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Ways to Beat the Odds:

A Primer for Successful Individuals
Ara Norwood, Leadership Development Systems

11 Ways to Beat the Odds: A Primer for Successful Individuals

L. Ara Norwood Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com There are many paths to success. And there are many paths to failure. After carefully observing what seems to work and what seems not to work, I have isolated eleven general principles that if applied consistently will lead, by and large, to what one could describe as a successful life. Granted, every life has its share of opposition, hardship, disappointment, and failure. Lifes battles are not always won. But the litmus test is whether, when sitting in your rocking chair as your days begin to wane, you can reflect on your overall life and feel a sense of satisfaction. If so, then I think it fair to say that your life was successful. These eleven principles cover a lot of ground. To the degree that your life is in harmony with them, you will experience a successful and happy life. Remember, intellectual awareness of these principles is not enough. There must be implementation, application, and realization. They must become second nature better yet, they must be first nature. Lets begin.

What Are Your Values?

Values provide perspective in the best of times and the worst. Charles Garfield First, decide on your values and honor them. This is very core. Values are those key ideals that you try to align your life with. When you adopt a set of values, you are doing one of the truly great acts of self-leadership. Whether your values include clusters such as: Integrity Thrift Music Truth Fun Order Power Trust Service All Rights Reserved

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or any other set of values, you are the one who gets to select your values, and you should select them very, very carefully. They should be few in number. If you adopt too many as your core values you end up diluting the meaning of each. I recommend somewhere between 3 and 7 though the final number is up to you. Once you have selected your values, you need to align your life with them. There must be congruence between the things you say, the actions you take, your persona, your character, and your stated values. None of us live our values perfectly. We all have moments where we behave in ways that are contrary to our values. But in the main, our lives should reflect our values. Sometimes this requires significant change in how we do things. But if you love your values enough, if you find them intoxicatingly attractive, and if you remind yourself of them regularly, chances are pretty high that you will comport your character with your values. See the Appendix at the end of this Special Report for a lengthy list of values that, while certainly not exhaustive, may include some that you should consider.

Building Wealth
Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth, the man who would make his fortune no matter where he started. Ayn Rand Pay yourself first. This is a tough discipline. But its imperative that you take it seriously. As soon as you receive any amount of money, it would be very smart to take a percentage and stash it away. A pre-determined percentage, say 10%, would be ideal, but any amount is preferable to doing nothing. Let me tell you: it takes great psychological willpower to avoid the temptation to pay your bills first and then see if you have any money left over to save. But you can make that commitment to yourself that you will always first stash some money in savings, and then work with what you have left over to deal with your regular financial obligations. If you can muster the nerve to make this a habit, you will soon find yourself awash in cash. Trust me on that one.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Always remember to forget the things that made you sad, but never forget to remember the things that made you glad. Victor Borge Find out what your simple pleasures are. And allow yourself to partake of them at regular intervals. In other words, become aware of what brings you happiness, joy, satisfaction, pleasure, or contentment (or whatever word floats your boat) and keep them in the forefront of your mind. Then, when times get rough, nullify the pain of those rough times by indulging in something that brings you satisfaction. In fact, Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

 dont wait for times to get rough; indulge in these simple pleasures at regular intervals regardless of what is going on in your life.

For me, I am euphoric about Hagen-Daz ice cream. I enjoy listening to the music of Suzanne Ciani. I feel great satisfaction going to the track and running a mile in under 8 minutes. I love certain kinds of comedy, like Seinfeld. I really enjoy dining out with my wife. I enjoy reading the latest issue of BYU Studies. I love hot showers. I enjoy listening to radio talk-show host Dennis Prager. I love hearing whatever comes out of the mouth of LA-based radio personality Keri Tombazian during a station break at 94.7 KTWV-The Wave. I enjoy meeting new people. I enjoy playing my Doyle Dykes model acoustic guitar. What about you? Do you know the sorts of things that bring you happiness, contentment, etc? If youre unclear on this, spend some time mulling it over. Burn that unique list of things into your memory bank, and turn to those things on a regular basis. Doing so will offset the inevitable pain that is part and parcel with mortality, and will make you a happier and more productive individual.

Garbage in, garbage out

To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art. Franois de La Rochefoucauld The garbage in, garbage out slogan was originally meant as a metaphor used by computer programmers to suggest that you cannot get a computer to churn out things that you never put into it in the first place. Here I borrow the metaphor in connection with a machine of a different sort: our bodies. Our physical bodies are, indeed, machines of amazing design. We cant get out of them (in terms of results) what we havent put into them (in terms of fuel.) It may be my imagination but I seem to see people with greater regularity who appear to have put in way too much fuel. Perhaps that explains the success of reality shows like NBCs The Biggest Loser, now in its 11th season. I had dinner not long ago with a long-time friend named Beatrice. Shes in her early 50s and looks as firm and trim as she did when I first met her in high school which is to say she looks fantastic! Granted, she goes to the gym regularly, but that is not the only secret to her success in this realm. As we dined, she reminded me that portion control is a very important thing to be mindful of. Most restaurants serve far more food per meal than we need to eat, and none of us would be harmed by exercising a bit more self-control in how much we consume. Trust me: I know its tough to do. And I make no claims to being a sterling example in this regard. However, I am certain that as I tell myself to exercise self-control over the portions that I consume, I will probably live a longer and healthier life. So thats the quantity issue. Now I need to address the quality issue. What we eat is also important. Im no expert on nutrition, but Im smart enough to know the Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

difference between a diet of cotton candy and Twinkies is not going to give one the value of a diet of raw vegetables and nuts. I am not a health food fanatic, and I enjoy a good pizza as much as the next guy. But I will say that I am highly confident that nutritional supplements can be very useful in helping us with our digestion, our energy, the aging process, and even our ability to sleep. I discovered a wonderful company years ago that I have come to depend on for my nutritional supplements. Its called Reliv International and its based outside of St. Louis. You can check them out on the internet at www.reliv.com. In the interest of full disclosure, they are a network marketing company. While I am not an active distributor for them, as that is not how I wish to make a living, I am a distributor on record which enables me to purchase their products at a significant discount off the retail price. Their products are nutritional supplements in powdered form that you mix with milk, juice, or water and consume it as a liquid a powerful, nutritionally- rich cocktail. I drink it every morning for breakfast and know that it does make a difference. Hopefully it compensates for some of those pizzas I eat. Now my telling you about Reliv is not a subtle way of getting you to buy that particular product, either from me or from anyone else. I have no existing customers, nor do I seek any, although I would sell it to anyone who wished to purchase it from me. I am sure that there are other nutritional products out there that are also very good. My intent here is not to sell you on Reliv, but to sell you on something anything that will bring you solid nutrition. So please figure out what supplements will work for you and please do take them consistently. Oh, and if in doubt in any way, check with a licensed physician before taking anything.

The insidious trap of our age

A man in debt is so far a slave. Ralph Waldo Emerson Most of us are not financially wealthy even when we have jobs that pay a reasonable amount of money to us. The reason so many of us are struggling financially is due to debt. We spend more than we earn. This is the source of the problem with our State and Federal budget crises, and it is the same problem with us as individual citizens. A part of me wants to scold us collectively for our arrogance and warped sense of entitlement. But instead I want to simply make a bold suggestion that if followed will make a world of difference for us, individually, and perhaps even collectively. Debt can come from many sources: college loans; business loans; car loans. The mortgage on our home is usually a huge source of debt. Some people have gambling problems and need professional help to extricate themselves from that blight. But I think that for most of us, the most insidious problem with becoming debt-free has to do with credit card debt. Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

 Im not going to go through all the statistics and analysis but I will cut to the chase and point out the obvious: every time you purchase something on a credit card, unless you pay off the balance in full each month, you are getting poorer. Credit cards are a trap. And the only way to free yourselves from them is to stop using them. Period. I recommend the following:

Make the mental and emotional decision to discontinue the use of all credit cards. You should probably cut them up, throw them away, and then call the credit card company and cancel your account. Develop new buying habits. Use cash or your ATM-Debit card (only if you have the money to cover the transaction.) If you dont have the money, dont make the purchase. Exercise self-control. This will be hard for many people. Take all of your most recent credit card statements and lay them out on the table. Take careful note of the different interest rates you are being charged. Select the credit card with the highest interest rate and pour all of your discretionary cash towards paying it off. For there other credit cards, just pay at least the minimum each month. But pay special attention to the credit card with the highest interest rate. Heres an additional tip: I know a guy who followed the above advice with a little twist. He decided that, apart from his monthly bills and essential living expenses, he would not spend any money unless he could afford to also spend the same amount of money on his highest interest credit card balance. Say he wanted to buy a ream of paper at the office supply store and that ream would cost him $10. He wouldnt buy that ream of paper unless he could also throw an additional $10 at his credit card with the highest interest rate. Same with buying an $80 pair of shoes. Unless he also could pay $80 towards his credit card, he didnt buy the shoes. This method of his caused him to get out of credit card debt far, far faster than he would have otherwise. You may wish to adopt his habit. (I have, and its made a profound difference!)

In 1938, J. Reuben Clark, one of the sharpest minds I have ever encountered, uttered these words which you would be wise to remember: Interest [on debt] never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours. ... Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you. Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

To Err Is Human. . .
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Mahatma Gandhi I dont know anyone who is immune to the unique feelings that come with being wronged by another person. Sometimes this comes from a stranger, perhaps some thug who came out of nowhere and physically assaulted you, or took what was yours. Sometimes it comes from someone elses recklessness and irresponsibility, such as when a drunk driver crashes and harms your personal property, or worse, destroys life by taking from you a loved one, or perhaps severely injuring you or someone you love. Worse still is when you are betrayed by someone you trust, or when you are wrongly accused of something and you end up losing your job or your reputation. This is all a part of the human condition, a part of life and life is sometimes unfair. What I am going to say here is probably easy to accept in theory when things are going well, but almost impossible to embrace when someone is facing the sort of unfair treatment that this prescription is meant to address. I am suggesting that you come to a point where you can forgive the perpetrator(s) who has wronged you and then forget about it. Move on. Dont let the hurt and bitterness fester. As this is a very important thing I am advocating, I need to elaborate on it a bit more. First, let me say that it is natural and normal to initially feel rage and bitterness and despair when youve been unfairly treated. I empathize with anyone who instinctively feels a need to retaliate or seek justice or revenge. That is normal. That is understandable. And in fact, there are many circumstances where it is appropriate to seek justice through legal channels when a crime has been committed against us. That is what the courts are there for. I am not a litigious person, and I am not quick to want to bring a lawsuit against anyone. But there are times when such action is necessary and appropriate. Second, I want to emphasize that the timing behind forgiveness is a very personal thing. No one can or should force anyone to forgive today simply because its the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do, but it has to be done when the wronged party is ready, or it wont be authentic. And when its not authentic, it wont stick. Third, one of the main reasons one needs to forgive is because it frees the forgiver to become productive again. The person who was wronged and who is enveloped by rage cannot be successful. That person is consumed by animosity and angst and is preoccupied with the victimization that has taken place. What typically happens is the wronged party cannot really see straight any longer. Their vision is compromised and details become muddled, distinctions begin to blur, and they start to unravel psychologically. They come to see themselves as a hapless victim and suddenly start to interpret the world around them as an unsafe place. Suddenly Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

everything and everyone is out to hurt them. Suddenly, new wrongs (which are largely imagined) start to surface. Eventually no one wants to be around them because they bring such negative energy with them. They lose their focus. They are no longer productive human beings. People start to write them off. This is not the way of the successful person. The person who can let it go and move on is the person who opens herself up to a second chance. This person opens herself up to new opportunities. This person is presented with a clean slate, as it were. Putting the past hurts behind you even if they werent completely resolved to your satisfaction is a mark of maturity. And doing so puts you into a place where you can move forward and be productive. Doing so empowers you to achieve worthy aims. Doing so enables you to mature. Successful people have experienced just as much hurt and injustice as unsuccessful people. The difference, I submit, is that they have not allowed lifes injustices to derail them. They draw upon whatever sources they have to in order to put the past behind them and move forward. They dont deny that there is pain in their past, or that there are perhaps unresolved issues. But they put them on the shelf and move forward, rather than become preoccupied with them and move backward. I invite you to consider this distinction, and then embrace forgiveness.

A Question of Balance. . .
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony. Thomas Merton Ever feel out of balance? Many do. There may be many reasons for this. I believe a simple remedy is to remember to work hard and play hard. Successful people I know do just that. They are not bothered by work and so they throw themselves into their work. They exert much energy and focus. But they arent hapless workaholics. They have lives apart from their careers. They have hobbies, interests, favorite pastimes. Some collect things, like guns, or rare books, or coins, or hard-to- find musical instruments. Others are committed to certain causes, like volunteering for a non-profit group, or serving in their church, or working on some social issue that impacts their community. Others have strong interests in the martial arts, or a soccer league, or playing chess. Most consider the time spent with their families or their closest circle of friends to be very satisfying and important. But all of them consider these activities outside their career as play of some kind play being code language for anything outside of their work life. When someone only works, or only plays (and we all know people in both camps) that person is not well-rounded. They come across as one-dimensional. They tend to be boring. They tend to have too narrow a focus to be able to contribute intelligently to a meaningful conversation. Others tend to walk away from an interaction with such persons thinking, Thats all that person knows?! They cant Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

converse on any other subject than that?! It hurts the quality of their relationships and its tough to be successful in life void of meaningful relationships. So if you find yourself working too much, take note of that and find a way to fit in some play time regularly. And if you are one of those individuals who has way too much discretionary time on your hands and you use it to be a goof-off, then get busy finding some meaningful work to do. Your contributions are needed. So get to it!

The Boob Tube is for. . . boobs

I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book. Groucho Marx The human brain is a fascinating organ. But it is important to realize that it is doing very different things when watching moving images than when reading the printed word. Ones thought processes seem to be on automatic pilot when watching television, as the viewer passively sits by, idly allowing the agendas of unseen producers and script writers to wash over their consciousness, stealing their time, and punishing their ability to be productive. The rash of television programs on both the major networks and on cable may have grown dramatically, but the quality of the content has not kept up. Hence, most television programming is utterly inane and does absolutely nothing to further enhance cognitive or moral development. Further, much of television, especially so-called Reality TV, seems to foster an unhealthy sort of dependency on the part of the viewer. Too many viewers live their lives vicariously, through the observation of other people who live plastic lives on the small screen exhibiting thoughtlessness, greed, narcissism, and a host of other pathologies. Contrast that with the reading of a good book. When you read a book, your brain is experiencing an entirely different process than when watching moving images on television. For one, your brain has to work a bit harder when reading, for reading requires an active mind, not a passive one as when watching TV. The brain often learns new words, or perhaps new ways to use words one already knows. Further, a book is a technology that usually reflects the authors best attempts at conveying ideas that often are important or even profound. That book has also gone through an editing process to make it as pristine and finely-tuned as possible. Even the best television programming cant hold a candle to the quality of content and ideas that come from the best books. I mean, does anyone really believe that great television programming such as Seinfeld, 24, Twin Peaks, 30-Something, MASH, I Love Lucy, or The Courtship of Eddys Father, really holds a candle to works such as Don Quixote, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Holy Bible, War and Peace, The Sound and the Fury, Democracy in America, or The Grapes of Wrath? As time is a scarce and precious commodity, I would urge the systematic lessening of television viewing, and the deliberate commitment to read more. Doing so Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

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represents an investment in your self, and a respect for the God-given potential of the brain. Less TV and more reading of great books fiction or non-fiction will absolutely set you apart as a person of progress, and a force to be reckoned with.

Prepare for a Rainy Day. . .

If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear. Doctrine & Covenants 38:30 Successful people experience much of the same bad luck and personal catastrophes that their less-successful counterparts experience. But truly successful people dont often get derailed by their setbacks. The reason is simple: successful people plan for bad luck. They assume adversity could strike at any moment. And so they take measures to try to nullify the ill-effects of bad luck. They do what they can to thwart the fates. Here are several things you can do to offset lifes inevitable hardships: Study the martial arts; doing so will greatly increase the odds in your favor should you ever be the intended victim of a mugging or other violent crime. Own a firearm and know how to use it. If you keep such weaponry safe and out of the reach of children, you may find owning a hand gun (or a shotgun) may be indispensible in the event of a home-invasion robbery. Buy insurance. Life insurance is a wonderful investment for your loved ones after your passing. Health insurance can save you an enormous amount of money in the event of illness or injury. Long-Term Disability insurance could be a great thing to have if your future finds you incapacitated in some way. Earthquake insurance on your home could make the difference between rebuilding and insolvency if you live in quake-prone areas. Figure out what sort of insurance makes sense to invest in based on your circumstances and then invest in it. Speaking of investing, I am a big believer in the idea of investing. You dont have to be a professional day-trader, but any time you are setting aside some of your finances in an effort to delay immediate gratification, you are engaging in the act of investing in your future. If your employer offers a 401(k) or similar benefit, take full advantage of it. Its better to adjust your standard of living now accounting for the small amount of reduction in take- home pay while you stash away some hard-earned dollars for the future. (And dont forget the Building Wealth tip discussed above.) Store food. Find a place to store canned or packaged food and then start storing it. When you buy 5 cans of chili at your next grocery run, buy a sixth or seventh can as well and store it. Build up a supply of food. And not just food but other non-food items you use, such as aluminum foil, toothpaste, medicines, bandages, dish soap, shampoo, plastic trash bags, paper plates, and whatever else comes to mind. If you own a bar-be-cue that uses propane gas, purchase several extra propane tanks and keep them filled. If you can grow a garden, do so. Oh, and its very important that you store water, both All Rights Reserved

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11 for cooking and cleaning, as well as for drinking. Investing in 55-gallon drums is a smart idea. And keeping a 72-hour emergency kit in the trunk of your car is also very wise. This kit would include food and water, first aid, and other essential items for survival in the event of a wide-spread emergency. Get to know your neighbors. You may or may not be interested in truly getting well-acquainted with your neighbors, however, I would suggest you exercise leadership and create a document that serves as a directory of your immediate neighborhood. If you live in a cul-de-sac with, say, up to 20 or so homes, it should be a simple matter of going around and collecting the names of all occupants, their address, their phone numbers (home, cell, and work) and perhaps their email addresses as well. Explain the purpose of this data gathering is to create a document that everyone will get a copy of and will be helpful in the event of an emergency. I myself have utilized just such a document to inform one spouse about the fact that the other spouse was taken away in an ambulance during the day, and they were very grateful for the call. The document is also useful if the family is away and their dog gets out, or there is a flood or fire hazard, or there is a strange man going door to door claiming to be selling something but his story just doesnt seem to add up. I can imagine just such a document coming in handy in the event of an earthquake or other societal unrest. Neighbors, even if they are not close personally, can often band together in times of strife and support each other. If you take the time to create just such a document, and update it regularly, you will be seen as a doer and as a leader. It can bring success in that often overlooked role we all play known as neighbor.

Learning Never Ends. . .

I dont think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday. Abraham Lincoln Youve never arrived. Really. We never really know very much. Even if we achieve expert status, that simply means that we know a bit more than most others. And thats just in one field of learning while there are other fields of learning that we know very little about. I know virtually nothing about engineering. Same goes for medicine. And law. I am considered something of an expert in business, particularly in management and especially in leadership. Yet as I get older, I become more and more aware of the fact that even in my chosen fields of expertise, there is far more information out there that I remain ignorant of than the information I am familiar with. Since a full, long life is only perhaps 70 to 90 years or so, and since much of our time on this earth is spent doing things that dont really impact our learning (almost one- third of our life is generally spent sleeping) we need to accept the fact that the Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

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limited amount of time we allocate to learning will never be enough to learn very much. Add to that the fact that we often forget some of the things we learn with the passing of time. Therefore, we all need to be serious about life-long learning. I have already suggested above that books are one great way to learn. I wont belabor that very important point here. Suffice it to say if youre not reading with some regularity, and if youre not choosing your books carefully and thoughtfully, youre probably not even in the game. However, book learning is only one type of learning, albeit a very important one. Here are some other areas you may wish to focus your concentration on in an effort to be a life-long learner: Learn a foreign language. French, Spanish, German, or Italian are obvious choices. Not so obvious would be Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, Russian, Japanese, or Mandarin. You want a real challenge? Try Icelandic. Good luck. If you already know a foreign language, take up another one. Travel to places in the world that you have never been to before. Dont merely go to the usual tourist traps. Instead, combine your visiting the major landmarks with forays to out-of-the-way places, perhaps in the outskirts of the major towns and cities. Mingle with ordinary folk. Learn what their world is like. Allow them to open up to you and teach you. One of the most profound experiences I ever had in this regard involved a chance encounter with a native tribe from the jungles of Central America. All of the women were topless and all of the men were hunters who wore body paint and little else. They may have been from my planet but they were clearly not from my world, nor was I from theirs. But I entered their world for a brief period, and learned some valuable lessons from them. Attend lectures, symposia, and debates. Observing other experts present their research or defend their positions is a fascinating thing to watch. It exposes you to other ways of seeing the world. I think one of the most fascinating experiences Ive had in this respect involved studying the transcript of a debate on the Panama Canal between Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley, two conservatives with very different gifts and who held very different positions. There was no winner or loser in this debate each performed brilliantly and according to his own talents. Actually, if there was a winner, it was me. I gained much by watching these two titans in action. So check with your local university or similar institution and see if you can keep tabs on what brilliant men and women are doing in such forums. Attend them with some regularity. Increase your vocabulary. English is a very rich, eclectic language and the greater your precision in the power of your expression, the more expansive and the higher the quality of the ideas you are capable of even entertaining let alone expressing. Words have meaning. And language is an enormous gift. (Imagine a world where language did not exist!) There are many ways to expand your vocabulary. There are courses out there, books abound, and on-line sources are plentiful. One on-line source I receive is called, aptly, Word-a-Day, and if you sign up they send you a well-conceived new word Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems All Rights Reserved www.aranorwood.com

13 with all sorts of useful background information. (Click on this link: www.wordsmith.org then go to the subscribe link for A Word A Day.) This one tip is worth its weight in gold: if you expand your vocabulary people will come to perceive you as a person of substance and depth. That alone will open doors for you. Trust me on that. Simply get out of your comfort zone and meet people, try new things, and experience life to its fullest. I understand that this is somewhat vague, but if you are a recluse or a home-body, throw caution to the wind every now and again and try something you have never tried before. Allow for new experiences to pierce the monotony of your routine. It will enrich your life in ways you cannot imagine and make you a more complete human being. And be sure to listen far more than you speak, for it is while listening that you are learning the most; those who speak only occasionally learn while they are speaking.

. . . Dont let the bed-bugs bite!

The best bridge between despair and hope is a good nights sleep. E. Joseph Cossman I end this short treatise with a topic that should occupy your mind as you end each and every day of your life. Work hard, work smart, play hard, etc., but as the day winds down and comes to a close, sleep well. Successful people understand, perhaps intuitively, that sleeping is as important as diet and exercise. Sleeping bring renewal and enables you to be effective during your waking hours. In Stephen R. Coveys masterful book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he saves his last habit, the seventh, for a discussion around the theme of renewal, or what he calls Sharpening the Saw. He spends a fair amount of that discussion on the physical dimension. I dont recall if he specifically discusses sleep or not, but I can say from personal experience that if you get an adequate amount of sleep, your waking hours will be more productive and more enjoyable. I worry when I see people yawning constantly, nodding off at work, or that have deep bags of fatigue under their eyes. Many times they seem unhappy and unfulfilled. One way you can assist yourself in this regard is by investing in a high-quality bed. A high quality bed may well be a better investment than a high quality car. You probably spend more time in your bed than in your car (unless you happen to live in Los Angeles and drive on the 405.) There are many good mattresses out there made by companies such as Sealy, Simmons, Serta, Stearns & Foster (and probably a bunch of other companies that begin with the letter S.) But although I dont own one myself, I suspect the finest mattress out there and its not cheap is by Duxiana. I have laid down on one before and theres nothing quite like it. But simply take time to acquire a comfortable bed, and a comfortable pillow. Get in the habit of retiring early and arising early, and you will increase your odds of success. Copyright 2011 Leadership Development Systems www.aranorwood.com All Rights Reserved

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When we see a crabby child or toddler, we often attribute their crankiness to being tired or having missed a nap. I know that when I am at my most irrational, its usually due to extreme fatigue brought on by erratic sleep. So we adults are sometimes just as susceptible to foul mood swings and poor performance as children are. We, like they, are human, and we, like they, need adequate rest.

Appendix

What Are Values?

Those ideals held supreme. Ideals that cause an organization or individual to aspire to live, integrate, and personify. Reflect ones deepest ideology; could almost be described as ones religion, ones personal philosophy, or ones core tenants.

Carefully study the list that follows, then circle the few (3 to 7 or so) that you claim as your own supreme values. You do not need to limit yourself on to those values on this list; if you can think of your own, by all means, consider them. Once you make your selections, ask yourself if you can determine a hierarchy between your chosen values. Are some more supreme than others? If so, make a mental note as to the order you would put your values in terms of their importance.

Governing Values
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Accountability Appearance Attitude Balance Beauty Belief Benevolence Charity Chastity Children Clarity Cleanliness Commitment Competence Courage Creativity 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. Curiosity Decisiveness Dedication Democracy Development Ecology Education Efficiency Eloquence Environment Equality Ethics Excellence Fairness Faith Fame 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. Family Fatherhood Flexibility Forgiveness Freedom Frugality Fun Grace Graciousness Gratitude Growth Happiness Health Home Honesty Hope

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49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. Humility Humor Ideas Innovation Integrity Intelligence Joy Judgment Justice Kindness Knowledge Laughter Leadership Learning Listening Love Loyalty Magnanimity Marriage 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. Meekness Money Motherhood Neatness Nobility Nutrition Openness Organized Originality Passion Patience People Power Professionalism Quality Quiet Reading Respect Results

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87. Safety 88. Self-Mastery 89. Self-Renewal 90. Self-Sufficiency 91. Sensitivity 92. Service 93. Sincerity 94. Solitude 95. Speed 96. Spirituality 97. Thought 98. Time 99. Trust 100. Truth 101. Uniqueness 102. Unity 103. Utility 104. Virtue 105. Wealth 106. Wisdom

We hope you have found value in this Special Report. If even one idea is embraced and acted upon by you, then some good has been accomplished. Feel free to communicate your reactions and/or your success stories upon adopting any or all of the ideas contained in this Special Report. You can email us at ara@aranorwood.com. If you would like more information on our services, visit us online at www.aranorwood.com

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