We’re in an informational age. Information is more available now than there’s ever been in the world. More will be available tomorrow. Unless the entire Internet crashes, I predict that’s going to continue for a long time.

So, the question isn’t, “How many opportunities are there?” or “What is the best opportunity?” because there’s no such thing. There’ll be a better opportunity tomorrow than the one you’re working on today.

When you have ADD, it’s a blessing and a curse. When technology evolves at the speed of light and things are evolving full-tilt, we’re moving at rocket speeds, too. You need to ask yourself not what’s the best opportunity for someone with ADD. You need to ask yourself what do you want to be known for?

When your life is over, when everything is done, do you just want to have made some money, or do you want to have made something happen? Do you just want to be some schmuck who made some cash, or do you want to have done something of significance in the world?

I’ll tell you, if you’re paying attention, I certainly hope you want to do something of substance, because if you don’t, if you’re just chasing the buck, I can’t help you. You can chase the buck all you want, and you’ll still be miserable tomorrow and the day after. Even if you get rich, you’ll still be miserable.

But if you want do something that’s absolutely, undeniably, super-sonic important to you…

Maybe it’s just having a really wonderful relationship with your family. Maybe it’s making a fortune so you can donate it to support local artists. Maybe it’s finding a cure for cancer. Maybe it’s teaching everybody in the world how to use ADD as a strength. I don’t know what it is for you, but I guarantee that you do, and if you’re saying that you don’t, you’re probably just afraid to go after it.

Yet, even it you’re going full tilt on something right now, that doesn’t mean you have to do that for the rest of your life. It does mean that if you’re going to spend your time doing something, it might as well be something you’re incredibly passionate about. Just figure out a way to integrate that exuberance into being successful. I’m speaking to you from experience here, meaning I have ADD and I’ve been in the exact same situation you may be in right now.

Focus on a goal, and really hone in. Once I figured out this course of action, I started accomplishing something in my life. I said, “Okay, I have 10 great ideas a day (just like most of us with ADD). How do I actually use my ADD to implement one of them and get something done?” I don’t want to just stop having great ideas. I love thinking about new ideas. It’s one of the things I’m best at doing. I realized that when I had a great idea, I needed to figure out how I could take the really great aspect of it and apply it to my current project.

Even with ADD, you can train yourself to do this, but even in conversations when you’re brainstorming with friends or business partners and random ideas come up, say, “Hey, that’s a really good idea. How do we apply that to what we’re working on?”

So, what does that have to do with ADD? It leads me to ask this question: “What does everyone with ADD need?” If I can come up with that, then I’ll be great. Maybe there’s some sort of food or recipes that people with ADD would like that they don’t currently have access to, that they just wish they did. Now we’re talking about ADD again. High speed, super nutrition… and you bill it, “ADD Caf

While the toned men and slender women of the world put on their skin-tastic summer gear and proudly put themselves on display, those with jiggles and dimples would rather opt for a cover up and hang out under an umbrella.

So why haven’t you met your fitness goals?

Why must you go through another agonizing summer, turning your head as you pass by a dozen magazines showcasing skinny celebrities in bikinis? You should be enjoying your summer days without wondering which pair of shorts covers the most.

The truth is that anyone can get the body of their dreams…even you. And wouldn’t it feel great to pull on your bathing suit without bracing yourself before looking in the mirror?

You can turn your fitness dreams into reality-read on for the three things you need to begin achieving amazing results.

1. Your Mind

You may be wondering what your mind has to do with getting your body into great shape. In a single word, your mind has everything to do with getting the body of your dreams. Your mind will single handedly make or break your success.

How? Well, your mind works hard to reinforce the beliefs that you hold about yourself. If you think of yourself as a fat person, or an out-of-shape person, or just an average person then your subconscious mind will do everything in its power to keep you that way.

It’s like self-sabotage.

However, if you begin to think of yourself as fit, healthy and attractive, then your mind will do everything it can to make your belief a reality.

*Take time everyday to visualize your new body and to focus on your goals.

2. Your Plan

Everyone who successfully sets out to lose body fat and achieve results does so by implementing a plan. Your plan is crucial to your success, picture it as a guiding map needed to find a new destination. Without it you are lost.

Here are the 2 major parts to your plan:

1. Diet: They say you are what you eat, and that is never truer than while losing weight. Cut junk food from your diet and stick with fresh healthy foods instead. Eat small meals throughout the day containing protein, carbohydrates and minimal fat.

2. Exercise: Yes, you will have to break a sweat, but the good news is that once you make exercise a habit you will likely find it to be enjoyable – In fact, I know you will. It is important that you make exercise a part of your lifestyle, and not something that you do on random occasions. For maximal results exercise 4-5 times each week doing both cardiovascular and resistance training.

*Stick with your healthy eating plan and exercise routine-these are the building blocks to your success.

3. Your Determination

Determination is the one thing that will guarantee that you will lose weight, tone your body and feel better than ever. You have to want it-that’s it. Thinking about it is not enough. Now it’s time for action!

You have to want your dream body…more than you want that burger and fries.

more than you want to skip your workout.
more than you want that chocolate cookie.
more than you want to sit on the couch.

The shape and size of your body is in your hands, and your hands only. I believe that you possess the kind of determination that it takes to change your body-you simply need to dig down deep enough within yourself to find it.

Fuel your fire by building a network of support in your life. Enlist friends, family and loved ones to encourage your efforts and to keep tabs on your progress. In fact, I would love to be a key player in your network of support-don’t hesitate to call me or reply to this email to get me onboard. Fitness is my passion and I can help make it yours too!

* Surround yourself with support and don’t give up.

I get excited when talking about getting you the body of your dreams-this is what I do everyday for my clients. Making the decision to transform your body is something to celebrate.

There’s nothing like squeezing or smooshing something when you’re stressed. A stress ball is just the answer! If you’ve ever seen a stress ball, you know what they are. If you haven’t, a stress ball is a round ball or object, usually smaller than a tennis ball that is used to diffuse tension. Many people who sit at a computer or desk all day use a stress ball to help prevent or relieve the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

When the stress ball is squeezed, you create a certain amount of muscle tension in not only your hand, but also your body. When you relax your squeeze, that muscle tension is released, thereby providing a sense of relaxation. With repeated squeezing and some deep breathing, the effects on your body will surprise you. Squeezing a little harder each time you wrap your fingers around the ball will produce soothing effects to the muscles of the arm, and then the shoulder. This technique is called progressive muscular relaxation and can actually be felt in every major muscle group in your body if you concentrate and tighten muscles related to that muscle group. For example, you don’t need a stress ball to tighten the muscles of your legs. Just squeeze them tightly together for a few seconds and then relax. You will feel the same effect as your arm did when squeezing the stress ball in your fist.

A stress ball can be extremely effective as a stress relief management tool, though many people don’t realize the benefits that can be gained from this very inexpensive piece of ‘equipment’. A stress relief ball can come in many different shapes, sizes and textures. A stress ball can be soft and squishy like a nerf ball or filled with beans, seeds, gel or fabric type stuffing. Some stress ball manufacturers have created a gel filled ball that can also be heated or cooled to add a wonderful, massage type experience to your muscle tensing and relaxation moves. Any kind of stress ball is also effective in treating symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This condition affects muscles, tendons and ligaments of the hand and wrist and is caused by years of repetitive use by the hands. This usually occurs in word processing and other tasks that require hands to be held in certain positions for hours every day. So, in additional to using a stress ball to rid yourself of that stress, it is also an effective tool for exercise and it prevents or relieves painful symptoms caused by arthritis and generally weak joints.

However well they are made, these stress balls wear out with constant use, so you’ll want to replace yours with a new one every six months or less in order to achieve the maximum benefit you want. A stress ball is one of the cheapest, easiest preventative pieces of ‘medical’ equipment on the market today. Hide one in every room at home and in your desk at work. Rely on them to help get the tension out safely, before it spews out unexpectedly without warning. A stress ball just may save your job and/or your marriage.

In my St Albans Motivation Courses, I offer Hypnotherapy, NLP and Life Coaching. Hypnotherapy is a deep state of relaxation that allows unconscious changes to be made easily. NLP stands for Neuro linguistic programming, which are different techniques and strategies to help you communicate more effectively to yourself and others, and have greater control over your emotional state. Life coaching is a means of establishing where you are now, where you want to be in the future and setting up goals or steps that will help you to get to wherever it is that you want to be. Once someone has decided upon their course of action, they may want to stick with that (so decide to only use St Albans Course for Hypnotherapy) or to use a combination of the different therapeutic interventions to gain maximum advantage.

Almost all one to one sessions are

I must start our by stating that I believe there is good stress and bad stress. As in most things in life, there are opposites: good and bad, yin and yang, light and dark…(you get the idea). Let’s start with the good kind and then work our way along the continuum.

When you are put in a situation where you are challenging your capabilities, whether it is competitive sports, public speaking, or starting your own business, you are having an intimate experience with good stress. Without these challenges, your life would remain stagnant, albeit comfortable. If you are content to live life just below the surface, great; but maybe you just need a little encouragement or a fresh perspective.

Try replacing your fear with a heightened sense of awareness. Look through eyes which are not placing judgments on situations or people, and simply observe. Practice this relaxed state of mind, and notice how your environment (and the people within it) becomes more supportive.

You could easily become adept at coming up with reasons why you shouldn’t face a challenge or make a change, and the truth is sometimes your rational mind has a point. Just be careful when your comfort zone gets too lived in–the more you take roots there, the harder it is to get out. Taking an intelligent risk when the timing is right can turn your life from ordinary to incredibly fulfilling. In doing so, you’ve taken a very positive step toward tackling that other kind of stress the bad kind. I am sure most of you are familiar with bad stress, the kind you can certainly live without. Some examples of this bad stress might include:

* you just got a phone call from your boss saying he wants to see you right away; he was not speaking with his “happy voice.”

* your dog just deposited a smelly package on your clean carpet, and you are expecting the appraiser to inspect your home first thing in the morning.

* you have a date tomorrow night with “the one,” and you just discovered the making of two massive eruptions–one the left side of your nose, and one front and center on your chin.

No doubt, there are many more examples some having to do with paying the mortgage, and maybe some having to do with the upcoming 4-week visit with your misunderstood, the glass is not only half-empty, it’s dark and cloudy, brother. Just thinking about these topics can cause your mind to escalate out of control with worry and doubt about your abilities, and extreme anticipation at the thought of your next gin and tonic. Stop the madness, now!

First thing you need to do is, breathe; that’s right, breathe. The idea is to focus on something other than discursive thoughts. So, actually, you are not just breathing, you are also FOCUSING on the breath coming in through your nose, filling your diaphragm, and then releasing the breath out of your mouth. When you blow this air out, try releasing whatever unpleasant thoughts you have out with your breath. Just let it go, like lint you’ve pulled out of the bottom of your purse; blow and release. When you breathe in again (yes, keep breathing), picture pure positive energy coming in through your nose, and filling your diaphragm. And this time when you release the breath, picture that pure positive alive energy, drifting out, bringing a loving essence to everything it touches.

Like with anything else in life, in order to get the benefits of some thing, you really need to commit to it. One of the strongest ways to manifest success (whatever that means to you), is to believe. Children offer wonderful inspiration when it comes to belief. They use their imagination in such a way that not only entertains, it creates a life where the stresses of the material world do not affect them.

Now I know what you are thinking: “Yeah, that’s great. But, I am an adult, with adult responsibilities. I have to go to work, cook the food, and clean up the dog poop!” Fair enough however, this does not mean that you, like the child, cannot use your imagination. Many new age books these days like to use the word “visualize.” I like to use the word “imagination,” because it has a connotation of a sense of fun. And, adopting more fun in your life is essential to releasing the bad kind of stress.

Let’s focus, now we were talking about relieving bad stress, right? Remember we were breathing? Good! Okay, so once you are at the point where you are filling your body with that pure positive energy, imagine the energy transforming every single cell in your body. Like an internal massage, your organs will be touched with a renewed energy. Try and really experience this sensation. Embellish it and color it. Realize your creative energy, and let it work through you.

This whole imagining or visualizing process may not come naturally to some of you. I understand, because I used to think life was pretty serious business myself. And, the more I thought about how serious it was, it seemed the more life kept throwing me serious stuff to prove I was right. I used to watch other people laughing, having a good time, and think they were pretty frivolous. It wasn’t long before my judgment turned to envy. Then, finally, I started to think, “Maybe appearing a little silly is not such a bad thing.” The more I played with this thought, the more I found myself smiling. Sometimes I even made myself laugh out loud, because of something stupid I imagined myself doing. I don’t think the people who saw me smiling knew I was just having silly thoughts; they actually thought I was being friendly can you imagine?! If you knew me back then, you would know that this would have been quite a stretch. The funny thing is, when people started smiling back, I actually did become pretty friendly.

During this whole change of attitude, I did continue breathing. No, I didn’t forget. I guess the point is bad stuff is bound to happen. What I would lovingly like to recommend is for you to take a few deep breaths before you react. The situation you are faced with will become a whole lot more manageable if you allow your imagination to take you to a positive place. And just as if you were approaching an angry person on the street and you looked at them straight on with a genuine smile, look at your undesirable situation with the same positive energy. Nine times out of ten, that angry person will be much less angry, and that difficult situation you are facing will be much less daunting.

Copywright 2007, Avenstar Enterprises, Inc. – Our Inner Source

Hooked, trapped, desperate Oh these words are so heart wringing. Are those that utter these soul-searing cries being tied up by their thumbs? Or have they fallen down an old mine shaft?

Well, umm, no, they have… well they have made a decision to become hooked, trapped and desperate.

See the news blog tumbling out… Scottish smokers, hooked on their smoking addiction have vowed to fight the smoking bans.

Read the Press Release from the pharmaceutical company announcing… Smokers trapped by their smoking addiction are offered a new drug.

Hear the media babbling… Britney Spears’ man is desperate to quit smoking for the sake of their children.

I bet if you are a smoker, you don’t really use these strong words… more like, “I’d really like to quit, but I enjoy smoking, or, I’ve tried to quit but it’s too hard, or, I want to quit, but I’m so addicted I don’t think I can, or, I’m too scared, what if…” and so on.

But are smokers totally at the mercy of their habit and spinelessly despairing of escaping its bonds? Would they describe their smoking addiction like that? Trapped? Trapped by a chemical and emotional fix? They’re not trapped by their decision, that’s for sure, because we all have the ability to make our own decisions, yes or no as we wish.

A person makes a decision to try smoking. For some that leads to more decisions to reach out and take more cigarettes maybe a week or so later. Then some more, then pretty soon as the nicotine gets its grips into the brain’s receptors, the person finds it becomes harder and harder not to go out of his or her way to acquire cigarettes to smoke… and hey presto, because of their decisions, they are now supposedly a hooked, trapped smoker, and if they want to quit, they are desperate.

But it still comes down to a decision to smoke. Every time a smoker lights up it is a decision they have made. A simple, personal decision, along with 1000’s of other decisions each day that make up that person’s character, lifestyle, mood, health and future.

A daily decision to get out of bed is made.

A decision not to have another helping of food is made.

You decide to clean the house, take the dog out in the rain, stack the dishes, and sort out your accounts for tax.

You don’t dwell on how you’ll miss lingering in your warm bed, or how you’ll suffer without more food, or how unpleasant it will be to walk the dog in the rain, do the dishes, tax etc.

No, with unpleasant decisions you simply do what needs to be done because the consequences not to would be worse.

Some people make daily major decisions, sacrificing a lot because of a goal worth aiming for, such as a champion swimmer rising at 5am to practice 2 hrs before breakfast. Thus it is with smoking, or exercise, or getting out of bed in the morning. It’s a matter of making the decision and focusing on the outcome.

You know it’s absolutely pointless to try to worm your way out of getting out of bed. Who would you worm to anyway! But the point is it’s automatic, although for some people an effort, to get up in the morning but it has to be done. Has to… and your decision is made, because the day beckons and there’s a whole lot of living to do today.

You’re in charge of your decisions. You are not trapped; your brain and body are resisting, but no-one is tying you to your bed, so up you get… no-one is forcing you to have your smoking addiction, although your brain and body crave a smoke, so decide to get help to control it and focus on something better.

It’s your decision and the consequences are not that crash hot if you don’t make the right decisions.

Time, time, time. It seems there is never enough of this precious life support. In a previous story about time, I quoted the following aphorism:

TIME IS MY FRIEND
TIME IS MY ALLY
I HAVE ALL THE TIME I NEED
FOR EVERYTHING I WANT TO DO.

I received a lot of grateful responses and some questions, indicating just how hard it is to balance our time requests these days. I want to respond to a subscriber who said she is “too busy to attend to personal needs vs. work, work, work” and is looking for a way to take care of herself while meeting the requirements of her workplace.

Here are a couple of suggestions for anyone who is struggling to keep work and personal life in balance.

First, don’t judge yourself about where you’re spending your time. Wherever you are, be there 100 percent. If you’re working, try to notice why you said yes to the work and enjoy that part of it. Enjoy the moment.

Second, use your calendar or daytimer as a tool to give you what you want. Mark it with work and personal time, and attend to it. For example, I’m writing a book, and it’s very easy for me to let that time slip into something else, like answering email or returning calls. I’m getting better at blocking out the time in advance and sticking with what I said I was going to do with it.

Lastly, prioritize your values around time. If personal time is the highest priority, mark the personal time into your calendar first. Then fill in the other stuff in around it.

I hope some of this helps. Please write and let me know if any of the suggestions work for you. And let me know your ideas, too, because I need them!