“NO MAN IS AN ISLAND” No man is an island, no man stands alone Each man’s joy is joy to me, each man’s grief is my own We need one another, so I will defend Each man as my brother, each man as my friend John Donne Yes, we do need one another! Especially when we’re trying to change our lives and reach our goals. It’s simply easier with a little help from our friends. I once heard that your friends and loved ones are like pillars on your porch. Sometimes they hold you up, and sometimes they...

From mild to wild…we’ve got 23 ways to shake up the month: 1. Adopt a pet. 2. Do something on your I’d Never Be Caught Dead Doing list. 3. Go house hunting for the perfect weekend cottage/Paris flat/mountain cabin. 5. Test-drive your dream car. 6. Take tango lessons (or if you know the tango backward and forward, try the tarantella). 7. Eat something you’ve never tasted: momos (Tibetan dumplings), y’atakelt wat (an Ethiopian vegetable stew), amaranth (an Aztec grain). 8. L...

Surprising new research suggests just being happy cuts our risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and brain illnesses so dramatically, it adds 12 years to your life! The reason is simple: Happy people produce far less of two major health-wreckers, the stress hormone cortisol and a protein called interleukin-6. The problem with these trouble-makers? They kickstart cell-damaging inflammation, which speeds aging in virtually every organ of the body. Scared because you’re not feeling t...

Six-year old Miranda Evarts of Milford, New Jersey, always loved fairy tales and even dreamed up her own characters – mystical queens with names like the Starfish Queen, the Ladybug Queen and the Rose Queen. Then one night when Miranda couldn’t sleep, she made up a game about them – that they were sleeping, and needed to be awakened, like Sleeping Beauty. Miranda raced into her parents’ room and blurted: “I made up a game!” Denise and Max listened, then smiled, “I think you’ve got something...

“IT MUST BE BORN IN MIND THAT THE TRAGEDY OF LIFE DOESN’T LIE IN NOT REACHING YOUR GOAL. THE TRAGEDY LIES IN HAVING NO GOAL TO REACH. IT ISN’T A CALAMITY TO DIE WITH DREAMS UNFULFILLED, BUT IT IS A CALAMITY TO NOT DREAM. IT IS NOT A DISGRACE NOT TO REACH THE STARS, BUT IT IS A DISGRACE TO HAVE NO STARS TO REACH FOR. NOT FAILURE, BUT LOW AIM IS THE PROBLEM.” HELMUT SCHMIDT Carl Sandburg remarked, “Nothing Happens Unless First a Dream” Our challenge? To turn an invisible dream into a measurabl...

“IN ALL THINGS, SUCCESS DEPENDS UPON PREVIOUS PREPARATION, AND WITHOUT SUCH PREPARATION THERE IS FAILURE.” Confucius Famous basketball coach Bobby Knight was interviewed shortly after his Indiana Hoosiers captured the NCAA National Championship title. The interviewer asked him, “Why is it, Bobby, that your basketball teams at Indiana are always so successful? Is it the will to succeed?” “The will to succeed is important,” replied Knight, “but I’ll tell you what’s more important – it’s the w...

“RELIEF IS JUST A CRISIS AWAY” RELIEF = REALLY EXTRAORDINARY LIVING IN EVERYONE’S FUTURE What is a crisis? “A turning point in the course of anything; a decisive or crucial time.” You may be thinking, “Another crisis is the last thing I need!” But stay with me, because this strategy is incredibly powerful in it’s ability to catapult you toward goal achievement and life excellence. I’ll begin by laying the foundation for this principle. First, let’s talk about two kinds of stress. There isDebi...

The starter’s pistol sounded and I exploded out of the starting blocks. I pushed myself down the track and managed to clear the first hurdle, then the next, forcing myself to jump again and again. It took every ounce of strength I had just to get across the finish line, gasping for breath. It was early fall of 1988. A few months earlier I had run in the 1988 Olympics and now was back in school at the University of California in Los Angeles, training with one of the top track coaches in the co...

YOU AND I ARE NOT HELPLESS My mother used to read to me and my sister a fable about the birds coming together to have a competition: who could fly the highest? The mighty eagle is sure he will win, and majestically with those great, strong wings, he flies higher and higher and gradually the other birds get tired and start drifting back to the ground. Finally, even the eagle can go no higher, but that’s alright because he looks down and sees all the other birds below him. That’s what he thinks...

With technology and innovation playing a bigger role in the US economy, the life of Thomas Alva Edison takes on new meaning. Edison held 1,093 patents – more than any other individual in US history. His invention of so many things – including the phonograph, electric light bulb and motion picture camera – is still the standard by which all inventors compete. The lessons of Edison’s life can suggest to us all how we can make the most profitable use of our talents and time. SELF-EDUCATION Ed...