Have you crashed and burned on your goals for the New Year?

Over a third of the people who set resolutions have given up on them after just one month according to Statistic Brain.  That’s sad.  I mean people set goals to lose weight, get organized, spend less, break bad habits and enjoy life more.  I want them to succeed.

How are you doing on your resolutions?  Maybe you haven’t forgotten them yet, but maybe you aren’t making the progress you really want either.

Get Back Up to Speed on Your Resolutions

Since we are at that one month point, I thought I’d share some strategies to help you experience more success with your resolutions.  A big part of what it takes to reach a goal is going about it in the right way.  A bad plan will almost certainly lead to disaster.

Here are three ways you can repair and recover your resolutions:

1.  Focus

I’ve found that the single most important thing you can do to increase your chance of reaching a goal is to focus.  Dave Ramsey says, you have to become “gazelle intense”.  To escape certain death when being pursued by a cheetah, a gazelle must use extreme and intense focus.  Nothing can distract it from the task at hand.  The gazelle must give 110%.  It cannot falter or make a mistake if it wants to survive.

You can apply gazelle intensity to any goal.  You begin by focusing on one goal at a time.  Often, we make a list of goals and try to tackle them all at once.  This divides our attention, resources and resolve which greatly impedes our probability of success.  Instead, pick your highest priority goal, the one that will give you the most bang for your buck, and attack it with all your might.  Get radical on it!  Go to extremes to achieve this ultra-important goal.  Your intense focus on this one thing will lead you to victory.

2.  Break It Into Manageable Chunks

We make the mistake of setting goals that are too big.  Losing weight is the most common New Year’s resolution.  You may know that ideally you need to lose 100 pounds.  That’s a great long-term goal, but it is too big and daunting out of the gate.  You need to break it up into smaller, more manageable chunks.  For example, you should target losing five pounds the first month.  When you accomplish this, you’ll feel more empowered and you can then set your goal for the next month.  You stack these mini-successes on top of each other and before you know it, you’ll have lost your 100 pounds.

Doing your research and being realistic about what is possible helps tremendously.  If you exceed your first milestone goal, no problem, you can increase your goal for next month.  But, if you set too big of a goal, then you will likely become discouraged quickly.  You need those small wins to stay motivated and to keep your emotions on track.  This is a huge part of what it takes to achieve a long-term goal.

3.  Expect Failure

Finally, I suggest that you expect failure from the beginning.  What I mean is that you should anticipate some setbacks along the way.  The path to success is rarely a straight line.  Those that reach their goals know this little secret.  They don’t get demoralized and quit when they experience a setback or a roadblock.  You have to persevere if you want to reach your goals.  Therefore, you should expect some failure along the way.  By preparing for some disappointment up front, you minimize the chance of giving up.  Those that stick to their goals through thick and thin are much more likely to succeed.

When a stumbling block appears on your path, you simply make an adjustment.  You may need to adjust your tactics, your attitude or your milestone goal.  This is not taking the easy way out.  It is being flexible.  Of course, you can’t use this as a crutch, you must be willing to compromise, but you can’t be forever soft on yourself.  Learn from your mistakes and use them to catapult you to greater success.  Expecting a certain amount of failure in your journey toward your goals is essential to staying committed.

Recover and Repair Your Resolutions

I’ll ask again, “How are your resolutions going?”  If they need repairing, use the tips above to get things back on track.  You may have already strayed from the course, but that doesn’t mean that you have to give up.  Your goal is still before you.  You can pick up right where you left off.  It is just a matter of getting focused, breaking it down into chunks and expecting a little failure.  I wish you the best!

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© My Super-Charged Life, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

What do you dread?

Many hate paying taxes. But, perhaps, this is just a perception problem.  Maybe we should be thankful we get to pay taxes.  Yes, I said thankful.

Do you think I’m crazy?!?  Are you wondering if I’ve gone stark, raving mad?  Why in the world would anyone be happy about paying taxes?

Well, I want to prove a point.  I want to show you that happiness has a lot to do with the way you see things.  If you can look at something just a little bit differently, you can often change your whole perception of the situation.  This can have a dramatic impact on your happiness.

A Poem that Turns Things Upside Down

I ran across what I’m going to call a poem this week that really challenges our perceptions.  I think it has circulated around the Internet a bit so maybe you’ve already seen it, but I hadn’t and I believe it has tremendous value so I’m going to publish it again.  I’m not sure where it came from originally.  If I did, then I‘d definitely give proper credit.  Here it goes:

I am thankful for…

…the mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

…the taxes I pay because it means that I am employed.

…the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.

…my shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.

…a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means that I have a home.

…the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking.

…all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.

…my huge heating bill because it means that I am warm.

…the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear.

…the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.

…the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I’m alive.

…weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.

Your View Determines Your Happiness

Can you see how your view of a situation matters immensely?

I can certainly get upset and mad that so much money comes out of my paycheck every couple of weeks to pay my taxes.  However, what would that get me?  It would only leave me feeling irritated, frustrated and defeated.  None of these have anything to do with happiness.  On the other hand, I can choose to look at the situation in a positive light.  I can be grateful and happy that I am gainfully employed and that I have the good fortune of earning enough money to support my family.

Here’s my point.  How you interpret your life is your choice.

But, I can tell you that your happiness depends on the way you decide to go.  If you are unhappy, disgruntled and disappointed with your life, you can turn things around by reexamining and reevaluating your view of the situation.  A new choice equals new happiness.

This is an incredibly powerful idea.  I guarantee that you will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar in your life.  If you always go around, “Woe is me.”  No one is ever going to pay you any mind.  After all, who wants to hire, marry, work with, live with, befriend, promote or hang around a person that is unhappy and self-defeated all the time?

Smile.  Be grateful for what you have.  Don’t worry about what you lack.  Choose a positive outlook and interpretation of your life.  You will feel happier and your opportunities will grow.  Even if they don’t, you benefit by choosing to be happy.

You see you can either go through life as an old sourpuss dreading the next thing around every corner or you can choose to be happy.  It is that simple.  Which do you prefer?  I’m thankful I have to pay taxes.

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© My Super-Charged Life, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

Do you need a little spark to liven up your life?

Excitement fills us when our lives feel fresh and hopeful.  Ideas flow.  Energy swells.  And happiness abounds.

Our lives can sometimes become a little too routine, predictable and monotonous.

There comes a time when you need to freshen and liven things up a bit.  You need to throw a log on the fire of your life and get something burning.  I want to offer you a few ideas to help create the spark that you need to get yourself unstuck.

7 Lively Ideas to Freshen Up Your Life

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”

~ W.M. Lewis

You’ve got to get your blood flowing.  It is time to seek inspiration and reenergize.  What makes you come alive?  Go do that!  Don’t wait to begin to live.

It has always amazed me at how slim the line is between a disappointing day and one that is enlivening and invigorating.  You don’t have to sell everything you own, leave your spouse and run off to Borneo to have a great life.  Whew, isn’t that good news?  It is much simpler than that.  You just have to decide to step across that line and find some inspiration to create that spark that will make you feel fresh again.

Here are seven ways you can freshen up and liven up your life:

1.  Go On a Local Adventure

You have adventure that can reinvigorate you right in your own backyard.  Take a look at this list of 11 Adventures Anyone Can Use to Spice Up Their Life.  I’m certain that one or more of these is available to you today.  All you have to do is engage.  These are simple activities.  But, because they are different, out of your ordinary routine, they will stimulate your senses and leave you feeling energized.  You can then ride this wave of renewed vigor all the way to happiness.  Don’t dismiss this.  Take action today and you will be amazed at the difference it can make.

2.  Try Something You Have Always Wanted to Do

What’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but have never taken the time to try?  Well, make today the day that you do something about it.  A few years ago, I took scuba diving lessons.  I live in Oklahoma which is hundreds of miles from any ocean and I don’t get to dive very often.  However, the sense of accomplishment and motivation I felt from mastering a new skill that I always wanted to learn was well worth the price of the lessons.  Plus, the memories I have from diving in Cozumel are priceless.  I highly recommend getting out there and trying something new.  What will it be for you?

3.  Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Travel is a fantastic way to freshen up your life.  The new sights, sounds and experiences are sure to awaken your senses and liven up your life.  You get to experience new food, new art and often a whole different way of life.  If visiting a foreign country doesn’t stimulate you, then you may need to see a doctor to confirm you still have a pulse!  I have a whole list of places that I want to see before I die.  Make yourself a similar list and then head out to a dream location.  Getting off the couch and out of your comfort zone is a perfect way to liven things up.

4.  Make a New Friend

New relationships create all kinds of new opportunities.  A new friend will open your eyes to all kinds of things you hadn’t seen or elected to experience before.  You’ll be exposed to a new point of view, stimulating conversation and invitations that will motivate you to break out of your rut.  Start introducing yourself to new people.  As adults, we’ve built this up in our minds to be way too scary a thing to do.  We need to be more like kids on a playground.  Keep it simple.  Smile.  Tell them your name.  You’ll be amazed at what transpires from there.

5.  Be a Wild and Crazy Guy (or Gal)

If you feel the need to liven up your life, then chances are you’ve become to uptight and stuffy.  It is time to let your hair down.  Get crazy!  Do something completely out of character.  Perhaps you should go dancing or go skydiving or sing your favorite song at a karaoke bar.  We stifle ourselves because we don’t want to look stupid, but in reality, stupidity is letting your life become dull and boring.  Get out there and live.  The experience will make you laugh and it will give you a memory you can reflect on favorably for weeks.  Come on!  I know there is a wild and crazy guy or gal inside you.  Go show the world!

6.  Buy a New Toy

I put this one lower on the list because it is so common in our society to think that if I just had this or that, I would be happy.  This thinking leads people to spend money on things they can’t afford and usually the stuff just winds up as clutter in their garage or storage closets.  However, despite these possible pitfalls, I still think it is worth mentioning.  Sometimes, a new toy is a path to other happiness-building activities.  For example, you might buy a new camera, join a photography club, meet new friends and then go on a trip to a foreign country to take pictures.  Does any of this sound familiar?  If you will follow through with a bigger plan like this, then buying a new toy might be just the ticket for you .

7.  If All Else Fails…

Okay, now if all else fails and you aren’t willing to do anything else on my list here, then let me give you one last failsafe option.  I’m going to make this one as easy as possible because I want to be sure you do something to liven up your life.  If you’ve read this far, you obviously need a plan and you must like reading.  Soooo, the last thing I’ll suggest is for you to find an inspirational book to read.  I’d much rather you get up and go actively participate in something, but if you can’t bring yourself to do that yet, then at least find a great book and maybe it will inspire you to do more.

Go Live a Happy and Exciting Life

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

~ Mark Twain

I hope these little ideas will lead to big things for you.  It often takes just a spark to get something going in your life.  You can use these ideas as your spark.  I pray they will ignite a huge flame in your life.  I pray that you will explore, dream and discover like never before.  I wish you the best life ever!

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© My Super-Charged Life, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Are you enjoying your life today?

I imagine that a lot of you will answer no to this question.  For one reason or another, maybe even one that you can’t accurately name, you’d say that you aren’t exactly happy.

Why not decide to enjoy life?  Why not choose to be happier today?

It really is a conscious choice that we can make.  After all, we choose to be unhappy.  We decide to get irritated, frustrated, mad, offended and upset.  We let ourselves dread the day.  We decide that we hate our jobs, don’t like our spouses and that everyone is out to get us.  Why not choose the alternative that is in our favor?

I challenge you to decide right this minute that you are going to enjoy your life today and begin choosing happiness regularly.  I’ll even help you get started down the right path.

Choosing to Enjoy Your Life

You need to make enjoying your life a habit – an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.  In other words, you need to structure your thinking so that happiness is the default.  Wouldn’t it be great to wake up every morning with a sense of hopeful, joyful expectancy instead of dread and apprehension?

You’ve got to retrain your brain to choose happiness so you can enjoy your life.

Here are five patterns of thought that can help you steer yourself in the right direction.  You’ll need to intentionally and purposefully practice this thinking until it becomes a regular pattern.  This will likely take several weeks, but the payoff in terms of your quality of life will be well worth it.

1.  Declare Your Resolve to Enjoy Today

“I will enjoy today,” make this clear declaration at the beginning of each day and commit to it.  Firmly resolve in your mind that, no matter what happens, you are going to stay positive and happy. 

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right,” says Henry Ford.  In other words, your mind is a very powerful influence over your reality.  Train your brain to expect good things and it will naturally help make it so.  Keep the thought, “I am going to enjoy today,” at the forefront of your mind.  Repeat it to yourself throughout the day when you feel circumstances tugging you in another direction.

2. Acknowledge You Have Everything You Need

If you are alive and conscious, then you have what you need to enjoy today. Everything on top of that is gravy. Therefore, I suspect that you have a lot of gravy that should make enjoying today even easier for you. Recount to yourself the things that you have to be thankful for and that makes enjoying today easier for you. For example, here’s some of what you might include:

• I am in good health.
• I have people that love me.
• I have plenty of food to eat.
• I have enough money to survive.
• I have access to clean drinking water.
• I have personal freedom.
• I have mental clarity.

You see it is really the basics in life that enable us to enjoy today – put all the other crap aside. Focus on what you have and not what you lack. Cast aside your excuses and embrace the opportunity to enjoy today. This is the moment you have. Don’t waste it.

3.  Visualize the Ideal Day

Once you decide to enjoy today and acknowledge you have what you need, then create a clear vision in your mind’s eye of how you want the day to go.  Imagine how you’ll feel, what you will do and where you will go.  In other words, plan to be happy.  Your mind likes creating models and matching your reality to these models.  Train it so it knows the path you want to follow.  At the start of each day, visualize your ideal day and your life will slowly, but surely, start moving in that direction.

4.  Grow Into It

You cannot trust your emotions.  They will lead you astray.  You have to grow into a pattern of thinking that allows you to control your reactions if you want to keep the world from stealing your joy.  A big source of unhappiness comes from letting your circumstances fire-up negative emotions.  It takes maturity and mental preparation to recognize when your emotions are about to get the better of you.  Lean on your resolve to enjoy today and immediately reject any emotions that go against your vision for the day.  It will take some work to make this a habit, but it is a powerful groove to create.

5.  Retain Your Power

“He made me mad,” is another way of saying, “I’m giving my power to him.”  You see, when you let the actions of another offend you and steal your joy, you have given them power over your life.  You have lost what you want – your peace and sense of well-being.  You say, “But Jeff, she was really wrong.”  I know, but by becoming offended, you aren’t really hurting her.  You are only hurting yourself.  You have to train yourself to retain your power.  Keep control of your day.  Don’t let some fool rob you of your enjoyment.  Brush it off and move on.  Again, this will take some practice, but once you make it a habit, then you’ll have many more positive days to enjoy.

Which one of these tips are you going to concentrate on?  Do you have another suggestion for how to enjoy life more fully?  Leave a comment and let me know.

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© My Super-Charged Life, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us

This is a guest post by Rachel.

Many of us set lofty goals of “getting fit,” “losing weight,” or “becoming healthier” after the first of the year that usually only last a few weeks before we get back into our regular eating and exercising regimen.

In fact, most of us have probably already given up on any New Year’s Resolutions that we set out for, whether food or exercise related. It’s not that we don’t want to reach these goals, it’s that we haven’t developed an action plan to get to where we want to be.

Few of us will ever see the results of the end goals we envision, because we don’t make a plan for how we will arrive there. We see the destination, but not the journey involved. We often set ourselves up for failure before we even get started, because we assume if we put our mind to eating better or living better, that it will happen for us.

5 Steps to Convert Your Intentions Into a Plan

It’s true that having intentions for how we want to live can make a huge difference in our lives. However, in order to get from setting the goal to reaching the goal, there is a lot of hard work to make each goal a reality. If you’re ready to make positive changes in your diet once and for all, use these five steps to get yourself on the right track to achieving your success and never look back.

1. List the Things You Desire for Your Health

Use this opportunity to write down everything that you want to change about how you eat or how you want to feel as an end goal. Maybe you know you aren’t getting enough fruit and vegetables each day? Write that down. Maybe you want to lose the five pounds you put on from all that holiday eating? Write that down. Maybe you have high blood pressure and need to adjust your diet to get that under control? Write it all down in one big list.

2. Prioritize Based on Your Current Situation

Now that you’ve listed everything that you want to change in your life regarding your diet or your health, it’s time to get serious about which ones are the most important to you. If you have a health issue, this should likely make it to the top of your list before anything else. Take a few moments to set your priorities and what matters the most to you right now. Now choose one goal you want to focus on.

3. Determine Where You Are Right Now

Set aside a minute to be real with yourself. How are you doing in regards to this goal today? Do you eat zero vegetables each day, so you need to add at least three more servings to be on target? Or do you already eat one or two and the goal is to add just one more to hit your target? Do you eat maybe one more snack or sugar-loaded coffee each day than you should? Be honest with what your lifestyle is now, so that you know how far you need to go in order to achieve the goal that you’ve set out for.

4. Break Down the Goal Into Small Actionable Steps

The next step is to write down how you plan to get from where you are now to where you want to be in precise steps.

For example, maybe for three weeks, your first step is to get at least one extra serving of vegetables or fruit each day. How can you do this? By bringing some cut vegetable strips or a piece of whole fruit in your lunch to snack on at work. Do this repetitively until it becomes a habit.

Next, you’ll want to add on another small goal that you can work on after you’ve mastered this first step. Once you’ve added one more serving of fruit or vegetables, your next goal will be to add another one. This could be something like adding another vegetable to your dinner every night or eating a piece of fruit for dessert. For the following few weeks, your goal will be to add one more serving at dinner. Keep adding small actionable steps in the form of small goals until you reach your larger end goal.

This step is the most important, because it will guarantee if you are successful or not. When you outline the steps that you have to take to get to your end goal, it will be that much easier to actually achieve it.

5. Put the Plan Into Action

Easy enough, right? It should be. This is where telling a friend at work about your goal might be good to keep you accountable, or telling your spouse if they pack your lunch that you’d prefer some fruit or vegetables instead of bringing sugary snacks. It may be helpful to even add the smaller goals into your calendar each day, so that when you look at it, you’re reminded of what you need to do to get to your long-term goal.

The key to your success is actually following through. So put your plan into action and you’ll be set to achieve whatever food goal you have set out for this year.

Making changes can be daunting when all you see is the big picture. By breaking down your big goals into small actionable steps you can take each day, you’ll work your way in to that success instead of having to take a big leap to get there. Use this simple strategy each time you want to make a change in your diet or lifestyle, and you’ll be on your way to making positive changes and never look back on your old habits.

Rachael is the blogger behind KitchenCourses.com and is the author of How to Cook For Yourself: A Complete Beginner’s Guide. She writes about her passion for food, eating well while saving money, and inspires people to get familiar with their kitchens and cook for themselves.

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© My Super-Charged Life, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us

You’ve got to have a plan – a blueprint to follow.  You need inspiration, advice and insight.

A person doesn’t just stumble to success.  They walk a well-defined path.

Success is built one good habit at a time.  You stack one solid brick upon another and eventually you have a well-built life.  One that stands the test of time and delivers you to your goals.

Design a Life of Success

Time does not stand still.  Life passes regardless of what you are doing.  You can either use the time wisely to design and construct the life you really want or you can let the chips fall where they may.  I’m not a fan of the passive approach.

The tagline for this site is “Good Habits for a Great Life”.  Aristotle knew what he was talking about when he said, “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

You build an excellent life, one that is happy, fulfilling and prosperous, by training yourself, one little correct behavior at a time.  It isn’t hard.  It just takes an ounce of discipline and a plan.  Trust me, you have what it takes.  You can do this and there are plenty of people ready to help.

Many have gone before you.  They’ve found what works and what doesn’t.  This is tremendously fortunate for you because, as a result, you can avoid all the mistakes and cut the time it takes to achieve success in half (at least in half, maybe even more).  You can make rapid progress toward a great life by simply following tried and true plans that have already been proven to work.

The Ultimate Guide to Personal Growth

So, how do you grow into success?

As I’ve alluded to all long here, you follow a well-proven plan.  Okay, so where do you get such a plan?  You find some really smart people that are succeeding and you start doing what they are doing.  Oh you might have to tweak their formula a little to suit your tastes, personality and preferences, but for the most part, you can just adopt their strategies and make them your own.

Okaaaaaay, where do I find these really smart people so I can start piggybacking on their success?

No problem.  I’ve found them for you.

I have the ultimate guide to personal growth for you, if you have ever wanted more success in any of the following areas:

• Living with more passion
• Eating healthier
• Getting in shape and feeling fit
• Simplifying your life
• Managing your time more wisely
• Overcoming procrastination
• Enjoying a more fulfilling love life
• Relaxing
• Getting motivated
• Feeling inspired
• Building a business
• and much more…

I know this sounds incredible.  How can one guide do all this?

Well, it can’t.  There isn’t one guide that can teach you what you need to know in every one of the areas above.  BUT, there are 30+ guides in one nice, neat bundle that can!

The ultimate guide to personal growth is really called The Empowerment Pack.  It is an amazing bundle of over 30 courses, ebooks and guides from some of the brightest, most talented and creative people on the web today.  If you want a blueprint for success, then you need The Empowerment Pack.

Click the banner to learn more and get this bundle.

You only have three days.  This incredible collection of advice to a happy and successful life from 25 of the top personal development bloggers on the Internet will only be offered for 3 short days.

You have from Monday, January 16, 2012 at 9am EST until Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 9am EST to get in on this amazing offer.  So, please be decisive and take action toward a better life.

Make 2012 a Remarkable Year

There it is.  An opportunity thrown at your feet.  All you have to do is pick it up.  Will you do it?  Will you grab hold of this collection of blueprints for success?  It is yours for the taking.

I’ll admit that you might not have the time to read and apply all 25 of these courses, but even if you just use a few over the course of the year, then you will make 2012 memorable.  If you do nothing, then you’ll likely stay stuck right where you are, or worse, passively slip further away from success.

Empower Yourself and make 2012 remarkable.

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Need to live a more frugal lifestyle?

You work hard for what you earn so, why not get the most out of it?  That’s exactly what frugal living will do for you.

Frugality is about being wise and prudent with money.  It is not about doing without or depriving yourself.  It is a back-to-basics approach to managing your finances.

Frugal living aims to cut waste.  Less waste means more financial power and freedom.  Cutting back is not hard, but it does require a plan.

Getting Started with Frugal Living

Let’s say your finances are a bit of a mess.  This is probably a safe bet if you are newly interested in frugal living.  Chances are, you have amassed a good bit of credit card debt and you are likely spending more than you earn every month (check the figures to see if I’m right).

In other words, you have dug yourself a hole and now the sides are starting to cave in all around you.  Never fear!  Frugality can get you out of this mess.  After all, credit card debt is voluntary slavery so you want to dig yourself out of that pit sooner rather than later.

The goal is to lower your spending so you have money to establish an emergency fund and pay down what you owe.

Here’s how to get started with frugal living:

Step 1 – Stop the Bleeding

Quit spending all your money.  Reclaim your financial strength by holding on to what you have.  You are bleeding out all your financial power by going to the mall, Starbucks and out to eat so often.  Furthermore, by charging these items on your credit card, you are handicapping yourself even more.  Cut those stupid things up so you aren’t tempted to use them all the time.  You’ve got to stop this incessant drain on your finances immediately.

I recommend going on a fiscal fast for a week (or more) where you try not to spend anything – not even a dime.  I know this sounds radical, but you’ve got to retrain yourself to act differently.  This may require a little shock therapy and there is no time like the present to get started.

During this initial phase, analyze your bank statement from last month.  How much money did you deposit?  How much did you spend?  Which is greater?  If you are spending every penny – or even more than you earn – then you have a serious problem.  One that will ruin you financially if you don’t get a handle on it soon.

Start making cutbacks in as many areas of your spending as possible.  Reduce your monthly outflow fast with the ideas in these two articles:

• Stop Whining And Frugal Up Your Finances
• 20 Ways to Trim Your Budget to Survive Hard Times Ahead

Step 2 – Get a New Brain

This is your brain (imagine an egg), this is your brain without any money – the egg is now in a frying pan with the heat turned up to high.  What do you think is going to happen to you and your family?  Yep, your going to start sizzling pretty soon (if you aren’t already).  Your old ways of dealing with money are killing you.  It is time to find a new brain.  It is time to learn a new way to handle money.

Don’t feel bad.  You are likely just doing what you were taught.  You learned and are following bad money habits that will leave you eating ALPO for dinner, assuming you don’t change your ways, but the story isn’t over yet.  Your future isn’t written in stone.  You don’t have to stay stuck where you are.  You can head in a new direction.  You can get a new brain.

Your new brain will give you a new lease on life.  It will make you feel more successful and happier.  So, how do you get a new brain?  Well, you can be retrained to be smart with your money.  How?  I’ve written a step-by-step plan just for this purpose.  It will lay out everything you need to know so you can develop the new habits you desire and need.  Ones that lead you to prosperity instead of ruin.  You can get your hands on it now:

• Click here for The Super-Charged Guide to Financial Freedom

Step 3 – Revive the Patient

The patient is not dead.  There is still hope.  Your action will determine the outcome.  What are you going to do?  Frugal living is the answer.  I used to think that I would die if I had to change my evil ways related to money.  In fact, I threw a big fit when my wife suggested that we needed to get on a budget.  I reluctantly went along with her after a lot of cajoling and persistence on her part.  However, I soon found out that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  In fact, I learned a lot from the experience.  So much so, that I wrote three articles about The Things I Learned Living on a Budget.

You might feel like I did.  You might know in your heart that you need to do something, but you’re resistant.  Well, I can tell you that once you’ve tasted the freedom that comes from frugal living, you’ll never go back.  It is an adjustment, but one that brings peace and a sense of control.

You can revive the patient if you’ll give it a try.  It won’t even be as hard as you think.  I’ve provided you with everything you need to bring life and vitality back to your financial situation.  Live long and prosper!

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© My Super-Charged Life, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

This is a guest post by Trevor Edmon.

So you want more … love, money, happiness, health, … success. Where do you start?

Go to Google and type in “How to” and a gazillion websites will pop up. Should you want to build a better mouse trap that’s a very good thing. But “how to be successful in life” is too intangible. Besides, it’s different for everyone so there can’t exactly be a “one size fits all answer.”

Or can there?

I’m going to attempt that seemingly impossible feat. I’m daring to claim that by the time you have read to the end of this piece you will know the definitive way to be successful in any area of life you choose.

The Answer You Seek

Will it be meditation? Regular exercise? How about a radical change of diet? Or reciting affirmations all day long?

No. It will be none of the above, although if any of those notions appeal to you, feel free to include them in your routine. You see, those are all techniques and whilst they might lead you to feel better – so there’s nothing wrong with any of them – they cannot ever be the answer itself. They can only lead to the answer.

Let me give you this in a nutshell. Success comes to those who believe themselves to be successful.

It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, what your background is or if you have a wart on the end of your nose. The past is no indicator of your ability to succeed. There are endless stories of people who have turned tragedy into triumph. Check out Oprah Winfrey’s background or consider Nelson Mandela’s astonishing life story – a man who spent twenty seven years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit! You don’t have to look far for inspiration in case you need some.

If the belief that you can succeed at whatever you want in life is all you need, how do you acquire it, let alone keep it in the face of great adversity?

How to Acquire Self Belief for Success

I’ve already hinted that techniques are not the way to go, but perhaps I should explain that in more depth. Techniques are like arts or crafts. If you want to play a guitar you first need to learn some techniques. But if you really want to be a great musician merely knowing where to put your fingers to make some chords won’t be enough. The musical expression comes from you – and no one will ever play quite the way you do.

Here are 3 steps to bring that wonderful energy, your belief, to the forefront.

Step 1 – Remember How Special You Are.

Apparently there are about seven billion of us swarming all over this little planet of ours right now. That’s right now. Even if you’re an identical twin there isn’t one who is an exact replica of you. Never has been and never will be. You have your own thoughts, ways of doing things, your own special set of memories, tastes, idiosyncrasies … that whole package that is YOU. So stop worrying about what everyone else thinks of you and do your thing, man! (As Dylan might have said).

Far too many people worry about what other people will think of them, but this isn’t a philosophy that will lead to a life well lived. In the end, it is the “one-offs” – those who are not afraid to be themselves – who are the most loved and often the best remembered and they are also often the ones who make the biggest differences too. Not that that should be your goal. Just being yourself is enough!

Consider this strange list:

Bob Dylan. People aren’t supposed to write songs like that, sing out of tune or play guitar out of tune either. One of the best known and most revered musicians of the last fifty years.

Nelson Mandela. He should have been resentful or have had his spirit broken by his experience in prison. One of the world’s greatest peace makers in modern times.

Eddie Izzard. Proudly proclaimed his transvestism – and publicly appeared dressed in women’s clothes and has become one of the world’s most respected, loved and revered comedians and actors.

Rosa Parks. Refused to give up her seat on a bus just because she was black and changed the race discrimination laws of the USA.

Sylvester Stallone. Almost ran out of money and nearly lost his marriage in his determination to become an actor. When he wrote the screenplay to Rocky, agents didn’t want him – an unknown – to be in it. (They wanted Ryan O’Neill!) Stallone, despite being penniless, refused until he was offered, reluctantly, a tiny percentage of sales to star in it. The agent expected a minor B movie, but instead it made Stallone a multi-millionaire and a household name. I don’t know what became of the agent!

Let’s do one more. Muhammad Ali, who as the young Cassius Clay, used the power of his mind, as well as toning his body, to become the greatest boxer of all time. Who doesn’t know that that man repeatedly declared himself “the greatest.” And so he became.

Yes, I know I said you don’t need to repeat affirmations to believe in yourself, but I didn’t say you shouldn’t either. That would be just as much a “technique” as doing it. It suited Clay/Ali’s personality to use that. It felt good to him. But if it had felt stupid or embarrassing it wouldn’t have worked.

And there’s the point. You need to find what makes you feel good.

Step 2 – Trust Your Connection to All Things.

One of the biggest culturally held premises that stops millions from succeeding in life is the sense that you are alone and separate from everything. I’m not going to talk about God; that’s too controversial. Besides, a lot of people think of God as a separate being who gives them a lot of rules to follow. That’s still separation. And it’s like having a big, powerful boss.

I’m talking about your connection to Energy. Even at the simplest level you couldn’t survive without air, water, gravity or sunshine, so to consider those things separate from you is meaningless. Moreover, the energy is intelligent. Acorns always grow into oak trees and never become daffodils. Have you ever seen a nature documentary where a caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly? Do you know that Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles and return to the very same tree! All with a brain smaller than a pinhead!

If you cut yourself or even break a bone, your body immediately sets about healing the injury. Your food gets digested, your blood circulates and old cells are replenished and replaced with new ones billions of times a day – all “on their own.”

The miracles we take for granted are everywhere.

What does this mean in terms of self belief? It means trust your inner guidance – which you feel as emotions. Jiminy Cricket may have advised you to let your conscience be your guide, but I think your emotions are better. If it feels good – by which I mean you have passion or enthusiasm for something, or it feels joyful to do, then follow it. If it feels wrong in some way, leave it alone. Or change direction to something that feels more exciting.

Which brings us to step 3.

Step 3 – Be Prepared to Take Risks.

“Most people tiptoe through life hoping to make it safely to death,” I think it was Earl Nightingale who said this.

I ask you, what is the point of that? If your life consists of work that feels like drudgery to pay bills you struggle to meet and feel resentful about; or if you are in a relationship where at least one of you is hurting all the time; or if you are waiting for retirement so that you can finally have a bit of time to yourself to do what you really want to do … you aren’t living at all.

That is classified as survival, and although there is some satisfaction in surviving against the odds, in my mind, this is merely existing.

You are endowed with the most adaptable physiology on Earth. There is virtually no environment in which humans cannot live and thrive. More than that, you are endowed with an incredible faculty – imagination. You can dream, and that’s not an accident. Dreams give rise to desires and desires may challenge us, but there is no challenge you can think of that at least one human, if not entire nations, have not achieved once they decided to.

When I say “take risks” I don’t mean you should jump out of airplanes without a ‘chute or gamble your family’s home, I mean for you to use the guidance system you were born with.  Trust the universe knows how to deliver what you have fixed in your mind’s eye and have the adventure you were always meant to have. It’s called your LIFE.  Live it!

There You Have It: The Secret to Success

Have I achieved the impossible?  Have I convinced you this is the definitive way to success?  Do you understand the “formula”?  The only way to be sure is if you go out and give it a try – which means believing in yourself and being all you want to be.  My hope is you will prove I am right.  Self belief is the secret to success.

About the Author:
Trevor Emdon trained in psychiatry and psychotherapy, studied Eastern philosophies and metaphysics, went to the U.S. to attend Anthony Robbins’ “Mastery University” and one day discovered that he not only had been happy for a good while, but that he was pretty good at passing his wisdom onto others – and it was changing lives.

He is in his 50s, happily married, lives in a gorgeous rural English village, has great health, and makes some of his income from his self help books online amongst other success coaching activities. You can get 2 free reports about success from his website www.thebookofbeing.com

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Do you LIKE being a slave?

Piling up credit card debt makes you a slave.  You give up your freedom every time you add to the balance on your card.

When you owe debt, you are no longer working for your own financial well-being.  You are working to make someone else wealthy – the credit card company.

You are their slave.  You toil all day to make them rich.  You’ve voluntarily become one of their minions.  Does this make you mad?  It should.

The Truth About Debt and Slavery

“A person held in servitude as the chattel of another,” is how Merriam-Webster defines slave. 

What does it mean to be the “chattel of another”?  It means you are their property, their possession.  They own you.  That’s what credit card debt does.  It makes you the property of big banks.

They enjoy an amazing amount of control over your life.  More than you probably realize.  The credit score they assign you determines whether you can buy a house or rent an apartment.  It heavily influences what you pay for insurance and can often determine whether you get a job or not. 

If you fail to pay what you owe on your cards, then the banks can sue you and even send you to jail.  They can literally take away your personal freedom.  That’s what you are risking as you continue to pile on debt.  Think I’m kidding or misinformed?  Read Debtor Prison Is Real: Are You Headed There? for some recent examples of this happening to real people just like you and me.

On top of these risks, you volunteer to pay a 12 to 25 percent upcharge directly to them on the balance you carry on your card.  What if Walmart told you that in order to shop in their store you had to pay 15% to 25% more on every purchase?  Would you keep shopping there?  I don’t think you would.  Yet, you keep charging things to your credit cards and paying the interest every month. 

It is like you have a leak in your bank account that is siphoning away your financial power and it all goes directly to them.

All of this that you are voluntarily giving up, makes you a slave.  It weakens you.  It limits your options.  It makes you their property. 

Are you mad yet?  You should be.

How to Fight for Your Freedom

It is funny to me the way we carry on about freedom sometimes in this country.  We “Occupy Wall Street” to make some kind of statement against the so-called “corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations.”  However, at the same time, we trot over to Starbucks and swipe their card through the machine to buy another latte.

We voluntarily commit ourselves to being their slaves.  They don’t coerce us into doing this.  No one is holding a gun to your head telling you to buy more stuff that you don’t need.

Demonstrations are not the way to break free from this slavery.  It is great that people are mad about what is going on, but this is the wrong way to make a difference.

The way you fight back is by taking personal responsibility for your finances.  You stop charging stuff to your credit cards, you refuse to live beyond your means and you pay off your debt.

In this way, you can reclaim your freedom.  You can liberate yourself.  You can once again be the master of your future.  By doing this, you will break the control they have over your life.

Stop giving the big banks power over you and lining their pockets with your hard-earned cash.  If you don’t owe them anything, they can’t control you anymore.  You will be free.  You can make your own decisions.  You can stop worrying about how you’re going to pay their bill.  You can use that money for things you really want.  You can be in the driver’s seat and wear the pants in your family again.

The only demonstration that is going to change what is going on in this country is the demonstration of personal financial wisdom.  By refusing to volunteer to be their slave, you will force them to change their ways.  You will turn things around.  Fiscal responsibility starts at home and it will spread from there. 

You can do this.  You can get control of your finances and you can stop volunteering to be their slave.  There is a ton of information out here on the Internet that can help you.  You don’t have to pay a dime for it either.  However, you will have to spend some time finding it and figuring out how to use it. 

If you want to expedite your progress, then check out The Super-Charged Guide to Financial Freedom.  It is a concise, step-by-step plan that I put together to give you everything you need to break free.  It is a battle plan – an underground railroad out of financial bondage.

Are you going to fight back or will you continue to volunteer yourself as their slave?  Make a decision now to take a step toward freedom.

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What bothers you?

Those annoying, anxious concerns that wake you up in the middle of the night may actually be good things.  Think of them as prompts.  Just like an actor follows cues, these bothers should send you into action.

A troublesome question in your mind is a clue that you need to explore further.

Let it bother you.  Let it annoy you so much that you simply cannot stand to procrastinate any longer.  Let it be the catalyst that gets you off your duff and leads you to finally fix the bother.

Things that Need to Bother You

What kinds of things am I speaking about here?  Well, they are going to differ a bit from person to person, but I think there is some common ground that should bother us all. 

You need to be bothered if you aren’t performing as well as you can in the following areas:

1.  Your Marriage

How’s your marriage?  Does it bother you the way your relationship is going?  That nagging little concern you have is trying to arouse you to do something to improve your marriage.  It is often said that who you choose to marry will determine 90% of your happiness in life.  But, that’s a very passive way to think.  One that won’t get you anywhere except divorce court.  You can make a big difference in your marriage if you’ll take the initiative to improve yourself first.  Let the bothered feeling you have push you into taking a step in the right direction and see if your marriage doesn’t become more of what you want because of it.

2.  Your Finances

“A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money,” jokes W.C. Fields.  How rich are you feeling after the holidays?  Are you worried about what the bills are going to be when they come in?  I hope you get really bothered about it.  In fact, I hope you get so fed up with how you’ve mishandled your money that you actually do something about it.  Nothing will improve if you keep doing what you’ve always done.  I’d suggest you find a new way to manage your finances.  The relief you’ll feel will revolutionize your life.

3.  Your Career or Business

What direction is your professional life going?  Have you made any progress lately?  I’m tired of hearing all the whining from everyone about the economy and how it is holding them back.  It is such an easy excuse to claim right now.  However, while many continue to grouse, a few are out there flourishing.  They are finding ways to leverage the situation to their benefit.  They are working smart and hard to succeed.  There is no reason that you can’t do the same.  You just need to put your thinking cap on and get creative.  Make it one of your goals for the New Year.

4.  Parenting

“Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you,” writes Robert Fulghum.  Are you happy with your children’s behavior?  How are they doing in school?  They learn their habits from you in all the areas of life that we are speaking about today.  What kind of example are you setting for them?  Perhaps you need to step it up a bit in some of these areas in order to demonstrate to your child what it takes to succeed.  They need and want your undivided attention.  If they aren’t getting it, then this should really bother you.

5.  Your Health

Our bad choices result in many of the most common and detrimental health problems today.  The risk goes up dramatically for things like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke because we don’t take proper care of ourselves.  We are literally shaving years off our lives and yet no one seems to care.  How’s your health?  Are you overweight?  Do you exercise regularly?  You could save yourself (and your family) a lot of heartache, money and grief by just eating the right foods and overcoming your resistance to exercise.  You are lying to yourself if you think, “it won’t happen to me.”  This really needs to bother you in a profound way.

6.  Your Happiness

Are you happy?  Would you rather I didn’t ask?  By asking, I force you to take stock.  It is easy to fly through life on autopilot avoiding this question altogether.  However, you deserve happiness.  That’s right, YOU have earned the right to be happy and if you aren’t happy, then you should be bothered by that fact.  The thing is, you don’t have the slightest idea how to make yourself happy.  We think we know what will make us happy, but scientists who study happiness have found that we get it wrong most of the time.  So, what can you do?  Well, there are actually some very simple, but effective things you can do to significantly increase your happiness.  Try a few of these and see if they don’t make a difference.

7.  Your Bad Habits

We all cling to some bad habits.  I don’t know what yours are, but I do know they probably bother you.  They make you feel guilty and weak.  They undermine your self-confidence, self-esteem and often even your health.  Bad habits rob you of well-being.  “I just don’t have the willpower to stop,” is usually the excuse given for continuing bad habits.  Well, I don’t buy this.  You control YOU.  However, I have found that there is a secret to breaking bad habits.  Understanding this secret will greatly assist you in changing your ways.  If you have a habit that bothers you, then maybe you need to focus on making a change.

What else bothers you?  What are you going to do about it?  Leave a comment and let me know.

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