Todays post is written by guest author Megan Jones, who writes about the Online College Degree
She welcomes your feedback at Meg.Jones0310[at]gmail.com

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Chicken Soup for the Soul, the book series that originated the many inspirational and uplifting stories that infiltrated throughout the late 1990s and have continued to this day, continues to publish books relating to the times.

The most recent addition, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Times, Tough People contains 101 stories about overcoming the economic crisis and other challenges.  This is a perfect addition to modern society with the economy frightening so many people, and the ability of this series to mold itself to any obstacle is a telling sign of its staying power within society.

Tough Times, Tough People

The newest book mentions the many disasters which have occurred during the past years, such as hurricanes, fires, health difficulties, and financial difficulties; the many stories within the book serve to aid others in similar situations reach a peaceful peak of life.

So many peoples’ lives have been ravaged by the recent events in this century and Chicken Soup for the Soul truly reaches out and provides comfort to many, allowing them to realize that they are not alone in their troubles.

This has been one of the core values since the onset of the series in 1993, in which the original creators Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield reached out to ordinary people to contribute stories of their extraordinary abilities to move beyond difficult moments in their lives.

The incorporation of the series into the pop culture world additionally increased its popularity amongst readers and allowed the series to flourish, producing over 100 copies over the tenure of its existence.  The retail sales now are in the billions and the company has merged with other inspirational magazines and publications.

Additional Chicken Soup Titles

Other new titles that have recently been published include Chicken Soup for the Soul: Campus Chronicles, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Golf Book (in which they partnered with Golf Digest), and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms.

Many of these new books are important for an ever evolving society, especially the book about Power Moms, which indicates the new choice among many women to stay at home with their kids or work from home.

For so many years, women did not want to simply become a stay at home mom because of the connotations which were associated with this and the need to become independent.  However, with the new ability to work from home now, more and more women are considering this to be a feasible option which Chicken Soup taps into amidst the increasing suburban stay at home moms that are infiltrating society.

This book assists in proving that many of these women are multi-tasking and high-performing, able to actively participate in society, work from home, and raise a family.  These women should be applauded rather than shunned because of their choice to place family above work.

All the recent publications relate back to modern society and promote an inspirational outlook on nearly every realm of life, from divorce, to coping with the “empty nest syndrome”.  It seems as though the Chicken Soup books will never tire audiences with their ability to inspire and promote ideals of love and acceptance.

Feel free to share your thoughts with this wonderful review from Megan, thanks!

Personal Development Journey

A few years back when I began my Personal Development Journey one of the main reasons I did so was because I was frustrated that life wasn’t turning out how I thought it should. Mainly in the area of wealth.

I went to school, got a good job, found my partner in life, bought a house and we had two kids! Sound familiar?

So why did we always seem to struggle with our finances? Mostly, the reason I found which attributed to this was because in school, we are not taught to create wealth, rather, we are taught to finish school, work hard at a good job and then retire.

Today, schools do not offer to teach us about investing in property or the stock market or even building a profitable business. In fact, most of the CEO’s of large corporations today were high-school drop-outs.

One who comes to mind is Larry Ellison, the CEO of The Oracle. Larry, who at that time was the second richest man on the planet, was invited to give a speech to the graduating class of 2000 at Yale University. Basically, he told them that Diplomas are for Losers. A transcript of his speech is a must read.

Hopefully, the archaic 19th Century school system will change. In the meantime, using wealth strategies to create a passive financial income, from people who already have a PhD in results is easier than you think.

Attracting Wealth

How I went about attracting wealth was to hunt around and find some books. There was no shortage of information in the personal development and wealth creation section at the bookshops and I found that it was difficult to choose one teacher. Over time, I came to realise that all the proclaimed Self Help teachers were teaching the same concept from their own experiences. There was only one message and that is:

You create your reality; what you think about comes about.

This relates to every aspect of your life including:

1. Health,
2. Wealth,
3. Relationships,
4. Family Lifestyle,
5. Where you live,
6. Where you work, and
7. Your circle of friends.

One thing that I found very, very useful to help with my thoughts was a routine which I learned while attending some Master Mind meetings. A group of like minded people having regular meetings to support one another with any challenges we had in reaching our desired goals. It went something like this.

Daily Operating Procedures

First thing every morning I follow this routine set out below and read my “I” affirmations.

Prioritise my to-do list - based on my goals.

• I commit to doing my A’s (most important) regardless of the time it takes to do them. Huge tasks get allocated no more than an hour.
• I touch tasks one time and then complete them.I don’t let distractions take me off what I am doing.
• I make all decisions swiftly, either yes, no or more information required.
• I am the cause of my day and whatever enters my mind is by my own doing.
• I choose to put into my mind only those things which will further me to reaching my goals.
• I do not get entangled in small games and worthless arguments that rob me of money, time or attention.

Next, read my goals, maybe while walking around, rebounding etc.

Right before reading my goals, I will concentrate my thoughts for at least 5 minutes on making $10,000 a month and to achieve it by following this plan:

1.       Educating myself daily by:

• Cultivating my goals daily
• Daily Self-Improvement

2.       Promoting my business daily by:

• Networking
• Offering my services to help others

3.       Being effective by:

• Connecting with people
• Setting appointments
• Daily training
• Promoting

Use these efforts to produce the following results.

1. All expenditure is to get me to $10,000 a month.
2. No toys or hobbies.
3. Buy only assets that build the business and assets that produce a passive income.
4. I will attract to myself the business partners that will make my goals a reality because of my willingness to contribute to others.

This is only the beginning. Once this goal is reached, then it’s doubled and so on by duplicating what you have already done and the results achieved.

What are some of the things you include in your daily routine? Do you follow a similar one to this or is there something else which has helped you to achieve your goals?

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Love You Angel

Today I am excited to introduce you to Steve Brennan aka @Travelpilot on Twitter. His story is one of family sacrifice for an ultimate outcome of lifestyle he now working on to give his children the best he can and more.

The Sacrifice

My two children have never had a normal lifestyle relationship with me.  Since before my daughter was born I have always had jobs that required me to work away from home.   I would commute back on my days off but this was usually only for a couple of days at a time and was never enough.  I always wished my family would move around with me however my partner thought it better to stay in the one location.  When leaving them to travel back to work was heartbreaking, the only conciliation being that the children thought it was normal and seemed not to be upset at all.

Why would I do this you may ask, why would I put myself through the pain of living without my family, missing out on their birthdays and watching them grow.  In hindsight I believe there were two main reasons, I wanted to earn the money to provide a better life for them and also because I was chasing my dream.  I had always wanted to fly and my ultimate goal was to be the Captain of a commercial airliner.

After many years of working different jobs, each time flying an aircraft that was a little bit bigger I finally achieved my goal, in May 2005 I became the Captain of a Boeing 767.  On top of this I was finally earning a decent income, enough to provide a good lifestyle for my family.

The Cost

The downside, two years later my partner and I separated.   Living separately on and off for almost thirteen years had taken the ultimate toll on our relationship.
The burning question I ask myself often is:

would it have been different if I had taken a normal job and lived at home like a normal Dad?  Would I still be with my family?

I didn’t want to be away from them but I also did not want them to be disadvantaged due to a lack of money either.

The Comeback

Since my separation I have been working very hard to build up a regular passive income, my new goal is to replace my income so that I can move back close to my children and still have the income to give them a great life.  This is something I wish I had thought of doing a long time ago.

Amongst many that I am currently working on, one of the income streams I have set up is through investing with a company that offers a diverse number of share market strategies.  This has worked so well for me that I decided to write about it in a blog.  I feel that if I can incite people to take responsibility for their own finances then they may achieve a better quality of life.  I am not saying that money is the answer to all problems and that it would have definitely saved my relationship, however what it would have done is given me choice.

I have achieved massive personal growth in these last two years and believe that by having this knowledge earlier, life would have been a lot different.

Follow Your Passion

Since the year 2006, I have been in the Follow Your Passion mode. 2006 was the year I stopped working a J.O.B. and chose to stay home and create an income doing what I loved. I thought I knew what it was but as I discovered later, my first business idea wasn’t right for me. My personal development journey was only just beginning.

It wasn’t easy at first but that didn’t deter me from having a go. As you do (or rather, a lot of people do), I stumbled into Network Marketing. Now the product was a great product in the health industry. I learned a lot about health and nutrition and how to best care for my young children by attending the meetings. The biggest thing I learned was all the harmful ingredients which are added to everyday bathroom and household products that changed our lifestyle for the better.

I still use the products for myself and my family even today, however, it wasn’t my cup of tea to nag (or that’s what it felt like) all my friends and family and get them to sign up. No matter what the product promised, it wasn’t easy growing my downline. That’s how Network Marketers refer to the people who sign up under them. After 6 months, I decided to try something else and the opportunity was staring me right in the face.

Home Based Business

I started surfing the web looking for ways to make money online. Working from Home were the keywords I kept searching for and guess what? Working from Home or home based business are the most searched keywords of all time! Fascinating isn’t it. Especially when you think of the current economic situation and people being retrenched from their jobs. I’m not saying that working from home is for everyone but there are many different jobs, or ways to make money by being at home, that the opportunities are endless if you really sit and think about what you love doing.

One example I found the other day was a local woman who is willing to walk dogs, take care of puppies and be a general dog-sitter. If you love dogs, then there’s something to think about.

Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow

My girls were watching a Bratz movie before school this morning and there was a line which stood out for me that prompted me to write this article.

A character who had an estranged relationship with her mother said the words, well not everyone gets to follow their passion and I thought to myself, uh uh, everyone can follow their passion. They just have to be really, really passionate about their idea and not listen to the nay-sayer’s who want to bring them down or tell them they are wasting their time and stick to a real job. What is a real job nowadays anyway?

Whether it be to work from home or be the best employee or even be the best boss! Wherever your passion lies, follow your passion, do what you love and the money will follow.

Guest Authors

Over the coming weeks I will be introducing you to a fabulous team of people who are following their passions and started working from home. Some part-time and some full-time. I’ll let them tell their story for you.

I’ve been working closely with this team for the past 8 months and I’d like for you to get to know some of my friends, both offline and online, so look out for some special guest authors for the first time here on Buzzing with Ange.

We have been studying a book called Reprogramming the Mind for Success and in doing so, have connected and grown as a team. The book itself is written by Dean Whittingham, whom I have met personally. Dean wrote the book after his parents won the Lottery and lost it all within a very little space of time. In it Dean includes meditation exercises and talks about how to prevent procrastination, build better relationships, creat a better self image and improve your health and wealth creation.

So I look forward to you getting to know my friends and enjoying reading their stories.