Prosperity – University of Retirement part four

When do you want to retire – at what age?  Most people pick an age between 55 and 70.  Let’s say for a moment that you want to retire at age 65.  How long will you live in retirement.  Most people based their answer on an age that their parents died or an age that they have thought about over time.  For purposes of this blog, let’s say that you plan to live until age 85 – that’s twenty years in retirement.  Twenty years of spending just like you are today plus inflation – interpret that as you will be spending twice what you are today at age 85 as you will be at age 65.  That’s sounds pretty nearly impossible that you could be spending twice as much in just twenty years.  Think back twenty years ago – how much were you paying for food, gasoline, telephone, medical care, etc.  OK, so, your house is paid for and you won’t have that expense, but you will still have your home taxes – plus the value of your home could double in twenty years if you don’t protest your taxes every year.

Where am I going with this blog?  I asked the basic question – how long will you live?  For purposes of this blog, the answer is 85.  What will your life be at age 84 – the year before you die?  What is your mental capacity, your physical capacity, your financial capacity, your spiritual capacity, etc.?  You would still hope that you think clearly – no Alzheimer’s; and, you can do most of what you want to do physically.  Your finances are OK, but they could be better.  If your health is that good at 84 years of age, why would you be dead in one year?  Actually, if you live to age 70, statistically you will live to age 80.  Most people underestimate their life span.  You should plan to live until at least age 100 for financial purposes – and for your health.

The University of Retirement spends the third year concentrating on your health.  Generally, you can make changes late in life and still enjoy the fruits of those changes.  What changes?  Diet and exercise are just two – there are many more.  Just as you did in year one – concentrated on your personal development, you will spend your third year concentrating on your physical health.  Learn about what you can do to control your life.  Learn about the typical deficiencies most people have, such as vitamin D.  If most people have a deficiency and you are not aware of it, not have taken any actions to eliminate this deficiency, then you probably have that deficiency also.

Do you get an annual physical?  Why not?  What if you have to pay for it yourself?  Is that too large an expense for you?  You are responsible for your health – not your doctor.  You need to know where you stand year to year so that you can take better control of your life.  I recommend to family, friends and clients to get extra health tests, even if you have to pay for them yourself, when you get your annual physical.  I get and recommend a highly sensitive c-reactive protein test, a homocysteine level test, a D-25 (vitamin D) test and an AMAS (antimalignin antibody in serum) test and some others. 

The Internet provides a lot of information – research both sides of story.  Research the prescription drugs that you are taking.  For instance, statin drugs are recommended for cholesterol, but there is a lot of evidence indicating that statin drugs do more harm than good.  All prescription drugs have side effects and all of them are harmful to your long and healthful life.  There are options to most prescription medicines, but your doctor is not allowed to tell you about them – he must protect his practice and he is legally bound to tell you to take a prescription medicine.  Read the side effects on your prescription and make a determination if you are willing to live with them.  Yes, today you might not have any side effects, but the longer you take the prescription med, you will begin to see them.

Knowing what is healthful is only part of the question.  You must take action.  If your diet needs changing – think about the better health you’ll have later in your life because you made that change.  The same applies to physical exercise.  Action is required.  I get many health newsletters on the Internet and several health magazines.  I like Life Extension magazine more than others.  The third year of the University of Retirement does not require you to buy a book a month, but you can spend a small portion of your budget for your retirement on those subscriptions that add value to your life.  Ask your doctor what magazines he subscribes to or reads each month.  That will give you a place to start.

You want to be in excellent health to enjoy your retirement.  Take a year to really research what you can do.  Improve your knowledge of health and nutrition just like you did in year two to learn about finance.  Similarly, don’t trust your health to your doctor – just as you are taking control of your finances.  The Law of Attraction (and many other sources) tells us that we become what we focus on or think about.  If that is so, then start thinking about how healthy you will be at age 105 or 110 or 115.  If you start thinking about that today, you will probably reach one of those ages in good health.  Use your subconscious mind to help you arrive in style as you past 100 years of age.

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Prosperity – University of Retirement part three

Your focus in year one is to assess where you are in your life from a self-improvement perspective and begin a transition to a better you.  You will learn a lot of personal development and will think and feel differently than before you started.  As you go through the next three years of the University of Retirement, you may want to continue to reinforce your knowledge of self-improvement.

The second year is dedicated to improving your knowledge of finance.  Why allow or trust someone else with your money.  If they make a bad decision, you suffer.  If you make a bad decision, learn from it and do not repeat it.  Your current disposable wealth will become your life’s blood during your retirement.  Putting a few dollars into a savings account is not the sole answer.  There are several answers you must seek and understand.

As you are saving money with your current understanding of finance, you must begin a diligent and relentless program of learning to control money.  Do not allow it to control you.  Impulse buying is money controlling you.  Plan, on paper, your future.  Prepare a budget and live by it.  Set money aside for specific large purchases.  Do not max out your credit cards.  In fact, the maximum number of credit cards you should have is three.  Pay off any others you currently have and cancel those accounts.  Plan never to exceed 30% of the maximum balance allowed on any particular credit card.

Keep records of every thing you spend money for daily.  You will need this discipline in the next two years.  Annotate each receipt so that you know where you spent money, what date it was and how much you actually spent.  If it is not obvious why you spent that money, then write a note about it also.  If you get cash from the bank or ATM, annotate the receipt with the intention of how you will spend that cash.  You want to be able to reconstruct any spending habit you have on a regular basis – monthly or quarterly.  Compare this reconstruction to your previous budget.  If something is out of kilter, you know what to fix.

There are many ways to invest your money.  One of the easiest is to listen to radio or go to YouTube and see what others are doing.  Realize that you are only hearing what other people are doing.  You want a sense of what is available for you to do with your money.  Dave Ramsey has a daily radio show.  I enjoy listening to it.  One day a listener asked him how many people were successful in writing a budget and actually becoming debt free.  He said, without hesitation, that 90% of the people who had written budgets never made it to the debt free stage in their lives.  I talked with my financial mentor recently and he told me that he called Dave Ramsey’s company a while back and asked how many remained debt free after achieving that status in their lives.  The answer was 87% of those achieving debt free status went back into debt shortly thereafter.  The control of money over your life is very strong and must be addressed daily.  It is a hard habit to break and an easy one to relapse into if you don’t focus on it continually.

Learn what ‘taxed as earned’ investments are and why you should or should not invest in them.  Learn the same for ‘non-qualified tax deferred’; traditional IRAs and 401Ks, non-qualified alternatives and home equity investments.  Your objective should be to invest in as many tax free – from initial investment through final distribution – investments.  Why pay tax when it is legal not to – if you know who to?

Learn about commodities, business ventures, limited partnerships, raw land, speculative common stocks, lower quarter bonds, investment real estate, blue chip stocks, high grade bonds, mutual funds, CDs, maximum-funded insurance, gold or other precious metals, investment coins, foreign markets, money market funds, U. S. Treasury Bills, annuities, and the equity in your home.  Ensure you understand what liquidity is and how safe each kind of investment you can make is.  Ensure you know what the rate of return is for each kind of investment opportunity.  When you know these things, you will make much wiser decisions that handing your entire retirement future over to someone else.

Get yourself a financial mentor.  Find someone you trust.  Do not turn your money over to this person, but use him or her as a sounding board for your future.  Our economic situation (personal and governmental) changes over time.  You want to understand the underlying reasons why things happened – what caused what and what you can do about it.  Your objective is to become a financial success.  The second year of the University of Retirement is to allow you to focus on all aspects of investing.  You will know become an expert in the field or a certified financial advisor, but your will have a working knowledge of what is best for you and you will be able to take appropriate action.

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Prosperity – University of Retirement part two

In part one, I discussed a four-year college program that would cost no more than $1,000 per year.  You could actually do all four years for a total of $1,000 or less.  Additionally, the required study time would be no more than one hour per day.  Four years of a college education that you can do from your home for a total of $4,000 and approximately five hours/week can prepare you far better for your retirement than any other program currently on the market today.  I am including a Harvard MBA and PhD from Stanford or MIT (includes similar degrees and colleges).  MBA and PhD degrees will help you during your working life, but what you do with your ‘extra’ wealth will make a difference in your retirement years.  Is there hope for you if you don’t have an MBA or PhD?  The University of Retirement is the person with multiple advanced degrees or the person who never went to college. 

The University of Retirement is a four-year program that changes your mindset.  Your mindset is the key to your success.  Colleges and universities do not teach their students how to change or improve their mindset.  Your mindset has been defined before you became a teenager and is constantly reinforced everyday by every one you know and every thing you do.  Unless you are willing to make a change to your mindset, you will continue doing what you have always done and you will not be happy with your retirement years.

Let’s get back to the University of Retirement program.  This blog (part two) will discuss the first year.  The University of Retirement is a self-taught, self-paced program that you will do from the comfort and safety of your home.  There may be occasions that you might opt to go to a library; however, this program can be done primarily at home.  The first year is dedicated to understanding how you tick – what is important in your brain processing – and what you can do to change and improve that process. 

You will start with your self-image and gradually improve your self-image and self-esteem.  If you don’t change your self-image, you will never successfully achieve what you are capable of achieving – true success will be denied to you.  Your first year is focusing on your self-improvement – your personal development.  You will learn happiness, motivation, inspiration, success planning, goal setting and achievement, dreaming, etc. 

I mentioned earlier that the cost of your first year is no more than $1,000.  How did I arrive at that figure?  Easy – a self-help book can be bought (new or used) for $20 or less.  The University of Retirement requirement is that you buy or read twelve books – that’s one book a month.  $20 times 12 months equals $240.  Each year there is a requirement to buy or read 12 books.  4 years at $240 a year equals just less than $1,000.  However comma, you can spend more and read more – the choice is up to you.  Realistically, you could read or buy one book per week, which would put you at the $1,000 per year cost (assuming 50 weeks times $20 – yes, I am allowing a couple of weeks for vacation).

What do you read?  There are so many expert authors that it would difficult to list them all in this blog – and I’m sure I would leave quite a few out.  Let me list a dozen or so though (not in any particular order – just as they come to mind) – Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Robert Kiyosaki, Ben Franklin, James Allen, Dale Carnegie, Samuel Smiles, Napoleon Hill, Maxwell Maltz, Zig Ziglar, Steven Covey, Les Brown, Jim Rohn, John Maxwell, Denis Waitley, Og Mandino, etc.  Their books are available at a number of websites and can be checked out of your library. 

Let’s say for a moment that you are temporarily financially challenged and $20 a month is below the line on your budget for approved expenditures.  Go to YouTube, type their names in, and see what you can watch from these and other motivational and inspirational leaders.  Put ‘speaker’ with motivational, inspirational, self-improvement, self-help, success, etc.  You will get more than you can watch in an hour a day.  Everyone learns best by reading, watching or hearing.  If you know what your preferred style is – choose it as the basis of your learning.  One hour a day is required to develop an understanding of the material.

Another sources of free material from the above listed authors and more can be found on the Internet in the form of articles.  There are a number of article websites that categorize by ‘topic’ and have some very informative articles.  If you are interested in self-esteem or success, then type those key words into their ‘search’ block and choose.  YouTube is free.  Article websites are free.  You can also subscribe to newsletter from the authors or their companies.  The newsletters are free and it requires you to register to receive them.

Your first year at the University of Retirement is dedicated to building a solid base of educational knowledge about you – how you work, what makes you tick and what you can do to become better.  It concentrates on positive changes in your life.  One book a month (or week) and one hour a day (five days/wk) is all that is required to get started.

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Prosperity – University of Retirement – part one

Over the past couple of months I have been talking to various friends, family and clients about what options they have for retirement.  Most people believe that they work hard, save their money, retire and draw down from their retirement next egg.  They have never really considered other options.  I have put together a multi-part blog on a retirement option that anyone can do, if they want to.

If you ask most people what age they would like to be when they retire, it is amazing how many pick an age somewhere between 60 and 70 years old.  Why can’t you retire earlier and enjoy your retirement longer?  I believe that ‘traditional thinking’ rules our mindsets.  Traditional thinking says that you go to school, get good grades, go to college, get good grades, find a good company, work for them forever, earn a pension and retire when you are 65 years of age.  That mindset doesn’t work in the 21st century as it did in the mid-20th century.

Several decades ago people worked for many years at a single company.  I remember not that many years ago people retiring who had 40+ or 50+ years working for the same company.  Outsourcing, technology, economics, competition, etc have affected our current working culture so that the average time most people spend with a single company is less than five years.  They want experience with a good company and then sell their new experience to a competitor.

What if there was a way for someone to retire earlier than they currently plan to retire?  What if you could afford the cost and time involved to achieve an earlier retirement?  What does it really take to get more money to set aside for your retirement?  Well, actually, getting more money is not the secret.  Getting more money is part of the solution, but you also have to dedicate that new-found wealth towards your retirement and not towards your current economic desires – new homes, clothes, vacations, cars, etc.

I equate the University of Retirement to a typical college degree.  A typical college degree takes around four or five years to complete.  It also takes you about four to seven years working in industry to prove yourself – to accumulate knowledge and working experience.  What does a college education cost today?  Way more than it did when I got my first, second, third or fourth degree.  But, for the sake of a good comparison, let’s assume that a college degree today costs at least $20,000 total.  That would include tuition, fees and books only.  I know that you can easily spend that much for one year of college today.  I will defer the cost of room and board to equal your current living costs and assume that you attend college while living at home.  Boring, but for the same of this comparison, it is accurate.

Graduating from the University of Retirement could cost you less than $1,000 a year, but allow me to set a ceiling of $1000 for each of four years that you will attend the University of Retirement.  What does it cost you in terms of your time?  If you took a normal college load of 12-15 hours per semester, the recommended time required for study would be a factor (2X or 3X) of the course load you are taking.  For example, let’s assume you are taking 12 hours of coursework, you would be advised to spend 24-36 hours/week studying.

The University of Retirement requires approximately one hour per day for five days a week.  How can that be so you might ask?  That will be addressed in the next blog.

Choices have consequences. Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Health – Cholesterol and Statin Drugs – Are They Safe?

I am a researcher – not a doctor.  I research many sources of health and nutrition and evaluate the good and bad and pass on information that I believe everyone should know.  My position on statin drugs is that they probably have a place in medical treatment, but not at the level they are being provided by doctors today.  Cholesterol is produced by your body.  Cholesterol is also available from the food you eat.

Statin drugs lower cholesterol by blocking the enzyme, hydroxy-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), responsible for producing of cholesterol by your liver.  Why does your body produce cholesterol?  Because it is critical for your health – it is critical for the normal function of every cell in your body.  Cholesterol can contribute to the development of atherosclerosis – a condition in which your artery wall thickens because of cholesterol and other fatty materials build up as a result ofoxidation.  Atherosclerosis is also known as ‘hardening of your arteries.

Over time cholesterol and other oxidized fatty plaques can accumulate on the inside surface of your artery walls.  As these plaques grow it is possible to reduce or block the flow of blood to your heart.  You may notice this constriction from pain around your heart – angina.  The interesting thing that I’ve discovered is that half the people who die from a heart attack have no warning – no chest pain.  Half the people who die from a heart attack have healthy levels of cholesterol.  What does that mean?  Maybe cholesterol is not the ‘marker’ to be measured for heart disease.  Most of the studies I’ve researched indicate that heart disease can be moderated by reducing the inflammation in your body. 

Cholesterol is measured differently around the world.  In the United States, cholesterol is measured in totality and is broken down into components.  A total cholesterol reading of 200 mg/dL is considered desirable, yet friends of mine have a total cholesterol reading less than 200 and their doctors want to put them on statin drugs to ‘prevent’ a future risk.  WHY?  Borderline high total cholesterol has been defined as 200-239 mg/dL.  High total cholesterol is defined as anything over 240 mg/dL. 

Two of the primary components of cholesterol are LDL and HDL.  Cholesterol is made up of five groups of lipoproteins.  The smallest are chylomicrons followed in increasing size by VLDL (very low density lipoprotein), IDL (intermediate density lipoprotein), LDL (low density lipoprotein) and HDL (high density lipoprotein). LDL is considered as ’bad’ cholesterol and HDL is considered to be “good” cholesterol.

LDL cholesterol levels are defined as follows:  Very high LDL is 190 mg/dL or above; high LDL is 160-189 mg/dL; borderline LDL is 130-159 mg/dL; and, near ideal LDL is 100-129 mg/dL.  It is interesting that two other levels are defined for people with high risk of heart disease. 

For people at risk of heart disease, LDL cholesterol should be below 100 mg/dL.  For people at very high risk of heart disease, your LDL cholesterol should be below 70 mg/dL.  High risk of heart disease is someone who has had a previous heart attack or stroke.  It also includes artery blockages detected in your carotid (neck) and peripheral (arms and/or legs) arteries.  The following activities are also contained in the definition of high risk of heart disease:  smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, family history of early heart disease and age – older than 45 for men and older than 55 for women.

HDL cholesterol has been defined by the following levels.  Poor or low HDL cholesterol is below 40 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL for women.  ‘Better’ HDL is defined as 50-59 mg/dL.  The ‘best’ HDL is defined as 60 mg/dL or above.  HDL cholesterol has been shown to reduce or lessen the build-up of plaque on your artery walls.

Statin drugs are dangerous – read the side effects.  Statin drugs are linked to chronic fatigue, liver damage, muscle pain, nausea, lowered mental performance, cardiomyopathy (deterioration of your heart’s function), heart problems (depletion of coenzyme Q 10 in your heart – which can cause congestive heart failure) and even death.  You will feel older and look older if you take statin drugs for a long time.  They sap your strength.  Fatigue results in weight gain and other health problems.  Are these side effects worth a perceived lowering of your risk of heart disease caused by high levels of cholesterol? 

If half the people who die from a heart attack have healthy levels of cholesterol, why take a drug that has side effects that can do you real harm?  What’s even worse is that doctors are now prescribing statin drugs to children as young as 8 years old.  Should you accept the side effect risks for your child?  Say NO to statin drugs!

So, what can you do?  Many things, but you actually have to do them.  You can take statin drugs and maintain your lifestyle and you will see no improvement in your life.  You must do something differently to improve your health.  Here are a few things to consider:  short bursts of high intensity exercise (at least twelve minutes a day), reduce the amount of carbohydrates you eat – especially refined grains and sugars, eat foods rich in omega-3 oil (fish, nuts, etc), supplement using vitamin B3 (niacin) – consider using a sustained release variety, but no more than 500 mg/day, eat more soluble fibers (oatmeal, beans, fruits, vegetables, etc), and lose weight (if you are overweight).

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Goals – What are Goals?

Goals are objectives, aims, ends, ambitions, purposes, targets, objectives, aspirations – things to aim at or for – to pursue. Goals are not wishes. Wishes are desires, hopes, yearnings, cravings, wants, inclinations, etc. They are not a real need. Wishes lack the ‘desire’ to achieve and to earn the reward of your efforts.  ‘Someday I’d like to…’ is wishful thinking. ‘By September, I am loosing ten pounds…’ is a goal. Goals are projected expectations in the future – objectives that a person wants to achieve. A wish is simply a hope or desire – not an expectation.

Goals must be written. I am serious. Mental goals equate to failure over 90% of the time. Written goals convert to success over 90% of the time when the proper actions are taken.  Several studies have shown that written goals produce results. Since 1950, graduates from various colleges have been tracked in their career success. The vast majority of college graduates had no goals whatsoever upon graduation – they found jobs and had a decent life. The Social Security Administration has studied financial success and failure for decades.  Their results show that 95% of people are dead, dead broke or still working when they reach the age of 65.  Only 5% are considered to be financially well off.

The Social Security 95% category includes most of those people without goals. Those with written goals – approximately 4% on the average – did several times better than those with unwritten goals. A written goal implies a contract to take action and achieve results. The vast majority of the people interviewed in the top 5% of the United States have written goals.

A basic goal statement includes what and when – what you want to accomplish (Lose ten pounds) within a stated timeframe (by September). A better goal statement would include the reasons ‘why’ you want to accomplish this goal. • By September, I am loosing ten pounds so that I am healthier, look better and fit into that new suit I want to buy. I want people to be impressed with the new leaner and trimmer me.

Think of it this way. You start your car and keep it in neutral. You can rev the engine as high as you dare, and you are not going anywhere. It’s the same as wishing and hoping – I wish I had a million dollars – I hope I can graduate. You have to put the car in gear in order to begin your journey. Your goal is your destination. Your goal is your expectation.

When setting and achieving goals, your brain is your biggest help or hindrance. Engage it correctly and your brain (actually your subconscious mind) can help you achieve your goals. Your brain actively helps you in your quest to achieve your goals. Do nothing, and your brain will hinder you from achieving your goals. Your brain will actually fight to see you fail.

There are several kinds of goals. I prefer the use the categories of: incremental, short-term, long-term, and audacious or awe-inspiring.  Incremental goals are the simplest and the best to start with to achieve initial success. Incremental goals are tiny changes. You know in advance ’what’ actions need to be taken, and ‘how’ to perform these actions to achieve your goal. For example, if you are consistently late for work – an incremental goal could be to get to work on time. Your objective is to get to work – something you know what and how to do. Getting to work on time is the ‘time constraint’ of your goal. It is not a monumental undertaking – it is something you can do with your existing resources and ability. It should require a tiny change in your normal daily activity to achieve this goal.

Short-term goals are usually viewed as a year or less – sometimes a couple of years – depending on the complexity and requirements of the goal. You know ‘what’ you want to do, but you may or may not know ‘how’ to get there. A short-term goal requires more time to accomplish. Losing 25 pounds in the next twelve months could be considered a short-term goal. You set the objective and the time needed to complete your goal. If what you have done in the past to loose 25 pounds is not working today, you may have to do more research and find other options that work. Short-term goals generally keep you in your comfort zone. They require effort, but you know that you can do them if you set your mind to it.

Long-term goals are generally longer than two years and can extend five, ten, twenty years or more. Planning for your retirement is definitely a long-term goal. Putting aside money for your kid’s college education is also a long-term goal – especially when you start at year zero or before. Long-term goals involve more planning and more specific actions to achieve victory. The long-term goal can be a double-edged sword – you have the time to do it when you start; and, you can run out of time, if you don’t keep on schedule. Long-term goals are full of opportunities to fail by their very nature – long, difficult, unknown, risky – not to mention the changes that will occur in your life along the way. You might require help to achieve your long-term goals – additional knowledge, support, resources, etc.

Audacious or awe-inspiring goals are long-term plus. They are big – hence the term audacious or awe-inspiring. They are something you truly believe in, a passion burning inside you, something you really want to do, but they are most likely impossible for you to do by yourself. An example of an audacious goal could be establishing a school for Downs Syndrome children. Audacious goals require skills you may not have today. They require not only planning, but a very clear vision and strong leadership. Above all they require relentless persistence and perseverance to achieve. They require you to believe in them more strongly than you have ever believed in anything before in your life.

Common reasons for failure to achieve your goals typically are:

• Definition and clarity – they were not well defined

• Self-doubt – you considered them unachievable, or

• Self-belief – you didn’t believe you could do it.

Belief is an interesting trait. If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. You can’t do the same things and get a different result.

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Goals – How Can I Really Achieve What I Want to in Life?

I am constantly asking myself the questions, “How can I…?”  How can I improve this or that?  How can I monetize this idea?  How can I convert this thought to something easier to understand?  The ‘how can I’ question is a very powerful stimulator for your subconscious mind.  I’ve recommended to my audiences (blogs, books and conferences) that when you have a problem trying to solve a problem, ask yourself, ‘how can I’ just before you got to sleep.  Let your subconscious mind think about solutions.

I write my ‘life’s goals’ and my ‘daily goals’ every day.  I want to connect between the written word on a page of paper through my hand and up to my brain through my eyes.  It is a powerful way to supercharge your subconscious mind to take action.  97% of people do not write their goals – they think about them at best.  3% of the people in the United States actually take the time to write their goals – whether it be daily, weekly, monthly or annually.  Over 90% of those people who routinely achieve their goals have them written down.

I’ve been studying the subconscious mind for a long time.  I know that it takes a special kind of language to communicate directly to your subconscious mind.  The standard 3-P’s – personal, present tense and positive are the minimum requirements to convert conscious thoughts directly to your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind does not understand the future.  Saying that ‘you will’ do something cannot connect to the controller of your life.  Your subconscious mind does not understand ‘negative’ words.  If you say, “I am not going to eat dessert today!” your subconscious mind hears “I am going to eat dessert today!

There are other details about wants, needs, desires and expectations that convert differently in your subconscious mind.  Additionally, promises convey a stronger impetus to get something done.  Adding the words ‘no matter what’ also increases the intensity to achieve a particular task.  Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between real or imagined.  This is the primary mechanism that you can use to erase a lot of personal baggage – negativity, failures, etc.  Your subconscious mind also understands pictures more than words.  That is why visualizing is one of the best tools to use to achieve your goals.

I just finished writing a goal book – goal setting and achieving.  I am in the process of reading it in order to convert the written book into an audio book.  By doing so I achieve two objectives – another product to sell (the audio book) and I get a better quality of editing done.  When you read something out loud you can hear exactly what you wrote. Sometimes you can read and see the words, but the nuances aren’t noticed till you actually say them out loud.

Even though I’ve completed my book, I’m going to add one additional chapter at the end to supercharge goal achievement.  I was running this afternoon and finished up around 3:00 p.m. (yes, it was a very delightful afternoon with the temperature in the Houston area at 100 degrees).  I was focused all morning on ‘how can I make this (goal setting and achievement) more functional for some one?’  I’ve had various iterations of that basic question that I’ve been cogitating on for the past couple of days.  During my run my brain came up with the idea about incorporating everything into one package – a personal book, so to speak.

What if you could take your life’s goals and write each one on a piece of paper.  At the top of the page would be a specific goal.  Let’s use something easy for a life goal – I am at my ideal weight.  Notice, I used personal (I) and present tense (am) and the actual goal itself.  I want that goal to connect directly to my subconscious mind.  I don’t want something to divert, obscure or reduce the importance of this goal to my personal control mechanism – my subconscious mind.

OK, I have the goal written at the top of the page.  I now need to add some pictures – visualizations of whatever can reinforce that goal.  I could have pictures of me when I was much younger, leaner and sexier.  Or, I could have some pictures of a physique that I prefer to have.  I can cut and paste several pictures in the center of this piece of paper.  I can add or subtract as better pictures come along.

At the bottom of the page I have two sections – the ‘why’ section and an ‘affirmation’ section.  You have to know why you want something – it’s important to convey that reason to your subconscious mind.  The why for many of us is difficult because your subconscious mind can grab a hold of something you are not even aware of and it will continue to thwart your achievement of that goal.  For instance, let’s say that you want to be rich.  That’s a nice goal.  But, if the underlying reason why you want to be rich is that you don’t want to retire and be poor – your subconscious mind thinks you want to be poor and it will help you to become poor in your retirement.

At the bottom of the page I would write the reason I want to be at my ideal weight – healthier, live longer, live better, lessen my risk of various diseases, able to do things with my grandkids – you can see where this is going.  Have a good solid reason or reasons why you want this particular goal that you defined at the top of the page.  Then, right below your ‘why’ statement, write at least three affirmations – one in which you use the ‘I’ term; one in which you use your first name ‘Red’; and, one in which your use your whole name ‘Red O’Laughlin.’  Those affirmations written in three different ‘personal’ forms attack your subconscious mind and give it slightly different interpretations.

I have preached about having balance in your life.  My life’s goals are broken into physical, mental, spiritual, time management, relational and finance.  If you were to take each of your life’s goals and create an individual page that represents the ‘what’ and ‘why’, along with visual stimulations and affirmations, you could reflect on each of your goals as often as you want.  It takes me more than a few minutes each day to actually write my life’s goals and think about each one as I’m writing them.  If I had a book (that could be changed as often as I want to change it) then I can see my goal, see a visual picture to reinforce that goal, remind myself why I want to achieve it and give my subconscious mind a tweak with a few affirmations.

If I also knew what my passions in life were also, I could marry passion statements and measurements of those passion statements to have a full package – the whole story of what I expect in life.  Many people have a dream board or goal board – this is a dream book or goal book for your personal future.

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Goals – Supercharge Your Goal Setting By Operating at the Right Brain Wave State

Your brain operates at different levels throughout the day.  Brain waves are electrical waves that can be measured.  There are four distinct brain wave patterns – Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta.  You can operate in a reasonably wide range within each of these levels.  The Beta level is the level you recognize the most – it is your normal awake cycle.  You see and communicate in the Beta level.  If you are debating someone, you are operating at a higher level in the Beta state. If you are just listening to a television show, you are operating in a lower Beta state.  When you are talking to someone, you are operating in the middle of your Beta state.  In the Beta state, your conscious mind is actively engaged in what you are doing.

Alpha State

The next most active brain wave is the Alpha state.  You pass into and out of the Alpha stage several times a day.  When you are not engaged actively in work, talk, reading, viewing, etc, you are in the Alpha state.  When you relax after completing a task, you typically fall into the Alpha state.  When you consciously control your breathing and begin to meditate, you are in the Alpha state.  The Alpha state opens your subconscious mind to instant access.

Theta State

Theta state is the next level of brain wave activity.  People daydreaming are in the Theta state.  You are in the Theta state when you are on ‘auto–pilot‘ driving you car on the freeway – you probably can’t remember passing a particular landmark that you see every day.  It works with freeway driving since the scenery doesn’t change very much.  You would not typically expect to transition into the Theta state when driving on a back country road where the scenery changes often.  The Theta state is an excellent opportunity to let your subconscious mind determine solutions to your problems.

I was always amazed at how many problems I was able to solve when I drove, but I never realized it at the time.  Over time I learned that my best ideas came from driving, but I was never cognizant of the freeway versus residential driving until lately.  I use extended freeway driving for thinking and learning.  I pose various questions to my subconscious mind and allow it to provide solutions.  I pose a problem to my subconscious mind in the form of a ‘how’ to or ‘what’ question and let it offer suggestions.  For example, “How can I focus better on the things I need to accomplish to meet my immediate goals?”  Or, “What do I need to do today or tomorrow to begin making progress on my goal?”  Additionally, I use this same time for learning by listening to self-improvement CDs.

Theta state can be achieved when running long distances or any other time that your mind is totally relaxed – in the sauna, during a massage, taking a nap, etc.  The Theta state is your most positive mental state because your thought process is without any guilt or censorship attached to it.

Delta State

Your brain waves are the slowest when you are in deep sleep – Delta state.  At the end of a tough day you are tired and tense.  As you relax you enter the low Beta state.  In the low Beta state your subconscious mind is open for programming – continued reinforcement of what you already know, or new programming.  Watching television, reading a book or surfing the Internet prior to going to sleep floods your highly susceptible subconscious mind with thoughts, issues, comments, concerns, problems, etc.  What you focus on you become!  If the majority of things you think about before going to sleep are negative, then you will maintain or reinforce negativity in your life.  Most of the negativity in your environment come from the television – that’s a clue – turn it off.

When you close your eyes as you prepare to go to sleep, you begin your transition from a low Beta state back briefly to the Alpha state and then quickly through the Beta state again and then into the Theta state.  This is an excellent time to imagine or visualize your goals.  It is an excellent time to identify the biggest problem you have that is holding you back from achieving your dreams, and concentrate on it with a ‘how’ or ‘what’ question.  Don’t solve it consciously.  Let your subconscious mind reflect on it as you sleep.  You may or may not wake up with solutions, but you are getting solutions to your problems running around in your brain.  Shortly you will get the best answer your subconscious mind can come up with – and, you will have support of your subconscious mind to help you solve that problem since your subconscious mind actually determined the solution to your problem.

Delta state is typically achieved in cycles of 90 minutes.  You are in deep sleep.  It is not uncommon to transition back and forth between the Delta state and Theta state as you are sleeping.  The last thing I read every night is a chapter or two on personal development or self-improvement.  As I’m lying still with my eyes closed I tell myself that I sleep (present tense) deeply and always awaken relaxed and refreshed.  I go through a quick routine of affirmations and visualizations for reinforcement.  I also think about the one or two things I must get done tomorrow, but I think about them in the context that I am enjoying the fact that I have finished those actions.  Again, your subconscious mind only understands present tense, positive and personal statements.  Statements incorporating ‘will’ and ‘not’ are not processed by your subconscious mind.

Summary

In summary, you can use your brain wave patterns to supercharge goal achievement.  You need to spend your time focusing on your goals in the Alpha, Beta and Theta states to optimize your achievement.  The ‘snooze’ minutes might be your most productive part of your day if you plan to use that time to focus on solving the problems that are stopping you from achieving your dreams.  Let a nine-minute dream work for your.  Be productive while you snooze.

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Health – Laugh Out Loud and Lose Inches

Two out of every three adults are over weight – that is no laughing matter.  However, what is a laughing matter is that laughter can help your lose weight.  Ridiculous you say!  Did you hear the one about…?  Really, laughter has been shown to be a very effective weight loss tool.  You won’t lose tons of weight overnight, but it will help with weight loss and improve other aspects of your overall health.

There is a new branch of psychology called ‘laughter therapy.’  Some hospitals have incorporated this therapy for pain relief and depression.  You might have seen the movie, Patch Adams.  Robin Williams played a real life physician who was also a clown.  Dr. Patch Adams found significant improvement in his patients when laughter therapy was used.  Laughtercising is a new exercise craze that gets you laughing when you don’t feel like it.  Laughter has been shown to stop cravings – and those between meal snacks.

Laughter has been used for over a thousand years to improve your health.  Proverbs 17:22 states that a cheerful heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick.  Martin Luther used humor to counsel people with depression.  Immanuel Kant, an 18th century German philosopher used laughter to restore balance and equilibrium.  Clowns were brought into hospitals in the 1930’s to cheer up kids with polio.

There are a few famous quotes on laughter.  David Nathan said, “Laughter is part of the human survival kid.”  Joel Goodman said, “Seven days without laughter make one weak.”  E. E. Cummings said, “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”  My favorite is from Milton Berle, who said, “Laughter is an instant vacation.”

A lot of people eat because of stress.  Emotionally, you feel relief or happiness from eating.  It’s the first level of happiness – physical senses.  You eat, you feel better; therefore, you stress seems to be lessened.  It takes a little more than a two-second laugh though.  Laugh out loud – a nice hearty laugh for at least 30 seconds or longer.  Do this ten or more times a day and you will feel happier and notice that you no longer rely on that extra piece of chocolate cake.  You also notice that you have more energy.  You develop a better sense of well being.

Most people cannot laugh for 30 seconds ten or more times a day.  We could when we were kids, but something in our psyches has changed over the years and we just don’t let go like we used to.  We take everything more seriously today.  It takes time and you have to work hard at laughing out loud.  Extended laughter actually requires a great deal of physical exercise and muscular control.

Think of a belly laugh as internal jogging.  It works on the same principles.  At least fifteen facial muscles and dozens of other muscles are involved when you laugh.  The louder you laugh the more intensity you exercise your muscles.  You will notice your pulse and respiration increasing which results in more oxygen entering your bloodstream.  Can you imagine that your doctor might prescribe a regimen of  laughing out loud for fifteen minutes a day for weight loss – it might be here before you know it?

There are multiples causes for you being over weight.  It is rare when one factor alone is responsible.  Diets and exercising can be supplemented with a laughing regimen – and it doesn’t really cost you anything but your time – and you feel better for doing it.  Laughter is not aerobics.  Laughter is mood enhancing and strengthens your emotional base.

In the past forty years researchers have found that laughter increases blood flow, increases your immunity, decreases stress levels and calms your nerves, releases endorphins, lowers your blood sugar, increases your energy, increases your feeling of well being, increases your HDL cholesterol, and relaxes you for better sleep.  Laughter improves the emotional and physical quality of your life.  Some will tell you that laughter increases your joie de vivre – the joy of living.  Laughter actually makes you more attractive.  Happy people appeal to others.  A very interesting aspect of laughter is that it can reduce pain.

Look at life with laughter in mind.  Don’t be so serious all the time.  Be serious when you have to, but keep in mind that everything in life is not meant to be viewed as serious.  Keep smiling – it’s a beginning to a laugh.  Choices have consequences.  Choose to smile and laugh as often as you can.  You will feel better, look better and lose a few pounds.

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Health – Reduce stroke symptoms with vitamin E

Ten years ago studies showed that vitamin E protected some patients’ brains after strokes.  Recently, Ohio State University discovered that alpha-tocotrienol is responsible for stopping  or reducing an enzyme from releasing fatty acids that eventually kill the neurons in your brain.  All tests to date have been done with animals and laboratory cell models.

Vitamin E is really two distinct chemical classes with a total of eight different chemicals.  One class is called tocotrienol and the other is tocopherol.  Each class has four different chemicals named alpha, beta, gamma and delta.  Tocopherols are the most common.

Each of the eight different chemicals that make up vitamin E has a distinct function.  Recent testing has shown that alpha-tocotrienol can reduce damage done by stroke and possibly even prevent strokes in humans.

A stroke typically happens when a blood vessel in your brain bursts or when a blood clot enters your brain and cuts off blood circulation to your brain.  Symptoms include sudden numbness or paralysis on one side, sudden severe headaches, sudden vision changes, inability to understand or speak.  Strokes can be initiated by hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes.

When a stroke occurs, the neurotransmitter glutamate is released.  Glutamate is important and beneficial in your memory and learning processes.  However, glutamate is released in large amounts during a stroke.  Glutamate triggers a number of chemical processes that result in the symptoms associated with stroke victims.

Arachidonic acid (AA) is a fatty acid present in your brain.  AA helps to maintain the stability of cell membranes under normal conditions.  AA undergoes a chemical change and becomes toxic in the presence of excess glutamate.  Your neurons, brain cells, are destroyed by the increased toxicity of the modified AA.

Alpha-tocotrienol specifically pursues the enzyme called cystolic calcium-dependent phospholipase A2 (cPLA2 or A2).  A2 is activated when you have a stroke.  Alpha-tocotrienol stops the enzyme from activating and protects your brain’s neurons from destruction.  The really interesting thing is that is takes very, very little alpha-tocotrienol to be effective – 250 nanomolar dose.  The normal amount of alpha-tocotrienol available through vitamin E supplements is usually ten times this amount.  Ensure you verify that all eight forms of vitamin E are present in the vitamin E supplement you buy if your diet does not provide you with adequate amounts of vitamin E on a daily basis.  Alpha-tocotrienol has been shown in laboratory tests to reduce the release of AA by 60% when excess glutamate is present.  Brain cells pretreated with alpha-tocotrienol prior to a stroke have a four-fold increase in survival when excess glutamate is present.

The most common form of vitamin E found in supplements is alpha tocopherol, not alpha tocotrienol.  More alpha-tocopherol is found in European food compared to American food.  The most common form of vitamin E in the American diet is gamma-tocopherol.  The typical American diet does not contain all forms of vitamin E.  The American diet lacks many tocotrienols.  However, the typical Southeast Asian diet does contain these nutrients. Tocotrienols are usually found in rice bran oil, barley, wheat germ and oats.