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.

*

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

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.

© Photoroller -Fotolia.com

Nowadays, people are very sceptical of any kind of money making scheme, “There’s no such thing as getting rich quick”, “You have to work for it like everybody else, or win the lottery.”

The fact is, most get-rich-quick-schemes are a waste of time and effort. Usually the only people who get rich are the people at the top of the pyramid. In a way, most of the businesses are just other dictatorship rat races and most are designed to put people under the delusion they have an advantage if they join.

So what choice do you have, try scheme after scheme trying to escape the rat race? What else can you do?

Well, most people want to escape the rat race. Everyone wants financial freedom and contentment. Most people don’t want to get up in the morning and go to work day after day in a boring job that makes someone else rich. There must be something else, right?

The problem with both get-rich-quick schemes and the daily grind is that you are not in control. If you really did have control, would you be in this situation, a slave to the system? If you really were in control, wouldn’t you have everything you wanted?

Ask yourself how much you want financial freedom and success. If you really do want it, why are you relying on someone else’s enterprise or idea to bring you financial freedom and success?

Granted, you can achieve limited success and gratification working for someone else. But if you want mega-success, you need to be an entrepreneur. It’s the only way. There’s no point in relying on luck or even just working hard to get you where you want to be. You need to take control and make it happen.

The dictionary defines an entrepreneur as someone who has the skills and initiative to establish a business. That’s a self-made person. Not someone who made it rich off other people’s efforts with someone else’s enterprise. Don’t you want to create your own world of success?

We strongly advise seeking out some kind of business venture of your own for maximum results. However, everything we talk about here can be applied to your current job. You don’t need to go through the difficult process of setting up a business just yet. You can start improving your career right now and get experience of being a mini-entrepreneur at the same time!

Almost every job has the potential to be expanded into its own mini-business within the company where you work. The rewards are satisfaction, excitement, and very possibly promotions.

You will shine like a beacon to management when your productivity goes up, when you easily handle many more responsibilities, and when your efficiency sky-rockets. The figures will speak for themselves, and management can’t fail to notice.

Getting rich and escaping the rat race requires one vital ingredient. Of course, you need ambition, drive and a passion for what you’re doing, but these are pre-requisites. You’re not going to get anywhere without these. Yet, there is one other, less known requirement that is fundamental.

Introduction to Self Authority

Most people are conditioned to follow a set of procedures in their job. They react to things that happen in the workplace but rarely are they proactive. You need to break away from this following-others, reactive mindset.

You might think that without authority, you are unable to advance in your job, as you’re unable to make changes or take the initiative. Don’t let any excuses become an obstacle to your growth. You can always make suggestions to your bosses. The point is that you should always be looking for opportunities to make suggestions. Whether you’re allowed to work on them or not is irrelevant.

Whatever your political standpoint, there is nothing stopping you from developing self-authority within yourself – right now. Whether you agree with the premise of self-rule as a political base or not, it will always be better to separate yourself from the control and guidance of the government, media, and academia.

There is a new breed of people waking up and breaking away from the follow-the-herd mindset. People that claim self-authority for themselves don’t wait for anyone else to tell them what to do or how to think. Self-authoritarians look at things objectively and come to their own conclusions rather than blindly following the mob. They look to themselves for ideas, direction, self-esteem and power. It is better to be this type of person in order to succeed in the forthcoming era. Avoiding external guidance and control is absolutely essential to getting ahead of the competition.

In most, if not all cases, following and relying on the direction and control from anyone else will only hold you back and slow you down in your own progress. Being a follower also allows people with self-authority to take advantage of you.

To develop your own self-authority you must first: become aware of your self-authority, and second: practice self-authority constantly.

Be aware of when you are not thinking for yourself. When you’re first made aware of what self-authority really is, you will be amazed at how much you follow other people’s lead. Learn to be constantly aware of when you are taking things at face value – that is believing anything that is told to you, or following someone else’s lead. Then, make a conscious effort to make your own decisions.

But what does this have to do with escaping the rat race, success, and getting rich?

By being your own authority, you will develop initiative, motivation, productivity, control, a competitive edge, ideas, and far-reaching goals. These in turn can bring you immense success in business.

By developing self-authority, you will develop initiative. This will allow you to become aware of what needs doing and then you will take immediate action to do it. Look at what problems need solving in your workplace or in an area that interests you and just do it – solve the problems.

Most people don’t take the initiative. So, by taking initiative, you will have an immediate advantage over your co-workers. You will get things done. You will be productive. And since they are all jobs you have uncovered and take immediate action with, you will have control of the situation. Also, by using the implication tree method, you can uncover problems before they even happen, giving you even more of an advantage.

Rest assured, there is no shortage of problems to be solved, whether it’s in your workplace or in the marketplace. Your initiative and looking ahead will reveal these problems to you as you work. These problems, or rather the solutions to them are better known as business opportunities.

Business problems are the source of your business success.

With the help of your imagination, you will be able to think of creative, marketable solutions to problems. This kind of thinking will give you incredible motivation that will turn your life around. You will actually start to enjoy work, whether it’s at a work-for-hire job or working in your own business enterprise.

The satisfaction that comes from a business-orientated job will blow your mind wide open with enjoyment. You will no longer be stuck in a routine rut because you will be making things happen. You will be using your imagination, one of the biggest motivational tools of all. This will cause ideas to flow through your head like enriching water, piecing together more opportunities for other jobs and advantages.

The motivational intensity of these jobs will keep you focused, make you feel alive, and bring incredible satisfaction. This productivity will allow you to be super-competitive against either rival companies or other people who may be after that same promotion. You will be unstoppable, and most of all, you will probably love it.

Now, imagine if everyone was in that frame of mind.

Let’s summarize those main points.

• Self-authority and initiative help you find problems, in other words: business opportunities.
• Problems and opportunities help to fuel your imagination.
• Imagination fuels creativity.
• Creativity fuels motivation.
• Motivation fuels productivity.
• Productivity and Creativity breed success

Review

Beware of get rich schemes. They are typically a waste of your precious time and money. If you want mega-success, you need to be an entrepreneur. We strongly advise seeking out some kind of business venture of your own for maximum results. Yet, you can start improving your career or current job right now and get experience of being a mini-entrepreneur at the same time!

Take the initiative. Taking the initiative can increase your value to your business by getting things done and even discovering new opportunities to enhance the business. Almost every job has the potential to be expanded into its own mini-business within the company where you work.

To achieve a powerful mindset, become your own authority and apply that to your entire life.

Age Thirteen Through Age Seventeen

Now is the time for early preparation for adulthood by fine tuning the personality, interpersonal skills, and a sense for business. Age 13 through age 17 is a good time to really explore these areas and hopefully uncover their hidden genius.

Young Entrepreneurs

Every child has the potential for entrepreneur-ship. If you are able to help cultivate this creativity earlier in your child’s life, then capitalize on that education now with an even bigger push to get that dream into reality if they want.

Is it prudent to build a business around a childhood dream? Only if the child wants to, and of course, only if there is a market for what value they intend to present to the consumer. If your child can perform a market study and prospects are good, then they should seriously consider going into business. At the least, it could be a tremendous experience for your child. Who knows, it could turn out to be lucrative too. Make sure they cover themselves legally and take full responsibility for their products and/or services.

It is important to remember that not all children will shift into being entrepreneurs, and these young people will be just as happy working for someone else adding extreme value to that business. As long as they know they always have the option of starting their own business, then that passion may arise later in life.

Having the training and knowledge about what it takes to be an entrepreneur and run a business generates a great set of tools that can be applied to other areas in your child’s life. You don’t have to become an entrepreneur to benefit from that mindset. Problem solving and creating marketable solutions are just a few benefits of learning to be a businessperson. Interpersonal skills, friendly competition, and business related friendships also come from business relationship training. These experiences can then be transferred to all areas.

Young Adulthood

As your child blossoms into young adulthood, their interests in relationships will increase. It’s important to support your child’s choice to be with whomever they select as a partner or as friends. If handled properly from early youth into young adulthood, your offspring will be much more mature than comparable children raised under today’s typical methods will be, and they will gravitate to other children with comparable intellectual skills and interests.

Interests

Suggest things that might interest your child in trying, such as sports, learning a musical instrument, and taking acting classes. Participating in these and similar interests can help develop a young person’s personality and confidence. It can also inspire a passion or awaken hidden genius. Be sure not to force your child into anything they don’t want to try, but leave it entirely up to them to choose. Music and sports are great testing grounds for interests.

Driver’s Education

When it comes time to help your child learn to drive a car, there are several things you can do to help prepare them for the unexpected and to be an evolved driver. It’s important that they know how to handle any vehicle that they will be using, so if you have access to several types of vehicles, then make sure to allow practice driving in small cars to large vans. Even rent a different sized and handling vehicle from the family car. The more education you provide early, the better driver they will be their whole life.

If at all possible, drive to a wide open dirt area where it is safe and acceptable and practice straight-line skidding or sudden stops, left and right turning slide-outs back into control, and backing the vehicle up over long distances. Also, find an empty area of a large parking lot and practice pulling into stalls forwards and backing in. Teach them how to use visual points on the vehicle to judge the safe zone around the vehicle and to line up for perfect parking. If it helps, demonstrate the techniques and then let them try. A good way to let them know the dimensions of the vehicle from the driver’s perspective is to stand outside the vehicle right next to the bumpers and corners and have them ingrain those visual cues from all angles and mirrors. Pull up next to and slightly ahead of a parked car so that they know where the blind spots can occur.

Love Relationships

If they haven’t already, children in this age range will definitely start to find attractions in other people. Not only have they been exposed to relationships in the movies, books and other media, their adult hormones are beginning to show up in their systems as well. To some children, this rush of sex hormones can be a bit of a shock no matter how well you prepare them with logic before hand. The best you can do for them during puberty is simply being there for them to talk with and help curtail the emotional spurts with rational thoughts and choices. Let them know that what they are feeling and the new desires are a normal part of being human. Love relationships can mean sexual relationships, so educate them about the differences and how they can blend together with responsibility. Attraction and infatuation may or may not lead to love relationships.

If prepared with enough good information – both pros and cons of what relationships entail, then most children can learn to be rational about relationships, with less of the turmoil and stress most often associated with pubescent development. Always encourage rational thinking and you will be surprised at how grown up they will act not only with their peers, but with adults as well. They are definitely changing into young adults now, so afford them adult-level responsibilities.

Sex Education

Discuss sex and love relationships in detail, and be supportive no matter to what gender your child is attracted. If you can talk logically about intimate acts, your child will learn to respect those acts and how they relate to building a love-based relationship with someone. You really cannot stop young people from experimenting, so it is better to prepare them about sex by using caring and rational thinking on your part. If handled properly, you can save them the heartbreak and devastation of diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

(continued Jul 13 2009: Raising Super Children Ages 18 through Adulthood)

Age Eight Through Age Twelve

Emphasize more individuality, more responsibility, more creativity, and more productivity during this age range.

Fantasy and Logic

It is also good to keep up with stimulating their fantasy mind as well as their logical mind. Fantasy keeps the mind stretching beyond what is familiar or comfortable and opens up tremendous opportunity for creative thinking and in nurturing artistic abilities. As long as they are not completely caught up in fantasy to the detriment of logic and rationality, then encourage them to practice thinking in extraordinary ways. Some of the most tremendous inventions came from the ability of the inventor to fantasize and see beyond the scope of what is typical or normal.

Creative Potential

This is the age where most children unleash their full creative potential, so capitalize on that. Of course, it can happen earlier, but even earlier childhood creativity coupled with increased intelligence can awaken immense potential and prosperity for your evolving children.

Responsibility

Increase responsibilities and opportunities for self decision-making. Offer suggestions on a more limited basis and inspire children to really think things over for themselves. Give hints as a last resort before giving up the correct answer. Libraries and the Internet are a wealth of information. There is a lot of useless and even incorrect information on the Internet, but with knowing that fact and knowing how to search out the required information, the Internet can be a great tool for gathering knowledge. Prepare them for the dangers of the Internet as well. Give them an idea of what they might stumble upon and why certain content is available. Responsibility is earned so some monitoring maybe necessary on your part, but by teaching them the meaning of responsibility, your children can learn what to avoid.

Love Relationships

Some children will exhibit the desire to have a boyfriend or girlfriend during this age range. It can happen at earlier ages, but typically, it happens for the first time at these ages. Some children will also begin noticing the sex nature of being human. Again, be up-front and honest about why humans are attracted into love relationships. Encourage them to research the scientific and psychological aspects of relationships, while providing your own input on the subject. As with the earlier age ranges, repeat the importance of sex responsibility to stay safe and minimize mistakes. Make sure they know it is their choice since it is their body and their life, but again, stress the importance of responsibility and remaining safe from dangerous people of all ages. Children will experiment, so it’s important that they know about appropriate behavior and that sex is better experienced as a responsible adult.

Again, add whatever rational suggestions you feel are important and repeat important information throughout your child’s life.

Stimulating Conversations

As mentioned before, when your child is confronted with any situation and asks for your opinion, always start out with asking what they have come up with as a possible solution. Stimulate them to ask intelligent questions and to figure things out on their own. After they have communicated their possible solutions, and you have suggestions that differ, prod them with questions and hints to see if they can formulate a new scenario similar to what is on your mind. If they go off on a tangent without coming up with any other viable solution, only then should you offer any suggestions of your own. The goal here is to let them integrate all the information they have to figure out an intelligent decision. If you see flaws in their logic or you can see potential snags in their solution, again, offer suggestions or help direct them to a source that can help. Keep the conversations going!

Prepare them for major changes such as entering junior high school, and all that entails. Competition, conflicts, relationships, and new friendships usually come with new environments.

(continued July 6 2009: Raising Super Children Ages 13 through 17)

Ages Four Through Age Seven

This is the opinion forming and foundational setting period for children.

Although we are born with some personality traits and we acquire more in the first few years of life, we develop more of our personality and opinions of the world and how reality works in this range of age 4 through age 7. It is important to present facts and logic during these psychological forming years. It is also the best time to start praising your child for things well done to help build their self-esteem and confidence.

Fantasy, such as through television, computer games and the Internet, can be a great entertainment tool, but we also recommend that you make the difference known between reality and fantasy, and between objective thinking and subjective modes. Being honest in all respects when dealing with children can inspire them to grow up honest and with a greater respect for you too.

Along with teaching one hundred percent honesty, also teach them about being considerate and positive to others. You can also teach your children about being at least neutral when confronted with negative situations. Being neutral is always better than being upset or angry. Talking with confidence is different than getting loud with aggression. Teach your kids to use logic and diplomacy to settle their differences and disagreements.

Safety and Protection

This is also the time to inspire them to protect themselves, their siblings, and you too. Saying things similar to: it’s important to protect your family and brother(s) and/or sister(s), and you can be best friends and help each other, can help instill those caring traits at an early age. At the same time, teach the importance of self-preservation through safety.

Strangers

Stress the importance of being wary of strangers and aware of potential dangers in their immediate vicinity. This can be accomplished without instilling paranoia. There are some very disturbed people in the world, and all efforts should be taken to protect your family. Learn how to spot suspicious behavior of anyone, including people that you know and strangers, but without prejudice or jumping to conclusions and teach these same techniques to your children. By expanding one’s awareness of one’s surroundings, one can increase their level of protection.

Criminals try to target people that are unaware or alone, so recommend that your children stay with groups and always know what’s going on nearby. Make sure they also know that other children can be dangerous, and to watch for danger signs in odd behaviors and what is said. Learn the tactics that child molesters use to lure children into falsely trusting them, and make sure your children know these traps and how to avoid them. Not all strangers are dangerous, in fact only a few are, but it’s important for children to know the danger signs.

Self Defense

You can train any age group the fundamentals of self-defense. Kicking, screaming, and running away to safety are basic techniques. Consider enrolling your pups in martial arts training and even gymnastics to help build coordination and flexibility. Martial arts can also train in personal honor and respect. It is always better to avoid hostile situations, but if your child is trained properly they can think and perform their way out of most situations. By remaining logical and alert, children can figure out a way to escape or attract attention if they are trapped or in danger.

Sports

Most sports help to condition a growing body to its full potential. Swimming is one of the best non-impact sports that is also great for cardiovascular strength and endurance. You can even trigger a young body to grow taller than it would without the stretching and kicking of rigorous lap swimming, such as on a swim-team. Knowing how to swim will increase a child’s survival potential and help them the potential of saving other children during a water hazard.

Entertainment

Continue to read to your child on a regular basis. Pick the same night every week and let them stay up late with you. Read to them or work on a craft project together or simply have a chat. If you have two or more children, schedule separate nights up for each. You can even rotate the nights up to keep things fairly balanced and interesting.

Responsibility

Think of ways to give your children the opportunities to learn responsibility and to think rationally for themselves. Simple things such as letting them help you do chores and prepare meals can help build confidence and skills. Let them make certain decisions for themselves and give them a logical explanation as to the pros and cons of certain decisions. Point out all possible dangerous outcomes that you know of and suggest how they can make the best decisions based on the particular situations.

Sex Education

Discuss the basics of sex as early as possible, repeat the basics and then go into detail later. Important issues can always be repeated over the years for added instruction. We are sexual beings and curiosity about gender differences and anatomy can start at a very early age. It is better to have the foreknowledge and logic early than to discover it by oneself or haphazardly from other children.

Sexual activity cannot be suppressed but it is possible to impress your children with a sense of responsibility and maturity regarding sexual issues. Then, they will at least treat sex with respect and know that intimate, relationships and starting a family are best accomplished when more knowledge and experience are gained.

If given a solid grounding of knowledge, young people can make intelligent decisions based on objective thinking and facts.

Education

Evidence indicates that young children can pick up second or even multiple languages easier than adults. Not only teach them common languages, but also find ways of exposing them to complex languages such as Japanese, Russian, or any other language to help push their knowledge-absorbing brains to their full potential. As soon as they can write, then carry that multi-language skill into that particular ability to communicate. Of course, it helps to have people around that speak and write the secondary languages, and who can help teach your children. If none are available, then consider audio programs where you all can join in and learn. Make it into an enjoyable game to increase the child’s desire and attention.

Stimulating Conversations

For the younger children, expand on the complexity of the bedtime stories. Present topics such as notable people in history, especially the creative designers, artists, medical pioneers, and any type of explorer. For the older children, turn the story-time into discussion time of your child’s vision of their future, or with current issues. If you know of any, use references to famous people to correlate what your child is going through and what they are interested in pursing.

Always use positive reinforcement, even if you are disciplining your child. Positive methods help teach logical behaviors. Negative discipline invokes irrational and even damaging behaviors.

What would you do? is a question that inspires contemplation and integration of what is known in order to come up with valid solutions. Ask it often; even after your child asks for your opinion or help.

To help increase your child’s safety, have an occasional fire drill or environmental hazard drill to give them that extra edge in dangerous situations. By holding these types of drills, it will also help to increase confidence and teach them to think fast during stressful and life-threatening situations. Make sure to have an evacuation plan in place to ensure safe exits from your home. Continue these drills every so often and throughout the years.

(continued June 29 2009: Raising Super Children Ages 8 through 12)

Your Children

Until your children can make objective, rational decisions for themselves, they are your responsibility. Train them to be responsible and productive at an early age and continue to impress the importance of responsibility and productivity well into adulthood. Remember that impressing is different from manipulating and force. Provide an objective and yet easy-going environment from which your children can rise to greatness on their own!

An Individual

It is important for you to understand that your child is a unique individual and every right and freedom applies to every individual. Therefore, afford them 100% individual freedom to be the person that they want to be.

Think of yourself as a guide that has a positive influence on another human being. Of course there are things you need to do for your child regardless if they want to or not, but suspend any controlling aspect of your own personality and habits, and truly allow your child to develop on their own accord. You are just an experienced life-traveler transferring your knowledge to your pupil. It is up to them to choose and to learn.

Learning

Even if your child is diagnosed with a learning disability, these techniques can help awaken even the most challenged individual’s full potential. Never give up on anyone, especially the children. Unique human conditions such as autism can be a tremendous advantage and benefit at any age.

Basic Safety Guide

This part was mainly written for new parents or guardians that do not have any education in parenting; in addition, other people can benefit from these suggestions as well.

Never shake a child for any reason. Shaking a youngster can cause serious brain and neck injury and even death.

Always keep drugs, chemicals and hazardous materials out of the reach of children. Lock cabinets if you have to or install childproof latches.

Mouth Open, Insert Object

The first thing an infant will do after grabbing something is to put the object in their mouth. This is how they interact with and learn about their surroundings.

Make sure toys are clean and appropriate for your infant’s age. Buttons and other small toy parts can choke babies. Do not place sharp object within reach. Check to make sure electrical cords are securely tucked away. If a child can grab whatever it is, you know they will try. Kids are little explorers of their new universe.

Always test the temperature of hot foods before giving them to your child. Take a small bite yourself to test things. The underside of your wrist is a great place to test liquids. A metal spoon can be hotter than the food. The denser a substance, the longer it will retain heat.

Plug up unused electrical outlets with plastic plugs specifically designed to prevent children from sticking object into the slots.

Children mimic other people, so they will try to grab tools or anything else they see you using. They will try opening every door they see you access.

Make sure you test bath water temperature before placing a child into it. Remember, children are more sensitive to heat and cold, so always keep them comfortable.

Dangerous Situations

Keep your eyes on your child in the bath and never leave young children unattended. Children can drown in as little as an inch deep of water, so no buckets left out containing liquids. Also, be careful around swimming pools, Jacuzzis, and other bodies of water. Teach your kids to swim as young as possible so that they can save themselves if they have to. A child can get water in their lungs and die later from what is called dry-drowning. Teach them to bend over so that fluids run out of the lungs.

Never leave a child alone in car. During the day with the windows rolled up, the temperature inside a car can jump to lethal levels in a matter of minutes or even seconds depending on the outside temperature.

Be careful while carrying your child to avoid accidental bumping while moving through doorways and around hard furniture. Make sure you have a good grip so as not to drop your baby.

Sickness

Recognize when your children are sick. Don’t hesitate to take them to the doctor if they are acting strange or if a fever gets too high. Talk to your pediatrician about the specifics regarding health warning signs and when to take emergency action.

Toxins

The heavy metal lead is more toxic to children than it is to adults and can cause severe brain damage. Remove lead based paints from the living place. Most candlewicks have a lead core that vaporizes into the air when burned, so avoid that type of wick even if you don’t have children.

Smoking

Keep any type of smoke away from your child. They’ll get enough unavoidable air pollution while growing up, so adding to that by smoking around children can diminish their chances at a long life.

Diet

Eliminate refined sugar completely from your family’s diet if you can. We know that means eliminating a majority of the processed foods available, but your baby and whole family will be much better off without sweets. Did you know that chemically, refined sugar and cocaine differ only slightly? Sugar is highly addictive and it can cause imbalances and deterioration in a developing human brain and body.

While we are on the subject of diet, another dangerous food additive to eliminate is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). This approved flavor enhancer acts directly on the brain and nervous system, and it is very addictive. MSG is probably one of the biggest contributors to obesity. If you find yourself craving certain foods or even specific restaurants, you can bet that those food manufacturers and establishments are feeding you food intentionally spiked with MSG.

Here is a great article on the dangers of MSG:

http://www.rense.com/general52/msg.htm

Be aware that even foods labeled as organic still may contain MSG.

Discipline, Martial Arts

Finally, never smack your child around in order to “toughen them up”. Enroll them in sports and martial arts if they want, but never cause physical or mental abuse to teach self-confidence. Hitting or pushing a child only teaches that child that they need to be violent and a bully to get their way. These people usually wind up in jail or dead at an early age.

Martial arts training are great ways to teach protection through self-defense. It also teaches coordination and confidence.

If a child wants to be a weakling or completely passive, that is their right to choose by their own free-will. You will never get anywhere positive with a child by being bullish or mean. Try a compassionate, confident approach tempered with patience and you will see any child’s learning capacity increase. Make any situation a fun and learning experience for your child and you will be richly rewarded with a friend for life!

The Critical Years

Use the following age-bracketed guide as just that, a guide. Some children will develop faster than other children, so feel free to apply later-stage techniques earlier on if you see rapid development.

Birth Through Three Years Of Age

Some people downplay the first three years of life, as if it is not that important of a period in development. As with every stage of life, this period is extremely crucial in jump-starting personality, intelligence, and awareness of reality. Infants learn to judge what they experience in their surroundings and then learn to adjust their actions to learn more.

By providing more than the typical interactions and stimuli, you can positively affect the development of your child.

Holding Your Baby

Years ago, a study showed that in third world countries where mothers continuously hold infants throughout the day, those children have a lower mortality rate than in underdeveloped countries where mother-child contact is minimal.

Share in the training! Have other members of the family hold infants as much as possible. Even if you cannot hold your baby all the time, keep them close so that they can observe your activities and so that you can make frequent physical contact and conversation with them.

Keeping them in a back room devoid of human interaction is unhealthy. If you cannot keep in frequent contact with your baby, then hire someone that can help you do that. This interpersonal contact is extremely important in maximizing beneficial affects.

Display as much happiness to your infant as possible. Help them to laugh and play. If you grew up without much interaction between yourself and your parents or guardians, then it may take a little effort to get in the habit of being affectionate and in communicating on a regular basis with your baby. Evolve your parenting skills from adequate to exceptional and from exceptional to outstanding.

Communication

Although your newborn cannot understand language yet, talking to them will increase the bonding connection between the two of you. They will learn to key in on your voice. When they are just a little older, you’ll be surprised at how much they do understand. Talk to them as often as possible, and say their name frequently.

Infants can differentiate between some communications, for example, they can interpret your body language instinctively and they do know the difference between happiness and anger. Also, they can learn the meaning of words such as yes, no, okay, and look.

Try using the words no and don’t as little as possible. If you can’t think of a positive way to say something in order to correct a child, then be specific as to why you are saying no or don’t. Children of all ages tend to ignore negative commands. Use constructive alternatives and logic to dissuade certain behavior, but even more so, use positive reinforcement as to why other behavior is better. Scare tactics and threats never work.

Be Positive

Be as positive as possible around your baby. Keep negative attitudes, arguments and bad talk between you and other people away from your child. They do not deserve that type of mental stress at such a young age. They may not understand what you are yelling about but they do react adversely to hostility even when it is not directed at them. On the flip side, they develop very well under happy and fun conditions. They will also develop neutrally under stale or neutral conditions, so it’s better to surround your household with laughter and genuine caring. Humor is an important human evolutionary step, as is feeling and showing love to your family.

Children are also smarter than you may think and they can show signs of comprehension long before they can even talk. Much of what a child learns is by observing other people. They will begin to mimic your gestures and other mannerisms including your speech.

Education

You can get them started on the alphabet and basic math skills by counting to them and explaining simple operations such as addition and subtraction. Repetition is also the key to engraining information.

They can also easily learn the meaning of more complex spoken words and sentences. Therefore, along with talking in goofy baby-talk-like babble to your child, talk to them often as you would to adults. Even if you think they don’t understand you, keep up the conversations and the physical stimulus. Again, these types of actions helps to bond you two together and it helps familiarize your child with normal talk. Ask them questions that even require a response and see how easily your child will adapt to the new stimulus. Just remember that at this stage this is for brain development only, so no expectations of intelligent response should be set until later.

Stimulus

Along with talking to and holding your baby, introduce as much stimulus as possible to your child. You don’t want to overdo anything, and you do want to keep your baby’s safety your number one priority, so no loud music or noises, and no startling your child on purpose. Keep the traumatic experiences to a minimum – although, you can’t prevent everything from happening. If your child is unexpectedly shocked and cries, console them and reassure them as soon as you can. Talk to them logically about negative things or mishaps that they experience.

By using the phrase, it’s okay repeatedly, your child will learn to relax when coaxed correctly. This will help train them to expect surprises without getting emotional about everything. If you hug them to reassure them, then eventually set them at arms distance while still reassuring them vocally. This can inspire your child to take separation from you as a sign for them to work on the trauma as an individual. In other words, try not to smother a child with over-protective I’ll take care of it for you training. The idea is to trigger an early sense of individuality, rational thinking, and personal strength within your babies.

Very young children also need quiet time and time to themselves. There are myriad selections of toys for infants that help develop coordination and self-entertainment skills.

Use colorful distractions or re-directive techniques to take a child’s mind off a tantrum or crying spell. Again, never shake a child! In fact, reduce physical contact in the act of discipline to minimal or even to none at all. You can get your educational point across without using force or pain tactics. Anger or force will usually always be met with resistance and sometimes even resentment. Become your child’s best friend.

For newborns, black and white images with sharp contrasting angles can help stimulate eye acuity and brain development. Intermix neon-bright colors with high contrast images several times a day and increase the frequency of the colors as your baby gets older. Hold the objects at various focal distances and movements to help develop depth perception and eye coordination. You can easily make flashcard like stimulus tools for direct intentional training and even add an artsy mobile hanging over the cradle.

Consider painting the nursery walls with the same high-contrast, black and white, plus colorful images. Various lighting techniques can also add another realm of stimulation to your child’s visual senses.

Music and other sounds can broaden a child’s mental conceptualizing abilities. Associating visual and auditory stimulus together helps to link those two important functions together.

Start reading to your child at least as early as three years of age, and get in the habit of reading a chapter to them every night before you tuck them in for sleep. Reading opens the creative mind for mental imagery and fantasy. Reading right before sleep sets in motion a subconscious development that can be enhanced and molded into a powerful creative force. Simple entertaining stories with vivid pictures are fine in the first few years. You can progress to more in-depth and complex stories once a child has learned to process and understand language and concepts.

Stories

If reading mystically based stories, be sure to either preface the story with an explanation of the difference between make-believe and reality. Even young children can understand what is fact and what is fiction, but it is also important to make sure they know what is fact and what is flat out wrong. Point out logic and illogic, rational ideas and irrational ideas. Even better, ask them questions to see if they can pick out the differences on their own.

Make a point of mixing in factual stories along with the fairy-tales and fiction. Consider expanding on what was talked about in the fictional books after you are finished reading. Pull out an encyclopedia and use it to explain what an ittsy-bitsy spider is, for example.

Use television sparingly as a babysitting tool. Interpersonal contact is a better stimulus; however, some TV entertainment can broaden and inspire a budding, creative mind. Again, be sure to indicate what is real and what is fictional, and especially what is mystical.

Expose your baby to music not only to entertain but also to help expand the creative mind and increase brain-cell development. Try to keep the volume at an acceptable level instead of blasting the speakers around sensitive ears. Vary the music from classical to rock to pop and everything in between. Verbalize your selections as you start the music so that they learn to associate genre and artists, and eventually ask them what they are interested in listening to at various times. Helping them to make a choice on their own helps them increase their cognitive skills. Pick up your child and dance!

Introduce them early on to other people of all ages to begin the socialization process. This is especially important for children that act shy or reluctant to interact with other people. By getting them used to interpersonal interactions now, this will help them to be well adjusted long before they enter the school system.

The issue of safety and strangers are discussed in this next age range.

Sex Education

When is the best time to discuss sex with your child? We are sexual beings, and a healthy attitude coupled with responsibility can be the basis for presenting the issues of sex and biological reproduction to young children. Simple basics can be discussed early on by using examples in animal behavior, and then more complex issues can be discussed about how it all ties in with them in the upcoming years.

Stimulating Conversations

Say, “look!” and their name while pointing to objects at various distances. This helps associate your voice and the word with turning your child’s attention to the requested point of interest. The various distances helps to broaden your child’s immediate awareness of his or her surroundings.

Count from one to three, and on three, do something, such as roll a ball or perform some other type of auditory, tactile or visual stimulus. Repeat the counting exercise every day and several times a day while adding to the different types of stimulus. This exercise helps train the developing mind for expectations, so along with the repetition method, throw in a curve every now and then. For example, go straight to three! and perform the stimulus, or count, one, two, two and a half, two and three-quarters, two and seven-eighths, three! These psychological curves help to train a developing mind to expect the unexpected. Also, place objects in front of your baby as you count past three to ten. Hold up fingers as you count to add to the visual stimulus factor. This additional form of counting helps a mind to expect variety and differences with similar actions.

Sing to your baby and talk to them as you carry them around and do tasks. Even if you can’t carry tune, sing along with children’s songs simply to help fire those neurons into branching and developing the brain. Explain what you are doing as detailed as you can get. This continual type of communication will help a developing mind to expand in order to try to learn the new information. Even if your child acts as if they are oblivious to what you are saying, keep saying it. This conditions a mind to expect information that is beyond comprehension. If the information is repeated at the initial stage and then repeated a few days later, and then a week, a month, and etc, this helps ingrain the ability to learn in a super-human fashion. Keep your conversations as rational as possible.

As mentioned previously, read often to your child, or even make up your own stories to make a point or to stimulate imagination. Regardless of what you think your child is able to comprehend, go beyond the assumed intelligence in case their mind is able to stretch and learn. Revisit complex stories later, even just a few months later and you might be surprised how much your child remembers and comprehends. Be sure to ask questions about the repeated story and explain concepts portrayed and morals the author was trying to portray. Always point out mystical thinking by authors and provide alternative thinking examples to instill logical thought processes.

(continued June 22, 2009: Raising Super Children Ages 4 – 7)

If you have issues with labels, such as winners and losers, then you probably already believe that you are a loser and you hate it and you hate it even more when others put you into that category. You are responsible for how you see yourself. Learn to take any criticism constructively and to use it to your advantage.

So what if you think you’re a loser? Do you want to change? There may be some things at which you’ll always fail, but hopefully there are areas in your life in which you can win and excel to your full potential. If you’ve tried repeatedly at something and getting no where, then in some cases it is better to drop that goal and use your focus and time to try something else. Only you can determine if you should continue or not, and ending a goal isn’t necessarily being a loser if you’ve tried everything you know of and you still can’t achieve what you want. Giving up too early can be considered a losing strategy, while a winning strategy depends on patience and determination if you are actually making progress toward your goal.

Winning vs. Losing

Use the following list of comparisons to determine if you are a winner or not. Remember, sometimes it takes losing at things to determine how to achieve successful results. Winners know how to assess current reality relative to their goals, and how to adjust their actions to take winning steps to those goals.

Winners aim to achieve success.
Losers aim to avoid failure.

Winners aim for honest personal and business results.
Losers aim for personal kudos and ego gratification only.

Winners develop themselves by helping others to succeed.
Losers criticize others to make themselves feel better.

Winners talk solutions and take action.
Losers talk problems and do nothing.

Winners work based on priorities and successful actions.
Losers never have time for things they’d rather not do.

Winners know that failure is only deferred success.
Losers think success is only deferred failure.

Winners conquer their own fears of failure and their learned limitations.
Losers quit when the going gets tough, usually to avoid failure and take the easy way out.

Winners make an effort to take control of their lives.
Losers rely on luck and live in hope or for expectations of charity.

Winners have directions, goals, and real successes.
Losers have hopes, wishes, and unfulfilled dreams.

Winners look for the truth and reality in every situation.
Losers let their feelings and other people’s opinions influence their decisions.

Winners create values (products, services, and art).
Losers simply enjoy stuff and never produce anything of value for themselves or others.

Being a winner requires work.
Losing requires little to no effort at all.

You Decide

So which are you? Whatever social status in which you were born, or what you were given by others doesn’t have any relevance to whether you are a winner or loser. How you use what you currently have in current situations determines if you are winning and gaining benefits or losing. If you make the best of your situation, then you are a winner. No matter how bad the situation, you can still feel like a winner if you truly are winning and gaining experience and proverbial ground by taking actions to win. Learn to motivate yourself to take actions toward your goals. Decide to take action NOW!

Sure, that sounds simple to do — just make the most of your life and you will be a winner. But if it were that simple, then why isn’t everyone a winner? Why are so many people unsatisfied with their lives? The answer is that becoming a winner in your life takes energy and action and it usually never happens randomly or by accident. It is something you must do consciously and by choice. Plus, many people don’t have the knowledge and practical skills necessary to develop into winners. They are basically confused or misinformed about how life works. They tend to rely on others to pull them through or provide necessary answers. However, everyone has the potential to be a self-sufficient winner.

Take Responsibility

To be a winner, you need to take responsibility for your successes and failures. Many people have decided that success depends on external factors — such as luck, connections, the financial market, fate, other people, God, to name a few. These people do not rely on themselves for success and success rarely manifests for people in this frame of mind. These types of people lack direction and motivation. They believe that they are just along for the ride in life, and they hope for the best, which is usually a handout or better situation provide by other people.

Responsibility and self-direction go hand in hand. You decide where you want to go, and then you take the responsibility for getting yourself there. If required, then educate yourself on how to get where you want to be. Read books and talk to people, but always make up your own mind about it all. Be your own authority and the final decider on what you need to do to be a winner.

Winners usually experience happiness continually. They utilize their available time wisely and can remain in positive mental states while creating values, such as products and services that people want, and thus are rewarded with opportunities, purchases or exchanges of items or services.

Losers are usually trapped in negative-attitude ruts and they use their abilities and efforts in negative and unproductive ways. They spend time trying to find ways to avoid responsibility and avoid taking action toward the things they really want. Most of the time, they end up not getting what they want, and at the same time they have confirmed and reinforced their losing attitude. If you choose to evolve your winning skills, you will start to notice your own thoughts and attitude change for the better. Becoming aware of your attitude is important. If your attitude is negative, then you’re probably not getting what you want or you’re moving in the wrong direction. The path toward winning and success is both an internal and an external one — internally it takes attitude, education, focus, and planning, and externally it takes active steps to achieve your goals, adjusting your steps if necessary, and then taking more steps.

Almost everyone has both some losing and winning qualities to various degrees, so no one is 100% winner or loser. We all have our strong qualities and then there are the areas in which we need to work at it more. Hopefully you now have a better understanding of how to proceed in your personal journey of success and how to live your life like a winner. Find something you’re interested in doing and go for it!