important to learn from these stories of bankruptcies. Most of the celebrities who have filed for bankruptcy have been forced to do so due to uncontrolled spending, lavish lifestyles, legal matters, or mishandled fortunes. It is easy to get caught up trying to make money, but it’s essential to know how to manage money once you have it, to avoid bankruptcy.

Here are some simple things you can do to avoid bankruptcy:(14)
1. Try to negotiate with your creditors for extensions on debt payments.
2. Make sure you get sound advise from financial and legal experts who have a good track record.
3. Manage your resources well and keep track of your expenses and income.
No matter what you do, always hold on to the things in life that are more meaningful than money, like family, friends, laughter, and love.


SOURCE

sharing the wealth

This lil tidbit inspired me this morning. I haven't dropped something for those who want that Winning status in a minute. Stay positive and think like a Champion. We should all have dreams and goals and we should always push each other to get where we want to go. Secrets of the self employed and successful.

#1 –

We Only Have 2 Products: Time and Knowledge
No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself. Likewise, you only have 2 products to sell, your time and your knowledge. Here are a few example scenarios:

Migrant Farmer – Sells hours of his/her life to pick fruit or vegetables for a farmer in exchange for money. A perfect example of trading hours for dollars.
Doctor – Sells hours of his/her life to perform medical treatments based on the knowledge stored in his/her brain. A perfect example of trading hours and knowledge for dollars.
Best-Selling Author – Spends time crafting a book based on his/her knowledge or intellectual capacity and then sells the book (knowledge) many times over. A perfect example of trading knowledge for dollars. The key benefit here is residual, passive income.
In almost all cases of the self-employed, the small business owner is taking information out of his or her brain and spending the necessary time to convert it into a product of value. This concept confuses some people, and to others it seems obvious. The bottom line is that customers pay you for your time and knowledge. Success is achieved by properly crafting the two into one convenient bundle that can be sold many times over (think of products vs. services).

What knowledge do you have in your brain that provides value to others? How can you extract this information and sell it?



#2 –

The Implementation of Knowledge is Power
Knowledge alone is not power! The implementation of knowledge is power. Knowledge is simply a commodity; it’s a product like any other that has the potential to be sold. How knowledge is organized, packaged, presented, shared, and received by others is what makes knowledge so powerful.

Knowledge is useless unless it’s effectively shared with others. Your ability to educate others in a way that allows them to effectively apply the instruction is what makes knowledge an asset… something worth buying.



#3 –

Time is More Valuable than Money
One of the most important points to understand is the fact that there are two basic forms of currency, money and time. Of the two, time is the most valuable, for it cannot be replenished. A surplus of time, and the unfettered liberty to do with it as you choose, is the true measure of success.

Your time must be extracted from the formula of making money. No matter how skilled you are at transferring your knowledge to others, if you are paid on an hours for dollars basis, your ability to expand your business will eventually plateau. You will run out of time.

The successfully self-employed have made this realization and concentrate the majority of their time and effort on the single greatest secret of self-employment: generating passive income. Passive income is achieved by applying what you know into a package that can be designed and built once, and then repeatedly sold over and over again. Finding a unique way to promote and sell this knowlege is the key.

Passive Income Examples: Useful books and guides, time saving computer applications, etc.



#4 –

Success is About Knowing What You Want
Self-employed success is not the byproduct of working your way up from the ground up. It’s based on knowing what you want, understanding your abilities and implementing them diligently to achieve your goals. There are plenty of people who get laid-off from their 9 to 5 day job and end up making millions in a few short years of self-employment.

Take a look at some of the success stories around you that emerged from nowhere. These success stories were not initiated by people paying their dues to someone else’s initiatives. These success stories revolve strictly around perception and choice. The people in these stories know their capabilities, what they’re doing, and what they want. Once people make this realization, and the conscious choice to act on it, the possibilities for success are limitless.


shouts to the bgol illuminati

aiight WAKE UP!!!!!!!

Haven't done a drop from this brother for a second. So ease back and soak it up. The always eloquent and intriguing Dick Gregory.


Check the related vidz too.

uno

Green piece of paper

More insights from Pete Schiff. I'm seriously considering grabbing a copy of his new book CRASH PROOF-How to profit from the upcoming economic collapse



MORE FOOD From Schiff

secrets revealed............

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More than any gossip that y'all get from a host of other spots, most on the right side of this page, I usually try to make my blog a collection of personal rants and interests but also personal storage for info that I'll usually dig into at some later time to analyze. I figure that making this information outformation is best because the one thing that we need to do more of as a peoples is spread the info............................

If your self employed or seeking to be, peep the steezeoid.......

#1 –

We Only Have 2 Products: Time and Knowledge
No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself. Likewise, you only have 2 products to sell, your time and your knowledge. Here are a few example scenarios:

Migrant Farmer – Sells hours of his/her life to pick fruit or vegetables for a farmer in exchange for money. A perfect example of trading hours for dollars.
Doctor – Sells hours of his/her life to perform medical treatments based on the knowledge stored in his/her brain. A perfect example of trading hours and knowledge for dollars.
Best-Selling Author – Spends time crafting a book based on his/her knowledge or intellectual capacity and then sells the book (knowledge) many times over. A perfect example of trading knowledge for dollars. The key benefit here is residual, passive income.
In almost all cases of the self-employed, the small business owner is taking information out of his or her brain and spending the necessary time to convert it into a product of value. This concept confuses some people, and to others it seems obvious. The bottom line is that customers pay you for your time and knowledge. Success is achieved by properly crafting the two into one convenient bundle that can be sold many times over (think of products vs. services).

What knowledge do you have in your brain that provides value to others? How can you extract this information and sell it?



#2 –

The Implementation of Knowledge is Power
Knowledge alone is not power! The implementation of knowledge is power. Knowledge is simply a commodity; it’s a product like any other that has the potential to be sold. How knowledge is organized, packaged, presented, shared, and received by others is what makes knowledge so powerful.

Knowledge is useless unless it’s effectively shared with others. Your ability to educate others in a way that allows them to effectively apply the instruction is what makes knowledge an asset… something worth buying.



#3 –

Time is More Valuable than Money
One of the most important points to understand is the fact that there are two basic forms of currency, money and time. Of the two, time is the most valuable, for it cannot be replenished. A surplus of time, and the unfettered liberty to do with it as you choose, is the true measure of success.

Your time must be extracted from the formula of making money. No matter how skilled you are at transferring your knowledge to others, if you are paid on an hours for dollars basis, your ability to expand your business will eventually plateau. You will run out of time.

The successfully self-employed have made this realization and concentrate the majority of their time and effort on the single greatest secret of self-employment: generating passive income. Passive income is achieved by applying what you know into a package that can be designed and built once, and then repeatedly sold over and over again. Finding a unique way to promote and sell this knowlege is the key.
Passive Income Examples: Useful books and guides, time saving computer applications, etc.



#4 –

Success is About Knowing What You Want
Self-employed success is not the byproduct of working your way up from the ground up. It’s based on knowing what you want, understanding your abilities and implementing them diligently to achieve your goals. There are plenty of people who get laid-off from their 9 to 5 day job and end up making millions in a few short years of self-employment.

Take a look at some of the success stories around you that emerged from nowhere. These success stories were not initiated by people paying their dues to someone else’s initiatives. These success stories revolve strictly around perception and choice. The people in these stories know their capabilities, what they’re doing, and what they want. Once people make this realization, and the conscious choice to act on it, the possibilities for success are limitless.

credit crunching..........................

Remove Late Payments From Your Credit Report Using Three Different Ways

Removing a late payment entry from your credit report, most especially if you do not have several late payment markings on the same credit account, is not so hard. You can always negotiate your way into the removal of the late payment record on your credit report. Here are three different methods which you can conveniently try to erase the late payment marks from your credit report:

1. Request a goodwill adjustment from your first creditor.

One of the easiest means to delete a late payment from your credit account record is to ask your original loaner for a goodwill adjustment. Goodwill adjustment is a process of altering your credit marking from "late" to "current." Asking for a goodwill adjustment from your loaners is easier if your payment records prior to the late payment are fairly impressive.

2. Work out a late payment removal by signing up for automatic payment services.

Another technique you can use to erase the late payment entry from that credit report is to sign-up for automatic payment services. Several loaners will help you erase the negative entries on your credit report only if you support their automatic payment service. The arrangement is actually beneficial for both: the creditor will obtain your payments on time and you will finish your financial responsibilities on schedule.

3. Present a lien stating that the late payment marking is inexact.

Disputing the inexactness of the details of your credit history is also a great means to eliminate the late payment entry on your credit report. Loaners, thanks to the large number of credit records they handle every day, have the tendency to have a difficult time affirming the details on your credit record. If the loaners fail to verify the accuracy of the late payment record, then that poor entry in your credit account will be erased.

TOP 10 myths of entrepreneurship

Many entrepreneurs believe a bunch of myths about entrepreneurship, so here are ten of the most common and the realities that bust them:

1. It takes a lot of money to finance a new business. Not true. The typical start-up only requires about $25,000 to get going. The successful entrepreneurs who don’t believe the myth design their businesses to work with little cash. They borrow instead of paying for things. They rent instead of buy. And they turn fixed costs into variable costs by, say, paying people commissions instead of salaries.

2. Venture capitalists are a good place to go for start-up money. Not unless you start a computer or biotech company. Computer hardware and software, semiconductors, communication, and biotechnology account for 81 percent of all venture capital dollars, and seventy-two percent of the companies that got VC money over the past fifteen or so years. VCs only fund about 3,000 companies per year and only about one quarter of those companies are in the seed or start-up stage. In fact, the odds that a start-up company will get VC money are about one in 4,000. That’s worse than the odds that you will die from a fall in the shower.

3. Most business angels are rich. If rich means being an accredited investor –a person with a net worth of more than $1 million or an annual income of $200,000 per year if single and $300,000 if married – then the answer is “no.” Almost three quarters of the people who provide capital to fund the start-ups of other people who are not friends, neighbors, co-workers, or family don’t meet SEC accreditation requirements. In fact, thirty-two percent have a household income of $40,000 per year or less and seventeen percent have a negative net worth.

4. Start-ups can’t be financed with debt. Actually, debt is more common than equity. According to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Small Business Finances, fifty-three percent of the financing of companies that are two years old or younger comes from debt and only forty-seven percent comes from equity. So a lot of entrepreneurs out there are using debt rather than equity to fund their companies.

5. Banks don’t lend money to start-ups. This is another myth. Again, the Federal Reserve data shows that banks account for sixteen percent of all the financing provided to companies that are two years old or younger. While sixteen percent might not seem that high, it is three percent higher than the amount of money provided by the next highest source – trade creditors – and is higher than a bunch of other sources that everyone talks about going to: friends and family, business angels, venture capitalists, strategic investors, and government agencies.

6. Most entrepreneurs start businesses in attractive industries. Sadly, the opposite is true. Most entrepreneurs head right for the worst industries for start-ups. The correlation between the number of entrepreneurs starting businesses in an industry and the number of companies failing in the industry is 0.77. That means that most entrepreneurs are picking industries in which they are mostlikely to fail.

7. The growth of a start-up depends more on an entrepreneur’s talent than on the business he chooses. Sorry to deflate some egos here, but the industry you choose to start your company has a huge effect on the odds that it will grow. Over the past twenty years or so, about 4.2 percent of all start-ups in the computer and office equipment industry made the Inc 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. 0.005 percent of start-ups in the hotel and motel industry and 0.007 percent of start-up eating and drinking establishments made the Inc. 500. That means the odds that you will make the Inc 500 are 840 times higher if you start a computer company than if you start a hotel or motel. There is nothing anyone has discovered about the effects of entrepreneurial talent that has a similar magnitude effect on the growth of new businesses.

8. Most entrepreneurs are successful financially. Sorry, this is another myth. Entrepreneurship creates a lot of wealth, but it is very unevenly distributed. The typical profit of an owner-managed business is $39,000 per year. Only the top ten percent of entrepreneurs earn more money than employees. And the typical entrepreneur earns less money than he otherwise would have earned working for someone else.

9. Many start-ups achieve the sales growth projections that equity investors are looking for. Not even close. Of the 590,000 or so new businesses with at least one employee founded in this country every year, data from the U.S. Census shows that less than 200 reach the $100 million in sales in six years that venture capitalists talk about looking for. About 500 firms reach the $50 million in sales that the sophisticated angels, like the ones at Tech Coast Angels and the Band of Angels talk about. In fact, only about 9,500 companies reach $5 million in sales in that amount of time.

10. Starting a business is easy. Actually it isn’t, and most people who begin the process of starting a company fail to get one up and running. Seven years after beginning the process of starting a business, only one-third of people have a new company with positive cash flow greater than the salary and expenses of the owner for more than three consecutive months.

SOME DICK GREGORY for Sunday Morning

Whether you agree or disagree. He makes you think. That's the most important thing.

Winning Tips from the Teacher

fundamentals from Bruce Lee.




1. What are you really thinking about today?


"As you think, so shall you become."



Perhaps the most basic statement of how we work. Think about what you
are thinking today. What do those thoughts say about you? About your
life? And how well do they really match your plans for your life and
your image of yourself?


It's easy to forget about this simple statement in everyday life. It's
easy to be quite incongruent with what you think on an ordinary day
compared to how you view yourself and your goals. A simple external
reminder such as a post-it with this quote can be helpful to keep you
and your thoughts on the right track. An brilliant and beautiful
expansion on this thought can be found in James Allen's As a man
thinketh (that can be downloaded for free here).




2. Simplify.


"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential."


"If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done."


If you want to improve your life then it's tempting to want to add
more. One problem with this may be that you don't really have the time
or energy to do more though. And so your efforts to improve become
short-lived.


Adding more and more just creates more stress and anxiety. Removing
clutter and activities, tasks and thoughts that are not so important
frees up time and energy for you to do more of what you really want to
do. And as the clutter in your outer world decreases the clutter in
your inner world also has a tendency to decrease. This has the added
benefit of making it easier to actually enjoy whatever you are doing
even more while you are doing it.


Adding more thoughts and thinking things over for the 111:th time may
create a sense of security. It's also a good way to procrastinate and
to avoid taking that leap you know you should take. And the more you
think, the harder it gets to act. Perhaps because you want to keep
that comforting sense of security and avoid the risk of wrecking that
feeling.


Thinking has its place. It can help you plan a somewhat realistic
route to your goal and help you avoid future pitfalls. Overthinking is
however just a habit that will help you waste a lot of time. It's more
useful to replace that habit with the habit of just doing it.




3. Learn about yourself in interactions.


"To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person."


The one person that is the hardest to get to really know may be
yourself. Studying yourself while you are alone may result in some
insights. But it's also likely to produce a lot of made up thought
loops and doubts in your mind. A good way to really learn more about
yourself is study yourself in interactions with other people. How
people react and act in these interaction can over time teach you a
lot. And what you think and how you react can perhaps teach you even
more.


What you see, feel and hear in other people may be a reflection of
you. The things you learn by thinking this way may not always be
pleasant, but they can be enlightening. They help you to see yourself
and also how you may be fooling yourself. And these powerful insights
can be very valuable for your personal growth. So, in interactions
with others, try asking yourself: what is reflected?




4. Do not divide.


"Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be
not for or against."


This is a very useful and powerful thought. It is also one that
obviously is hard to live by. Why? I believe it's because the ego
loves to divide and find ways to "add more" to itself. It want's to
feel better than someone else. Or more clever. Or prettier. Or cooler.
Or wiser.


How can you overcome this way of thinking and feeling?


To me it seems to boil down to not identifying so much with your
thoughts or feelings. That doesn't mean that you stop thinking or
feeling. It just means that you realize – and remember in your
everyday life – that the thoughts and emotions are just things flowing
through you.


You are not them though.

You are the consciousness observing them.


When you realize and remember this it enables you to control the
thoughts and feelings instead of the other way around. It also enables
you to not take your thoughts too seriously and actually laugh at them
or ignore them when you feel that your ego is acting out. When you are
not being so identified these things you become more inclined to
include things, thoughts and people instead of excluding them. This
creates a lot of inner and outer freedom and stillness. Instead of
fear, a need to divide your world and a search for conflicts.


To learn more about this I would recommend Eckhart Tolle's books and
signing up for the 10 free and excellent webcasts - available both in
video and audio form – that he's doing with Oprah right now.




5. Avoid a dependency on validation from others.


"I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not
in this world to live up to mine."


"Showing off is the fool's idea of glory."


The ego wants to add because it thinks it's not enough. One way of
doing that is by craving validation from others. We want to feel
smart, pretty, successful and so on. And the validation makes you feel
good for a while. But soon you need a new fix.


And the problem with being dependent on validation from other people
is that you let other people control how you feel. This creates a
rollercoaster of emotion in your life.


To find more emotional stability and to take control of how you feel
you need to get your validation from to a more consistent source.
Yourself. You can replace the expectations and validation of others by
setting your own expectations and by validating yourself.

And so you validate yourself by thinking about how awesome you are.
You don't sell yourself short. You appreciate how far you have come
and the positive things you have done. You appreciate your own value
in the world. You set goals and you achieve those goals. This builds
confidence in yourself and in your abilities. These things will help
you to build a habit of inner validation.

Now, showing off. Why do we do that? To get validation from others.
However, this need for validation often shines through and that is why
a thing like bragging seldom works. Instead of seeing the cool and
successful person you are trying to project people just see the
insecure and needy person looking for validation. And your bragging
falls flat.


6. Be proactive.


"To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities."


It's easy to get locked into a reactive mindset. You just follow along
with whatever is happening. You do what the people around you do. You
react to whatever is going on.


And so you get lost in your circumstances. This way of thinking
doesn't feel too good. You tend to feel powerless and like you are
just drifting along.


A more useful and pleasurable way of living is to be proactive. As
Bruce says: to create opportunities despite the circumstances around
you. This feels better and provides better results. But on the other
hand it's also more difficult. It's easier to just drift along in the
reactive stream of life. And if you want to be proactive then you may
have to take the lead quite often. And that can be scary.


Still, living proactively is so much more rewarding and exciting.



7. Be you.


"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not
go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."


Just being yourself is a hard thing to do. You may do it sometimes.
And other times you may forget or fall back into old thought patterns.
Or you may imitate someone else.


And that comes through too. And it may work.


But I believe that being the real you will work better. Because there
the genuine you is shining through. Without incongruency, mixed
messages or perhaps a sort of phoniness. It's you to 100%. It's you
with not only your words but you with your voice tonality and body
language – which some say is over 90% of communication - on the same
wavelength as your words. It's you coming through on all channels of
communication.


So I'm not saying: "yeah man, you should just be yourself because it's
the right thing to do etc." I'm saying that I think being your
authentic self – the one where you do little dividing, the one that
needs little validation from others, the one where your ego is not
running the show and trying to get something from someone – will give
you better results and more satisfaction in your day to day life
because you are in alignment with yourself. And because people really
like genuine and people really like authenticity.

YOUR BRAINWAVES!!!!!!!

Things You Probably Already Know, But Have Forgotten

1. Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton.

2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.

3. The dot over the letter i is called a "tittle."

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and
down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

5. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

6. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

7. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino.

8. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.

9. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.

10. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces
will kill a small sized dog.

11. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the
shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.

12. Most lipstick contains fish scales.

13. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

14. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.

15. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because
in the time when all original print had to be set in individual
letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of
the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.

16. Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the
other at the same time.

17. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II
were made of wood.

18. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

19. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never
a recorded Wendy before!

20. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange,
purple, and silver!

21. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to
paint Mona Lisa's lips.

22. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go
mad and sting itself to death.

23. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was a
Captain Kirk mask painted white.

24. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have
$1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without
being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.)

25. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink
in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.)

26. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law,
which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than
your thumb (sign of a truely civilized society.)

27. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player
for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was
the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

28. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a
piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same
with apples!

29. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!

30. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

31. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most
often stolen from Public Libraries.

32. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space
because passing wind in a space suit damages it.