Enrico's Blog: Tips for Success

Immagina il tuo successo - Imagine Your Success

Sun, 11 May 2008 22:49:41 GMT

Imagine Your Success

During a tour of duty in Vietnam, Major James Nesmeth was captured and held prisoner in a tiny cell for seven years. To keep sane, he mentally practiced his golf game.

Every day he would imagine being at the first tee at his country club. He would imagine the weather, the feel of the club and the grass at his feet. He would look at the ball and imagine the perfect swing.

Soon after he was freed and returned to the United States, he went to his country club and played a round of golf. Without touching his club for seven years, he improved his game by 20 strokes . . . as a prisoner of war!

"One's ability to imagine is directly proportional to one's ability to be successful." -- L. Ron Hubbard

As well as using your imagination to improve your golf game, you can use it in many other ways.

Goal Achievement

Imagine successfully achieving your goals and your chances of reaching those goals are greater.

For example, Shelly and her sister Jill both want to own a home.

Shelly keeps a box filled with paint colors, carpet samples, floor plans and so on. She clips out articles about home locations, loans and buying tips. She has a clear mental image of what her home will look like.

Jill, on the other hand, worries about the problems of buying a home. She worries that house prices are getting out of reach for her. She feels terror whenever mortgage rates increase. She complains that life is unfair.

Shelly and Jill both learn about a house for sale for a very low price.

Which sister says, "I'm sure I can't afford it." Which sister says, "I'm going to go see this house during my lunch break."

Who do you think will be first to own a house?

What Can You Imagine?

Your imagination can help you do a better job at work. For example, your paperwork mountain is swallowing up your desk. While taking your morning shower, you envision yourself completing the entire pile in one day. You imagine yourself working hard and fast to clean up the backlog. You feel the joy as the last piece of paper is handled and you look at your clean desk.

When you arrive at work, you know what to do. Because you have a good imagination, you soon have a clean desk.

Other uses:

● Imagine how the rest of today will go for you. Take a minute and imagine it will be a wonderful.

● Imagine getting more work done next week than ever in your life.

● If you are looking for a spouse, imagine what he or she will be like. Imagine your lives together.

● Imagine what you might accomplish this year. What if you could accomplish anything at all?

● Imagine accomplishing one of your goals. How will it happen? How will you feel?

● When you think about being successful, what does it include? Imagine that!

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Come essere felice - How to Be Happy

Sun, 04 May 2008 19:13:01 GMT

How to Be Happy

Many people believe they cannot be happy. They say, "Anyone who tells you they're happy is lying." "I'd be happy if I had a better _____ (spouse, job, body, house, income, parent, child, boss, employee, government)." "Life stinks and then you die."

The truth is, you are the one who controls the amount of joy you have in your life. You control it based on how well you follow these two rules:

"One: Be able to experience anything.

"Two: Cause only those things which others are able to experience easily." -- L. Ron Hubbard from Scientology: A New Slant on Life.

Rule One

Every time you are unhappy, there is something you cannot experience. You cannot "be there" with it. You cannot face it.

For example, you are unhappy when someone yells at you. If you can experience being yelled at, you can be happy.

So you decide you will learn to take it. You practice by having a friend yell at you until you can experience it. You realize it's simply noise. Because you can experience people yelling at you, it no longer makes you unhappy.

"To be happy, one only must be able to confront, which is to say, experience those things that are." -- L. Ron Hubbard

As another example, you need to give presentations at your job. However, you hate speaking to groups. You make up excuses and avoid this part of your job until you get fired.

If instead, you face the music and give the talks, you succeed. Despite your fear, you face and experience the audience. You confront the job and feel happy.

Wealth Tip

Rule One gives you an opportunity to increase your income. If you can easily experience work that most people can't or won't do, you become more valuable.

For example, understanding complicated laws, performing heart surgery and managing thousands of people are difficult jobs to experience. This is why lawyers, doctors and CEOs make more money than others. Jobs like selling hot dogs or answering telephones are easy to experience and so do not pay as well.

What valuable work can you do that others can't easily experience? What are the most difficult things for you to experience at work? If you could easily experience them, what would happen with your pay?

Rule Two

"Two: Cause only those things which others are able to experience easily." -- L. Ron Hubbard

This means you need to pay attention to others. Everyone experiences things differently.

For example, your colorful language offends your mother, but makes your friend laugh. Spending the day at a shopping mall is a joy for your daughter, but a boring waste of time for your son. Your political views enrage your father-in-law, but inspire your neighbor.

To be happy, you cannot have attitudes like these: "I'll say whatever I want to anyone I want." "If you don't like what I do, that's your problem." "It's dishonest to not say how I feel."

If you don't care about other people's happiness, the people around you will eventually not care about your happiness either. Everyone becomes unhappy.

"To create only those effects which others could easily experience gives us a clean new rule of living." -- L. Ron Hubbard

If you follow this rule, your work relationships, marriage and friendships all thrive. If you break this rule, you lose friends and make enemies.

For example, you notice that your spouse cannot easily experience you complaining about your work. You stop complaining and your spouse is more cheerful. You feel happier. The rule worked.

Employees and Children

You may think this second rule means you can't demand good performance from employees. For example, "My employees can't easily experience hard work, so I'll be soft on them."

However, laziness ruins productivity which ruins your company. A bankrupt company is difficult for everyone to experience!

So you learn to demand good performance in a way that others can easily experience. "Let's get 100 parts built by Friday and I'll buy everyone lunch!" Everyone is productive AND happy.

As another example, children may not like brushing their teeth, but tooth pain is much more difficult to experience. So you get your kids to brush without anger or threats. "Let's all go brush our teeth with this new purple toothpaste!"

How to Be Happy Right Now

What is making you unhappy right now?

Which rule do you need to follow?

"One: Be able to experience anything." "Two: Cause only those things which others are able to experience easily." -- L. Ron Hubbard

What can you do right now to follow that rule?

How to Be Happy Next Week

1. Write down everything that might be hard for you to experience next week.

2. Write what you can do next week to more easily experience these things.

3. List out what you might do or say next week that others may not easily experience.

4. Write how you can accomplish your objectives next week while only causing things that others can easily experience.

Make these changes and you might have your happiest week ever!

To read all eight articles on ARC, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/arc.htm.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

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Il più grande segreto dell'efficienza - The Biggest Secret of Efficiency

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:27:41 GMT

The Biggest Secret of Efficiency

Do you ever feel overworked? Is this because you have too much to do? Because your boss is too demanding? Because your work goals are too ambitious? Maybe not.

Why can some people produce twice as much as others? For example, Jane not only handles three kids, but works 30 hours per week and runs a small business from her home office. Jane's house is always clean and she prepares delicious, healthy meals for her family.

Jill, on the other hand, has one daughter, produces no income, can't keep up with her housework and prefers pizza or Chinese food delivery for dinners.

Both Jane and Jill are good mothers, but why are they so different? Are you more like Jane or Jill?

If you want to be efficient and get more done in less time, you simply rid yourself of two bad habits and form one good habit.

Two Bad Habits

1. The first bad habit is to look at a piece of work you are supposed to do--a letter, program, interoffice communication, task assignment, request, whatever--and put it aside to do later.

Instead of acting, you read it, digest it, think about doing it, consider the problems involved, sigh, and put it down to do later. Nothing is accomplished. A total waste of time.

2. The second bad habit is taking a piece of work, deciding you do not want to do it and referring it to someone else, even though it is your job to do. The other person eventually sends it back to you. A total waste of your time AND the other person's time.

One Good Habit

"Do it Now."

"One of the best ways to cut your work in half is not to do it twice."

"If you do every piece of work that comes your way WHEN it comes your way and not after a while, if you always take the initiative and take action, not refer it, you never get any traffic back . . . "

"In short, the way to get rid of traffic is to do it, not to refer it; anything referred has to be read by you again, digested again, and handled again; so never refer traffic, just do it so it's done."

"So if you are truly a lover of ease, the sort of person who yawns comfortably and wears holes in heels resting them on desks, if your true ambition is one long bout of spring fever, then you'll do as I suggest and handle everything that comes your way when it comes and not later; and you'll never refer anything to anybody that you yourself can do promptly."

"Do it when you see it and do it yourself." -- L. Ron Hubbard

For example, the government sends you a tax form asking you for some financial information. You take five minutes to understand what is required and realize it's quite simple. You notice it's not due for two months, but instead of tossing it in your desk to do later, you take another five minutes to look up the financial data, fill out the form and drop it in the mail. If you wait to do it later, you have had to spend another five minutes to understand it again. Perhaps you look at the form once each week until the deadline is near before you actually do the work. You might even forget do fill out the form and then waste even more time understanding why the government is charging you a $250 late fee.

As another example, you notice your car's tire is a little low and you fill it right now. If you wait, you get a flat tire while driving to work. You are not only two hours late for work, you have to buy a new tire.

Your food explodes in the microwave? You clean it up now. Your boss asks for a report? You write it and turn it in now. Your group needs a decision from you? You make it now. Of course, you need to set priorities for long-term projects, but whenever possible, you do new tasks right now.

When you jump and do things at your first opportunity, you stay in better control of your job and your life while earning hours of extra time to use however you wish.

Form a Do-it-now Habit

The best time to get into a do-it-now habit is, of course, RIGHT NOW!

1. Take a stack of papers, task or any kind of cluttered mess that you need to handle.

2. Take the first item.

3. Deal with it, handle it, do it now.

If the item has no current use, file it, store it or throw it away.

If you need to take action, do it right now. Persist until the job is completely DONE.

If you dislike the work involved, it is even more important that you do it right now.

". . . take the initiative and take action. . . ."

4. If you resist this approach, remember the reward. If you get your work done in half the time, how will you spend the OTHER half of your time? Earning more money? Starting new projects? Having more fun? The choice is yours.

Give it a try.

Now!

To read all eight articles on ARC, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/arc.htm.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

Essere troppo seri blocca il vostro successo - Being Too Serious Blocks Your Success

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:18:21 GMT

Being Too Serious Blocks Your Success

Are you having fun? Do you get a thrill from your work? Do you enjoy waking up each morning?

Myths about work can hurt your progress. "Work is not supposed to be fun." "You must buckle down and get serious."

Perhaps the biggest myth of all: "People will think I'm important if I act seriously." Yet getting serious creates problems: stress, worry, anxiety, emotional pain, drudgery and failure.

Resolving problems by getting more serious is like fixing a computer with a hammer. The harder you try, the worse the problem becomes.

"When life becomes serious, a man becomes less cause and greater effect. If life gets really serious, his value drops to practically zero. Driving a car can become such serious business that one can wreck the car. Running a business can become so serious as to make it fail. There is a direct connection between insanity and seriousness." "It is only when an individual progresses in life to a point where much seriousness is attached to things that he begins to have a hard time. The ancient Italian really knew what he was about when he considered that the only psychotherapy was laughter." -- L. Ron Hubbard

12 Ways to Lighten up

Approaching your life with a non-serious attitude gives you a clearheaded view of difficulties and the energy to deal with them. Problems are easier to solve, people are more cooperative and you feel more relaxed. You probably live longer, as well.

Try these ideas until you find one that lightens you up.

1. Deliberately turn a molehill into a mountain. Make a big deal out of a little problem. "I would feel much better if these papers were stacked exactly like this! Not like that! Like this! Not this! This!"

2. Ask yourself, "Is getting serious about this situation really going to improve it?"

3. Focusing on the positives. "What is right about this situation?" "What else is right?" "What else?"

4. Consider a complete, major change. For example, go back to school, move to the ocean, start a new career.

5. Ask yourself, "When I'm on my deathbed, will I be glad I was so serious about _______?"

6. A challenging game is much better than no game at all. So consider losing all aspects of the problem. Examples: You feel serious about family problems. You ask yourself, "Well, what if I had no family at all?" You feel serious about your investments. You ask yourself, "What if I had no money to invest?"

7. The size of your problem may match the size of your game. So get a bigger game. For example, if you get uptight about paper clips being in the wrong drawer, your game size is tiny. Double your amount of responsibility. Set some huge goals. Succeed by thinking much, much bigger.

8. Stop trying to solve the problem that is making you so serious. Certain types of problems solve themselves if you leave them alone. Your problem may be one of those.

9. Compare what you are doing to other careers. Imagine being a septic tank drainer or a tax collector.

10. Make everyone around you lighten up.

11. Look at bizarre solutions. What is the craziest way you could solve your problem? What solution, if it worked, would make you laugh out loud?

12. Act stupid for a minute. Let down your hair. Stop being so darn important for a while. Be a goof!

You can find this article and dozens more at www.tipsforsuccess.org/success-articles.htm.

To read all eight articles on ARC, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/arc.htm.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

Affinità, Realtà e Comunicazione parte VIII: Lo strumento definitivo di auto-miglioramento - ARC Par

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:54:16 GMT

The Ultimate Self-improvement Tool
Affinity, Reality and Communication (ARC)

Affinity: how well you like or love a person.
Reality: how much agreement you have with a person; what you agree to be real.
Communication: your exchange of information and ideas.
Understanding: The combined result of affinity, reality and communication.

Part 8: ARC for Yourself
As you have read in the earlier seven articles on ARC, you can use ARC to improve your friendships, marriage, job skills, sales skills, negotiating skills and management skills. You build an incredible level of understanding with people by increasing your reality, your communication and your feelings of affinity.

How you treat yourself is the subject of this final article on ARC. Your success in life depends on how you feel about yourself. How high your ARC is for you!

'In order to have an understanding of yourself, you must have good ARC with yourself.'

'It is not evil to like yourself or love yourself.'

'A healthy state of being is to be a friend to yourself.' -- L. Ron Hubbard

Do you like yourself? Do you think you're a pretty good person? Are you proud of being you?

Do you agree with you? Are you honest and real with yourself? Do you agree with how you do things?

Do you communicate with yourself? Do you spend time alone to sort out your current condition, needed improvements, goals and so on?

If not, your ARC for yourself is low and you will not succeed.

For example, Dr. Joe secretly knows he is not a good physician. While in medical school he drank excessively, cheated on his tests and barely graduated. As a practicing doctor, he prescribes drugs for himself to further escape reality. He won't face the issue with himself (no communication), disagrees with what he is doing (poor reality) and as a result, hates himself (low affinity).

During a minor operation, Dr. Joe almost kills a patient with too much anesthesia. Luckily, his nurse stops him before it's too late. Because he is shocked, Dr. Joe takes a few days to dry up and get his life together.

He sits down and really communicates with himself. He writes down everything he is doing wrong. He lists all his lies, all his acts of cheating and how he avoided a real education. He also lists the good things about himself. He comes to grips with reality and decides he can actually make his bad life into a good one. He decides to close his practice, go back to medical school and do things correctly. Even though his ARC for himself has been near the bottom for years, it now starts to go up.

As another example, Sarah wants to succeed as an artist, but spends too much time trying to please others. She is terrified of failure and rejection and so only paints what successful painters have painted.

When she decides to increase her ARC for herself, she discovers she dislikes herself the most when she 'sells out' her true reality. She denies herself when she acts like someone she is not; when she paints in a way she thinks others will admire.

So she stops caring what others think and paints a piece from her heart. She pours in her passion, her feelings of beauty and her love. Within a few hours, she paints the most amazing picture she has ever seen. Her ARC for herself soars to a new level.

Naturally, everyone who sees her painting is also amazed. They say it is unique; a true original; a thing of beauty. Sarah's career takes off.

Benefits

Self confidence starts by having high ARC for yourself. You are less afraid of failure and rejection. You have a level of self-respect that others cannot damage.

You have more certainty in yourself as you know and understand who you are, where you are going and what you will achieve.

Because you believe in yourself, you make steady progress toward your goals. The problems and barriers you face are easy to overcome because you know you are capable of great success.

With ARC for yourself, you face what you do that is right and wrong. You make changes to stop hurting yourself and earn a happier life.

Because you have high ARC for yourself, you are your own best friend. You are never lonely.

Recommendations

1. Take some time right now to communicate with yourself. Be honest with yourself. Face the facts about where, what and who you are and who you can become.

2. Sort out what you are doing that you agree with and that you disagree with. Decide to stop doing the things you know are wrong for you. Start to do more of the things you are doing with which you agree.

3. Make a list of the things you like about yourself. Admire yourself for those things of which you are most proud. Be nice to you.

4. Continue to maintain and improve your relationship with yourself. Do more things that build your understanding of yourself.

Constantly build your ARC for yourself and the world will follow your example.

Copyright © 2008 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard.
To read all eight articles on ARC, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/arc.htm.
For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.
To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

TipsForSuccess.org · 615 South Highway 49 · Jackson · CA · 95642

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Cinque suggerimenti per aiutare i bambini ad avere successo - Five Tips to Help Children Succeed

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:55:36 GMT

Five Tips to Help Children Succeed

Raising kids can be a difficult, yet important and rewarding task. As a parent, you can succeed and add a valuable member to our world. Or you can fail as a parent and create an unhappy problem for the world to handle.

Even if you are not currently raising children, they are a big part of your future. Today's children are tomorrow's parents and leaders. You can improve our future by helping parents raise their kids with these five tips.

The following five quotes are from The Way to Happiness by L. Ron Hubbard.

1. "What does have a workability is simply to try to be the child's friend. It is certainly true that a child needs friends."

Who were the adults in your own childhood? Who were your favorite relatives? Your favorite leaders, sports coaches or teachers? If you smile at the memory, they probably treated you as a friend.

2. "Try to find out what a child's problem really is and without crushing their own solutions, try to help solve them."

A child is a regular person in a small body. He or she is starting to think. If you encourage them to solve problems, you are building their confidence.

For example, asking the right questions is often more valuable to people than giving out answers. "Why are you crying? Why do you think he was mean to you? What do you want to do about it? Okay. What might be a better way to solve it?"

3. "Observe them--and this applies even to babies. Listen to what children tell you about their lives."

For example, you might observe a baby calms down when you play Mozart. You may discover your three-year-old gets excited when painting flowers. An eight-year-old may have a great idea for your career that you've never considered.

4. "Let them help--if you don't, they become overwhelmed with a sense of obligation which they then must repress." (Repress = hold back.)

How do you feel if someone gives you money or favors, but refuses to let you return the favor in any way? Perhaps you feel worthless as you have nothing valuable to give to that person. If you are not allowed to help, you'll soon dislike or distrust the person and refuse all future gifts.

Examples: "If you fold the napkins, it would really help me." "I'll give you an allowance if you take care of all the garbage for the house." "I'll feel better if you sing a song for me."

5. "A child factually does not do well without love. Most children have an abundance of it to return."

You can learn about the Way to Happiness Foundation at www.twth.org.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

Lo strumento manageriale definitivo: Affinità, Realtà e Comunicazione parte VII - ARC Part 7: The Ultimate Management Tool

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:50:50 GMT

The Ultimate Management Tool
Affinity, Reality and Communication (ARC)

"The ARC Triangle is the keystone of living associations." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Affinity: how well you like or love a person
Reality: how much agreement you have with a person; what you agree to be real
Communication: your exchange of information and ideas
ARC Triangle: A triangle formed by affinity, reality and communication. When you raise one of the three points, the other two rise as well. When you lower one point, the other two drop.
Understanding: The result of combining high affinity, shared reality and open communication.

Part 7: How Raising the ARC Triangle Makes You a Better Boss

According to an annual job satisfaction survey, more than 7 in 10 workers are open to changing jobs in 2008 (Source: Yahoo! HotJobs). Why do they dislike their jobs?

Per the survey, 36% want a higher salary and 34% want more growth opportunities. However, the biggest reason these employees want to change jobs is they dislike their bosses (43%).

In fact, 55% of those surveyed agreed with this statement: "People don't leave companies; they leave managers."

Bad Bosses

Bad bosses break the ARC Triangle with their employees in many ways (see Parts 1 and 2 for information about the ARC Triangle at www.tipsforsuccess.org/arc1.htm).

As a bad boss, you break the reality point of the triangle when you lie to your employees, blame them for your problems or break your promises. Reality is also reduced when you are not as fair as possible,

Perhaps the biggest break in reality is when you do not do your job. Employees assume your job is to help them, to give them good advice and to lead them in a clear-cut direction.

Bad bosses are poor communicators. They do not have meetings, explain tasks or answer questions. They do not listen to their group members and do not acknowledge them.

Affinity is also low with bad bosses. They do not like their employees and their employees do not like them. They get angry with each other, treat each other with disrespect and do not care for each other.

Managing with More ARC

"A common denominator to all good executives is the ability to communicate, to have affinity for their area and their people and to be able to achieve a reality on existing circumstances. All this adds up to understanding. An executive who lacks these qualities or abilities is not likely to be very successful." -- L. Ron Hubbard

As a business leader, owner or manager, your business succeeds or fails based on the ARC Triangle. The most powerful groups in the world have the greatest amount of ARC between the members of the group and the managers of the group.

Having high ARC for your employees does not mean you are soft and permissive. You do not hug each other all day and expect a successful workplace. At work, the ARC Triangle is based on the work.

For example, when you and all the members of the group agree on a goal, you find it easier to talk. You find it easier to like the members of the group. When there is no goal, the group is not nearly as fun to be part of.

As another example, your staff members have more ARC for their work if they are trained. Training establishes hundreds of small agreements of how the job should be done and thus boosts their ARC for the work. If the boss does not train the workers, they feel overwhelmed and cannot produce much work. Well-trained workers know what to do and find pleasure in their jobs because they have a great deal of agreement with you on what they should do.

As another example, as a manager, you have a reality that your people can and should do a good job. You communicate that reality when you insist that your people perform to the best of their ability. They agree with this communication and bang! You have a hard-working group, doing what it does best. As a result, you really like this group and this group really likes you.

10 Recommendations for Bosses

Note: If you are not yet a boss, you will become one if you use the recommendations below with your coworkers and with your boss.

1. Write down how you can have more reality with your group. What more can you agree on?

For example, what are your goals for your group? What do you want them to accomplish this week? Today? What do you expect from them? Exactly what do you want them to do?

2. Communicate these points of reality to your group members as often as needed to obtain agreement. Take care to observe that they receive and understand your communication.

3. List the disagreements you have with your workers. Include all those "silent" disagreements in your group.

Clear up these disagreements by listening to their side of the disagreement and then explaining your side. You might be surprised when 90% of the disagreements then resolve as most disagreements are actually based on a lack of communication.

4. Make a list of things you want to tell your group members. Write down when and how you will tell them what you have to say. Plan to be persistent and gentle.

5. As a daily routine, take time to listen to your staff members. As long as they are discussing the job, be willing to listen. You will learn important information about working conditions, job efficiency, ideas for increase productivity and more.

6. Find ways to increase useful communication in and around your work. For example, replace personal chatter with discussions about how to get more work done in less time.

7. Take five minutes to list the things you like about each of your employees. Go find a few new things for which you can have affinity. You will be more effective with these employees if you admire them.

8. When you are unhappy with an employee, but not sure why, figure out if the problem is with reality, communication or affinity. Is there a disagreement? Is the a problem with communication? Is there a specific dislike?

Once you identify the part of the ARC Triangle that is broken, fix it. You will find it much easier to resolve staff problems when you break it down to its ARC components.

9. Find ways to increase your ARC for your group. For example, you notice that when you propose a productivity game, they immediately agree to play the game, talk about how they can win the game and seem to like their jobs more than ever. (Productivity game example: "If everyone increases their productivity by 10% this week, everyone gets a $250 cash bonus on Friday night. If one person does not increase by at least 10%, no one gets a bonus. So figure out how to increase your personal productivity, plan to help your coworkers when needed, and let's make this happen, okay?")

10. Be wary of anything that hurts your ARC for your group. For example, if a customer or client complains about an employee, do not automatically believe the complaint. If one worker criticizes another worker, do not assume it is the truth. In both cases, gather more information and listen to the person before you make any decisions.

Constantly increasing and protecting your ARC with your team not only makes your group more productive and powerful, it makes your job much more enjoyable!

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

Sei forte abbastanza da ammettere di esserti sbagliato? - Are You Strong Enough to Be Wrong?

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:56:31 GMT

Are You Strong Enough to Be Wrong?

For most people, this statement is very difficult to say: "Yes, I'm wrong."

Can you say it? When faced with facts that show you are mistaken, can you admit you are wrong and change your position?

Not agreeing you are wrong can ruin relationships, health, even careers. "He won't admit I'm right so I'm never speaking to him again." "There is nothing you can say or do to convince me there is anything wrong with eating Big Macs and fries every day." "I stopped being a lawyer as a protest because a judge was completely wrong."

When government leaders refuse to admit when they are wrong, we get death and destruction.

For example, for hundreds of years, churches, houses and barns were burned to the ground after being hit by lightening. Everyone agreed it was God's will and only sinners' homes were set on fire. When a good person's house was burned down, it was the Devil's work.

In 1752, Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod. The surge of electricity from lightening would hit the metal rod on the roof of the building and go down a wire into the ground. The electricity would not burn the building. Yet despite proof, religious leaders would not admit they were wrong and instead, accused Franklin of interfering with God's work. It took 20 years (30 in Germany) and thousands of destroyed churches before a new generation of church leaders allowed lightening rods to be installed on churches.

Everyone wants to be right. For many people, nothing is worse than being wrong. They maintain their "rightness" despite all reasons they are mistaken. "Until my dying day, I will never admit I am wrong about this!"

However, admitting you are wrong, when you are wrong, is an essential step to your success.

"Truth is built by those who have the breadth and balance to see also where they're wrong." -- L. Ron Hubbard (Breadth = tolerance; broad mindedness) (Balance = mental stability; sanity)

Can you be wrong? Can you handle the truth?

Five Tips for Your Success

1. To succeed, face the fact that you are sometimes wrong. Get rid of any ideas that you must always be right about everything.

2. Show you are more interested in being correct than "right." Be proud when you discover you are wrong. You are expanding your knowledge.

3. When you make a mistake or are wrong about something, be the first to admit it. Do it quickly and take a new, more accurate position. You are not wrong when you quickly change your mind about an incorrect idea.

4. If people try to correct you, do not assume they are trying to make you wrong. Instead, assume they are trying to help you. If their intentions seem genuine, accept their help.

5. Replace your purpose of being right with more constructive purposes: helping people, increasing your knowledge, improving your job skills, earning more money, creating a valuable company and so on.

You succeed when you are willing to be wrong. You can then find the truth and be correct.

Give it a try. Be wrong about something today!

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Come le droghe e le tossine nuociono al tuo successo - How Drugs and Toxins Hurt Your Success

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:38:07 GMT

How Drugs and Toxins Hurt Your Success

Toxin: A poisonous substance.

You are bombarded with toxins every day. Air pollution, water pollution and food chemicals get into your body. Toxins are in cleaning products, paint, fertilizers, construction material, bug sprays, even perfume.

Prescription drugs are also a major source of toxins that may solve one health problem, but can cause many new problems. Perhaps the worst toxins of all are street drugs: marijuana, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, meth and so on.

L. Ron Hubbard discovered three important facts about toxins:

1. Toxins, especially street drugs, have long-term effects on your personality.

Even after you stop using drugs, you are never your old self. You may be less alert or less intelligent than before you took drugs. You may not be as patient, friendly or kind. Life might seem less interesting and more stressful.

"Drugs can apparently change the attitude of a person from his original personality to one secretly harboring* hostilities and hatreds he does not permit to show on the surface." -- L. Ron Hubbard from "Clear Body, Clear Mind" (*harboring: holding in the mind; maintaining.)

Can you remember how you felt before you took drugs? Were you more alert? Was it easier to learn? Were you happier?

Maybe you can't remember because drugs and toxins tend to cloud your memory.

2. When you get toxins in your body, bits of these toxins do not leave.

Because they are stored in your body, they can enter your blood at any time to hurt your health, change your personality and block your ability to think.

"In the 1970s, working with cases of individuals who had been drug users, and in a study of their physical symptoms and behavioral patterns, I made a startling discovery.

"People who had been on LSD at some earlier time sometimes had reactions which appeared to act as if they had just taken more LSD!"

"LSD apparently stays in the system, lodging in the tissues, and mainly the fatty tissues of the body, and is liable to go into action again--giving the person unpredictable 'trips'--even years after the person has come off LSD."

"Thus it seems that residues* of any or all of these hostile biochemical* substances apparently have the potential of remaining in the system, getting caught up in the tissues and remaining there, unsuspected, even after they have supposedly been eliminated from the body years earlier."-- L. Ron Hubbard from "Clear Body, Clear Mind" (*residues: the parts of something that remains) (*biochemical: the chemicals of a living system)

Clinical tests and medical autopsies prove that toxins do, in fact, get embedded in body tissues.

3. You can remove the stored toxins from your body through an intense program of daily exercise, sweating and nutrition. The program is called the Purification program.

"How does the Purification program work?

"Running is done to get the blood circulating deeper into the tissues where toxic residuals are lodged and thus act to loosen and release the accumulated harmful deposits and get them moving.

"Very important, then, is that the running is immediately followed by sweating in the sauna to flush out the accumulations which have now been dislodged.

"Regular nutrition and supplemental nutrition in the form of megavitamin* and mineral dosages and extra quantities of oil are a vital factor in helping the body to flush out toxins and to repair and rebuild the areas that have been affected by drugs and other toxic residuals.

"A proper schedule with enough rest is mandatory, as the body will be undergoing change and repair throughout the program.

"These actions, carried out on a very stringently monitored basis, are apparently accomplishing a detoxification of the entire system, to the renewed health and vigor of the individual." -- L. Ron Hubbard from "Clear Body, Clear Mind" (*megavitamin dosages: large amounts of vitamins)

Results

During the Purification program, most people can tell which toxins are moving out of their bodies. For example, On Day 2 your mouth might feel numb as the drugs, given to you by your dentist, are sweated out. On Days 4, 5 and 6 you might feel high from the marijuana you smoked in college. On Day 7, as they flush out, you might smell the paint chemicals that you inhaled from your days as a painter.

While you are doing the Purification program, you eliminate traces of toxins every day. You experience many ups and downs as the drugs and chemicals are rinsed out of your body. And then one day, near the end of your program, you feel cleaner and healthier than you have in years!

All of the 250,000 people, who have completed the Purification program, report one or more of the following benefits.

Improved physical condition
Clearer thinking
More positive outlook on life
Increased self-confidence
Younger feeling
More alert
Increased energy level
Improved smell, taste, hearing, touch and vision

Flushing out the drugs and toxins stored in your body significantly increases your chances of success.

You can buy "Clear Body, Clear Mind" at Amazon.com by clicking here.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

Approfitta delle opportunità che si presentano, Primo Passo - Take Advantage of Your Opportunities, Step One

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:34:51 GMT

Take Advantage of Your Opportunities, Step One

Right now, you can make a decision that will make you more successful. Right now, you can take a step that will move you closer to your goals. Right now, you can change something about your life that will make you healthier and happier. However, if you find it hard to make decisions or take action, you miss these opportunities.

What opportunities have you missed? How much did your indecision cost you?

Indecision costs companies millions when they fail to decide or fail to act. An opportunity comes and goes while management sits on its hands. For example, IBM could have controlled the personal computer market if it had acted on Bill Gates' offer to handle their computer operating software for them. Barnes and Noble was the world's biggest bookseller until Amazon.com took over. By the time Barnes and Noble started selling books on the Internet, Amazon.com had taken the number one spot.

When you as an individual fail to make a decision or fail to act, you can also ruin your success or happiness. For example, you could have started a business when you were in your twenties. You could have formed a partnership with a very successful person. You could have made better decisions regarding your ex-spouse.

You have probably seen big opportunities, knew they were big opportunities, and failed to act on them.

In fact, you probably have one or more opportunities in front of you now. So what makes you hesitate?

The Answer Is Simple

"Inaction and indecision in the present is because of fear of consequences of the future." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Because you are afraid of certain consequences, you do not act or do not decide. You are afraid of what might happen. You can see this principle at work with the following exercise.

Five Tips for Conquering Your Fear of Consequences

1. Write down an opportunity that is available to you right now.

2. Write down the decision that is difficult to make or the action that is difficult to take.

3. Write down the consequences you might be afraid of.

4. Of these consequences, identify your biggest fear or fears.

5. Take action to resolve this fear or fears.

You can then make the correct decision or take the actions necessary for your success.

Example

Richard has always wanted to be a business owner. His brother Alan calls one day and says, "How would you like to be partners with me on a Crazy Chicken franchise? It's the best fast-food chicken in the world! It'll be worth millions some day. Just give me that $20,000 you have in savings, quit your job and we'll start!"

Richard likes the idea, but feels frozen. "I'll think about it." He then spends 80 stressful hours during the next two weeks trying to decide.

Everyone has an opinion for him and he listens to them all. His wife says, "Do what you think is right." His mother says, "Don't be stupid." His father says, "Go for it!" He still can't decide.

Finally, a friend at work gives him this article and Richard does the five steps as follows:

1. "I have the opportunity to be a partner with my brother Alan in a Crazy Chicken restaurant."

2. "I can't decide if buying the Crazy Chicken franchise will be successful or not."

3. "The future consequences I might be afraid of are that I'll lose my savings. I'll look like a fool. I'll regret quitting my job. I'll be cleaning a kitchen for the rest of my life."

4. "What's the biggest fear? Well, I can always save more money, so I'm not too afraid of losing my savings. I don't care if I look foolish. I doubt I'll really regret quitting my job. But I can't stand cleaning kitchens! I'm terrified that I'll spend the rest of my life cleaning kitchens. I'd rather beg on the street than clean a kitchen."

5. Richard calls his brother. "Alan, if I do this deal, will you be in charge of kitchen cleaning forever?"

Alan says, "Sure!"

Richard says, "I want it in writing. I'll serve the food, take the money, sweep the parking lot or anything else. But if I have to clean the kitchen, even one time, you have to agree to buy me out immediately, okay?"

Alan says, "No problem. You will never, ever clean a kitchen at Crazy Chicken."

Richard laughs, makes the deal and quits his job.

Courage = Decision and Action

What opportunities lie in front of you? Why aren't you acting on them? After all, they are your options for your success.

If you remember this fact, you have the first key to taking advantage of opportunities:

"Inaction and indecision in the present is because of fear of consequences of the future." -- L. Ron Hubbard

What about the future makes you nervous? What future consequences scare you?

Identify and resolve these fears and you become decisive, active and successful.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

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Affinità, Realtà e Comunicazione 6a parte: lo strumento matrimoniale per eccellenza - ARC Part 6: The Ultimate Marriage Tool

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:54:06 GMT

The Ultimate Marriage Tool
Affinity, Reality and Communication (ARC)

"The ARC Triangle is the keystone of living associations." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Affinity: how well you like or love a person
Reality: how much agreement you have with a person; what you agree to be real
Communication: your exchange of information and ideas
Understanding: The result of combining affinity, reality and communication

Part 6: How ARC Can Save or Improve Your Marriage

As with all of your relationships, your marriage succeeds or fails based on ARC. The more you communicate, the more you agree on things, and the greater your affinity for your spouse, the better your marriage. If you do not communicate, do not agree and do not like each other, the marriage is doomed.

"Marriages fall apart simply because of a failure of communication, because of a failure of reality and affinity." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Young lovers believe, "Our love is so strong, it will make our marriage last forever." Of course, if affinity is all they have, sooner or later, the lack of agreement or poor communication ruins the relationship.

For example, Julie and Jeff meet at a coffee shop one night, fall madly in love and get married. When apart, they can't think of anything but each other. When together, they can't keep their hands off each other. Neither have experienced so much affinity, so they get married.

But their reality point suffers. Julie doesn't agree with Jeff's decision to start a plumbing shop. She would rather he became an accountant. Jeff doesn't agree with Julie's urge to socialize. He'd rather she stayed at home.

To compensate, they decide to not communicate, "Let's not talk about those things right now. All that matters is that we will love each other forever." Of course, by not communicating about their disagreements, their love/affinity begins to dwindle.

Julie and Jeff stop holding hands as often. Sometimes they ignore each other at home. They keep secrets from each other. They argue about little things, like where to eat dinner, who should clean the house and which type of cat food is best.

The little things become bigger things: choices of friends, money, sex and so on. The arguments become fights. Jeff storms out and stays away for a few nights. Julie moves back with her parents. The marriage dies.

As another example, Bill and Diana know how to use the ARC Triangle. When they first meet at work, they feel the same incredible feeling of affinity toward each other. Love songs, sunsets and hugs become amazing experiences for both of them.

But as they begin to plan their life together, Bill and Diana take the time to bring their communication and reality up to the same level as their affinity point. They say things like:

"Instead of going to a movie tonight, why don't we talk about our goals. Maybe we can agree on a future together."

"If we were to stay together, we'd have to agree on how we would spend our time together. I like to spend time with my old friends. What do you think?"

"I need to tell you something I did wrong and really regret, but we agreed to not have secrets. Can I tell you now?"

While they might experience some glitches in their relationship, the strength of their affinity AND reality AND communication is stronger than any problems they encounter. Bill and Diana get married and stay married for decades, based on all three points of the ARC Triangle.

Recommendations

You can improve your marriage, or even save a bad marriage, by improving your ARC.

1. Write down how you can improve your communication with your spouse.

2. Write down how you can reach more agreements with your spouse.

3. Write down how you can increase your affinity for your spouse.

4. Take the easiest task and do it today.

5. Do the rest of the tasks and continue these steps until your ARC with your spouse is higher and your marriage is better than ever!

To read Parts 1 through 5, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/arc1.htm

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Fermare la confusione! - Stop the Confusion!

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:45:38 GMT

Stop the Confusion!

You cannot succeed if you are confused. Your education, skills and experience are made useless by confusion. Every failure you have ever had included some confusion.

For example, you want to earn more money. So you take a computer class and learn to use some basic software. You gain the education to earn more pay, but because you are confused about how to get a better job, you do nothing.

As another example, you want to raise your teenage boy to be happy and successful. One day, you find strange pills and marijuana in his room. You want to punish him, but you hate how your parents punished you. So you become confused and ineffective.

Confusion makes you stop and worry. It spins you around and stops your progress. It makes you feel stupid.

If your boss says, "You're fired!" or your spouse says, "I want a divorce," the confusion can wipe you out for weeks.

Confusion makes you give up on your goals. You agree to accept the limitations and barriers of life. You stop trying to get ahead. You settle for less.

Fortunately, you can eliminate confusions.

Confusion and the Stable Datum

In Chapter Two of his book The Problems of Work, L. Ron Hubbard shows how you can erase confusions by simply grasping one part of the confusion.

"The switchboard operator receiving ten calls at once solves the confusion by labeling, correctly or incorrectly, one call as the first call to receive her attention. The confusion of ten calls all at once becomes less confusing the moment she singles out one call to be answered."

"Until one selects one datum*, one factor*, one particular* in a confusion of particles, the confusion continues. The one thing selected and used becomes the stable datum for the remainder." -- L. Ron Hubbard (*Datum: one fact or piece of information. Factor: element or ingredient. Particular: a single thing; separate and distinct)

Example: After a year at your first job at Tom's Car Repair Shop, Tom retires, the shop goes out of business. When you hear the news, you feel confused as you've never had another job. Your head spins with too many thoughts. You sit at home and worry.

So you select one thing as your stable datum: "I am a great mechanic. I can fix anything." You suddenly relax. Your head stops spinning. "I'm a GREAT MECHANIC!"

Because you no longer feel confused, but feel confident, you get a great job fixing airplanes at United Airlines.

As another example, Jill's parents send her to college. They want her to become a doctor, but she leaves medical school to become a party planner. Her parents are furious with her. They yell at her over the telephone and then refuse to talk to her. Because her parents had never been this angry, Jill becomes very confused. She cannot think about her parents, school, party planning or her future without getting confused.

At first, she gives up on everything and stays in bed all day. But then she selects a stable datum: "I'm sure that deep down, my parents still love me despite our disagreement." She no longer feels confused and knows what to do. She sends her parents a nice e-mail about the weather and includes a picture of her pet cat. Her father writes back, thanks her for the message and tells her they are sorry and will support whatever career she pursues.

No matter what confusion is blocking your success, the "Confusion and Stable Datum" technique can clear your mind and help you take positive action.

Try These Three Easy Steps

You can use this technique in many ways. For example, you can resolve a confusion by deciding on your next action:

1. Write down a problem, situation or project that is on your mind. It can be anything that is difficult, disorganized or confusing.

2. Write down the result you wish to accomplish.

What is the optimum conclusion? If everything goes well, what will happen with this problem, situation or project? What would make you feel you resolved the problem or completed the project?

3. Finally, write down the NEXT PHYSICAL ACTION STEP you need to take. This is your stable datum.

What can you do? What act will move you closer to the optimum condition? If you had nothing else to do besides work on this project, what single thing would you do?

"Schedule a meeting" is too vague. Instead, be specific. Examples: "Tell Jack to find the Smith file." "Watch the training video." "Buy a box of folders." "Make ten calls by noon." "Clean out the closet." "Train Nancy to answer the telephone politely."

Selecting a specific action puts you in charge. You feel some control of the situation. You don't even need to do the action; just working it out gives you a stable datum and blows off the confusion.

For example, your finances are a mess. You do not know how much money you have or whom you owe. Your bills do not get paid on time. You are so worried and confused, you avoid the problem.

You take one minute and write down the following:

"1. Situation: My finances are a confused mess."

"2. Objective: Organize my finances so I pay my bills properly."

"3. Action Step: Before doing anything else, go to the bank and open a new checking account."

Suddenly, your head clears up. You no longer worry about the big confusion; you just focus on opening a new bank account. You select a stable datum and stop the confusion.

Any action step can act as the stable datum: "Buy a calculator." "Put all my bills in one folder." "Cut up my credit cards." The action step does not even need to be the BEST action step to erase the confusion; any action step or any stable datum is fine.

You have correctly selected a stable datum when you no longer feel confused.

Benefits

* Working out a stable datum for the confusion helps you organize your thoughts.

* As soon as you have time to work on the project, you have a starting point. You can focus on one specific act, not a big cloudy mess.

* You feel less stress and more confidence.

* You feel motivated and energized to take action.

* You become smarter; you make better decisions.

* You are one step closer to your goals and ultimate success.

So what confusions are stopping your success?

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