Savvify

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.

Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

Credit card companies are out to get you. They’re money grabbers. And they’ll do anything they can to squeeze even more money out of you. Don’t believe me? Read the fine print. It’s filled with hard-to-understand terms that stack the deck massively in their favor. But knowledge is power and if you want to avoid being squeezed, you’ve got to be aware of the following trickeries:

1. Behind your back rate increases - Always check your statements. Credit card companies are notorious for hiking up your rates up without warning you. Some automatically increase it if you’ve ever made a late payment.

2. Tempting offers - They’ll advertise a credit card with an extremely attractive low rate to reel you in. And then they’ll switch you to another card with a regular interest rate. Why would they do that? Because apparently, you failed to qualify for their promotional offer . . . how convenient.

3. Grace periods use to be around 30 days. Now it averages around 20 days. Which means you have less time to pay up before you start incurring interest on your balance. I guess they’re in a rush to collect.

4. Charging you interest for the last 2 billing cycles instead of one. Some credit card companies are getting a little more greedy by resorting to this tactic. If you’re carrying a balance, you won’t have a grace period for your new purchases unless you pay off your last 2 billing cycles in full.

5. Inactive cards. Better watch out! Some credit card companies may charge you a fee if you haven’t used your card within the last 6 months! Damn gougers!

6. Don’t be late! Or else they’ll charge you a hefty fee! As much as $40! And you know what else? They’ll even increase your interest rate just for the heck of it!

7. Accidentally going over your max? Well guess what? They’ll stick it to ya with hideous fees. As much as $40 a pop. And don’t forget - a $40 late fee can then trigger an additional $40 over the limit fee. Damn, that’s a lot of charges!

8. Transfer your balance to us and take advantage of our low introductory rate! Careful now, it sounds very tempting. Which is why your current credit card company will ding you up to 5% for transfering your balance out to a competing company. So, if your balance is $5,000 - it’ll cost $250 - Whoa! That’s sneaky. Ever wonder how the credit card industry manages to earn $5,000,000,000 ($5 billion) in fees? Well now you know.

9. What? You want to take these guys to court to dispute something? Ummm . . . not so fast. Read the fine print. You can’t take them to court. You’ll have to settle for mandatory arbitration. These guys have all their bases covered.

10. Taking advantage of the introductory low rate? Got a cash advance? Did you know that your card company will allocate your payments to the charges that will earn it the most money first? Which means that they’ll apply your payment to the balance that has the lower rate first so that the balance with the higher rate accumulates and compounds more interest. C’mon now! Can’t anyone catch a break these days?

Happiness . . . the ultimate pursuit, the most sought after thing in the world. Everyone wants it. It’s what keeps up going. It gives our life meaning. Every action and every goal is in some way way related to the attainment of our personal definition of happiness. But how do we define this abstract notion? Well, one way is to contrast happy people versus unhappy people and that’s exactly what I’ve done. It’s not an exact science but at least you’ll get the general idea of what it takes to be happy. And now, without further ado, here is the list:

Fill Your Days With Activity

Happy people love to keep themselves busy by doing things that are fun and enjoyable. They’re physically active and they love seeking out new adventures. They’re naturally curious and would jump at any opportunity to try new things like Indian food or surfing.

Unhappy people fill their days with lifeless routine bombarded with negative vibes. Everyday is a carbon copy of the previous day.

Go Out And Socialize!

Happy people are vivacious and love to go out to socialize. They crave human interaction and actively seek out opportunities to mingle with people.

Unhappy people tend to isolate themselves by withdrawing from social interaction.

Live A Meaningful And Productive Life

Happy people are involved in activities they strongly feel are personally meaningful and worthwhile. They base their life on “giving” and they love contributing to society.

Unhappy people haven’t found their calling yet. They are likely to be depressed about their circumstances and yet they don’t seem to be doing much to change their situation for the better.

Be A Go-Getter!

Happy people have strong sense of what they want. They have a plan on how to attain it and they go for it day after day.

Unhappy people wander aimlessly through life with no real sense of direction. They are confused and mostly lazy. They tend to procrastinate.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Happy people don’t dwell on things they can’t control. Instead, they plan ahead, execute, hope for the best, learn and then they let go of the rest. They have the discipline to control their thoughts and they choose not to preoccupy themselves with needless worry.

Unhappy people are constantly worrying about every little insignificant detail in their daily life.

Get Your Priorities Straight!

Happy people are already happy to begin with. They find their life very satisfying and fulfilling. They still pursue their personal goals but they enjoy the journey just as much as the destination. They understand that success does not lead to happiness but happiness DOES equal success.

Unhappy people place all their hopes and dreams on achieving success in order to feel happiness as the end result.

Create Your Own Reality And Fill It With Happiness

Happy people create their own reality and tell themselves that no matter what happens, they’ll be happy. They’re optimistic in nature and they’re always counting their blessings.

Unhappy people tend to focus on the worse possible outcomes in everyday situations. They think negatively and critically. There is no silver lining in their horizon since they’re always so pessimistic.

Focus On The Present

Happy people live life fully in the present. They are totally absorbed in what they’re currently doing now. They are constantly aware of everything that’s going on and they make the most out the present situation. They live each day as if it were the last.

Unhappy people dwell on past tragedies. They can’t shake their negative memories off. Everyday situations trigger their unhappy past to mind. Even their future predictions brings gloom and doom.

Accept Yourself

Happy people accept themselves wholeheartedly. They embark on a lifelong mission of improving themselves day after day.

Unhappy people allow others to influence how they view themselves. They get stuck in a vicious circle with all the negative labels and choose not to do anything about it.

Be Outgoing

Happy people are very comfortable in social settings. They’re friendly and usually extroverted. They’re not afraid to be the first to smile and say hi.

Unhappy people tend to keep to themselves and as a result they lose out on many opportunities.

Value Your Happiness And Strive To Attain It

Happy people place a high value on actively pursuing happiness and being content with whatever life hands them.

Unhappy people simply just let their life pass them by.

So . . . Which One Are You?

Some people have this great ability of being able to connect with virtually anyone they meet. Their conversations seem to be totally engaging, flowing easily and effortlessly from one topic to another. It’s almost as if they’re in their own little world, oblivious to their surroundings. It’s amazing what you can learn if you just step back and observe how these people manage to create their own “great chemistry.” The art of conversation is not as challenging as you may think it is. All it takes is a plan and a little bit of effort. Soon, you too will be enjoying great conversations with the people you meet.

1. Initiate Contact

Don’t be afraid to approach people and engage them into a conversation. You’ll be surprised at how receptive most people are. If you’re shy or are just unable to muster up the courage, try directing your focus to the other person instead of yourself. A lot of times, shyness stems from not being able to escape from thoughts of self-deficiency like worrying about how you look. Forget about yourself and be curious about the other person instead. Take the first step, make an introduction and shake their hand.

2. Express Your Interest In Them

Dale Carnegie, author of “How To Win Friends And Influence People” wrote: “It’s much easier to become interested in others than it is to convince them to be interested in you.” People love to talk about themselves and if you let them, you’ll be seen as a great conversationalist even if you hardly say anything at all. The key is asking thoughtful questions that encourage them to talk about their interests. Just make sure that the topics aren’t too personal or improper (sex, religion, politics), especially if this person is a new acquaintance. Ask about what they like to do, how they got started in their profession, their accomplishments, their dreams and so on. Choose the subjects that stir up positive feelings. Hopefully, by steering them into this direction, you’ll put them in a good mood and they’ll be more at ease with you.

3. Listen Attentively

There’s a reason why you have two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion. You have to be completely absorbed with what they’re saying to truly understand where they’re coming from. Stay in the present moment and let the other person know that you’re listening by nodding, making eye contact and by saying things to encourage them to expand their thoughts further. By doing this, you’re showing them that you’re paying attention to what they’re saying and not thinking about something else - like what you’re going to say next.

4. Warning

Avoid being judgmental and squash your desire to play games of one-upmanship by trying to beat their story with one of your own for example. Sometimes it’s very tempting to criticize others and to tell them what they should do. It’s not our place to force our beliefs onto them. Our aim is to have an enjoyable conversation where we learn and support each other unconditionally.

5. Your Turn

You’ll know when it’s your turn to talk. When it’s time, pause a little just in case they didn’t finish their thoughts and also to show consideration before you respond. You can start off by paying a sincere compliment on their insights or you can inject a few thoughts to help further along the conversation. The smoothest thing to do though, is to paraphrase back what you’ve heard and have them clarify what they think or feel about it.

6. Don’t Panic Over Silence

This is the time to review what’s been said during the conversation. You can ask another question or introduce another topic that is somewhat related to what’s been discussed. Or you can spice it up by recounting a personal story or a current event that is connected to some of the points that they’ve made. Whatever it is, you can trasition it into another conversation.

7. End It On A Good Note

Eventually, you’ll both run of steam or one person will want to move on. This is the perfect time to tell them how much you’ve enjoyed talking to them. Exchange contact information and be sure to find reasons to follow up with them frequently because you never know what kind of good stuff the future may bring just by keeping in touch! Leave a good impression and hopefully your initial meeting will be the start of a wonderful friendship!

If you ask people what they fear the most, you’ll likely hear that death and public speaking are at the top of their lists. Now, it’s quite understandable why people don’t want to die, I’m not very eager to see the end myself but I do know that it’s inevitable. Wanna know what I’m even more afraid of than dying?

Not Living Life To Its Fullest

I am much more afraid of wasting my life than I am of dying. I don’t want to just “exist” for the sake of existing. I don’t want to just pass by planet Earth without making a difference and improving it in some way. I don’t want to end my life thinking back about how I wish that I could’ve done this or that I could’ve done that. I don’t want to feel the pain of regret.

The point that I’m trying to make is this: There’s nothing you can do about death but there’s so much that you can do about how you live. This reminds me of a quote that I recently heard while watching one of my all time favorite movies, Shawshank Redemption: “Get busy living or get busy dying.” Immediately after hearing those words from Morgan Freeman, I began to reflect on my own life and I decided right there on the spot that from now on I will do everything I can to live my life to its fullest. Here’s the plan, if you want to join me:

1. List All Your Desired Accomplishments:

Write down everything you want to accomplish in life. Let your imagination run wild and start listing all the places that you want to visit, people that you want to meet, things that you want to try and anything else that you can think of.

2. Take Risks:

Don’t be afraid of taking risks. I’m not suggesting that you be reckless and jump off a cliff without a parachute, what I am saying is that nobody really lives until they take chances that test their comfort boundaries. Push a little further, try something new, be more adventurous. Playing it safe is fine if you just want to just get by in life but do you think you’ll have regrets later on in life?

3. Find Humor In Everyday Situations:

Can you imagine what life would be like if there was no laughter? Wouldn’t it be miserable and depressing if everybody took everything so seriously? Humor cuts through tension. It’s a great ice breaker and a stress reliever. It’ll help you through difficult times and make the good times seem even better. Humor naturally attracts positive experiences and good people.

4. Live With Integrity:

Your reputation is extremely valuable and you must be willing to forsake any momentary advantage that you might gain from someone who stands to lose something. Think about the long term effects and act for the highest good of all. Use the Front Page Newspaper Test.

5. Give And You Shall Receive:

As Zig Ziglar once said: “You can have everything in life that you want if you just give enough other people what they want.”

6. Take Vacations:

You’ll be amazed how a change of scenery can instantly pour energy back into your body. You’ll clear your mind and revitalize your spirit. Sometimes, a little break is all you need. Being too focused for too long can be counterproductive. So a change of pace is just what you need. Learn more about it in this article.

7. Practice Selective Memory:

Sometimes, life just doesn’t go our way. Many people get stuck reliving their past and are unable to shake out of their never ending loop of unproductive negativity. Don’t fall victim to this lethal cycle. Instead, learn from your bad experiences and then let it go completely. Try retaining only the best memories, especially when you were super confident and when everything was “clicking” perfectly for you.

8. Dream Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals!

Let everyone else worry about the little things that don’t really matter in the end. Push yourself to tackle the goals that really challenge you. How else are you going to grow? Think about your past for a moment and remember how gratifying it was when you really challenged yourself. You may or may not have achieved the results you wanted but I’m certain you felt much more alive.

Alright, it’s time to commit yourself into REALLY LIVING from now on. No more “going thorough the motions”. No more regrets. In the end, when it’s time to finally check out, you’ll look back on your life with a huge smile on your face thinking: “Wow! That was fun!”

Every year millions of people decide to start off with a fresh clean slate by making new lifestyle resolutions like exercising regularly and eating a healthier diet. If you’ve ever been to the gym in the beginning of January, you’ll notice huge swarms of people doing their thing on the treadmills, stair climbers and elliptical machines. What they’re doing is very admirable. At least they’re taking charge of their fitness routine and following through with it. But, usually by the time February rolls around, their enthusiasm starts to fade. The crowds begin to disappear and people just lose their motivation as soon as they realize that it’s just too much work. It doesn’t have to be this way. If you’ve abandoned your fitness routine, there’s no need to feel guilty about it. Now is the perfect time to get rolling again and to make a firm commitment to be in it for the long run. Here are some tips on staying with your workout program.

Do The Things You Enjoy
If you don’t like weightlifting then don’t do it. Try Yoga or basketball or bike riding. Anything that captures your attention. The point is, if you love it, you’ll tend to stick with it.

Change It Up
If you find yourself losing interest or dreading your workouts, then it’s time to find something else to do. So listen to your body and try something new. There are so many different activities that you can participate it in. Things like kayaking, beach volleyball, martial arts or even ultimate frisbee. Personally, I find that interactive / competitive sports to be much more interesting than running on the treadmill. It’s just far more engaging.

Make It A Habit
Pencil it into your daily schedule and try to work out at the same time each day. Make an appointment with yourself and don’t miss it. Whether it’s the morning or afternoon, it’s completely up to you but make it into a habit and not just a hobby that you dabble in once in a while.

Find A Partner
Get a workout partner that you can count on. Make sure this person is serious about their fitness commitment. Ideally, your partner should be the type of person who won’t let you quit and is always in a cheerful, motivating mood. Just be sure the two of you don’t decide to binge at the local Dairy Queen instead of going for a swim on those off days when you don’t feel like exercising.

Warm Up Thoroughly
You don’t want injure yourself right off the bat. So ease yourself into your workout by doing some stretches for all your major muscle groups and some light cardio. Ten to fifteen minutes should be sufficient but listen to your body and make sure you’re warmed up before you started.

Don’t Overdo It
Stressing your body too much is not a good thing. Overtraining can jeopardize your progress by putting you at risk for injury. Your body needs time to recover. Take a few days off and relax for a bit, especially if you’re really sore.

Keep A Journal
It’s always nice to see how far you’ve come along! Chart your progress by keeping detailed records of what you did and how you felt. Also, you can write notes about where you need to improve and what you can shoot for on your next session. Also, plan a nice reward for yourself whenever you reach a milestone. It’ll keep you going like a dangling carrot in front of a rabbit.

Set Realistic Goals
You’re not going to lose 20 pounds in one week. You’re not going to shave a minute off your mile run. Changes don’t happen overnight. Getting in shape is a slow and steady process. Your body needs time to adjust and to transform itself. If your expectations are unrealistic, you’re likely to get discouraged. And if you’re not careful, it’ll lead you back to your old habits. So don’t be looking for quick fixes. Slow and steady is the name of the game.

Visualize And Focus
Before and during your workouts, visualize and focus on every movement your body makes. Intensify it. Feel it getting stronger and more powerful. Connect your current body to the body you desire to have. Mental imagery is a very powerful tool. Your progress will improve dramatically when you feel the mind-body connection.

Eat Right
You wouldn’t want to waste all your efforts by eating a bucket of greasy fried chicken, would you? Take the time to plan your meals and eat right. There are millions of dieting plans out there so I’m not going to get into this subject. Just use your common sense and eat sensibly.

There you have it. Some practical tips that you can start applying into your routine. There’s no excuse to live a sedentary life anymore. Besides, what’s more fun? Sitting at home watching television while eating potato chips or going out and having a great time playing sports with your friends?

How is it that some people always get what they want from life while others seem to be down on their luck all the time? Is it their family upbringing? Their education? Their outlook on life? Or are some people just plain lucky?

Most people will attribute their achievements or failures to outside factors. But if you look within yourself, you’ll realize that you are exactly where you are right now because of what you have defined for yourself. Think about that for a minute. Your expectations from life is creating your current reality. You become what you think about most of the time. For example:

If you’re on a diet and you managed to lose 10 lbs. in one month but for some reason, you still have this image of your former self, then it’s very likely that you’ll gain all of your weight back.

If you make $100,000 a year and all of sudden you get laid off, chances are you’ll be back on your feet in no time earning around the same amount of money that you have come to expect from yourself.

Your expectations are essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy. Any image that is conceived in your mind will eventually translate into reality if you allow it to. The good news is that from now on, you have the opportunity to shape your life the way you want it to be. Here’s how:

1. Practice self-awareness:

Ask yourself how you’re currently feeling. Are you excited? Tired? Sad? Happy? Whatever you feel, express it right now and accept it wholeheartedly. Then decide if you want to continue to feel this way. If not, you have the power to change it. Analyze what your inner voice is telling you. Sometimes it can be filled with ridiculous limiting thoughts, other times your inner voice can give you flashes of insights that can excite you into taking positive action.

2. Constantly visualize your ideal outcome:

Create mental snapshots of your ideal life. Better yet, cut out some images from different magazines that represent the things that you want in your life and make a scrapbook. Keep coming back to these images that you’ve put together. Visualize it througout the day to reinforce it firmly in your mind.

3. Begin and follow through:

Despite all the fear and obstacles that you may face, you must take that first step and work on it continually until it is completed to your satisfaction. There’s no other way if you don’t begin now.

4. Re-evaluate and adjust accordingly:

Along the way, you’ll be facing some difficult obstacles. Thank God for these challenges! If it were too easy, it’s probably not worth pursuing. Just leave it to your mind to solve any problems that you may encounter. It sounds rather simplistic, but your mind is a powerful tool and it’ll always find a way for you. Trust it completely. And remember to step back occasionally to look at the overall picture and to ensure that your goals mean something to you.

5. Enjoy your journey and give thanks.

Have fun during the entire process. Life is so much easier when you’re “playing” rather than “working.”

Every second of each day, your inner voice is constantly communicating with you. What is it saying? Is it limiting you in some way? Or is it encouraging you by telling you that you can do it? Pay very close to attention to the dialogue that happens in between your ears. Follow through with the thoughts that empower you. And if you notice any negativity in your mind, analyze it to find the positive intention behind it. Remember, your mind is a powerful problem solving tool. Use it to achieve everything that you’ve ever wanted from life.

Living with integrity is something that many of us strive to achieve. It’s a lot easier when everything is going smoothly in our lives but when adversity strikes, will you be able to maintain your composure and act in a way that’s best for everyone involved?

One good way to ensure that you’re doing the right thing is to use the front page newspaper test. If you don’t want to see your actions headlined in the front page of your local newspaper, then don’t take that path. It’s a simple barometer to use whenever you face a difficult dilemma.

People who have integrity understand that everything in life is connected. What you do now will come back to you at some point in the future. It’s the law of cause and effect, some even call it karma. All it means is if you do good things, good things will happen to you - if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you. You are responsible for all actions that you take and all its consequences.

Your reputation is extremely valuable and you must be willing to forsake any momentary advantage that you might gain from someone who stands to lose something. Think about the long term effects and act for the highest good of all.

Be sensitive to the other side and act in an ethically responsible way. When you do that, you are showing respect for yourself and for others. When you have integrity, you’re life will be much more fulfilling and your relationships will think very highly of you.