The method used to raise a credit score from 580 to 650 will be considerably different than going from 670 to 725. This is simply because of the starting point and the starting point is why it takes a different approach. Naturally, removing negative items from the credit report will result in an increase of the score this is a rudimentary concept. This article offers the inside methods known by only a select few and fewer yet who specialize in it.

If you are looking to simply remove the negative items you can use the following techniques; these can be used even if you have no negative information on you report as well. The first strategy given is often the most overlooked but should be your first step.

DEBT to CREDIT RATIO: The most widely accepted assumption about credit is the thought that because you pay all of your bills off in full each month you have excellent credit. This can be a dangerous and false belief; a thorough understanding of your debt to credit ration will prove to be the key to resetting your credit mind.

Your personal debt to credit ratio is figured by using your total credit available against all of your debt. Only the revolving accounts are used in the analysis of debt to credit ratio. For instance, if you have a total of $10,000 in unsecured revolving credit and you are in debt of $2500 your debt to credit ratio is 25%. Lenders make their money by charging interest, therefore one element of the credit scoring system is in your ability to maintain balances and pay over time; not all at once. This offers a picture of your long term credit and the profits the lenders can make with the interest you pay.

Over time it has been realized that it is by holding the proper debt to credit ration that can boost your score more quickly than paying off all your bills each month in full. Of course despite the number of arguments with the Better Business Bureau on this topic they continue to disagree. Even proof from Fair Isaacs website, myfico, who invented the credit scoring software used by the credit bureaus does not sway their beliefs.

Then there is the question of what to do when you are like most Americans whose debt to credit ration is too high? For instance, if you have that same $10,000 in unsecured revolving credit; however, you owe $8500 you end up with an 85% debt to credit ratio! Is there a way to bring that ratio down without selling all of your possessions? Actually, the answer is the basis of the next technique!

SUB-PRIME MERCHANDISE CARDS: Likely, the most powerful and cost effective method of decreasing the debt to credit ratio is with the use of Sub-Prime Merchandise Cards. This increases the credit limit and most of these cards report to at least one of the major credit bureaus.

Although very understood, these cards have a lot of benefits. The confusion surrounding these cards is mainly due to misrepresentation from marketers as well as the number of companies that are promoting them. Once these cards are fully understood you will better understand the misrepresentations that surround these cards.

The Sub-Prime Merchandise Card is simply a card that has a line of credit from a specific vendor that allows you to purchase their merchandise. In many cases the merchandise will be purchased either from a specific online location or through a catalog.

The largest problem surrounding these cards is in the method of marketing; the cards are generally marketed by telemarketing, direct mail and e-mail. Have you seen the offers that promise “$5,000 Credit Card GUARANTEED! No Credit Check! No Cosigner! Everyone is accepted!”? These are the ads used by the marketers for Sub-Prime Merchandise Cards.

The unfortunate truth is many companies market this way and can be considered shady; however, there are a few legitimate marketers that will help to build your credit quickly. You simply need to be able to determine the good from the bad.

The way it works is simple: everyone can get a card from $2,500 up to $12,500. There are no credit checks or cosigners needed; if you breathe you get a card. The catch is that the card can only be used for the merchandise that is offered through the specific website or catalog. The bigger catch is that the consumer has to put down a deposit on their purchases; it is the remaining balance that is financed on the sub-prime merchandise card.

This can be better understood by imagining that you buy $1,000 of merchandise. You pay a deposit of $300 and the remaining $700 is financed on the merchandise card which you will make payments to. Most people feel this is just a scam; if you are one of them then you are overlooking the big picture.

A legitimate Sub-Prime Merchandise Card when used WILL be reported to at least one of the major credit bureaus and will look like any other credit card on your credit report. So if you have a $5000 merchandise card and you finance $500 you are achieving 3 major things:

1. Your current credit limit is increased by $5000 virtually overnight; the merchandise card appears like any other unsecured revolving account.
2. Carrying a small outstanding balance (not paying it off at once) you can impact your credit report in a positive way. This will not only build your credit but also demonstrate to potential lenders your credit worthiness.
3. By maintaining a good payment history you are guaranteeing yourself pre-approved credit offers from “real” credit cards. Credit bureaus lease your name to other lenders who are looking for credit worthy people. Remember, they make money from your interest.

So you see, the Sub-Prime Merchandise Card technique is difficult to beat for its effectiveness and cost. The chief principal is in knowing which cards report to the credit bureau and what offers the best rates. This can be unfortunate to those who stumble upon the wrong cards.

PIGGYBACKING: This technique has just about unlimited potential, yet is rarely used. This method is simple, effective and works very fast; unfortunately, it is used mostly by parents and siblings and neglected by those who can benefit from it most.

Nearly every credit card or account allows the primary holder to add someone to be an authorized user on the account. Often this is also called a secondary account holder, what ever they call it the benefit is the same; benefits! Most of the time when you are added to an account the entire account history is posted to the secondary user’s credit report.

A credit card with a $10,000 limit has been held and paid as agreed for the last 10 years; that complete history is then posted on your credit report. Once person who used this technique with hi mother when he was just 24 and already had a $15,000 Gold credit card on his credit report that has a history going back 11 years. Without the Piggybacking technique this kid would have had to have been 13 when he was approved for this card.

So you can see this technique, while generally used by parents and their children, is most effective! It has been due to the benefits of Piggybacking that has led to people that have excellent credit scores to “lease” authorized users on one or more credit cards for a certain price. There was even an ad in USA TODAY for just this kind of chance. Of course, like most credit loopholes this technique will be “fixed” in much of the same way as this next technique.

ADVANCED CREDIT PROFILING is a strategy that is simple in design but can be taken to a rather complex level. This technique is overlooked by many and even in the most basic form is taken advantage of by few. With Advanced Credit Profiling you build your credit report in a way that creates the type of profile that fits most creditors’ criteria. Although this method can be performed in very complex ways it is effective for its simplicity and this is where we will take a closer look.

You may find many consumers who brag about having anywhere from 10 thousand to 50 thousand dollars in credit cards on their credit reports; however, many of these consumers do not have items such as mortgage, auto loans, or even equipment loans. Some of these same people do not even hold a line of credit with a local bank or credit union. Having these other types of credit on your report offers a well rounded profile and shows good credit diversity and experience. Holding multiple types of credit is far more powerful than single type credit no matter what the credit amount is.

For instance, if you have $50,000 worth of credit cards you are not showing near the credit experience of a person with that same $50,000 along with a mortgage and auto loan or lease. People who want to build a more diverse credit report often will lease a vehicle simply to create a better credit profile that can position them to achieve the lowest interest rate on a mortgage when they need it.

As mentioned before Advance Credit Profiling can be taken to more complex levels and this involves subscribing to affluent business as well as professional publications and organizations. This would be subscriptions to magazines, newsletters, trade journals and national associations with a goal of putting your name in the databases. Why would you want to do that? To get your name on highly targeted lists that creditors use to offer credit lines to.

The credit offer marketers often find that renting names of consumers from the credit bureaus do not provide enough information to fully understand the credit risk like they did at one time. Due to this, many credit marketers will not only rent the names from the credit bureaus but will then cross reference it with the aforementioned lists and databases.

By cross referencing the two sources of information the marketers are provided with a targeted list of people to mail their offers of credit to. This will in effect shorten the process of securing quality account holders that is cost effective and simple.

Learning to intentionally place yourself into the databases will inherently lead you to refined lists and begin to build your credit profile quickly. Naturally skeptics will consider this highly speculative; undeniable however, this method works. Another highly speculative method that is truly hard to believe follows.

DEPOSIT LOAN PROGRAMS: This technique takes even the most credit savvy people time to fully believe; however, researching the facts proves its effectiveness. This technique allows the consumer to have a $25,000 and up to a $250,000 loan appear on their credit report as Paid as Agreed as a method of creative financing. Although very effective it is often just out of the reach of people trying to build their credit as it requires anywhere from $750 to $7,500 upfront. This technique is also subject to unavailability if certain banking laws were to change. Deposit Loan Programs are currently available though and can be used with consumer credit files on social security numbers as well as business and corporate files that are done on TIN’s and Dunn and Bradstreet.

When all is said and done, what we all really need to remember is that our credit score is more important now than it ever has been. It is true that credit miracles are not going to occur overnight; however, you can start to create you own credit miracles by using a few of these insider techniques consistently. You may not go to bed with a score of 560 and wake up with a score of 685 but with these techniques you can begin to see your credit score rise. You may even find yourself a member of the exclusive 700 plus credit score club!

J Stromsteen has many years expertise in the finance, real estate, and insurance industry. She contributes to various websites such as First Time Home Buyer where you can find detailed information on getting a First Time Home Buyers Loan .

Here it is again, that horrible B-word. That’s right, I’m talking about a BUDGET. Budgeting is something that challenges many of us, but is one of the most expedient means to regain control of your finances as this article points out. — DH

Learning to live within a budget can be the first way to alleviate, or avoid serious debt problems. No matter how much, or how little income you have, if you do not work within your means, you can get into serious financial problems.

Budgeting is all about keeping your expenses lower than your income. It is not difficult to work out, that regardless of how much you earn, if you spend more money than is coming in, you can only end up in financial difficulties.

This is why you read in the newspapers that a mega-rich businessman has gone bankrupt. But at the same time an old lady that lives down the block, survives well on a meagre pension.

This problem tends to arise when an individual, or family, fail to make a simple and efficient, financial plan, and live their lives within that plan. When people attempt to live without consideration of how much is coming in, and how much is going out, there can only be one result, and that is serious debt problems.

Borrowing money to pay for essentials, or even luxuries can be very wise financial move. For example, without your mortgage, the chances are you would never the able to purchase your home. Unfortunately, huge numbers of people use loans without any thought to the financial consequences of stretching yourself to the limits of your income, and beyond.

Any one who borrows money can be said to be in debt, but realistically, these days we only consider a person to be in debt, when they cannot make their payments. One of the main reasons that people slip into debt. Is because they do not pay due consideration to exactly how much they are spending each month.

This lack of attention is probably just an oversight; a person may have set out a proper budget for themselves. They may have properly calculated their income and all their main outgoings such as mortgage and credit card payments. Where they fall down is by not calculating all those tiny little incidentals that can add up to large amounts of money every month.

Many people also make a budget intending to stick to it, but then there are always emergency situations. Unfortunately, different people have a different concept of what an emergency is. Many people would consider a weekend away in the mountains an emergency if they have had a bad couple of weeks at work.

Maybe your child’s birthday is coming around and they want a couple of expensive gifts. Well you can’t let them down, so this is the emergency, and if you don’t have the cash you can always just charge it to your card. These are the ways that people who believe that they are sticking to a strict budget find themselves with serious that problems.

Many people may worry that they have taken out a secured loan, such as a mortgage or car financing; they rightly believe that if they do not make the payments the company will wish to reclaim these items.

Strangely, people do not attach the same importance to other, unsecured debts, such as credit cards. Just because a loan is not secured, it does not mean that you can avoid repaying it. Finance houses who offer unsecured loans do have options for recovering this money.

But for some reason, so many people believe that spending cash they do not have on a credit card, somehow does not equal debt. If you can afford to pay off your credit card every month in full, then it is not debt. If you cannot pay in full, you are only putting the day that it may become a problem.

Casual buying is a way of life in America; it can also be a way of pretending to ourselves that we do not really have to pay back the cash we borrow.

The best way to avoid serious debt problems is to set a budget for yourself. Calculate exactly how much you bring in to the house, in total, each month. Calculate exactly how much you spend each month, this should include the not only the big items but also all the small spending such as a cup of coffee on the way into work every morning.

It sounds insignificant, but 20 cups of coffee per month could cost you $50 or $60. All the time you are thinking you are living to a budget. This type of expenditure is where these problems originate from.

You must cut back on everything you spend until the amount going out is less than the amount coming in. This is essential to keep the books balanced, and the debt collectors from phoning.

If you find that situation has already gone too far for you to deal with. Your best option may be to find an online broker that can arrange a debt conciliation loan, which can pay off all of your outstanding debts. This will enable you to start again, and learn to work within a proper and accurate budget.

Joe Kenny writes for TFGI.com, visit them today for debt consolidation or Rebuild.org for debt relief and to debt consolidation loans.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Today’s college graduates have to face financial reality more quickly than just a few decades ago. You are given only six months grace from your graduation date until you have to start repaying your student loans. Don’t have a job yet? Too bad, kid. Welcome to the real world. In the 1970’s, college students figured out that by declaring personal bankruptcy, student loans could be forgiven or pushed back a few years. Unfortunately for future generations of American college graduates, in 1998 the law was changed to make student loans non-dischargeable.

Make Student Loans What?

“Non-dischargeable” is our vocabulary word of the day, class. Translating it into American English, this means that if you declare personal bankruptcy, student loans still need to be paid. You cannot get out of it, unless you suddenly drop dead, but that kinda defeats the purpose of getting a college degree in the first place. The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman (FSAO) says there are only three extremely hard to fulfill criteria for exemption of this non-dischargeable rule. You must fulfill all three. They are:

If the loan repayments force you to a “lower than minimum standard of living”. If the loan repayments will force you into poverty most of the time you need to repay the student loans. You have to make some sort of effort to repay the loan before filing for personal bankruptcy. Student loans will usually be dischargeable only if you have been able to make payments for five years.

Your Options

You really don”t have many options left if you need to declare personal bankruptcy. Student loans can sometimes be consolidated, which can often make paying them back a lot easier, but you will still need to pay them back. If your college closed permanently before you graduated, then you have an excellent shot of contesting the loans. But what about for the other 99.9% of college graduates?

If you’ve consolidated and stretched your student loans for years, at this point it can be next to impossible to disentangle who is owed what, and you can challenge the enforceability of the loans. Since it is the creditor’s job to provide proof of claim about what you owe, this legal loophole might be your only chance. Otherwise in declaring personal bankruptcy, student loans will still be staring at you in the face. Creditors are only allowed to take 10% of your paycheck in order to repay a

You can find many more Bankruptcy related articles at Bankruptcy Marketing

For all your Bankruptcy needs, please visit http://www.need-bankruptcy-info.com

Well, first of all you have to realize the problem. What particular part of public speaking is difficult, is it the fear of people looking down on you or is it maybe doubting your knowledge on the subject in question? Make sure you have the right diagnosis before you pursue the right remedy, this is essential. Albeit, when speaking in class (or elsewhere) you have to be well prepared and know your subject well. This will enable you to sway and convince the audience, and give them something beneficial.

Here are a few tips to enhance your presentation:

- Be knowledgeable: As I said earlier, it absolutely crucial that you research your subject in before hand to ensure that you know what you’re talking about. Practice a lot until you feel certain that you’re well prepared. Don’t forget to time yourself when practicing, the real presentation usually becomes a little longer/shorter depending on the factual circumstances but it’s important that you have a feeling on how long it may take before you start speaking. You have to be sure that you can present your information within the given time limit. Try your best to anticipate any possible questions that may arise and do your best to try to answer these.

- Adjust to your audience: Do you adjust to your audience? Certainly, we don’t speak the same to children as we do with elders. Your talk needs to fit your audience’s level of understanding and knowledge about your subject as well as their prime interests.

- Do you feel strong about your subject? Be sure that your not only knowledgeable on the subject bu also enthusiastic about it, the strong feelings you have towards your subject can be noted by the audience.

- Never ever read directly from you notes: Remember, you are talking to an audience not reciting a book. Use your notes (if you have any) as keywords only and not as reading material.

- Are your audience involved: People’s ability to listen depends partly on their attention, make sure you do what is needed to keep them attentive to what your saying. We all know that there are some subjects that are not that interesting in themselves, your task is to make them as interesting as possible. You have to capture and keep your audience’s attention throughout your speech. A good way to make your speech interactive (obviously, this advice depends on the size of your audience) is by posing questions. This will make them listen and think.

- Control your voice effectively: You can vary the tone of your voice depending on what type of information your conveying, your voice is important in giving the speech it’s character. Also, make sure you don’t speak to too quickly nor too slowly.

- Start low - End high: A good speech begins smoothly and ends strongly, the beginning and the end of your speech are usually the parts that people remember. A good ending can help fix a bad start, all though I certainly don’t recommend you to try that.

Guled Cirro is a writer on online education matters and currently also a webmaster, providing free study tips to college students. Make sure you visit his site for free online education tips to help you succeed in college.

The ultimate mystery in all of this is really why, with all the opportunities to learn a second language, are so few Americans bilingual? The truth of the matter is that about 9% of Americans have a true bilingual ability. Yet, there are so many public and private schools offering second language instruction not to mention the booming business in the foreign countries offering Americans the chance of “becoming fluent” in another language.

With all of these opportunities, Americans remain at about 9% with Europeans at a 52% bilingual rate. Have you ever wondered why? I have.

For the past five years, I have been approaching my second language-learning odyssey using non-traditional approaches. I did not start with grammar first courses. You know what those are. If you took any sort of second language learning instruction in school, including Latin or Greek, you began learning the dead or live language with a grammar book.

What this effort got you, if you “stayed the course” was an ability to translate written texts. The almost universal experience of students who begin their second language learning adventure using the grammar-first method is that when they try to speak the language, or even go overseas for a year abroad, all they can utter is,

“I need to go to the bathroom and can I have a cheese sandwich, please?”

The way in which all of us, no matter our country of origin, learned how to speak our native tongue is the same way in which we must approach second language acquisition. Note I said, acquisition, and not learning the second language. There is a difference and therein lies the rub when it comes to selecting a course of study where you will first acquire a high degree of spoken fluency before learning grammar rules.

Let me go out on a limb here: If you do not approach the learning of a second language first with second language acquisition, instead of a grammar-first approach, you will not learn how to speak the language. And, is that not what we are talking about—spoken fluency?

One method accomplishes one thing while the other method gives you something you do not necessarily want. I am a long way from being able to read and discuss physics in Spanish. But, I can discuss simple news events, go to the doctor, or do most anything I need to do in Spanish. I want to grow linguistically where I will have the ability to discuss issues that are even more complex.

Right now, I am still in the child stage of Spanish acquisition and that’s ok. Note carefully, however, I did not get to that stage by taking a grammar-first course. I can do what most five and six-year old native Spanish speakers can do. Trust me when I tell you this: This level of spoken fluency most Americans I know struggling to learn Spanish would kill to achieve.

So, how did I do it? I used the same method I unknowingly used learning my first language, English. I am learning Spanish using the same approach all Spanish-fluent native speakers used in learning Spanish as children.

I am engaging in second language acquisition first, and second language learning second.

The horse, language acquisition, must come before the cart, language learning.

That is what you must seek first.

What Language do You Want to Learn? - Learning a new language has never been easier.

When you have personal goals in place you are better able to achieve what you want out of life. Keeping a written journal of your achievements you are able to measure how far you have come.

Goals can be set with different priorities depending on what it is you wish to achieve. Start out with little goals in mind and achieve these before moving onto loftier ones. This will ease you into the routine of working with them.

Set goals for the short term or the long term but it’s important to remember is that they must be reasonably obtainable in a definite period of time.

Constructing Goals

Structuring goals will allow you to meet them, by structuring it means breaking down larger goals into smaller ones and then working on each part separately. The first step to take when thinking of your life goals is what do you want out of life? You have to know what you want or what you want to improve upon in your life.

Addressing the many important aspects of your life is important, the easiest way to do this is to divide what it is from life you want into separate categories. For example think about what you wish to achieve in your finances, your attitude, your career, your health and your family.

After that chosen the areas that need changing then organize these into categories by importance, then rate the top to bottom. By doing this you set goals in a way so you can help prioritize your life and get you on tract.

Divide and Conquer

Once you have those goals set that you wish to achieve throughout your lifetime then again break then down into time frames. 5 year, 1 year, 6 month and 1 month goals this will make it more manageable and it won’t seem overwhelming to accomplish.

Then break them down further into daily to do lists. To start these goals should be related to the categories of which you want improve areas of life but keep them small. For example you could choose to learn more about a certain aspect you wish to change.

Starting out small and working your way up it will give you confidence and that you can succeed in achieving the tasks you set out.

Once you have been striving towards your goals for a while don’t forget to keep reviewing and make sure you are going where you want in life. If you get off tract and are going slightly in the wrong direction then reexamine your life goals again and reorganize them.

Remember to set life goals which you will be able to achieve, but don’t set the bar to low. Never set yourself impossible goals but have one that does make you stretch as a person. Keep and stay motivated by keeping a journal of your progression and wins. Achieving and truly living your Hundred-Fold-Life is a process and goal setting is a great way to get started and to keep winning.

Douglas Miller is a retired Fire Service Captain now living the dream of working at home. His company Hundred-Fold-Life is not just a name but also a belief. To find the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: http://www.ClixGo.com

When you set a goal for yourself your subconscious mind will work day and night to reach it.

In the book “Think and Grow Rich” Napoleon Hill states that your goal has to be specific and have a time frame. An example would be;

“I will earn $5,000.00 per month from my business as (state your business or service) on Aug 1 200? by helping folks learn to have a more successful personal and business life by providing a service of (state here) that will help these new friends and customer’s Personal Development”.

I have changed the way Napoleon Hill suggested how to make your goals a little bit, I do not believe in limiting myself, so I would state this example as over $5,000.00 and before Aug. 1 200?

Another example would be; “I will lose at least 10 lbs. before Aug 1 200? by eating healthy and exercising for at least 1/2 hour 5 days a week.”

Your goals need to be as specific as possible (color, size, shape, ect.) so your subconscious mind will be able to achieve them. Your goals need to state how you will make them possible, otherwise your goals are just wishes.

In order to reach your goals quickly read them (out loud) and/or write them out at least twice every day, once in the morning and once at night.

Your want your goals to be large enough that they make you feel uncomfortable, your goals need to push you out of your comfort zone, if you feel uncomfortable (in a good way) your goals are large enough to make your subconscious mind work.

Write out your major goal and keep it in your wallet or purse where you can read it and see it more often. Make a goals book (I use my Day-Timer) Write out 100 goals that you want to achieve in your life. Like 30 things I want to have, 30 things I want to do or places I want to go to, 30 things I want to be in my life. These goals do not need to be specific yet, just write them down and look at them from time to time, go back to them and fill after you have your list completed and fill in the details, start moving them into 1 year, 3 year, 5 year and 10 year goals.

After you have achieved your goals, mark them with a check mark, a yahoo, I high light mine with a bright yellow marker. My daughters put their goals in a book from a store specifically designed for this purpose, you can glue in pictures, write, draw pictures what ever you like. This is like a dream board.

There are many different ways to make goals, affirmations and intentions. The main thing is to find something that has worked for someone else that feels right to you and do it, keep working on your goals every day and you will reach your goals and dreams.

Lee Stuckey is the owner of Key2Wealth.net, he writes on a variety of subjects concerning the 4 Pillars of Wealth Creation. To learn more about this topic Lee recommends you visit: Key2Wealth.net

At any point in our lives we can see the tapestry of our life as whole and complete. We do not need to choose to walk through deaths door before we choose to see the perfection of all that is. We can choose to see it now in every single experience that we receive - in every single thread that we weave.

As we see the perfection, we can feel grateful and ‘thank full’ for what we DO have, instead of focusing on what we do not have. Instead, what we do not have yet in our lives can become like a warm prayer wishing it into our life - bringing it closer and closer with each new day.

One day you will die. This is the only other certainty in life other that your birth - and taxes of course! How are you going to live between now and then? Are you going to wake each day and give thanks that your two legs are attached to your body and that along with your two arms they all still work? And if you do not have legs or arms that work, are you going to wake and give thanks that your mind still works and that your eyes can still see the beauty of this world and that your ears can hear its music. And if you are blind or deaf, are you going to wake and give thanks that you can still feel.

And if all you can feel is gratitude then you are indeed feeling the sweetest of feelings that exist.

This morning I woke at dawn and walked down a dusty street in the backwater town of Benaulim, which is in Goa on the West coast of India. The smoke of the night’s fires still hung in the morning light giving the air a wooden burnt sweetness. The pigs were up early foraging for sweet goodies in the undergrowth and the restaurant people sleeping outside on their balconies were beginning to stir. As I walked further, the sun rose some more, and I started to see the school children getting ready for the day - washing in the courtyards in muddy pools of water on well-worn slabs of stone. Later they walked to school - fully attired except for shoes.

I wondered at first if they could not afford shoes, of if they just preferred the feeling of their bare feet on the ground. Thoughts of wanting to buy them shoes passed through my mind, but as I looked at their faces as they welcomed me with their warm hellos, I realised all was well.

Can I tell you a secret? (You may already know that secret actually means ’see correct’ - if you don’t - just say secret very slow). The only reason why you may feel frustrated about your life is because what you feel you should experience and what you actually experience are different.

What I mean is this - you have desires - you want more - but life is ’slow’ at delivering your desires to you to enhance your life experience.

Here is the secret - fill the space between your ‘asking’ and your receiving with the magic of gratitude. Only see (’see-correct’) everything that you feel is good in your life. If your focus strays to something that you are not that happy with - immediately change your focus to what you are happy with. If it strays again - return your focus to what you love to see. All the while ‘allow’ what you want to come into your life.

Hold the feeling that you already have what you want. This is the second part of the ’see-correct’ - when you know that the new things you are wanting in your life WILL come - it’s just a matter of when - then holding the space open with gratitude will allow you to enjoy your life today.

There is magic in this life and indeed life is magic. Keep being open to the magic and everything you desire will flow into you life with ease - NO MATTER where you life is currently focused. This is the magic of trusting. Trust comes from knowing - knowing that life is indeed perfect and WILL deliver to you your desires. The quicker you allow them to come to you, the quicker you can experience them.

In the mean time - allow - trust and feel grateful for what you do have. Life will deliver - this is a guarantee. When you understand the power of desire you will know how life MUST deliver - how that process works is another story!

Keep ’seeing correct’ - trust - accept - and love life. And the magic will unveil itself to you step by step, because life is indeed magic. See it - believe it - expect it. Bon Voyage.

David Anttony is an internationally acclaimed writer and speaker on empowering the life you want to create without trying. For courses and other materials sign up at www.DavidAnttony.com. David is also a co-Founder of Buy1GIVE1Free. To find out more on how your business can contribute to charity while supporting the growth of your company visit www.B1G1.com today. To reprint for free retain this footer.

I believe that God was setting an example for us to follow. When we work hard all week, we need time to regroup and refocus ourselves so that we can be just as productive the following week.

Your vacations should be times of renewal for you. Time for you to turn your brain off (not completely (smile)) but at least for a moment. Enjoy your families, read a book and just REST.

Without taking a break, you will not be able to perform to your highest potential. It may seem as if you are getting more done, but it is to your own detriment and eventually the train will run out of steam.

Pretty soon, your attention to details and your commitment to excellence will suffer. I can always tell when I’m tired when I see mistakes that I have made and begin telling myself that “they’ll be ok, nobody will notice.”

Here are 7 spiritual and practical (not so spiritual, but necessary) steps you can take to make sure you are balancing your work and personal lives properly. Begin now, getting the rest you NEED and deserve.

Pray - this is the most important step. If you are too busy to pray, you are too busy :). Don’t let this get you caught in condemnation if you don’t already or you find yourself always “out of time.” Start small… even 5 minutes (other than saying grace over your food) in the morning is a good start. It will ground you and get you centered on what really matters before you go out and tackle the world each day.

Plan Vacation Time - make sure you talk to your boss and co-workers before leaving. If you prepare them properly, you won’t spend your entire vacation getting phone calls or worrying about if this or that got done correctly. I have a chapter in my book “Effectively Managing Multiple Projects…A Super Easy Guide to Getting Organized, Reducing Office Clutter and Producing More with Less Stress”, that talks about Duplicating Yourself In Others.

Set A List Of Priorities - decide what is most important to you and prioritize. If spending time with your children or family is important, you should make it a top priority and organize your life around those times. Become as efficient as possible at work so that you don’t have to stay late so often. Don’t let others get you off of your priorities.

Eliminate Unnecessary Activities - once you have your priorities set, eliminate the waste. If going to lunch everyday with your co-workers puts you behind at work and you end up staying late, pack a lunch. If you are always doing things for other people and never having time for yourself, set some boundaries with your friends and family and DON’T BE AFRAID TO SAY NO.

Slow Down - you’ve heard the saying “stop and smell the roses.” This is important. If you plan your time properly, you won’t always be rushing from one place to the next. Give yourself an extra 15 minutes when scheduling appointments so that you don’t have to drive like a NASCAR racer in order to get from one place to the next.

Delegate Responsibilities to Others - I talk about this in my book to. Empower others to help you and take some of the load off of yourself. Don’t be so controlling that people refuse to help you. You have to make a conscious effort to remember that you don’t have to do it all alone. God will provide people to help you. And you can’t be afraid to recruit help.

Let It Go - Don’t harbor offenses and don’t be too hard on yourself. Be quick to forgive those who mistreat you. And don’t constantly beat yourself up with what you “shoulda” or “coulda” done better. Just choose to learn from your errors and do better the next time.

Remember, God took time to rest and so should we. As I mentioned earlier, we are no good to our pastors if we are tired and cranky. It’s easier to “put on patience” when you don’t feel like you have rocks in our eyes or like you’ve been run over by a mack truck.

Go to my blog and take my”Are You Stressed or Getting Rest Quiz” now, http://www.churchsecretaryessentials.com/blog

Tamala M. Huntley is author of the revolutionary manual, ?Basic Training 101: A Super Easy Guide to Getting More Done, Reducing Office Clutter and Producing More With Less Stress.? To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit http://www.churchsecretaryessentials.com NOTE: You?re welcome to ?reprint? this article online as as it remains complete and unaltered with the ?about the author info” at the end.

If you are a church secretary and any of these things sound familiar, just take a deep breath and relax. Here are 4 quick ways to get it all under control and keep your sanity:

1. Put your daily routine on autopilot.

Everyday tasks like writing letters, going through mail or returning phone calls and emails should be as easy as breathing. Schedule times during the day when you will do each task. Some people feel lost if they are not answering the phone every time it rings or constantly checking email.

Don’t let this be you. There are certain people… like my boss… that I always answer the phone for, but almost everyone else has to wait until I’m”doing phone duty.” I carve out time in my schedule each day to return emails and phone messages and another time to deal with correspondence.

If the ministry goes under during the few hours that you are “unreachable” by phone, your answering the phone wasn’t going to fix the problem anyway. You’ll get so much more work done if you are not constantly interrupted by phones and “dinging” emails. Try it… you’ll be glad you did.

2. Always keep a “to-do” list.

I am the mistress of lists. I make lists for everything. Each major project gets its own list. Each event gets a checklist. I may not be lost without my phone, but I am definitely uncomfortable without my lists.

Keeping checklists saves you from trying to remember everything that you have to do. And inevitably, you will forget something. No amount of Gingko Bilboa is going to help you remember 20 different tasks for each of your 5 separate projects that are all happening simultaneously. In my e-book, Effectively Managing Multiple Projects… A Super Easy Guide to Getting Organized, Reducing Office Clutter, & Producing More With Less Stress, I include a sample checklist that can be used for any project. I use it religiously for all of the events I work on.

Your “to-do” list… don’t go a day without it.

3. Don’t be a control freak.

Sometimes this is a hard one. Especially when there is a lot riding on your project going right. There are times, however, when we must delegate work to others…volunteers or other staff members.

Delegating assignments doesn’t mean you’ve issued a death wish. Most people are as competent as you “allow” or “help” them to be. What am I saying? Set clear goals and expectations for those whose help you enlist. Never give an assignment and leave it up to your helpers to assume what you expect.

If a task has a clear deadline, make sure you communicate this to your team. If you want them to be creative and think of a new way to do XYZ, then tell them exactly that. Otherwise they may not realize that they have creative freedom. Give as much help as you can by providing samples of how something was done before or directing them to people they may want to contact who can assist them in getting the job done.

When you delegate work to others, you help yourself by taking some of the load off your plate. Arming them with clear goals and expectations ensures you get the result you desire and empowers them to do the best job.

4. Consistently follow-up and follow-through.

Follow-up and follow-through are critical if you are going to succeed at your job. First you must follow-up with people you may have assigned work to. You have to follow-up with vendors and other people you do business with. Everybody is busy and everybody has a lot of work to do and everybody forgets something.

And let’s face it… sometimes our projects are only important to us. When you follow-up, do so early enough to allow adequate time for unexpected hiccups and you’ll be much less stressed. As stated in the “Quick & Easy Tips” section, use flags to remind people about important deadlines. You don’t always have to spend time with your ear glued to a phone calling people. This could also be something that you assign to a volunteer.

The twin to follow-up is follow-through. This all rests with you. If you set a deadline, regardless of what anybody else does, you have to meet your deadline. If something unforeseen happens, at least take the initiative to call or email your workers and/or vendors to let them know that you need to set a new deadline.

Others will follow your lead. If you are lackadaisical about your project, they will be to. If you never meet your deadlines with them, they will probably not care about meeting their deadlines with you. If you tell your team you’ll have specific information for them at your meeting, you should have the information at the meeting.

Excellence in this area is vitally important. There is no substitute.

You CAN do it!

You can get it all done and not be overwhelmed in the process. All it takes is a little investment upfront to get your days flowing like a peaceful river. This does not mean that things won’t come up, or that your pastor (boss) won’t have last minute assignments. However, if you have everything else in place, the unexpected interruptions will be molehills and not mountains.

The Project Management primer included with my book, Basic Training 101: Effectively Managing Multiple Projects… A Super Easy Guide to Getting Organized, Reducing Office Clutter, & Producing More With Less Stress, gives you just the boost you need to get going in the right direction. As an added bonus, there’s also a Meeting Planner Worksheet included to help you get the most out of your meetings.

Tamala M. Huntley is author of the revolutionary manual, ?Basic Training 101: A Super Easy Guide to Getting More Done, Reducing Office Clutter and Producing More With Less Stress.? To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit http://www.churchsecretaryessentials.com NOTE: You?re welcome to ?reprint? this article online as as it remains complete and unaltered with the ?about the author info” at the end.