One of the areas most in need of creative paradigms during busy holiday periods is:
(drum roll):  Stress Management, of course.

And one of the simplest solutions is learning, or re-learning, the habits of regular relaxation.

• Easy on the budget, on the heart, on your total health.
• Good for your productivity, your creativity, and hey, your relationships.

Relaxation is a resilience builder,  socially sanctioned or not!

Here’s a 5-minute video of David Riklan, from Selfgrowth.com, reminding us all how simple, and simply effective, changing our daily stress levels can be.

Be wise — practice good stress management, and see how it can increase your productivity and success.  That’s not really even counter-intuitive, if you think about it.  Quality trumps quantity in this genre.  Let the good relaxing times roll, in work and play, and in relaxing sounds, scents, flavors, sights, and seat cushions!

(A variety of self-improvement ideas can be found on David’s video blog page.
Check it out here.  (Not an affiliate link.) You can beat much of the holiday stress by intentionally becoming more relaxed and healthy. Enjoy your practice!

Extraordinary minds are very good at grasping the big picture.  While most of us are trying to remember who gave us our last good deed, really successful people are highly aware of the thousands of gifts which support their lives.  Give a Listen — Gratis

54 Master Success Coaches in Conversation

It is near Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.  Not that we should save gratitude for a feast day, but still, a good reason to pause and reflect.  The following is taken from the Ultimate Feel-Good Article. Enjoy, and practice the surprise!  And don’t forget there are some League of Extraordinary Minds Panels still to be aired. You can listen to them Here.

What if the Ultimate Feel-Good Article is something WAY DIFFERENT than you expected? Something you can’t even look for. Kind of like what they say about a solution to a puzzle only showing up after you sleep on it, or the answer to a prayer not coming from where you thought it would.

What if the Ultimate Feel-Good Article is one you write yourself? Hey, don’t feel cheated, at least not yet. Like Billy Mays said, “Wait, there’s more.”

• Proposition 1: Spend 15 minutes a day (5 min. for new mothers/fathers and other time-challenged creatures) being with yourself, and jot down a few things you are grateful for. Lists, prose, poetry, outlines, stick-up notes, napkins, doesn’t matter. What matters is that you practice — five minutes every day that you don’t have an all-day migraine.
• Proposition 2: Let the habit sweep you into a new mindset.
• Proposition 3: Allow yourself to think this is important, and it carries the potential to make a BIG difference. Keep your tidbits, WRITTEN.

THE BIG PROP: Read the stuff on the days when you least want to do so.

Read it aloud.

Recite your lists to pets, babies, sleeping squirrels in your oak tree, house plants, mirror, friend on the phone, partner if you have one, favorite lamp, doesn’t matter. What matters is that you listen. Listen, huh?!

The Ultimate Feel-Good Article turns out to be ephemeral, unless it gets to take root in your psyche. So you have to actually listen to yourself to have this work for you long term.

(Short-term yada-yada is quite acceptable, however, because it gets your brain used to the messages, even if your mind still thinks it’s hogwash.)

Try this. Yes, of course, come back and explore our offerings, but first…

Go read YOUR Ultimate Feel-Good Article. Then come back and leave us a comment, or questions about getting the hang of it. We’ll be here for you.

Spot-on.  We agree.  Give your mind this extraordinary habit-gift.  It can be yours.

And bend an ear toward these conversations.  That gift can also be yours.

Both opportunities can morph into game-changing habits that last a lifetime!

Ever try to practice a rock-perched Crane, à la Daniel-san in The Karate Kid?  We were watching such a scene the other day and an interesting thing happened.

Two friends, one who obviously had training, and one who appeared to be a newbie, were having a little contest to see who could balance the longest, and do it the most times in a row without a shin-skinning fall.

The person who had been mentored got up on a rock and showed the newbie how to hold out the arms, bend the knees, etc.  The newbie followed suit, laughing and learning, and having some beginner’s success.

Newbie and ‘Daniel-san’ enjoyed a good little contest on the beach — until one fall ended the fun.  While ‘Daniel-san’ was good at helping Newbie learn the fun part, ‘Daniel-san’ hadn’t covered how to fall off the rock without getting hurt.  When Newbie’s balance faltered, Newbie felt helpless and more than skinned a shin.  There they were, the Keen and the Clueless.

~~ Cut to a Scene in Your Own Life ~~

~~ Cut to the most powerful business brain-trust ever assembled ~~

Now imagine combining scenes two and three and see what happens…Your Own Life getting access to over 50 of the most accomplished coaches and business strategists ever, gathered for one purpose:  To help Your Business.  To help you get started, take off, scale to huge proportions.  To give you hope and courage to pursue your dreams and goals…

…and… to help keep you from self-destructing when you fall off a ‘rock’.

Oh my, I would LOVE to have access to The League of Extraordinary Minds!

If Newbie had all these perspectives and balancing skills, Newbie could have:

• Avoided a lot of pain
• Learned how to cut the Newbie-losses
• Found out about consistency and continuity and how to survive the long-haul
• Been privy to the Missing Pieces which can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE in success.
• Learned how to risk without killing off the Newbie-juice, or our so-many chances for success.

There is a tremendous amount of “Buzz” around this august group and their League of Extraordinary Minds project.  It’s all good, so just go find out for yourself right now!

Even for those of us who are experienced business owners and entrepreneurs, there is always another barrier to jump over, another meadow where we are ignorant about which new plants to cultivate, and about where the hungry, eager markets hang out.

So vetted and trained marketers are always perpetual beginners — we live and operate in that creative tension between the keen and the clueless.

Go join this series of free listening opportunities to hear panels of wildly successful minds discussing how they went from clueless to keen, and how you can apply those principles to Your Business.  DO NOT MISS THIS!  All we have to do is show up and listen.

No books or CDs to buy, in order to listen.  No obligation at all.  It’s all FREE.

The free line is within your reach.  Grasp it immediately.

Do it quickly — because the kick-off first call with Tony Robbins is this Thursday, the 29^th.
(Yes, THAT Tony Robbins!)

What a tall order. Too Tall, for some of us to reach easily.  In fact, it may take some real cleverness, or at least some great tricks and tools.

Good news!  There are such tools.  Some of them are habits and skills that make a huge difference in our resilience and success.  They can give us increased energy and improve our mood.  They can lower our anxiety and help us feel like we do have some control over things.  They can move us out of the stuck places in our lives.

So take heart and check out the resources we offer, and then begin to practice some of the suggestions and learn the skills.  They can help you get through difficulties with better self-esteem, and maybe with your dreams and visions intact.

Watch this space!  Exciting new resources are always coming and going, so take advantage of those time-sensitive offers. Look for things that help you define and reach your goals.  And things you want to learn because it simply makes you happy.

In the meantime, see if you can begin to believe you can.
Make it so today is not like yesterday, and tomorrow will be…different forever.