Benefits Buzz

Upcoming Luncheon 1/27/11 with Jeremy Roenick, Chicago Blackhawk

2011-01-18T07:53:00.001-06:00

$13 for networking, lunch is complimentary. Come join us and a room full of business persons so we can learn more about your business and help you make 2011 the best year you have had! Please go to the Socializr link above and register for this event. We welcome each and every one of you and any business persons you would like to share with.

Mastermind Business Networking Luncheon with special guest Jeremy Roenick! (Papa Joes Italian Restaurant)
Jan 27, 2011, 11:00 AM
http://www.socializr.com/event/88540619

Event:	Mastermind Business Networking Luncheon with special guest Jeremy Roenick!
	www.socializr.com/event/88540619
Hosted by:	Lynn Lionhood
When:	Jan 27, 2011, 11:00 AM
Location:	Papa Joes Italian Restaurant
	14459 S. LaGrange Road, Orland Park, IL

Register for Monday's training 01 03 10

2011-01-03T09:25:00.000-06:00

Here is the link you need to register for today's training:

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/597293342

Please email me if you have any problems.

Respectfully,

Lynn Lionhood

Monday's training

2010-12-19T12:41:00.000-06:00


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Agenda: business costs resulting from employee legal woes, goal planning sheets, 101 reasons, the value of Prepaid Legal and our opportunity

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Identity theft growing, harder to stop

2010-05-23T12:33:00.000-05:00

“It’s not where you start – it’s where you finish that counts.” – Zig Ziglar, author
Identity theft growing, getting harder to stop

MIAMI — With a few keystrokes, computer security expert Esteban Farao can find all the wireless networks in use in a half-block radius from a Starbucks.

One of them, it appears, is intended for guests at the Marriott. Others are private networks for individual businesses.

Farao, of Coral Gables, Fla.-based Enterprise Risk Management, said the security of any of those networks could be compromised — a la Albert Gonzalez.

"It’s a matter of time," Farao said, even for networks that are encrypted and password protected.
Gonzalez, of Miami, pleaded guilty last month to 19 felony charges in a Massachusetts indictment for tapping into the computer networks of T.J. Maxx, OfficeMax and other stores, stealing customers’ data and selling it overseas. Federal prosecutors say he stole 40 million credit card numbers as a part of that scheme. He faces charges that he stole millions more from other companies.

Whatever tools an identity thief is using, whether Dumpster-diving for individual credit card numbers, or stealing identities by the millions, "the damage that you can do to someone is exactly the same," said Wayne Ivey, a Florida law enforcement officer who has specialized in identity theft investigations for more than 15 years.

But this rapidly evolving crime is becoming more difficult to stop, Ivey said: Only 1 in 700 identity thieves is ever arrested.

Although a credit card company might forgive charges you claim you didn’t make because your card was stolen, some craftier crooks can take the credit card information, coupled with other personal data, and apply for more credit, buy cars, a home, even get a job — or get arrested — using someone else’s identity.

"The average person will expend over 400 hours trying to get their credit restored," Ivey said. And the Federal Trade Commission "estimates the average length of time between when identity theft occurs and the victim finds out is more than 12 months."

Much of the burden remains on consumers to protect themselves — and urge companies to take better care of their customers’ data.

While many major retailers have updated the security of their networks, many smaller stores have not.

A recent survey by the National Retail Federation showed that small merchants that have never been breached may have an unrealistic expectation of their security: 72 percent of them believe that the risk their company faces from a data compromise is low, or not possible, while 67 percent of merchants who have been breached call the risk high.

As a result, the survey showed, the latter group typically spends more to help secure their businesses.

With the right gear, which sells for only a few hundred dollars, a hacker can be as far as a mile from a place with a wireless network and break in undetected, said Sean Arries, a security expert with Terremark in Miami.

In the early days of wireless computer networks, there was no encryption — the process that masks information as it travels from one place to another, Arries said. Early on, criminals who managed to tap into others’ wireless networks could easily read the information traveling over the network.

One of the first encryption systems, WEP, was riddled with security problems, he said. But WEP is still widely used, especially in homes, Arries said. "At your house, you need to make sure you’re not using WEP," Arries said, noting that some older routers aren’t equipped with the newest, more secure types of encryption, WPA and WPA2.

Arries also cautions against using public networks — at a coffee shop, airport or the like — for anything more than browsing the Internet.

It took him less than a minute to demonstrate how simple it is for someone to grab information streaming from a computer using a public wireless network.

When he logged onto his Facebook page, the intercepting computer was able to read his username and password — in plain text.

If you are using an open network and you’re asked to approve an SSL certificate before continuing to the Web site you want to see, Arries said, it’s likely you are approving someone else to view your information.

Lynn Lionhood

Achieving Success by Expecting Success

2010-05-23T12:30:00.000-05:00

Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! - Michael Landon

What we call our joy, God calls our perfection – Sri Chinmoy, philosopher and teacher

Adventure isn't hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life - facing new challenges, seizing new opportunities, testing our resources against the unknown and in the process, discovering our own unique potential. - John Amatt

Achieving Success by Expecting Success

When you plan and prepare carefully, you can legitimately expect to have success in your efforts. When you recognize and develop the winning qualities that you were born with, the winner you were born to be emerges. When you plan and prepare to make a sale, for example, you can legitimately expect to make a sale.

Although not all your expectations are going to come to pass, you give yourself an infinitely better chance of succeeding by taking the proper steps. Regardless of your goal, you can expect to achieve your goal if you plan and prepare for it.

Also understand that the path from where you are to where you want to be is not always smooth and straight. The reason for the twists and bumps is simple, and it has nothing to do with you. It has more to do with the fact that not everyone is as interested in your success as you are. Some people may accidentally hinder your efforts; others who are in competition with you and have little or no integrity may try to sabotage your efforts.

Keep in mind, though, that when you hit those roadblocks your character, commitment and attitude are the determining factors in your success…. Carefully review your plan of action, seek wise counsel, and be particularly careful to feed your mind good information. An optimistic, positive mind is far more likely to come up with creative solutions than a mind that dwells on setbacks and difficulties.

Bottom line: expect success and you can achieve it! - Zig Ziglar

Lynn Lionhood

Survivors and Thrivers

2010-05-23T12:27:00.002-05:00

The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Survivors and Thrivers by Chris Widener

One of the most-watched television shows of the past several years is Survivor. We admire those who survive! We tune in every week to see who makes it next. But even better than being a survivor is to be one who thrives!

What are the differences between someone who survives and someone who thrives? Here are a few:

A survivor gets by, a thriver gets ahead. Do you feel like you are just getting by? You don’t have to. You can actually get ahead! You can be out front! You can thrive!

A survivor is tired at the end, a thriver feels full of energy. When you are finished do you feel tired? You can thrive and be filled with energy! You can thrive!

A survivor has barely enough, a thriver has an abundance. Do you have more month left over at the end of your money? You can have more money left over at the end of your month! You can thrive financially!

A survivor is always on the edge, a thriver is on firm ground. Do you feel like you could fall over the edge at any time? You can get back on solid footing! You can feel firm about where you are. You can thrive!

So how do we shift from being a survivor to becoming a thriver? Here are a few steps to put you on your way!

First, get around people who are thriving. Develop friendships with them; take them to lunch or coffee. Pick their brains and learn from them. Mimic their habits of thriving.

As you commit to this, you will see the time you spend watching and listening to junk go out the door. You will see that you are spending less and less time with those kinds of people who just want to survive. This will be the launching pad for your success.

Second, make a personal evaluation of your skills. What areas do you need to grow in? Now, get to work on those skills. Skills are what take you to the top. An old quote says that the race isn’t always won by the fast or the strong, but that’s the way to bet! I’ll take the person with skills to be the one who thrives every time. It won’t work like that every time, but it will most of the time.

Third, make a commitment to a long-term, tenacious outlook. We have to do this in order to turn the ship around. If you are just a survivor, you can be a thriver, but it may take some time. Remember, this is for the rest of your life. There will be times of weakness. There will be times of hardship. If you are tenacious, you can, and will, thrive!

Fourth, understand that thrivers are almost always people of methodical discipline and order. They know that they have to have order in their lives and the order is what produces the ability to thrive. Discipline will make you thrive!

Yes, you can THRIVE! Take the above and get to work. Make these principles a part of your life and they will create in you an ability to thrive in everything you do. You will no longer just survive. Instead, you will thrive! And that is going to feel great.

Lynn Lionhood

Copier Machines Jackpot For Identity Thieves?

2010-05-21T08:28:00.000-05:00

"The most important thing is your self-respect. It doesn't matter what people think about you, but what you think about yourself." -- Robert H. Abplanalp

Copier Machines Jackpot For Identity Thieves?

Using Copier Machine Puts Person At Risk For Identity Theft

May 18, 2010

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. –

Every time you hand over your ID for someone to make a quick copy, you could be handing over a license for someone to steal your identity -- and it has nothing to do with the paper your information is printed on.

It all comes down to the internal memory of a copy machine and how it’s all stored.

Dave Kleiman is a computer forensic expert specializing in data recovery. He said the risk for identity theft is high.

"It can be dangerous. I mean, if someone gets a hold of that hard drive and wanted to use that information in an illicit way, they could definitely do that," said Kleiman.

Nearly every copier built in the past six or seven years contains a hard drive, just like a computer. It stores a picture of every single document that's copied on the machine -- that could be your tax returns, bank statements or medical records.

At Dr. Maureen Whelihan's gynecology office, her employees used to do it the old-fashioned way. They’d make copies of IDs and insurance cards for patient files, and eventually they’d shred copies, leaving the potential for records to be stored on a hard drive. But now they've revamped their computer systems.

“We're scanning right into your report to protect your privacy,” explained Whelihan.

Jim Henderson’s wife is a patient of Whelihan.

"That’s always a concern these days," Henderson said. "Identity theft is a big problem. But I had no idea that the copy machine was a resource for identity theft."

In fact, most people have no idea the copier is a moving target for identity thieves.

“Many of these copy machines are leased. So a lot of companies turn these machines back in with those hard drives intact and all of the information on there, unbeknownst probably to them," said Kleiman.

Hundreds of used machines sit in warehouses and local office supply stores. It's a ticking tech time bomb full of personal info.

At Alan's Business Machines, WPBF 25 News found dozens of copiers waiting to be sold.

"I don’t know of any laws or any guidelines that would prevent from just taking a machine in and selling it immediately without really doing anything to it,” said store owner Robert Hinson.

There are no laws mandating hard drives be replaced or even wiped out. However, Hinson said he clears out everything.

“It would be much like a computer. We would take the hard drive out and reformat it,” added Hinson.

But according to Kleiman, that’s not enough. He says information can still be retrieved from a hard drive after it's formatted. It can be easily recovered using a forensic software program you can get free online.

As Kleiman explains, there is an option to add extra security to new copiers, but that costs extra and isn’t always considered a necessity.

"Sometimes it complicates things, makes it take longer to do things and everyone wants efficiency over security," said Kleiman.

Instead of trying to clear the hard drive, you can keep it before selling or returning the machine if it's leased. It can often cost a couple hundred dollars but will help prevent the information from getting into the wrong hands.

Lynn Lionhood

It is possible

2010-05-21T08:26:00.000-05:00

"Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most." – Al Capp

Have you ever been stuck in rush hour traffic? Rather than just zone out, take a minute to look at those in cars around you. Is anyone honestly smiling? How about on the train ride home from a long day of work? Does anyone honestly appear to be excited about being on that train?

The majority of people are not happy where they are at, they aren't truly enjoying life. My question to you is this, are you one of those people who have had the joy removed from your life? Well, then CHANGE IT. Now I am not going to tell you this will happen overnight, but if you don't start TODAY, you will never get the true joy back!

Life simply is too short to be miserable. I can tell you there is more to enjoy in life. Life is worth grabbing and living. So isn't about time you set the wheels in motion towards bringing more joy to life.

Don't put off tomorrow what you can begin to enjoy today. The choice is yours, are you up for finding the joy in life?

Lynn Lionhood

Authorities Arrest First Suspect In Massive Identity Theft Ring

2010-05-15T06:58:00.000-05:00

"Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible." -- Charles Wilson, legislator

Authorities Arrest First Suspect In Massive Identity Theft Ring

Ukranian is one of 11 suspected in crime ring that stole 40 million credit and debit card numbers

May 13, 2010

Tim Wilson

Indian police said yesterday that they have detained a Ukranian man charged in the U.S. with stealing some 40 million credit and debit card numbers.

Sergey Storchak was detained after he landed in New Delhi on a domestic flight from the southwestern holiday state of Goa on Monday, a police spokesman said. He is one of 11 people wanted by the U.S. Justice Department in "the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted," which was filed in August 2008.

Besides Storchak, three Americans, two Ukrainians, two Chinese, one Estonian, a Belarussian and an unidentified suspect are on the wanted list, the Justice Department said.

The group is accused of obtaining credit and debit card numbers by hacking into the computer networks of major U.S. retailers -- including Barnes & Noble, OfficeMax, shoe retailer DSW, and Sports Authority.

Once inside the network, "sniffer programs" captured credit card numbers, passwords, and account information, police said. The data was stored in encrypted servers controlled from Eastern Europe and the United States.

Some stolen numbers were sold to other criminals, while others were encoded on blank cards and used to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars from bank machines, the Justice Department statement says.

According to news reports Storchak was arrested after a tip-off by the FBI. He was identified by a photo and the airline's passenger list, the reports say.

The FBI will have to formally apply for Storchak's extradition to take him to the United States.

Lynn Lionhood

Eagles need a push

2010-05-15T06:55:00.001-05:00

"What holds so many people back is an unwillingness to pay the price, to make the effort to sacrifice their ease and comfort." -- Orison Marden, writer

http://www.eaglesneedapush.com/

Lynn Lionhood

Bouncing Back from Tough Times with Self-Encouragement

2010-05-13T13:24:00.000-05:00

"The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example." - Thomas Morell, Librettist

"It takes time to build a corporate work of art. It takes time to build a life. And it takes time to develop and grow. So give yourself, your enterprise, and your family the time they deserve and the time they require." —Jim Rohn

Bouncing Back from Tough Times with Self-Encouragement

Here is a familiar scenario for all of us; you may even be going through something like this right now: You have an exciting goal in mind, you’ve done your homework, you think you’re amply prepared… but things just don’t work out. You’ve probably had times when you thought you were doing what you were supposed to do, but you were misinformed. You thought you had it all laid out, but it just didn’t work. You burned the midnight oil day after day after day, but it didn’t seem to help. You couldn’t seem to change the end result.

These are the times when you have to be your own best cheerleader. And there are two ways to keep yourself encouraged.

Number one: Take responsibility for the missed opportunity or the misrepresentation. Learn from the fact that even though you made the best presentation possible, your client wanted it a different way. Be prepared for the letdowns that happen every so often. Know that this lost opportunity just set you up to take advantage of the next one. Realize that you can make the necessary alterations next time. Make the changes that will make the difference. Study your mistakes and learn from them. Instead of dwelling on the mistakes, simply acknowledge them and learn from them. Remind yourself that you’re smarter than your bank account leads you to believe.

Encouragement practice number two: Remind yourself that you’re bound to get better. Don’t get down on yourself. Don’t beat yourself up. It’s the next opportunity that matters, not the last one. The last one matters only in that you must learn from your mistakes. But the next one gives you the opportunity to show that you have learned from your mistakes. You can do it better next time. You just have to practice. Keep trying until. Until what? Until you’ve got it down.

If you figured out what went wrong last time, then you know how to make it right next time. If you figured out what it was in your presentation that didn’t work, don’t say that next time. If you figured out that the reason you didn’t close the deal this time was because you didn’t have all the facts and figures in place, have all the facts and figures in place next time. Don’t beat yourself up for messing up. Pat yourself on the back for figuring it out.

You need to encourage yourself. You need to pump yourself up. You need to be your own cheerleader. Why? Because you can’t wait and hope that someone else will come along and cheer you up… make you feel better… tell you that you’ll do better next time. You have to rely on yourself. You have to have faith in yourself and your ability to figure out what works and what doesn’t. You have to have the inner belief that everything you’re doing, you’re doing for a positive outcome in the future. You have to encourage yourself with future successes.

When you miss an opportunity, are unprepared for an opportunity, or suffer a setback while realizing your goals, you need to encourage yourself by immediately getting back into line.

There’s an old cowboy saying, “Fall off a horse seven times and you’re a real cowboy.” If you fall off a horse, get right back on. If you fall off track, get right back on. If you fall away from your disciplines, get right back to them. If you fall out of habit, get back into the habit. Something goes wrong, do what you can to make it right.

If you fall off… get back on. If you fall off the horse, that is, the horse of habits or disciplines or progress, get back on. It may be hard. It may be a bit frightening. But get back on. Keep your resolve alive and active and well. Cheer yourself on to victory. You can do it.

The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum. -- Frances Willard

Lynn Lionhood

Why You Must Read Success Stories

2010-05-13T13:21:00.002-05:00

Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake. - Henry David Thoreau

Why You Must Read Success Stories

“Don’t worry — it will be all right. I’ve taken this road you are walkin’ down. I’ve been in your shoes. It is just somethin’ that you have got to go through. I had this same talk with my mentor.”

Those were the words I heard, when my heart had flushed my eyes with tears because things were getting difficult. Through the years, I’ve heard different versions of the same speech when business was tough or I wasn’t feeling my best.

Sometimes it is nice to know that what you are going through isn’t an experience unique to you. There is comfort in knowing that others have been there and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Often, when you are in the midst of the tunnel, the only thing that catches your focus is despair, discouragement and depression. Yet, it can turn your day around when someone ventures into the tunnel, walks with you and grabs your hand to say, “I’ve been here…. Hang in there. I turned out all right, and you will as well.”

Unfortunately, we don’t all have someone who will tread into the tunnel and walk beside us with encouragement. This is why it is so important to read success stories! A success story is a unique way to have a successful person walk beside you as you examine the story of their life. You will often be surprised that the most successful people of all time experience the same struggles as you.

Einstein was divorced, Lincoln battled depression, Ronald Reagan had his heart broken by his first wife and Sam Walton went broke twice. Where did I learn these facts? From the stories I read! Did it make me feel better because they had hard times? Yes and no. I never delight in someone else’s pain. On the other hand, it is without question that Einstein, Lincoln, Reagan and Walton were monumental successes. It is refreshing and inspiring to read that they were also human and have walked down the same road that you and I have.

When my business was struggling a few years ago, what an encouragement it was to read Sam Walton’s biography. My eyes stopped on the page when I read that he had been in an almost identical financial spot that I was in! I put the book down and a smile spread across my face. If you don’t know who Sam Walton is, he started a small company called Wal-Mart a few years ago, and it turned out OK.

Reading Sam Walton’s success story was a neat way for me to get inspired and reminded me that some pretty successful people have met discouragement head-on and succeeded. In a sense, while reading that book, a message from the spirit of Sam Walton said, “I have been there. It is hard, but don’t give up. The reward is worth it. Now press on.” I did, and I will be forever glad that I did.

Now, go ahead and read the success stories I give you each training day. By the way, if you are in a rough spot or experiencing some heartache, “don’t worry, — it will be all right. I’ve taken this road you are walkin’ down. I’ve been in your shoes. It is just somethin’ that you have got to go through. I had this same talk with my mentor.”

Lynn Lionhood

2010-05-06T16:31:00.000-05:00

"As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can." -- Julius Caesar, Roman leader

"Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts." - Nikki Giovanni

Wow, have you made a mistake today? This week? This month (all 6 days of it so far)? I know I have. As much as we try each day to not make mistakes, we will make them. We continue to make them. However, I am not sure I want to know the person that does NOT make mistakes.

Here is the key thing about mistakes. WE MUST LEARN FROM THEM. This isn't a new concept. However, try this one on for size. We all know we can learn from others. We can learn from their success, but we can also learn from their mistakes!!!

Lynn Lionhood

Mother's movie

2010-05-06T16:22:00.002-05:00

Live as if to die tomorrow. Learn as if to live forever. - Mahatma Gandhi

I just watched a beautiful and powerful presentation that really touched me and I wanted to share it with you. I'm sure you'll enjoy the breathtaking images and the inspiring message.

You can check it out here: http://www.mothersmovie.com

At the heart of this is the confidence that God loves each mother and has gifted her to bless her family and friends. Not only is it inspiring but the rich and detailed watercolors make it lovely to behold.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers we know,

Lynn Lionhood

Heart of a teacher

2010-05-03T07:23:00.000-05:00

If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success. - John D. Rockefeller

Although this is about children, this is truly what I feel about my responsibility toward all of you. Each of you that are serious must pay attention as the role of teacher will quickly become your role.

http://www.heartofateachermovie.com/

Lynn Lionhood

The Simple Truths of Appreciation

2010-05-03T07:21:00.000-05:00

"I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity." -- John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist

The Simple Truths of Appreciation,
By Barbara Glanz

My friend, Bob Danzig, has an amazing story. Simple words of appreciation and encouragement changed his life. Bob was in five foster homes during his youth, and said he spent his childhood trying to find someone to love and appreciate him.

When he was nine years old, he had a new social worker. He said after she had done all the paperwork to move him to yet another foster home, she sat him down, looked him directly in the eyes, and said, "Bobby, I want you to always remember these words: YOU ARE WORTHWHILE!"

Bob says that no one had ever said anything like that to him, and each time they met, she repeated those words. They became an affirmation of appreciation that he heard over and over again in his head.

Bob graduated at sixteen, not because he was smart, he says, but because he got mixed up in the system!
He soon took a job at the Albany New York Times as a copy boy, and his very first boss was a woman named Margaret. After he had worked there about six months, Margaret called him into her office one day and asked him to sit down. He thought for sure he was going to be fired! She looked him right in the eyes and said to him, "I have been the office manager for 15 years - I have been observing you - and I believe YOU ARE FULL OF PROMISE." Those words, on that day, gave him permission to aspire.

Those two positive messages of appreciation played over and over again in his head and ultimately gave him the courage to be the very best he could be. Sixteen years later he became the Publisher of the Albany New York Times, and seven years after that, he became CEO of Hearst Newspapers, one of the largest newspaper companies in the world; and he credits it all to those simple words of appreciation and love. What a wonderful example of how little gifts of appreciation can make such a difference in a life!

Lynn Lionhood

The Best Way Out is Always Through

2010-05-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

"The most important thing about goals is... having one." -- Geoffry F. Abert

The Best Way Out is Always Through,
by BJ Gallagher

Mary Kay Ash banged her head on the corporate glass ceiling one too many times. Working for several direct sales companies from the 1930's until the early 1960's, she achieved considerable success. She climbed the corporate ladder to become the sole woman on the board of directors of the World Gift Company - quite an accomplishment for a woman in the 1950's.

But life wasn't rosy at the top. Even though Mary Kay had the title and the track record, she was not taken seriously by her male peers. In board meetings, her opinions and suggestions were ignored, dismissed, or even ridiculed. Male board members minced no words in their judgment - pronouncing her guilty of "thinking like a woman."

Since the sales force was almost entirely female, Mary Kay thought that thinking like a woman was an asset. But her fellow board members disagreed. Finally, in frustration, she retired in 1963, intending to write a book to assist women in the male-dominated business.

Sitting at her kitchen table, she made two lists: one list was all the good things she had seen in the companies where she'd worked, and the other list was all the things she thought could be improved. As she re-read her lists, she realized that what she had in front of her was a marketing plan for her ideal company. In just four weeks, her "book" had become a business plan, and her retirement was over.

Both her accountant and her attorney did their best to discourage her, warning that she would be throwing her money away on this venture. But Mary Kay had heard enough male nay-saying in her corporate years - she ignored her advisors.

Her husband, unlike her accountant and attorney, was very supportive. With his help, Mary Kay developed the cosmetic products, designed packaging, wrote promotional materials and recruited and trained her female sales force.

Then the unthinkable happened; her husband of twenty-one years died of a heart attack. Another woman might have dropped her plans, or at least delayed them, but Mary Kay was a strong Texas woman. She stayed on track with the help of her twenty-year-old son, Richard Rogers and rolled out her new business in September of 1963.

Beginning with a storefront in Dallas and an investment of $5,000, Mary Kay Cosmetics earned close to $200,000 in its first year - quadrupling that amount in its second year. When Mary Kay took her company public in 1968, sales had climbed to more than $10 million.

Mary Kay's unusual corporate motto, "God first, family second, career third," was unconventional, to say the least. But she understood the need for women to have balance in their lives, and she was committed to providing unlimited opportunity for women's financial AND personal success.

Mary Kay authored three books, all of which became best-sellers. Her business model is taught at the Harvard Business School. She received many honors, including the Horatio Alger Award. Fortune magazine has named Mary Kay Cosmetics as one of the Ten Best Companies for Women, as well as one of The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.

At the time of her death in 2001, Mary Kay Cosmetics had 800,000 independent beauty consultants in 37 countries, with total annual sales of over two billion dollars. Never underestimate the power of a woman with a mission!

Lynn Lionhood

Accept no limits

2010-05-02T13:42:00.000-05:00

"I never won anything without hard labor and the exercise of my best judgment." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president

Accept No Limits by Vic Johnson

“A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.” —James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

You are not limited to the life you now live. It has been accepted by you as the best you can do at this moment. Any time you’re ready to go beyond the limitations currently in your life, you’re capable of doing that by choosing different thoughts.

We each earn the income we do today because that is the amount we have limited ourselves to earn. We could easily earn 5, 10, 20 times more if we did not limit ourselves through the thoughts we maintain.

Don’t believe that’s true? Surely you know people who earn much more than you who don’t have your education, your skills, or your intelligence. So why do they earn more than you?

I love the story of George Dantzig that Cynthia Kersey wrote about in Unstoppable. As a college student, George studied very hard and always late into the night. So late that he overslept one morning, arriving 20 minutes late for class. He quickly copied the two math problems on the board, assuming they were the homework assignment. It took him several days to work through the two problems, but finally he had a breakthrough and dropped the homework on the professor’s desk the next day.

Later, on a Sunday morning, George was awakened at 6 a.m. by his excited professor. Since George was late for class, he hadn’t heard the professor announce that the two unsolvable equations on the board were mathematical mind teasers that even Einstein hadn’t been able to answer. But George Dantzig, working without any thoughts of limitation, had solved not one, but two problems that had stumped mathematicians for thousands of years.

Simply put, George solved the problems because he didn’t know he couldn’t.

Bob Proctor tells us to “keep reminding yourself that you have tremendous reservoirs of potential within you, and therefore you are quite capable of doing anything you set your mind to. All you must do is figure out how you can do it, not whether or not you can. And once you have made your mind up to do it, it’s amazing how your mind begins to figure out how.”

Lynn Lionhood

The best way is always through

2010-05-01T16:45:00.002-05:00

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. - Marcel Proust

"A great attitude is not the result of success; success is the result of a great attitude." -Earl Nightingale

http://www.bestwayout.com/

Lynn Lionhood

Remove the NO - Lynn

2010-05-01T16:41:00.000-05:00

"All of our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." – Walt Disney

Last night I spoke with a fellow kindred spirit. He had been spending the weekend with people that, well for lack of a better word, are CLUELESS. Why? They felt the need to tell him that what he was doing wasn't possible, wasn't smart, wasn't this, wasn't that. He would fail if he did anything outside of what everyone else was doing.

He was told that rather than working for himself, he should consider taking a job. So I asked him, when was the last time we heard of anyone VERY successful working a job? Look at that quote by Walt Disney again. You need to have the COURAGE, to look the naysayers right in the eye and smile. Know you will be a success, because YOU, yes YOU, will be the one that is actually pursuing your dreams!

Lynn Lionhood

Are businesses endangering your identity?

2010-04-30T07:53:00.000-05:00

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. - Andy Warhol

INVESTIGATION: Are businesses endangering your identity?

TAMPA, FL -- For years, we've been urged to take precautions against identity theft. The theft of birth dates, social security numbers, and other personal information can be used by criminals to rob us blind.

But an ABC Action News investigation has uncovered a lot of people and a lot of businesses that have not gotten the message.

We found business after business turning their dirty dumpsters into pay dirt for unscrupulous identity thieves who don't mind mining for gold in bags of garbage.

Corporal Kevin Bodie of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department said he sees 3-4 cases per month where people disposed of personal information improperly.

While some of the businesses we confronted where embarrassed, some were grateful when we showed them what we found.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I’ll make sure everything gets shredded," said Ian Berger of Tampa’s Pain Management and Detox.

Other business owners, like one accountant, were not.

"People's sensitive information is in this. Just get out of here," he told us.

So what exactly did we find and why is it so frightening?

We collected enough personal documents to fill a 55 gallon trash bag and that was just from one dumpster servicing one relatively small office building in Tampa.

Including, federal tax returns prepared by the accountant who was none too happy to see us. The dumpster was packed with dozens and dozens of his client files from 2002 to 2009.

We also found files belonging to the Carrollwood Cove Homeowners Association that were discarded by the Property Management Company which is located in the building.

We showed the owner of Avid Property Management what we discovered, which included canceled checks, account numbers and routing numbers from residents.

“Everything was supposed to be shredded when we threw it out,” said Property Manager Avelino Vide.

And you can imagine what the president of the homeowners association had to say when we told him what we found.

"I'm not happy and it will be looked into...I can’t imagine why anyone would put those things out," said Chuck Robertson, president of the Carrollwood Cove Homeowners Association.

In a statement to ABC Action News, Avid Property Management said, "The part-time employee responsible is no longer employed here."

But identity theft investigators at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department say in some cases it's not the company employees who are at fault -- it's the company they work for.

"They don't want to spend the money to have the big companies come to their offices and shred these documents because it attacks the bottom line," said Corporal Bodie.

While some companies do avoid the extra expense, others go out of their way to make sure important documents are shredded.

At another location in Tampa where we found unshredded patient records tossed out by a medical office, we also spotted a truck from a shredding company paying a service call at a State Farm Insurance Agency.

"The reason we've done it is because we have a lot of fairly sensitive information about clients like social security numbers, addresses, email addresses and we take that very responsibly," says Jeff Ralph, owner of the State Farm Insurance office on Dale Mabry in Tampa.

Lynn Lionhood

www.greatlegalhelp.com/lynnlionhood

The simple truths of life

2010-04-30T07:40:00.003-05:00

"Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities." -- Sugar Ray Leonard, boxer

The simple truths of life:

http://www.simpletruthsoflifemovie.com/

Lynn Lionhood

Forging Your Character

2010-04-29T07:20:00.000-05:00

A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Forging Your Character by Jim Rohn

Personal success is built on the foundation of character, and character is the result of hundreds and hundreds of choices you may make that gradually turn who you are at any given moment into who you want to be. If that decision-making process is not present, you’ll still be somebody—you’ll still be alive—but you may have a personality rather than a character, and to me that’s something very different.

Character isn’t something you were born with and can’t change, like your fingerprints. It’s something you must take responsibility for forming. You build character by how you respond to what happens in your life, whether it’s winning every game, losing every game, getting rich or dealing with hard times.

You build character from certain qualities that you must create and diligently nurture within yourself, just like you would plant and water a seed or gather wood to build a campfire. You’ve got to look for those things in your heart and in your gut. You’ve got to chisel away in order to find them, just like chiseling away rock to create the sculpture that previously existed only in the imagination.

But the really amazing thing about character is that, if you’re sincerely committed to making yourself into the person you want to be, you’ll not only create those qualities, you’ll strengthen them and re-create them in abundance, even as you’re drawing on them every day of your life. That’s why building your character is vital to becoming all you can be.

Lynn Lionhood

Condition Your Mind Properly

2010-04-29T07:19:00.000-05:00

The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication. - Cecil B. DeMille

Condition Your Mind Properly
by Dr. Napoleon Hill

Remember: anything you fear will trail you around like a pet dog: poverty, ill health, criticism, loss of love. The mind attracts the physical counterpart of that on which it dwells. The majority of people going through life think of those things which they don't want, and they are getting every one of them.

Wouldn't it, therefore, be a good idea to refuse to think about the things you don't want and feed your mind with pictures of the things you do want? This is nothing more important in your entire life than learning the art of keeping your mind focused upon the things, conditions and circumstances of life which you really want. This is the greatest application of applied faith you can make. When your mind has definiteness of purpose, you are in a condition to start having faith. And when you have faith, you can call upon the vast reservoir of Infinite Intelligence to assist you in carrying out your objectives.

Have you ever wondered why prayer sometimes doesn't work? Has it occurred to you that there may be something wrong in the way you pray? Prayer always works, but not always in the way you want it to. When you go to pray with your fingers crossed, after everything else has failed, and only half believe that your prayer will be heard and answered when you approach prayer with an improper mental attitude: you will not receive the answers you want. Because the dominating thought in your mind is negative, you may be sure that Infinite Intelligence will give you a negative answer.

The art of being grateful for the blessings you already possess is of itself the most profound form of worship, and incomparable gem of prayer.

It can be truthfully said that seldom in life will you fail to accomplish an act or achieve a purpose if you condition your mind properly before you start. It all depends on the way you condition your mind.

It is a fact that man is the master of every other living thing on this earth. If we look about us we can see that the birds of the air and the beasts of the jungle have been wisely provided with food and the necessities of their existence through the Diving plan. Is man, then, not worthy of the same blessing?

All that you need to do to get anything you rightfully should have is to take possession of your own mind and use it. You do not have to ask anyone for this privilege. It's yours . . . now! The approach to liberty, freedom, good health, love and an abundance of the material things of this life is through your own mind, but the methods described in this and other lessons of the PMA Science of Success philosophy. The purpose of this philosophy is to explain how you may take possession of your own mind and use it intelligently to fulfill the measure of your creation.

Lynn Lionhood

You can think your way into or out of almost any circumstance, Good or Bad

2010-04-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -- Bill Cosby, Comedian

You can think your way into or out of almost any circumstance, Good or Bad.

No action takes place unless it is preceded by thought. If you‘re unhappy with the circumstances in which you find yourself, you can improve your situation through the power of thought, just as surely as you can destroy a positive life with negative thinking. Success begins with an honest analysis of your present condition, acceptance of responsibility for your own life, and the development of a workable plan to achieve what you desire.

http://www.bestofsuccessmovie.com/

Lynn Lionhood

To serve is to rule. Who are you ruling?

2010-04-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed. - Sydney Smith

To serve is to rule. Who are you ruling?

You've all heard the stories - fabulous stories of great service. Nordstrom, Lexus, Auto Zone, Les Schwab, and individuals in small businesses that have gone WAY BEYOND the norm to provide extraordinary service.

You have probably heard them enough to make you sick.

Especially if your service is lousy.

You go to the airport and see some huge banner of an airline BRAGGING about the "satisfaction award" they just won from J.D. Powers. HUH? Am I missing something here? When did an airline deserve to win anything? Maybe the luggage fee award, but I can't see how anyone who makes a customer wait endlessly on the phone, get dinged for everything under the sun, be penalized to change a ticket, and stand on line for an hour to receive "service" just to get a boarding pass and get charged for a bag or two should be rewarded. Help me understand the "award" part of that.

But I digress.

As a country, each of us has had a wake-up call both in business and individually.

Things ain't what they used to be. And in spite of what you may hear or read from some economic or government genius, it will be a long time until things return.

Meanwhile in the real world, you and I have a job to do, a business to run, customers to serve, and attitudes (morale) to maintain. Some will take these tasks more seriously than others.

And now is not the time to point fingers and blame. Now is the time to take responsibility – personal responsibility – for the outcome of business success, especially your business success. Whether you own it, sell for it, work in it, or are part of the family of someone employed, NOW IS THE TIME.

REALITY: There is no handout, er, I mean bailout coming in the mail for you. The check is NOT in the mail.

REALITY: You are the bailout. I am the bailout. Together we are the collective bailout.

REALITY: Your victory starts with your customer's victory. Without customers, there is no chance of winning.

REALITY: There are less customers, and those that are left have less to spend.

NOTE: I didn't say, "nothing to spend," I said, "less to spend."

Now is the time to think: SERVICE BEFORE SALES.

Here are the elements of your bailout, your survival, your sales, and your success:

Success starts with attitude training. If you, or your people, are angry, afraid, or resentful, it will reflect in the way customers are served.

Leadership creates the tone, and the environment for success. Employees look to employers for direction, and to set the example.

Attitude starts inside with co-workers and bosses. Train attitude before you train service – invest in people. Start with real world training.

It costs no extra to be friendly. But friendly is worth a fortune, and a reputation.

Identify every service opportunity. There are probably less than 25 actual opportunities to serve customers. Once you identify them, have a company meeting (or meetings) to identify best practices – and dates to IMPLEMENT new and better strategies and expressions.

Service is an individual not a company. Serve for yourself first. This is perhaps the most difficult of all the points I'm making. It means you have to be personally responsible for everything you say and do – for yourself and for others.

Service is a personal act of pride, not a chore. Most people fail to realize how powerful service really is. Service is not a job or a task. It's not a bunch of words you say to others. It's not how you respond and react to a situation. It's not just recovering from an error. Service is being kind, having a heart, and doing the right thing – the best thing – in favor of your customers.

Well, there you have it. The secret sauce, the formula, and the actions that will help you through these trying times.

GREAT NEWS! If you start today, you'll be just in time to catch the wave of customers as the economy begins to tick up – or should I say up-tick? Either way, the clock is running. Better catch it before it blows by you – to your competition. - Jeffrey Gitomer

Lynn Lionhood

TAU professor tips off US over security flaw in e-passports

2010-04-26T20:36:00.000-05:00

"I believe in me more than anything in this world." -- Wilma Rudolph, Olympic runner

TAU professor tips off US over security flaw in e-passports

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
25/04/2010

Researcher realized that hackers were able to access passport data from afar.
The Jerusalem Post

A Tel Aviv University researcher has enabled the US State Department to fix security holes in its electronic passports, and now has set his sights on at-risk credit, debit and “smart” cards used by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

E-passports contain biometric data, electronic fingerprints and pictures of the holder, as well as a wireless radio frequency identification (RFID) transmitter. Although the original system was designed to operate at close range, Prof. Avishai Wool of TAU’s Blavatnik School of Computer Sciences realized that hackers were able to access data from afar.

Noticing this security problem, Wool helped ensure that the computer chip in American e-passports could be read only when the passports were opened. In 2007, the State Department outfitted every new passport with both a security chip and conductive fibers on the back.

US Embassy spokesman Kurt Hoyer acknowledged to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that there had “been a problem” in the past with his country’s e-passports, but added that it had been dealt with. He could not say whether the State Department had heard about the difficulty from Wool or whether any damage or security breaches had resulted from the problem.

Now, a new study by Wool has found serious security drawbacks in similar chips that are being embedded in credit, debit and smart cards. The vulnerabilities of this electronic approach – and of the private information contained in the chips – are becoming more acute, he says. Using simple devices constructed from $20 disposable cameras and copper cooking-gas pipes, Wool and his team of students have demonstrated how easily the cards’ radio frequency (RF) signals can be disrupted.

His work will be presented later this month at the IEEE RFID conference in Orlando, Florida.
Wool has suggested some small steps that can be taken to make smart cards smarter, the easiest one being to shield the card with something as simple as aluminium foil to insulate the e-transmission.

Wool’s most recent research centers on the new electronic voting technology being prepared in Israel. “We show how the Israeli government’s new system based on the RFID chip is a very risky approach for security reasons. It allows hackers who are not much more than amateurs to breach the system,” he explained Thursday. “One way to catch hackers, criminals and terrorists is by thinking like one.”

In his lab, Wool constructed an attack mechanism – an RFID “zapper” – from a disposable camera. Replacing the camera’s bulb with an RFID antenna, he showed how the electromagnetic pulse signal produced by the camera could destroy the data on nearby RFID chips such as e-passports, e-ballots and credit cards.

“In a voting system, this would be the equivalent of burning ballots, but without the fire and smoke,” he said. In the case of e-voting, a ballot box could be made of conductive materials to overcome the security problem.

The most insidious type of attack is the “relay attack.”

In this scenario, the voting station assumes it is communicating with an RFID ballot near it, but it’s easy for a hacker or terrorist to make equipment that can trick it. Such an attack can be used to transfer votes from party to party and nullify votes for undesired parties, Wool demonstrated.

A relay attack may also be used to allow a terrorist to cross a border using someone else’s e-passport.

As protection in the case of e-voting, a ballot box could be made of conductive materials, he advises.

Another attack involves jamming the radio frequencies that read the card. Though the card’s transmissions are designed to be read by antennas less than a meter away, Wool and his students demonstrated how the transmissions could be jammed by a battery-powered transmitter 20 meters away. This means that an attacker can disable an entire voting station from across the street.

Similarly, a terror group could jam e-passport systems at US border controls relatively easily, he suggested. “All the new technologies we have now seem really cool. But when anything like this first comes onto the market, it will be fraught with security holes,” the TAU computer expert warned. “In the US, the federal government poured a lot of money into e-voting, only to discover later that the deployed systems were vulnerable. As a result, over the last few years, we’ve seen a trend back toward systems with paper trails.”

The State Department’s Web site on passports at www.travel.state.gov now provides advice to overcome the security problems that Wool has discovered. “We feel that it would be good to point out what we have done to diminish the known nefarious acts of ‘skimming’ data from the chip, ‘eavesdropping’ on communications between the chip and reader, ‘tracking’ passport holders and ‘cloning’ the passport chip in order to facilitate identity theft crimes,” says the Web site.

“The State Department is using an embedded metallic element in our passports. One of the simplest measures for preventing unauthorized reading of e-passports is to add RF blocking material to the cover of an e-passport. Before such a passport can be read, it has to be physically opened. It is a simple and effective method for reducing the opportunity for unauthorized reading of the passport at times when the holder does not expect it,” the site continues.

It adds that the department has adopted Basic Access Control to minimize the risk of skimming and eavesdropping. This requires the initial interaction between the embedded microchip in the passport and the border control reader include protocols for setting up the secure communication channel. To ensure that only authorized RFID readers can read data, Basic Access Control stores a pair of secret cryptographic codes in the passport chip.

When a reader attempts to scan the passport, it engages in a challenge-response protocol, asking questions to ensure that the person is authorized to access the data. If authentication is successful, the passport releases its data contents; otherwise, the reader is deemed unauthorized, and the passport refuses read access.

Lynn Lionhood

www.greatlegalhelp.com/lynnlionhood

Living a Five Star Life

2010-04-26T20:34:00.000-05:00

"I would never have amounted to anything were it not for adversity. I was forced to come up the hard way." -- J.C. Penney, businessman

Living a Five Star Life,
by Betty Mahalik

In this day and age, we are surrounded by messages that virtually scream, "Your life would be perfect if..." My life would be perfect if I had a different job, a different house, car, nose, spouse, bank account (fill in the blank). Or my life would be perfect if I could be like some celebrity whose life appears so well-ordered and perfect-o. This week I encourage you to stop playing "my life would be perfect if," and start playing "my perfect life." What's the difference? Three things: being in the present, an attitude of gratitude, taking action with what's available now.

When we're caught up in the "my life would be perfect if" trap, we've lost touch with the present. And the moment we detach from the present, we can no longer practice gratitude. Think about it: it's difficult to be grateful for what you don't have...and what you don't have is always somewhere out in future-ville.

Look around you right now. Think of 10 things you're grateful for. Do you have a roof over your head and food to eat? I'm guessing the answer is yes. Do you have at least a few good friends or close relationships? Then appreciate them too, right now. Keep going, and practice being in the present and being grateful for what is here and now at least a couple times a day.

You're also probably sitting there thinking "yes but." Yes, but I want more money, a better relationship, more time to travel, to be thinner, happier or whatever. It's one of the great mysteries I'll never figure out. The minute you stop focusing on what you lack, start focusing on what you've already got, and add the "magic" ingredient of action, you actually begin to attract more of what you want. It's an amazing formula for really living your perfect life!

Let's say you want to lose weight or get in better shape, but you don't have an hour a day to spend exercising at the gym. Therefore, you've pretty well resigned yourself to not losing weight or getting in shape. What if you had five minutes though...just about everyone can find five minutes to exercise, stretch, walk around the block or walk the dog. Would you be willing to be grateful for five minutes and make the best possible use of it? Therein lies the beginning of your perfect life!

A simple formula may help you remember how to apply this principle:

· The present

· + an attitude of gratitude

· + positive action

· = my perfect life.

Try it for a day.

Each time you start dreaming about how perfect your life would be if...come back to this moment, give thanks for what is, and do one thing to perfect what you have and who you are right now. There's a saying that "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." If you're ready to start perfecting your life, your teachers are all around you.

What are you waiting for?

All the Best,

Lynn Lionhood

Rash of identity theft cases after victims use cards at O'Shea's on Baxter Ave.

2010-04-25T12:02:00.000-05:00

Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. - Albert Camus

Rash of identity theft cases after victims use cards at O'Shea's on Baxter Ave.

4/23/10

Louisville Ky. (WHAS11) - There has been a rash of identity theft cases here in Louisville and now the Secret Service is getting involved.

It all happened at O'Shea’s on Baxter Avenue last month and now the owners of the pub are hoping the Secret Service can find out what went wrong.

Kevin Purcell has spent the last week trying to get his identity back.

It all started a month ago when Purcell and a group of his friends spent several nights at O'Shea's Irish Pub.

Then Purcell says, just a few days ago, he got calls from his credit card and debit card companies saying that charges had been made on his cards.

He says his card information was used at places ranging from Victoria’s Secret to Taco Bell to Target.

But Purcell isn't alone; his sister received a call from her credit card company the day before he did and several of his friends had the same thing happen to them.

Every victim had one big thing in common - they all used their cards at O'Sheas sometime last month.

WHAS11 News talked to the co-owner of the pub, Tom O’Shea.

He says 12 of his employees also had their card numbers stolen.

He called in the Secret Service but says they don't know how peoples’ card numbers leaked out.

O’Shea says they are looking to see if there is a virus in their computer system but hasn't ruled anything out, including people who work there.

WHAS11 News is told the number of victims keeps going up.

O’Shea says he’s received calls from 35 to 45 customers saying they were victims of identity theft after using their cards at O’Shea’s.

O’Shea says the computer system is now secure and that he has taken the codes from all his employees while the investigation is underway.

Lynn Lionhood

www.greatlegalhelp.com/lynnlionhood

The ant philosophy

2010-04-25T11:59:00.002-05:00

"You promote yourself every time you take on a new responsibility." -- William Gore, executive

The Ant Philosophy by Jim Rohn

Over the years, I’ve been teaching kids about a simple but powerful concept: the Ant Philosophy. I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy.

Here is the first part: Ants never quit. That’s a good philosophy. If they’re headed somewhere and you try to stop them, they’ll look for another way. They’ll climb over. They’ll climb under. They’ll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy—to never quit looking for a way to get where you’re supposed to go.

Second, ants think winter all summer. That’s an important perspective. You can’t be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants gather their winter food in the middle of summer.

An ancient story says, “Don’t build your house on the sand in the summer.” Why do we need that advice? Because it is important to think ahead. In the summer, you’ve got to think storm. You’ve got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun.

The third part of the Ant Philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, “This won’t last long; we’ll soon be out of here.” And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they’ll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can’t wait to get out.

And here’s the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the “all-you-possibly-can” philosophy.

Wow, what a great philosophy to have—the ant philosophy. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.

Lynn Lionhood

Promise yourself to live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you

2010-04-23T06:26:00.000-05:00

Promise yourself to live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you. - Christian Larson

Once in a great while you will see something that will bypass the brain and go straight to the heart. I guarantee that this short 3 minute movie will be one of those times.

I've probably watched it 50 times, and each time, I love it more than the last. Not only does it bring service into perspective, it brings life into perspective!

Click here to watch.

To Life,
Lynn Lionhood

Look at the bright side

2010-04-23T06:24:00.000-05:00

"A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make." - Denis Waitley

Look on the Bright Side

The most important application of the law of cause and effect in your life is this: thoughts are causes, and conditions are effects. What this means is that your thought is creative. You create your world by the way you think. Nothing in your world has any meaning except for the meaning you give by how you think about it and talk about it. If you don't care about something, it has no effect on your emotions and actions.

How to be Happy
Many thousands of people have been interviewed over the years to find out what they think about most of the time. Can you guess what the most successful and happy people think about all day long? The answer is simple. Happy healthy people think about what they want, and how to get it, most of the time. When you think and talk about what you want, and how to get it, you feel happier and in greater control of your life.

How to be Unhappy
What do unhappy people think and talk about most of the time? Unfortunately, they think and talk about things they don't want. They think and talk about their problems and pains, and the people they don't like. Sometimes, their whole lives revolve around their complaints and criticisms. And the more they think and talk about what they don't want, the unhappier they become.

The Most Important Quality
Based on many psychological tests, the happiest people seem to have a special quality that enables them to live a better life than average. Can you guess what it is? It is the quality of optimism! The best news about optimism is that it is a learnable quality. You can learn to be a more positive, confident, and optimistic person by thinking the way optimists do-most of the time.

Look for the Good
Optimists seem to have different ways of dealing with the world that set them apart from the average. First, as we mentioned, they keep their minds on what they want, and keep looking for ways to get it. They are clear about their goals and they are confident that they will accomplish them, sooner or later. Second, optimists look for the good in every problem or difficulty. When things go wrong, as they often do, they say, "That's good!" and then set about finding something positive about the situation.

Seek the Valuable Lesson
The third quality of optimists is that they seek the valuable lesson in every setback or reversal. Rather than getting upset and blaming someone else for what has happened, they take control over their emotions by saying, "What can I learn from this experience?" Fully 95% of everything you do is determined by your habits, good or bad. When you repeatedly look for the good and seek the valuable lesson in every obstacle or disappointment, you very soon develop the habit of thinking like an optimist. As a result, you feel happier, healthier, and more in control of your world.

The Body-Mind Connection
More and more doctors are coming to the conclusion that 80% or more of all diseases and ailments are psychosomatic in origin. This means that "psycho," the mind, makes "soma," the body, sick. You do not get sick from what you are eating, but from what is eating you. - Brian Tracy

Thank your customer, tell them how valuable they are to you, but don't go overboard. Insincerity is easy to spot.

Lynn Lionhood

Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open

2010-04-22T07:41:00.000-05:00

"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

Napoleon Hill has refined two ideals, these powerful ideas ring true:

1) Take advice only from people who have already done what you are trying to do, and

2) Surround yourself with people that encourage and nourish your dreams.

The first meaningful event happened at work when I visited several salespersons from many companies. The insight and encouragement I received from existing salesmen was invaluable and, unfortunately, was opposite of much of the advice that predominated friend’s conversations. Access to real salesmen was limited.

The next obstacle I faced in pursuit of my sales education was discouragement by my own family. We had a distant relationship and long absence when I was growing up, making my choice to distance myself from conversations with them regarding my career a tough choice. Then, I realized that if someone discourages me from achieving my goals, they really don’t know about nor support my purpose they don’t know me!

It wasn’t until I was in this career that two mentors introduced me to Think and Grow Rich. Within its pages, many of the principles I was already using were validated and many others were discovered.

Lynn Lionhood

Find your passion

2010-04-22T07:39:00.000-05:00

"The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, Just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat." - Napolean Hill

You may know Napolean Hill from his greatest writing of "Think and Grow Rich", which is a must read for EVERYONE! In this quote above, he really hits a point I believe with all my heart. You must have a passion and a true burning desire for all that you do. If you are going to work each day and do not have a passion or desire for it, then you have a small fire with small heat.

Napolean nails this one. You must have your desire going for your success. I maintain my desire by being around others that encourage me, challenge me and celebrate the achievements we all make and attain. How do you nurture and grow your desire? Here is my suggestion to you specifically, get away from the naysayers, those that while they may feel they are helping you, are actually holding you back from attaining the great things that lay in store for you!

Get out and be around like-minded individuals that will encourage you and support you in your journey to greatness and success! Many of you feel your path to success is going to be easy! Well, there are wrong ways to do it (many follow that path) and there is a right way. To be a true success, you need to know the right way. Stay focused and make sure you stay plugged in to what I share with you. Then you need to do the most important lesson of all, go and do it. You will never learn by looking, you will learn more by doing, mistakes and all.

Lynn Lionhood

You can think you way into or out of almost any circumstance, Good or Bad

2010-04-21T06:38:00.000-05:00

"Never forget that it is the spirit with which you endow your work that makes it useful or futile." -- Adelaide Hasse, librarian

"Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light."

Albert Schweitzer said these words and how very true they are. We've all had times in our life when we desperately needed a "shot of inspiration" to move forward.

You can think you way into or out of almost any circumstance, Good or Bad.

No action takes place unless it is preceded by thought. If you‘re unhappy with the circumstances in which you find yourself, you can improve your situation through the power of thought, just as surely as you can destroy a positive life with negative thinking. Success begins with an honest analysis of your present condition, acceptance of responsibility for your own life, and the development of a workable plan to achieve what you desire.

Lynn Lionhood

YOUR DREAM BEGINS TODAY

2010-04-21T06:36:00.000-05:00

We live in a world where it often seems that our fears outweigh our hope that things can get better. And, yes, there are many concerns worth worrying about. Yet, rather than running from the problems we must embrace a powerful tool that will help us overcome what's wrong...inspiration! - Lance Secretan

YOUR DREAM BEGINS TODAY

What will your life be like when you've achieved your most deeply held dreams? Let's take a look at how you can start living your dreams this very day.

Do you have a dream, a vision of the life you wish to live?

How specific is that dream?

How clear is that vision?

How do you intend to reach it?

What obstacles stand in your way?

Are your fears holding you back or are you using them to move you forward?

Your fears can actually lead you to success. Fear is an intense emotion. But that doesn't mean it has to control you, or even stop you. Fear can prepare you and push you forward just as strongly as it can hold you back. Fear heightens your awareness and increases your physical strength. Fear brings your mind to sharp focus. With all that going for you, does it make sense to just run and hide? Of course not. Fear gets you in shape to take action!

Are you waiting for things to get better before moving ahead? If you're serious about success, you need to start taking action today. If you're waiting for things to be perfect, you'll wait forever and nothing will ever get done.

The way to achieve is to bloom where you're planted, to do what you can, where you are, with what you have. It's easy to think up excuses for not taking action. "If only I had more hours in the day. If only I had a better job.

If only I could meet the right person." But excuses won't bring you anything of value. You've got to change your "if only" into an "I will." "I will make better use of my time. I will work on improving my career. I will create and nurture my relationships."

Take a chance. Have faith in yourself. Your circumstances will improve when you make the effort to improve them. Start where you are right now. You have everything it takes to reach for whatever you desire. Stop wishing. Use your time, your energy, your thoughts and efforts to make it happen! You'll be glad you did! - Les Brown

Make this a Positive Day...unless you've made other plans!

Lynn Lionhood

Are You Busy Or Are You Working?

2010-04-20T08:11:00.000-05:00

Someone has written, "Love is a verb." It requires doing - not just saying and thinking. The test is in what one does, how one acts, for love is conveyed in word and deed. - David B. Haight

Are You Busy Or Are You Working?

Small business advice

Lennie Rose

February 19, 2010

Is your day filled with creating new business opportunities or is it sequestered by a flurry of emails, tweets and social media interactions without much to show for it at the end of the day? There is a great distinction between being busy and working.

Busy is exhausting. Working is exhilarating.

Busy is ducking from the information assault. Working is learning something new.

Busy is reacting. Working is initiating.

Busy is, “Where did the day go?” Working is knowing what you accomplished.

Lynn Lionhood

The Four Emotions That Can Lead to Life Change

2010-04-20T07:57:00.000-05:00

"No matter how small and unimportant what we are doing may seem, if we do it well, it may soon become the step that will lead us to better things." -- Channing Pollock

The Four Emotions That Can Lead to Life Change by Jim Rohn

Emotions are the most powerful forces inside us. Under the power of emotions, human beings can perform the most heroic (as well as barbaric) acts. To a great degree, civilization itself can be defined as the intelligent channeling of human emotion. Emotions are fuel and the mind is the pilot, which together propel the ship of civilized progress.

Which emotions cause people to act? There are four basic ones; each, or a combination of several, can trigger the most incredible activity. The day that you allow these emotions to fuel your desire is the day you’ll turn your life around.

Disgust

One does not usually equate the word “disgust” with positive action. And yet properly channeled, disgust can change a person’s life. The person who feels disgusted has reached a point of no return. He or she is ready to throw down the gauntlet at life and say, “I’ve had it!” That’s what I said after many humiliating experiences at age 25. I said, “I don’t want to live like this anymore. I’ve had it with being broke. I’ve had it with being embarrassed, and I’ve had it with lying.”

Yes, productive feelings of disgust come when a person says, “Enough is enough.”

The “guy” has finally had it with mediocrity. He’s had it with those awful sick feelings of fear, pain and humiliation. He then decides he is “not going to live like this anymore.” Look out! This could be the day that turns a life around. Call it what you will: the “I’ve had it” day, the “never again” day, the “enough’s enough” day. Whatever you call it, it’s powerful! There is nothing so life-changing as gut-wrenching disgust!

Decision

Most of us need to be pushed to the wall to make decisions. And once we reach this point, we have to deal with the conflicting emotions that come with making them. We have reached a fork in the road. Now this fork can be a two-prong, three-prong, or even a four-prong fork. No wonder that decision-making can create knots in stomachs, keep us awake in the middle of the night, or make us break out in a cold sweat.

Making life-changing decisions can be likened to internal civil war. Conflicting armies of emotions, each with its own arsenal of reasons, battle each other for supremacy of our minds. And our resulting decisions, whether bold or timid, well thought out or impulsive, can either set the course of action or blind it.

I don’t have much advice to give you about decision-making except this: Whatever you do, don’t camp at the fork in the road. Decide. It’s far better to make a wrong decision than to not make one at all. Each of us must confront our emotional turmoil and sort out our feelings.

Desire

How does one gain desire? I don’t think I can answer this directly because there are many ways. But I do know two things about desire:

A. It comes from the inside not the outside.
B. It can be triggered by outside forces.

Almost anything can trigger desire. It’s a matter of timing as much as preparation. It might be a song that tugs at the heart. It might be a memorable sermon. It might be a movie, a conversation with a friend, a confrontation with the enemy, or a bitter experience. Even a book or an article such as this one can trigger the inner mechanism that will make some people say, “I want it now!”

Therefore, while searching for your “hot button” of pure, raw desire, welcome into your life each positive experience. Don’t erect a wall to protect you from experiencing life. The same wall that keeps out your disappointment also keeps out the sunlight of enriching experiences. So let life touch you. The next touch could be the one that turns your life around.

Resolve

Resolve says, “I will.” These two words are among the most potent in the English language. I WILL. Benjamin Disraeli, the great British statesman, once said, “Nothing can resist a human will that will stake even its existence on the extent of its purpose.” In other words, when someone resolves to “do or die,” nothing can stop him.

The mountain climber says, “I will climb the mountain. They’ve told me it’s too high, it’s too far, it’s too steep, it’s too rocky, it’s too difficult. But it’s my mountain. I will climb it. You’ll soon see me waving from the top or you’ll never see me, because unless I reach the peak, I’m not coming back.” Who can argue with such resolve?

When confronted with such iron-will determination, I can see Time, Fate and Circumstance calling a hasty conference and deciding, “We might as well let him have his dream. He’s said he’s going to get there or die trying.”

The best definition for “resolve” I’ve ever heard came from a schoolgirl in Foster City, California. As is my custom, I was lecturing about success to a group of bright kids at a junior high school. I asked, “Who can tell me what ‘resolve’ means?” Several hands went up, and I did get some pretty good definitions. But the last was the best. A shy girl from the back of the room got up and said with quiet intensity, “I think resolve means promising yourself you will never give up.” That’s it! That’s the best definition I’ve ever heard: PROMISE YOURSELF YOU’LL NEVER GIVE UP.

Think about it! How long should a baby try to learn how to walk? How long would you give the average baby before you say, “That’s it, you’ve had your chance”? You say that’s crazy? Of course it is. Any mother would say, “My baby is going to keep trying until he learns how to walk!” No wonder everyone walks.

There is a vital lesson in this. Ask yourself, “How long am I going to work to make my dreams come true?” I suggest you answer, “As long as it takes.” That’s what these four emotions are all about.

Lynn Lionhood

When you affirm big, believe big and pray big, putting faith into action, big things happen

2010-04-19T07:18:00.002-05:00

"When you affirm big, believe big and pray big, putting faith into action, big things happen." -- Norman Vincent Peale, clergyman

Sometimes we try our best to make life more complicated than it is. But it really boils down to a few simple truths. And that's what this beautiful 3 minute movie is all about.

The photographs, the music, but especially the words are presented in an unforgettable way.

So sit back, turn up your speakers and click here to watch.

To Life,

Lynn Lionhood

Improve your score

2010-04-19T07:12:00.000-05:00

"Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility." – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The economy is in a very fragile state, more layoffs are being announced, as well as retirement benefits being lowered and taken away completely. Who is going to provide for you? Well the responsibility for you, lays with YOU.

ATTITUDE

Having an attitude that is positive or negative affects more than just you. It affects your work, customers, clients, co-workers and everyone you come in contact with.

Outside forces or situations do not control your attitude, you do. So when you bring a bad attitude or negative "vibe" to work you are affecting or a better word would be "infecting" all who come in contact with you.

There's Always Competition

On one occasion I was at a major hardware home center, in which a sales clerk felt "put out" because they had to stop what they were doing and assist me with my check out. Perturbed that I didn't go through the 'self-serve' checkout counters that were available. They grumbled, rolled their eyes & appeared disgruntled that I required their assistance. What they may not think about is there is a home center down the street that would love to have my business, without making me feel that I am a waste of their time.

What You Convey

How we portray ourselves to our customers says many things about who we are as an individual. There are many factors that affect our interactive capabilities to include; how we were raised, our work ethics, communication skills (or lack of them), parenting skills or how our parents taught us was acceptable behavior in our homes.

Be the Best You Can Be

I always seem to arrive at these home centers first thing in the morning to beat the crowds. The store manager gathers his group of employees to discuss the sales for the day and then instructs the employees to "be helpful."

I believe that encouraging employees often to be 'friendly' as well as 'helpful' would be the solution to further sales and gain customer loyalty. A friendly smile from the employee who had checked me out and a notation to "have a nice day" would have carried far greater significance to me in feeling like this was the kind of place I wanted to return to.

What was a bad day for employee, turned into a lost customer and future revenues for the home center. Unless you can 'be the best person you can be' and treat each customer with a common courtesy then I would suggest another line of work.

Mirror Image

I learned long ago that your perception of yourself is much different than the perception that others have of you. When we heard our voice recorded for the first time we said: "Do I sound like that?" The same would apply if someone videotaped your responses to customers and then played them back to show you the image and portrayal that your customers see. Seeing yourself in that "mirror" would change your attitude in how you interacted and communicated.

Remember, "If you always do, what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten."

Change your attitude and change your perception of yourself and others.

Lynn Lionhood

One solitary life

2010-04-18T09:44:00.002-05:00

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved - loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. - Victor Hugo

One Solitary Life was written by James Francis in 1926. In 248 words he captured the essence of how the life of Christ has made a powerful difference for over 2,000 years.

Therefore, to celebrate this Easter season, we'd like to share this unforgettable 3 minute movie with you.

Just Click Here to watch.

To Life,
Lynn Lionhood

LET VALUES BE YOUR GUIDE

2010-04-18T09:37:00.000-05:00

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." -- Paul Boese

LET VALUES BE YOUR GUIDE
(A message from Santa Claus)

Every once in a while, a truly special moment occurs in education – the student turns out to be the teacher. I experienced one of those moments not too long ago, and I’d like to share it with you. This leadership lesson comes courtesy of a savvy little elf named Virginia.

It was a Tuesday morning and I was conducting a leadership development training session in the workshop classroom. I gave each participant a set of plastic building blocks along with an assignment: “Build a model of a wonderful workshop.” The purpose of the task was twofold: 1) Test student creativity and thinking, and 2) Provide me with ideas for improving our North Pole facility. After starting the exercise, I left the room.

I returned an hour later and found that everyone was busy building their structures – everyone, that is, except Virginia. She was just sitting there, staring into space. “Is there a problem, Virginia?” I inquired. “No, Santa,” she replied, “I’m just thinking.” So I left her to her thoughts and exited the classroom.

After another hour had passed, I returned to the room to conclude the exercise. As I moved from table to table, I was truly impressed by the array of detailed models with structural components like smoke stacks, loading ramps, conveyor belts, sleigh landing pads, cafeterias, gyms, offices, and even high-tech classrooms.

When I came to Virginia’s model, however, I was taken aback. There, in front of her, were six vertical columns – and nothing more. “Need more time?” I asked. “No thanks,” she answered, “I’m done.” Hearing that, I probed further: “Virginia, I’m not sure I understand. All the other models are very detailed structures, but all you have are six columns. No walls, no roof, no nothing. How come?” The explanation she offered is where you’ll find the lesson for leaders everywhere:

“Well, Santa, it seems to me that what makes a workshop wonderful is not walls and ceilings, but what happens inside those walls and under those ceilings ... it’s not how a workshop stands, but what it stands for that makes it special. These six columns you see are pillars, and they represent values – the values of respect, integrity, quality, customer service, responsibility, and teamwork. I found them listed on our website. Maybe for some folks they’re just words, but for me, they’re blueprints to follow. And that’s where leadership comes in. Making sure that everyone knows what values are important, and then helping everyone turn those good beliefs into everyday behaviors is how leaders create a great place to work. At least that’s how I see it. And that’s why my model looks the way it does. Did I do okay?”

With a huge grin on my face and a twinkle in my eye, I responded: “Yes, Virginia, that is a wonderful workshop. And I think that you are going to be a wonderful leader. Thank you for giving me such a valuable gift.” – The Leaderships Secrets of Santa Claus

Lynn Lionhood

Stolen data on 3.3 million student loans found in Minneapolis

2010-04-17T07:56:00.000-05:00

Only in growth, reform and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found. - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Stolen data on 3.3 million student loans found in Minneapolis

Despite publicity about the theft, the stolen data sat in a Minneapolis police evidence room for three weeks.

Stolen personal information on 3.3 million student loan borrowers was recovered from a Minneapolis trash bin and sat in a police evidence room for weeks before authorities knew what they had, state officials said Friday.

Two 200-pound safes containing the information were stolen sometime over the March 20-21 weekend from the Oakdale headquarters of Education Credit Management Corp. (ECMC), a nonprofit that services and insures student loans, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

The personal information, on 650 CDs and floppy discs, does not appear to have been compromised, the BCA added. The data include customers' names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers. No bank account or other financial information was included.

The safes, pried open, were found March 22 in an alley in the 3500 block of Knox Avenue N. by a landlord in the neighborhood. The CDs and floppy discs, still in their original packaging, were found in the trash nearby. Police took the safes, CDs and discs to the department's evidence room for later inspection, said Andy Skoogman, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Police gave the recovered property "normal" priority, and it was "put in line to be analyzed ... and treated like the hundreds of other pieces of property that they recover," Skoogman said.

The Star Tribune reported the burglary March 27 in a front-page story in which U.S. Department of Education officials called it was one of the biggest cases of student identity theft in the nation, affecting 5 percent of all students with federal loans in the United States.

Despite that publicity, Minneapolis police didn't realize until April 12 that they had recovered the data, officials said.

Lynn Lionhood

www.greatlegalhelp.com/lynnlionhood

WHY DO WE FAIL AND HOW DO WE FIX IT

2010-04-17T07:51:00.000-05:00

"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs...one step at a time." - Joe Girard

WHY DO WE FAIL AND HOW DO WE FIX IT

As any successful person will honestly admit, they’ve had their share of failures.

But, from every failure, we learn equally valuable lessons. The first lesson we learn is that there was at least one reason you failed. The second lesson we learn is that we can rebound from that failure.

According to Shiv Khera, author of You Can Win, failures most often occur for one of the following seven reasons:

1. Lack of persistence. More people fail not because they lack knowledge or talent, but just because they quit. It is important to remember two words: persistence and resistance. Persist in what must be done, and resist what ought not to be done. We all have had setbacks in life. Failing does not mean we are failures!

2. Lack of conviction. People who lack conviction take the middle of the road. But what happens in the middle of the road? You get run over. People without conviction go along to get along because they lack confidence and courage. They conform in order to be accepted, even when they know that what they are doing is wrong.

3. Rationalizing. Winners may analyze but never rationalize. Losers rationalize and have a book full of excuses to tell you why they could not succeed.

4. Not learning from past mistakes. Some people live and learn, and some only live. Wise people learn from their mistakes. Failure is a teacher, if we have the right attitude. I've always said experience is the name we give to our mistakes.

5. Lack of discipline. Anyone who has accomplished anything worthwhile has never done it without discipline. Discipline takes self-control, sacrifice, and avoiding distractions and temptations. It means staying focused.

6. Poor self-esteem. Poor self-esteem is a lack of self-respect and self-worth. People with low self-esteem are constantly trying to find themselves, rather than creating the person they want to be.

7. Fatalistic attitude. A fatalistic attitude prevents people from accepting responsibility for their position in life. They attribute success and failure to luck. They resign themselves to their fate, regardless of their efforts, that whatever has to happen will happen anyway.

The rebound lesson is the more pleasant part of the equation, but it is not without challenges. Here are professor Mackay's lessons learned from the problems posed above:

1a. Try new approaches. Persistence is important, but repeating the same actions over and over again, hoping that this time you'll succeed, probably won't get you any closer to your objective. Look at your previous unsuccessful efforts and decide what to change. Keep making adjustments and midcourse corrections, using your experience as a guide.

2a. Decide what is important to you. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right and doing well. Let your passion show in even mundane tasks. It's OK to collaborate and cooperate for success, but it's not OK to compromise your values-ever.

3a. Change your perspective. Don't think of every unsuccessful attempt as a failure. Few people succeed at everything the first time. Most of us attain our goals only through repeated effort. Do your best to learn everything you can about what happened and why.

4a. Define the problem better. Analyze the situation-what you want to achieve, what your strategy is, why it didn't work, and so on. Are you really viewing the problem correctly? If you need money, you have more options than increasing revenue. You could also cut expenses. Think about what you're really trying to do.

5a. Don't be a perfectionist. You may have an idealized vision of what success will look and feel like. Although that can be motivational, it may not be realistic. Succeeding at one goal won't eliminate all your problems. Be clear on what will satisfy your objectives, and don't obsess about superficial details.

6a. Don't label yourself. You may have failed, but you're not a failure until you stop trying. Think of yourself as someone still striving toward a goal, and you'll be better able to maintain your patience and perseverance for the long haul.

7a. Look in the mirror every day and say, "I am in charge." You may not have control over every phase of your life, but you have more control than you realize. You are responsible for your own happiness and success. As I like to say, "Your attitude determines your altitude!"

Mackay's Moral: You can turn "down and out" into "up and at 'em." by Harvey Mackay

Make this a Positive Day...unless you've made other plans!

Lynn Lionhood

ID theft steals information from 155,000 debtors on state list

2010-04-15T12:39:00.000-05:00

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot

ID theft steals information from 155,000 debtors on state list

RICK KARLIN

April 15, 2010

ALBANY -- If you recently received a letter warning you that your date of birth, Social Security number or other personal information may have gotten into the wrong hands, you're not alone. More than 155,000 New Yorkers in recent weeks have gotten such warnings, stemming from a pair of data breaches related to their college loans.

While there's no indication so far that the potential privacy violations have led to identity theft, the sheer number of people affected is notable, and it's a reminder of the need to keep tabs on one's credit information, say consumer experts.

The largest such episode was with Educational Credit Management Corp., an Oakdale, Minn.-based company that guarantees and services federally backed student loans. They lost a list of names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers for 3.3 million people nationwide, which was in a safe that was stolen. This is believed to be one of the largest-ever breaches of student loan information.

"It was an old-fashioned theft," ECMC spokesman Dave Hawn said of the 220-pound double-locked safe that someone took from a secure room. Among other items, the safe contained what Hawn termed "portable media" containing the personal data. He wouldn't expand on the precise nature of the "portable media" although the term is sometimes used to describe computer CDs. Hawn said police believe the thieves might have been after something else in the safe.

The 153,600 New Yorkers whose names were in the safe should have received notification of the incident by now, with the last of the letters arriving earlier this week, said Hawn.

The New Yorkers on that list were either in bankruptcy or had judgments against them for failure to pay the loans, added Kathy Crowder, spokeswoman for the state Higher Education Services Corp.

"Once a borrower is bankrupt or has a judgment we transfer it to ECMC," said Crowder, who added that the loans are no longer in the HESC portfolio.

HESC, though, also had a potential breach of its own, even though it was much smaller.

That happened back in December when 1,433 e-mails from HESC ran into a "process error" by which the last name and Social Security numbers of borrowers are believed to have gone through Internet servers outside of the agency's control.

HESC sent out letters to the people affected and like the ECMC security breach, it was listed last month on a Data Breach report maintained by the state Consumer Protection Board.

After such a breach has occurred, the organizations that had the data are required by law to inform people that it happened, said Jorge Montalvo a spokesman for the CPB.

Additionally, the firms are offering free credit monitoring to people to ensure they haven't become unwitting victims of identity theft. "Once someone has the combination of a few things -- name, date of birth, Social Security -- (you) could be come a victim," said Montalvo.

Lynn Lionhood

www.greatlegalhelp.com/lynnlionhood

Hang in there

2010-04-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

Get around the right people. Associate with positive,goal-oriented people who encourage and inspire you. - Brian Tracy

Hang In There by Ron White

I remember Navy boot camp like it was yesterday. An event that occurred on my second day still causes me to pause when I reflect on it. You can tell a new soldier to boot camp from one who is about to graduate based upon the clothes and ribbons they wear. It was clearly my second day, evidenced by what I was wearing. I was walking single file with my unit down a hall and a sailor who was about to graduate passed us.

He must have noticed my expression. It without a doubt said, “I am tired, intimidated, scared and hungry.” You can’t talk when walking in formation, therefore he whispered out of the side of his mouth as we passed, “Hang in there... you can do it.”

I turned to look at his face, but all I saw was the back of his head. Every night before I drifted off to sleep I replayed those words. I will never know that sailor’s name. He will never know how it turned my attitude around 180 degrees. He will never know that years later I still remember the electricity of encouragement that shot through my body.

I knew that the only reason he knew what I was feeling is because he had been where I was and felt how I felt. He had made it and wanted me to know that I could as well. I was eternally grateful.

Then it was my turn. On my graduation day, I walked into a storage facility and saw three sailors leaning up against the wall. They were new and scared, intimidated, tired and hungry. I walked over to them and whispered, “Hang in there... you can do it.” Within one second tears filled the eyes of the female sailor and one of the males clenched his fist and gave me a million thanks with his eyes.

As I walked away I had goose bumps. I knew that my words would be motivation for the rest of the day and fuel every night to keep them focused on their goal of graduation when they wanted to quit. I hope they passed on the encouragement to another sailor before they graduated... and I know they did.

If you are in a valley, then remember this. Others have been there (including me). Hang in there. You can do it. Whether your goal is boot camp graduation, building a business or raising a family... since others have done it... you can too. Hang in there.

If you are at a peak, do not underestimate what a few kind words of encouragement might do for those around you

Lynn Lionhood

Basics of Healthy Relationships

2010-04-06T17:25:00.000-05:00

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes." -- Benjamin Disraeli, British prime minister

You know, sometimes life just gets too serious...too busy...and too complicated. We don't mean for it to happen, but we wake up one morning to discover the fun has slipped away.

A few years ago a health study determined there are 3 main reasons people can't cope in life:

1. They live in the past.

2. They have a low self-esteem.

3. They can't laugh at themselves.

In fact, the study indicated that we need approximately 12 laughs a day to stay healthy!

I heard a story not long ago about a guy who sent flowers to his friend who was opening a new restaurant. When he arrived at the grand opening, he looked for his flowers. Well, when he found them, he saw that he had sent a white wreath that said, "May you rest in peace." He panicked, of course, and called the florist who said, "Bob, I'm not worried about you because as we speak, there's a guy being buried who got a dozen roses that said, "Good luck in your new location!"

Ah yes...life throws us curve balls when we least expect it! And sometimes, just to stay sane, we need to sit back and laugh!

Basics of Healthy Relationships by Jim Rohn

Nothing can bring more joy to life than beautifully fulfilling relationships. The depth of meaning, understanding and appreciation that these kinds of relationships bring is almost unfathomable. And, of course, as many people find out, nothing can bring so much pain as a broken relationship with someone dear to you.

Yes, relationships make the world go ‘round. For better or for worse. But the exciting thing is that we can do much to increase our chances of having terrific relationships—relationships that are fulfilling and exciting, rich with meaning, joy and love. There are basics that govern most human relationships, and these basics are what I want to cover below. So here is my list of the eight essentials that I believe make up the basics of healthy relationships.

Love. Now, this all depends on your definition of love. Most people think that love is a feeling, but I would strongly debate that point. Actually, the concept of “like” is really about feelings. When you say you like someone, you are talking about how you feel. But when you say that you love someone, you are not necessarily talking about how you feel about them. Love is much deeper than a feeling. Love is a commitment we make to people to always treat that person right and honorably. Yes, for those we become especially close to, we will have feelings of love, but I believe it is time for us to re-examine what we mean by love. We must expand our definition of what love means by including the commitment aspect of love. For healthy relationships, we must love everyone. We may not like them based on how we feel about them, but we should love them based on our definition of love above, which, in turn, determines how we should act toward them—that is, treat them right and honorably. This is the basis of all healthy relationships.

Serving Heart. My good friend Zig Ziglar says frequently that “you can have everything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want out of life.” The concept he is talking about is having a heart and life that is focused on serving other people. The Bible puts it this way: Consider others’ interests as more important than your own. This is also fundamental to healthy relationships.

Honest Communication. In any good relationship, you will find open and honest communication. Communication is so important because it is the vehicle that allows us to verbalize what is inside us and enables it to connect with another person. Isn’t communication amazing? One person is feeling one thing, and through communication, another person can find that out and feel it, too—amazing. And this is a vital goal in good relationships—to communicate, to tell each other what we are thinking and what we are feeling. It enables us to make a connection. Sometimes we are the one speaking, and other times we are listening. Either way, the central tenet is communication for the sake of building the relationship and making it stronger. And here’s what’s exciting: If we just communicate, we can get by. But if we communicate skillfully, we can work miracles!

Friendliness. Put simply, relationships just work better when we are friendly with others. Being friendly can cushion the bumpy ride we sometimes experience in our relationships. Cheerfulness goes a long way toward building lasting relationships. I mean, nobody wants to be around a grump, do they? The fact is that the friendlier you are, the more you are going to have people who want to pursue longer-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with you. So cheer up, put on a smile, have kind words to say to others, treat people with a great deal of friendliness, and you will see your relationships improve.

Patience. People being people, we have an awful lot of time for practice in the area of patience. People are not perfect and will constantly fail us. And, conversely, we will fail other people. So while we try to have more patience for others, we need their patience as well. So often, I think relationships break down because people give up and lose patience. I am talking about all kinds of friendships, marriages, business relationships, etc. Recent research has shown that those marriages that go through major turmoil and then make it through are very strong after doing so. Patience wins out. Those who give up on relationships too early or because the other person isn’t perfect often forget that their next friend, their next spouse or business partner will not be perfect either! So, we would do well to cultivate this skill and learn to have more patience.

Loyalty. Loyalty is a commitment to another person. Sadly, loyalty is often a missing element in many relationships today. We have forgotten what it means to be loyal. Our consumer mentality has affected this to some degree. People are no longer loyal to a product. And, unfortunately, many companies are not loyal to their clients or patrons. Regrettably, this has spilled over into our relationships. It is one thing to switch brands of dishwashing detergent. It is another thing altogether to switch friends. Sometimes we just need to commit to being loyal and let the relationship move forward. We need a higher level of stick-to-it-iveness! This kind of loyalty will take our relationships to a much deeper level. What a powerful and secure feeling of knowing that you have a relationship with someone who is loyal to you and you to them—that neither of you is going anywhere even when things get tough. Wow—how powerful!

A Common Purpose. One of the basics of healthy relationships is to have a common purpose, and oftentimes this is a component that is initially overlooked, but for a long-term, long-lasting relationship it is vital. Think about how many friends you have met through the years while working on a common purpose. Maybe it was someone you met while participating in sports, while working on a political campaign, attending church, at your office, or anything that brought you together to work on a common purpose. You had that strong common bond of purpose that brought you together and held you together. Working together, building together, failing and succeeding together—all while pursuing a common purpose—that is what relationships are made of. Find people with whom you have common purposes and sow the seeds of great relationships, and then reap the long-lasting benefits.

Fun. All good relationships have some element of fun. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean loud, raucous fun, though that is appropriate for some relationships. But even in business relationships there should be some fun. It should be fun to do business with those who you are going to have a long-term business relationship with. Fun brings enjoyment to the relationship, and that is important. I think that oftentimes this key element can be easily forgotten or neglected in our family and spousal relationships. The fun things we did initially in a new relationship after a while can be taken for granted or simply fall by the wayside and we stop creating the fun and joy. So remember to consciously craft fun situations and moments, for these are the glue that hold our memories together and make our lives sweet.

There are so many key ingredients to making and maintaining great, long-lasting relationships. Each of the eight components we discussed brings unique dynamics and rewards to your relationships. Let’s begin to focus on improving our relationships in these areas and see what miracles occur!

Lynn Lionhood

To succeed in life in today's world, you must have the will and tenacity to finish the job

2010-04-06T17:23:00.000-05:00

"To succeed in life in today's world, you must have the will and tenacity to finish the job." -- Chin-Ning Chu

Spring is here. Life is renewing, grass is greening, skies are bluing, flowers are sprouting, birds are winging, trees are leafing, and the soil is warming. I wrote the last sentence because it has been stated that God is a verb not a noun. As we see the evidence of Infinite Intelligence at work in our world, we are amazed at all the intricate manifestations of the magnificence of the Universe. How can a person not be in awe when a tulip blossoms or the first robin warbles its cheery morning song? The grandeur is remarkable. Sometimes, we just need to sit and take it all in. I love the quote by Emerson that states, “The earth laughs in flowers.” Can you imagine anything more wonderful than springtime after a barren, cold, and dark winter season? If we could “see” hope, I am certain that hope would look like springtime in the Midwest as Easter egg colors dot the countryside with their vibrant hues. Yellows, pinks, reds, greens and even whites cause one to stop and enjoy the beauty of it all. It is remarkable.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could internalize this renaissance, this feeling of jubilation and force feed our inner selves with this awesome demonstration of God’s goodness? I think we can. By stopping to observe and really see what is happening about us, we can only conclude that if Infinite Intelligence cares for nature in this demonstration of yearly renewal, it cares for us equally or even more so. Springtime puts a lilt in our step, cheeriness in our laughter, and even a reason to greet the day as a new beginning.

I think that we can begin new practices to acknowledge the passage from the dead of winter to the rebirth of spring. Shedding winter coats, driving easily on dry pavement, and walking sure footed without slipping on ice or snow all make this season seem like we have released a heavy load. Why not release some old thoughts, worn emotions, and feelings that have festered over time? A good practice can be to buy some economical black balloons and blow them up, then go outdoors and release them to the Universe. Saying goodbye to things that hold us back can have a very strong therapeutic effect. Likewise, focusing on good intentions can be represented by gold balloons that we release to carry our wishes, desires and goals to a higher ground. If you are an eco friendly person and choose not to release balloons, why not write your negative and positive releases on small slips of paper and then burn them and allow the smoke to ascend like incense to the heavens? It serves the same purpose. Or you can buy a jar of bubbles from the dollar store, and go outdoors and blow bubbles envisioning your cares or goals floating up to a Higher Power.

Whatever you decide to do as a ritual, create some rites of spring that serve as passages to a new beginning for yourself. Spring cleaning isn’t just for your house. It’s for your interior home too.

Be Your Very Best Always,
Lynn Lionhood

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Basics of Healthy Relationships

To succeed in life in today's world, you must have the will and tenacity to finish the job

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by BJ Gallagher