midlifejourney.com

This morning I was watching the second half hour of the Today Show. Focus on happiness in life and the middle year slump we all fall into. Seems there is a lot of research that focuses on happiness. Check it out here.Our happiest years are when we are young (before 30) and when we are old-er (after 60ish). We are either full of hope and promise with great dreams, or as we move into those later years, we become satisfied that what we have is ok. It’s those #$%@ middle years, when reality sets in and we know that those dreams we held so dear are unlikely to come true, that we enter the slump. And we stay there for years!!!!

Our bodies begin to change, relationships change, work changes, life changes… We drag ourselves around until finally, when it is clear that nothing is going to ever stay the same, or bring us back to those happy days of youth, we finally resign ourselves to reality, look around and say “This actually isn’t so bad.” that we snap out of it and become happy again.Well, do I buy this? I’m thinking about it.

Author: Stan the Mann

With a new year is approaching, we naturally look backward at what we have accomplished and forward to what we hope to accomplish. This is the perfect time to set goals.

If you want to set goals that truly work and empower you to get results, here is a system that really works. Use it and you will achieve great things that will surprise and amaze you.

If goal setting has not worked for you in the past, meaning you fell short, it’s probably because you set your goals in general terms. General goals move you in a general direction. It rarely produces big specific achievements. You need to make your goals specific. This will help you achieve what you want more quickly. Clarity is power. And things become much clearer when you write them down. A Harvard study has shown that graduates who have written specific goals are significantly more successful than graduates who do not.

I’ve been setting goals since I was 17 years old. At first, they were general goals and I didn’t write them down. But I did have a vital ingredient for success. I wanted to achieve them passionately.

You see, I did not have a warm supportive family when I was growing up, although my mother did instill in me a high value for education. She divorced when I was two years old and married my stepfather. He was an alcoholic and beat her. He was a strong man with forearms as big as hams. When I was a teenager and tried to protect my mother, he ground my face in the dirt. So you see I had high motivation to leave home as soon as I could. We also were very poor because of the Great Depression. So I had high motivation to make money.

Later I started writing down my goals and making them specific. It enabled me to get a job with Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Before then all I did was common labor. I loaded a truck by hand with 4 tons of cement blocks. Then I drove to a job site and unloaded it. I did this four times a day, which means I handled 16 tons, just like the coal miner song. I had absolutely no white collar experience. I wanted the life insurance job so bad I could taste it. My passion must have impressed the head of the agency and he hired me.

I was the youngest salesman they had ever hired up to that time. Barely 21 years old, I outsold every one of my 16 colleagues in my agency. I made so much money I forgot to deposit my checks until I was reminded to do so by a call from a harried Metropolitan clerk who was trying to balance her books.

I wanted still more and I got a Masters degree from the University of Michigan, graduating with honors and Phi Beta Kappa, the honor society which fosters and recognizes academic excellence.

No one in my family — mother, father, uncles and aunts — ever graduated from high school.

The goal setting process I now use is simple, easy and fun; yet produces profound results. I’ve been teaching it for over nine years and I see my clients get great results.

I think most people set their goals in general terms, like I used to do, because they’re afraid to make their goals detailed and to set deadlines. They fear not reaching their goals and feeling badly. They avoid painful feelings like disappointment, frustration, feeling insignificant and being full of self-doubt.

When I am making goals, I trigger myself into the mood of a child wishing on a star, innocently full of faith and belief. I think about all the things that I really, really want. I put aside my critical self and don’t worry a bit about how I’m going to do it. Because if I did, it would feel impossible and I would shut down.

I think about what I really, really want. I see it, feel it, hear it. I might even smell and taste it. Just like I wanted that job with the insurance company so I could get out of the house, be my own person, find a good woman to love. I’ve learned that when your desires are strong enough, your unconscious mind will find ways to make it happen. Even the universe will help you out in unexpected ways.
To make your desires strong, you need to have strong reasons why you want to achieve these things. First think of your reasons, don’t worry how you accomplish these things. These answers will come to you. You just have to have big strong reasons why achieving your goals is a must.

Best wishes for a rich and rewarding business and life,
~Stan

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Author: CD Mohatta

Christmas is the time of gifts. Every year new items appear that can be gifted. What about something simple and home made? Something like home made cookies that can be gifted? That will look unique and the recipient will be happy that you spent much time to prepare the gift. The gift was not simply picked up off the shelves and sent. Do you agree with me? Here is one idea.

Christmas brings lots of surprises and one that I am thinking of giving my family this year is a new sweet treat. Cookies, candies, fruit and nuts are the usual fare for Christmas, but I have decided to bake a new creation I just read about called SWIRLED TURTLE BROWNIES. I am sure that everyone in my family will enjoy these delights and I know that I will. You can use home baked sweets as a gifts, too.

You will need to preheat the oven to 325* and grease a 13×9-inch baking pan. In a small bowl, add 1 & 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup NESTLE TOLL HOUSE baking cocoa, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt. In a larger bowl, add ¾ cup softened butter, 1 & ½ cups packed brown sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and beat until creamy. Slowly add 2 large eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the flour mixture from the small bowl to the creamy batch until mixed and then add the special ingredient, ¾ cup SWIRLDED Milk Chocolate & Caramel Morsels and if you like nuts, add ½ cup. Spread into prepared baking pan and sprinkle the remaining Swirled Morsels and the remaining nuts over the top. Spread the batter into the prepared greased pan. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes until toothpick inserted 2 inches from outer edge comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Drizzle with caramel sauce before cutting into squares. This recipe makes 20 brownies.

Once the SWIRLED TURTLE BROWNIES cool, they can be wrapped individually in colored saran wrap and tied with a colorful ribbon to give out as a gift. They would look really good in a basket with a colorful Christmas cloth napkin underneath the brownies. A good addition to the gift would be a nice big coffee cup and some packages of hot cocoa.

If this is going to be a gift for a personal friend, you might want to add a video of a classic Christmas story, a Christmas music CD, or new-holiday released novel. Depending on the size of the basket, you might want to add another personal item or two. One could be a small votive candle with a Christmas scent like sugar cookies, cinnamon, vanilla or some smell that reminds you of the holidays. Another one could be a small box of holiday note cards.

A favorite Christmas snack that is elegantly displayed in a pretty basket or even box can be a well received, loved sentimental present that will long be remembered. After baking and wrapping SWIRLED TURTLE BROWNIE, make sure to think of your recipient’s interests and try to choose small, unique, striking items to add to the gift basket. You can use a wide ribbon with wire in the edges to wrap around the basket and tie loosely to give it a final touch. Nothing is more appreciated when it is received than a well thought, hand made gift with personal items. A delicious baked surprise that is a new recipe is sure to be a hit for people who love sweet goods. Christmas sweets just seem to just scream, “Make me for the holidays and make everybody happy”.

Application of mind can help us create new things that will spread lots of joy during the festive time. The care that we take in selecting the gift is always appreciated and valued.

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Author: Chuck Yoke

Once upon a time everyone believed that you “peaked” at age 40. After that it was all downhill – in terms of career, finances, health, and activity. Thankfully that has changed!

We mid-lifers are not ready for the rocking chair, we’re ready to ROCK! Our golden years will not be spent remembering the past; they’ll be focused on reaching for the future.

Our “mid-life crisis” is no longer about recapturing our youth and wondering what could have been; rather our “crisis” is deciding what we will do next! We’re not ready to slow down, we’re ready to move on.

We’re reaching for financial independence so we can live the life we want. We see the Internet as a wealth of opportunities that we mid-lifers can take advantage of to increase our income and help achieve financial independence.

As seasoned work force veterans, we aren’t deceived by “get rick quick” schemes. We know that with any potential business opportunity there needs to be research, thought, and careful consideration. And as with everything in life, we realize we get out of these opportunities what we put into them. We know it takes effort, but then we’ve already put forth effort…to make someone else wealthy. Now it’s our turn!

And to insure we enjoy the rewards of our efforts, we keep ourselves healthy. We’re not ready to sit down and let life pass us by. We’re jumping into life fully and living it to the max!

A healthy life is a life lived to the fullest. Whether it is with strength training, Yoga, circuit training, or Tai Chi (we do them all), we strive to keep our bodies and minds healthy and active.

And we don’t stop there. We combine alternative medicine with traditional medical care. We take vitamins and herbal supplements along with any needed medication. And we maintain our spiritual health for we understand that our mental outlook is key to our body’s health.

Recent studies have shown that lifelong learning is a key to keeping the mind healthy and alert. Activities such as learning how to play a musical instrument, learning a new language, or learning how to use a computer have been proven to grow new neurons in the brain and create new pathways that help fight mental decline and keep the brain young.

Many mid-lifers seek to learn something new everyday. We take guitar lessons, learn languages, play logic games, and acquire new skills. Some of us go back to school to take courses in economics, philosophy, science, or math. And some of us even obtain a new college degree – not for a specific career purpose, but as a way to keep the mind active.

But it’s not all work and no play for us mid-lifers. We enjoy our free-time to the fullest and view the world as our playground.

Saint Augustine is quoted as saying “the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” We mid-lifers want to read the entire book!

Through travel we learn new ideas, experience different cultures, taste new foods and see new vistas. We become familiar with people we once viewed as different and become more aware of the common bonds that bind us all together. By taking advantage of travel discounts, group tour specials, last minute trip deals, and packaged vacations we see the world without emptying our bank account.

We mid-lifers realize that living is life-long! Whether it’s through new business ventures, continued education, exercise, travel or a host of other ways, we’re kicking the rocking chair aside and heading out the door.

So get up and get moving! Your life awaits!

About the Author: Chuck is a mid-lifer who created the Gray Squad to help others turn their mid-life into the best life. You can find out more at The Gray Squad: Turning Mid-Life Into the Best Life

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