When I was 17 years old I was inspired by an elderly man one night with one message for one hour who said it’s wise to set a goal for myself, my family, my community, my city, my state, my nation, the world and beyond for at least the next 120 years if I wanted to maximise my potential on planet earth. This message has remained with me for the last 39 years.

That was the beginning of me consciously setting inspiring goals that have led me to the global company I have today. Since then I have learned that you won’t make a difference in yourself unless you have a vision at least as big as your family. You won’t make a difference in your family unless you have a vision as big as your community. You won’t make a difference in your community unless you have a vision as big as your city. You won’t make a difference in your city unless you have a vision as big as your province or state. You won’t make a difference in your province unless you have a vision as big as your nation. You won’t be number one in your nation unless you have a global vision and you won’t make a global impact without an astronomical vision. Unless you have a truly vast vision you won’t achieve vast accomplishments.

In order to expand our vision we will need to expand our time and space horizons which means taking on ever greater levels of accountabilities or complexities of what we manage and we must be able to embrace both the supportive and challenging sides of life. A factory worker has a limited time and space horizon and lives from hour to hour, day to day. His supervisor has a slightly greater space and time horizon and lives from day to day, week to week. The lower management of his same company, who oversees the supervisors, lives from week to week, month to month. The middle manager lives from month to month, year to year. The upper manager thinks in terms of year to year, decade to decade. The CEO thinks in terms of decades to generations. The visionary, who manages many subsidiaries and CEOs, thinks in terms of generations to centuries. And the wise sage, who inspires the visionaries, thinks in terms of centuries to millenniums, giving rise to immortal legacies. The magnitude of space and time within our inner most dominant thoughts determines the magnitude of what we can manage and accomplish.

So in order to expand and grow our business, we also need to expand our vision, have patience with longer time horizons and not let immediate gratification stop us from our long-term objectives.

It is wise to remember that when we manage people, we must delegate and manage in terms of the time horizons in which they live in. It is unrealistic to give someone with a day to day, week to week or month to month vision a year-long project.

So how to do we expand our vision and space time horizons? It boils down to the basics of leadership with the key ingredient being congruency. Whenever a leader sets a goal that’s aligned and congruent with their highest values (what is most important to them), they become disciplined, reliable and focused, they walk their talk, they are more certain and they achieve. They give themselves permission to step up to a new level of accountability, responsibility, and management complexity and a higher leadership role. Whenever they don’t they stagnate. The greater the congruency between our intentions and our highest values, the greater the vision we will have for our business. So the key is identifying your highest values or priorities. Our highest values originate from that which is most missing in our life. Let me give an example:

I worked with the head of one of the largest paper manufacturer in Australia, who believed that the Asian market was starting to erode his company’s market share and he was battling to compete.

When I met with this 63 year old CEO, I asked him how the company was started and what his original vision and dream was. Initially, all he could say was that they couldn’t compete with the Asian market. He wasn’t answering my questions and was disassociating himself from the company because he was nearing retirement. Anytime a leader of a company is dissociating from their own cause or effect, they lose their vision and their company loses its power.

So I probed further by asking a simple question, ‘What inspired you to get into the paper business?’ He paused for a moment and I could see a whole lot of emotion well up inside him and this is what he said:

“When I was a young boy my family was very poor and I didn’t have simple school supplies like paper. I felt so humiliated that at the end of each day I went into the rubbish bins and literally grabbed any pieces of paper that didn’t have marks on them. I would take it home and make pads of paper that were perfectly trimmed so I could be like everybody else.”

This inspired this CEO to create his paper company to make sure that every child had paper. When I heard this story, all I said to him was, ‘Are you going to let the children down?’ He stared at me with tearful eyes and said no. I asked him why then was he retiring? He said, “I guess it is because it’s what I am supposed to do at 65.”

I asked him another question, ‘When you retire, what are you going to do, take your 40 years of experience and toss it around the golf course all day?’ He agreed that that didn’t sound like a very inspiring idea.

Within three months of reclaiming and expanding his vision, his paper company started to turn around. In six months, they were ahead. This turnaround had little to do with the outer world but everything to do with his heart being back in his inspired and expanded vision. Leaders in business who are inspired from within don’t respond to the outer world, they create the outer world.

Love and Wisdom,
Dr. John Demartini

For more from Dr. Demartini visit his website and Facebook pages.

Many people dream about launching a second career in a field they have always wanted to try. But the transition into an encore careercan be a long and costly process.

Most people earn a significantly lower amount of money (43 percent) or no money at all (24 percent) during the transition from one job to the next, according to a recent MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures survey conducted by Penn Schoen Berland. The online survey of 253 adults between ages 44 and 70 who are currently in encore careers found that over half (57 percent) of these older workers had to tap their personal savings to make ends meet during the transition.

“That transition is not necessarily a very easy or a sure thing,” says Jim Emerman, executive vice president of Civic Ventures. “The financial hardship of the transition, while not really surprising, really jumped out at us as one of the big challenges.”

It often takes a significant amount of time for older workers to launch second careers. Three quarters of the survey respondents currently in encore careers experienced an employment gap of longer than 6 months. And a third (34 percent) of these older workers were unemployed for two or more years before they found another job. Some people used that time to volunteer (23 percent) or retrain by taking college courses (20 percent).

When Lisa Roger, 53, a former software engineering project director, was laid off in 2009, she faced a substantial reduction in income for about 14 months. She had to use her savings, collect unemployment benefits, and sign up for COBRA continuing health coverage to make ends meet. During the transition she participated in the Encore Hartford program in Storrs, Conn., a fellowship that helps experienced professionals transition to the nonprofit sector. She eventually found a new job as a family self-sufficiency services manager for the Norwalk Housing Authority. “Today I don’t make nearly the salary that I did as a software engineer and I am ok with that,” Roger says. “The work is incredibility rewarding. I know I am making a difference.” The new job has caused her to reevaluate her retirement plans. “I used to feel that I was going to retire at a really early age, before 65,” Roger says. “The career that I am in now, I see myself going beyond that because it is so rewarding.”

Older workers are motivated to make a career change by a variety of financial and personal reasons. Insufficient income (28 percent) and inadequate savings (25 percent) were among the top reasons for making the switch. But realizing that some lifetime goals have yet to be fulfilled (28 percent) and a desire to make a bigger difference in the world (21 percent) also play a large role in decisions to move on to something new. Sometimes the transition is sparked by health problems (15 percent), an empty nest (11 percent), or hitting a specific age such as 50 (12 percent). Some people also speak of a spiritual calling into a new line of work (12 percent).

Most people switched into new jobs at for-profit businesses (22 percent) or nonprofit organizations (20 percent). Education (19 Percent), health care (15 percent), and government agencies (6 percent) are also popular second career choices. “Some people will work longer in their current jobs, whatever they are, and other people will want a change,” says Emerman. Often the new job comes with shorter hours and a more flexible schedule. People in encore careers work an average of 30.5 hours per week, the Civic Ventures survey found.

Almost half of people who made a career change (47 percent) did so between ages 50 and 59. Only 3 percent of those surveyed changed careers at age 60 or older. The typical person in an encore career expects to continue working for an average of another 11 years and eventually retire at an average age of 69. They have an average of 24 years of work experience.

Many individuals need to keep working for the income (69 percent) and benefits (30 percent). Other people launch second careers to stay active and productive (58 percent), pursue a new challenge (6 percent), and because they simply enjoy the work (31 percent). Some older workers also want to give something back by helping others in the community (35 percent) and staying involved with other people (19 percent).

“People are living much longer and they are healthier, and so they want to stay engaged. People need and want and are able to work longer,” says Emerman. “If people are out of work now or worried about their current job, the idea of a next career that combines continued financial security with personal satisfaction and something that they are passionate about is very strong.”

To open the door to powerful business operations, ensure you have an affirmative answer to the following 10 questions. If you answer no to more than 3 of these then you would be wise to find a way to turn every no to yes to enhance your power as a business builder and leader:

1. Does your business provide a service you value and are inspired to deliver to the world?

2. Do you value yourself, your vision, your employees and your customer’s dominant buying motives?

3 . Do you provide your services at fees that offer true fair exchange?

4. Do you know how to determine your customer’s values and what makes them make decisions?

5. Have you developed the art of communication in terms of your customer’s highest values?

6. Are you setting your business goals congruent to your highest values so as to achieve and build momentum?

7. Is your life and business vision, model and strategy crystal clear?

8. Do you have a high value on building wealth and accumulating a fortune?

9. Do you know your own business strengths and areas or forms of genius?

10. Do you know how to govern your distracting emotions on your way to achieving your business dreams?

The Breakthrough Experience is a powerful 2 day program designed to assist you to clarify what exactly it is that you would you would love to do with your life and how to turn that into a meaningful career or a successful business. It is packed with valuable insights not only addressing how to manage and turn business challenges into opportunities but also the important principles and tools to assist you in managing and implementing the action steps required to get your business dreams and plans into motion and momentum.

Take action on your business idea today and join Dr. Demartini at the Breakthrough Experience and learn how mastering the principles of maximizing human potential, mastering the art of communication, appreciating and valuing all aspects of yourself, your teams and your customers can transform your business destiny. Discover how to see setbacks as stepping stones so that you can take your vision, your finances and your business life to the next level of wealth, power and influence. Remember the last event that changed your life? Get ready, there is another one coming!

For more from Dr. Demartini visit his website and Facebook pages.

Bad posture is a modern day health epidemic that is much worse than most people naturally assume. Posture is the window into your spine. The spine has a powerful relationship with the brain, spinal cord, and overall organ function. This intimate connection means that poor posture and spinal health will lead to an overall decrease in brain and organ function.

Nobel Prize recipient Dr. Roger Sperry says that the spine is the motor that drives the brain. According to his research “90% of the stimulation and nutrition to the brain is generated by the movement of the spine.” Only 10% of our brain’s energy goes into thinking, metabolism, immunity, and healing. Sperry demonstrated that 90% of brain energy goes into processing and maintaining the body’s relationship with gravity.

One of the worst types of health problems people experience is a loss of the natural curves of their spine. Ideally, we should have a 40-45 degree curve in our neck that many chiropractors and neurosurgeons refer to as “the arc of life.” This curve helps to protect the brain stem and the spinal canal for the spinal cord and nerves that travel to every region of our body.

Subluxation is the term for misalignments of the spine that cause compression and irritation of nerve pathways affecting organ systems of the body. Subluxations can manifest as pain, but since only a small portion of spinal nerves transmit pain sensations they are often unnoticeable by the individual. Losing the arc of life in the neck, forward head posture, and scoliosis are three of the most dangerous forms of subluxation.

Subluxation patterns such as forward head posture and loss of the neck curve are most often created by trauma and/or poor posture. Examples of trauma include the birth process (especially with forceps delivery), falls, car accidents, & sporting activities. The typical individual in our society today spends at least 3-4 hours a day slumped in front of a television, computer, and texting cell phone. These behaviors cause the head to shift forward and create a lasting posture pattern called forward head posture.

This ‘forward head posture’ can add up to 30 pounds of abnormal leverage pulling the entire spine out of alignment and may result in the loss of 30% of vital lung capacity,” says University of California’s director of physical medicine and rehabilitation, Rene Cailliet.

As forward head posture decreases lung capacity it affects the body from effectively oxygenating cells. This can lead to asthmatic conditions, blood vessel problems and heart disease. The oxygen deficit affects the entire gastrointestinal system leading to altered nutrient absorption and peristaltic activity. Lowered oxygen states also decrease endorphin production turning the perception of non-painful sensation into pain experiences.

Some chiropractors specialize in corrective care techniques that reduce or eliminate forward head posture and restore the natural curves of the body. This is done through gentle & specific adjustments that take pressure off of the brain stem and nerve pathways and enhance function to the body. Corrective rehabilitative exercises are prescribed to address postural abnormalities and create lasting objective postural and x-ray changes. Specialized chiropractors are able to demonstrate these changes to the individual with pre-post x-rays, nerve scans, postural pictures and other technology.

Studies have shown that corrective based chiropractic care effectively reduces forward head posture and enhances the arc of life. A 2009 study by Morningstar and Jockers showed that this corrective process dramatically enhanced lung function. As the respiration process improves more oxygen gets into the body. This improves blood flow into every organ system of the body dramatically improving overall function.

Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/030956_posture_health.html#ixzz1t0ScuobD

(NaturalNews) Painkilling drugs are associated with dangerous side effects, addiction and overdose. And it turns out they are also much less effective than harmless natural treatments. A new study shows that simple remedies like chiropractic treatments and home exercises relieve sub-acute neck pain better than pharmaceutical drugs – and without all the negative side effects.

Dangerous painkillers can (and should) be avoided

It’s estimated that 75 percent of Americans deal with neck pain at some point in their lives. Neck pain accounts for millions of trips to the doctor every year. The pain can be acute and severe enough to interfere with our everyday lives, but modern medicine offers little help. At best, you get over-the-counter pain relievers or narcotic drugs, all of which come with dangerous side effects and are often not effective enough to get rid of pain.

A new study published on January 3, 2012 inThe Annals of Internal Medicinedemonstrates the power of alternative therapies for neck pain. Participants in the study were divided into three groups: one group made regular visits to the chiropractor, one group received traditional drug therapy, and the third group was instructed on how to perform therapeutic exercises at home to combat their neck pain.

At the end of 12 weeks, it was clear participants who engaged in non-drug therapy fared better than those who received painkillers. In the chiropractic group, 57 percent of individuals reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain. In the home exercise group, 48 percent reported similar pain relief. However, only 33 percent of the painkiller group saw such results.

The long term benefits are equally impressive. Even one year later, patients in the chiropractic and home exercise groups were still experiencing benefits. About 53 percent in each of these groups still saw at least a 75 percent reduction in pain. In the painkiller group, only 38 percent reported this kind of pain relief.

Besides being less effective, the painkiller group was also increasing their medication over time, which can lead to more serious side effects.

“The people in the medication group kept on using a higher amount of medication more frequently throughout the follow-up period, up to a year later,” says Dr. Gert Bronfort, research professor at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Minnesota and an author of the study.

He adds, “If you’re taking medication over a long time, then we’re running into more systemic side effects like gastrointestinal problems.”

It’s clear that pharmaceutical drugs are not only dangerous, but ineffective compared to safer natural alternatives for dealing with neck pain.

Learn more:
http://www.naturalnews.com/034689_neck_pain_chiropractic_painkillers.html#ixzz1syVN86ce