Wikipedia defines integrity in the following way. “Integrity is the basing of one’s actions on an internally consistent framework of principles. Depth of principles and adherence of each level to the next are key determining factors. One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything he does and believes is based on the same core set of values. Behaviors within the concept of integrity include: honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, keeping one’s word and agreements, punctuality, ethics, fairness and justice.” The power of integrity is realized when you discover that everything you do and say is guided by the above behaviors. When they become the yardstick by which your life is guided, you have the power, the will and the moral right to do and be anything that you want. Unfortunately many of our business leaders, sports stars, entertainment icons and politicians have not displayed integrity in their comments and actions. As a result, many of them have lost their jobs and quite a few have lost their freedom because they have been sentenced to jail for their indiscretions. It used to be that you could point to a successful businessman or sports star and tell your child to emulate them because they were special and admired by all. Today that is not the case as the morals and actions of many show no sign of integrity and instead loudly bugle, “I’ll get mine and to heck with everyone else. As long as I get what I want, how I do it is immaterial.” Fortunately, the average person is now recognizing these charlatans for what they are and no longer want to have anything to do with them. It is very heartening to see that the average citizen has more integrity than many of the so called “high and mighty.” As the result of court actions placing numerous business moguls in jail, many companies are now creating business conduct guides which all of their employees from the newest recruit to the CEO have to follow. It is nice to know that integrity is making a come back, because its power ensures that employees, customers and suppliers will all get honest and considerate treatment from the companies who follow the behaviors listed above. You too can discover the power of integrity when you commit to personal accountability and making great choices. Did you know that the power of integrity lies within each and every one of us? Well, it does and it is very easy to release this power. All you have to do is follow the above behaviors in everything you do and say and you will discover that the power of integrity opens a whole new lifestyle for you. The power of integrity, a power that no one can take away from you, but which you can squander by not following the above behaviors, is the power of your soul, the power that will ignite the passion of your conscience. With this as your guide, you will never again have to settle for less because your actions and words will mark you as an exceptional individual, someone to be followed and to be listened to. When you are locked into a life of integrity, you will feel powerful and self confident and you will exhibit a magnetic presence and an aura of leadership. With the power you gain from your life of integrity, you will become successful in all areas of your life. In conclusion, living a life of integrity gives you more power than any other lifestyle. Your success will be immeasurable, your popularity unmatched and your joy will be boundless. A life devoted to integrity will be an ultimate lifestyle, and what could be better than that?

Criticism is difficult to handle. None of us likes to hear the bitter truth about our mistakes and inabilities. But we face Criticism in life everyday and cannot escape it. We also v others so we know that it is a two way street. How to handle Criticism? What To Do When We are Criticized? Listen to the criticism and before you react to it, think about your strengths. That will give you positive input and make you ready to face the criticism squarely. Even if it is true that will give you the strength to face and do something about it other than an angry retort. Otherwise we may begin feeling angry and sometimes worthless. Content of criticism- Is the criticism true? Or it is misinterpretation of the facts? You may at times set aside your fears and emotions and look at the situation clearly. If need be ask the other person more details and their beliefs. Probably they believe something different than you. Once you talk to them and ask them about what can be done you will be on path to recovery rather than destruction. The truth- We criticize others. We believe that to be true. Similarly somebody criticizing us may feel that they are right and the criticism may well be true. What would you do then? What should we logically do when we know that we are weak in something? We should strengthen, right? So rather than worrying about the weakness, make that point strong in your life. Think of ways to improve and do it slowly. Grudge and what to do about it- Are you focusing on the person who criticizes you or on the content of the criticism? If you focus on the person your focus will shift to other person’s weaknesses and you will strike back with your list of criticisms. Instead focus on the criticism itself. Leave that person aside. How to Handle Self Criticism? There is a distinct difference between self criticism and criticism by others. Most of us are too happy to agree with whatever we bash ourselves with but when some body else tells us the same thing we attack right back. If I tell myself that I walk slowly that is Ok, but if my friend tells me the same thing, I take umbrage and tell them that that is not true at all. Why do we look at criticism so differently? The trouble with this- The trouble comes in two ways. If some body tells us something that is true we tend not to agree but if we criticise our selves wrongly we are too ready to accept that and go into a bout of depression. Expressions such as – I am no good, I am of no use, I always fail, no body appreciates me and so on are readily heard when some body criticizes oneself. The person believes them all and all efforts of self-help go to waste. What to do- If we treat both criticisms differently we will surely be in trouble. What should we do then? Let us look at this in another way to solve the problem. Remove the person who is making criticism from picture and only look at the criticism. Remove yourself or anybody else. That way you will only be paying attention to the criticism and will have no biased view. After this look at the criticism for truth. Is there any truth in this statement? Think logically and let no emotion enter the thoughts. With logic you will be able to analyze the situation clearly. If the criticism is wrong you will conclude that it is wrong and not true and vice versa. If you were to think about this any other way you would have reached a wrong conclusion.

Nowadays, the easy meditation techniques can be considered almost essential, if wanting to relax and to detach from stress. We all tend to get caught up in tensioned environments, be it the case of professional or personal ones and forget how to spend quality time and how to basically rediscover ourselves and enjoy our lives. This happens simply because the world is evolving around dynamism and we all want to keep up with our times. But sadly, all this can cause a lot of stress and a wide range of emotional and physical problems. And this is precisely why we need the easy meditation techniques. The first target of the easy meditation techniques is to bring us to a calmer and more peaceful state. Considering this, the easy meditation techniques need to be applied in a friendly, beautiful place, where no disturbing external factors can be found. We can either go to a loved place, in the middle of the nature, for example, or we can build our own private meditation space in the comfort of our homes. Basically, this ambient needs to stimulate all our senses, to induce a state of calm and relaxation. Therefore, we can use quiet music, scented candles, diffuse lights or other such particular elements that can create a welcoming and suitable meditation space. After creating our space, we can start the easy meditation techniques with a few breathing exercises that allow us to relax. Breathing through the nose, long, deep and slowly is very important in order to achieve that sensation of detaching from the real world and entering an imaginary world, full of welcoming sensations and full of beauty and creativity. As long as we apply these breathing exercises correctly constantly, we can be sure that our meditation session will be a successful and fulfilling one. While breathing, we need to focus on all the changes that occur in our body when we inhale and exhale. This helps us know our bodies better and to actually enjoy the breathing session, thus feeling that it charges us with the needed pure air. The position of the body is another relevant element for an enjoyable meditation session. In order to apply the easy meditation techniques correctly, we need to either lay down with our head on a pillow or we can sit flat on the floor. Still, there are no strict rules when talking about the ideal position, since we can find our own personalized position that makes us feel safe, calm and comfortable. The next step of the easy meditation techniques presupposes the relaxation of the muscles. We should do this while breathing and we should enjoy how our body loses the tension step by step, thus allowing us to relax. We can image sinking in the couch, floating or being very light, in order to help our body release all the unnecessary tension. After managing to complete this step, we are ready to let our mind and imagination flow and to enjoy the actual meditation. One of the easiest meditation techniques presupposes thinking about certain meaningful phrases that bring positive emotions and feelings. We can choose religious facts and ideas, philosophical concepts or simple words that have a symbolic relevancy to us. The basis of these easy meditation techniques is to repeat the selected words or phrases for minutes, while concentrating on the breathing and relaxation exercises. Furthermore, with every repetition, we should try to attach new and deeper meanings to our concept or phrase. The meditation sessions should end at the point where we feel completely relaxed and free of stress and tension. Repeating these easy meditation techniques every day for a few minutes can bring a wide range of benefits in our lives, from increasing our energy levels, to stabilizing our blood pressure and helping us avoid stress and tension.

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” –Dale Carnegie When there’s no hope at all, most people think ‘this is the end. . . after all, no hope means there’s no possible way to win’. For me, and my fellow persuaders, this signals a challenge, an opportunity, a call to action. I believe there is always hope. Many years ago I had a cat who was the very embodiment of persistence. I had a giant antique armoire in my living room. This piece of furniture was too low for him to crawl under and too large for him to swipe his paw under but it was the perfect height for a mouse to find shelter. I couldn’t understand why the cat sat in the corner staring all day and night for several days. He was standing a guard and waiting for a little mouse who had taken shelter there. My cat had a goal that he was going to attain no matter how long he had to wait. And he waited and waited and I began to worry about him because he seldom left his post. Eventually the little guy caught the mouse and he played with it for hours while strutting around proudly show his prize to us. The mouse sadly died, (with a burial following in the back yard) but the cat remained vigilant in that corner trying to create victory. He was hoping for another opportunity, but I like to think he was reliving his triumphant moment. Persistence is key in persuasion. Your success rate is increased incredibly with persuasion. Follow up, follow through. Place that second or third or even fourth call, don’t accept ‘no’ for an answer. Excelling in persistence requires intention, objective and desire. Get these ingredients percolating within you for when you need the energy of an extra push to accomplish all of your objectives and goals. A clear mindset is important. Self doubt and negativity have NEVER served you well. Sometimes we play these old tapes in our heads. This outdated conditioning needs to be banished from our lives. Seek the encouragement of friends, coworkers, allies, family in overcoming this negativity. If you have been relying on these old tapes playing in a loop in your head for many years, or your whole life, this can be a hard habit to break. Break it, you must. With all that said, there’s a point of diminishing return and if you’ve spent a sufficient time being persistent and it has proved futile then by all means, give up. There is no point at all in beating the proverbial dead horse. Your time is worth money and when you come to an impasse, it’s time to cut your losses. I’ll leave you with a W.C. Fields quote: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.”

Thank God inspiration didn’t wait for me. Had it done so, I’d probably still be trying to ward off the person holding the knife. I wasn’t trying to be inspired. I was trying to survive – literally trying to spare my own life. I knew if I didn’t hold the door closed then the knife in the hands of the other person would be slashing at my flesh. Trapped in the back room of the house, nowhere else to run, all my weight pressed against wood, knowing the other person wouldn’t give up. That was when it happened. Inspiration intervened. ‘Put your coat on and let them in,’ a small voice inside me whispered. I looked at my coat hanging on the peg, a big thick skiing jacket. Would it protect me? Maybe. I unhooked it as I rested as much of my weight as I could against the door. Slipping it over my shoulders the small voice continued. ‘Now let them in a bit at a time. A crack in the door at first, then let it open. When you feel it’s right, pull them inside.’ It sounded bizarre to me, to allow someone attacking me to come beyond the piece of wood separating us, but that’s exactly what I did, disarming them and then holding them until it was safe to let go. You could argue that the small voice in my mind was the voice of common sense. You might call it intuition, spirit guides, God, or just plain crazy! I’ve come to think of it as the voice of inspiration. Back then the voice of inspiration came as a surprise. Today, it’s more of a friend. The example I’ve given you may have saved my life, but since then it’s helped me build and shape my life. As I said at the beginning, ‘Thank God inspiration didn’t wait for me,’ because I don’t think I’ve necessarily been good at preparing to hear it’s wise voice. Yet inspiration has been with me, nudging, suggesting and playing around until I follow it’s wisdom, change my reality and look back and laugh at myself for not following it’s guiding force sooner. Once a man wanted to win the lottery. For weeks he prayed to God and each week when his win failed to materialize, he complained during his prayers. Then one day God came down and spoke to him. ‘Meet me half way,’ God’s voice boomed. ‘At the very least, buy a ticket!!’ And I think this is a little like what Edison meant when he said, ‘Genius is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration.’ Inspiration is just the thought, the idea, the guidance. Perspiration is the practical application, the grounding, the making it happen. And when we get this part right, who knows what great things we can create. Today’s exercise 1. Go about life 2. Notice what goes on outside you 3. Notice what goes on inside you With Love and good wishes Neil