IN THIS ISSUE:

1. LIFE SKILL FOR BUSINESS!

List 101 Good Things You Did in 2001!

2. BUSINESS SKILL FOR LIFE!

Be REALLY Courageous... Look Inside!

3. SIGN UP FOR PEACE!

Make peace with someone today.
Visit Peaceoffer.net


4. GET MEGA-REFERRALS FOR LIFE!
Visit MEGA-Referrals.com

==========================
1. LIFE SKILL FOR BUSINESS
==========================

List 101 Good Things You Did in 2001

This week's life skill for business is simple:

Make a list of 101 good things you did in 2001.

Then, put this list where you can see it every day in 2002.

Complete this two-step this week, and you'll be dancing to
different music this time next year.

Most of us spend a lot of time on what's missing, what's wrong,
what we don't have, didn't accomplish, aren't doing, and what's
not perfect yet. We spend more time setting goals about the
things we're "going to do" or "want to have" in the future.

What often gets overlooked in the process is celebrating what
we DO have, what we have done, what we contribute and how
we make a difference.

Let's spend as much time counting our blessings as we do
counting our money!

This is a good week to create a new pattern.

Make a list of all the good things you did in 2001, however
small or insignificant they might seem. This is a wonderful
process to share with your family, and a great way to enlist
the support of those you love and care about.

It's a nice gift to give when you ask others to remind you of the
good things you've done, especially those you may have
forgotten.

Ask your friends, business associates, colleagues and especially,
ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS.

If you really want to jump start business in 2002, go to your
customers (you can even approach non-buyers) and ask them,
"What good things did we do for you in 2001?" This definitely
qualifies as a courageous act (see this week's business skill).

If you really want to start the year off positively, ask everyone,
"What good things did I do this past year?"

See if you can list 101 good things you did in 2001. If you
don't get to 101, keep adding to it until you do. It's not the
length of the list that's important, nor does getting to 101
really matter.

The value is the shift in thinking that puts your attention on
the good things you do in life. This simple shift in attention
will transform your life.

This week's Life Skill for Business:

Make a list of 101 good things you did in 2001. Keep adding to it.

Put this list in front of you every day in 2002.

===========================
2. BUSINESS SKILL FOR LIFE
===========================

Be REALLY Courageous... Look Inside!

For the last 111 days, we've witnessed remarkable acts of
courage from firefighters, police, EMS, the armed forces,
volunteers and "ordinary" citizens. Their bravery has inspired
us, and in the process has redefined our concept of "hero."

Certainly, people who put their lives on the line every day are
courageous. For those of us who don't fight wars, crime or fires,
how do we know we have courage? How can I "be" courageous
when my work doesn't call upon me to do anything that is life
threatening, or life-saving?

Is there another kind of courage, one that takes as much
bravery and inner strength as marching into battle, catching a
criminal or running into a burning building? This is a kind of
courage not spoken about and not celebrated. It surely won't
make the papers or the evening news.

Yet, it's a kind of courage that can "save" lives.
What kind of courage is this?

It's the courage it takes to look in the mirror and to love, value
and accept the person looking back at you. It's the kind of
courage it takes to be imperfect, "flawed" and vulnerable; in
other words, human.

Putting one's life on the line seems to be the ultimate in
courage and bravery. You'll get no disagreement from me. For
21 years, my dad was one of New York City's finest. I always
looked up to him. When it comes to blue-collar backgrounds,
you can't get much more blue than NYPD blue.

While many of us wouldn't hesitate to put ourselves in harms
way, even run into a burning building to save a life, do we have
that same kind of courage when it comes to taking a good,
honest look at ourselves?

In times of danger adrenaline kicks in, endorphins activate and
chemical changes occur that make us more bold, daring and
courageous. Usually, this isn't as much a conscious response as
it is a subconscious, fight or flight reaction. Our animal
instincts take over.

On the other hand, looking in the mirror is a voluntary act. It's
not a reaction to something outside, but a personal choice to
see what's inside. For many people, to muster the courage to
explore what's on the inside takes every bit the courage as what
it takes to confront life-threatening danger on the outside.

Why does it take so much courage to look at ourselves for who
we REALLY are and what we're REALLY all about?

I often refer to the work of Nobel Prize nominee Dr. Robert
Hartman, the world's pioneer in the science of Axiology (the
study of human values and value judgments), whose work we
continue and commit to sharing with the world. In his book,
Freedom to Live, he says:

*********************************************************************
"Our lore is full of stories of men laying down their lives for
the sake of what they think or what they have or what they
want; but how many have laid down what they think or have or
want the for the sake of their lives?"
*********************************************************************

Putting life on the line for what we think or have or want has
been our model of bravery and courage. People (mostly men)
have been laying down their lives for thousands of years.

But Hartman's question speaks about a different kind of
courage, an inner strength needed to look honestly at who and
what we are. Hartman implies a powerful truth; what we think
or have or want is NOT as valuable as life itself.

Are YOU willing to lay down what you think or have or want for
the sake of your life?

If there is one universal "resolution" each of us can make for
2002 it is to BE who we are here to be. Resolve to live simply,
and simply live. That's not to say, "don't set goals." Set goals.
Goals are great to have; or not. Some people say you can't
achieve in life if you don't have goals. Maybe, maybe not. Lots
of people have great success without setting goals.

Goals are nice to have, but they are NOT necessary nor are they
mandatory to live a happy life. Happiness is an intrinsic value,
a state of being. There are wealthy people who are very
unhappy. There are people who earn modestly, yet are quite
happy. Money and material things make us wealthy, but they
don't make us happy. We be happy, we don't "earn" happy.

Goals are systemic values, concepts, ideas and beliefs we create
about who we think we should be, what we think we ought to
do, and how much we think we are supposed to have. All too
often, we mistake goals for life itself.

Goals represent only one dimension of life, a dimension that is
not the most enriching nor the most valuable. The richness of
life is less in having, more in the doing, and most in the being.
Having is good. There is nothing wrong with having a lot.

But happiness and a rich life don't depend on having anything.
They come from being who you are, being with those you love,
and doing things that matter; to you. At the end of your days,
what will be most precious and important to you: things you
had, or what you did and who you were?

What continues after us and is remembered about us are what
we did and who we were. I have read more obituaries in the
last 111 days than in the 17,000 days I lived before 9/11. I
noticed that none of them listed the person's net worth, yet
all of them mentioned the loved ones left behind.

There is at least one very GOOD thing that emerged from 9/11
that spurs hope that someday, we will look back on 2001 as a
major positive turning point in history.

A personal shift has occurred on a global level. Nine-eleven
caused us to re-evaluate what really matters, and remember
the ultimate truth that ONE HUMAN BEING counts more than
all the money, material things and ideologies put together. We
know this.

Now, it's time to remember it daily, and be ever vigilant to
remind ourselves lest we forget.

This is a way we can honor the lives of those lost, comfort their
families and instill hope in all children for generations to
come.

Freedom and peace are not concepts; they are states of being.
We be free; we are peaceful. If everyone were free and peaceful
(two things we have personal control over), there would be
little if anything to fight about. If we were all free and peaceful,
we'd have other ways of resolving our differences.

Of course, we know free and peaceful is not the state of the real
world. In the real world, people put ideologies and beliefs
(systemic values), and money and material things (extrinsic
values) ahead of, and above the infinite (and intrinsic) value of
human life. It's always been that way.

Does it always have to be that way?

Something changed on nine-eleven. The spirit world awoke.
Global spirituality hit critical mass.

An act of unspeakable inhumanity woke us up to the real order
of value in our world. Whatever your belief or disbelief in god,
a supreme power or universal being (ness), we have been most
painfully reminded that life is sacred, and that the human
spirit rises above material things and earthly possessions.

Now it's up to us to live it daily. It's especially important for
Americans to show that our spiritual power even exceeds our
military might. As a melting pot, we have a unique contribution
to make to the world. We also need this to heal ourselves.

During this year ahead, let's hope you don't have to run into a
burning building, face down a criminal or be put in harms way.
Every day life calls on us to be courageous.

Take a close look at your life, your livelihood and your living.
Get a check-up from the neck up. See how your thinking serves
you, and where it gets in the way. What are your untapped
talents and abilities waiting to be harnessed, and where are the
blind spots and limiting beliefs kicking your life out of balance?

What brings you joy and satisfaction, and what is causing you
pain and suffering? I've been asking myself these questions:

"Will I allow myself to have it as good as I deserve it?"
"Will I allow myself to enjoy what I do?"
"Will I allow myself to be who I really am?"

Can I muster the courage to live a happy life, enjoy my
livelihood, do work that matters, and appreciate whatever
prosperity and abundance come my way?

Can I be as happy when I have little as when I have a lot?

When I stepped into the warm shower, I said "thank you" for a
luxury millions of people won't experience this morning.

When I ate breakfast, I said "thank you" for the sustenance a
billion people won't be blessed with today.

When I got to my desk, I said "thank you" for the work I have
that two million fewer Americans don't have this new year.

When I go to bed, I will say "thank you" for being granted
another day of this wonderful adventure, and for having you in
my life.

Take a look inside. We know happiness is a place we come
from, not a place we go to. We don't do or have happy.
We choose happy.

Choose free. Choose peace. Choose life.

It's an act of courage every time you step into the fire of life.
There is nothing hotter than to face the flames of your own
thinking knowing if you get too close, you can get burned.

This is a time to be courageous.
Look inside. A hero lies in you.

This Week's Business Skill for Life:

Be REALLY Courageous Look Inside!

The life you find will be yours!

Do what you do well, better.

*********************************************************************
I invite you to take a unique look inside.

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Give yourself a most special New Year's gift. Take a look inside.
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================================
3. RAISE YOUR VOICE FOR PEACE!
================================

Make peace with someone today.

The New Year is a time to forgive people who trespassed
against us. It's also a time for us to apologize to those we
trespassed against. Forgiveness is a way to peace.

Make peace with someone today.
Visit PeaceOffer.net

While you're there, sign our guestbook
Please share peaceoffer.net with someone else.

================================
4. GET MEGA=-REFERRALS TODAY...
================================

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Until next year...

Make a list of 101 good things you did in 2001.
Be courageous look inside.
Sign up for peace at http://peaceoffer.net.
Get MEGA-Referrals at http://mega-referrals.com.

Make this one a WONDERFUL one.
Happy New Year.


Mitch Axelrod
Axelrod Learning
Voice: 973-736-1304
Fax: 973-736-3930

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