The Elephant in the Room...

Dear Jacques,


"The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."
~Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch was 47 years old when he died from pancreatic cancer. He was, as the Independent of London put it, "the dying man who taught America how to live". His book, The Last Lecture, is an international best-seller and it offers many wonderful lessons about life.

Randy Pausch's "last lecture" was delivered in September 2007, at Carnegie Mellon University, where he taught computer science. The lecture began with him standing before a screen beaming down chilling CT images of tumors in his liver, under the title...The Elephant in the Room. He then said to a stunned audience, "I have about 6 months to live." He said, "I'm really in good shape, probably better shape than most of you," ... dropping to the floor to do push-ups.

He went on to say, "I'm dying and I'm having fun, and I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left." He talked about his childhood dreams and what they had taught him about life. He said, "If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself...your dreams will come to you."

Randy Pausch really was a dying man who has taught America how to live.
He died on July 25, 2008, but his wisdom, his passion, and his attitude are lasting sources of inspiration for all of us.

Courtesy: Mac Anderson, Founder of "Simple Truths" Newsletter

Succcess Nuggets and Gems of Wisdom

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to You and Yours!

To help reinforce the many positive writings to which we all have access, oftentimes awkward to read in view of the busy schedules to which we all seem to be subjected, I decided to offer you the following bite-size, easy and quick to chew, digest and absorb... ENJOY!

Your Friend,

Jacques

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"Before you begin a thing, remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead... You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin."
- Kathleen Norris, Writer

"We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."
- Carlos Castaneda, author

"For every disadvantage there is a corresponding advantage."
- Clement Stone, executive

"Each man (is) the architect of his own fortune."
- Appius Caecus, builder

"Each day we make deposits in the memory banks of our children."
- Charles Swindoll

"To achieve great things you have first to believe it."
-Arsene Wenger

"Rowing harder doesn't help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction."
- Kenichi Ohmae, business coach

"Experience is valuable only if it's imbued with meaning from which one can draw salient conclusions. Otherwise, experience becomes imprisoning."
- Barry McCaffrey, general

"Every man, however wise, needs the advice of some sagacious friend in the affairs of life."
- Plautus, Playwright

"Lost time is never found again."
- Benjamin Franklin, inventor

"Until you make peace with who you are you will never be content with what you have."
- Doris Mortman

"You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere."
- Helen Adams Keller, American Author and Lecturer

"The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat."
- Napoleon Hill, author

"Managing is getting paid for home runs someone else hits."
- Casey Stengel, baseball manager

"The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose."
- John McEnroe, tennis champion

"Life without risk is not worth living."
- Chuck Lindbergh, aviator

"I have never known a really successful man who deep in his heart did not understand the grind, the discipline it takes to win."
- Vince Lombardi, American Football Coach

"No great performance ever came from holding back."
- Don Greene, performance coach

PROSPERITY AFFIRMATIONS

"Rich people focus on opportunities.
Poor people can’t see past obstacles"
-Author Unknown

"FIRST YOU HAVE A BELIEF, THEN YOU GATHER PROOF"

All of us have questions, ideas and beliefs that we have gathered over time from what we've read, seen, or heard about family, friends, teachers and the media.

Much of what is passed along about money is negative, therefore, we need to reprogram our minds with positive beliefs and images about money and what it truly represents in every possible way.

Here are some positive statements to repeat out loud or write down each and every day - first thing in the morning and at night before you go to sleep. Other good times to repeat them are when waiting in line, driving, exercising, etc. (If saying the following affirmations out loud while in the presence of other people would embarrass you, you may mentalize them).

DO THIS CONSISTENTLY FOR 21 DAYS AND YOU WILL HAVE ESTABLISHED A NEW PROSPERITY CONSCIOUSNESS HABIT!

1. People love to give me money!

2. I am rich and wonderful!

3. I am now earning a great big income doing what satisfies me.

4. Something wonderful is happening to me today - I can feel it!

5. All my bills and dues are paid up in full and I still have all this money!

6. My affirmations work for me, whether I believe they will or not.

7. A lot more money is coming into my life! I deserve it and will use it for my own good and that of others.

8. All my clients praise me and pay me well!

9. I am a virtual money magnet!

10.Money comes to me easily and effortlessly, whether I am awake or asleep.

11.I am now highly pleasing to myself in other people's presence.

12.I walk, talk, look, act, think as if I am - and I am rich!

13.I am a winner - I win often and I win big!

14.Money is rushing to me from expected and unexpected places.

15.I rejoice that my abundance inspires others to be affluent as well!


Affirmations (c) by Chellie Campbell, used with permission.
Courtesy: Kathryn "Ryn" Deitz, Ph.D. "The Financial Chiropractor"(TM) - "Aligning your money life with the rest of your life so your money supports you instead of streses you" - Rocky Mountain Wealthy Spirit.

21 Quotes on Aging Well

What’s the secret to aging gracefully? We can’t stop the clock, but we can keep our spirits young with humor, gratitude, and creativity.
The following quotes from people like Sophia Loren, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mark Twain will help you see the upside of the golden years. They prove that love, humor, and wisdom are ageless.

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"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age."
–Sophia Loren
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"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."
--Eleanor Roosevelt

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"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."
-- Mark Twain

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"The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in 70 or 80 years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all."
-- Doris Lessing

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"There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example, I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt."
-- Author Unknown

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"Old age is no place for sissies."
-- Bette Davis

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"Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength."
--Betty Friedan

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"To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent--that is to triumph over old age."
-- Thomas Bailey Aldrich

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"We are not victims of aging, sickness, and death. These are part of scenery, not the seer, who is immune to any form of change. This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being."
--Deepak Chopra

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"The best part about being my age is in knowing how my life worked out."
-- Scott Adams

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"Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young."
--Ben Franklin

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"If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself."
--Eubie Blake, age 100

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"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made: Our times are in his hands Who sayeth 'a whole I planned, Youth shows but half; Trust God; see all nor be afraid.'
--Robert Browning

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"Aging is an inevitable process. I surely wouldn't want to grow younger. The older you become, the more you know; your bank account of knowledge is much richer."
--William Holden

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"I advise you to go on living solely to enrage those who are paying your annuities. It is the only pleasure I have left."
--Voltaire

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"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
--Satchel Paige

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"Nothing is inherently and invincibly young except spirit. And spirit can enter a human being perhaps better in the quiet of old age and dwell there more undisturbed than in the turmoil of adventure."
--George Santayana

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"We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing."
--George Bernard Shaw

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"It's never too late to have a fling
For autumn is just as nice as spring
And it's never too late to fall in love."
--Sandy Wilson
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"For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest."
--Hasidic saying

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"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."
--Chili Davis

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Love to you, my youthful-thinking ones!

Jacques

Honoring the wisdom of the late Jim Rohn...

...who passed away on December 5 last (R.I.P.).

A mutual friend emailed me one of his seminars on video and I wish to share with you a few of its most memorable passages...

SUCCESS: ...is not something you pursue. It is something that you attract by the person you become, or by becoming an attractive person.

PROFITS are better than wages. The latter make you a living. Profits make you a fortune.

Your income is directly related to your personal philosophy, not the economy.

Don't search the exotic until you master the basic.

When things cost too much for your budget and you can't afford them, remember that life places the most valuable things on the top shelf. With every book you read, and stand upon, you are that much closer to reaching the top.

THANK YOU for gems such as the above, Jim! WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM AND YOU!

Jacques

Top 10 Stupid Things Sales People Do...(And How To Avoid Doing Them!)

In real estate, it's location, location, location. In business, it's differentiate, differentiate, differentiate."
- Robert Goizueta, executive


I have been in some form of sales since I was 10 years old working in my mom's craft store selling yarn and bobbins to her quilting and knitting friends. And, since that time, I have always tried to establish myself as a leader in any sales position that I have held...and I also have noticed that there are some really good sales people out there.

The kicker is...a good portion of those people aren't good at sales. What they are good at is avoiding the things that cause sales people to falter.

Now, before we get into this...let's establish a quick and simple truth: Knowing what NOT to do is just as important when talking about sales as knowing what TO do. Make sense?

Knowing that, here is a quick "Top 10" of mistakes I have seen sales people make that are guaranteed to derail the very efforts that are being put forth by a salesperson.

1. They refuse to learn. -- I have seen more than one 'newb' burst onto the scene and run huge numbers in a very short period of time...and then just disappear into obscurity. Why is that? It is because they refused to continue to learn. It is vital to be a student of your game. Make sure you are continually learning about your product/service/industry. Read the new books that come out. Go to the seminars that are being held about your industry. Listen to audio, watch video, read blogs (like mine! hint hint) about sales and how to be better at what you do for a living. Reinvigorate yourself.

Did you know that Tiger Woods spends $1 million a year for a swing coach? He is constantly looking to be better at what he does...

2. They stay generalized. -- "Narrowcasting" is the specialization into a specific segment or part of the market. Staying generalized eliminates the ability to be considered an expert in any one specific area. Think about that for a second....Medical specialists get paid more than medical generalists. A specialist has narrowed his/her field of vision to ensure success in mastering that specific part of the market or product. They become known as specialists and people recognize that and come to them when they need that expertise.

3. They don't position themselves properly. -- The way people position themselves is the primary determining factor in how they are seen by prospects and clients. People pay attention to people they THINK are in a position of importance. Blogging, engagement and interaction with prospects and others via social media are all ways to help position yourself accordingly. The best way to sell is not to position yourself as a salesperson...but to position yourself as an expert in your field. And, one of the best ways to do that is to offer up information and assistance to those that are in need. (A Realtor might do a class on being a first time home buyer, for example. A guy that sells referrals to Realtors might write a bunch of blogs that help the agents do their jobs better...) The goal of these sessions isn't to sell anything, but to establish yourself as an expert in the field so that, as the need arises, those seeking your service automatically think of asking you.

4. They don't prospect. -- This is HUGE! The largest cause of failure in a sales position is having a lack of potential customers. You should always have multiple streams of inbound leads to work. You should never be out of people to pitch to even if that means you spend more money to get them. Take advantage of the technology that exists and use it to your advantage. Don't have anyone to pitch? Start thinking about a new career.

5. They pitch the wrong people. -- You can't get rich selling to the wrong people. You had better be in front of people that can make a decision, have a need for your services, and are willing to listen to you. If anyone you are pitching your services to doesn't meet that criteria, you are spinning your wheels. Remember, not everyone is a good prospect. Spend the time required to find good prospects and work with them rather than trying to peddle your wares to those "suspects" that don't need them, can't decide if the need is there, or are not willing to listen to you.

6. They listen to their peers. -- Listening to your peers usually means you get an earful of negative input. "This isn't the way that you sell houses." "Blogging doesn't bring any clients." "Social media is a huge waste of time." Yeah...You've heard that before, right? And, it goes on and on and on and on...ad infinitum.

Instead, listen to positive, upbeat stuff that makes you feel good and allows you to think clearly. For me, that's music. Some use motivational speech, etc. And remember...most of your peers suck at their job.

7. They don't understand economics. -- Would you sell something you bought for $1.50 for $1?? Painfully obvious, right? Yet, that is what a good portion of sales people do because they don't understand the 'back-end' costs that should be added into the equation. For example, if you spend $750 marketing a home, $300 in gas showing a home, $200 in food wining and dining clients, and then only make $1000 on the sale of a home...what have you gained?? Here is a quick lesson in Economics 101 -- If you are losing money on your deals, you can NEVER make that up regardless of how many deals you complete.

8. They spend money before they make it. -- I had a sales manager who said to me, "Clint...a sale is never done until you are eating the steak that you paid for with the money you got when your commission check cleared the bank." Why think this way??? Look at all the things that can happen that can derail a sale in today's market...if you are out buying a new TV on credit because you have a closing happening on Tuesday, you are going to lose your butt in this business. Just because you have a signed contract doesn't mean you are going to get paid anytime soon.

9. They fail to ask questions. -- More importantly, they fail to ask the RIGHT questions. And, when they do ask them, they fail to actually listen to the answers given. A prospect will always tell you what it is that they need to hear come out of your mouth. Asking the right questions based on their feedback will, more often than not, lead to a sale for you. You have two ears and only one mouth. Use them accordingly.

10. They are hindered digitally. -- "Hindered", in this instance, means they are either digitally compulsive or digitally impaired. Both are a hindrance. You can be so addicted to the technology available (Internet, sales force automation, blackberries, iphones, etc.) that they are completely paralyzed when it is not available. Or, the mere thought of being surrounded by that much technology has them so scared, they refuse to adapt to any of it. Both are career-killing impairments. In truth, it is those that have the ability to take on the technology without losing the human aspect of their jobs that will be the ultimate winners. Find your happy medium.

Sales people are a curious breed. "Experts" rarely have the open-mindedness required to accept criticism and adapt to make themselves more successful. Yet, it is exactly that which will set you up for a stellar sales career. Pay attention to the pitfalls that you can fall into that will slow your momentum and focus on those things that will increase it. Do this, and you will be just fine regardless of the market.

Courtesy: Clint Miller, Real Estate facilitator

The Truth About Frogs

By Brian Tracy

Mark Twain once said that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worse things that is going to happen to you all day long. Your "frog" is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don't do something about it.

Conquer the Hardest Task First
If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first. This is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first. Discipline yourself to begin immediately and then to persist until the task is complete before you go on to something else.

Don't Procrastinate
If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn't pay to sit and look at it for very long. The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning. You must develop the routine of “eating your frog” before you do anything else and without taking too much time to think about it.

"Eat That Frog!"
Now available as an APP on iTunes!
Get the App here.

21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. This International Best Seller has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people world-wide... Now in its 2nd Edition, I've added even more time saving tips to help you get more done faster. Buy the book here >>(see: Brian Tracy.com website)

Take Action Immediately
Successful, effective people are those who launch directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work steadily and single-mindedly until those tasks are complete. “Failure to execute” is one of the biggest problems in organizations today. Many people confuse activity with accomplishment. They talk continually, hold endless meetings, and make wonderful plans, but in the final analysis, no one does the job and gets the results required.

Develop a Positive Addiction
You can actually develop a “positive addiction” to endorphins and to the feeling of enhanced clarity, confidence, and competence that they trigger. When you develop this addiction, you will, at an unconscious level, begin to organize your life in such a way that you are continually starting and completing ever more important tasks and projects. You will actually become addicted, in a very positive sense, to success and contribution.

No Shortcuts
Practice is the key to mastering any skill. Fortunately, your mind is like a muscle. It grows stronger and more capable with use. With practice, you can learn any behavior or develop any habit that you consider either desirable or necessary.

Action Exercise
What is your “frog?” What is the one task that you despise doing each day? Once you have chosen your “frog,” make it a habit to wake up every morning and do that task first.

Courtesy: Brian Tracy newsletter

Thanksgiving and other excellent quotes

"If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily."
-Gerald Good

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence."
-Erma Bombeck

"The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!"
-Henry Ward Beecher

"Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action."
- W.J. Cameron

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice."
-Meister Eckhart

WISHING OU AND YOURS A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

"It's the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class."
- J. Willard Marriott Sr., hotel executive

"It is the studying that you do after your school days that really counts. Otherwise, you know only that which everyone else knows."
- Henry Doherty

"Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in."
- Alan Alda, Actor

"If you want to leave your footprints on the sands of time, be sure you're wearing work shoes."
- Author Unknown

"Keep your sense of humor. There's enough stress in the rest of your life to let bad shots ruin a game you're supposed to enjoy."
- Amy Alcott, golfer

"Giving up is the ultimate tragedy."
- Robert Donovan, writer

"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan."
- Tom Landry, football coach

"If you don't fail now and again, it's a sign you're playing it safe."
- Woody Allen, Director

"Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there."
- Josh Billings, humorist

"To be prepared is half the victory."
- Miguel de Cervantes

"Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. It's the end you're after."
- Anthony Robbins, Motivational Speaker

"Before a person can achieve the kind of life he wants, he must think, act, walk, talk and conduct himself in all of his affairs as would the person he wishes to become."
- Zig Ziglar, Author

"Success is waking up in the morning and bounding out of bed because there's something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that you're good at - something that's bigger than you are, and you can hardly wait to get at it again."
- Whit Hobbs

"Leaders get out front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves - and by which they are willing to be judged."
- Frederick Smith, Federal Express founder

"I've come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that's as unique as a fingerprint--and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing "
- Oprah Winfrey, Talk Show Host

"Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you're ready or not, to put it into action."
- Napoleon Hill, motivational expert


"Never say no when a client asks for something, even if it is the moon. You can always try, and anyhow there is plenty of time afterward to explain that it was not possible."
- Cesar Ritz, hotelier

JACQUES' NOTE: This one, I happen to be totally "against", as it condones making promises casually...oftentimes to "buy time", then shamelessly deliver B.S. excuses and other lies to white-wash and save face...instead of Keeping your word(s). This sort of crass dishonesty is featured, dissected and "cured" in my upcoming, direly needed book on the subject. More soon. Have a great weekend! J.

Eating the Elephant

By Brian Tracy

You have heard the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer is, "one bite at a time." This metaphor applies to achieving any big goal, as well. How do you achieve a huge goal? You accomplish it one step, one task, one measure at a time.

Identify Your Most Valuable Task
Ask your boss, "What one thing do I do that is more valuable than anything else?" Whatever his or her answer, look for ways to perform more and more of that task and to get better and better at doing it. It is absolutely amazing how much you can accomplish if you break your tasks down into bite-sized pieces, set deadlines, and then do one piece at a time, every single day.

Continuous and Never Ending Improvement
If you want to increase your hourly rate and your income, look for ways to get a little bit better at the most important tasks you do, every single day. Read one hour per day in your field. Listen to audio programs on your way to and from work. Take additional courses whenever you can. These activities will propel your entire career onto the fast track. When you invest an extra one or two hours per day in self-improvement, the cumulative effect on your greater ability to get results can be extraordinary.

"Learn and Remember Faster and Easier Than Ever Before"
In the 21st Century, the only skill that won't become obsolete is the ability to learn. Nowadays, your ability to learn new processes can drastically improve your earning potential. Learning is a lot like exercising: it's an activity that must be done often to attain maximum results.

Save Your Pennies and the Dollars Will Save Themselves
If you want to become wealthy, begin to question every single expense. Set a goal to save $3, $5, or $10 per day. Put this money away in a savings account and never touch it. As it grows, invest it carefully in well-chosen mutual funds or index funds. Make daily, weekly, and monthly saving and investment into a habit, and keep it up for the rest of your working life.

Become a Learned Person
If you read fifteen minutes each evening, rather than watching television, you will complete about fifteen books per year. If you read the classics of English literature for fifteen minutes each day, in seven years you will have read one hundred of the greatest books ever written. You will be one of the best-educated and most erudite people of your generation. And you can achieve this just by reading fifteen minutes each evening before you go to bed.

Increase Your Income
If you are in sales and you want to increase your income, keep careful track of how many calls, how many presentations, how many proposals, and how many sales you are making each day, each week, and each month. Then set a goal to increase your number of calls, presentations, and proposals per day. Set a goal to increase your number of sales each week and each month. Every day, measure yourself against your own standards.

If You Measure It, You Can Manage It
In each area of your life, analyze your activities carefully and select a specific number that, more than anything else, determines your level of success in that area. Then focus all of your attention, all day long, on that specific number. The very act of focused attention will cause you to perform better in that area, both consciously and unconsciously.

Action Exercise
Set a minimum, specific amount for daily, weekly, monthly saving and investment, discipline yourself to put away those amounts.

Courtesy: Brian Tracy Newsletter

The Four Parts of Visualization

By Brian Tracy

There are four parts of visualization that you can learn and practice to assure that you use this incredible power to its best advantage all the days of your life.

How Often?

The first aspect of visualization is frequency, the number of times that you visualize a particular goal as achieved of yourself performing in an excellent way in a particular event or circumstance. The more frequently you repeat a clear mental picture of your very best performance or result, the more rapidly it will appear as part of your reality.

How Long?

The second element of visualization is the duration of the mental image, the length of time that you can hold the picture in your mind each time you replay it. When you deeply relax, you can often hold a mental picture of yourself performing at your best for several seconds, and even several minutes. The longer you can hold your mental picture, the more deeply it will be impressed into your subconscious mind and the more rapidly it will express itself in your subsequent performance.

"Relax and allow affirmations to go through your subconscious mind!"
According to whole brain research, you can learn subjects quite rapidly as a result of deep relaxation and music used in a systemized, organized process. Because of this, it is also possible for you to learn new belief systems using the same techniques.

How Clearly?

The third element of visualization is vividness. There is a direct relationship between how clearly you can see your desired goal or result in your mind and how quickly it comes into your reality. This element of visualization is what explains the powers of the Law of Attraction and the Law of Correspondence. The vividness of your desire directly determines how quickly it materializes in the world around you. Here is an interesting point. When you set a new goal for yourself, your image or picture of this goal will usually be vague and fuzzy. But the more often you write it, review it, and repeat it mentally, the clearer it becomes for you. Eventually, it will become crystal clear. At that point, the goal will suddenly appear in your world exactly as you imagined it.

How Intensely?

The fourth element of visualization is intensity, the amount of emotion that you attach to your visual image. In reality, this is the most important and powerful part of the visualization process. Sometimes, if your emotion is intense enough and your visual image is clear enough, your goal will immediately come true.

Of course, the elements of frequency, duration, vividness, and intensity can help you or hurt you. Like nature, the power of visualization is neutral. Like a two-edged sword, it can cut in either direction. It can either make you a success or make you a failure. Visualization brings you whatever you vividly and intensely imagine, whether good or bad.

Action Exercise

Continually feed your mind with clear, exciting, emotional pictures. Remember, your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions.

Courtesy: Brian Tracy Newsletter

The Law of Advance Planning

November 10, 2009
By Brian Tracy

The best salespeople prepare thoroughly before every call. This principle is so simple that it is often overlooked. The hallmark of the true professional is thorough preparation, reviewing every detail, before every sales meeting. The very best salespeople are those who review their presentations and study the details of their products and their sales materials repeatedly prior to every new sales contact.

The Customer's Situation
The salesperson with the best knowledge of the customer's real situation will be the one most likely to make the sale. The more time you take to thoroughly understand your prospective customer and your prospective customer's situation, the more likely you will be in a position to sell at the critical moment.

Sales Professionals Plan their questions in Advance
There is a direct relationship between the quality of the problem focused questions that you ask a customer and the likelihood of a sale taking place. The only way of assuring that your questions are clear and penetrating is by writing them out, word for word, in advance. Some of the most successful salespeople who have ever lived have been "question experts."

Discover the new rules to ramp up your sales.

Notes
The power is on the side of the salesperson with the best notes. Plan your sales-call objectives thoroughly in advance of meeting the client. Write down and itemize exactly what you hope to accomplish in this visit. After the call, quickly write down everything that was said. Don't trust it to memory. Remember the Chinese saying, "The palest ink lasts longer than the finest memory." Prior to every sales call, and no matter how many times you have visited this same customer, take a few minutes to review the customer's file, the customer's situation, and your own notes on what has taken place in the past. You'll be amazed at how impressive you sound when you go into a sales interview having just reviewed the customer's file a few minutes before. And customers always know if you have done your homework.

Prior to Closing a Sale
The top salespeople in every field prepare exhaustively prior to selling, prior to their presentations, and prior to closing. They think everything through in advance. And they leave nothing to chance. Remember, it's the details that make the difference. The salesperson who has taken the greatest amount of time to acquaint himself or herself with the most specific needs of the customer is the one who builds the highest level of trust and the best sales relationship. Thorough preparation is the essential precondition for successful selling.

Courtesy:Brian Tracy Newletter

The Psychology of Time Management

By Brian Tracy

The Law of Correspondence says that your outer life tends to be a mirror image of your inner life. Everywhere you look, there you are. Everywhere you look, you see yourself reflected back. You do not see the world as it is, but as you are—inside. If you want to change what is going on in the world around you—your relationships, results, and rewards—you have to change what in going on in the world inside you. Fortunately, this is the only part of your life over which you have complete control.

The Starting Point of Success
The starting point of excelling in time management is desire. Almost everyone feels that their time management skills could be vastly better than they are. The key to motivation is "motive." For you to develop sufficient desire to develop Time Power, you must be intensely motivated by the benefits you feel you will enjoy.

Gaining Two Extra Hours Each Day
Your productivity can dramatically change if you add to extra hours to your day. Two extra hours per day, multiplies by five days per week, equals ten extra hours a week. Ten extra hours a week multiplied by fifty weeks a year would give you 500 extra productive hours each year. And 500 hours translates into more that twelve, forty-hour weeks, or the equivalent of three extra months of productive working time each year. By gaining two productive hours each day, you can transform your personal and working life.

"Perform at Your Best - No Matter What!"

YOU Can Reach Your Goals and Achieve the Unthinkable.

The real secret to living the life of your dreams is this: learn to live at Peak Performance every day and you will be unstoppable.

Improving Your Productivity Performance
Your productivity, performance, and income will increase by at least 25 percent over the next year. Two more productive hours, out of the eight hours that you spend at work each day, is the equivalent of at least a 25 percent increase.

Increasing Your Sense of Control
When you leverage the power of time, you will have a greater sense of control over your work and your personal life. You will feel like the master of your own destiny, and a power in your own life. You will feel more positive and powerful in every part of your life.

Take Control of your Time and Your Life
One of the keys to developing a stronger internal focus of control is to manage your time and your life better. The more skilled you become at managing your time, the happier and more confident you will feel. You will have a stronger sense of personal power. You will feel in charge of your own destiny. You will have a greater sense of well-being. You will be more positive and personable.

Having More Time for Your Family
You will have more time for your family and your personal life as you get your time and your life under control. You will have more time for your friends, for relaxation, for personal and professional development, and for anything else you want to do. When you become a master of your own time, and recapture two hours per day, you can use that extra time to chase your dreams.

Action Exercise
Figure out how you can add two hours of productivity to your day. Make a schedule of your day and find where you can squeeze two hours of time out for maximum efficiency.

Courtesy: Brian Tracy Newsletter

More WORDS OF WISDOM to inspire and guide us...

"It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness."
- Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady

"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you'll drift in that direction."
- Warren Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway, CEO

"We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained."
- Marie Curie, physicist

"The highest form of success... comes... to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph."
- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president

"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way."
- Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president

"Strategic advantage lies in the leverage of knowledge."
- Robert Buckman, leadership coach

"Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so."
- Charles deGaulle, statesman

"Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Writer

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw, Writer

"Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it's because you've started to think of failure."
- Tommy Lasorda, baseball manager

"Happiness is mostly a byproduct of doing what makes us feel fulfilled."
- Benjamin Spock, Pediatrician

"We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are."
- Tobias Wolff, Writer

The greatest conflicts are not between two people, but between one person and himself."
- Garth Brooks, singer

"The most powerful element in advertising is the truth."
- William Bernbach, ad executive

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."
- Julia Child, chef

"I learn something new about the game almost every time I step on the course."
- Ben Hogan, golfer

"If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain."
- Dolly Parton, Singer

Endorphins: Nature's Wonder Drugs for Total Success

By Brian Tracy

Every time you complete a task of any kind, your brain releases a small quantity of endorphins. This natural morphine gives you a sense of well-being and elation. It makes you feel happy and peaceful. It stimulates your creativity and improves your personality. It is nature's "wonder drug."

Create the Winning Feeling
Everyone wants to feel like a winner. And feeling like a winner requires that you win. You get a feeling of being a winner by completing a task 100 percent. When you do this repeatedly, eventually you develop the habit of completing the tasks that you begin. When this habit of task completion locks in, your life will begin to improve in ways that you cannot today imagine.

The Pain of Procrastination
If you have ever had a major assignment that you have put off, you know what I am referring to. The longer you wait to get started on an assignment and the closer the deadline approaches, the greater stress you experience. It can start to keep you up at night until you finally launch into the task and push it through to completion; you feel a great sense of relief and well-being. It is almost as if nature rewards you for everything that you do that is positive and life enhancing. At the same time, nature penalizes you with stress and dissatisfaction when you fail to do the tasks that move you toward the goals and results that are important to you.

"Unlock your potential and become everything you are capable of becoming, right now!"
When you learn how to Unlock Your Potential, you will be able to visualize your future goals and turn them into reality, simplify your life and overall feel fantastic about yourself and every area of your life.
Learn more here >>

The Balanced Scoreboard
One of the most popular movements in modern management is toward a "balanced scorecard." Using these scorecards, every person, at every level of the business is encouraged to identify the key measures that indicate success and then give themselves scores every day and every week in each of those key areas. Here is an important point. The very act of identifying a number or score and then paying close attention to it will cause you to improve your performance in that area.

Close the Loop
The third C, after commitment and completion, is "closure." This is the difference between an "open loop" and a "closed loop." Bringing closure to an issue in your personal or business life is absolutely essential for you to feel happy and in control of your situation. Lack of closure—unfinished business, an incomplete action of any kind—is a major source of stress, dissatisfaction, and even failure in business. It consumes enormous amounts of physical and emotional energy.

The Key Ability
Perhaps the most important ability in the world of work is "dependability." Nothing will get you paid more and promoted faster than to develop a reputation for getting your tasks done quickly, done well, and on schedule. Whatever your goals, make a list of all the tasks you will have to accomplish in the achievement of those goals. Put a deadline on every one of those tasks.

Action Exercise
Determine a single measure that you can use to grade your progress and success in each area of your life. Refer to it daily.

Courtesy: Brian Tracy newsletter

Counterattack!

By Brian Tracy
October 23, 2009

"A bold, vigorous assault has won many a faltering cause."
- Ira Eaker, General

When you-know-what hits the fan and the survival of your business is endangered, you must begin thinking like a military commander in battle. Often the situation is so serious that you have to step forward and make hard decisions, and make them immediately. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Military Strategy
Top military leaders have been studied going back to 600 B.C. Over the centuries, several principles of military strategy that lead to the victory of defeat have been identified. They are now taught to student officers in every military school in the world. By applying these principles of military strategy to your life and your business, you can often turn the situation around and achieve extraordinary results.

Be Clear in Your Objective
The first principle of military strategy is the Principle of the Objective. It requires that you be perfectly clear about the goal (or goals) that you want and need to get through a crunch point. In business, the practice of this principle is usually focused on goals related to sales, revenues, and cash flow. You need plans, schedules, and the right people doing the right jobs to achieve your most important objectives. Everyone should be absolutely clear about what they are expected to do, and they must be committed to success, to victory, no matter how serious the crisis.

"Out-Think, Out-Market and Out-Sell the Competition"
Clear planning and goal setting are essential to seeing your business succeed.

Turbostrategy will help you revitalize your business and personal life and help you achieve the results you're looking for to make your business dreams become reality!

Take Bold Action
The second strategic principle is the Principle of the Offensive. It requires that you take action—that you move forward boldly to confront your difficulties and solve your problems. As Napoleon said, “No great battles are ever won on the defensive.” Since your natural tendency when you hit crunch time is to withdraw, cut back, and play it safe, you must resist this urge and instead dare to go forward, to seize control of the situation, and to attack your difficulties with firmness and decisiveness.

Crunch Point Mantra
Whenever one of my companies has experienced a cash crunch, my mantra is, “When in doubt, sell your way out.” You cannot cost-cut your way out of a financial crisis. You have to generate revenues, and the only way to do that is by selling something to someone. Always think in terms of generating revenues from sales. Become very aggressive and focused in this area. Every single company that has rebounded from a crisis, including companies like IBM in 1991, turned itself around by focusing single-mindedly on generating sales revenues. You should do the same.

Action Exercise
Discipline yourself to focus single-mindedly on this number-one target, resisting temptations to clear up small things at first.

"21 Secrets Guaranteed to Empower You When You Need It The Most"
Whatever you do in life...unexpected stuff is guaranteed to happen. Will you be ready? Setbacks in your life and your business are unavoidable.

What happens next will determine whether you fail or succeed in meeting your challenge.

(Another pragmatic lesson from BRIAN TRACY's Newsletter.)

The conclusion (the end?) of STDs

STD 10
I've started seeing this guy I'm crazy about and, yes, we're having sex. Or we were. Now I've got these horrible symptoms. I'm having a lot of greenish yellow, frothy discharge from my vagina. I'm sore all around my vaginal area and upper thighs. My boyfriend is just fine. Is it just me or what?

Answer:

Men usually don't get symptoms of trichomoniasis infection. But if they look early in the morning, infected men may see a slight discharge from the penis. Sometimes, women get only a slight discharge.

The bug that causes trichomoniasis is a protozoon. See a doctor -- both of you. A single treatment almost always does the trick, if both partners are treated at the same time. If you have more than one sex partner, all of your partners must be examined and treated.

STD 11
OK, I had an affair. But I broke it off after just a couple of times. I feel terrible about it. I'll never do it again. Since my wife doesn't know about it, I don't want to hurt her feelings for no reason. Only problem is, about three weeks later I got this sore. Just one of them. It was on my penis, but it didn't hurt at all. I made excuses not to have sex with my wife, and it healed after about a month. I thought it was all over. But now I'm getting these rashes on my palms and soles. Any connection?

Answer:

Syphilis used to be a terrible thing. It still is -- if not treated. The sore on your penis is called a chancre. It's the sign of primary syphilis. Secondary syphilis comes next. The symptoms begin with a rash, usually starting on the palms and soles. These rashes come and go, but cover various places on the body. Mucous membranes may erode in the mouth, penis, vulva, or anus. Hair falls out in patches, leaving a moth-eaten look. And that's still not the worst of it. Untreated syphilis eventually damages the heart and brain. In fact, if you've already got secondary syphilis the germs that cause the disease may already have invaded your brain.

Fortunately, antibiotics cure the disease. You'll have to see a doctor to get diagnosed and treated. And you'll have to tell your wife. If you've had sex with her, she may be infected.

STD 12
I've got a lot of boyfriends. Sure, they get jealous that I sleep with other guys, but I'm not ready to commit to just one person -- or even just one person at a time. Lately, though, I don't feel like seeing anybody. I'm tired all the time and feel like I'm coming down with something. Usually you don't have to call me twice for dinner. Now my appetite is gone, and I feel sick to my stomach. My belly hurts and my urine has kind of a dark color. What's wrong with me?

Answer:

Only half of people who get hepatitis B infection have symptoms. On the other hand, there may other symptoms besides the ones you mention. Some people get rashes or joint pain in the early stages of infection. Some get jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes. About one in 100 people get sudden liver failure and may suddenly collapse with fatigue. Symptoms may first appear six weeks to six months after infection.

Having multiple sex partners is a major risk factor for hepatitis B infection. Also at risk are men who have sex with men, injection drug users and their sex partners, and household contacts of people with chronic infection.

The good news is that the vast majority of adults who become infected with hepatitis B will clear the infection on their own. But 2% to 6% of infected adults get chronic, lifelong infection. That's why it's important to see a doctor if you're at risk for hepatitis B infection.

The bad news is there is no specific treatment. Antiviral medications can keep the virus at bay and may even put hepatitis B liver disease into remission.

Fortunately, there is a vaccine. It's now routine for infants; since 1996 more than 80% of U.S. infants have been getting the vaccine. If your sexual behavior puts you at risk of hepatitis B infection, you should get vaccinated.
-----
NOTE: This entire informative article on "STDs": courtesy of WebMD.com newsletters.

More STDs (Continued)

STD 7
I moped around for more than a month after breaking up with my girlfriend. Just when I started feeling like seeing other women again, I noticed this cluster of moist little sacs of flesh near my vagina. Since then it got a bit bigger and turned whitish. It looks like a little cauliflower! I'm very embarrassed. How can I ever have sex with anybody ever again?

Answer:

The virus that causes genital warts spreads by direct skin-to-skin contact. It's called human papillomavirus, or HPV. There are several different kinds of HPV. Some kinds are linked to cervical cancer, although these HPV strains are less likely to cause warts.

Genital warts appear one to six months after HPV infection. There's no cure, but there are treatments. These treatments must be performed or prescribed by a doctor. DO NOT use over-the-counter wart remedies on genital warts. While treatment can make warts go away, they often come back.

It's common to be upset by genital warts. You should avoid sex until all warts are removed. Condoms can prevent HPV spread, but since they do not cover all of the skin that might be affected, they are not totally effective. Having genital warts does not mean your sex life is over.

Although there is no treatment for HPV infection, most people eventually clear the virus on their own -- usually within two years. If you have HPV infection, it's especially important to see your doctor for regular Pap tests to look for cell changes on your cervix that could develop into cancer.

There is an HPV vaccine for women. It will not cure HPV infection or speed clearance of the virus. But it will protect against the strains of the virus that most often cause cancer. The vaccine does the most good before a person becomes sexually active. That's why it's recommended for girls aged 11 to 12 -- and why it can be given as early as age 9.

STD 8
My girlfriend has a few little red bumps around her vulva, but they don't bother her and they didn't stop us from having sex. We use condoms -- but a few weeks back, a few of the same kind of bumps popped up on my groin. Now it's spread to my thighs. The area is a little tender, but it doesn't bother me all that much. I keep waiting for it to go away. Will it?

Answer:

Molluscum contagiosum, once a disease of childhood, is now sexually transmitted among adults. It's caused by a poxvirus called MCV. It can be spread through sexual contact, or by contact with other objects, such as towels, used by an infected person.

The bumps are small, waxy, and round -- often with a little depression in the middle. Each lesion lasts for about six to eight weeks. But since it spreads, it can take two years or more to go away by itself. Your doctor can speed recovery either by surgical or chemical removal of the lesions.

STD 9
We didn't have sex, I swear! OK, my boyfriend and I did sleep together in his bed -- with our clothes off. We spooned a lot, but we didn't go past second base. And that was over a month ago. Now I'm back at school but I've got this itch on my waist, my groin and the lower part of my butt. It's MUCH worse at night when I go to bed. There are some short, wavy lines on the skin, but the worst are these dozens of itchy bumps. There's no way this is an STD, is there?

Answer:

Sex isn't the only way to get scabies. In fact, this skin-mite infection is hard to get from a brief sexual encounter. But prolonged skin contact does spread infection. If it took a month for symptoms to appear, this must be the first time you've had scabies. People who get it more than once get symptoms in only one to four days.

The mites that cause scabies burrow just under the surface of the skin. Females lay eggs that hatch in a few days. The itching is caused by an allergic reaction. You can't get scabies from a brief contact, such as a handshake, but it spreads in households after prolonged contact with infested bedding, carpets, or furniture.

Your doctor can prescribe treatments that will kill the mites. Even after they're dead, you'll still itch for a while. Doctors usually prescribe corticosteroid ointments to relieve this itching. And don't forget that killing the mites means getting rid of mites hiding in your bed, clothing, etc.

(More to come...)

STD (continued)

STD 3
It can't be an STD -- can it? I still think of myself as technically a virgin. I did have sex -- but my lover only put his penis a little way into my vagina. And he doesn't have any symptoms. Maybe this burning feeling when I urinate will just go away. Won't it?

Answer:

Many sexually transmitted diseases can cause this symptom. The most common one is chlamydia [pronounced klah-MID-ee-ya]. Any genital, anal, or, less often, oral contact with infected body fluids can result in infection. In a way, you're lucky. Three-fourths of women -- and half of men -- don't have early symptoms of chlamydia. Left untreated, this bacterial infection can spread to the fallopian tubes. This can leave you unable to have children. There are tests. And there is a cure. If you're sexually active -- even if you don't go "all the way" -- you can still get STDs.

STD 4
Yuck. It's been about a week since I had sex. Boy, does my crotch itch. When I look down there, I've got a blue spot on the skin under my pubic hair. And there are lots of these teensy rust-colored dots. What gives?

Answer:

Those little rust-colored dots -- sometimes they're whitish-gray -- are lice. If you take a closer look with a magnifying glass, you'll see they look like little crabs. You can get crabs during sex. You can also get them by sleeping in the bed of an infested person. The little bugs have three forms: eggs, a larval stage called nits, and adult lice -- the ones that make you itch. The blue spots are a skin reaction to louse bites. Once you've identified crabs, you can get rid of them. But you'll have to get rid of all the eggs and nits that may have spread to your clothes, bed linens, and other items. After you kill off the lice, you'll continue to itch for a while. Hydrocortisone cream can help.

STD 5
I had anal sex with another guy. I put on a condom before sex, of course, but it broke. It's been a few days since then, and now I've got this yellow drip from the tip of my penis. Otherwise, I feel fine. Won't it just go away?

Answer:

There are several infections that can cause these symptoms. One of them is gonorrhea, known to many as "the clap." Many people with gonorrhea have no symptoms. Untreated, it can lead to serious infections. Anyone who finds out he or she has an STD should tell all of his or her sexual contacts so they can be tested and, if infected, treated. Antibiotic treatment cures gonorrhea. See a doctor.

STD 6
A few months ago, during foreplay, my husband noticed a cluster of blisters on the inner lip of my vagina. It turned into a sore that hurt for about a week and then crusted over and went away. Now it's months later, and I have a nasty blister on my butt. My husband doesn't get any blisters on his genitals, although once in a while he gets a cold sore on his mouth. I don't think it's an STD, do you?

Answer:

Herpes is a viral infection. It comes in two types. Herpes type 1 usually causes mouth sores; herpes type 2 usually causes genital sores. However, either virus can infect either place. Herpes can spread during sex, including oral sex. The virus that causes herpes travels up nerves and rests in nerve bundles. When it becomes active, it goes back down the nerves to the skin. The genitals connect to the same nerve bundle as the buttocks. Sometimes a person who has had a genital infection has a later outbreak on the buttocks or thighs.

Herpes outbreaks don't always look like blisters. Sometimes they look like sores, cuts, pimples, or a rash. Genital herpes outbreaks cause pain, aching, itching, burning, and/or tingling on and around the sex organs. Sometimes there can be painful urination and a discharge from the urethra, but this is uncommon.

There's no cure for herpes. But today there are anti-herpes drugs that make outbreaks less severe. They also can prevent new outbreaks and may even make it harder to give herpes to another person.

(To be continued)

Get the STD Picture

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Feature Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Check out the first two words of "sexually transmitted diseases." If you're having sex, you may be at risk.
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JACQUES' NOTE:

Upon perusing this (long) article in my WebMD Neswletter, I became increasingly impressed with its high degre of importance in any individual's over-all wellness.

Although this Blog is titled "SuccessGroup7", I feel that Total Health and Peace of Mind definitely include knowledge, awareness and self-control where our sex lives are concernd.

And so, I thank WebMD.com for this incisive contribution to public and individual Health.

Sincerely,

Jacques Girard, Ph.D.
-----

Do you know as much as you think you do about STDs? It's easy to find out. Read through the list of symptoms below, then name that STD.


STD 1
It's been three weeks since I had sex with that guy who didn't have a condom. And now I've got something a lot like the flu. I'm running a fever, and my head hurts. I'm so tired I don't feel like doing much of anything. But the last time I had the flu, I didn't have these mouth sores -- or this red rash on my chest. If it's not the flu, what is it?

Answer:

It might be HIV. No, this isn't AIDS -- not yet, and maybe not ever. These are some common symptoms of acute HIV infection. In 50% to 80% of patients, HIV infection starts with these flu-like symptoms. There's nearly always fatigue, fever, and headache. Mouth sores and a rash on the trunk are a tip-off that this isn't the flu. But not everybody with acute HIV infection gets these symptoms.

If you come down with flu-like symptoms two to four weeks after sex with someone who might have HIV infection, see a doctor right away. A normal HIV test won't work. Standard HIV tests look for antibodies in the blood, and your body hasn't made any yet. But there are tests that can tell whether you're infected. If you do have HIV, you may wish to start treatment right away. Studies suggest that treatment during acute HIV infection may be much more effective than later treatment.

STD 2
On my last night in southeast Asia, my clients threw a party that got pretty wild. I had a lot more to drink than I'd meant to, and ended up sleeping with one of the women who worked in the bar. I didn't use any protection. Dumb. Real dumb. A few days after coming home, I came down with painful little bumps on my penis. Now the bumps have turned into pus-filled open sores with raggedy edges. The sores are soft to the touch. Today there's a pain deep under the skin on the inside of my thigh. I guess I'd better see my doctor. What's she going to say -- and what should I tell my wife?

Answer:

Can you spell chancroid? Chancroid [pronounced SHANG-kroyd] is a bacterial infection. It's spread by contact with the sores. Women may not notice the symptoms until the lymph glands in the thigh -- on one or both sides -- get swollen and painful. If not treated, these glands mat together and form a kind of abscess known as a bubo.

Chancroid is more common in Africa and in Asia. Fortunately, this is a curable infection. See a doctor. And you have to tell your wife. Even if a woman doesn't seem to have symptoms, she may have been infected and should get a checkup.

WORDS to Live Better By...

(From BRIAN TRACY's newsletters: "Quote of the Day" gems)...

"Success comes to the man who grits his teeth, squares his jaw and says, "There is a way for me and, by jingo, I'll find it."" -- Clifford Sloan, Publisher

"It isn't where you came from; it's where you're going that counts."
-- Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heav'n of hell and a hell of a heav'n." -- John Milton, poet

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."
-- Muhammad Ali, boxer

"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open." -- Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor

"Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." - George Patton, General

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do." - Amelia Earhart, aviator

"Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action."
-- Napolean Hill, Motivational Writer

"To try and fail is at least to learn. To fail to try is to suffer the loss of what might have been." - Benjamin Franklin, statesman

"If anything terrifies me, I must try to conquer it." - Francis Chichester, adventurer

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
- Maya Angelou, Poet

"In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends."
-- John Churton Collins, critic

"Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances."
-- Bruce Barton, advertising executive

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." - Leon Suenens, Clergyman

"Freedom lies in being bold." - Robert Frost, poet

"There is only one way to make a great deal of money, and that is in a business of your own." - J. Paul Getty, oil tycoon

-----
...and, on the "lighter side" (from different sources) LOL...

"Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.' - Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)

"I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: - 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.' - Eleanor Roosevelt

'Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement' - Mark Twain

"The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible." - George Burns

"Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year. '
- Victor Borge

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."
- Mark Twain

"By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher." - Socrates
|
"I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury."
- Groucho Marx

" My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe." - Jimmy Durante

"I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back."
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat." - Alex Levine

"My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying." - Rodney Dangerfield
|
"Money can't buy you happiness ... But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." - Spike Milligan

"Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP" . - Joe Namath

"I don't feel old.. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap." - Bob Hope


"I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it." - W. C. Fields

"We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress." - Will Rogers

"Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you." - Winston Churchill

"Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty ...But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out." - Phyllis Diller

"By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere." - Billy Crystal

"And the cardiologist's diet: - If it tastes good spit it out." |
-----

(Ain't that just the livin' end?" LOL)
Have a joyous weekend!

Your Friend,

Jacques

Habitual lateness exposed (conclusion)

Keating says she falls into this category. "It's a case of bad planning, of thinking you need less time than you actually do."

The solution, Morgenstern says, is to "become a better time estimator." She suggests keeping track of everything you do for a week or two. "Write down how long you think each thing will take and then how long it actually took." This will help you find a pattern, so you can adjust your time estimates.

Keating says this strategy is helpful. "You have to be realistic about how long certain things take, especially things you do routinely. If you know it takes 20 minutes to blow dry your hair, allow yourself 20 minutes to blow dry your hair," she says, "and leave a little extra time for those days when your hair is uncooperative."

Learning to Say 'No'
Another technical difficulty for some people is the inability to say "no" to additional commitments when they're short on time. You might be a good time estimator, Morgenstern explains, but "your best-laid plans get waylaid when someone asks you for something and you can't say 'no.'"

The solution to this problem is to "practice catchphrases," Morgenstern tells WebMD. Learn to defer or decline requests by saying, "I would love to help, but I'm on a deadline" or "I'm meeting people in half an hour. I can help you tomorrow."

Choosing to Be Late
"If you are literally always 10 minutes late, it's psychological," Morgenstern says. "You're arriving exactly when you want. The question is 'why?'"

Sapadin says the answer depends on your personality type. "For some people, it's a resistance thing," she tells WebMD. "It's a carryover of rebelliousness from childhood. They don't want to do what other people expect them to."

Another category is the "crisis-maker," someone who thrives on the minicrisis of running late. "These are people who cannot get themselves together until they get an adrenaline rush," Sapadin explains. "They need to be under the gun to get themselves moving."

Planning for Wait Time
For most people, running late has more to do with anxiety about where they're going. "There's a fear factor in which people are anxious about going at all or about getting there too early and having nothing to do," Sapadin says.

Morgenstern agrees. "There is a tremendous fear of downtime, an anxiety associated with doing nothing and waiting." You know you're in this category if you'd rather be late to a massage than spend one minute sitting in the waiting room.

To overcome wait time anxiety, Morgenstern suggests planning "something highly absorbing to do while you wait." Try to arrive at every appointment 10 or 15 minutes early and use the time for a specific activity, such as writing notes to people, reading a novel, or catching up with friends on the phone. This strategy can help convert dreaded wait time into time that is productive and pleasurable, giving you an incentive to be on time.

Walking Out the Door
Finally, a deceptively simple tip from Morgenstern: Walk out the door on time. She says many people try to avoid downtime by "shoving in one more thing" just before they need to leave. She calls this the "one-more-task syndrome" and says it's a major obstacle to being on time. "If you really want to beat this, the minute you think of squeezing in one more thing before you leave, just don't do it. Stop yourself in your tracks, grab your bag and walk out the door."

Courtesy: WebMD.com newsletter

Help for the Chronically Late

Experts explain why the key to being on time is understanding why you're always late.
By Sherry Rauh

New York lingerie designer Carolyn Keating was thrilled to land a job interview with Victoria's Secret. She knew that being on time was essential to making a good impression, but there was just one problem. "I had written down the address wrong. I meant to check it the night before on the computer, but I didn't." When Keating finally arrived at the correct address, she was 30 minutes late. "I felt embarrassed and it really flustered me," she tells WebMD. "I carried that insecure, worried, flustered energy throughout the interview." She didn't get the job.

Another time, Keating and several friends showed up 15 minutes late to a colleague's wedding. "The bride was already at the alter. She was basically saying 'I do' when we tumbled in, and it's hard for six or seven people to tiptoe in quietly. We were worried that we ruined the most important day of her life."

For some people, being on time seems nearly impossible -- no matter how important the event. They're always running out the door in a frenzy, arriving everywhere at least 10 minutes late. If this sounds like you, have you ever wished you could break the pattern? According to Julie Morgenstern, author of Time Management From the Inside Out, the first step is to make promptness a conscious priority.

"Look at the costs of being late and the payoffs of being on time," Morgenstern advises. She says it's important to recognize that being late is upsetting to others and stressful for the one who is late. "I think people's stress level is very high when they're late. They're racing, worried, and anxious. They spend the first few minutes apologizing. One of the payoffs of being on time is that you eliminate the stress of the travel time and you eliminate the time spent apologizing."

The Consequences of Being Late
The consequences of being chronically late run deeper than many people realize, according to psychologist Linda Sapadin, PhD, author of Master Your Fears. "You're creating a reputation for yourself, and it's not the best reputation to be establishing. People feel they can't trust you or rely on you, so it impacts relationships. It also impacts self-esteem."

Once you feel motivated to make a change, Morgenstern says the next step is to figure out why you're always late. The reason can usually be classified as either technical or psychological.

Technical Difficulties
"If you're always late by a different amount of time -- five minutes sometimes, 15, or even 40 minutes other times -- it is likely that the cause is technical," Morgenstern tells WebMD. "That means you are not good at estimating how long things take," whether it's drive times or routine activities like taking a shower.

(Concluded in our next post)

10 Cancer-Fighting foods

By Melissa Breyer, Senior Editor, Healthy & Green Living

I’m going to put my Mommy hat on here, place my hands on my hips, look down at the broccoli you left on your plate, and tell you this: Eat your vegetables! Not because I’m a member of the clean-your-plate club, but because I care about you–and because I know this: in numerous studies following large groups of people, eating more vegetables and fruits has been linked to a lower risk of lung, oral, esophageal, stomach, and colon cancer. The thinking behind these results points to antioxidants and phytochemicals, natural compounds found in plants.

What are antioxidants? As described by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the body seems to use certain nutrients in vegetables and fruits to protect against damage to tissues that happens constantly as a result of normal metabolism (oxidation). Because such damage is linked with increased cancer risk, the antioxidant nutrients are thought to protect against cancer. Antioxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, and many other phytochemicals (beneficial plant compounds).

Studies aside, it’s really a no-brainer. Eat real food, stay healthier. So now you’ve got not only a host of government programs telling you to eat your 5 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day, you’ve got me hovering over your shoulder telling you to do the same! But I’ll go easy on you and offer up a few other plant-based suggestions as well. Here are ten super-duper cancer-fighting foods to add to your regime–these ten were chosen for their special cancer-kicking properties, as described on the Living Strong Living Well page of the Stanford School of Medicine Health Improvement Program.

The "Big Ten":

1. Beans
Beans contain a number of phytochemicals, which have been shown to prevent or slow genetic damage to cells. While this makes beans beneficial for helping to reduce your risk of many types of cancer, specific research has suggested they are especially potent in preventing prostate cancer. As an added bonus, the high fiber content of beans has been connected with a lower risk of digestive cancers.

2. Berries
The two most widely studied cancer-fighting compounds in berries are ellagic acid (richest in strawberries and raspberries) and anthocyanosides (richest in blueberries). Ellagic acid is believed to help prevent skin, bladder, lung, and breast cancers, both by acting as an antioxidant and by slowing the reproduction of cancer cells. The anthocyanosides in blueberries are currently the most powerful antioxidants known to scientists and are beneficial in the prevention of all types of cancer.

3. Cruciferous Vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale)
Cruciferous vegetables-like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale-are rich in a variety of compounds that have been shown to slow cancer growth and development in a number of laboratory studies. Other larger human studies have shown that cruciferous vegetables can help to reduce the risk of lung, stomach, colorectal, prostate, and bladder cancers.

4. Dark Green Leafy Vegetables
Leafy-green vegetables-like romaine lettuce, mustard greens, chicory, and Swiss chard-are rich sources of antioxidants called carotenoids. These compounds scavenge dangerous free radicals from the body before they can promote cancer growth. The vegetables are also rich in folate, a vitamin shown to reduce the risk of lung and breast cancer.

5. Flaxseed
Flaxseed in the form of oil and meal contains phytoestrogens believed to reduce the risk of breast, skin, and lung cancer. Research on the potency of flaxseed as an anti-cancer food is still underway.

6. Garlic (including onions, scallions, leeks, and chives)
Garlic contains a number of compounds believed to slow or stop the growth of tumors. One such compound, diallyl disulfide, appears to be especially potent in protecting against skin, colon, and lung cancer, though it is not known exactly how it functions.

7. Grapes
Grapes and wine contain a chemical called resveratrol, which has been shown to be a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Resveratrol is thought to work by preventing cell damage before it begins. Red and purple grapes are the richest sources of resveratrol.

8. Green Tea (decaf)
Green tea is a rich source of a class of flavonoids known as catechins. Laboratory studies have shown that the catechins present in green tea are able to slow or prevent the development of cancer in colon, liver, breast, and prostate cells.

9. Tomatoes
The anti-cancer compound in tomatoes, lycopene, has been shown to be especially potent in combating prostate cancer. This compound appears to be more easily absorbed if the tomatoes are eaten in cooked form-either as tomato sauce, paste, or juice. In addition to preventing prostate cancer, lycopene may also protect against breast, lung, stomach, and pancreatic cancer.

10. Whole Grains
Whole grains contain a variety of anti-cancer compounds, including fiber, antioxidants, and phytoestrogens. When eaten as part of a balanced diet, whole grains can help decrease the risk of developing most types of cancer.


JACQUES' 2 cents...
Besides my sincere thanks and acknowledgement to MELISSA BREYER and her fine publication "Health and Green Living" (CARE2)for this excellent article on Wellness-enhancing foods, I could not think of a better day than this to share the above with you.

For today is Yom Kippur (a day of fasting, soul-searching, repentance, plans for self-improvement, pleas for G-d's absolution, blessings and insciption in "The Book of Life" throughout the new year, 5770) being celebrated by Jews around the World.
L'Shana Tovah to all my Jewish friends and their families!
And, as of tomorrow, Eat Well - including the foods above!

Yours in Good Health,
Jacques!

The Butterfly Effect...An Unforgettable Story!

Hello everybody!

Jusr received the following email from MAC ANDERSON, Founder of "Simple Truths" which offers inspirational and other uplifting written and filmed entities.

Today's was an introduction to ANDY ANDREWS, the author of "The Butterfly Effect", which I feel privileged to share with you. ENJOY!...and, to my Jewish Friends: SHANA TOVAH!- Wishing you and yours a Happy, Healthy, Sweet, Fulfilled 5770!
-----

Dear Jacques,


I can count on one hand the times in my life when I heard a story and...could not stop thinking about it! The Butterfly Effect story was one of those times. In a word, it's AMAZING!

Andy Andrews, in my opinion, is one of the most talented writers in the country. His books have sold millions of copies. In fact, he's had two different books on the New York Times best-sellers list. But as a speaker...he's the best I've ever heard.

When he speaks, he usually closes with his favorite story (he says it's the one that every client remembers)...The Butterfly Effect. Therefore, to say I'm honored to partner with Andy to share this wonderful, true story with the rest of the world is an understatement!

Today, I'd like to share an excerpt from Andy's introduction to The Butterfly Effect. Enjoy!

Introduction from:
The Butterfly Effect...How Your Life Matters,
by Andy Andrews

Not long ago, I finally told the story of when, at the age of twenty-three, homeless and scared, I was given guidance in a most unusual fashion by an old man named Jones. What the old man told me did nothing less than change my life and my future. He said..."With a little perspective you can live a life of permanent purpose."

When I asked what he meant, the old man answered with a question. "Do you sometimes find yourself unconsciously judging your actions by level of importance?" I frowned a bit, not certain I understood. "For instance", he continued, "the time you spend with friends is important, but the time you spend with family, is more important. You might rank an hour fishing as very important, thirty minutes visiting a sick friend in the hospital much more important than the fishing, and a sixty second conversation with a convenience store clerk as not very important at all."

I nodded my understanding and he returned to his initial point. "When you know that everything matters - that every move counts as much as any other - you will begin living a life of permanent purpose. A life of permanent purpose will make you a better parent, a better spouse, and a more valuable friend. Your productivity and financial success will soar to new heights while the old days of uncertainty, doubt, and depression fade into the past."

Of course, that conversation with Jones changed me. But even more, it became the guiding force that produced the kind of speaker and author I have become. You see, I understand fully that my very value as an author and speaker must ultimately be judged by the success you achieve. And as I consult with companies or speak to organizations and teams, I am keenly aware that much of my client's (your) ability to succeed beyond imagination depends upon my ability to prove this very concept!

When a sales organization sees proof that casual conversations in town matter just as much as an arranged meeting with a major prospect -

When the second string right-guard sees proof that his every action on and off the field, whether he plays or not, is as critical to the team's successful season as everything the starting quarterback does -

When a teenager sees and understands proof that every choice made in leisure today will affect the choices that will be available to him in more pressing times ahead -

When one lives a life of permanent purpose, sales figures soar, team chemistry thrives, and teenage decisions become wiser and more cautious. And these are just a few examples of what will happen... Simply put, when we understand that every action matters, every result of our actions immediately improves!

In these pages, I know you will find hope and direction for yourself, but I am most excited that you will now be equipped to lead others to their own life of permanent purpose! My hope for our families, our places of worship, our businesses, our nation, and our world is an incredible life of permanent purpose that can be achieved when at last we understand: Every move we make and every action we take, matters not just for us, but for all of us...and for all time.

Live with Passion,

Mac Anderson
Founder, Simple Truths

Money, Money, Money, Mo-ney, MO-NEE!

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An excellent insight into Emotions...

Hi all,

I have missed communicating with you on a more regular basis. However, I have become REALLY busy helping many people to safely enter into and benefit from the HOTTEST Real Estate market in a Century.(FYI: Real Estate Investing became a fascination with me over a quarter of a century ago---Today, it could provide for the rest of my life!)

As a matter of fact, before I get into today's post with you, let me give you my REI (Real Estate Investing) website address:
http://weprovidethecash.com/?id=makebigbucks ---
I invite you to check it out in-depth and either email and/or call me personally if you have any questions:
E.: jgmakebigbucks7@gmail.com
T.: (800) 701-1924.

Awesome incomes from REI profits are being made and built daily! In another post, I shall give you more details. Meanwhile, please check out my website and let me know..

Wishing you and yours a fun and Safe Labor Day Weekend!
Your Friend,

Jacques

_________

The following was sent me by my dear friend Yael, and deserves everyone's conscientious attention!:

One of the major questions in life is, "Do we control our emotions
or do our emotions control us?" The bible teaches that we have the ability to control our emotions. It is not easy, but it can be done.

One of the most disruptive, destructive and devastating traits is anger. It can harm us and others spiritually, physically, emotionally, and socially.

Hopefully, this piece will be of use ... if for nothing else than passing it on to someone you care about.

Q & A: WHAT CAUSES ANGER AND
HOW CAN IT BE CONQUERED?

The Sages tell us (Talmud, Shabbat 115) regarding a person who gets angry that it is as if he worshiped idols.

What idol is he worshipping? Himself! We get angry because we have expectations that everything must be exactly as we want it to be. No wonder the author of Orchos Tzadikim (The Way of the Righteous) says that a person controlled by anger denies himself happiness in life.

An angry person is out of control and at the whim of outside forces!

Let's analyze when we get angry: We trip on something, someone bumps into us; a colleague, spouse or child doesn't listen to us. In the first two cases, something happens that we aren't expecting. In the latter case, it is the frustration of having our will thwarted!

Anger comes from having a fragile ego. We interpret what happens as a direct personal attack instead of happenstance, sloth, incompetence or inconsideration. Internally, we are telling ourselves: "How can this be happening to me - I am too important for this to happen to me!"

There is a place for anger - the most appropriate place being in the dictionary.

Also, if you are physically attacked, anger focuses one's response. An angry person may be listened to (if he has the power), but he appears like a meshugenah (a crazy person); will be feared, not loved; endangers his health (through high blood pressure) and is not being maximally effective or enjoying life.

If he is trying to rebuke his children or students, they may hear his point, but they will come away with an awful role model on how to handle stress or displeasure. (A parent owes his child three things: example, example, example.)

It has been said that raising children by yelling at them is like driving a car by honking the horn. One should appear angry when punishing a child, but never punish a child out of anger!

Anger can be controlled. Imagine that someone bumps into you very hard; you start to get angry and then you turn around to see that it is a blind man - or that special person you've always wanted to meet - or a 6'6" bully.

Your perspective immediately changes and you might find that asking, "Did you hurt yourself?" is a more appropriate or judicious response.

Other tips on controlling anger:
(1) Realize that anger is counter-productive and commit to not getting angry.

(2) Appreciate how insane you look when you do get angry (perhaps carry a pocket mirror and refuse to get angry until you take it out to watch yourself!).

(3) Set up "a fine system" and pay someone (preferably someone you don't like) a large fine if you get angry.

(4) Imagine that you just won the Lottery - would you still get angry over this trifle? (If you don't get angry, you have just won the Lottery in the battle to control your behavior!)

(5) Delay getting angry - yes, count to 10 - or leave the room before exploding.

(6) If you do get angry, cut it short and be sure to apologize and set yourself to do better in the future.

Healthy BBQ - Conclusion (finally!) LOL

Healthy Barbecue Tip No. 7:
Be sensible about servings.
Encourage eating smaller portions by grilling the meat in smaller portions, such as:

1/4 pound burgers (made with extra-lean ground sirloin) instead of 1/3 or 1/2 pound patties.
Filet mignon-sized steaks instead of 10- to 16-ounce steaks.
Kabobs made with small pieces of meat, alternated with vegetables.
Link sausage cut lengthwise in half instead of grilled whole.
Thin slices of larger cuts of meat (such whole pork tenderloin, roasts, etc). Let the meat rest 10 minutes after cooking, then slice before serving to family or guests.

Healthy Barbecue Tip No. 8:
Tenderize lean meats with marinades!
When grilling lean meat, use lower-fat marinades with acid ingredients to help break down the tough fibers. Marinades add lots of flavor, too.

But keep in mind that the power of marinades is only skin-deep. They can tenderize the surface of the meat only to about 1/4 inch. That's why it's important to make sure the marinade covers the entire surface of your meat. It also helps to score the meat (cut into the surface about 1/4 inch deep with a sharp knife in several places) before coating it with marinade.

Healthy Barbecue Tip No. 9:
Lower potential cancer risks associated with grilling.
PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and HCAs (heterocyclic amines) are substances formed on the surface of well-done meat cooked at high temperatures. The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) recently concluded that the evidence that these two substances increase the risk of cancer in humans is "limited but suggestive."

PAHs, in particular, come from smoke, which is formed when fat drips from meat onto the grill. "Technically, anything that spends any time around smoke will contain some level of PAHs," explains Glen Weldon, head of education and communications at the AICR. The good news is many of the grilling suggestions in the first eight tips help reduce your intake of these two substances.

But what you grill is perhaps more important than how often you grill. A recently published AICR report concluded that diets high in red meat (beef, pork, and lamb) and especially processed meats are a "convincing: cause of colorectal cancer."

Keep in mind that grilling vegetables and fruit produces negligible HCAs or PAHs. In fact, diets that are high in plant foods in general are associated with a reduced risk of several cancers.

Here are a few grilling suggestions to reduce your cancer risk:

Use a low-fat marinade. Some research suggests that marinating meat (even briefly) significantly reduces the formation of HCAs. Including garlic and onions in the marinade may also help reduce HCA formation on cooked meat.
Select leaner cuts (and trim any visible fat), to prevent dripping fat from causing flare-ups, which may deposit carcinogens on the meat.
Flip the meat on the grill often.(*) This will help reduce the amount of carcinogens that are potentially deposited on the meat.
You can also reduce flare-ups by spreading aluminum foil on the grill. Make small holes in the foil to allow fat from the meat to drain.

Healthy Barbecue Tip No. 10:
Just say no to processed meat.
The AICR report recommends limiting your consumption of cooked red meat to no more than 18 ounces per week (the equivalent of about 6 quarter-pound hamburgers). Things get more dismal for processed meats. When the AICR did an analysis of the available evidence, it found that every 3.5 ounces of processed meat eaten per day increased the risk for colorectal cancer by 42%. Processed meats include hot dogs, sausages, bacon, ham, and cold cuts, among others.

(*) (Jacques' comment). Frequently flipping meat causes vital, tasty juices to leak, thus drying the meat. This is especially true for a nice thick steak.
I recommend ONLY turning it ONCE: when the top begins to "sweat"---and, when the dark, grilled "first side" now showing also sweats, you have a perfect "medium rare".
Keeping such a steak BBQing beyond that to render it "medium" or (OMG) "well done" will dry it out and pretty much kill all flavors but "burned charcoal". Which is why I always refused to BBQ my steaks past the juicy, perfect "medium rare" stage---and offered the dry, burned meat lovers an old shoe instead. :o)---BON APPETIT! J.

Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, is the "Recipe Doctor" for the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic and the author of numerous books on nutrition and health. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.