Of course, it’s not just about reputation.  By striving to be more productive, the rewards are personal satisfaction, more exciting days, possibly more income, and much more.  Reputation is simply a side product of a successful life.

We all have dreams.  We all have plans, ideas, goals and aspirations.  The difficult bit is turning them into reality.  But all journeys begin with a single step, and it’s this step that turns out to be one of the most important.  Turning something you want to do into something you are doing is the difference between possible success and certain failure.

Talk is cheap.  Actions speak louder than words, and these words should be your mantra.  Nobody is going to buy something that you plan to do (unless perhaps you’re established at something, but even then you will always be expected to deliver.)  Nobody’s lives are improved by something that you’re thinking of doing.

In becoming a doer, you transform from an observer into someone who is actually living their life.  You will stand above most of the population who are still talking about what they plan to do.

Start

The best way to become a doer is to simply make a start.  Starting a task will break it free from limbo and once in progress you will find it much easier to continue.  Momentum will build and the task will be well underway.  Make that start and you will have taken the hardest step.

Avoid Procrastination

Once you begin a project or action, it’s oh so easy to break from it.  Procrastination probably deserves its own article, but for now here are a couple of things you can do to avoid putting things off.

• Recognize when you are procrastinating and do whatever you can to minimize it.
• Avoid TV and other distractions.
• Set times for Facebook and other social interactions.
• Engage with the task at hand.  Easier said than done of course, but by engaging with the task, your attention will be much stronger and you will find that you will be less likely to become distracted.
• Focus on completion. Don’t think about the implications of completion, just on getting it done.

The Danger of To-Do Lists

To-do lists are a double edged sword.  On the one hand, you are organizing your planned actions.  However, you also run the risk of spending more time planning than doing.  Many people find To-Do lists highly productive.  If you use them, just make sure that they are not a distraction from action.  Rather they should be an aid to productivity, something you strive to keep small.

The key is to always be driven to check things off that list!

Fill Your Time with Action!

Be conscious of how you are spending your time.  Remember that the average lifespan is just 900 months.  That’s barely enough time to achieve a truly prosperous life if you don’t fill your days with positive action.  Every minute, every hour, and every day should see productivity.

Learn to manage your time, and be conscious of how productive you are being at all times.

Strive for Completion

It’s one thing to start projects, it’s quite another to complete them.  And a half finished project isn’t much better than a not-started one.

Completion is a challenge, that much is undoubtable.  But the satisfaction of a completed project or task is one of the best feelings you can have.  As stated, focus on completion without being distracted by the implications of completion.

It might help to plan what you need to do to complete the task, and work your way through these tasks.  Alternatively you may prefer to just power through the tasks in a disorganised way.  Work out which method is the most suitable for your way of working and which fits best with the task.

Ultimately, you should do whatever it takes, because completion is almost as important as starting a task.  Completion turns a collection of actions into a valuable product or service.

Stop Thinking, Start Doing

So next time you’re about to announce that you’re going to do something, think about how much better that time would be spent if you were actually doing it.  Thinking has its uses, of course. Planning something in your mind is useful for arranging how you’re going to do it.  But this should not be confused with unproductive dreaming.

Think of ideas as computer memory.  While your brain is active, these electrical signals buzz around your head and create a nice image on your mind’s ‘monitor’.  But when your mind is switched off with your death, the information is lost forever.  Turning an idea into a reality is the step that changes a bunch of electrical signals into an immortal concept – a something which lives on beyond us.

~

There are 3 types of people in the world. Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say: “Oh – what happened?”

Un-earned Power

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. – Thomas Jefferson

Government should only be the custodian of our health, wealth, safety, freedoms, and rights. In this way, they are still protecting us from those who try to initiate force on us, but they are not controlling us. This avoids both anarchy and fascism.

We pay for our governments, therefore we should have a say in how they provide for us and how they protect us, not the other way around. You are not obligated to serve anyone — neither the government nor those less fortunate than yourself. If you want to, that’s fine. It’s your choice. It should always be your choice.

However, we live in a society where the government immorally decides what is best for people. Politicians, just like religious leaders, do not function in reality. Their authority is derived from lies, and their power is not deserved, as they have not done anything to earn it.

What do we mean by this? You might think that Obama worked hard to get to where he is, he must deserve his authority. Now, apart from the questionable amount of authority Obama really has, the work he has done to reach this position is not relevant. He used political manipulation, just as the kings of old used violence and bullying. Neither technique creates any value – therefore they are not deserved of such power.

Google is one company that demonstrates what true, deserved power really is. Google finds itself in a unique position of power because of its innovation and ingenuity. Its power was not obtained by irrelevant means of violence, guilt, social manipulation or political popularity. It built its power using ingenuity and innovation, by developing solutions, creating value, and genuinely improving society.

Of course, we should be extremely wary of the power it can bestow on itself with such innovation. But it is not in their interests to do what the public doesn’t want, because it relies on the public for its power. Furthermore, our defense against this power should be further innovation, not regulation which limits society.

Consensus vs. Reality

“Politicians – with no problem solving training, attempt to solve problems based on ‘what the majority of people think’. This is a little like a checkout clerk performing open heart surgery under the guidance of some customers.”

The way that political policies are created is fundamentally flawed. The problem is that they are developed to maintain the government’s popularity. Therefore policies will only ever reflect what the majority of people think is for the best. Do you think using consensus to dictate government policies is safe? Don’t you think that using science and proven knowledge is a better way to do it?

More and more people are finding this “Pop Idol” popularity contest freak-show completely unacceptable. Everyone should find this unacceptable.

Do we really need politics?

“I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.” – Thomas Jefferson

The current elite maintain control with its powers of manipulation as previously discussed. Breaking free from this system is our only chance to make things better and it is down to each and every one of us. We must awaken to our self authority to give rise to our own personal power – problem solving skills, creativity, and value creation abilities – and out-compete irrational authority.

These are the tools we must use against this parasitical system of control. Forget your vote, you have far more power than that. Individually and cooperatively, we can (and must) out-compete the elite and eliminate them and their irrationalities from our society. Like Google and countless other forward thinking organizations and individuals, we must use innovation to create value and nullify the pitiful attempts of the self righteous elite to control us. Eventually, these criminals will have no basis to exist in the new society.

It’s time to remove the parasites that have been feeding off our backs for too long.

Self Authority

“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind” – Albert Einstein

Self authority is within all of us. We don’t need any authority to tell us how to live or how to think. To do so is to deny the greatest gift of all – the gift of conscious thought.

You must make up your own mind and have your own opinions about the world and this information. Don’t rely on anyone else’s experience or words. Filter everything through your own objective mind matrix and make your own decisions.

All statements in this article are integrations based on our logical, honest, cutting-through-the-lies perspective. You may disagree with what you read but don’t let that stop you from opening up your eyes to the lies and irrationalities that infect our lives.

With your mind working in pure, reality grounded concepts, you may be able to come up with better integrations. There will always be grey areas but we are constantly evolving. You should be able to make your own decisions and come to your own conclusions.

This isn’t to say you should ignore advice and assistance, but you should put it through your own knowledge matrix first and you shouldn’t rely on any outside source or influence.

We also need to have universal honesty at all levels. Universal honesty is done at the widest-scope possible; not only on an individual basis, but in all areas of life, including all business and all levels of government, and most importantly at all times.

The majority of perceived problems are made-up issues from the mystical mind. The majority of problems have no base in reality.

Choosing to eliminate mysticism in your life in favor of objective reality will help eliminate most personal problems. Choosing to meet so-called problems head-on with unadulterated reality will help you to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles and to tackle challenges with a stronger sense of control and confidence. Instead of obstacles, view things as goals to change your current reality.

Release yourself from the mind shackles that authority has ingrained on your consciousness since birth.

Now is the Time

It’s important for you and everyone to understand that currently, this world is at a point that can best be described as the nuclear threshold or the self-annihilation stage. If we do not stop ourselves and point ourselves in a productive and prosperous direction, we could destroy the majority of humanity on this planet, or even all life. If we don’t destroy ourselves through rouge countries starting nuclear wars, then terrorists could very well make the entire planet inhabitable with dirty nuclear bombs or chemical weapons.

If given the opportunity, certain people would gladly cause our extinction. Most of them believe that some deity will sort it out in the end. But what if there is no deity or afterlife? Then we’re all screwed by a handful of fanatical con-artists or psychotics.

Perhaps even more dangerous is the continued eroding of our basic liberties at the hands of corrupt authorities. We must make the general population aware of this corruption before it is too late and we fall completely into a new dark age of tyranny.

Realize your personal self authority and do everything you can to awaken it in those around you. Let’s turn the tables on the invisible con-artists and parasitical elite, out-competing them with innovation and value creation. Let’s preserve our world and human existence.

It’s up to us.

Tricks of Authority

We Can’t Be Trusted

Bigotry, racism, nationalism, jealousy, superstition, greed, and self-centered behavior are all learned patterns of behavior, which are strengthened or reinforced by our upbringing. These patterns of behavior are not inherited human traits or “human nature” as most people have been taught to believe. If the environment remains unaltered, similar behavior will reoccur. When we come into the world we arrive with a clean slate as far as our relationships with others are concerned. — From The Best That Money Can’t Buy, Page 89, by Jacque Fresco

Con-artist leaders make us believe that they are important and necessary for a society to run smoothly. They try to convince us that we will hurt society or ourselves if we are allowed to be totally free. Yet propagating this control is violation of our individual rights, no matter how trivial.

Currently we are dealing with crimes and problems after the event. Virtually no effort is put into prevention by education or other means. There is too much money and power to be made from crime and crime fighting.

Essentially, we are products of our environment. We don’t start off bad, we become whatever our experiences and environments shape us into.

So, in this corrupt world, discrimination and hate runs deep with some people. From dangerous bigotry to enacting laws targeting groups, discrimination truly drains the value of society. Yet, people should be free to be racist or sexist or discriminatory as much as they wish – just as long as they do not act on that discrimination and infringe on the rights of other people.

People are free to rant and spew vile beliefs all they want, but as soon as they physically attack someone or someone’s property, then they are infringing on those other people’s individual rights.

If anyone does follow through on these beliefs and violate someone else’s individual rights, then they can expect those people being attacked to defend their property and their safety.

Stealing or destroying property, hurting people or using force against people, and restricting freedoms are all violations of a universal premise that everyone has the rights to their property and their very lives. People should be allowed total freedom to think what they want and to do what they want if they are not violating the rights of others.

We Need Protection

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin

The only protection we need is protection against the controlling elite and their ever growing power.

At the moment, the authorities have a particularly powerful weapon in their arsenal. They use terrorism as an excuse to force us into relinquishing some of our most fundamental liberties. Some governments have even used staged events to instill fear into citizens. Hitler did it, and there is the possibility that other governments, even the US has used false-flag events in order to reduce freedoms of its citizens. Even if they didn’t play a direct part in these events, they certainly benefit from the increased security installed following every terrorist attack or threat.

Granted, the authorities have a very tough job balancing liberty with security. However, the vast majority of people are under such gross misunderstandings about the situation that they will happily give up their freedom with very little persuasion from the government. The majority think that giving up our liberty for safety is worthwhile. This is a very dangerous situation. It proves how much some people, consciously and subconsciously, want to be led — regardless of the cause or outcome.

It’s incredible that in fighting the supposed terrorists that threaten our liberal way of life, we are giving up our liberty to stop them.

We’re doing the terrorist’s job for them! There has got to be a better way.

The number of deaths due to terrorism is very low, yet far more money is put into increasing our security and defence than is put into health research, health care, road saftey, education, improving infrastructure, and dealing with the root causes of the problems.

Patriotism

“A true patriot must always be willing to defend his country from its government.” – Edward Abbey

Governmental leaders and many established religious leaders deceive people into following their unrealistic causes and doctrines. One such method that is still very much prevailant is patriotism.

Why should we hold such significance to the place where we happened to be born? We are all humans and no different to our international brothers and sisters in terms of rights. Why would God only bless America?

However, we all grow up in very different cultures and environments. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with being proud of our own personal community’s individual culture, its beautiful landscapes, its scientists, engineers, entrepeneurs, artists and sports people nutured within our particular education system, and anything that has a genuine tie with our personal location and individual community.

The past ideals of imperialism, spreading ideas and values, should be seen as what they are – illegal force. We can share our culture and our values with other countries, but they should not be forced upon them by any means. Not only does this kind of force breed discontent, it kills the rich diversity that makes our planet such an interesting place to live.

Distraction

The bosses of our mass media, press, radio, film and television, succeed in their aim of taking our minds off disaster. Thus, the distraction they offer demands the antidote of maximum concentration on disaster. – Ernst Fischer

Most people are too blind to see when their liberties are being taken, because their attention is focused elsewhere, on their own personal lives, the current American Idol, or the latest murder. There has been a deliberate dumbing down of the population for many decades, perpetuated by the “forth arm of the government” – the corporate mass media.

News and so-called entertainment seems to be deliberately designed to stop us questionning the current establishment. Catered to the lowest common denominator, which is pretty damn low, typical bad TV programming is designed to require very little thought. While that might be what you intended, allowing you to “escape” into TV land, you may find that synapse connections in your brain are dying while they lay idle, having a similar effect to certain intoxicating substances.

It might be nice to switch off the brain from time to time, but there are much better ways to do it. Ignore this dumbing down from the media, and learn to see through it.

Religion

“In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to Liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson

Most organized religions do not encourage free thought or independent thought. Followers are taught to accept the authority and word of the religious leaders. This is another type of mind-prison. Free thought encourages creativity and it encourages people to question things that might be incorrect. Questioning religious authority is typically never allowed.

What about non-believers? Aren’t the basic tenents of any religion a form of bigotry? Indeed, some religions consider non-believers as enemies to the point that violence against infidels is encouraged. These are not the actions of a free society.

Religion holds on to its credibility by offering morality. This is a problem, because the morality offered by religion is not based on reality. Religion controls billions of people using these concepts that have no basis in reality. It tells people how to think, and what moral guidelines to follow. Worst of all though, it undermines some of the most basic concepts of reality, and becomes the entire foundation for one’s thinking.

By using our own mind to think in uncorrupted, rational concepts based only on reality, we come to conclusions that are shocking to the irrational, non-reality based masses. A couple of examples? What about the fact that the Earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around, the Earth is round, and matter is made up of atoms (all things that religious people said were heresies when discovered).

Religion and government continue to control us, sending us to war, taking away our basic liberties, hindering medical progress. It is all because we are still, after all these centuries, thinking in corrupted, irrational concepts not based on reality, and we do this because our reality based mind is corrupted by faith at an early age.

Manipulation

Advertisers manipulate us, politicians tell us only what we want to hear to sway our decisions and how we vote, clergy control us with guilt.

Question the motives of everything anyone says or does. Their words and actions will usually always be driven by their motives. You can tell what people want by what they say or by their actions. They may try to hide their motives, like when people bluff in poker. You should think about whether someone has a motive to bluff.

You might be asking: Are people really that manipulative? The thing is, many people try to manipulate you without even thinking. They are driven by their desires so they will do what it takes to get them satisfied, even if it is a subconscious effort.

An example is when you are talking to a potential romantic partner. You’ll only say things that you hope will ultimately end up with them falling for you. That is your motive. By realizing that motive in you, the potential partner can adjust their actions accordingly. For example, they can prolong the conversation in order to get more drinks bought for themselves. Of course, this is a slightly cynical perspective but it’s just to help you understand the concept of conscious and subconscious manipulating.

Politicians provide us with great examples of manipulation on a day to day basis. Politicians have political agendas to fulfill and they will say what they need to say in order to get the support of the public.

Of course they don’t lie, not exactly. Blatant lying is dangerous because if they are found out it would be devastating for their political careers. But bending the truth is easy when you over-complicate. However, their main tactic is to present the information to the public in a biased or out of context way.

For example, imagine they wanted to bring out a law that forces everyone to carry an ID card. Their hidden motive is that they can keep closer tabs on people. To get support they could play up the problem of illegal immigration, when the reality is that the amount of illegal immigration is really quite small, and not really a problem. Policing with ID cards would cause more administrative duties for the police and actually make the situation worse.

Remember, it’s not just politicians that present information in a manner that serves their purposes. Politicians, clergy, the media, advertisers, and sales people just happen to be experts at it but you will find that most people do it on some level.

Techniques people will use include:

* Blowing things out of context

* Bending the truth

* Exaggerating

* Withholding important facts

* Jumping to conclusions

* Giving biased information

You will find it easier to recognize these techniques in people by questioning their motives. When you identify people’s motives and manipulation techniques, you will no longer be affected by them.

Train yourself to become constantly aware of people’s motives to avoid being influenced by lies and half-truths. What sounds like it might be the truth could actually be far from it. The point is, even the person saying it might totally believe it. They themselves have fallen for the badly presented information and have convinced themselves it is true.

Always establish the facts and realize when information is being presented in error to you. You may find that in the past you have spread lies yourself without knowing it. It is important that you are honest with yourself and realize whenever you are not dealing with the truth.

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Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To be truly free we must individually reject all external authority. This is the most significant concept you can take away from this article. External authority corrupts and weakens your mind. You must develop self authority and integrate it into all your thoughts and actions.

There is no need to reject our moral guidelines when doing this. In fact, it will give you the clarity to create better ones.

• How to Be Free in a World That Isn’t – Part 3

Escape your Mind Prison

People are starting to realize that there are con artists and fraudsters in politics, religion, corporations and other positions of power, using unearned power to control us. This article will give you enough information to be able to spot con-artists, to know how they work, and to out-compete them.

True freedom means individual freedom. Freedom for every individual to live how they please. This has many, far reaching implications, which we will discuss throughout this article.

We’ll also show you many examples of how individual freedom is not a reality in today’s world, and what problems this causes.

The self richeous elite may maintain a strangling grip on the rest of us for now, but the world is awakening to the injustice, corruption, and oppression of all forms of leadership.

Our true freedom begins with our own personal awakening.

Democracy is Fundamentally Flawed

“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.” — Benjamin Franklin

Although it is an illusion, we currently live in a democracy. This sounds great, but think about it. Should the majority of the people really rule over you? The only reason it currently works for the most part is because the majority tends to vote rationally on most issues. This gives the illusion of freedom.

However, what if the majority was to vote that you could be shot for not paying your taxes?

Well, this is the exact situation in America today.

If you refuse to pay your taxes, the feds will come after you — with guns. If you resist, they can shoot you and at least lock you up.

You may disagree that gays should be allowed to marry but someone else might disagree that you should be allowed to breathe. The majority may vote in agreement.

Is that fair?

The American government banned stem cell research for some time because a religious majority believed that it is playing God to attempt that type of research. This cost the lives and health of millions of people. Why should the majority have ruling say over other people’s lives?

Is that moral?

True Freedom is the Only Fair System

“No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.” – Thomas Jefferson

It is completely immoral for governments to ban anything or tell us how to act appropriately, or what to eat and not eat, or what to do with our own bodies and possessions, or whom to hire or to be polite. In doing so, they are violating our own freedoms because they are purveying force on us. We as de-facto employers of government should be telling them what to do and how to act appropriately.

Governments currently use opinions and beliefs to decide the rules we live by.

Opinions and beliefs are relative, not absolute. They do not apply to everyone, so they should not be applied to everyone. What’s more, these opinions and beliefs are often deep-rooted in bigotry and irrational religion anyway. We will discuss this more later.

• Why should I be branded a criminal for smoking pot when problems caused by the far more dangerous but legal drug alcohol are more common?
• If a mass murderer breaks in to my home and I kill him in a struggle, why am I a criminal?
• Why can’t gay people get married when it is an agreement between two people, not two people and the government?
• And who do governments think they are telling consenting adults what sexual activities they are allowed to privately engage in?! It’s absurd and immoral that governments dictate personal policies.

Even if the rest of the world disagrees, a person’s personal business is their own business, providing it isn’t harming anyone else or violating their rights.

Back in 1976, writers at a company called Neo-Tech Publishing drafted what they called the Constitution of the Universe – a simple yet incredibly profound document.

Here it is in its entirety, and reprinted with permission:

The Constitution of the Universe

(1976)

Preamble

*The purpose of conscious life is to live creatively, happily, eternally.

*The function of government is to provide the conditions that let individuals fulfill that purpose. The Constitution of the Universe guarantees those conditions by forbidding the use of initiatory force, fraud, or coercion by any person or group against any individual.

Article 1

No person, group of persons, or government shall initiate force, threat of force, or fraud against any individual’s self or property.

Article 2

Force is morally-and-legally justified only for protection from those who violate Article 1.

Article 3

No exceptions shall exist for Articles 1 and 2.

Premises

1. Values exist only relative to life.

2. Whatever benefits a living organism is a value to that organism.

3. Whatever harms a living organism is a disvalue to that organism.

4. The value against which all values are measured is conscious life.

5. Morals apply only to conscious individuals.

* Immoral actions arise (1) from individuals who harm others through force, fraud, or coercion and (2) from individuals who usurp, degrade, or destroy values created or earned by others.

* Moral actions arise from individuals who honestly create and competitively produce values to benefit self, others, and humanity.

This universal constitution provides for one-hundred percent freedom and only allows for the use of force in order to protect those freedoms and rights. It doesn’t make any restrictions on anyone. It doesn’t require that we be nice to anyone or sacrifice ourselves. It does guarantee every individual complete freedom and protection of your life, liberty, property, and contracts.

This was found at their website, http://www.neo-tech.com. Neo-Tech’s Mark Hamilton is the founder of the new 12 Visions Political Party in the USA.

The idea is nothing new. Pagans have a similar mantra: And it hurt none, do as ye will. Most religions had their own versions, but they did not emphasise “doing what one will” as this would not have allowed them to have any control – the main purpose of organized religion.

Live and Let Live

People who feel the need to control and manipulate others do not function based on reality. They have been brainwashed by the anti-civilization-system currently in control. This is a mental disease that has been in control for almost three thousand years. It’s time to heal the mental disease of mysticism.

Live and let live. Live your life and let others live their lives.

Choose to be considerate, respectful, and caring of other people that respect your freedoms and your life.

Victimless Crimes

What about drugs, or other vices such as prostitution or gambling?

If something is harmless to others, why is it illegal? People should not be made criminals just for doing something someone else believes is wrong. Not all habits are life destroying or even harmful. Bigotry drains society – people should mind their own business.

By being outlawed these victimless crimes feed the black-market and make criminals rich. We can pull the plug on the black market by legalizing drugs, gambling, and prostitution. Since terrorists and crime syndicates make the bulk of their money dealing in one or more of these areas, legalization would put a colossal dent in their income and even cut it off completely. Instantly remove their profit and you instantly remove that criminal element.

The war on drugs is a prime example of how prohibition, created from greed and supported by bigotry, is causing more problems that it solves, and in fact, it doesn’t even solve the problems it sets out to solve. This war can never be won. Nothing good will ever come out of using the current strong-arm tactics or guilt and fear manipulation techniques.

Children and adults usually do the opposite of what you command them to do. Defying authority is typical, especially with young people.

If a government was to make the monumental decision to legalize drugs, they should publicly preface the decision with logical reasons as to why legalization is a better choice than keeping these things illegal. This is a very important point. Proper education yields better results than manipulation. Education would also minimize mixed messages and the number of first time experimenters of hard drugs. We definitely need to dramatically increase education on this.

Prostitution is obviously dangerous to the women who participate in it, but by outlawing it, the only thing that happens is they add getting arrested to their list of dangers – how is that helpful to anyone? It doesn’t address the root cause or do anything to fix the problem so the problem will continue indefintely.

We need a society where people would be so engrossed in their love-of-life focus that the thought of doing drugs or wasting money in gambling or engaging in sex with prostitutes would be farthest from their minds. And yet, if someone wanted to experience drugs or any activity, they will be completely free to do so.

If drugs were legalized for personal use, medical research, material research, and therapy, it would completely remove the profit in selling the substances and probably remove the dangerous additives.

If governments or the private sector also had workshops and counseling available for treating addictions as diseases rather than crimes, perhaps more people would be willing to opt-out of their life destroying habits. The sad truth is that there is just too much profit and power to be had from prohibition and control.

How Leadership is Inherently Corrupt

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

– George Washington

Who currently prospers from the illegal status of the prohibition and control? Governments have some stake in the black market since they gain from seizures of property and finances. Law enforcement prospers from simply being employed to counteract vice. Some bullies in law enforcement get a chance to beat down doors and hurt people. Politicians make themselves look good by advocating ego-justice and politicized laws. Criminals prosper from the economics of supply and demand and the over-inflated prices.

In the end, taxpayers lose financially due to the overcrowded justice system and the wasted efforts of law enforcement.

There are many medical benefits in some illegal drugs. Marijuana is a very good pain reliever, often less harmful than the things doctors give their patients, and at least as effective. It is sad that the governments keep an iron grip on controlled substances. By doing this, governments are directly furthering people’s pain and these types of controlling governments continue to fail us.

Every day we see another law rushed through in a knee-jerk reaction to some crime in an attempt to protect us. These kind of rules are nothing more than band aid fixes to a cancerous society – fixes that do nothing more than chip away at our liberties.

If you make up a rule that addresses a group of people in particular, you most likely incorporate people from other walks of life that are totally innocent. For example, the ban on hooded tops is an attempt to stop antisocial behavior from unruly teenagers. However, if the law is to be taken as written, (which if it isn’t followed to the letter, then frankly it’s a worthless law) then Muslim women who wear hoods and hide their faces should be forced to abide by this same law.

That’s only fair though, right? You’re not supposed to discriminate when you’re enforcing a law.

This is an example of what is called a non sequitur. A non sequitur is when something doesn’t logically follow from what was before. In this situation, action is being taken on something that has absolutely nothing to do with the problem. Hooded tops do not make people unruly, they are just an attribute of some of the guilty people. It is also an attribute of some innocent people who are made to suffer at the expense of this ridiculous law, while the real problem is not properly addressed.

It is pitiful that we live in a society where these petty and prejudice ideas are enforced. The problem with these types of laws is that they hold no substance – they are not based on any constitution or basic rule of society. They exist purely outside the realms of common sense since governments have never come up with better ways of dealing with these aspects of society. When anything bad happens, the only way the government can react is to enforce more and more control without even attempting to address the root causes.

People need to be made aware that laws targeting a minority are unconstitutional in any system and should never exist. There needs to be more accountability in government for this kind of thing. We are being taken for fools because they enact more of these idiotic laws every year.

The bottom line is that governments are doing nothing to fix the problems of society, because they stand to gain too much from the status quo. Leaders and other external authorities live comfortable and wealthy lives at the expense of the working class. These leaders produce nothing of value or very little, and yet, they steal the value that you and I add to society with their gun enforced taxes, fines and laws.

Our Only Choice

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson

You may be wondering how much freedom is too much? If everyone was free to do what they want, then wouldn’t that mean that people would be free to take from others or harm people? What would the world be like if we adopted these simple guidelines instead of the myriad of complex and manipulative rules that currently govern us?

As long as we are not infringing on anyone’s rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then one-hundred percent freedom is totally necessary. Partial freedom is not an acceptable alternative.

If constitutional changes are made that restrict more of our freedoms, this government might be okay in the interim but future administrations can easily use these restrictions against us to work towards establishing a dictatorship. Some governments act subversively in this dictator-manner already and their citizens don’t even realize it.

In the US and other countries, this situation is already out of hand with the introduction of anti-terror laws that completely undermine democracy.

There are many things the government forces us to do. There are all sorts of restrictions on many industries. One thing they force you to do personally is to pay taxes or relinquish your property under the guise of bettering society.

Despite what you may think about having to pay taxes or surrendering your property, it is immoral since gun backed force is used to collect taxes and steal your property. If they are allowed to continue with this one small act of force, what’s to stop them from using their power to force you to do something worse, like national service or something else that strips away your freedoms? Who’s setting the limits here? They are, in their irresponsible ways.

The path of restricting freedoms leads to only one logical conclusion – that of a totalitarian dictatorship.

• How to Be Free in a World That Isn’t – Part 2
• How to Be Free in a World That Isn’t – Part 3

image © 2001 gregfolio.com

It’s easy to gain self confidence and increase positive self esteem. The goal will be to get your mind to a state where you will always take steps to positively work on your confidence and in overcoming self esteem issues. You really can build your own positive self esteem. Once you have taken steps to gain self esteem, it will become easier and faster to build on those successes.

Mind Your Own Business

The first, most important thing you must learn is that what other people think about you is none of your business. I know that is a hard one to overcome since you probably want to control what other people think of you, but that is impossible to do. People will have positive and negative opinions about you no matter what you do. Read our short article on this subject here: What You Think of Me

Learn to mind your own business – for your own sake and sanity! Once you drop the desire to control what other people think of you and increase your positive opinion of yourself, you will gain self confidence. You can do this without being arrogant but rather sublimely confident.

Productive Work

Productive work is one of the most important keys to a happy life. You need it for your self-esteem, mental growth, and a genuine sense of purpose. Productive work will help you build your self esteem. Being productive can produce feelings of accomplishment which will help you gain self confidence.

One of the keys to happiness is to do what you love as your work. Any type of work can be productive work, and it is up to you to develop ways to be as productive as possible while keeping that love for work constantly going.

Vacation Life

You might think sitting on a beach for the rest of a vacation life sounds like it might be a nice life, and yes, it may be for a while, but eventually boredom will set in and both your body and mind will waste away. This kind of life does nothing to build your self esteem.

Humans are not supposed to sit around all day doing absolutely nothing. Productive work is one of the most important keys to life. It can bring you self-esteem, gain self confidence, increase social interaction, increase mental growth, skyrocket motivation, and endow you with a positive sense of purpose.

The key to a good vacation life is to add value to the world even while you are on vacation! Have a real vacation life every so often, while keeping your productive work going your entire life.

Overcoming Shyness

Regardless of how severe or how minor your shyness and self esteem are right now, know that it is possible to train yourself in new abilities and to achieve better self esteem and greater confidence. Shyness is just a state of mind and states of mind can be changed. It is possible to overcome your shyness and to begin to reach out with confidence and make new friends. Here is another excellent article: Overcoming Shyness

Gain Self Confidence

How do you handle criticisms and compliments? If someone puts you down, do you find yourself overcoming self esteem that is suddenly low? Here is another Power Essence article that talks about criticism and compliments:Improve your self-esteem

Learn to take all criticism as constructive criticism. Know when someone is coming from their own low self-esteem if they are negative or harshly mean.

Gain self confidence in knowing that you can take in all criticism regardless of how negatively it is delivered to you. When you’ve learned to not bother with negative opinions and to really listen to the constructive criticism and learn from it, then you truly will gain self confidence that gets stronger and stronger with each experience. Push for maximum self esteem!

Gordon Ramsay doesn't get involved in the petty struggles, he focuses on delivering value

Kitchen Nightmares is my favorite Gordon Ramsay show. It’s so satisfying to see him go into a struggling business and turn it around.

Gordon Ramsay knows the secret of success. He does what he loves and he learnt to do it well. He concentrates on the essence of business, creating value that customers will want to spend their money on. He compliments this with strong business prowess, ensuring that he delivers quality products and service in the most efficient way possible. On top of all this, he is in a niche that affects everyone – food.

The businesses Ramsay helps are mostly clueless. They’re so hung up on emotional issues, focusing on the problems with their workplace relationships while expecting customers to swallow bad food and bad service. I can’t believe how much crying, tantrum throwing and power struggling happens instead of concentrating on what the business is there for. It’s usually always grown men, too.

Business is about giving the customer what they want and providing it in a way that is better than they could provide it to themselves. Having a business all too often gets caught up in the politics of people, the needs of the staff instead of the needs of the customers. It’s a simple change of focus, that when combined with Ramsey’s inspiring talks, turns businesses around.

This simplicity is testified to by the makers of the show. They have a working formula of “Bad restaurant > Crying staff > Shouting Ramsey > Fixed restaurant” that they repeat episode after episode to keep their customers happy.

And I for one can’t get enough.

The most persuasive techniques have their roots in NLP (neuro-linguistic programming). These persuasion techniques are based on empathy – in order to persuade someone – you must understand them.

Empathy-Based Persuasive Techniques

The first and most important thing you must understand about the person you are trying to influence is what their mind best responds to – feel, visual, or auditory stimulation. Knowing this will allow you to be more persuasive by plugging into and feeding this specific desire.

Females usually respond best to feelings, but not always. Men often respond well to visuals, and some people are affected by audio. To learn which is the best stimulation to focus your persuasion, look at how they talk. Do they say “I see”, “I hear what you’re saying”, or “I feel that…”? These are obvious examples of course, the correct answer could be more subtle and perhaps a mixture of two types of stimulation.

Adjust your persuasion techniques based on the kind of mind you are dealing with; for example, when persuading someone who is “feel” orientated, focus on how they will feel if they do what you are trying to convince them to. Don’t try and tell them what it will be like – you have to make them actually feel it.

The more you’re aware of the person you’re dealing with, the more effectively you will be able to focus your persuasive techniques.

Mirror-Based Persuasive Techniques

Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As well as focusing the content of your persuasion in a way that interacts well with their specific personality type, you can also adjust your language and the way you speak to put yourself on their level. People respond better to persuasive techniques that are in their own “language”. Pick up on specific words that they use and use them back on them, especially adjectives. Pay attention to their speed, pitch and volume, and respond as similarly as possible.

Matching your body language and even your pose/position is a subtle but surprisingly powerful persuasive technique. You need to be subtle and it may feel awkward at first, but with some practice you will see how effective this technique, known as “mirroring”, can be at developing a rapport and easing persuasion.

Other Persuasive Techniques

There are many other persuasive techniques that you can work on and build up. We recommend that you master the empathy/mirror persuasive techniques most importantly as these are the most effective. However, the following techniques can be valuable additions to your persuasion armory.

Persuasive Words

There are many subconscious persuasive words that one can use. Often these will be a call to action: for example “Do that” or “Be this”. Positive words and adjectives such as “Definitely”, “Most” and “Effective” are very persuasive all on their own.

Use “now” words such as “today” or “at the moment” often to subliminally suggest urgency.

Rhetorical questions

Getting the person to think for themselves is highly motivating and can therefore be extremely persuasive. Ask questions that engage them and they automatically become more receptive. This will also help you learn more about them. Often this will even convince them that they are making the decision when in fact you have simply steered them to this persuasion.

Eye Contact

It is highly important to develop a good rapport with the person you are trying to persuade. Without eye contact this is virtually impossible. With consistent and non-threatening eye contact, you can develop trust. Add a genuine smile and persuasion will be much easier.

Be Persuasive by Connecting Emotionally, not Rationally

Anyone in politics will tell you – people simply don’t respond rationally. They respond based on emotions. To persuade someone, you must connect with them emotionally.

Aristotle identified the three basic elements of every persuasive argument:

Ethos: the credibility, knowledge, expertise, stature and authority of the person trying to persuade.
Logos: the appeal of logic, reason, cognitive thinking, data and facts.
Pathos: the appeal to the emotions; the non-cognitive, non-thinking motivations that affect decisions and actions.

All layers are of course important, but it is perhaps the emotional layer that holds the most power of persuasion. We are emotional beings and are much more likely to be persuaded by the promise of feeling good than the promise of “something being correct”.

Are Persuasion Techniques Moral?

Of course you may be thinking that using persuasion techniques is immoral, underhand. Indeed, you may find yourself with the dilemma of whether to use them on someone you love. It’s really up to you how you feel about using persuasive techniques, but remember the following.

People should be aware of the techniques, and know when others are trying to manipulate them. If you successfully persuade someone, you have simply out-competed them.

Persuasion is always optional. Yet, after much practice, you may find that these persuasive techniques simply embed into the nature of your being. Would you feel guilty for using any other aspects of your personality such as speaking confidently?

Much of the time, you will be trying to do what is best for them anyway. The purpose of connecting with someone emotionally is to learn what they want. When you know this, you are only persuading them to do something that they will want to do anyway. So, by its definition, persuasion is not manipulation – it is just bringing your point across.

People should be aware enough to make their own decisions. Ideally, you should be confident that you can use these persuasive techniques to do what is right for all concerned.

If you’re still not comfortable with using persuasive techniques, we strongly recommend this article: 5 Steps to Easily Influencing People Without Manipulation which gives a refreshingly caring perspective on persuasion.

Quality is in the finer details!

Improving Quality is a pursuit that every business, and every person working for a business, should undertake. It is a vital component of value creation that could easily put you ahead of the competition on its own. So just exactly how do you go about implementing quality improvements to your business?

Improving Quality by paying attention to the details

You’ve probably heard the phrase: The Devil is in the Details. Well, so is the profit, and the word of mouth. By looking at the details you will see things that most other people won’t generally see. You will see ways of improving the product or service. You will see how it is falling short. Most impressively, by understanding the finer details, you will see opportunities for off-shoot products or services, or powerful new solutions.

Don’t just look at the end result.

If you are dealing with a product, look at every stage of the production. Look for problems in supply. Ensure your supply chain always delivers the highest quality. Ensure that everyone in your organisation, from your goods in department to dispatch, are dedicated to a culture of quality. Everyone dealing with raw materials must show absolute respect at all times. Those dealing with testing must have high standards and incentives for delivering them. Acquire, or create, the most cut-throat, unforgiving, Quality Assurance team that you possibly can. Give them authority to reprimand those without respect for quality and attention to detail.

If you are looking to improve a service, look at the service as a whole, and the reactions and responses of the users. Then look at every stage of deployment. Ensure that if you are cutting corners, you are not doing it to the detriment of your service. Focus on the details of your service suppliers, from their training down to their personality type and even looks if relevant. Imagine, in detail, the experience you would like to receive. Compare it with the reality. Adjust accordingly.

Improving Quality with Your Passion

If you’re not in a job or business that you can invest vast quantities of passion into, you’re probably in the wrong career. If you enjoy what you do, you will do it so much better. You will devote more time and energy to it. You will focus on learning more about it. You will have the motivation to take it in previously unexplored directions. You will be driven to be the best you can at it.

This will give you pride in what you do. This pride will naturally lead to you improving quality throughout your business.

For more on finding your passion, check out our free ebook.

Improve Quality by Raising Your Standards

Work to achieve ever higher standards in everything that you do. Look at everything with a view to improving it, even it might seem at first to be perfect. Always strive to supply the best you can at the cost you have. This will allow you deliver more desirable products and services to your customers and out-compete the competition.

Look into the Essence

We’re not called Power Essence by coincidence. Our name was chosen to reflect our very purpose – seeing through to the essence. We look into the core of everything we do to understand and improve it at its most basic level and throughout.

Look for common denominators in your business problems, and use them to integrate effective solutions. The essence of business is essentially making money. To make money, a business must provide a desirable product or service – create values. Focus on creating value in every business action you perform and in every thought you have.

WINNER!

In what areas were you a winner today? It’s up to you to decide if you are a winner or not. Even if you have won a tiny bit, acknowledge that. Be honest with yourself, even if you were a loser today. Hopefully, you’ll get another chance to try again tomorrow!

Training to be a Winner

Keep yourself trained as a winner in your chosen field, whether that is sports, creative endeavors, or business. By continually training yourself, you keep your mind honed in performing the steps necessary to keep you a winner.

As mentioned in Brain Mechanics One oh Won, balance your primary field of expertise by perfecting yourself in at least one other area and up to four different areas. Depending on how versed you are in other areas, you can add other areas in which to practice as long as you put in enough time with each area at least several times a week. At the minimum, spend thirty minutes in each area. But of course, the longer you spend practicing in each area, the better. The main idea is to keep your secondary trainings diversified which will force your mind to handle various types of requirements and increase your potential for winning in all areas. Focusing in other areas will definitely add to and affect your primary area of focus.

Mix It Up

If your primary field of study is physical in nature, such as sports, then balance that by training your mind to think in different ways intellectually, such as learning to play chess and reading books. Reading about other people’s experiences in your chosen field can be huge benefit of course, but also read other things to cause your mind to think of things you don’t normally hear about, including fiction and non-fiction. We live in a remarkable age where huge amounts of information are available instantly. There is such thing as information overload, so learn when to stop gathering information, when to switch to something else, and when to simply take a break.

Mix in other types of sports training that are different from your chosen primary area of expertise.

Entertainment

Entertainment is good but be aware as to how much passive entertainment you are experiencing on a daily basis. Interactive entertainment such as computer games will definitely train your mind to think in different ways, but never substitute that type of entertainment for physical activity. Get at least an hour of physical activity in a day, such as bike riding, walking, hiking, swimming, or any sport.

Keeping your imagination active can lead you to new insights and new approaches. Keeping your mind open and remaining rational about new information will increase your ability to sift through what works for you and what doesn’t work. Bending and pushing your imagination and forcing your brain to perform in new ways will add to your arsenal of abilities.

Mind Bending Exercises

Repeat all these steps every few days and then every few weeks to months to keep yourself proficient in doing these exercises.

1) Put something with a paragraph or two of your language of choice on the table in front of you. Read it normally for a few sentences, then rotate what you are looking at 180 degrees so that the text is essentially up-side-down to your point of view. Try reading the text as far as you can. Practice this enough by using text you have not read before and you’ll be able to easily read in this orientation. Also try positioning the text at ninety-degree angles to normal, i.e. text rows of words straight up and down so you are forcing yourself to read at any angle.

2) Hold up printed text in a mirror and attempt to read it. As with exercise 1, rotate the text 180 degrees and read it, then try the text rotated 90 degrees both ways. This will train your mind to recognize and function with reflections.

3) While staring straight ahead at a fixed point in front of you in the distance, use your peripheral vision to notice objects to the sides of your direction of view. How far to the sides can you recognize objects, movements, lights, or colors while staring straight ahead? Extend either arm to the side and experiment by wiggling your fingers and moving them forward and backward in and out of peripheral view.

4) Try anything that you’ve never done before, such as board games and crossword puzzles — anything that will cause your mind and thus your brain to be pushed to their limits. Accuracy games such as darts or archery are even more activities that will bend your mind beyond its limits. Practice skipping stones or throwing rocks at targets and even switch up your throwing arm and get that other less-functional limb honed.

Your Winning Conclusion

You now know what it takes to remain a winner. Extend that winning attitude into every area of your life — including love, business, friendships, and activities. Keep in practice. Letting yourself slip will cause you to lose abilities, so stay trained if you want to keep your skills at those winning levels. Spend the time and your mind will surely do what it takes. Motivate your time and you’ll find a new future that you’ll make.

Written by Maxwell Jennings

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How can you work on your brain and win back abilities, win new functionality, and even increase your intelligence? By being your own brain mechanic. You at least have the basic tools already — the most important being your mind. This mini-course is designed to at least help you get started in those winning directions and will help you acquire new abilities, skills and tools.

So pull your mind into the garage, get it on the proverbial lift, and get ready to delve under the hood. Brain Mechanics 101 (won oh one) is about to begin!

Win Back Your Life

It is time to evaluate your life and to win in the areas that are important to you and to win back in the areas you’ve lost or have diminishing abilities. Are you where you want to be in all areas, such as love, family, financial, work, education, or your chosen sport? You may be proficient at what you do in select areas of your life, but what about the other areas where you want to be proficient and truly win? Are you winning in every area that is important to you? Regardless of all the media hype and what your family and friends tell you, only your judgment of yourself and where you are at is important here. You win already by simply wanting a winning mind and brain!

The first step at winning back your life is to know what your current reality is right now. We suggest that you create a written list of the most important areas in your life and rate them on a simple 0-to-10+ scale – where 10 is optimum-winner based on your own judgment of yourself and the plus (+) means you’ve exceeded your win-expectations.

Zero to Ten-plus Rating Guide

0 = nonexistent, extremely lacking, not winning, I want major help in this area.
1
2
3
4
5 = I’m average in this area but I know I can be better and I want to be a total winner.
6
7
8
9
10 = Winner! I have met my expectations of myself in this area.
10+ = I have exceeded my expectations of myself! The winning keeps getting better!

Test Topics to Win

As a guide, test yourself on these topics:

Love — 0 (= nonexistent, I need major help in the area of love) to 5 (= I’m okay with love but could be better about it) to 10 (= Winner! I’m in love, I feel really good about all my relationships). For those of you who think you’ve exceeded your win-expectations on love, tack on a plus sign to that 10, 10+ = far exceeded what I think it takes to win in the area of love.

Rate these areas as well:

Family
Friendships
Living my Passion
Business/Job
Education
Life Experiences
Hobbies
Bucket-List
(add your choices to this list)

Prioritizing Your List

What do you want to focus on first? Write out your list in order of importance to you.

Prioritizing with a written list gives your brain the task of prioritizing internally. Your list will become a part of your psyche and this will help you in creating an activity schedule to which you will be more likely to follow and with which to win.

Again, your goal should be to become a winner in your chosen areas, not just one area.

The Concept of Brain Mechanics

Whatever you put into your mind, your mind will try to reconstruct that desire at least in your mind. Focus on your desire enough and your mind will actually rewire your brain to accommodate for the desire. Focus enough and your mind will guide your choices to match the end-result of your goal. Much of this guiding is subconscious but don’t leave that part to chance. Use your conscious mind to guide you too.

The Adapting Brain

Although the old adage of too much of anything is not good is subjective in that people differ in how they adapt to situations, as humans, too much of anything for anyone can cause big changes in the mind/body systems. Whether it is a winning situation for you is up to you to determine.

The mind/brain will try to adapt to the stimulus at hand, and if that stimulus is particular and repeated often and for extended periods, then the mind/brain will dedicate itself to performing that particular task. The brain will actually rewire itself. Brain cells will grow in the required areas but the brain will also allow brain cells to not be replaced in unused areas, effectively killing off abilities.

Hone Your Skills

Being super focused is great for training in sports and academics. It is also very good to keep your other skills honed as well, at least skills you want to keep. Sometimes it’s okay to let yourself lapse in areas that you probably won’t use again.

However, the only way to keep up your abilities with skills you’ve acquired and want to keep is to refresh your mind and body in those areas often by actually doing those activities. Get out the sports equipment or whatever it takes to keep in practice, and do it!

Include as many of your goal areas in your regime and train the mind in as many different things for which you have the time. Balance out physical skills with mental skills and mix it up.

Multiple Stimulation

Make sure you’re stimulating your body with movement and coordination, such as sports, riding a bike, or even simply running and walking. Gravity and inertia are good ways of letting your mind-brain system know that action doesn’t just mean sitting and watching action movies or playing computer games. Teach your brain that the norm is never the norm and it will wire itself to adapt quickly to an ever changing sequence of activities.

Continued at Brain Mechanics Two-4-Too…

Written by Maxwell Jennings