Self Improvement Information

Many people are generalists and many people are specialists. Many specialists are stuck in linear thought and cannot think outside of that box. Many generalists are not very good at any one thing. Generally a generalist is not become best in the world at any one thing. Many specialists never become the best in the world at their one thing, but some do.

So, how can you become a generalist and a specialist to get the most benefit out of your mind to win the game? Well I suggest becoming a specialist at many things. How can you do this? Well I suggest you pick out 10-12 things that you wish to the be the very best in the world and then concentrate on those and as soon as you finish; that is to say you become the best in the world at those 10 to 12 things.

Next go pick out 10-12 or so more and then accomplish those and become the best in the world at them and then repeat this process and pick 10-12 more. Never bite off more than you can chew. Being the best in the world at even one thing is difficult. so never pick more than 13 at any one time. Additionally, do not poo poo this idea or concept, because it does work. And never doubt that you can become the best in the world at something.

You must get out there and just do it. Many people might say well it is simply impossible to become the best in the world at anything. But I say to them; No its not! In fact it is a lot easier than you think, because so few people try very hard and there are so many sub-categories, niches and Industry sub-sectors to study, work at and become the best in. Please consider this advice and take it seriously, I did not write it for my health; I wrote it for you.

“Lance Winslow” - Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Calvin Coolidge said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

You can’t teach someone persistence. People will become sufficiently persistent to succeed only when their desire for their goal exceeds the pain and discomfort they have to endure in order to reach it. It’s simply a matter of comparison: the pain of living without your objective has to exceed the pain of paying the price to accomplish that goal. Which pain is greater? Everyone is motivated. Motivation means “A motive for action”. Some people are motivated to lie in the gutter with a cigarette and bottle of liquor. That’s what they want to do, that’s why they’re doing it. Others live mediocre lives, because they don’t want real success badly enough to pay the price to obtain it.

How do we guarantee success? DESIRE. When you want something badly enough, when you are prepared to do whatever it takes to get it, you will become persistent. And when that happens, success is guaranteed. On a scale of one to ten, one being “It doesn’t matter” and ten being “Nothing will stop me”, how badly do you want to reach your objective? If it’s anything less than a twelve, don’t bother. FIND something that you want more than anything else. That desire will burn away fear, slothfulness, excuses, lack of attention, distraction, compromise, mediocrity and even fatigue. People who are seriously motivated are persistent and dedicated. They set extremely high standards and will pay the price. They LOVE their objective.

Persistence is the result of finding your true purpose and the result of persistence is massive success. To find your purpose, it’s good to spend time with others who already know what their purpose is. Those people will inspire you and their energy will start to invigorate you. You will seek what they have, which is purpose. And what you honestly and sincerely seek, you will surely find.

“They who lack talent expect things to happen without effort. They ascribe failure to a lack of inspiration or ability, or to misfortune, rather than to insufficient application. At the core of every true talent there is an awareness of the difficulties inherent in any achievement, and the confidence that by persistence and patience something worthwhile will be realized. Thus talent is a species of vigour.” - Eric Hoffer

About Robin J. Elliott

For more than 19 years, Robin J. Elliott has worked with thousands of businesses in over 49 industries across the United States, Canada, and Africa. He specializes in helping small business entrepreneurs build wealth and gain access to new markets and profit centers through Joint Ventures. Through his Joint venture Seminars across North America he has thought thousands how to create increasing, multiple streams of income without cost or risk and very little time.

jvwisdom.com/index.php/free_stuff Get Robin J. Elliott’s FREE: “How To Grow Serious Wealth Using Joint Ventures” Mini-Course, and The Prophet of Profit e-Zine along with video blogs, world class articles, free video, and access to top Joint Venture Partners at jvwisdom.com jvwisdom.com

In the movie, “The Player” during a scene at a Hollywood studio executive meeting Mr. Levy shows Reeve, the central character, how to pitch a potential movie story. Levy holds out a newspaper, saying, “ Here, read a headline, any headline.”

Reeve responds : “Um . . .’Immigrants Protest Budget Cuts in Literacy Program.’”

Levy: “Human spirit overcoming economic adversity. Sounds like Horatio Alger in
and the barrio. You put in Jimmy Smits, you got a sexy ‘Stand and Deliver.’ Next?”

Robert Kosberg, a Hollywood producer convinced a studio to make the 1993 pets
-gone-wrong movie “Man’s Best Friend.” His pitch was “Jaws on Paws”.

How quickly can you attract someone’s attention and interest?
See the power of spare, specific details over speed and volume of speech?

The stories we tell about each other – and the people with whom we want to share
our stories are where we create meaning and friendships. As you speak vividly
about your experiences with others you make those stories more meaningful and
memorable for them to recall and repeat.

You become a more central part of their lives.

Here’s some ways to talk and write so other repeat what you say – with pride and
joy. Each are easy to practice.

1. Be brief.

If your characterization is sufficiently short then you can repeat it, as an aside or
reminder throughout a conversation. Others are more likely to remember and
repeat it. Here’s some ways to be pithy:

A. Use a familiar word in a new way and you might even capture a trend:
Example: Futurist, Faith Popcorm, predicted five years ago that people would want
to be “cocooning” in their home.

B. Be catchy, using one or more of these devices:

• Alliteration: “Peak performance” and “high tech/high touch.”

• Rhyme: “Jaws on Paws”

• Repetition: “First things first”, Steve Covey’s advice.

• Puns: Tongue Fu!, title of book by Sam Horn.

C. Employ an unexpected turns of phrase: To connect with people upon first
meeting, I suggest “going slow to go fast.”

2. Make favorable comparisons with familiar objects

When people in your work world are immersed in their jargon, your remarks can
stand out when you make a comparison with a well-liked product, person or
situation from outside your profession or industry.

Example: At the high stakes Quist H & Q Healthcare conference, venture capitalists
hear 20-minutes talks by CEOs of start-ups and public companies who seek funding
or favorable stock analysts’ reporters. The tension is high and the schedule is
packed. Most presenters speak fast, using a mix of highly technical scientific and
finance language. The speaker from bio-tech company, Amgen, walked past the
podium to the center of the stage, pulled up one suit and shirt sleeve to bare his
raised forearm. He opened his talk, saying, ” You will feel the effects of this medical
patch faster than it takes a Porsche to go from zero to 90. “

3. Hijack a familiar slogan to use in a new way.

After a company has spent millions to make a slick slogan well-known, twist it in a
new direction for your intended meaning.
Example: Redwood Hospital in Northern California used this billboard variation of
the popualr milk slogan to ask for blood donations: “Got blood?”

4. Anchor your suggestion in a relevent story
To pull people into hearing and remembering your view, set it up with a brief
anecdote.

Example: What if you wanted to suggest that people were looking at a problem
from the wrong perspective? Consider offering this story first: There is an old joke
in Soviet Russia about a guard at the factory gate who at the end of every day saw a
worker walking out with a wheelbarrow full of straw. Everyday he thoroughly
searched the contents of the wheelbarrow, but never found anything but straw. One
day he asked the worker: “What do you gain by taking home all that straw?” “The
wheelbarrows.”

5. Bungle your translation to bring humor

If you are with a worldly group, offer your variation of a well-known expression in a
foreign language. Change a single letter and provide a definition for the new
expression.
Share these rules and your expression with your colleagues and ask for their
contribution. New York magazine held such a contest in 2001. Here’s some of the
winning contributions:

HARLEZ-VOUS FRANCAIS: Can you drive a French motorcycle?
IDIOS AMIGOS: We’re wild and crazy guys!
RESPONDEZ S’IL VOUS PLAID: Honk if you’re Scottish.
POSH MORTEM: Death styles of the rich and famous.
ALOHA OY: Love; greetings; farewell; from such a pain you would never know.
VISA LA FRANCE: Don’t leave your chateau without it.
VENI, VIDI, VELCRO: I came, I saw, I stuck around.
ZITGEIST: The Clearasil doesn’t quite cover it up.

6. Veil the truth in humor

So much of life is fast-paced and tense. Consider opening a meeting with mock-
serious inspiration or admonition, then grinning. You’ll find true life, Dilbert-like
examples everywhere that you can keep for your dry humored use.

Here are some of my favorites, gathered by Accountemps one year:

“What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter.”

(Lykes Lines Shipping)

“This project is so important, we can’t let things that are more
important interfere with it.”

(Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

‘We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to
discuss it with the employees.”

(Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

7. Encapsulate a Situation
Offer a vignette that captures an emotion

Example: In late 2002 a book by Jenny Lee will be released, entitled: I Do. I Did,
Now What?: One Woman’s Musings on Married Life, which the agent characterized
thusly (after getting our attention): “a rant that (almost despite itself) ends up as a
celebration of marriage.”

Financial analyst, Alan Parisse shared this perhaps apocryphal newspaper
advertisement with me: “For sale. Infant shoes. Never used.”

Kare Anderson is the author of LikeABILITY (see Grand Store at
SayitBetter.com SayitBetter.com), Make Yourself Memorable and SmartPartnering. A popular
speaker on SmartPartnering and on how to be more frequently-quoted to become
your kind of customers’ top- of-mind choice, she also publishs the SayitBetter
newsletter, with 32,000 subscribers in 28 countries

THE SECRET THAT IS NOT A SECRET AT ALL

When we continuously put things off or don’t finish a task, it can become a bad habit. Habits can be either good or bad. When things become a habit, we do them without even thinking about them. This is great – when the repetitive actions are positive. However it can be bad – when the repetitive actions are negative. It matters not the occupation of a person or if they’re a leader. Each person should seek to create repetitive actions which are positive and create good habits. Additionally, each of us should seek to stay away from repetitive actions that are negative and create bad habits.

Now each of us have procrastinated or put things off for various reasons. And to be honest, sometimes it is necessary to set things aside for valid reasons – like family emergencies. True emergency situations do not need to be justified. However, it is when we become like the person in Proverbs 6:9-11 that it is not alright. This Proverb talks about the foolishness of indolence. Indolence means being lethargic and not showing any interest or making any effort. Proverbs 6:9-11 says - “6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, 8 provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. 9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep— 11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.”

The ant is self-motivated. It has developed good habits that cause it to do what is necessary to survive and thrive. Those who always put things off will drift away from what’s necessary in order to feed their bad habits. They become like the sluggard. A little sleep here, a little slumber there, and a little folding of hands to sleep and poverty can come upon you like a prowler. This “lack of action” can treat you with the cruelty of an armed robber if you do not do what is necessary to create positive habits. In turn, positive habits will produce and develop physical, mental, and spiritual growth within you.

Another problem is that many of us have trouble following through with a task. We start projects or tasks with great energy, but never follow through on them. Again, there are valid reasons not to finishing a project or task. Emergencies and strange situations do pop up from time to time. However, each of us should endeavor to finish what we start. Proverbs 12:27 says, “ 27 the lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, but diligence is man’s precious possession.” What a waste of both resources and time. This guy went through all the trouble of hunting down his game, but will not follow through with the task of feeding himself. He is so close to the ultimate goal he set out upon, but in the end – he missed the mark. This is like practicing for a 100 yard dash and when the race starts – the runner quits at the 50 or 60 yards mark. No injury or mishap – not at all. It’s just that the runner has never developed the positive habit of completing a race. The hunter has never developed the positive habit of finishing the job and feeding himself.

The diligent – those who are persistent and hard working – are a different story. The diligent do not put off until tomorrow – what can be done today. The diligent, also, finish what they start. The diligent value their resources. The diligent not only value their time, but the time of others.
So, what are you putting off? Where are the areas in your life that you are not following through on? Once you have answered these questions; then you will know what you have to work on. These are areas where you need to be diligent. But remember, you did not develop bad habits over night, but over time. Nor are you likely to change your bad habits on your own. In order for you to develop the positive habits that will promote your physical, mental, and spiritual growth; you will need to seek out a mentor to walk this road of change with you.

Whether you find an elder or leader in the church or a big brother or sister figure; find someone to hold you accountable. And here is the big secret that is no secret at all: Admit your bad habits, set goals to change them, create action steps (something you can do daily), and find an accountability partner/mentor. It’s not a secret at all, that you can be the best you that you can be – if you trade out your bad habits for good ones.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER, E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include the resource box below:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Coach Stan Lewis is a Christian Life & Leadership coach. He is happily married to the ultimate lady and love of his life - Barb. He has two children. He is a former Naval Officer & has developed and trained leaders for 18 yrs. He has worked in the Royal Ranger ministry for 20 yrs. He has a passion for training, ministering to, and developing leaders.

If you liked this article, you should really check out his new “Thinking Style” assessment by realleadership4coachinglife.com Clicking Here or his other FREEBIES at realleadership4coachinglife.com realleadership4coachinglife.com
Questions about this article or you need assistance, please call me at 214-629-7217.

Statistics tell us that more people have migraine headaches on Sunday night and that the rate of heart attacks and heart attack-like symptoms are very high in the early hours of Mondays.. What does this tell us? Perhaps that people are dreading going to their job on Monday? Maybe. But there are other reasons for this as well. Two decades ago we saw changes happen in the workplace that we didn’t anticipate. The trendy term used was downsizing. Less people to do the same amount of work. Executives lost their jobs daily. New types of employment finding agencies sprung up that specialized in higher level management job finding. There was confusion in the workplace and people began to feel uncertain about their jobs. Articles started to appear that indicated we will all have more than one job in our lifetime – there would be no more job security – even for those who were University educated.

Stress in the workplace has increased over the past couple of decades. Occupational Stress can be one of the most debilitating types of stress there is. Overworked Managers no longer have the time to acknowledge their employees in positive ways. Disrespect and rudeness are two of the big attitudinal problems in some businesses. There is a loss of connectedness with the workers. People feel isolated and unsupported in their work. Add to this the addition of the part time marginalized worker. Must be on call at the whim of the employer, only allowed to turn down so many shifts, no benefits and frequently lower wages. This means that these people do not know how much money they will have coming in each month – they try to take on another part time job – but the same thing holds true. Must be on call, only allowed to turn down so many shifts, etc.. You see the problem. It’s an insecure way to live at best. This creates the stress of never being able to plan for anything. An acquaintance tells me she keeps her cell phone at arms reach when she is in the shower.

According to the Tenth Annual Attitudes in the American Workplace Poll done by Harris Interactive, workplace stress is definitely up. Some of their results would support this. 63% say that the job pressures interfere with their family or personal life and 60% say that the job is negatively affecting their physical and emotional well-being. Stress Management is a big problem: 52% say that they think that people in their workplaces need help in managing anger and stress, yet 55% say their company offers no training on how to manage anger or stress. 35% say they feel their co-workers are harder to get along with due to stress.

Granted this poll was done in the United States, but the same results could be obtained here. So, what can we do to help combat the stress in our own office. We can acknowledge one another and leave anonymous notes that are positive in content. “Thank you for being you – you brighten my day”,
“You were really helpful – thanks!” Or we could introduce some silliness and put some fun items on our desk. I have an Eeyore stuffy that talks and he never fails to elicit smiles and laughter. When I’ve had a frustrating day, Eeyore and I have a talk. Join a laughter club ande release those endorphins, serotonins and boost your immune system at the same time. If a laughter club isn’t your thing, rent funny videos for home OR work. Create a joke book, or a humour box. Buy balloons and leave them anonymously on someone’s desk. Put up funny or positive motivational quotes.

Many companies use fun as a motivator and mood stabilizer for their employees. Westjet Airlines is known for this and I am told that their employees just love going to work. The company holds parties for their employees and show their appreciation in many ways. Companies who make it fun to go to work get more out of their employees than those who don’t.

If we could learn to treat each other with respect and appreciation at work, mix in a little fun, smile and thank each other, it just might help to ease the stress of our workdays. It would be the beginning of something good.

————————————————

Carole Fawcett lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in B.C. She is a Stress Management consultant and Laughter Therapist. She can be found at afunnybusiness.ca afunnybusiness.ca

So What Then Is The Opposite Of Procrastination?

Urgency is the opposite of procrastination. When we have a sense of urgency to get things done, we do them. Something inside motivates us to carry through. One of the most valuable habits you can develop in life is a sense of urgency, an inner drive to get on with it, to get the job done now.

Procrastination Awareness

Recognize self-defeating patterns such as fear and anxiety, difficulty concentrating, poor time management, indecisiveness and perfection.
Identify your goals, strengths and weaknesses, values and priorities.
Compare your actions with your values. Are they consistent with each other?
Discipline yourself to use time wisely. Set priorities.
Motivate yourself: Dwell on success, not on failure. Break large assignments or projects into small, manageable tasks.
Set realistic goals
Modify your environment: Eliminate or minimize noise/distractions.
Ensure you have adequate lighting and all the necessary equipment at hand to simplify and organize your workplace so everything’s within reach.
Hire a coach to help move you through the blocks to motivation and that sense of urgency.

5 Ways to Be Aware of Procrastination

Create a detailed plan of action
Begin by creating a clear, written plan with each part of the plan and each step organized in order of priority. Put an “A,” “B,” or “C” next to each step. Determine the most important thing you can do to get started and put a circle around that item. A written plan will lead to action.

Clean up your workspace
Begin with only one thing, the most important thing in front of you. A clean workspace is a real motivator for action. A good time planner can be very helpful in this regard because it keeps you focused on the next task.

Separate the urgent from the important
Remind yourself that important tasks are usually not urgent. An urgent task is usually not important. Start off working on the tasks that are both urgent and important. Ensure you don’t leave anything until the last moment.

Start with your most important task
People tend to procrastinate on large, important tasks with considerable future value. Successful completion of these major tasks can make a major difference into your life, so plan for them in ways that are manageable for you.

Practice creative procrastination
This requires that you consciously procrastinate on those tasks that contribute little or nothing to the accomplishments of your major, high-value goals. The difference between effective and ineffective people is that effective people only procrastinate on the things that don’t really matter.

Action Exercise

Select one major task where procrastination is holding you back.

Create a detailed list of every single thing you will have to do to complete that task….think on paper.

Identify the single most important item on your list and gather everything you will need to start and complete that one item.

Set a specific time when you will start and work single-mindedly on that task until it is finished.

Break your largest tasks and goals down into bite-size chunks, and concentrate on starting and completing one part of the job at a time.

Accept 100 percent responsibility for starting and finishing your major task; refuse to make excuses or rationalize pitting it off.

Visualize working with a sense of urgency; program your mind by repeating the words “Do it now!” over and over.

Reprinting These Articles
You are welcome to use one of these articles. Just be sure and include the “author’s box” below:

Cheryl Vallejos
Prime Leaders Community
PrimeLeaders.com/ www.PrimeLeaders.com
Where good managers become great leaders!

President and CEO of Endorse Success, LLC and Prime Leaders Community, Cheryl Vallejos has more than 22 years of experience in organizational business management. Her passion is helping small businesses create big profits. Cheryl’s business and personal clients include those wanting career advancement, people starting or expanding their businesses, and those needing guidance and support in setting, meeting, and exceeding their business and personal goals.

A dynamic and impressive leading-edge coach and consultant, Cheryl has combined extensive business management experience with her highly regarded talent as a certified coach to helping entrepreneurs and businesses improve productivity, cut costs by over 25% and find that elusive extra time in the day for family and friends.

Cheryl recently launched Prime Leaders Community, an excellent business resource that provides networking, leadership coaching and training, tele-seminars and much more. She has successfully started, owned and operated 3 businesses, and is the author of four books: Injecting The Juice Into Leadership

“Mumbler” Willie Wonka shouts at the little boy telling him his idea won’t work, “What is it with you? I just can’t hear you?”

Everyone has their critics, perhaps a partner, friend, parents, or work colleagues. You have a goal, an idea, or an ambition and they just try to pull you down and tell you it won’t work.

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willie Wonka had Mike TeaVee as his critic, constantly doubting and disbelieving in all of Wonka’s inventions and ideas. Willie’s method of dealing with this doubt was to not hear the criticism.

Why do they do this?

Partly it is because they are jealous of your ambition and desire to succeed. It may also be because in the past they tried to succeed and failed and they no longer believe it is possible.

Maybe they are trying to protect you from getting hurt. I mean, they wouldn’t want you working hard to achieve a goal and then for you to fail and get upset or hurt, would they?

Often times these people are doing the best they can with the resources they have available to them. Unfortunately, they may not have the right resources to help you achieve your goals and dreams.

This is why I tell people to be very careful who they share their goals with. There are times when it is good to tell people your goals. For example, if you know they are going to support you and encourage you to achieve your goals, then it is a good idea.

If you are going to have someone hold you accountable to your goal, then you must tell them. They will encourage you and ensure you achieve it.

However, if you are like most of the rest of us, there are only a few select people you can share your goals with. For most of the rest, you just have to keep quiet and not tell them what you are working towards; just let them see the results.

If you are not assured about achieving your goals then you really need to keep them to yourself. If you share your goals with other people then their criticism or disbelief can seriously impede your progress towards your target, or in the worst case, stop you completely.

Every successful person on the planet faces constant criticism and doubt. The difference between them and the millions who have never dared dream of their goals is that the successful people brush off the doubt and criticism and believe in themselves.

Admittedly, there are times when perhaps you ought to listen. If you are standing on top of a tall building thinking you can fly … that’s a good time to listen to the people who think you can’t. However, who’s to say that if you believe you could fly you could, but I wouldn’t test it and wouldn’t recommend you do either, just in case.

However, in general, you can take a leaf out of Willie Wonka’s book and ignore the critics around you and believe you can achieve … because your only limits are those you choose to accept or allow others to put upon you.

Jason E. Johns is a personal success coach specializing in helping you to set and achieve your goals. Discover more about how you can create your dream life through this innovative approach at his livingmotivation.com goal setting website, livingmotivation.com LivingMotivation.com

The wish to have or be something, especially one that seems difficult to achieve is an innate desire in every one of us. The quest of all mankind, whether it is admitted or not, is for a life of significance.

For any youth to live a life of significance he or she needs a focus to achieve his or her dreams or goals in life but many who have eyes perish for lack of vision and sometimes we need to be blind before we can truly see. Most young people are dreamers, living tin their dreams and forgetting that a dream is not something that you make up from, but something that wakes you up. Some sleep while they live; others live what they dream.

Someone once said, “Almost the whole world is asleep. Only a handful of people are awake, and they live in a state of constant amazement”. Awake people are passionate about living and experiencing life on this planet of wonder - – planet created by an act of wonder. We need awake people to stimulate us and to draw us out of dearness. The best dreams come to pass when you are awake.

Awake people are interesting and sometimes energetic. They are the kind of people you just like to be around. They seem to sense the awesomeness of life and they have a tendency to make it contagious. The reason many people fail is not for lack of vision, but for lack of resolve and resolve is born out of counting the cost.

Leonardo da Vinci who became one of the greatest artists in the world, some claim the greatest, exclaimed: “oh God, you sell us everything for the price of an effort”. He was an illegitimate son; brought up by his father’s family and thought to be of no account. The made him all the more determined to prove himself by his own efforts; life responded to his demands.

George Bernard Shaw once said, ” some men see things as they are, and ask why, but I dream of things that never were and ask why not”. Is there a dream you have had, is there a vision in your heart, stay awake and work earnestly to achieving it. The bigger your demand on life, the bigger the response. Life itself sets no limits.

Goethe expressed it in this say:

“Are you in earnest! Seize this very minute:

What you can do, or dream you can, begin it!

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Only engage and then the mind gets heated:

Begin, and then the work will be completed”

From: Bobola Oniwura

You deserve to be free in all ways, not just a few. To live the life you deserve, you must enjoy freedom in all its variations. Indeed, our physical freedom is our birthright. It is not something that should need to be earned, bought, or passed from generation to generation. It belongs to us from “Once upon a time” to “The End.” Physical freedom is important, but true freedom also means living a self-determined life, which is not easy. True freedom means creating, rather than accepting, the environment in which you live. It means refusing to stay in surroundings where you are not wanted, not loved, or not valued. It means having the ability to change your situation immediately, taking a principled stand when a principled stand is required. It means working on your own behalf for your own reasons. It means not accepting other people’s definition of how much of your time is their time and how much they will allow you to keep. You lose in that deal every time. It means being a Public Enemy when necessary, fighting the powers that be. It means not accepting anything human-made as a given. Free people know that anything human-made can be human-destroyed if necessary. True freedom is living life rather than just surviving it. Free people believe they can beat any odds, and then bet on themselves to do just that.

Those who are truly free will not accept “sometime” freedom, nor will they wait for “someday” freedom. In the same way that you would not accept the right to vote in only odd-numbered years, free men and women do not accept circumstances that work against them today in exchange for the promise of retribution at some later date. They know that those who would hold them captive today cannot be trusted to emancipate them tomorrow. Therefore, they support only those people and organizations that would have them do well at all times. Free people believe they deserve to do well, so they insist upon surrounding themselves with people who feel the same way. This is nonnegotiable. No bully is going to take their freedom like it was lunch money. They keep it on lockdown like Hannibal Lecter.

Further, those who are truly free believe that freedom delayed is freedom denied, and they’re not having it. They see too many of their peers busy dying one indignity at a time while waiting for their gold watches, so the free get busy living. Yet, too many of us spend our entire lives working for the weekend, working for vacations, working for retirement. We spend our entire lives trying to endure the bulk of our days as they want, so we can live some small portion of them as we want. People who are free in all ways believe it is their absolute right to determine their fate. They spend every day of their lives asserting that right. This is how free you need to be to be free. Yet, there is something inside too many of us that causes us to defer freedom or, worse still, to give it up altogether. Why? Freedom begins in your mind. You cannot be free if your mind is not. Are you free?

Brian McClellan is the cofounder and CEO of BAMSTRONG Presentations, a career consulting firm, and the author of The Real Bling: How to Get the Only Thing You Need. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he served as a vice president of sales with Georgia-Pacific Corporation, a Fortune 100 company at the time. A graduate of Princeton University and the Columbia Business School, Brian has mentored countless fellow professionals seeking to improve their personal and professional lives. Brian is also a former rap singer, which is evident in hip-hop sensibility with which he offers his message of self-discovery and self-determination. To learn more about Brian, please visit bamstrong.com bamstrong.com

In the ceremony of limpia – cleansing – the patient may sit on a wooden chair below which is a bowl of smoking copal incense. This will purify the patient’s body and is relaxing to any spirit intrusions, which are made drowsy by the smoke. As the limpia takes place, the shaman circles the patient, chanting, blowing tobacco smoke over her and stoking her body with flowers. The tobacco smoke eases the passage of the intrusion, which is then caught by and ‘re-housed’ in the flowers.

Sometimes an offerenda is also made in thanks for the healing - or to the intrusion for leaving - in which case a gift of some kind may be tied up with the flowers. The whole bundle is then taken into nature and buried so the spirit will not be disturbed and others won’t be infected by it. Coastal shamans may take the flowers to the sea instead and cast them to the waves so the tide takes them away from the shore.

In the Amazon rainforest, it is not flowers that are used, but the leaves of the chacapa bush. These are approximately nine inches long and, when dried, are tied together to make a medicine tool which is used as a rattle during ceremonies. In a healing, the chacapa is rubbed and rattled over or near the patient’s body to capture or brush out the spirit intrusion. Once he has it in his chacapa, the shaman then blows through the leaves to disperse the intrusion into the rainforest where the spirits of the plants absorb and discharge its energy.

Another way of dealing with intrusions is the use of cleansing leaf baths, a method practiced in Haiti as much as in Peru. Haitian shaman, Loulou Prince, explains:

“There are specific leaves, strong-smelling leaves, which help people who are under spiritual attack. I mix these leaves with rum and sea water to make a bath for the person, then I bathe her and I pray to the leaves to bless her. I sing songs for the spirits and the ancestors as well, and ask them to come help this person.

“The rest of the bath that is left over, I put in a green calabash bowl or a bottle, and before the person goes to sleep at night, I have her rub her arms and legs with it. When that is done, no curse can work on that person and the evil is removed”.

How this ‘evil’ comes to infect a patient in the first place has to do with jealousy.

As an example, Loulou was asked to perform a healing for a young child brought to him by a woman who had four children, two of whom had already died through the actions of spirits that came to her house at night to suck the life force from them. The woman was a market trader who had made a little money (a rare commodity in Haiti). Her neighbour was jealous and had sent spirits to kill her children.

“I bathed the child to break the bad magic. Then I gave him leaves to make his blood bitter, so it would taste and smell bad to the spirits, and they would go away. After that, the child got better; he got fat and he grew. That boy is a young man now”.

Intrusive spirits like these are believed, in Haiti, to make their home in the blood, which is why Loulou uses herbs to make the blood taste bitter and the body smell “strong”. This makes the host less appealing to the intrusion which then finds its way from the body.

‘Fire baths’ are often used in these treatments as well, where kleren becomes the base for a herbal mix which is set on fire and rubbed over the skin. The alcohol burns quickly and doesn’t hurt the patient, but it destroys the intrusion as it makes its way out of the body.

Dr Stanley Krippner, professor of psychology at Saybrook Institute, concludes from his study of traditional healing that the power of our thoughts alone - whether positive or negative - has a profound effect on our health. When we accept the psychic emanations of others, pick up on their negativity and - crucially - when we allow their negativity to be absorbed within us so we find ourselves in agreement with our enemies, we open ourselves to illness.

This, too, is the basic philosophy of sin eating. In this old Celtic tradition, a sin is viewed as a weight or ‘blemish’ on the soul which will keep it Earthbound when the sinner dies and suffering while alive. The perception of sin is a powerful force towards illness, but it is our perception that we have done wrong which creates the weakness in our souls. The shame and guilt we carry is the spirit intrusion.

The Tuvan shaman, Christina Harle-Salvennenon gives another example of spirit intrusions related to guilt: two young boys, patients of hers, who got carried away one day while they were playing and castrated a dog. When they came to their senses and realised what they had done, the boys ran home in shock. Both of them immediately became ill, one symptom of which was inflammation of their testicles.

Recognising the illness as buk, Christina demanded that the children tell her what they had done to cause its onset. The children, however, were overcome with guilt at their actions and refused to confess. Had they done so, it would have relieved the traumatic pressure in their bodies and given the shaman a direction for healing, but they simply could not. Both children died.

Spirit extraction (the removal of intrusions) was sometimes performed by the sin eater by stinging the patient’s body with nettles, paying particular attention to the ‘corners and angles’ – the backs of the knees, elbows, back of the neck and belly – where intrusions tend to congeal.

The nettle stings would heat the skin and draw the intrusion to the surface, in a similar way to the ‘fire baths’ of Haiti. It could then be washed off in a cold bath containing soothing and cooling herbs such as chamomile, lavender, rose water, and mint.

Once this was done, the patient would also be reminded of the need to make reparation to the person they had sinned against or else their guilt – and so the intrusion – might well return. One simple tradition that has survived as a way of making amends for minor sins, of course, is to send a bunch of flowers.

Sin eating philosophy, again, is in many ways consistent with the Haitian experience. Maya Deren writes, for example, that therapeutic actions may be “executed by the priest but must be carried out, in major portion, by the patient himself under guidance of the priest. The patient must himself straighten out his difficulties with the loa [spirits]… In other words, the patient treats himself, and this is another boost to his morale. Almost inevitably, no matter how ill the person is, he must take part in the rituals relating to his treatment”.

Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, and Love’s Simple Truths. His website is thefourgates.com thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his sacred journeys to the shamans and healers of the Amazon.