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Debt is a really cruel master. It enslaves the mind while destroying our health and relationships. As my example of how bad it can get, please do not make the mistake America and many Americans are making.

For years, people have looked to America as the world’s richest country. Sadly… no longer. It is the world’s most indebted nation and people.

Please do not take my word for it, simply look at the US Debt clock.

This sight lists all the US Debt like the US Total Debt ($54 Trillion, $807 Billion as of this writing) which is the combined federal, state, personal debt, etc. Considering the USA economy is a whopping $16 Trillion, if every single dollar earned in the USA went into paying off this debt and nothing went for food, clothing, energy, schools, roads, wars, charity or anything else, the USA could pay off this debt in only 4 or 5 years. Of course if they still wanted to eat, heat or cool their homes, use their cars (but little else) it might take 25 years or so but would ravage the USA’s ‘consumer’ economy.

The sight also mentions the unsecured, underfunded credits owed for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid which are promised, paid for by the citizens but no money set aside or held in reserve. That will add ANOTHER $107 TRILLION to the total debt bringing it to $154 Trillion. Now we are starting to talk some real money.

The average American has a negative personal net worth of -$8,000 to -$28,000 in their 50s plus their home mortgage and now often with a 2nd or 3rd mortgage.

Interesting, if every man, woman and child in the USA decided to pay off their share of the $12 Trillion US Government debt, with 300 million USA citizens, it would require $41,107 each (including babies and toddlers). That comes to $164,428 for a family of 4. That is not personal debt, just the portion that family owes for the government’s debt.

A wonderful mentor of mine told me recently not to discount the USA because it always bounces back. She is partly right. It is already discounted and the checks will soon bounce. China… the USA’s largest creditor already slowed it’s rate of lending to the US. It’s $1.2 Trillion reserve of USA banknotes means that EACH of the 1.5 billion Chinese  men, women and children have each loaned $6 to America! In other words, EVERY American man, woman and child has borrowed $4,000 from China. This means, every Chinese family of 4 working a rice field or factory in China has bailed out the banker on Wall Street, the school teacher in Iowa and the accountant in Phoenix, by $24. America should say “she she ne” to their ‘wealthy’ Chinese investors. Debt is a very cruel master.

Long term impact? Billionaire George Sorros was asked at the Devos Summit recently about the US dollar and he said, yes, he worries about it but that there is no other choice yet. He mentioned the Euro has its problems and the Pound may be worse off than the greenback. Interesting, China is buying gold by the ton and is predicted to back the RMB with gold in just 5 years, why would investors buy greenbacks backed by huge debt if the RMB is actually backed by gold?

The wars the USA is fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., according to correspondent Bill Moyers, have cost the USA $1 Trillion, all debt financed. With that kind of money, the USA could have completely rebuilt New Orleans, Detroit, retooled most of the American factories and educated her youth. As a father with 3 children in SIngapore schools, Singapore schools worldwide ratings are #1 in Math and #1 in Science. USA schools are ranked #27 in math and #19 in science. Does borrowing to bomb make sense?

This newsletter is not intended to ‘Bash America’  but just a simple reality check and a lesson to learn for all of us: Debt is a cruel master. No government, company or individual can afford to go deeply into debt. Instead, I suggest you follow my family’s simple formula: We tithe 10% to God first, pay taxes next (less than 20%… thank you Singapore!), live simply on 30% of our income and invest the rest. We have only borrowed for our mortgage because at less than 2% interest (I LOVE banks in Singapore), it makes more sense to invest the money rather than pay off a mortgage.

IF you are in debt, here is a 10 point plan to dig yourself out and to gain your freedom from debt, the cruel master:

1. Pay off all credit cards starting with the highest interest rate first (Suzy Orman’s advice)
2. Cut out everything you do not NEED from your budget. Needs are shelter, food and basic replacement clothing for worn-out items. We do NOT ‘need’ designer clothes, the latest fashions and to eat out at restaurants every day or even every week. A car may not be a necessity. We don’t own one in Singapore and spend $450 SGD on transportation a month for a family of 5 by using buses, trains, taxis (sparingly) and walking.
3. Invest time in your children so you do not feel guilty and begin placating them in your guilt by spending more money on them.
4. Save the environment and your pocket book by buying used furniture and appliances. Why buy new when used will do!
5. Don’t throw away what you no longer use, sell it on Yahoo or ebay. People will even buy spoiled computers and televisions.
6. Follow our simple rules: A. If we do not have cash, we do not buy it. B. If we have the cash, we still don’t buy it (unless we positively MUST have it)
7. Before you go to the store, look in your drawer. You may already have what you need.
8. Invest smarter and make your money work as hard for you as you work for your money.
9. Eliminate the words, “It’s only…” from your vocabulary.
10. Stop window shopping until you are debt free. The temptation can be too great to resist a ‘bargain.’

Free yourself from Debt the Cruel Master. Stop being enslaved. If you know someone in debt, share this newsletter with them. Let’s see how many people we can help live a happy, healthy, debt-free life! God bless you all.

Smile Maker: Are you financially independent?

A gambler said, “I finally achieved financial independence. No one will lend me any more money.”

Got comments or questions? Just leave your comments here.

We all seem to get involved in projects. But how to make projects work better?

Sometimes by asking questions we get ‘arrowed’ and other times we are ‘volunteered’ by others. Best when we volunteer as we really believe in the project or cause. No matter how you got into the project, here are 3 tips to help you survive and even thrive while working on your projects.

Projects Work Tip # 1)  Realistically plan for the time the project will take from your schedule. Most of us have a tendency to underestimate the commitment in time. If you fall short of time, chances are, your success will be diminished and your stress level will skyrocket. Better to say ‘no’ and have people think you might be selfish than say ‘yes’ and have them convinced you are incompetent.

Projects Work Tip # 2) Minimise the texting, emails, phone calls and paperwork. I’m currently chairing the Raise Your Game event.  I set all Action Team members  (not committee members) up on a BCC list for announcements, updates and action items. This way, members cannot hit ‘reply all’ and send drivel to everyone, bogging the entire process down. This also shields them from the inevitable contrarian who must argue with everything and ultimately destroys the fun of the project for all. Further, for help and input, I rely on two co-chairs who give me quick and insightful feedback on all key issues so it’s just not me making the decisions. If they have any trouble with an Action Team member, they refer that person back to me, maintaining their enthusiasm and keeping the project moving forward.

Projects Work Tip # 3)  Short but regular meetings. Keep most meetings to under 2 hours and maybe even one hour or less. This ‘pressure cooker’ keeps long winded members under control and produces more results in less time. Phrases like, “Back on the agenda…” and “If we can refocus on…” help to turn the discussion back to the relevant topics at hand as do ‘mile makers’ of how much time is left for the meeting.

Projects are fun and rewarding if handled well. They can be hell if you let them get bogged down in minutia, politics, in-fighting and private agendas.

Smile Makers: Interesting thoughts:

• If Vegetarians eat vegetables. What do humanitarians eat?

• “A sure way to make your car run better, is to look up the price of a new car.” David Koutsoukis

• Steven Wright once asked, “What is another word for thesaurus?”

• If you do not expect much, you will never be disappointed. You will also never achieve much.

Got comments or questions about how to make projects work better? Just leave your comments here.

Upcoming Events

Public Speaking as easy as ABCD!
Public Speaking Seminar with Michael Podolinsky CSP in Singapore (25 - 26 March 2010)
You will learn to speak confidently, articulately and eloquently.

Raise Your Game 2010 (1 March 2010)
100% of the profits will go to Singapore Cancer Society

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3 Ways to Improve Productivity

What are YOU going to do today?

Most people show up at work and immediately they are inundated with work. E-mail in box has 20 to 200 new emails. Your mobile has 10 to 50 text messages for you to respond to. Your boss tells you about 2 meetings you must attend you did not know about. As soon as you respond to the messages on your phone and in your inbox, another equally daunting number come in requiring your IMMEDIATE attention. There goes your day!

What got done? Yes, the messages got replies, but that is not the question. What of substance got done?

Unfortunately, most people today would say, “Little gets done of what is important and VERY little of what I WANTED to do.” So my question for you, What are YOU going to do today?

Will you allow the day to take over or will you take control of your day?  Do you want your life back?

Here are 3 of my 30 Personal and Professional Productivity Principles:

1) Plan your day before it plans itself for you. Start in the wee hours of the morning with some quiet time and then focus on what you need to get done. Make a list of at least 3 things you MUST do to have a significant day and do them BEFORE you answer emails or text messages. Will you upset some people? Probably. Will YOU be more in control? DEFINITELY! This is also a great career move.

2) Resist the temptation to let emails and text messages set your daily priorities. Set specific times for responding to them and stick to those times. Surprisingly, by not responding as quickly and by controlling your time, responding to fewer inquiries, you will start to receive fewer emails and text messages. Obviously, respond to your clients (internal and external) but be sloth to respond to B and C priorities.

3) Block 90 minutes a day for your A1 project and insist you are UN-INTERRUPTED. I refer to this as the 90-Minute Marvel. It will boost your productivity 30%.

Now that you’ve read this, what are YOU going to DO today?

Let us know if you’d like the other 27 principles.

Smile Makers: Who’s the boss?

It doesn’t matter how many times a married man changes jobs. He still ends up with the same boss.

Good Lord willing, we’ll be married 10 years this year. Our arrangement is, I make all the major decisions and my wife makes all the minor ones. So far, in 10 years, there has not been a major decision to make yet.

Join other Success Minded People by subscribing to the “Success Series Blog Tips” and GET the eCourse for FREE.

Making Goals STICK

Most people never set goals. They just wander aimlessly through life. YOU are different. Hey, you are reading this Blog newsletter, right?!

Question:  Have you ever set goals you did NOT achieve? Really? Me too. In the beginning I accomplished almost none of my goals. I got better over the years and now achieve close to 90% of my goals on time and on target. How?

Here are 3 techniques I learned to make goals STICK:

Goal Sticking Technique #1: Make them public. If you enjoy having `face` and want to keep it, declare your goals in public. Telling your boss, family and friends, `I will achieve X by noon, December 31st, 2010`puts a lot of pressure on you to achieve. That pressure gives you motivation when you otherwise want to rest. Conrad Hilton sold hotels not yet built. Bill Gates sold the rights to software he did not own. Once you make a public commitment, it is amazing what you can achieve.

Goal Sticking Technique #2: Help your mind `see` the goal by creating an image in your mind. It is hard to picture `rich` but easy to picture $1 million. Difficult to envision `happy family` but easy to see you dining every night with your family, smiling and talking. Impossible to see `someday` but easy to imagine 6 PM August 9th 2006.

Goal Sticking Technique #3: Make a bet. I do not advocate people gambling as most gamblers end up broke. I do encourage side bets to ensure success.

Bet your spouse you can achieve your goal by a specific time and when successful, you get to buy a 42 inch Plasma screen and if you miss the deadline, you have to sell `that chair` you love but your spouse hates.

Bet your boss you can outsell another division leader by March 1st. When you succeed, you get a bigger territory or an office. If you miss the target, you will wash the bosses car once a week for a month.

The combination of reward and punishment with accountability to a third party is a powerful inducement.

Making goals STICK is just one subject of a full day course we offer on Goal Attainment. These 3 simple techniques can certainly help you have a richer more successful year.

You can check out my previous blog post on goal attainment too.

Do something great for your life. I believe in you!

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Asia Professional Speakers -Singapore (APSS) is proud to present this prestigious conference as part of its commitment to giving back to the community in which we speak, train, teach, coach and facilitate.

My mom had breast cancer and survived and is now 90-years-old.

I fully support this event. I will be one of the presenters.

Raise Your Career, Raise Your Team and Raise Your Life!
Michael Podolinksy CSP

• Raise your career in 2010 by working your key career compass points
• Raise your team through the 5 stages of team development
• Raise your life with attitude, aptitude and assiduity

In this unique one-day event, 7 international presenters will revive you with stimulating presentations and motivating tips and techniques that you will want to start using immediately. You will feel fired up and motivated, ready to take on new challenges with enthusiasm.

If you want to enhance your efficiency, productivity and results, not to mention your job satisfaction, don’t miss this powerful one-day event. The inspiring presenters will take you on an energising journey that will give you all the stimulus you need to really raise your game and increase your success.

Click Here for Details.

Every drops form the ocean. You support is greatly appreciated!

4 Easy Steps to Reduce Your Holiday Stress

I am writing this as we celebrate Christmas and sometimes preparing for Christmas so stressful, we miss the point of the holy day. Our non-Christian friends can apply the concepts to preparing for their holy days or their holidays. I have noticed just about everyone goes through much the same rush and stressful preparations.

The ideal solution is to start acting early. A little effort allows you to enjoy the holy day by taking a holiday from excess stress.

Easy Step #1: Start preparing early. Make a list of everyone you need to buy a present for and start looking at the shops now. Better yet, set aside a time in the evenings to turn off the TV and MAKE something for that special someone. Not so handy and still hate to shop? Try giving to an orphanage or other charity in that person`s name, presenting them with a receipt, note of thanks and the orphan`s photos.

Easy Step #2: Shop online. Buying on-line is easy and safe. Aside from beating the crowds in the mall, you have a greater chance of finding JUST the right item for that hard to buy for person. Some examples:

Magazine subscriptions: Buy a gift subscription to God`s Word Today, my own personal choice for daily study of scripture and to develop my prayer life. Alternatively, get them a subscription to something reflecting their interests like Mens Health, Golf Digest or Car & Driver.

Give a gift of fruit that is delivered every month, 4 times a year or one-off with a personal card from you. Healthy and appreciated.

Easy Step #3: Make another list of all the things that stress you out before, during and after the holidays and make a plan to minimise the exposure, contamination or your reaction to what is out of your control. Ask for both divine guidance in dealing with these issues and ask good friends for their suggestions. Try Google to see what 10,000 other people have done to solve the issue.

Easy Step #4: Plan more to do less. Remember to ask, `So what?` If aunt Martha`s wall decoration does not make it up this year, `So what?` If you end up wrapping presents with colourful Sunday comics instead of fancy paper saving one trip to the store, the environment and money, `So what?` If you do NOT make it to that one party you really do not feel like attending, `So what?` If you do not get all the shopping done and give a handmade gift voucher for a back rub, a day at the beech, a movie and dinner on a night of their choosing or something else that person will appreciate more than a thoughtless gift just to fill an obligation, `So what?` Hey! So What!!

These 4 Easy Steps acted upon NOW can help you enjoy your holiday and take a holiday from excessive stress. Got comments or questions about holiday stress tips?   Just leave your comments here.

Merry Christmas to You and may 2010 be your BEST year yet. God bless you eternally.

Pushing Yourself

When was the last time you PUSHED Yourself? I’m not talking just working hard. I’m not talking about putting in long hours. I’m not talking about working until you are exhausted. Most of the world’s population suffers through one or more of these every week and sometimes all 3 every day. I’m talking about pushing yourself beyond your normal capabilities; PUSHING yourself beyond your pay grade or level of experience. How long has it been since you really GAVE yourself a physical, mental, social, spiritual challenge or target that seemed nearly impossible to reach or so SCAREY to imagine doing? If you cannot remember the last time, maybe it’s time you get busy and PUSH yourself.

Worthwhile growth does not come gradually, it comes in spurts. Remember as a kid having ‘growing pains’ when you had a ‘growth spurt’? It hurt. But you ’shot up’ a ‘thumb width’ or more in a week or two.

Think about some successes you had that could have been tragedies:

• Did you ever buy a house you were not sure you could afford and found buying it changed you? Chances are, you became more focused, dedicated and within a short period of time, that home was no longer a ’stretch’.
• Did you talk someone into hiring you for a job or project and when you got it, reality set-in and you were stressed to the max? Yet, you rose to the occasion and did an awesome job, advancing your career.

These experiences where we PUSH ourselves are opportunities for quantum growth. These life-defining episodes are what separate us from the average person who never dares, never tries and never risks ‘failure’. As a result, those people live ’successfully’ in mediocrity.

PUSHING ourselves might be as simple as asking for bigger projects at work, setting STRECH goals for the year or signing up for a new course of study. Pushing ourselves might be has difficult as quitting a job to pursue the career of your dreams with no idea how to make it work or admitting yourself into a treatment facility for an alcohol or gambling addiction.

Remember, when PUSH comes to SHOVE, if you PUSH yourself, you are the one controlling your destiny. If someone has to SHOVE you into action, that person has some if not all of the power and control over your life. PUSHING ourselves is often the BEST way to grow and develop.

Smile Maker:  Three dreams of a woman:

To be as beautiful as her mother thinks.

To be as rich as her child believes.

To have a husband as wonderful as he thinks he is.

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8 Holiday Shopping Ideas… A bit off the beaten track

Creativity is an amazing thing. It can save you a fortune and give you better results yet most people opt for ‘thinking with their wallets.’ A much more expensive option. If you want to please those people in your life that really matter OR give the obligatory gifts to clients and ‘associates’ without going broke, here are 8 thoughts for you.

1.  Send them all the gift of love. Take a charity that no one can possible have a problem with and one you endorse and send a BIG gift to that charity in their name. ãYou…WE have so much. I am donating $100 in your name to UNICEF for the children of the world.ä It will cost you $100 but it does that person, you and the children a LOT more good than a pewter plate with your corporate logo on it.

2. Write a personal note to your spouse or kids and include 5 vouchers for ‘One hour of massage’, ‘One get out of the flat for free and I take care of the kids’ or ‘Good for one night out with your girlfriends / the guys’ or ‘A day with dad / mom doing what ever you want to do…Sentosa, video games, picnic, Discovery Centre or ???’. Put an expiration date so they get used up.

3.  Remember what that person likes and give it to them. This is a repeat of last week but the point is, if you are listening, it may not cost a lot to make people feel appreciated.

4.  Days for that special someone. You already have everything I own. I want to give you something that not even I own. A day of my life. I give you one day, of your choosing, where I will do whatever you desire. I’ll pamper you, take care of you, massage you and gladly be your servant for a day.ä Do you think THAT will be appreciated?

5.  Get out of work early voucher. Give your employees a voucher where they can get out of work at 3 PM any day of their choosing, except during peak periods (list). Costs you NOTHING and will be seen as a HUGE perk. Hey… On the days they wish they were gone? They are already GONE mentally.

6.  Book of your choice from Popular, Times or Borders. Great gift. Give them an in-store voucher or just your own (buy it and I’ll pay you back). Keeping your team or kids reading is a great thing. The fact they don’t buy it immediately means they have to see it and think about it a lot. More positive thoughts than the tie you buy and it goes into the drawer for years.

7.  Promise (and actually CHANGE) the bad habit your family dislikes. For example, if you have promised to be home for dinner and never made it on time, tell them it is your ‘present’ and NEVER BE LATE ONCE!!! Set no appointments near dinner time and pay your staff a bonus to kick you out EARLY.

8.  Write a poem or love note to the people that matter. Sorry, the jewellery stores tell you they need to see diamonds. Instead, take the next 10 lunch hours writing a poem of just how much you love that special someone in your life. Write it. Re-write it. Perfect it. Include how you met, your first kiss, the first time you ‘knew’ she / he was the one, etc. Print it out on special parchment and frame it. $30 - $50. Diamonds $5,000. Diamonds will impress. Your poem will touch the heart. Depends on what you want to accomplish.

I’m not against retail. Just think we need to connect at a level other than the plastic card level. Visa, MC, Diners and AMEX are great, but cannot buy the heart. Our gift of time and creativity can do a lot to make the holidays special.

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