"My mind is a garden. My thoughts are the seeds. My harvest will be either flowers or weeds."
- - Mel Weldon

Who's Running Your Life
by Wes Hopper

Let's talk about "first cause" today. What is the real cause of the conditions and circumstances of your life? When we trace cause and effect back, we find that everything begins with a thought. Not just a passing thought, but more specifically the thoughts we hold in our mind over time, which we would call our beliefs.

These are our beliefs about ourselves, about life, about other people, about success and about how the Universe
works. We believe that these things are true because we see them played out in our life all the time.

What we may not be aware of is that our subconscious mind has a very important job - to be sure that our beliefs
and our experience of life are in harmony. So it works very hard to be sure that life reflects our beliefs back to us. Whatever your belief, you get to be right about it. If you believe that people are basically good, you're right. If you believe life is hard, you're right. It's pretty easy to tell what you believe, just look at what you have (or don't have). Where did these beliefs come from? We picked up most of them as kids, from what we heard, saw and experienced. Our undeveloped child's mind accepted everything as true and it sank in deep. We don't even know that most of these beliefs are there, but they run our life. 

As Imelda Shanklin has written, "Your thoughts are the tools with which you carve your life story on the substance of the Universe. When you choose your thoughts, you choose results." The problem is - we haven't chosen most of these beliefs, they were imposed on us. And it's time to change that.

This week take some time to pay attention to your beliefs about life and about yourself - your capabilities, your worth, your potential for success. What do you tell yourself about these things? Listen for beliefs about your limits, what you
can't do. Ask yourself "what if I'm wrong?"

The good news is that we can replace old beliefs with new ones.

Visit: www.CreateSuccessSeminars.com/contact.html for more information.

Recipe

Macaroni and Cheese
by Chef Terrance Brennan

Make this classic comfort meal that'll warm your heart and belly.

Serves 4 as a Side Dish

INGREDIENTS

• 8 cups water

• 5 1/2 tablespoons butter

• 3/4 cup bread crumbs (or panko)

• 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 3 cups whole milk

• Kosher salt

• Black pepper in a mill

• 2 1/2 cups Gruyere or Comte, grated (from 5 1/2 ounces)

• 1/2 cup mascarpone

• 1 1/2 cups dry elbow macaroni

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pour the water into a 3-quart pot and bring to a boil over high heat.

In a small sauce pan, melt 2½ tablespoons of the butter over low heat. Add the bread crumbs (or panko) and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, toss well, and set aside.

Put the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a 2-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt it over low heat. Add the flour and cook for 5 minutes, whisking constantly, but not letting the flour brown. Pour in the milk and cook for 5 minutes, whisking or stirring with a wooden spoon. Add 4½ teaspoons salt, 4 grinds of pepper, the Gruyère and mascarpone, and continue to whisk until the cheese is melted and well incorporated. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the cheese sauce into a large bowl.

Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the elbow macaroni to the boiling water and cook until al dente, approximately 8 minutes. Drain the macaroni in a colander and add it to the bowl with the cheese sauce. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Pour the macaroni mixture into an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the bread-crumb mixture evenly over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, approximately 35-40 minutes. Serve hot.

EMBELLISHMENT: For a main-course pasta dish, double the recipe and add proscuitto and/or peas.

Book of the Week

Younger You: Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Brain to Look and Feel 15 Years Younger
Eric R. Braverman, David Perlmutter (Foreword by)

Break the aging code and feel 15 years younger—from the inside out.

In the constant battle to stay young and feel fit, we will try any of the quick fixes that come on the market, including so-called miracle products, fad diets, trendy exercise programs, and untested supplements. Many even risk elective surgical procedures just to look young again. But you don't need surgery, pricey cosmetics, or starvation to look and feel 15 years younger. The secret to living a longer, more vibrant life has at last been discovered, and the proverbial fountain of youth is right in your hands.

Discover how you can:

• Get a restful, restorative night's sleep and have energy that lasts all day long

• Lift your mood by increasing your natural hormone levels

• Improve your heart health with natural supplements, herbs, and spices

• Increase your muscle mass, boost your memory, build your bones, save your skin, and much more!

Younger You has doctors talking . . .

"Younger You is an interesting and logical approach to preventing, diagnosing, and modifying the aging process. . . . Baby boomers will find much in these pages to protect and reassure them.”
--Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D.
Rossi Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine, New York Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center, and author of Live Now, Age Later, Power to the Patient, and Doctor, What Should I Eat?

"Focusing on the critical role of hormones produced by the brain, Dr. Braverman outlines a totally integrative program to restore hormonal balance and thereby restore readers to a younger, healthier, and more vital self, regardless of chronological age."
--Nicholas Perricone, M.D., FACN
Bestselling author of 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health, and Longevity, The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet, The Perricone Promise, The Perricone Prescription, and The Wrinkle Cure

"Just as Dr. Braverman says, we are only as young as our oldest part. This book is not just for us, but for our children, who can make changes to their diet and lifestyle now and reap the rewards later."
--David Perlmutter, M.D.
Director, Perlmutter Health Center and author of The Better Brain Book

From the Back Cover

Break the aging code and feel 15 years younger—from the inside out.

In the constant battle to stay young and feel fit, we will try any of the quick fixes that come on the market, including so-called miracle products, fad diets, trendy exercise programs, and untested supplements. Many even risk elective surgical procedures just to look young again. But you don't need surgery, pricey cosmetics, or starvation to look and feel 15 years younger. The secret to living a longer, more vibrant life has at last been discovered, and the proverbial fountain of youth is right in your hands.

Discover how you can:

• Get a restful, restorative night's sleep and have energy that lasts all day long

• Lift your mood by increasing your natural hormone levels

• Improve your heart health with natural supplements, herbs, and spices

• Increase your muscle mass, boost your memory, build your bones, save your skin, and much more!

Dr. Eric Braverman, a leading expert in anti-aging medicine, has skillfully combined conventional wisdom with his unique knowledge of the workings of the brain to unravel the mystery of what makes us age and how disease in one area affects the entire body. By identifying the distinct parts of your body that are aging most rapidly, you can crack your own aging code and turn back time.

Serious health conditions including heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, depression, and even Alzheimer's disease are no longer inevitable. And the more subtle signs and signals of aging such as obesity, wrinkles, age spots, deteriorating strength, and diminished libido can be delayed or even reversed. Dr. Braverman gives you all the information you need to break your own aging code and start living a healthier, longer life now.

Younger You has doctors talking . . .

"Younger You is an interesting and logical approach to preventing, diagnosing, and modifying the aging process. . . . Baby boomers will find much in these pages to protect and reassure them.”
--Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D.
Rossi Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine, New York Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center, and author of Live Now, Age Later, Power to the Patient, and Doctor, What Should I Eat?

"Focusing on the critical role of hormones produced by the brain, Dr. Braverman outlines a totally integrative program to restore hormonal balance and thereby restore readers to a younger, healthier, and more vital self, regardless of chronological age."
--Nicholas Perricone, M.D., FACN
Bestselling author of 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health, and Longevity, The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet, The Perricone Promise, The Perricone Prescription, and The Wrinkle Cure

"Just as Dr. Braverman says, we are only as young as our oldest part. This book is not just for us, but for our children, who can make changes to their diet and lifestyle now and reap the rewards later."
--David Perlmutter, M.D.
Director, Perlmutter Health Center and author of The Better Brain Book

*** Younger You, Amazon

Business & Marketing

A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one.
Henry Ford - Marketing

Business & Marketing Books

20 Great Ideas To Generate Free Publicity For Your Business

By Dale W. Hutchings

Here are 20 great ideas for getting free publicity for your business.  Sure, all 20 of these ideas may not apply to your specific business, but there is a good chance many of them will.  So if paid advertising is the only thing you are doing to get business, think again.  Get a public relations campaign going.  Let the news media know about any of these possible publicity ideas that pertain to you.  Starting a PR program to get free publicity just might be the smartest business decision you make this year.

1. Do a survey about some aspect of your industry, then publish the results.  (The study doesn’t have to be scientific.  It might be as easy as interviewing a certain number of people on the street, or by phone or e-mail.)

2. Run a contest in your community to name a new product or service you are going to offer as part of your business, or put together some other kind of contest that would draw wide public appeal.

3. Let the news media know whenever your company wins an award. 

4. Address an issue related to your industry.

5. Announce the addition of a new client to your portfolio. 

6. Send a press release out whenever a new person in a key management position joins your company or is promoted to such a position. (And send it with his or her photo).

7. Announce a major new expansion project within your company and how it will benefit clients/consumers.

8. Identify new trends taking place in your industry. 

9. Position yourself as an expert in your field by letting the media know you are available to speak whenever issues in your industry come to    the forefront in the news.

10. Present an award or scholarship to a deserving individual or organization.

11. Send a letter to an editor or journalist in response to a recent story about some aspect of your profession or industry.

12. Hold an Open House.

13. Take a poll and release the results.

14. Tie your story or business to a political issue.

15. Expose myths/misconceptions about your industry. 

16. Demonstrate how your company is using technology to enhance your business in some special way.

17. Get involved in your community by doing charitable work. 

18. Do seminars/workshops and publicize them.  (Make them free to the public or if you must charge have all or a majority of the proceeds benefiting a charitable cause.)

19. Talk about how your company is handling a unique crisis in your industry.

20. Pitch a story about your company’s unique history, the people that work there, the remarkable, positive work environment that has been created, or some other aspect of your business that would be of special interest to the public at large.

Now, who says you can’t get anything for free any more?

Dale W. Hutchings, APR, specializes in “out of the box” marketing and has more than 30 years of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising experience. Known for his outstanding brainstorming ability, and excellence as a copywriter and marketing consultant, Dale has had his own practice since 2001. He can be reached at hutch7@verizon.net

back to top

Health & Wellness

"You learn more from losing than you do with winning."
John McEnroe (1959 - ) former World No. 1 professional tennis player

Health & Wellness Books

3 Ways to Make Your Workouts and Diet More Exciting

By Jon Benson

A recent U.S. poll revealed a truth that most of us already know: Boredom kills a workout routine. Boredom is also commonly cited as the number one reason people go off a diet.

If you want to build the healthy body you deserve, you simply must make your workouts and nutrition plan fun, engaging, and full of immediate rewards. So here are three techniques you can use to make sure you stick to your plan:

1. Build in daily dietary rewards.

Make these rewards small on most days, and fairly large one or two days per week. For example, treat yourself to a piece of dark chocolate after a workout or eat half a muffin or bagel every Sunday morning. Eating healthfully doesn't mean completely denying yourself when it comes to foods you love. And adding tasty little rewards to the healthy meals you eat can make any diet easier to sustain.

2. Record your workouts in a journal, and try to best your previous efforts each time.

Make it a game. See if you can get one more rep, one more set, a bit more weight, or go a bit faster. Small steps taken daily will add up to massive progress over time, and giving yourself a challenge each day will stave off monotony.

3. Include a "fun" exercise/diet day every week.

Make that day unique. Go rollerblading with your kids instead of doing a treadmill workout. Consider kayaking instead of the elliptical. Anything qualifies. Follow this with a "fun" meal of your choice. Indulge, but don't overeat.

Remember: Balance and creativity are the keys to a fitness lifestyle that is anything but boring. You can do it!

[Ed. Note: Jon Benson, a lifecoach and nutrition counselor who specializes in helping individuals discover a life-altering mind/body connection, is a contributing writer for ETR's new natural health e-letter. His work in the field of post-40 fitness and mental empowerment has helped countless thousands. Learn how you can do the same at www.fitover40.com or www.mpowerfitness.com.]

Pinellas Life Member Directory