10 Keys To Wealth and Wellness by TriVita

The Keys to

Wealth & Wellness

To Fulfill Your Life’s Purposes ....

MICHAEL R. ELLISON CEO of TriVita

The Keys to Wealth & Wellness: 10 Keys to Wealth to Fulfill Your Life’s Purposes, 10 Keys to Wellness to Fulfill Your Life’s Purposes Published by TriVita, Inc. with Michael Ellison 16100 N. Greenway-Hayden Loop Suite #950 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 www.trivita.com This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of TriVita, Inc., except as provided by United States of America copyright law. This book is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice and treatment from your personal physician. Readers are advised to consult their own doctors or other qualified health professionals regarding the treatment of any medical problems. Copyright © 2007 by TriVita, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America

Dedication

This book is dedicated to every person seeking wealth in order to accomplish very special and important purposes in their life.

Acknowledgments

After studying the lives of influential and wealthy people over the

years, I came to realize that they all had supportive and encouraging people around them. Their life purposes were dependent upon others. Without such people in my life, I could not have pursued my vision and dreams. I am grateful for my family, which has supported and encouraged me to be all that I can be. My wife, Susan, has been there for me every day of our 40-year marriage. I am grateful for my sons, Marcus and Luke, who believe that my vision and purposes are worthy of their career commitments. And I am grateful to my parents, Richard and Leona, for their values and Godly influence in my life. I am grateful for James and Betty Robison and their unwavering support of the life purpose I feel called to by God—helping people find wealth and wellness. I will always be indebted to Barry and Margret Borthistle, who helped me and my wife, Susan, co-found TriVita in 1999. I am grateful for all the wonderful people at Ellison Media Company who have worked with me these past 35 years. Their worldwide endeavors of helping people know God and helping the poor have truly enriched my life.

I am priviledged to have the leadership team and support staff at TriVita who play a pivotal role in the vision to which I will dedicate the rest of my life. I am honored by the commitment and service of our Business Affiliates who share the TriVita mission of creating greater wealth and wellness for all. I am grateful to all the people at Global Duplication and Fulfillment who work tirelessly to support TriVita customers. There are many others who have offered friendship, referrals, services and support to my life purposes.Â Without these people in my life, I could never have accomplished nor written what is contained in this book. I give my special thanks to those who worked on this book. Thanks to Jan Dargatz, who worked with me to organize and compile my information into a literary work, and to Randy Robison, whose wordsmith talent made it a better read.Â I have saved my last words of gratitude for the team that formatted and proofread this book in preparation for publication...thank you, Jay Griffin, Dawn Juhas, Heather Austin and Gregg Horvat.

Contents Foreword: Why Build Wealth? Why Build Wellness? . . . . . . . . v 10 Keys to Create Wealth Introduction: Building Wealth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. Desire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2. Belief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3. Expression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 4. Income Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 5. Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 6. Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 7. Compounding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 8. Modeling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 9. Setting Goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 10. Reciprocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Foreword

Why Build Wealth? Why Build Wellness? One critical concept lies at the center of everything in this book. It is the secret power to obtaining all that you need to accomplish your deepest desires and fulfill your life purposes. Without this one thing, you will not make the effort and pay the necessary price to build wealth and pursue wellness, nor will you endure for the long haul required. What is the one thing? If that sounds like a familiar line from an old movie, you’re right. One of my favorite films is City Slickers. Many of the scenes were filmed near our ranch in Durango, Colorado, and some of the cowboy stunts were performed by people we know in the area. In that movie the character Curly, played by Jack Palance, is a crusty old cowboy, hardened by experience and full of wisdom. He encounters Mitch, played by Billy Crystal, who has come “out West” to face some midlife questions. Curly notes that Mitch is just like a lot of city slickers who come to the West—same age, same problems. People like Mitch spend fifty weeks a year getting knots in their rope, then think that two weeks in the West will untie them. He asks Mitch if he knows the secret of life. Mitch says, “No, what?” Curly holds up his index finger and says, “This.”

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Mitch jokes, “Your finger?”

Curly says, “One thing…just one thing. You stick to that and

nothing else matters.”

Mitch says, “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?” Curly, with great suspense, replies, “That’s for you to figure out.” It takes the entire movie, of course, for Mitch to discover the answer.

But I have no intention of leaving the “one thing” up for you to question. I want you to know at the outset the critical thing necessary to build wealth and pursue wellness: INTENSE DESIRE TO FULFILL PURPOSE. The important purposes in your life give you the ultimate drive to build wealth and pursue wellness. If you don’t have a burning desire within you, you simply won’t end up at the destination goals of wealth and wellness. Neither wealth nor wellness happens by accident. Neither is easy to gain. Neither is achieved quickly. It takes intense desire to stay focused and motivated month after month, year after year. Furthermore, your intense desire must be linked to a purpose— something that is truly important to you. Many people have deep and intense agitation, frustration or fantasy wishes. That is not the same as an intense desire related to genuine purpose. When you deeply desire to achieve something that you believe has high value, you will do all that it takes to create wealth and achieve wellness. Without intense desire you will compromise in every area of your life just to get by. The person without intense desire is apathetic towards life in general. He or she will always gravitate toward the easier way, the quick fix or the hope of overnight success. Genuine wealth and wellness require intention, endurance and effort. In the outstanding book Success Built to Last—Creating a Life that Matters, authors Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson examined the lives of hundreds of successful people around the world, from

Foreword

vii

presidents of nations to presidents of nonprofit organizations. A dominant truth emerged from this research: When someone had a goal in life that deeply mattered and pursued it with a passionate belief that he or she could achieve it, the person found the wealth necessary to fulfill the goal. Sure, they had difficulties and failures along the way, but they refused to allow tough times to stop them in their active and passionate pursuit of what mattered most to them. Every person is born with strong desires. At first, those desires are expressed in simple ways—we desire to be fed, to be comfortable and to be held and loved. Every baby is born with a desire for discovery and, very soon, every child develops a strong desire to receive praise and adulation. A baby delights when his or her behavior brings positive feedback—a smile, a round of applause as he or she takes their first step, a special hug when he or she utters their first word. The child takes these desires to school and very quickly learns that his or her desires don’t seem to matter nearly as much as their conformity to the desires of people in authority! Increasingly, teachers and parents seem to mete out rewards when their standards are met and punishment when their desires and standards are not. Some call this the maturing process. In reality, it is more often a process of squelching the deep innate desires that people have to express themselves in ways that are personally fulfilling, to pursue goals that are personally defined and to enjoy the satisfaction of personal accomplishment. When you live only to please others, life becomes a daily grind. You get caught up in competition that produces few winners and many losers. You look for rewards and accomplishments that are easy to attain and less likely to lead to failure. You search for accomplishments that others will recognize and appreciate. In the end, one who follows this path loses sight of his or her unique desires and purposes. If there is no purpose for living, the mind sends a signal to the body that it is time to shut things down and prepare to exit life’s stage. This is

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a proven biological fact. The cycle of life begins with intense desires to live a life of personal purpose and, in the cases of “natural causes” for death, life ends with little or no desire or purpose. That is why people with little purpose in their lives feel as if they are dying inside, even if their body is living. Awaken your innermost desires! Renew your innermost sense of purpose! Fan the flames of your desire and purpose into a roaring fire. Your need for wealth and wellness and your ability to build wealth and achieve wellness will grow in direct proportion to the size of the bonfire in your soul to accomplish something of value that you deeply desire. When I was in my twenties and first began to look at the concept of wealth, I had limited experience and limited vision for my future. At the time, I thought earning $50,000 a year would meet the needs of my vision and purpose. At that time, $50,000 went a lot further than it goes today, but even so, my ceiling was pretty ordinary. Today, I live with great vision! My desires are white hot and my purpose is extremely valuable to me. My experience has led me thus far to see that I need more than $150,000,000 a year of revenue coming into my wealth reservoir if I am going to accomplish my purpose of reaching millions of people with a message of wealth and wellness. No job and no one-time windfall are likely to ever generate that amount of wealth. But there are specific strategies a person can pursue and specific laws a person can implement that will produce that amount of wealth. What about you? If you need wealth and wellness in order to accomplish your foremost life purposes and you have an intense desire to accomplish those purposes, this book is for you. The strategies are here. I call them keys. The doors opened by these keys—used synergistically—are doors that lead to unlimited achievement. The keys are powerful. When you align your life with them, you will build wealth and you will find wellness. These keys work. They have worked for me. They have worked for countless others. You can trust them to work for you.

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Introduction

Building Wealth

uilding wealth is not a matter of greed. It is not a matter of luck or inheritance. Nor is it a matter of just income or portfolio-building.

Building wealth is possible for every person who is willing to work hard and implement the ten keys and practices in this book. At the outset, I offer you this definition of wealth: Wealth is having the abundance of resources necessary to fulfill your life purposes. The pursuit of wealth, therefore, should be a natural outflow of your pursuit of purpose. It is rooted in your individuality and deepest desires. Years ago I realized that I had personal goals and desires burning deep within my imagination and soul that could not be accomplished without greater material resources. My dreams were simply bigger than my financial reservoir. I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t about to settle for lesser dreams. What I needed was a bigger reservoir! My desires and purposes fueled my pursuit of wealth, and the acquisition of wealth further defined and fueled an enlarged sense of purpose. Why pursue wealth? Because you have something to do that demands wealth.

10 Keys to Create Wealth

The Nature of Wealth There are several concepts related to wealth that I believe are critical to establish at the outset of this book. First, wealth is a tool. It is a means to an end. There is nothing innately good or bad about money and nothing innately good or bad about possessing wealth. Wealth allows you to do—to accomplish, to achieve, to establish, to create—what you desire. Second, wealth is attainable by all people willing to pay the price of building it. Wealth is not the entitlement of only a few people. Genuine wealth can be obtained by all people who deeply desire it and implement the right strategies to achieve it. Third, wealth is unlimited. Wealth is like an artesian spring that bubbles up with an unlimited supply of water. Wealth is available to all who truly desire it and do the right things to tap into it.

Fourth, wealth is available in direct proportion to the things that give

meaning to your life. No matter what it is that you deeply desire to accomplish, sufficient wealth is available to fund your pursuit of that purpose. I will never forget the day when I realized that sufficient wealth was available to me in an amount sufficient to support all my purposes. My life underwent a radical change! No longer was I restricted by my past financial lack. I was free from the inside out to do the things necessary to tap into the wealth my goals and purposes demanded. Making The Decision To Build Wealth The most important question you can ask yourself is: “Why do I need wealth?” Is it to pay your bills? To live? Or to just get by? If so, you don’t really need wealth. You just need a job that produces a little income. The bare

Introduction

necessities of life don’t cost all that much. The person with purpose beyond mere existence and self-centered goals legitimately needs wealth. For that person, wealth exists in abundance. There is no shortage of resources and no limit to what might be built or created. One major obstacle keeps people from pursuing wealth. They don’t believe they should build wealth. There are two main reasons people hold this belief. The first reason is that they think of wealth in terms of greed. They assume that greed drives wealth-building. Generally speaking, that is the exact opposite of the way wealth-building works. Greed is the desire to get, hoard and consume money for selfish purposes. A greedy person is lustful, envious and obsessed with earning money for the sheer sake of having money. In reality, most wealthy people through the ages have not been greedy. They have acquired wealth in honest ways, for noble purposes and they have been generous in their use of wealth to promote good over evil. The second reason people don’t believe they should have wealth is because they see the process of wealth-building as one that turns a person into a workaholic. Again, this is not exemplified by wealthy people through the ages. Certainly, wealth-building takes effort and time. It takes serious commitment and focus, but building wealth does not prevent a life rich in family, friends and fun. Wealth-building does not require a striving attitude or a 24/7 schedule. Wealth-building as presented in this book is balanced by the pursuit of wellness. Wellness and wealth are both about achieving a quality of life, and true quality of life is not a work only life. The pursuit of wealth requires you to live from the inside out. And that is not how most people live. Most people are caught up in meeting external needs and hoping that as they meet those needs, they will have inner feelings of fulfillment. Rarely, however, does a person feel a sense of deep satisfaction and personal fulfillment by only meeting external needs. Living from the inside out

10 Keys to Create Wealth

means that you decide why you are on this earth, and out of those answers form goals for living out and accomplishing your lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purposes and deepest desires.

I challenge you today to reconnect with what is really important to you.

Rediscover what you hope to accomplish in your life that will benefit others beyond yourself. Rekindle your desires and your sense of purpose.

These are the starting blocks for building wealth.

Key #1

Desire

Identify the Life Purposes that Drive You

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Key #1

Desire

“D

esire is the starting point of all achievement,” Napoleon Hill wrote in his book Think and Grow Rich, after studying the lives of the

wealthy for 20 years. Two thousand years before Napoleon Hill, Jesus made desire a precursor to prayer, saying, “Whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them.” Those who have passion in their souls to create and contribute something of great value to mankind have a desire that motivates them day in and day out through good times and bad.

Desire is the critical and most important key in your pursuit of those

things that truly matter to you. Why is this true?

Desire gives you the focus you need to overcome life’s distractions

and failures. A focused person will seek to pursue a goal with single-minded intensity. Most of us struggle to tune out competing voices that fight for our time, energy and talent. Desire turns vague dreams into laser-beam goals. Desire gives you the necessary fuel to overcome anything that saps your energy. Everyone faces trials and failures. Most successful people admit to periodic setbacks on their journey to wealth. Failures tend to deflate us. Defeat diminishes motivation. If you have intense desire, however, it compels

10 Keys to Create Wealth

you to get up and keep fighting. It fuels your drive to move forward and overcome any setback or obstacle. Desire is directly related to motivation— the more intense your desire, the greater your motivation.

When I established TriVita, I wasn’t simply seeking to start a

company. I had a deep desire to build a great and lasting company to help people become well—to truly experience total wellness encompassing body, mind and spirit. That desire was born of my own experience. I knew what it meant to not live in wellness and I was determined not only to be well, but also to help others become well. My desire was deep. It motivated me then and still motivates me today.

Prior to TriVita, I had sufficient wealth to meet my personal and

family needs for the rest of my life. I had enough wealth to fund TriVita as a startup company, but I did not have the wealth for the long-term purpose of TriVita as a company with a worldwide vision. The intense desire and belief that unlimited wealth is available to support this vision attracts wealth for the purposes of TriVita and my own life.

It is the same for you. Your intense desire to fulfill meaningful

purposes in your life will attract the wealth you need to fulfill them. When you have a desire that burns hot enough in your soul and a purpose that is greater than yourself, you have a genuine need to attract and build wealth. Searching For Your Desires Many people today have lost sight of their desires. They no longer know what they deeply want. Or perhaps they have never really given serious thought to what they deeply desire or what they consider to be their purpose in life. Years ago Art Linkletter hosted a television program called Kids Say the Darndest Things. I watched that program often and was always

Desire

impressed by the children who voiced strong desires to be someone special when they grew up. Some wanted to be doctors, firemen or athletes. Others wanted to be rock stars, movie stars or Olympic champions. I never heard a child who wanted to fail or be average. Every child wanted to be or do something extraordinary. That was likely true of you as a child. I doubt if any child deeply desires to grow up to live a ho-hum, mediocre life! I marvel today at the performance of Tiger Woods. He candidly speaks about the incredible desire he had even as a three-year-old to become a great golfer. Actually, Tiger didn’t just want to be a great golfer. He wanted to be the best golfer who ever played the game. He desired to rewrite the history books of golf. After Tiger won the Masters Tournament several years ago, he made a decision to rebuild his swing because, in his terms, his old swing wasn’t going to take him to what he envisioned as the pinnacle of his own success. He spent months honing new skills, hitting tens of thousands of golf balls, perfecting his new technique. Tiger still intends to be the greatest golfer who has ever played the game—and to outdistance his competition in such a way that his achievements can never be matched. However, Tiger’s desire is not just to be the greatest golfer in the world. Few people know about it, but he has founded educational programs across the United States to help children discover and achieve their personal potential—not only in sports, but in other fields. The programs are innovative and motivational. Tiger will not only leave behind his name in the record books of golf, he will also leave behind schools that may very well change the overall educational system of our nation. Many successful people have had intense desires since childhood. You may benefit greatly by spending some time recalling what you dreamed of doing when you were a child. Who did you want to be? What did you

10 Keys to Create Wealth

want to accomplish? How big were your goals? If you didn’t have a deep desire as a child, it’s not too late to develop one. Many other highly successful people grabbed hold of a vision for their lives after they hit middle age. Ray Kroc, for example, was in his fifties when he launched McDonald’s. If you didn’t have a desire as a child, now is the time to develop one. What matters to you? What would you like to leave as a legacy? What difference would you like to make in the world? What do you see in our world that needs changing, creating, renewing or rebuilding? Desire Lies Beyond A Wish Or A Hope Desire is rooted in something you believe to be important. To say, “I wish I were wealthy,” or “It would be nice to be wealthy,” does not express desire. They are whims. Desires require effort, and people only work for what they believe to be truly important. Many people will buy a lottery ticket in hopes of getting wealthy. It takes little effort and not much money and, to be sure, somebody does win each lottery. Wealth obtained by luck isn’t wealth tied to desire. Thus, it is wealth that very often evaporates quickly. In fact, many lottery winners end up losing their wealth and finding only misery. There is no fulfillment or lasting joy related to quick-win wealth because there is no purpose attached to it. In the end, the wealth does not last because it is not tied to something that the person truly values. Desire Lies Beyond The Pursuit Of Money What about the desire to be rich merely for the sake of being rich? That is not wealth rooted in purpose and you should not pursue it. Just being rich is

Desire

rooted in taking from life and hoarding, not giving to life and creating. History has examples of numerous people who pursued money, became rich and ended life disappointed and empty. Why? Because they never linked purpose to wealth. It is purpose that gives satisfaction. Money is merely the tool that helps establish and expand a person’s purpose. Always keep in mind: Money isn’t the goal. Rather, PURPOSE compels the need for money. Desire Is Personal And Multi-Faceted There are no best desires or right goals. There is no one-size-fits-all purpose. Every person will have a different set of desires and life purposes. Desire is also multi-faceted for most people. It is entirely acceptable to have more than one desire, as long as those desires don’t compete with each other in a negative way. For example, a person may desire to send his child to a top-notch university to give that child a great education and a great network of associations. At the same time, the person may desire to build a company and fund an orphanage in Africa. Nothing says all three desires cannot be pursued simultaneously. All three desires have the potential to produce satisfaction and strong motivation. All three require wealth-building to accomplish! The wealthy often have more than one meaningful purpose underlying their desire. Bill and Melinda Gates are a prime example. They value family highly. They are committed to seeing that the corporate empire they built—Microsoft—continues to be at the cutting edge of society’s communication needs. And, they are now fully engaged in philanthropic endeavors that address disease, poverty and education through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. You may have several meaningful purposes in your life. The

10 Keys to Create Wealth

important point is this: Live your life with PURPOSE. Identify Your Desires Get a pad and pen, or go to your computer, and list those things you believe are your foremost purposes in life. In other words, list the things that are deeply important to you—the accomplishments you want as your legacy, the things you would most like to achieve or establish during your lifetime. Don’t attach any thoughts of “what if” or “I couldn’t possibly” to this process. Turn yourself inside out—get to the core of what really matters to you. After you have listed everything that you believe comprises your total purpose, revisit your list and set a standard of achievement or a standard of excellence for each item on your list. For example, one of your purposes might be: “As a parent, I value education and I believe one of my purposes is to educate my children.” Next to that purpose, set a standard or standards. Do you want to send your children to a private school? Provide rich extracurricular learning experiences for them during vacation periods? Travel in ways that give them an education about the whole world? Send your children to the best college or university possible? Help your children go to graduate school or receive professional training? Next to each purpose and standard, identify the wealth you are going to need to accomplish your goal. Don’t become discouraged. Don’t get your eyes onto what you see as your current level of wealth. Accept the truth that unlimited wealth is available for you to tap into as you set out to accomplish your purposes. Keep this list in your journal or computer so you can reflect on it from time to time. You may need to adjust your standards of achievement. You may need to think bigger when it comes to the wealth needed to fund your purposes.

Desire

As you reflect upon your list of purposes, you will probably find yourself focusing on those things that rank as really important. Certain purposes may seem to rise to the top of your list as priorities. Zero in on those things. Begin to imagine great streams of wealth flowing to that purpose. See your purpose being realized in fullness. As you see your purposes being accomplished in stellar ways, you are likely to feel a growing enthusiasm—yes, an intense desire—to see your imagined accomplishment turned into reality. Allow that desire to build within you! Let it motivate you to take action. List your meaningful life purposes that require wealth to fulfill: 1. _________________________________________________________ 2._________________________________________________________ 3._________________________________________________________ 4._________________________________________________________ 5._________________________________________________________ 6._________________________________________________________ 7._ ________________________________________________________ 8._________________________________________________________ Nurture Your Desires As They Take Root And Grow Let me insert a word of caution: Don’t be too quick to shout your purposes, the standards of excellence you desire to achieve or the desires of your heart to every person you encounter. Protect your new, fresh vision for your life. Nurture and hold your desires internally. Cautiously seek out a supportive group of people who also intend to live out their life’s purposes and seek wealth to implement them. When my wife, Susan, and I understood that we could tap into

10 Keys to Create Wealth

an unlimited supply of wealth in order to see our desires and meaningful purposes become reality, we were so excited that we could hardly wait to share our new insight with our friends. We shared some of our dreams related to our life purpose and to our great amazement, nobody was as excited as we were about our vision. Some laughed at us. Others ridiculed us. They told us that we were young dreamers living in a fantasy world. Some accused us of being proud. A few thought they were giving us a reality check so we wouldn’t be too hurt when our dreams didn’t materialize. We learned very quickly that the best thing we could do was to live out our purpose, and not talk about our dreams. We encouraged each other and worked earnestly toward our goals. Over time, we discovered a select few who also were in touch with their most important purposes in life and who were fueled with desire to achieve their purposes. In all cases, these were people who also recognized that wealth-building was a tool for accomplishing their purposes at the highest standard of excellence and with the greatest degree of impact. Don’t let others define your purpose. Don’t let others devalue your deepest desires. Stay focused on what matters most to you. ....

Desire

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of DESIRE to your TriVita business? Determine the meaningful purposes in your life that you are pursuing and intend to fund with the wealth you create in your TriVita business. _____________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Reflect upon your deepest desires and purposes frequently, especially as you set business goals. ________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Carefully select a support team of people who desire to live with a sense of purpose and have a deep desire to achieve their life purposes. Encourage them in the pursuit of their desires, even as you allow them to encourage you. _________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ How much wealth do YOU need to fulfill your deepest desires and life-purpose goals?

Key #2

Belief

Reevaluate Beliefs about Wealth that Can Move You Forward…or Hold You Back

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Key #1

Belief

enry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.” What you believe about wealth and your potential to build wealth

directly relates to your ability to build wealth. What do you think should be done—by you? At what level do you think it should be done? What do you believe you are capable of doing? What do you believe you are justified in accomplishing? What do you believe is necessary for the fulfillment of your life’s purposes? What level of wealth do you believe is possible for you to build? You must answer these critical questions. You will not build wealth if you do not believe you can or should build wealth. Nor will you build it if you do not believe you can and will see good results from your wealthbuilding efforts. Herb Kelleher, the co-founder of Southwest Airlines, started with a very basic belief: He believed the major airlines unfairly charged more than the average American could afford. Kelleher felt that the middle class was being deprived of travel opportunities and thus

10 Keys to Create Wealth

unfairly denied business and recreational opportunities. Kelleher didn’t just observe that this was happening, or think this was happening. He deeply believed it was happening and that what was happening was unfair and could be changed. His beliefs compelled him to leave his successful law practice and go into personal debt, along with others of like belief, to change the airline business. Belief compelled Kelleher to keep going when he encountered obstacles, which arose immediately. Other airlines sued Kelleher and his associates twice before a Southwest Airlines plane ever took off. It was five years from the day he drew his first business plan on a napkin until the first Southwest Airlines f light. What you believe, and the degree to which you hold your beliefs, will allow you to endure and succeed. The Power Of Beliefs Beliefs impact your attitudes. In turn, attitudes impact your actions. The Bible says, “As a man thinketh so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). In other words, what you think about yourself is who you become. Who you are directly relates to what you do, with whom you associate, what you accomplish and how and what you give to others. Do you believe that wealth is for you? If you don’t, you will never seek to build wealth. Do you believe wealth is unlimited and available to everyone? If not, you will see the slightest obstacle as a sign that you are not among the privileged few who can build wealth. When I first entered my adult earning years, I earned at a poverty level and my personal belief system told me I would never acquire much materially. When I asked Susan to marry me, I actually asked her to take

Belief

a poverty oath beyond the marriage vows of “for better or worse, richer or poorer.” I never expected to be able to give her even the average American family income lifestyle! I was confident in my belief system. I had that much going for me. I believed in my own poverty mentality! Why did I hold this belief? My family had its roots and values in a religious movement that started at the turn of the 20th century. Some of the values of that movement opposed any form of materialism. Material possessions were thought to replace spirituality and, therefore, too much money compromised one’s spiritual life. Most of the songs of that movement described people as pilgrims passing through this life looking for a cabin in glory land. Now, I have great admiration to this day for the dedication and desire of these people to please God. However, I have changed my belief about the role of money in our lives. How did this change come about? One day a person challenged my belief in poverty. I responded with what I had been taught all my life: “Money is the root of all evil.” This person shared that I was misquoting the Bible. What it actually says is: “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). This person simply, but clearly, taught me that money is neither good nor bad of itself. It is how we feel about money and the degree to which we put our trust in money that determines whether money functions for good or evil in our lives. Suddenly my beliefs were challenged and redirected. If that had not happened, I doubt I would have ever embarked on a career that enabled me to raise more than a billion dollars to help accomplish faith-related purposes, which I felt, and continue to feel, are vitally important. My belief system changed and great things happened. Reexamine Five Beliefs About Wealth Reexamining beliefs does not compromise values. Rather, a

10 Keys to Create Wealth

reexamination of beliefs can lead to a greater clarity of values and a deepening of your commitment to them. Many of the values that people hold today were forged in their childhood. They are the values, to a significant extent, of their parents and extended family members, teachers and other authority figures, including pastors, priests or rabbis. All families, religions, social clubs and even demographic segments hold beliefs and values that are influenced by the prevailing social trends of their day. Baby Boomers, for example, have different beliefs and values than their parents’ generation. Rather than live by rote, according to values and beliefs that you developed as a child or that resulted from societal influence, choose to live by intention, according to values and beliefs you fully embrace as an independent, thoughtful adult. I strongly encourage you to ask these five belief-based questions about wealth: 1. Do you believe that wealth is mostly a matter of luck? Are you waiting for the lucky break that will catapult you into wealth? Luck is based on odds, and the odds associated with luck are not on your side. For every person who wins the lottery or the big prize at the casino, there are millions who do not. Wealth requires diligent work and the implementation of strategies that are mental, attitudinal, practical and spiritual. 2. Do you believe that most wealth is inherited? If so, you are doomed unless you have a rich relative who chooses to remember you generously. Stop to think about that belief. Someone, at some point in the past, built the wealth that produced an inheritance. Wealth doesn’t appear out of nowhere. Wealth is built by people who nearly always have a focused intention to build something that lasts beyond their lifetime. You may not inherit wealth—very few people do—but you can build wealth and pass it on to the people and institutions of your choice.

Belief

3. Do you believe God wants you to be wealthy? If you have a spiritual faith-based value system, it is vitally important that you answer this question. If you attempt to build wealth without believing that God favors building wealth, you will be confused and conflicted. Anytime you encounter adversity or a setback, you likely will wonder if God is thwarting your efforts. I encourage you to read what the Bible says: “God gives power to obtain wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18). Paul Zane Pilzer, author of God Wants You to Be Rich, insists that everyone can enjoy material and spiritual wealth in our abundant world and that faithful people everywhere have a responsibility to pursue wealth in order to be of maximum help to others. I agree with Pilzer, but it isn’t a matter of what I believe, or what Pilzer believes. Unless you believe that God wants you to be wealthy, you will do very little to build wealth and you may very well undermine your own efforts without realizing that you are doing so. In other words, you may set yourself up to fail and then give God the credit for your failure. 4. Do you believe that wealth is limited to only a narrow segment of the population? Such a belief is rooted in the idea that money is limited to a fixed amount of wealth in the world. Let me assure you of two truths: First, money is not the measure of wealth. Wealth is rooted in value. Money is only a medium of exchange—it is used to convey something valuable from one person to the next. For example, people who work for a living exchange their valuable talent and time for valuable commodities like food and shelter. Money, in the form of a paycheck and checks that pay, is the medium of exchange. Wealth is related to how much you value your time and talent, as well as what you value in exchange for your time and talent. Wealth is rooted in value-laden purpose and there is no limit to purpose. Second, let me assure you that wealth is not a limited natural resource. It is as unlimited as ideas and creativity. Consider the matter of education. There are only so many books and Internet sites in the world. Does this mean there is a

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cap on the availability of education or the number of people who might become educated? Not at all. Consider the matter of research. A certain number of research labs exist in the world today. Does this mean there is a cap on scientific discovery? Of course not. In like manner, there is no cap on wealth. There is no limit to the amount of wealth that you might build. 5. Do you believe that YOU can build wealth? What do you believe to be true about yourself when it comes to building wealth? This is the most important of the five questions posed in this chapter. I once met a man who became quite close to me. He worked incredibly hard as a father and husband to support his family. At times, he even held down three jobs. He did not become a wealthy man, no matter how hard he worked. Far more discouraging to me was the fact that he did not believe he could ever become wealthy. Many times he said, “If I were a gold miner and I struck what seemed to be the mother lode, the ore I struck would be fool’s gold.” This man did not believe that anything resembling wealth could ever come into his life. I admired this man’s work ethic, but I also came to recognize that his own belief system did not allow him to attract wealth. He died leaving virtually nothing for his family, even though he had worked very hard for more than 45 years. If you do not believe you personally can build wealth, ask yourself these additional questions: 1. Where did I learn this belief?____________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 2. Was I born thinking this way?___________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ 3. Did I acquire this set of beliefs from another person?________ If so, whom? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Belief

4. Why have I allowed this belief to continue?_________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ When Thomas Edison was an elementary school student, the teachers and principal of the school told his parents that they were wasting their time attempting to educate young Thomas. They believed Thomas had such serious learning disabilities that he could never succeed in school. Edison’s parents believed otherwise! His parents were obviously right. But consider for a moment what would have happened if Edison’s parents had adopted the beliefs of his teachers. The world may have been denied the inventions of one of the most creative entrepreneurs in history. In the end, it is what you believe about yourself that will determine the degree to which you will attempt to build wealth, especially when you encounter obstacles or difficulties. Do not allow others to persuade you to adopt their beliefs if you truly disagree with them. The opinions of others can discourage you or plant doubt in your mind. Know what you believe about yourself and what you believe about wealth-building. Reinforce your beliefs to withstand assault. Write Down Your Beliefs If you aren’t really sure what you believe about wealth, write down the answers to these questions: 1. Is money good or evil?________ Why?__________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

10 Keys to Create Wealth

2. Can money create a quality of life? ________ How?________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 3. Can wealth support social causes? ________ How?_________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 4. Can wealth influence future generations for good? ________ How?____ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 5. Can wealth turn the tide of rampant disease in the world?________ How? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 6. Does a lack of wealth reduce opportunity and productivity?_ _____ How? __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 7. What good things might I do with wealth that I build?______________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Look closely at the answers you have written. The way in which you answer these questions reflects your beliefs about wealth. Revisit your answers from time to time.

Belief

A Fully Aligned Life In order to live a genuine from-the-inside-out life of purpose, your beliefs and values need to line up with your actions. Think in terms of a ship on an ocean. A ship has a propeller to create movement and a rudder to give direction. Your lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s propeller is comprised of actions that move you forward at a certain speed. Your lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rudder is your set of beliefs and values that steer you in the direction you desire to go. Damage to either the propeller or rudder can greatly imperil a ship at sea. The same is true in your life. If you do not have deep desires rooted in strong purpose, you will not have a healthy propeller. You will stall out in rough seas. If you do not have clear beliefs and values, you will not stay on course. What you believe determines your future. ....

10 Keys to Create Wealth

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of BELIEF to your TriVita business? Do you believe that TriVita is the right business for you as you build wealth? If you have doubts about this, you will not do the things necessary to create a successful business. ______________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Evaluate the products you offer to others. Do you truly believe that these products will help others in their pursuit of wellness? Be able to back up your beliefs with solid evidence. ______________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Do you believe that a particular person will make a good business affiliate and will benefit from engaging in business with you? If you do not believe this about a prospect, your doubts will come through loud and clear to the prospective business affiliate, no matter what words you speak. _________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Make sure your beliefs about wealth will move you closer to the fulfillment of your lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purposes.

Key #3

Expression

The Foundational Law for the Creation of Wealth

10 Keys to Create Wealth

__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

Key #3

Expression

he wealth-creation process relies upon the “law” at the foundation of all creative processes: the Law of Expression. This law states that all

things in the visible world come from an expression in the invisible world. Many people do not fully believe that the invisible world is just as real as the visible world of material form that we can see, touch and experience with our senses every day. The invisible world—the world of ideas, imagination, creative hunches and emotional impressions—is every bit as real as bricks and mortar. It is when we give expression to what we think and believe that we begin to turn the invisible into the visible. The formula for this law is: Think it, speak it and act on it correspondingly. If you can think it, speak it and then act on it, you will have tapped into the creative process that brings forth the visible from the invisible. Go back to the 1940s for a moment. Buck Rogers and space exploration seemed to be a fantasy. People living in space stations and spending significant time in orbit seemed impossible. But the idea of space travel was expressed in scifi fantasies. The more the idea was expressed, talked about and acted upon, the more the idea took visible form. What began in the totally invisible realm of “I wonder if” and “What might be” became tangible rockets and space shuttles and space stations. The old familiar phrase is true: “What the mind can conceive and

10 Keys to Create Wealth

believe, it can achieve.” In the world of wealth-creation, the wealthy depend on the consistent application of the Law of Expression to create and sustain their wealth. Understanding and applying the Law of Expression is crucial to future wealth-building. The Law Of Expression To turn invisible reality into visible reality, you must think, speak and act with behavior that is fully aligned with what you think and speak. A Law You Can Trust The Law of Expression is reliable because it is more than a concept, philosophy or principle. It is as consistent as the Law of Gravity. You can depend on it every time. Think for a moment what our world would be like if the Law of Gravity were inconsistent and unreliable. Can you imagine what inconsistent gravity would do to the aviation business? If gravity were stronger or weaker at times, nothing about take-offs or landings would be reliable. The sports world would be greatly impacted since every athletic record and standard depends upon consistent gravity. If gravity fluctuated, the tides around the world could not be calculated, jeopardizing a wide variety of industries. Our entire world would be in total chaos. We trust the Law of Gravity to be consistent and reliable. You can trust the Law of Expression to be equally so. Consistency And Clarity Are Necessary For Creativity How many people do you know who can talk a good talk but don’t walk the walk? They don’t put action to their rhetoric, so their words ring hollow.

Expression

A disconnect between what one says and does reveals a breakdown in the creative process. What is voiced from the invisible does not become visible if there are no consistent and clear actions related to what is spoken and thought. Equal failure occurs when there is an inconsistent verbalization of a desired result or when the desired result is fuzzy in your thinking. Consistency and clarity are requirements when it comes to what you think, what you say and what you do. Never forget: To be genuinely creative… Be consistent. Be clear. Stay aligned in thought, word and deed. I love to be with my grandchildren. Their energy gives me energy. One of their favorite expressions seems to be, “Grandpa, let me do it. I can do it! Grandpa, please let me do it!” I frequently hear this when I am doing something that appears easy and enjoyable to them, such as casting a fly or working at my computer. My young grandchildren can think what they desire and speak it, but the corresponding action is a real challenge! Try to help a four-year-old cast a fly rod for the first time and you will know what I mean! After a few attempts, my grandchild’s verbalization is likely to change to a simple plea, “Grandpa, you do it.” This pattern is exactly the same in some adults who desire wealth! They have seen others with wealth—they see the purchasing power and freedom wealth brings—and they desire to have it. They have important life purposes. They even pray for fulfillment of their purposes and pray for wealth with great enthusiasm. “God, let me do it. I can do it! Please, God.” Then they make a few feeble and inconsistent attempts at wealthcreation and they give up. They almost immediately draw conclusions like God does not want them to be wealthy, they were not intended to be wealthy or they don’t have the ability to become wealthy—none of which are true. Almost anyone can be wealthy if he or she consistently believes it, consistently speaks it and diligently acts on it.

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Tapping Into The Invisible Every day we depend upon the invisible world to manifest things that we consider to be real. Think for a moment about communication. We pick up a cell phone and make a call without considering the technology it represents. The phone itself is materialâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a few dollarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth of plastic and metal that we hold in our hand. Yet, it links us with a vast invisible world. It has the ability to connect a person with virtually any other person on the planet, sending signals thousands of miles away. As I write these words on my laptop computer at my ranch, I am sending messages via satellite to my server in Phoenix over 400 miles away. But the signal actually travels more than 40,000 miles through space to get to that server. Not only is my laptop computer capable of delivering the words I write, but it is also my connection to the entire Internet world on which I can perform nearly unlimited research, all in perfect color and precise form. A hundred years ago, the very idea of all this would have been considered absurdâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;except to the person who first thought it might be possible, began to talk and write and sketch designs about the possibility, and took corresponding actions to turn the idea into reality. Even as I write, there are those in our world who think and talk about tremendous non-invasive surgical procedures for treating disease. Others envision new sources of energy. Still others think and talk about new forms of transportation. All of these people are tapping into the invisible realm with full expectation that what they conceive will soon be achieved in the visible realm. The invisible takes shape and form all around us with increasing innovation and speed. The Law of Expression links the invisible and visible realms. You are the connecting point between the invisible world of untapped wealth

Expression

and the visible form that such wealth might take in your life for your unique purposes. The more you think and speak your thoughts about creating wealth, the clearer your thoughts become. As you develop your ideas through discussion and collaboration with others, the more focused your ideas will become. Then, as you put diligent, consistent action to those ideas, the more your thoughts will manifest in visible forms. Think It You cannot create wealth without thoughts. More specifically, you cannot create wealth without a thought that is related to a product or service that benefits mankind. This is a critically important point. Idle whims or fantasies are not wealth-creating thoughts. Wealth-creating thoughts relate to products and services that benefit mankind. Focus your thinking, speaking, and acting on ideas related to products and services that benefit mankind. Let me give you two examples of this. Recently we flew to a lodge on northern Vancouver Island to salmon fish. Every year we go there and enjoy the fishing and the company of the inventor of a popular mechanical device. This man had an idea—a powerful idea from the invisible world—that he turned into a useful tool in the visible world. He patented his invention and now collects a royalty every time his device is used. His idea made him a wealthy man. Ray Kroc saw multiple milkshake machines at work and came up with the idea of a systematic way to make hamburgers, French fries, milk shakes and other products consistent in form and fast in delivery. He didn’t invent the foods or menu, but he did invent the systems that could be duplicated worldwide. On the basis of his systems, McDonald’s became a worldwide phenomenon.

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Thousands of fast-food restaurants sell the same food in the same package with the same taste and efficiency of delivery all around the world. Remarkably, most of the employees have only a high school education or less. A majority have been employed less than a year. That’s an astonishing combination of facts! Ray Kroc’s ideas produced vast wealth. Many people believe that labor produces wealth. Not so. An hour of labor produces compensation for an hour of labor. In other words, labor produces income. Genuine wealth is related to ideas that are related to products and services that benefit mankind. Begin to think such ideas. Practice thinking the thoughts that create wealth. Write down your thoughts. Writing helps you clarify and develop your ideas. Respect your own ideas. Don’t dismiss the quick idea too quickly! Spend some time contemplating the ideas that come in the middle of the night or that seem to arise in the fleeting moment. Speak It This is the point where many people fail to properly apply the Law of Expression. They express a great idea before it is fully developed and negative nitpickers respond with every reason why the idea won’t work. The person with the idea becomes discouraged and gives up even before attempting to act on the idea. Many great ideas have gone down in flames before they were fully developed. I personally use journaling as a way of speaking my ideas. I voice my ideas on paper or into my computer. This allows me to shape my ideas and give them clear and consistent form before I share them with others. Everyone was created in the invisible realm. Your life and my life began when a sperm cell and egg cell, both invisible to the physical eye, joined together. You were nurtured in your mother’s womb until you reached

Expression

a sufficient degree of maturity to live in the external, visible world. Protect and nurture your ideas in the same way. Allow them to develop and mature. When my wife, Susan, and I first shared our ideas of the unlimited wealth we planned to tap into, we were a young married couple and our friends simply could not believe our ideas. All they could see were our signs of poverty, not wealth. We dressed in very inexpensive clothes; not a single designer label could be found in our wardrobe. I drove a Volkswagen and my wife drove an old Ford station wagon that needed water every few miles to keep it from overheating. We did not look like our talk, so people found our words about wealth almost humorous. But we looked into an invisible world and saw unlimited wealth to further the meaningful purposes in our lives. We allowed the ideas to flow in us, and I will never forget the excitement we felt as that happened. I kept a notebook and tape recorder by my bed, so I could readily give voice to the life-purpose and wealth-creation ideas that came to me in the middle of the night. Why speak? Why not simply move from thinking to acting? Because there’s tremendous creative power generated by speaking. Think back to the creation story in Genesis. Certainly, God had the idea of the universe before He ever created it, but as God spoke the world took shape. God said, “Let there be…” and what He spoke, was so. His words produced the desired result. Words were the creative expression of the invisible world that produced visible forms. The same process works as you speak your ideas at appropriate times to people who will encourage you and help you expand and develop your ideas. A number of people advocate writing down ideas as a form of speaking them. Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of the Chicken Soup books, encourages those who attend his seminars to write 100 of their lifetime goals. He contends that the sheer act of writing forces a person to examine and confront the ideas that give life purpose and direction. Seeing your ideas in

10 Keys to Create Wealth

print—your own handwriting or the font of a computer—becomes a visible expression. It is very often the first step in creating a visible manifestation from the invisible realm. Develop a small mastermind group of two to five people whom you trust to speak freely. Choose people who will be in support of your best interests and your ideas. Choose people who are creative and quick thinkers—they will enjoy the process. You will be amazed at the synergy such a group can have. The collective ideas that can emerge from the creative brainstorming sessions of a mastermind group greatly surpass the ideas of any single person. My wife has always been very supportive in helping me define and develop my ideas. My sons create and sustain the family wealth with new strategies. Mastermind groups surround me in special areas of business to develop ideas that further those important purposes in our lives. Don’t delay to seek out people who can help you develop and nurture your ideas to greater maturity. Again, make sure you stay focused on ideas that create a product or service that benefits mankind. List your mastermind group: those people you can freely speak to and can trust to keep your ideas in confidence. 1. _________________________________________________________ 2._________________________________________________________ 3._________________________________________________________ 4._________________________________________________________ Act It Nothing happens unless your ideas and words have corresponding actions. Your ideas and words must be validated by consistent behavior that is fully aligned with what you intend to create. I have seen countless people

Expression

sabotage their own ideas with inconsistent behavior. If you are going to create wealth, you must align your thoughts, words and actions. Wealth is never linked to labor compensation alone. Wealth is a creative process that happens as we align our thinking, speaking and acting— all aimed at the implementation of a new product or service that benefits mankind. Wealth is created out of a sense of purpose. Purpose is envisioned first as an idea, then as an idea expressed by words and finally as a set of actions aimed at a goal that is perfectly aligned with ideas and words. If you are currently in a compensation mode—receiving money for labor or your ability to task—you need to readjust your schedule. Carve out times for thinking, speaking and acting in a way that will create genuine wealth to support your ultimate life purposes. Recently I was sitting on the patio of a restaurant, dining with a guest. The day was warm and sunny, like many days in Phoenix. Even on days when the temperature isn’t high, the sun can be intense. That was the case on this particular day. I noticed that a new motorized screen had been installed above the patio area, but it was not rolled out. I asked the manager if he would mind screening the sun, and he immediately complied. My lunch guest began to lament the fact that he and his father-in-law had come up with the concept for a similar device years ago. But they had ignored critical steps in taking their idea to market. They weren’t sure about their idea so they discussed it with various manufacturers. They did not, however, seek a patent. Nor did they ask for privacy disclosure statements as they discussed their idea. One of those with whom they had shared their idea took their idea and ran with it all the way to the patent office and manufacturing plant. Obviously, my guest and his fatherin-law missed out on the wealth that was attached to that idea. I have known several people who have had great ideas. In fact, their ideas have helped thousands of people spiritually and financially. But some of their ideas were limited to thoughts and spoken words. Other people took their

10 Keys to Create Wealth

ideas and spoken words and went to market with them. The wealth associated with those ideas became theirs. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sit and wait, hoping your ideas or words will sprout wings. Focus your behavior on those ideas and words that produce a product or service that benefits mankind, and act on them immediately. ....

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of EXPRESSION to your TriVita business? Every day, think and speak the ideas that will build your business. ______ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Take action every day to build your potential and further your purpose, ideas and creation of wealth. ___________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Develop a small mastermind group within your organization to brainstorm ideas with you. Find a TriVita leader to participate, provide input and help nurture your ideas. ___________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Make an action plan that corresponds with the Master Conversion System in building your business. Encourage others to do the same. ___________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ You have the creative ability within you to turn the invisible into the visibleâ&#x20AC;Śand to do so for a greater good.

Key #4

Income Streams

Increasing the Flow to Your Wealth Reservoir

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Key #4

Income Streams

have a ranch in Colorado—a state known for its reservoirs. Because of the terrain, many streams are fed by small tributaries that, in turn, create larger

streams that feed into reservoirs. These large bodies of water are essential for irrigation, recreation and other purposes in the state. To make a reservoir you need only boundaries of land—often created by a dam—with more water flowing into the reservoir than flows out of it. Imagine your wealth as being a reservoir. Funds flow into that reservoir from some source—similar to a stream or small river. If a reservoir has multiple streams flowing into it, the size and depth of the reservoir tend to increase, often dramatically. Also, the more income streams your wealth reservoir has, the more consistent the level of your wealth reservoir will be over time. Wealthy people have a large wealth reservoir, nearly always with multiple streams of income that create a consistent, deep and ever-expanding level of wealth.* The Flow Of Income Income can flow into a person’s life in a variety of ways. This is a new concept for some people who have grown up believing that income is related

10 Keys to Create Wealth

only to a paycheck at the end of a 40-hour week. Not so! There are countless ways of producing income. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s focus on three ways to build income. First, income can come from labor compensation. For many people, this income stream is linked to a day job. The person works at a specific task and is paid for the time of their labor. People who are locked into this type of income flow are likely to think of multiple income streams as additional jobsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;perhaps a part-time job added to the day job. They may think in terms of a spouse or adult child living at home also working a day job. Certainly a family that has multiple people earning compensation for multiple jobs has a form of multiple income streams. Second, multiple income streams can be produced by hiring employees. Consider the example of an electrician who has been an independent business owner performing services directly related to his skills and time. The electricianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business grows enough to hire other people to go out under his company name and perform work that is an extension of his efforts. As the employer, the electrician receives a portion of the compensation earned by his employees. A percentage of what each employee produces now trickles to the electrician as another income stream. Labor compensation and the hiring of employees are both restricted by specific acts of labor and limited time frames. These income streams may create a small reservoir of funds, but they are unlikely to create a large wealth reservoir. If you look at wealthy people and the lifestyles they lead, you will discover they are not tied to labor-intensive, task-based income. Third, a far more powerful stream of income is one based upon residual or recurring income. This type of income is generated by something a person owns or creates. The income flows without a time constraint, and without any additional labor on the part of the person who created or owns the income-producing product or service. The most powerful of these income

Income Streams

streams are those that involve the activities of many people creating many small income streams that feed like tributaries to an overall river. Residual income streams come in many forms. You may be familiar with these: a patent holder receives money every time his invention or system is used; an author earns a royalty every time a book is sold; a movie producer collects a fee every time his movie is played; an insurance agent nets a percentage of every renewed policy; or a product distributor receives income from a multitiered compensation model. The financial recipient does not exert any extra effort beyond the initial sale, innovation or creation, but the income keeps flowing in small increments that can add up to very large amounts over time. In creating residual income streams, a person does not need a large effort or initial capital outlay. The person does need to have a streaming structure that captures income from a variety of sources. If you truly want to create a wealth reservoir, you must understand and master income streaming. A day job can produce a treadmill affect, but a treadmill is not a â&#x20AC;&#x153; fast trackâ&#x20AC;? to wealth. The Advantage Of Multiple Streams There are several noteworthy benefits to multiple income streams. 1. Experiencing greater financial stability. Someone with multiple income streams benefits from greater financial stability. The average nonwealthy household has one or two income streams that are usually connected to a job or career. In the event of termination, sickness or an accident, one or more income stream can be greatly restricted or cut off, and the resulting impact can be devastating. Generally speaking, the quality of life for those who depend on compensation-based income is immediately impacted if

10 Keys to Create Wealth

one income stream is curtailed, even to a small degree. This is because most people who depend on job-related income streams usually spend as much as they earn. They do not have a reservoir of savings or investments. Money flows to them and away from them in equal quantity. Recent studies calculated the amount of savings or investments for the average American household and it is woefully small. Very few people in their fifties today are prepared for retirement, even though they hope to retire in fifteen years or less. When large companies have massive layoffs, few are prepared to survive the time it takes to find another job without a significant decrease in their quality of life or the loss of their home or car. Most American homeowners carry so much debt that three to six months without a salary would cause them to lose their home. That is not financial stability! 2. Maintaining a desired quality of life. Multiple income streams are often necessary to keep up with the rising costs of outflow in most families. Today’s average family supports between eight and ten outflow streams of expense: housing, transportation, food, medical care, clothing and so forth. These outflow streams tend to rise annually, even if inflation rates are fairly steady. For example, the cost of college has risen 400 percent in the last two decades. Few parents who began saving for a child’s education 20 years ago ever anticipated the actual cost of a college education today. These increases are true for state-funded as well as private institutions. Medical costs and insurance costs have also risen dramatically in the last 20 years, far ahead of inflation rates. At the same time, increases in salaries have barely kept pace with inflation rates. In compensation-based income streams, income tends to increase significantly only if a person receives a major promotion. Not everybody, of course, is promoted. The old adage of “get a job and balance a budget” just doesn’t work for most families today. 3. Positioning for growth. Multiple streams of income allow for the possibility of exponential growth. The result is the difference between

Income Streams

multiplying and adding. Nature illustrates this in a natural stream. In Minnesota, there is a stream so small that a person can leap over it. As this small stream begins to flow south, however, it is fed by other small tributaries of water. The stream turns into a larger stream and eventually a river. All the while, small tributaries of water are flowing into this mass of water. Eventually, 2,000 miles away from the headwater stream, the river is more than two miles wide. The small stream in Minnesota has turned into the mighty Mississippi River.

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Miss

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Income streaming allows for the same exponential growth. Over time, as the waters amass, volume increases significantly. Warren Buffett, one of the most admired and successful investors in history, has leveraged this concept of income streams to the max. The last time I read about Berkshire Hathaway, Buffettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enterprise, more than 150 companies were involved, with each CEO reporting directly to Buffett himself. Each company is a cash tributary, with an income stream flowing into Berkshire Hathaway. Over the last 50 years, these income streams have multiplied in a way that has made Buffett the second wealthiest man in the world. As you envision your own wealth reservoir, begin to picture multiple

10 Keys to Create Wealth

revenue streams—some small but always flowing—and see these streams emptying into a wealth reservoir. Every stream is important! Assets Determine Wealth As you envision creating streams of revenue, do not think only in terms of cash flow, but also in terms of creating an asset. Assets create financial wealth. Genuine financial wealth is determined by the value of your assets minus the total amount owed against them. Multiple income streams can generate a reservoir of great assets. Let’s look at an example of this principle. A man starts on a career path and over 20 years he triples his annual compensation. As he earns, he spends— usually on items that are consumable and depreciating goods. A percentage of his compensation may go into savings and investments, but in most cases in the United States, savings accounts are actually deferred spending accounts. People simply save for their next big purchase. Compare this pattern to the example of another man who begins a business attached to multiple income streams. As the income rises, so does the value of his business. If the net cash flow from his business is $100,000 a year, then, depending on the type of business, that business generally represents an asset worth one to five times that amount—up to $500,000. The business continues to generate income, usually in a rising amount and, at the same time, the business increases in value as an asset. That is true wealth creation. To create wealth, you must position yourself so that multiple streams of income can fill your wealth reservoir. You must increase the streams of income flowing into your reservoir at a rate that is higher than streams of expense flowing out of it. Some of your wealth reservoir can certainly come in the form of income saved from labor, commissions, bonuses, net business income, interest-bearing accounts, dividends, rental property and other sources. Also, think in terms of

Income Streams

the appreciation of assets as an income stream. Real estate, stocks, collectibles and business values are four common appreciable assets. Your assets are the area where wealth is created. A 21st-Century Business Model Of Income Streams Tied To An Asset The TriVita cooperative marketing opportunity is a 21st-century business model that has all the above components related to wealth-creation. This business model has income streams that work for a person 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Income creates a business asset. As income grows, so does the value of the business asset. Establishing a business line requires relatively small capital investment. The company has a compensation structure with seven possible tiers, which provides an opportunity for multiple streams of income rising from the actions of others. What is compelling and exciting about this model is that it not only creates income streams for each business affiliate, but it provides an opportunity for multiple income streams to join together and create greater cash flow. Every person has a part in the streaming and tributary system of generating wealth for all. This is not a king-slave model for building wealth but rather a concept of creating multiple income streams through networking. At the first tier one finds business affiliates and customers at the beginning of a stream of income, not unlike the small headwater streams in Minnesota. Each customer has the opportunity to refer products to friends and family for additional income. Each business affiliate has the potential of recruiting not only other business affiliates but also additional customers. Person by person, purchase by purchase, income increasesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and so does the net worth of the affiliateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business. One thing that wealthy people understand about wealth-creation is that it takes the efforts of a community of people to create wealth. This does not mean that

10 Keys to Create Wealth

one person uses a community to take unfair advantage or manipulate others. Rather, in the TriVita model, a business affiliate is positioned so that income can flow toward that person without the person having to force or manipulate the flow. TriVita is a great example of income streaming, and income streaming is the prime way to create wealth in the twenty-first century. Both income and assets must grow simultaneously. Tiers of compensation benefit everyone involved.

Tier

Efficiency 15%

Business Affiliate Compensation

MAP Compensation

PAC Compensation

Totals

$1.44

$2.75

$4.73

$8.92

$13.44

$2.09

$3.60

$19.13

$53.76

$8.38

$14.40

$76.54

$215.04

$33.50

$57.60

$306.14

$860.16

$134.02

$230.40

$1,224.58

$3,440.64

$536.06

$921.60

$4,898.30

$13,726.56

$2,144.26

$3,686.40

$19,557.22

Estimated Monthly Compensation

$26,090.83

In the western United States, watershed management is critical. All water that flows into a stream is vitally important. Today, laws govern both streams and their tributaries. Land owners are very restricted in what they do on their own landâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially when it comes to stopping the flow of any water that might flow into a watershed stream. Water is tied to the wealth of the West both in its history and in its future. Income streaming is just as critical to your future wealth. You must find a way to control the flow of income into your life and allow it to create a wealth reservoir of genuine financial assets. Master this one concept of income streaming and you can get off the salary-only treadmill and on the fast track to wealth. ....

Income Streams

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of INCOME STREAMS to your TriVita business? Build your first tier as modeled by the company to create multiple income streams. Establish four business affi liates, three personally acquired customers and 25 MAP customers. This will establish an overall tributary system for multiple income streams that can continue to grow through the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s structure of seven compensation tiers. ______________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Model this behavior for others who have joined you in your business. Encourage each of your new business affiliates to build their first tier as you have. ________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ As your income streams grow, watch your business assets grow. _________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

How many more income streams would you like to see flowing into your wealth reservoir?

*Read more on reservoirs in the chapter on Structures. Connect these two concepts together. When practiced consistently, these two concepts have synergistic power.

Key #5

Structure

Direct and Protect the Wealth You Are Creating

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Key #5

Structure

ne thing is common to all wealthy peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they understand how to apply proper structures to hold and protect their wealth. They know

the tax advantages of certain types of investments, as well as ways of limiting their liability. They provide ways of bypassing probate courts so that their wealth can be passed down to their heirs with maximum protection and minimal expense. In the last chapter we discussed the wealth-building key of multiple income streams and presented the concept of a wealth reservoir. Reservoirs are basically man-made lakes. In the vast majority of cases, a dam is required to create a reservoir. A primary source of water is initially dammed to create the reservoir, and subsequent tributaries of water are trapped in the process. In my home state, Arizona, we have many reservoirs that capture runoff water from multiple

10 Keys to Create Wealth

sources, including the periodic torrential rains that hit the state in the summer months and melting snow from the mountains to the north. Even though much of Arizona is desert, the state has one of the highest rates of boat ownership per capita of all the states, primarily owing to the number of reservoirs. If reservoirs had not been built to capture and hold water, much of the snowfall and rainfall water would simply flow through the state into the Gulf of California. If you are creating multiple sources of income, you need to put structures in place to capture income and turn that income into an asset. Otherwise, the money will flow through your hands and result in consumption rather than wealth-creation. A Million Dollars And Nothing To Show For It? Current statistics indicate that the average North American worker will earn well over a million dollars during his lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;many will earn more than two million dollars during his earning years. Even so, he will need government assistance to live out his non-earning retirement years. What a tragedyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and travestyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this is! We have been deceived in a widespread way into thinking that government retirement programs are the answer. A government fund may be one income stream for your later years, but government retirement programs can never do for you what your own wealth reservoir can. Income streams need to be tied to the creation of wealth assets, and wealth assets need to be protected through appropriate structures. Otherwise, it is very likely that you may be among those who earn a million dollars and have nothing to show for it. Protection is a critical concept. Just as the edges of a reservoir need to be protected to ensure that water remains in the reservoir, so the edges of your wealth reservoir need to be protected. One of the best structures to protect wealth is a well-drafted estate plan.

Structure

To determine your wealth reservoir, fill in the following blanks and subtract your liabilities from your assets. Assets

In Even Dollars

Cash on Hand and in Banks

Stocks Bonds Other Equity Interests Accounts and Notes Receivable Real Estate Owned—Appraised Value Mortgages and Land Contracts Receivable Cash Value Life Insurance Other Assets: Itemize

TOTAL ASSETS

Liabilities and Net Worth

In Even Dollars

Notes Payable—Banks

Notes Payable—Other Institutions Notes Payable—Relatives Notes Payable—Others Accounts and Bills Due Unpaid Taxes Real Estate Mortgages Payable—Principal Land Contracts Payable—Principal Life Insurance Loans—Principal Other Liabilities: Itemize

TOTAL LIABILITIES

NET WORTH

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Actively engage in estate planning. You will spend your entire life creating wealth. Just the fact that you are reading this book means that you are serious about accumulating wealth. It only makes sense to spend some of your time directing your wealth and protecting what you create. If you don’t, you are likely to create a wealth reservoir with a dam that breaks after you die—all of the wealth you have captured over the years may flow out suddenly, leaving behind only a muddy mess. Don’t let that happen. Actively engage in estate planning. Directing And Protecting The Wealth You Have Built Take a holistic view of your life and how you want your estate to wind up. Picture yourself in your later years with the assets you have acquired fully in place—perhaps your dream home in a beautiful retirement setting, sufficient stocks and bonds to fund the quality of life you desire in retirement years, being surrounded by the collectibles you enjoy, engaging in the recreational pursuits you enjoy, distributing funds in a way that fulfills the foremost purposes of your life, and knowing that you have a big life-insurance policy to pay out to the beneficiaries you have designated. Think about who you would like to bless with the wealth you have created and what you would like to give to each person. See yourself being able to bless these people in one quick distribution within a matter of days after your death. Imagine the joy on their faces as they receive this final gift from you, which will help them pursue the purposes that are most important to them. Leave a special message to each person about how you hope he or she will use their new wealth and build upon it over time to live out the purposes that truly matter and that benefit mankind. This, in a nutshell, is estate planning. Six Instruments In Estate Planning There are six major instruments to consider in estate planning. Having at

Structure

least the minimal estate planning documents––a will, living will, medical powers of attorney and general powers of attorney documents––in place can give you greater peace of mind now, as well as benefit others after your death. You may consider implementing the other listed estate plan documents as may be advisable for your specific estate plan situation. 1. Last Will and Testament. If you do not have a current, written and legally executed will, the biggest favor you can do for your family is to get one. A will instructs the court system about whom the next owner of your assets should be, and in most states, if you do not have a well-written will, your assets may be tied up in a court process for many months, even years, and then not be distributed to whom you would have desired. In the end, without a will, many parties, including your state, may lay claim to a significant amount of wealth in your reservoir. You have much to lose by not having a will, and nothing to lose by having one. It takes relatively little money to have a will prepared, and having a will is one of the best things you can do for your beneficiaries. Even so, countless otherwise-very-intelligent people do not have a will. Do you? If not, get one and don’t delay. It’s as foolish to create wealth without a will as it is to travel the world without a passport. Without a will, your wealth reservoir may not be transferred to the beneficiaries of your choosing. Why don’t more people have a will? Probably because they don’t want to face their own mortality. Rather than think in terms of death, think in terms of the “next generation” of your wealth. Who do you want handling your assets? Who do you want investing the money you have amassed? Who do you want to be responsible for growing your family wealth for yet another generation’s benefit? If you desire that your wealth go to a charitable organization, how can you ensure that it goes where you desire? A will is the first structure that addresses and answers these questions about the future of your wealth. The future of family wealth should be a primary concern for all heads of households, whether single or dual. Holding your wealth and protecting

10 Keys to Create Wealth

your wealth is the only way to pass wealth on to future generations. Also think in terms of the stress your loved ones are going to experience in the wake of your death. A will is the most loving thing you can do for those you love the most! You can do much to alleviate their stress and to provide security for them by having a will and other financial structures in place Without a will, your heirs will lose control and your state of domicile will direct distribution of the wealth you have created. Any expenses related to the court reviewing your financial records will be deducted from your estateâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and those court-related expenses can be high. Plus, your heirs will have attorney fees, administration fees, court costs and various accounting fees if you have not already provided adequate direction in a will. By the way, your minor children need to be considered in a will because they are subject to probate court rules regarding guardianship. As a part of your will, you should appoint a guardian for your minor children. A will is a must-have item. 2. Medical Power of Attorney and Living Will. Medical Powers of Attorney and Living Wills are also must-have estate planning documents. A medical power of attorney is very important because it provides for someone to make medical decisions for you in the event of your physical or mental incapacity. You name someone you trust implicitly to make these life and death decisions when you are not able to make these decisions for yourself. The medical power of attorney will be effective only upon your disability. In conjunction with a medical power of attorney, you should have a living will. A living will establishes what you desire to happen should you become terminally ill or incapacitated to the point that you are on common life-support medical devices for survival. A living will allows for

Structure

the enforcement of your decision to die with dignity and in peace. Without a living will, the bulk of an estate may be spent supporting a person who is in a vegetative state. In many cases, the medical bills associated with life-support conditions run in excess of $250,000 per year—payable by the person’s estate. Only you should determine what you want to have happen to you if you are in such a dire health situation. The time to make that decision is now…while you are healthy. 3. Durable General Power of Attorney. Another must-have item is a Durable General Power of Attorney. This document protects your assets in a time of temporary incapacity, as well as in a time of permanent incapacity. The Power of Attorney instrument designates someone you trust to conduct business and sign documents on your behalf while you are incapacitated. In other words, you are naming someone you trust to conduct your business activities (i.e. pay your bills, prepare and file tax returns), until you can once again do these things for yourself. 4. Revocable Living Trust. The benefits to a living trust are numerous. Again, I am not in a position to give you legal or financial advice about what is right for you personally, but I strongly encourage you to look at the many benefits of this instrument as you direct and protect your wealth. A fully funded revocable living trust has these benefits among others: • All of your assets avoid probate court, and the administration costs of probate court are eliminated • Estate taxes can be greatly reduced or even eliminated • It is almost impossible to contest a well-drafted, fully implemented living trust, which means that your estate can be distributed as you desire • Upon your death, assets can be transferred quickly, rather than the one to three years that probate court generally takes to fully resolve an estate

10 Keys to Create Wealth

5. Irrevocable Insurance Trust. This is a significant way to generate wealth that can be passed on to your heirs. If you want to leave a legacy of wealth to future generations, this is an instrument you should evaluate closely. An irrevocable insurance trust allows you to determine how much you want to leave in the insurance proceeds for your heirs to use in several important ways: • They can use the entire amount tax free to pay all inheritance taxes from your estate • They can also use the entire amount tax free to increase their personal quality of life or pursue the purposes they deem most important for their lives • They can borrow an amount from the insurance trust and purchase assets from your estate to provide the estate liquidity to fund other needs You are the one who determines how much cash you want to set aside in this trust, and how you want it distributed to your beneficiaries. 6. Family Limited Partnerships. If you have an established business or investment assets and you want to pass these assets to the next generation, this is a good instrument to have in your estate plan. Laws vary from state to state regarding these various financial instruments. In Canada, you will find differences in the laws but similar instruments for structuring wealth. My purpose here is to encourage you to seek out the professional help you need to put in place the structures that are right for you in the state or nation where you live. To ignore this as a wealth builder is to set your heirs up for tragedy, not blessing. Nearly every estateplanning attorney I’ve ever met has a number of sad stories about families who went through probate court or a dire medical situation without any personal power to make the decisions they know their loved ones would have wanted them to make.

Structure

Four Basic Financial Structures As you create your wealth reservoir, consider each of the following basic financial structures in addition to your estate planning documents: 1. Retirement Fund Instruments. Every person who is producing income full-time or part-time needs to take advantage of some kind of retirement-fund instrument. If you are with a company that has a 401k program, contribute as much as possible. These funds are totally tax deferred on contributions you make as well as on the earnings of the fund. Over a twenty-year or thirty-year time frame, these instruments can have tremendous compounding potential. Other examples are IRAsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;both Simple and SEP. Get advice from a trusted, professional financial advisor on the plan that is best for you. If you are self-employed, talk to a financial advisor about structured instruments that might be best for you. Make it your goal to invest as much as you can in a tax-deferred instrument that has the greatest possible compounding potential. 2. Titled Assets. Titles are instruments or structures that prove ownership. Out West, animals have been branded for centuries to prove ownership, and real-estate homestead rights were granted to prove ownership of land. These two concepts are at the root of many titled assets today. Real estate is a prime example of a titled asset. A deed, whether it is a quit claim deed or warranty deed, recorded with the proper authorities proves ownership. In most cases, real estate is a part of a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wealth reservoir. One of the ways to expand wealth is to create more real-estate assets that are linked to income streams. You might think of this in terms of rental propertyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;housing, buildings used for business, buildings used for warehousing or storage and so forth. REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) are investment structures that allow a person to own a portion of several income-generating properties.

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Be aware that some forms of property require a title but don’t normally create a wealth asset. Cars, mobile homes and motor homes all require a title, but generally speaking, these items depreciate in value over time. They are better regarded as lifestyle enhancers, not wealth assets. (Collectible automobiles are a different issue and sometimes have great appreciating value as an asset.) All titled assets are part of a person’s estate and some are subject to a probate court after a person’s death. A person can protect these assets with a will, instructing the probate court about who the next title owners should be and how any estate taxes should be paid.

Be aware that some property

passes by operation of law outside of probate (i.e. joint tenancy with right of survivorship deed). Titling of property and distribution under your will has to be well-coordinated to make sure the property is distributed in accordance with your wishes. 3. Corporation. Most businesses benefit from having a corporate structure for liability protection and tax benefits. Every business is different and no single solution fits all. Work with an accomplished and reputable tax advisor to set up the structure that works best for you and others who may be in partnership with you. Many people would be wise to look at a subchapter “S” type of corporation for their business in order to avoid double taxation on their earnings. You might also consider putting investments in a limited liability company (LLC). These are very useful in real-estate developments and other high-risk investments, such as startup restaurant ventures. 4. Life Insurance. People hold a wide variety of opinions about life insurance, but in most cases, life insurance is an important part of a wealthcreation strategy. When it comes to life insurance, many people think only of providing a lump-sum-payable-upon-death life insurance policy to aid their family members. Such policies may be subject to probate court and may be subject to estate tax if not structured properly. I am not in a position to advise you personally, but I do encourage you to look at all ways you might structure

Structure

your wealth so as to protect and preserve as much of your wealth as you can. A type of policy you might want to consider is a variable life insurance policy that allows you to build up the cash value of a policy, with no deadline for withdrawing funds and with all profits from the policyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investments accruing tax-free. If you can add 20 more years of compounding profits to such a policy after your retirement, you will have a much greater amount to leave your family or a charitable organization. My wife, Susan, and I have all of these instruments in place as part of our estate plan. I not only have enjoyed the process of creating wealth, but I take great personal satisfaction in knowing that I have done my best to direct and protect what I am creating. I have tremendous joy in knowing that I am providing for others in my family to follow in my footprints, and further build the wealth I believe can benefit many generations to come. ....

10 Keys to Create Wealth

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of STRUCTURE to your TriVita business? Think of your TriVita business in terms of an asset. It can have asset value of two to four times your annual earnings. Apply protective structures to that asset! ___________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Learn to maximize your TriVita compensation plan as a means of structuring income from multiple income streams. Manage your business systematically to take advantage of all the benefits embedded in the planâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s structure. The structure of the plan is powerful for creating wealth, for handling multiple income streams and for compounding the capital, time and efforts of others. ______ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Work with the Master Conversion System to drive business into your tiered structure by creating income streams from business affiliates, personal customers and MAP customers. The compensation structure offers the best rewards when you discover how to compound the efforts of others. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

What more might you do to direct and protect the wealth you are creating? I would especially like to thank our personal Estate Planning attorney, Mark Allen, of Watland & Allen, for his contribution to this chapter. Mark is located at 393 E. Palm, Phoenix, Arizona 85004.

Key #6

Systems

A Way to Multiply and Maximize Your Efforts

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Key #6

Systems

o you remember what the business environment was like 25 years ago? I certainly do. Offices were filled with people hunched over typewriters hammering

away madly to create documents with carbon paper to create duplicates and, later, colorful carbonless forms for multiple distribution and storage in filing cabinets located in dark, gloomy basements. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Snail mailâ&#x20AC;? required a great deal of human capital to circulate messages internally and externally. If multiple people needed the same information, it had to be copied with devices as antiquated as mimeograph machines, then photocopiers. Employees spent countless hours standing in copy machine lines. Companies needed couriers to circulate messages quickly and directly to other departments. Countless documents were retyped in their entirety to correct a few spelling and grammar errors or to reflect minor changes in the material. What Changed All That? Information systems were created by the likes of Bill Gates and Paul Allen of Microsoft, Larry Ellison of Oracle and a host of others who became extremely wealthy because they developed new ways to handle and manage

10 Keys to Create Wealth

information. None of these people were wealthy at the time they began to think, speak and act upon their ideas to develop new systems. Though intelligent, they were otherwise ordinary people who saw a need for doing business in a different way. They saw an opportunity to create a systematic way of dealing with information and improve both the efficiency and energy required to create, transport, store and retrieve information. Many people think of these geniuses as computer inventors. In truth, they merely used computers as a tool for inventing new information systems. New systems form the foundation of many wealth-creating enterprises. New systems are created on this premise: If you can determine how a task is accomplished, you can develop a way to accomplish that task faster or better. Systems Drive Today’s Mega-Enterprises Sam Walton created a new inventory system. That catapulted his phenomenal success with Wal-Mart. The company’s inventory system makes its promise possible: “Always Low Prices. Always.” Wal-Mart does not owe its tremendous and meteoric retail success to better locations or greater exposure in major retail traffic areas. It does not owe its success to better advertising. Rather, it owes its success primarily to the business efficiency of a revolutionary inventory system that created a breakthrough in the way products are ordered, stored and delivered. McDonald’s is a classic case of a system at work. Just about anyone can make a hamburger, French fries or a milk shake as well as McDonald’s. Nobody, however, has a better system for creating the food offered by McDonald’s. Ray Kroc took a simple restaurant menu and applied a system to it so that McDonald’s was able to create the same taste worldwide.

Systems

McDonald’s has a well-published, four-point strategy for its business model. Three of the four points involve systems: 1. The company requires crew members to show up on time, learn and perform certain tasks and treat customers well. 2. The company has the most consistent and efficient internal management system in the world. 3. The company has the most consistent and efficient restaurant system in the world. 4. The company has the most consistent and efficient delivery system in the world. McDonald’s is so systems-driven that every hamburger patty can be traced back through an identifying number to determine the weight of the meat to the hundredth of a pound, the exact percentage of fat content and the origin of the beef, right down to the meat-packing plant and exact animal. This is all related to its food-safety system. McDonald’s also knows the volume of customers it serves each hour in every restaurant worldwide, allowing managers to precisely hire and schedule employees according to demand. These factors are related to the company’s budgeting and personnel systems. McDonald’s success comes from “McSystems.” There are numerous other examples. eBay and PayPal are marketing and payment systems. They have radically changed the way Internet business is conducted. Amazon is a distribution system. Federal Express, UPS and other similar companies are delivery systems. Google is a research system. The list goes on and on, with new entries added daily. Systems In Your Life This chapter is not written for the systems guru but for the average man or woman who can benefit from thinking differently about his or her wealth-

10 Keys to Create Wealth

building program. My advice in a nutshell is this: Focus on ways to implement or create a new system for greater efficiency, productivity and quality. In many ways, your life already involves numerous systems. In all likelihood, you use some sort of transportation system every day. Street systems have been engineered for better traffic flow. Automobiles are manufactured as a wide array of systems. If you travel by mass transit, your route and schedule have been greatly systematized. The places where you live and work have electrical systems, heating and cooling systems, energy-saving systems, plumbing systems and ventilation systems, all under one roof supported by a truss system. Entertainment centers link multiple sources of media into a single, high-tech system. My wife and I love to explore the back country of Colorado. We sometimes come across old cabins that barely offered shelter to early settlers. These homes had no systems. As much fun as we have poking around in those old structures, we wouldn’t want to live there! Systems enrich our lives today. They create a quality of life that gives us greater time for recreation and family. Systems are definitely at the cutting edge of trends for creating wealth in this century. As you look at systems, ask yourself these two questions: • How might I incorporate a new system for my personal business? • Is there a new system I might create? A Systems Life For A Simpler Life? Many people consider modern life stressful. They long for a simpler life and time. In reality, systems make life less stressful and more simple…but only to a certain degree. Albert Einstein once said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” He reasoned that there is fine line between the point where a system increases or decreases complications and stress.

Systems

Make sure that any system you seek to use or create is truly better than any current system. A new system must afford you greater opportunity to fulfill your life’s purposes and acquire the wealth to fund them. Develop a wealth-management system for your life that has these components: 1. Rather than come up with a list of things to do each day, create a means of evaluating each day or week to determine whether you have done things that add to or subtract from your wealth-creating efforts. This process should lead you to a more effective and efficient time-management system. How you spend your time—including creative time and brainstorming time—is as important as the tasks you set out to accomplish. 2. Consider the role of transportation in your life. Systems are often used to transport people, things or information. Is there a better system you might use for getting information out to your customers, vendors, partners, associates or employees? Can you create a more efficient system for communicating with various segments of your business? Is there a system you can put into place that will allow you to receive more orders or inquiries without additional human capital or personal time handling each order or query? Is there a new way to transport key information or products to specific areas for smoother and quicker delivery? 3. Consider who needs to be trained. Is there a better system for training your associates in the latest methods or research related to your enterprise? What systems might enhance the training of your workers? Are systems possible that reduce the amount of time you must personally spend in training? Is there a way of standardizing training to provide maximum benefit for trainees? Is there a system you can put in place for your own ongoing training and personal growth? 4. Consider what needs to be retrieved. Can you create a better retrieval system for old business records or tax-related information? Can you develop a system for retrieving data critical to key decisions? Can you develop a system for faster access to the numbers you need each day? 5. Consider what needs to be stored. Clutter is like chaos—it

10 Keys to Create Wealth

slows efficiency and profitability. Can you create a system for accessing and storing information for multiple people? What about material goods used for production or waiting for distribution? How about an archival system for information that must be stored for months or years? Can you improve a system for tax or audit information? 6. Consider what needs to be tracked. Every wealth creator needs a system to benchmark his or her progress. Can you implement a system to help keep track of your own efforts, investments, expenditures or assets? What system might you put in place to help you stay on course to fulfill your life’s purposes and the goals associated with these purposes? Think “Systems” Systems harness energy and improve productivity and efficiency. They provide a means of evaluating production for greater quality and market penetration. The person who can think systems will be able to implement systems that improve quality of life and alleviate stress. The person who can think systems will create greater wealth. ....

Systems

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of SYSTEMS to your TriVita business? Learn and share the Master Conversion System with as many people as possible. Embrace the system and use it to build your business for greater efficiency and profitability. __________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Encourage others in your business organization to embrace the Master Conversion System and share it with as many contacts as possible. This will grow their businesses, as well as yours. _________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Find ways to create and improve systems for your business, personal life and wealth-building program. In the end, all of these systems should help you fulfill the life purposes that matter most to you. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ What aspect of your wealth-building program needs a better system?

Key #7

Compounding

Add Mathematical Magic to Your Wealth-Building Progr am

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Key #7

Compounding

o you want to know a secret to building wealth? A secret of the super-wealthy that does not require special intelligence or superior

salesmanship? Would you like to use mathematical magic to build your wealth? Then re-read this chapter until you fully understand it. This concept is a key to unlock your wealth. The Power Of Compounding You may have heard of

compound interest. Albert Einstein

reportedly called compounding the greatest mathematical discovery of all time. You will likely agree when you experience the results of compounding in your life. But I want you to think beyond compound interest. I want you to enter the elite realm of compound yields. This is one of the most powerful keys to accumulating financial wealth. Yield is defined as the return you receive for effort or investment.

10 Keys to Create Wealth

“Compounding” is getting yield computed on the accumulated yield as well as original principal. Compound yields allow money to work for you, rather than you working for money. It comes back in many forms such as interest, dividends, asset appreciation, business profits and other beneficial returns. The Practice Of The Wealthy Every 40 years, compounding catapults a small percentage of people into the category of extreme wealth. They enjoy an enviable lifestyle while possessing a stable earning capacity—something rarely experienced by most working-class wage-earners. But is compounding, by definition or necessity, limited to only a select few? No. Compounding can work for anyone who has a day job and a calculator. Compound yields do not depend on talent or ability. Nor does it depend on special intelligence or super salesmanship skills. It is a simple mathematical formula that can work for any person. Compounding yields are understood and highly valued by the wealthy citizens of the world yet are largely overlooked by the non-wealthy. Nonetheless, compound yields may be the most important financial principle that allows the wealthy to become who they are. And it can work for you! Consumer Or Compounder? Why don’t more people take advantage of compound yields? The problem lies in the way people think about acquiring things of

Compounding

value. The non-wealthy think of a purchase in terms of whether they can afford an investment or object. They ask, “What does this cost?” They function as consumers. Their intent is to purchase and use. Most of what they purchase decreases in value or remains the same from the moment it is purchased. Rarely does a consumer ask, “Will this increase in value over time?” For example, a consumer may invest for the purpose of earning dividends, which are cashed out and spent quarterly or annually. Some consumers use interest-bearing accounts in the same manner. They spend the interest and leave the principal at its original investment level. Dividends and interest rates fluctuate according to the earning power of the company and market trends, so the result is that some years become good spending years while others are less grand. Consumers make purchases with the intent of using their purchase in the short-term. Consumers tend to think, “Let me enjoy what can be enjoyed now.” We witnessed this recently in the housing boom, when at least one factor caused an appreciation of the asset. Unfortunately for many, second mortgages pulled the equity boom out of the asset and the money was spent on consumer products that depreciated in value. In contrast to the consumer, the compounder asks, “What will the value of this asset be over time?” The wealthy person knows and understands that a dollar yields compound value if earnings are added to the principal and allowed to grow with the principal over time. Compounders make purchases and hold them for the long-term. They have this mindset: “I will really enjoy what can be enjoyed later.” Let me give you an example of the power of compounding. If you invest $1,000 annually, look at what you might have over time if you do not touch this asset but allow it to grow.

10 Keys to Create Wealth

$1,000 invested at 10% and 15%, compounded annually

When the wealthy person invests $1,000, he banks on the future value of his investment. One thousand dollars isn’t a mere number but a seed that can generate a harvest of tens of thousands of dollars down the line. Buy In Early, Cash Out Late You can be a millionaire! Let me show you how. The simple rule of thumb is this: buy in early and cash out late. Every day counts when you compound yields. The sooner you invest and allow for compounded yields, the greater the total yield will be over time. Let’s say you have a friend who is 35 years old. He sets up a retirement fund program that has a track record of earning 10% a year. Your friend commits to investing $1,000 a year into the fund for the next seven years. You are inspired by your friend’s discipline and decide to follow his example, only you begin seven years later at age 42. For the next 31 years, you put $1,000 each year into the same fund as your friend’s. The fund continues to average 10% annually. The day comes at age 73 when you both cash in your retirement funds. What you don’t know is that your friend never put another dime

Compounding

into his retirement fund program after the first seven years. His total investment is $7,000. You, on the other hand have invested $31,000 over 31 years. Who has the most money at the time you cash out? The correct answer is not the obvious one. Your friend will have accumulated $200,310. You will have slightly less at $200,138. This is the difference those seven years of compounding make! Can the average wage-earner in the United States invest several thousand dollars a year between the ages of 35 and 42? In most cases, yes! In fact, most wage-earners can begin investing at least $1,000 a year in their mid-20s. Just think what the output would be for a nation of people if they started investing in their 20s and 30s, taking advantage of compound yields. They would have substantial retirement funds awaiting them, without any dependence upon government programs. Here’s another illustration of the power of compounding. Let’s say you dream of becoming a millionaire, but you can only invest one dollar a day. Is it possible to become a millionaire? Yes. And here’s how: Find an investment that yields 15% a year. Invest a dollar a day and leave the money intact to compound over 42 years. You will be a millionaire. Getting Started How should you begin? First, develop your own mathematical chart based upon your age. Consult a life expectancy chart and determine how many years you might have left for investing with compound yields. Life expectancy charts, available online or through most insurance companies, are not totally predictable, of course, but they are based on good statistics and can give you a framework for building wealth.

10 Keys to Create Wealth

Life Expectancy Use this life expectancy table to help you get a rough idea of how many years your retirement income will need to last. Age at Retirement

Years in Retirement Male

Female

Source: Society of Actuaries Annuity 2000 Mortality Table

You may want to project your investing and compounding against a retirement age or a goal of leaving a financial legacy to future generations or a specific organization that reflects your beliefs and values. Then, get out your calculator and project the percentage of yield you can expect over time for various wealth-building vehicles. If you have 25 to 40 remaining years for investing and compounding, you will be able to amass significant wealth using compound yields, especially if you can invest in a financial vehicle that yields 15% annually. The Rule Of 72 The “Rule of 72” is a general rule to help you understand the wealthbuilding potential of your assets. Simply divide 72 by the potential annual yield—whether in appreciation or return of income—and you will have the number of years necessary for doubling your asset. For example, 72 divided by 15% is 4.8 years. You can use the same method to determine how long it will take you to triple your income. Simply divide 115 by the anticipated yield.

Compounding

Double Your Asset

Triple Your Asset

Rule

Yield in %

Years

Rule

Yield in %

Years

72 ÷

14.4

115 ÷

72 ÷

115 ÷

14.4

72 ÷

7.2

115 ÷

11.5

72 ÷

115 ÷

9.6

72 ÷

4.8

115 ÷

7.7

72 ÷

115 ÷

6.4

72 ÷

3.6

115 ÷

5.8

This could be why Einstein called compounding the greatest mathematical discovery of all time! Establishing A Legacy If I have a financial regret, it is the fact that I did not understand this dynamic wealth-building concept sooner. Eventually, however, I got it when it came to compounding yields. I laid out a plan of investing a set amount of dollars at a targeted yield to establish the legacy I wanted to pass on to future generations. Fortunately, I had 40 years remaining on what would be an average life expectancy at the time I began my compounding, wealth-building plan. The results have been extremely gratifying. What worked for me can work for you! Warren Buffett is arguably the most successful investor of all time. For nearly 50 years, he took advantage of compound yields based on business decisions that yielded annually an average of an amazing 22%. When Buffett started his Berkshire Hathaway business with shareholders, he reportedly wrote memos giving extreme examples about compounding and telling his shareholders not to expect dividends. He had the ability to foresee the results that might accrue if investments were allowed to compound their yield over 40 to 45 years. It has been said that those

10 Keys to Create Wealth

who invested $10,000 with Buffett in 1967 and stayed with his plan (allowing their investments to compound) now have accumulated $300,000,000! My wife, Susan, and I have established legacy accounts for each of our grandchildren, since time is certainly on their side if they live to their life expectancies. We deposited $1,000 into their individual accounts on their first birthday and continue to do so each birthday for each grandchild. Since the projected life expectancy of their generation is over 75 years, they will be multimillionaires one day. What a tremendous financial foundation to help them fulfill their purposes in life! Our hope, of course, is that they will pass on this wealthbuilding legacy to their children and grandchildren. Susan and I have tremendous satisfaction in knowing that we have created a family fortune for generations to come, based on the simple but powerful concept of compounding. Do the math of compounding with a time frame of 40 years or more and you will see the potential this concept has for building wealth into every family for all future generations. If you want to lead your family into wealth, establish a compounding legacy fund and teach your family members this powerful wealth-building concept. ....

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of COMPOUNDING to your TriVita business? First, recognize that your business has a greater potential for yielding a higher rate of return on both human and financial capital than the majority of wealth-building vehicles available. Evaluate the potential of the Compensation Structure and Model as to how to best generate compounding revenue. ___________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Compounding

Second, by you supplying the initial financial and human capital to start your business lines, they will continue to yield in cash flow plus create a business asset value over the long term. That is the power of compounding in your TriVita business. ______________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Third, expand your compounding potential with the power of income streaming. Based on the information in the other chapters, you should understand the power of streaming and have a model for streaming your income. By taking a portion of your earnings, you can continue to establish new business lines and compound your wealth. Each business line adds an income stream and when others build within those lines, they compound your business income and wealth. Make every effort to follow the first tier model as shown in the chapter on modeling. What might be the compounded wealth effect over five or ten years? _______________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Finally, as a business owner and wealth builder, you must understand the power of compounding in creating long-term generational wealth. By building with this understanding long term, you will continue to add more business lines than the first tier model and increase your compounded wealth. By getting a high yield on your financial and human capital in each business line and with the system driving your business growth, you can create significant wealth. ________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Earning adds. Compounding multiplies.

Key #8

Modeling

Replicate Success

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Key #8

Modeling

odeling is already something you have done and are doing. The challenge is awareness of what you are modeling. You must

intentionally create a model worthy of duplication. Modeling is copying the successful behavior of others—becoming like them by doing what they do and saying what they say. From the time you were born, you copied the behavior of others, usually parents and older siblings. In every environment throughout life—school, college, workplace, foreign nations, social settings—you have instinctively attempted to model the behavior of others around you so you might fit in and be fully accepted in that environment. Modeling forms the basis for all socialization. It is also a major key to creating wealth. In a nation that values independence, individual thought and creativity, modeling might seem like a strange concept to advocate. Modeling, however, is simply a means of replicating what works—of duplicating a successful pattern. If you want to be like those who are wealthy, you need to model their actions. If you want to pass on your wealth to others who will build upon it, you need to model wealth-creating behaviors for them. Modeling is the means of duplicating what works and replicating what is admirable.

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Modeling And Wealth-Building Replication has fueled the franchise business model for the last 50 years. The franchise concept is simple: If a business works, copy it and plant it elsewhere! Modeling has also been key to the success of the housing industry in recent decades. Phenomenal wealth has been generated by builders who have developed tracts of land and sold model homes. Modeling allows builders to focus on fewer plans, which greatly enhances their ability to order in bulk, budget precisely and scale their business. Many of the problems associated with building a custom home are eliminated since the accepted modifications to an existing model home tend to be few. Modeling also enhances the speed of deliveryâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in this case, the amount of time to build a home. Several homes can be built simultaneously, increasing efficiency.

Modeling greatly improves the marketing process. Buyers experience what it might be like to live in a particular home by visiting a model home, rather than looking at illustrations or blueprints. Sales occur faster in developments that have fully decorated model homes.

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The furniture industry recently captured the concept of modeling. Huge showrooms now create virtual living experiences. In some cases, entire homes are built within large warehouse-style buildings to demonstrate furniture use and placement according to different styles of decor. Similar modeling methods are popular in other industries, from the auto industry to the cell phone industry, where customers are invited to try out products for themselves and even customize their own designs based upon standard models. The future of modeling is unlimited. New ways of creating threedimensional experiences are being developed so a person can model virtually anything. Holography creates a visual experience that is very close to real life. I have personally invested in a company that is developing a way of projecting an image so that the viewer cannot tell the difference between the actual product and the projection. Can you imagine the benefits to any retailer if a customer could make a buying choice based upon the projection of a product? Consider the jewelry business. How often have you walked by a closed jewelry store in late evening hours only to see empty showcase windows? The jewels are removed from the display windows every night to avoid robbery. But what if a projected representation of jewelry created a real-life image so that jewels never needed to be left in a showcase window? And what if it were possible to custom design an item and view the results by an accurate, three-dimensional projection? What if you could place that item in any chosen environment? Just think about the possibilities for manufacturing, cash flow and marketing! Modeling has many advantages, such as: • Creating focus • Simplifying decisions • Eliminating erratic behavior that costs time and money • Concisely duplicating or replicating a process that has been proven to work

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• Providing a profitable economic scale through standardization Modeling, of course, is not simply a matter of replicating an object or process. Ultimately, it is the process of replicating human behavior. On Whose Life Do You Model Your Behavior? I have mentioned Warren Buffett because I believe he is the best model of intentionally created wealth. Not only did he create a model from which we can pattern certain business behaviors, but he did it by following a model of value investing for 50 years to become the second wealthiest man in the world. Robert Mills’ book Warren Buffett Wealth describes Buffett at age 19, when he had a net worth of $9,800. The future billionaire showed signs of entrepreneurship at an early age, but it was when he came in contact with Ben Graham’s model of “value investing” that Buffett truly began to create wealth. Buffett studied Graham’s model and masterfully applied it to his own investments under the company name of Berkshire Hathaway. He became an ardent student of the Graham model and its principles of balance sheet and income statement evaluations. In fact, it is said that he can run the numbers in his head to make a near instantaneous judgment of the true value of any company. Buffett had intelligence, vision and personal drive, but he also had a model to follow. It enabled him to create personal wealth of nearly $50 billion by 2007. Who knows what Buffett’s wealth might still grow to be? If you want to create wealth, you need to model the behavior of others who have created wealth and you need to follow the business models that have been proven to work. That does not mean that you must focus on a particular industry or copy someone’s personal lifestyle. It does mean that you need to learn and replicate the principles that have worked for wealthy people. You need to study their proven business models and adopt them.

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In turn, if you want to pass wealth on to your heirs, with the intent and hope that they will build upon the wealth you leave them, you need to model your wealth-creating processes for them. Become A Model For Others To Follow Modeling is different than coaching or mentoring. Coaching helps others focus on ways to develop their innate abilities and skills so they might reach a desired result or human potential. For example, a gymnastics coach works with a young gymnast on specific skills, warm-ups, routines and so forth. Mentoring guides others in a particular field or area of life, on the basis of a proven track record of success. For example, a gold-medal gymnast might mentor an upcoming athlete on competing at the Olympic level and handling the success of the limelight. Modeling provides a living example worthy of duplication by others. Coaching and mentoring focus on the behaviors of others. In contrast, modeling emphasizes a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own behavior and seeks to raise it to the highest level of excellence so that the behavior is worthy of replication. To be successful in modeling, you must do two things. First, you must be consistent in your behavior. If you are erratic and unfocused, those who watch your life will not know which behaviors to copy. You must personally embody your deepest values and noblest beliefs. You must live your best life, with great consistency and purpose, to create a model of behavior that others not only admire, but also desire to replicate. Second, you must not remove yourself from the predictable, because it can be replicated to create wealth. Many people strive for self-expression and attempt to do their own thing for the sake of creativity and uniqueness. This is true not only of artists, but also of many in home-based businesses. Anytime

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you develop a customized product—including customizing your behavior and personal style—you move out of the arena of duplication. Others cannot model your behavior, which greatly diminishes your opportunity to create wealth. Only stars in our world represent one-of-a-kind creativity and personal style. But most wealthy people have created wealth on the principle of duplication. Stick with what can be demonstrated to, and replicated by, others. What works best for someone embarking on a diet? Being told to limit food intake or certain foods may be good advice, but from the dieter’s point of view it is difficult to assimilate and act upon. But give the dieter two weeks of daily model menus with precise portions and a balance of foods as well as close association with other successful dieters for both accountability and emotional support, then you have a recipe for success. In like manner, you are not truly modeling for others in your business if you simply “tell” them the principles they need to follow. You must be very specific in modeling required behaviors and proven methods. They must see you in action and learn from your actions, not merely your words. In the end, you are seeking to create a pattern of consistent human reaction. Television sitcoms demonstrate this principle nightly. Try watching one of these shows with the sound muted and see if you laugh. Even though the facial expressions and antics of the actors may be visually humorous, you are not likely to laugh out loud. In fact, in research studies in which the audience could hear the actors speak but the audio was not enhanced with canned laughter, viewers didn’t laugh much. The canned laugh track triggers laughter. Television producers know that viewers enjoy laughing! Laughter heightens the experience and makes a viewer want to enjoy another episode. This increases viewership, which increases the value of the program to advertisers, which increases financial returns. A simple laughter model became a tool for creating greater wealth!

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Tony Robbins advocates the study and use of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to create certain behavior. NLP asserts that all behavior has structure, which can be calculated and predicted by studying peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behavioral patterns. Robbins has successfully trained professional athletes, military elites and business executives because NLP can be modeled and replicated. The concept of creating a consistent human response lies at the core of this fascinating technique, and it can be applied in your life. It is important for your business for you to identify those behaviors that you want others to duplicate, then focus on those behaviors in your own life and work. Focus on the things that will accomplish your lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purposes and create the wealth to fund them. Focus on what you can teach others to replicate, regardless of their intellect, skill set or cultural background. Focus on the consistent human responses you want to see in yourself and others. To build wealth in the 21st-century, you must identify and implement models that work, then create models for others to follow. Modeling will help others make purchasing decisions. It will convince others to embrace new systems and put new structures in place. It is the key to help people change their behaviors so they can generate wealth. Embrace modeling if you want to create wealthâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and create it quickly! ....

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The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of MODELING to your TriVita business? Build your first tier of business affiliates, personally acquired customers and MAP customers so that you have established the exact structural model you want others to duplicate. Have a model in place that others can duplicate. If you do not do this, you will create an environment of random self-expression and limit your ability to create wealth.___________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Model the behaviors of learning, sharing and growing your business through the Master Conversion System. Create an example for others to follow. _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Study and fully adopt the company business model. It is one of the best ways to create consistent behavior in the group you need to join with you to create a successful business. When your team consistently models desirable behavior, you will have more sustaining energy to create wealth for everyone. ________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Duplicate what works. Work in such a way that others can duplicate what you do and desire to replicate who you are.

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Key #9

Setting Goals

Measured and managed targets produce greater success

111

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Key #9

Setting Goals

great deal has been written about setting goals in the last 50 years, yet 90 percent of people today lack clearly defined and written goals.

Goal-setting is an often-neglected but very powerful and essential key to creating wealth. Goals are targets. They focus our aim and help keep us focused on meaningful things. We have a trap range at our ranch in Colorado. A mechanical thrower sends up a clay pigeon in a random flight pattern, which creates a challenging target to shoot. The sport would be quite boring if we simply stood in the box and shot at the air. There would be no feedback other than the noise and kick of the shotgun. The same is true for life. Without a target, why shoot? No wonder millions of people are bored with their lives and accomplish so little. If you don’t know where you are going and how to get there, how will you know when you arrive? You certainly cannot expect to take others with you to a successful destination point. In his book titled GOALS!, Brian Tracy quotes William Moulten Marsden: “Realize what you really want. It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold.”

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Goals provide a target that we attempt to hit. When goals are detailed and defined by sequential sub-goals, we also have a set of benchmarks to measure our progress toward the final destination. Most of us could not imagine getting in an automobile without a speedometer. When driving, we need to know how fast we are traveling just as much as we need to know where we are going. This is true in the creation of wealth as well. We must have sub-goals that serve as a goalometer to tell us how fast we are progressing in our wealth-creation program. Goals can also have tremendous motivational power. Consider a person who sets a goal of compounding his wealth at a rate of 10 percent each year. That becomes the motivating, driving goal on which all financial decisions are based. It determines the number of customers or potential affiliates one must contact, which determines his or her schedule and tasks for a particular time frame. It determines the necessary capital to â&#x20AC;&#x153;net outâ&#x20AC;? 10 percent. A specific annual goal also puts a person in position to review the goal on a monthly basis to benchmark progress and show the work that still needs to be done. The goal becomes the filter for a great deal of information, including evaluations of expenditures and the potential yield of investments. Years ago I set a goal of living in a way that would allow me to compound my wealth at an annual rate of 15 percent. Some years exceeded that target, while others have underperformed, but I stuck to my plans and achieved an overall average in line with my goal. How did I come up with that specific goal? I examined my lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purposes and established what I wanted to leave future generations. Then I determined that this was the level of growth necessary to fulfill my major life purposes. My purposes gave birth to my financial goals. My financial goals, in turn, led me to make key decisions regarding income streams, financial structures, business models and investment instruments.

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Periodically, I review my lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purposes. They have changed very little through the years. I know what I deem to be most important for me to become and do. I often reevaluate my financial goals and my wealthcreating progress. This, in turn, leads to a review of my income streams and financial structures. I know what decisions need to be made to effect any changes that must occur for me to reach my goals. Without lifepurpose goals and wealth goals, I could not clearly understand how to pursue the personal growth and change required to fulfill my life purposes important to me. The end purpose of all goals should be to live a fulfilled life of great purpose. That is not only true for me; I suspect it is true for all people. Goals give clarity and focus like nothing else can. If you do not have clearly defined life-purpose goals, establish those goals now. Very specifically: 1. Write down your goals for wealth and wellness. This is universal advice from hundreds of successful people who have written about goal-setting. There is no substitute for writing down your goals. 2. Write a specific plan for achieving each of your goals. 3. Evaluate your goals periodically and make the changes necessary to achieve your goals. Establishing Wealth Goals Writing down your wealth goals is one of the most empowering things you can do. Search deep inside for the purpose-related goals of your life. Search deep for the level to which you desire to reach those goals. What will it take to fund your life purposes, now and in future generations? Put your answers to these questions in writing. Setting goals is not a matter of throwing around a few numbers. Goal-setting must flow from your overall life plan. Wealth goals are

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important because wealth provides a vehicle for you to accomplish the major purposes of your life. Let your purposes determine the numbers associated with your wealth goals. Written Goals. Writing down your goals moves you beyond having a wish list or merely verbalizing how nice it might be to have certain possessions. Writing down a goal brings you to a decision point about whether you are serious about pursuing a goal and persevering in your pursuit of that goal. Writing down a goal forces a degree of accountability of yourself to yourself. Accountability is a powerful tool in changing behavior! Those who struggle with addiction know the power of accountability. Support groups are often the only successful way to empower addicts to change. Whether the object is food, drugs, alcohol, other substances or behaviors, addicts find it easier to take a substance or engage in a behavior than to deny themselves a substance or behavior. The same is true when it comes to wealth-building. Most people will take the easy way of an affordable mediocre life, rather than deny themselves temporary pleasure in order to pursue wealth-building and purpose-related activities. A written goal helps a person stay on track and make the choices necessary to create what the person truly believes is important. Genuine wealth goals flow from life purpose, not a wish list of items you hope to purchase or possess. When your goals are linked to the purposes of your life, you will want to make sacrifices or changes to reach your goals. Specific Plans. After you have written your wealth goals, develop a specific plan for achieving each wealth goal. In Steven K. Scottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book The Richest Man Who Ever Lived, the millionaire author strongly advises a diligent planning process to achieve clear terms and details. He writes:

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“Diligence is a learnable skill that combines creative persistence and a smart working effort rightly planned and rightly performed in a timely, efficient, effective manner to attain a result that is pure and of the highest quality of excellence.” Read that passage until you fully grasp it. Diligence is not simply a matter of work. It includes creating a plan aimed at high-quality excellence and providing structure for timing, efficiency and effectiveness. Diligent planning created wealth for some of the most successful business owners in our nation. The same can be true for you. Unlimited wealth is available to those who passionately desire fulfillment of their life’s purposes and willingly pay the price of diligent planning and persistent work. We have all heard the phrase, “Plan your work and then work your plan.” At times, you may need to stop and adjust the plan so that your work is more timely, efficient and effective. Plans should have a degree of flexibility and adaptability. Everything from personal challenges to world market conditions can impact a plan. Think of your goals as fixed targets, but make your plans more flexible. Income streams, in particular, are under constant pressure to change. The structures you have built to direct and protect your wealth are also subject to some changes. Evaluate your plans against your results and make corrections to keep you on track or to put you on a faster track to reach your goals.

Periodic Evaluation. If you diligently create a detailed plan, it will be

easier to evaluate your progress and make changes. This is true not only for your current wealth-creation plan, but also for your personal estate planning. For example, a number of years ago the United States government changed several major laws related to taxes and estates. If we had not reevaluated our tax planning at that time, as well as the structure of our estate plan, we would have experienced a considerable loss on our

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estate, both now and in the future. Instead, because we periodically reviewed and updated our plan, we were able to roll our wealth into new structures to significantly preserve our family wealth. Never assume that because you have made a plan that it remains the best plan. Always be willing to edit, modify or update your plan for better efficiency, effectiveness and quality. In all likelihood, you will not need to scrap an entire plan. A midcourse adjustment or two will usually put you back on the correct path to reach your goal. Take time to make the plan that will allow the proper changes to obtain your desired result. The goal is fixed. The plan is flexible. Persistent Pursuit Of Goals Produces Momentum It has been said that wealthy people do what non-wealthy people wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do. Much of your wealth creation is determined by what you are willing to do. Ultimately your goals tell you what it is that you truly are willing to doâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; persistently and consistently in good times and bad. It is the persistent pursuit of goals that produces the momentum critical to wealth-building. Through the years I have been amazed as I watched thousands of independent business owners and directors of non-profit organizations operate without a written set of goals and plans that serve as the blueprint for decisions and behaviors. In most cases, these people have great vision for wealth, yet they do not have a plan for their lives or businesses. They remind me of amateur surfers who sit on their boards in the water waiting for a good wave to come along. Catching a good wave may be possible, but it is utterly random. It certainly is not conducive to creating the momentum necessary for genuine wealth-building.

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Momentum is not an occasional or random supernatural force. It is not a matter of luck. It is not a matter of being on the ground floor of a business opportunity or of being discovered on a street corner. Momentum is generated. It is the result of persistently working a plan that is aimed at a goal. Your plan should have benchmarks that you can measure and manage. Tasks need to be broken down into sub-tasks if necessary. Time needs to be structured into units that create a degree of pressure to perform. Everyone can be motivated by a deadline or the innate feeling of reward at the excellent completion of a task. When you diligently pursue a task against a deadline, both of which are aimed at a goal, you will experience greater momentum as you get closer to the goal. Momentum is generated by the persistent working of a plan aimed at a goal. Goal-Setting For Asset-Building A number of years ago, Susan and I decided we would like to build a home on a hillside overlooking the valley in Scottsdale. At the time, there were many more opportunities to build on the valley floor than there were to build on the hillsides. One day I took a blank sheet of paper and drew the hillside terrain on which I wanted to build. I situated a house on that plot of land and drew where I wanted a pool. Our top concern was capturing the fabulous Arizona sunsets from every possible vantage point. That piece of paper lay around our house for two years before we searched for the ideal hillside lot that I had envisioned and drawn. Keep in mind that in some cases your written goals may take on the form of a drawing, a chart or a diagram. After spending several days looking for such a lot, we received a call from a realtor who said that a builder had designed a home for a particular lot and then

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decided not to build there. He thought we might be interested in both the lot and the house plan. When we got to the location, we discovered that the lot was exactly what I had drawn two years before. The house plan and its situation on the lot were exactly what we wanted, with a few personal modifications. We purchased the lot, built the house and have been enjoying the Arizona sunsets ever since. How does our home relate to setting wealth-related goals? Our home is a very important titled asset in our wealth-building program! As you set wealth goals, consider the full range of assets in your wealth-building program. Set goals related to your home, your investments and the overall value of your assets. Wealth goals should never be limited to income. They should embrace the full scope of all assets you intend to include in your wealth-building program. ....

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The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of SETTING GOALS to your TriVita business? Write down your revenue goals and the long-term asset value you desire for your business. __________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Write down your plan about how you will accomplish your goals and specify a time frame for accomplishing them. Determine how many business lines you will need to reach your goal. Identify whom you might involve in your business-building goals. There is power of agreement when people have common goals. Ask your small mastermind group to review your goals. ______________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Consistently evaluate your plans to make sure you are on track. Make corrections when needed. ____________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Goals are a clear indication that you are building your life on purpose and for a purpose.

Key #10

Reciprocity

Choose To Do What Benefits Others

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Key #10

Reciprocity

eciprocity, like expression, is more than a concept or philosophy. It is a law. The Law of Reciprocity rewards those who align themselves with

this law—not only financially, but also with the things that money cannot buy. The wealthy trust this law and reap the rewards that it consistently produces over time. Let’s be very clear about the definition of “reciprocity.” The Law of Reciprocity When you give a valuable service, product or gift to others, you WILL be repaid or rewarded for what you have provided. The Law of Reciprocity doesn’t just work some of the time or only for a few. It is not just a Western or a capitalistic law. The Law of Reciprocity works all of the time for anybody who gives something of value to mankind. Three Corollaries To This Law There are three very important corollaries to the Law of Reciprocity.

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1. Value is in the eye of the recipient. Value is not determined by the giver, nor is it governed by price or availability alone. Value is related to perceived benefit. A person who uses a product, receives a service or accepts a gift must benefit. It must help the person in some way, improving or adding quality to his or her life. Furthermore, the person must know he or she is benefiting. You can give something that you know will be good for a person, but unless the person knows that it is good, there will be no perceived value. Conversely, a person can receive something that, in truth, is of very little benefit for the long term, but if he or she perceives it as beneficial, the product, service or gift will have great value. 2. You can increase the flow of return. The flow of return—defined as repayment or reward—increases in proportion to the number of people who benefit from the valued service, product or gift. The flow does not necessarily increase according to the price or cost of the service or product; nor does the flow increase or decrease based upon the exact nature of the service or product. The flow increases according to the number of people who are impacted in a positive way. Take a look at some of the wealthiest people of the industrial age— Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and Dale Carnegie. Take a look at those who have impacted the information age—Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. All of these people created a variety of products and services for a wide range of users and customers. A high percentage of society benefited from their products or services, which served mankind well while creating vast reservoirs of wealth. 3. Attempting to force or manipulate the Law of Reciprocity will lead to loss. Some time ago I met a 37-year-old man who had inherited his father’s fortune and invested it in the fast-growth stocks of the dot-com era. He doubled and tripled his plays but in the end lost the entire fortune in the inevitable crash. Reciprocity is based upon the value of a product or service.

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When there is no beneficial value to society, as was the case in many dotcom busts, the Law of Reciprocity always wins. Any business attempting to contradict the law will come crashing down. Successful investors understand that value investing over time produces the greatest return in stocks. A well-managed company that produces a product or service of value will see growth in the number of users over time, which will impact the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial statements and yield higher stock value as profits increase. Those who look for a quick deal based upon a stock tip from a friend at a party are likely to be disappointed. Those who seek out value offered by a well-managed companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s products or services are far more likely to be rewarded financially. The Law of Reciprocity may be manipulated or forced for a short time, but few, if any, escape the long-term consequences. The Law of Reciprocity requires equal value for both the giver and receiver of goods and services over a lifetime. A Universal Law Throughout History Behaviorists who have studied reciprocity have concluded that this law has been in effect throughout the history of mankind. In the early stages of mankind, reciprocal beneficial actions were essential for survival. The barter system required that goods and services be of mutual value and benefit. Trade routes developed because goods and services were perceived to be of mutual value by producers and consumers at both ends of the route. The early settlers who came to North America and eventually established the United States provided reciprocal care for one another. Stories from the early days of the American prairies often tell of reciprocal acts during times of harvest and famine. Each person

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gave something of value and in return received something of value. That process met everyone’s basic needs. Reciprocity—based upon simple acts of giving and receiving—is at the heart of all wealth creation. You must give yourself to those things that benefit others, including your investment dollars, if you desire to receive back those things that benefit you. My grandfather did not understand this basic concept, even though he was a smart and devoted religious man who greatly treasured his relationship with God. My grandfather believed that money was scarce and wealth was limited. One day he took me, as a favored grandson, out into his garden, where he grew fabulous vegetables. He took me to a particular spot to show me where he had buried money in coffee cans. That was my grandfather’s “savings bank.” He showed me this spot to assure me that he was going to be able to care for himself financially, because he had set aside extra funds for his future. I didn’t know then what I know today about wealth, but even then I had a hunch that there must be a safer place than a coffee can buried among the vegetables where my grandfather’s money might be able to grow. What is hoarded does not produce. What is unplanted does not grow. What remains ungiven cannot yield benefit. The Law of Reciprocity is based upon the concept of unlimited wealth. Any shortage in what may be received only exists because there has been a shortage in the value of what has been given or a lack of sufficient distribution.

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Focus On What You Are Giving In Paul Zane Pilzer’s book God Wants You to Be Rich, the author recounts the Bible story of Abraham, who lived a nomadic life for most of his years. Abraham routinely moved from place to place in search of food and water for his flocks and companions. In our terms today, he lived from hand to mouth. His focus was on what the immediate plot of land before him might produce for his immediate use. Then, God gave Abraham this promise one day: “In blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 22:17–18) This promise transformed Abraham’s beliefs. No longer was he tied to what he could see and experience with his natural senses on any given day. The potential of his life was unlimited! Furthermore, as Abraham blessed others, he would be blessed. As Abraham began to give generously, his giving would be reciprocated and multiplied. There were no limits for future generations, as long as they continued practicing the pattern modeled by Abraham. Our focus must be on what we give. The reward you will receive is directly linked to the value of what you give and the generosity with which you give it. People have difficulty grasping this concept—even leaders of organizations and companies that desire to help other people. Years ago, I consulted with an organization that was growing at record speed in its sector. The organization had established a worldwide presence and its tremendous growth track seemed unstoppable. But then the leadership changed its views regarding wealth. It adopted a view that said wealth was like a pie. Each competitor in the

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market had a slice of the pie and the size of the slice determined the future wealth and size of the organization. The result of such thinking was a preoccupation with competitors. Over time, the organization became more concerned about defeating its competitors than expanding its market base. It got caught up in a cycle of greed and competition and it imploded. My argument to them, as you can imagine, was that wealth is like a river that has an unlimited headwater source. The challenge was to continue to find new ways of reaching more and more people with unlimited water. I have no doubt that if this organization had stayed focused on reaching an expanding market base with beneficial products and services, without diverting energy toward defeating the competition to take over its share of the financial pie, this organization would not only be alive today, but it would be vastly larger. Stay focused on what you are giving to mankind. Stay focused on producing valuable goods or services and making them available to the greatest possible number of people. Stay focused on what you know others will perceive as beneficial. Ask yourself these important questions: 1. Do my attitudes and actions support the belief that there is unlimited wealth available for all?_____ If not, how can I change?_______________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 2. Do I concentrate my efforts each day on producing valuable products or services that benefit others?_____ If not, how can I change?_ ___________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

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3. How can I spend my time and energy seeking new ways of exposing my high-quality products and services to a greater sphere of inf luencers and customers? _ ____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 4. Do I chase the dream of a reward without giving any thought to what I am willing to give or produce that will benefit mankind?_ ________________ If so, how can I change?________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 5. Do I base my business decisions on a desire to receive far more benefit than Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m willing to give? _____ If so, how can I change?___________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 6. What am I willing to do for mankind to engage reciprocity?__________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ 7. Is my view of reciprocity and money tainted by past experiences? ______ If so, how can I change my thinking?______________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Back in the 1960s, I traveled to India. As a young man, I had never seen or smelled anything as awful as the putrid squalor of Calcutta. Everywhere I went, I encountered extreme poverty. Each morning wagons pulled by oxen would go through the city picking up the homeless who had

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died from starvation and disease on the streets. Beggars were everywhere. Masses of people in that city had no concept that reciprocal actions could benefit them. I do not dismiss the needs of the poor. In fact, I am very sympathetic toward the poor. I count it as a core value and privilege to give to those who cannot care for themselves. At the same time, I recognize that wealth is not the entitlement of the lucky few. I recognize that the vast majority of people have something they can give that will benefit others. What they give triggers the benefit they will receive—perhaps not directly from the person to whom they give, but from an unseen or unknown source at times. Nevertheless, a repayment or reward returns to the giver so that he or she becomes the recipient. That is the creation of wealth. Some in India caught hold of those truths. While India still has poverty today, it also has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Astute and educated people provide their products or services worldwide and the Law of Reciprocity produces great rewards. Wealth is being generated by large numbers of people in what was once a highly impoverished nation with only a few rich families hoarding their wealth. Be Generous In Your Giving Generous giving connects a person to a supernatural force. I can’t define that force fully or describe all the details of the way in which generosity triggers benefit, but I know it to be true. The Bible says, “One man gives freely yet gains even more, another withholds unduly but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes another will himself be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:24–25). There is tremendous power in generosity. As I look back over my life, I have experienced this countless times in countless ways. My

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needsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not only financial needs, but needs in other areas of my lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; have been met over and over again, often in very unusual and outstanding ways. The power of generosity flows from your attitude and heart, not only from your wallet or checkbook. Be generous. Give what is of value. Benefit mankind with the goods and services you produce and give. You will be rewarded and repaid. Your wealth will grow according to the number of people who receive the valuable goods and services you provide. ....

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The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of RECIPROCITY to your TriVita business? Share with others your wellness experience and the products and lifestyle practices that have led you to follow the ten keys to wellness. ______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Share the Master Conversion System with as many people as possible, so that this system rooted in creating wealth and wellness can bring others into your business. _________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Model what it means to build your first tier structure. Be a role model of encouraging behavior. ____________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Give of your financial rewards to those less fortunate. Trust in the Law of Reciprocity.______________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Do what benefits others and you will benefit.

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10 Keys to Create Wealth

The Keys to

Wealth & Wellness

To Fulfill Your Life’s Purposes ....

MICHAEL R. ELLISON CEO of TriVita

Dedication

This book is dedicated to every person seeking wellness in order to accomplish very special and important purposes in their life.

Acknowledgments

My wellness journey over the past 11 years has been one of

amazing discoveries for which I am extremely grateful. The physical, emotional and spiritual wellness I enjoy today—as I go into my 61st year—is the greatest and most enriching wellness of my life. I owe this to the discovery of the ten keys to wellness that are essential to a person’s life and contribute in simple but profound ways to overall health. I did not know how important they were until I lost my health and wellness. I was in such a poor state of health that I could no longer do the things I loved to do nor could I properly function in my role as husband, father and executive leader in the organizations that I served. I am grateful for the physicians at Mayo Clinic for their care, examinations, tests and guidance towards better health. Their emphatic directive to me, “Michael, you must change the way you think about health and life,” truly provided the inspiration for my pursuit and discovery of the ten keys. These lasting and enduring practices have been the foundation of my wellness experience. And now, these keys have been offered to millions of people to enhance their health and wellness. I am especially grateful to Dr. Brazos Minshew, Chief Science Officer of TriVita; Alfred Libby, M.D.; and Scott Conard, M.D., for sharing their knowledge and expertise with me. I am grateful for the outstanding medical professionals who serve on the TriVita Medical Advisory Board; they oversee the health information shared with TriVita customers.

These ten keys to wellness have reached the halls of academia; they were incorporated into an accredited course in continuing medical education for physicians—“Homocysteine at the Crossroads: Vitamin Status and Disease Prevention.” I am grateful to Samuel Grief M.D., Ph.D., for his acceptance and vision in presenting the ten keys to wellness as part of the monograph for the course. I am also grateful for all the support efforts that have gone into offering these 10 Keys to Create Wellness to those who are pursuing wellness.

Contents Foreword: Why Build Wealth? Why Pursue Wellness?. . . . . . . . v 10 Keys to Create Wellness Introduction: My Personal Wellness Journey: “Live a New Way or Die the Old Way” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. Breathe Deeply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. Drink Pure Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 3. Sleep Peacefully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 4. Eat Nutritiously. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 5. Enjoy Activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 6. Give and Receive Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 7. Be Forgiving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 8. Practice Gratitude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 9. Develop Acceptance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 10. Develop a Relationship with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Foreword

Why Build Wealth? Why Build Wellness? The pursuit of wellness is a lifelong quest. Wellness is a way of thinking that becomes a way of living. It involves your entire being. I often refer to the pursuit of wellness as a “journey.” The Journey Toward Wellness There are three basic principles of wellness that pertain to each of the ten keys in this book: Wellness is a process of ongoing growth and development. The journey begins in an instant, but the journey does not end until the moment of death. Wellness must continually be pursued with intentional desire. Good habits, good health and genuine joy develop over time, then become deeper and stronger over time. However, at no time can a person declare, “I am well and I don’t need to do anything further to stay well or improve my level of wellness.” Improvement is always possible in the quest for wellness. Wellness begins in the mind. What you think about wellness becomes what you do. If you do not think you can be physically well, you probably will not pursue wellness. If you do not believe you can enjoy greater emotional peace and joy, you likely will not. On the other hand, if you truly

10 Keys to Create Wellness

desire and believe that a better life is possible, you will be willing to make the effort and persevere in your quest for wellness. The pursuit of wellness begins with a decision: “I will seek wellness.” Real wellness involves every aspect of your life. If any area of your life is injured, sick, defeated, painful or weak, your whole life suffers. Well-being is a state that involves your entire being. Every person is a physical, emotional and spiritual being. For you to experience wellness, each of these areas must be strong, vibrant and energized. Do You Deeply Desire Wellness? Like the building of wealth, the pursuit of wellness is rooted in desire. Do you really want to be well? Desire is always strongest if it is linked to one’s life purposes. Why do you want wellness? The best attitude is: “I want to live as high a quality of life as possible, for as long as possible, in order to fulfill my life’s purposes to the greatest possible degree of excellence.” Reread this statement and let it soak in until you grasp it and feel inspired by it: The best reason to pursue wellness is to live as high a quality of life as possible, for as long as possible, in order to fulfill your life’s purposes to the greatest possible degree of excellence. Your reason for living is your reason for pursuing wellness. Your life’s purposes give strength to your will. They give you reasons to get up in the morning and determine the way you move through any given day. Your life’s purposes dictate how you spend your time and energy, relate to others, relate to your environment and relate to God. The will to live with purpose inextricably links to the will to experience increasingly greater wellness. When a person loses the will to live—which for most

Foreword

vii

people means losing a sense of purpose in life—he or she ceases to care about wellness. The motivation to grow, change, develop or improve no longer exists. The Link Between Wealth And Wellness Certainly you will have a greater enjoyment of the wealth you are creating in your life if you are simultaneously pursuing wellness. You will have the health and well-being to enjoy the fruits of your wealth-building success! Since a well person is physically, emotionally and spiritually well, you will also have relationships with people with whom you can share the fruits of your wealth-building efforts so the joy associated with your wealth is multiplied. The more well you are, the more energy you will have for creating wealth and the more stamina you will have—both physically and emotionally—for persevering in the work required to create wealth. Other principles discussed in the Wealth section of this book apply equally to the pursuit of wellness: Seek to be consistent in thought, word and deed as you pursue wellness. Consistency and clarity are concepts critical to both wellness and wealth. There must be a link between what you think and what you speak. In turn, there must be a strong link between your words and the corresponding actions. Wellness begins by believing that change is both necessary and possible. It begins by setting goals related to wellness. These are activities of the mind. The pursuit of wellness is always enhanced if you can talk about wellness with others who are also pursuing wellness. It is extremely beneficial to have a group of people to discuss the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of wellness. Others can give you good advice—health tips—about what has worked for them. A support group also gives you a source of encouragement and accountability.

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Finally, wellness cannot be gained by just talking about wellness or thinking about it. In the end, the pursuit of wellness requires positive and beneficial actions. Set Goals. Goals are important in the pursuit of wellness. Realistic subgoals enable you to reach larger goals. No one will ever be perfectly well. There will always be room for improvement. Goals in wellness are process goals. As in wealth-creation, goals must be rooted in purpose for them to be personally valid and motivational. The key question is always: How healthy do you need to be in order to fulfill all of your life’s purposes? Wellness is not merely a matter of maintaining optimal weight or fitness. It is not simply about getting along with other people in healthful ways. Wellness is a matter of having the energy, strength, vitality and relationships with other people and with God that enable you to fulfill your reason for being on this earth. Keep your life’s purposes fully in mind as you pursue wellness! Model. Who is the most well person you know—not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well? How does that person live? You may not have the opportunity to talk to that person, but I have talked to many people in the pursuit of wellness and I have concluded that the ten keys of wellness in this book are routinely practiced by all people who are truly well. Who is the most well person that your family members and friends know? Is it you? Do you desire for it to be you? Choose to model wellness to your children and grandchildren. Choose to model wellness to those with whom you work and worship. Choose to model wellness to your friends and acquaintances. Your wellness is one of the most important and satisfying ways to enhance another person’s life.

Foreword

Which Direction Are You Going? Wellness is a process, so a person is always becoming either more well or less well. Ask yourself, “If my current physical health habits continue as they are today, will I be healthier in five years or less healthy? In ten years? In what state of health will I likely be in a decade from now if I do nothing different? Will I have more or less energy, strength and overall vitality?” Also ask yourself, “If my current way of relating to other people and to God continues on the current path, will I have greater peace and joy in the future? Will I have deeper relationships or fewer friends? Will I be stronger emotionally and spiritually or floundering in confusion or sadness?” There are many things about health and relationships that you cannot determine. But there are many more things you can determine. Make a choice today that you will move in the direction of wellness. Physical, emotional and spiritual wellness truly gives a person QUALITY OF LIFE from the inside out. Make a decision that you will live a life of maximum quality—beginning now. If you don’t live a NEW way of greater wellness, you are likely to die in your OLD ways.

Introduction

My Personal Wellness Journey

efore I enter into a detailed discussion about the 10 Keys to Create Wellness, you may want to know why I personally embarked on a wellness journey.

There was a time in my life when I was desperate to live just one more hour, one more day and one more year. It was out of that desperation that I searched for what truly could bring me—and did bring me—not only life, but a higher quality of life than I had ever known. Although I would never wish the initial phases of my experience on anyone, I am grateful today for all of it, because it led me not only to fully recover my health, but also to understand and experience genuine WELLNESS—truly to enjoy an extraordinary life from the inside out. I invite you on the journey to greater wellness, even as I share from my heart. —M.R.E. “Live A New Way Or Die The Old Way” The pain was excruciating. It stabbed into my upper-left chest so suddenly, with sharp and burning intensity, that I stopped dead in my tracks. I immediately thought, “I’m having the big one—a heart attack!” As the pain radiated down my left arm and across my chest, I

10 Keys to Create Wellness

had no doubt that I was experiencing a major heart event. My mind raced immediately to my grandfather, who had died when he was 40 years old. He had been on a hunting trip, told a joke, threw his head back in laughter and dropped dead. My father had been diagnosed with heart disease shortly after he turned 40 and his physician recommended a quadruple bypass. I had just turned 50. My family history indicated I was overdue. On the other hand, I had been a fitness buff since my teens and believed it would keep my heart healthy. I was running up the back side of Troon Mountain in Arizona when the pain struck. Running was a normal part of my life. In fact, I often ran 25 to 30 miles in a week. I worked out with weights several times a week. I was physically fit! As I stood still on that mountain trail, hoping that somehow I might be able to get home before I died, my mind was racing with a secondary set of questions all related to, “How could this be happening to me?” I had been an athlete. I kept my weight in balance. I worked out. I was trim and hard-bodied. “People like me shouldn’t have heart problems!” I was an avid outdoor sportsman who regularly took time off to be in the mountains. I loved the sound of the wind in the trees and the rushing water in the mountain streams. Spiritually, I felt strongly directed in my life’s purpose. In my early twenties, I had gone to the jungles of Sumatra in Indonesia to work among the Batak tribe, known then as fierce headhunters. I not only survived with my head intact but was adopted as a son by the chief. I had returned home to build a significant company to help non-profit organizations worldwide. “How could God let this happen to me when I had done, and was doing, so much for Him?”

Introduction

I had incredible drive and energy to accomplish important things. I was focused and determined and disciplined. “How could this be happening to ME?” I turned and began to walk slowly back toward my home, thankful that I could still walk and thankful for each step that took me down the mountain. By the time I reached home, the pain had subsided to the point that I convinced myself I didn’t need to see a physician. I had just experienced some sort of strange attack that was an anomaly in light of my appearance as a well person. I didn’t want to have a heart problem—who does!—but at the same time, a nagging suspicion in the back of my mind warned me that I was not as well as I wanted to believe. For the next several days I vacillated between denial and intrusive thoughts that amounted to reality bursts. I had to admit that every year for the previous 25 years I had experienced a bout with the flu. It didn’t seem to matter what I did to avoid the flu, I got the flu. I had to admit that I frequently had colds. No matter how physically fit I was, I contracted colds. I had to admit that I often felt symptoms of stress. In fact, that was primarily why I went to the mountains, worked out with weights and regularly ran. And I had to admit that the pain was not an anomaly. It did not stay away. The pain came again the next day when I attempted to exercise. It came sooner and extended further in my body than the previous day. This pattern continued. My symptoms escalated from bad to worse until eventually I could not walk even half a mile. My entire left side was constantly in severe pain from my head to my little toe. On several occasions the pain was so great that my wife called

10 Keys to Create Wellness

911, sure that I required medical treatment. Many nights I drove myself to the hospital and sat in my car outside the emergency room just in case I needed help. “This is not how I should live.” I had a business to run and goals to accomplish. This pain was a diversion away from my life and a huge waste of my time! Even these thoughts seemed to make the pain worse. Local physicians couldn’t find anything wrong with my heart, which seemed even stranger. I checked myself into Mayo Clinic to be examined for heart disease. I went through an exhaustive series of examinations, beginning with heart tests. The physicians at Mayo Clinic could find nothing wrong with my heart. “If nothing is wrong with my heart, I must have cancer!” I saw no other explanation for the pain that now reverberated throughout my body, not just my left side. I began to have periodic jolts—a physical response as if I had plugged my finger into an electrical outlet. These jolts started coming more and more frequently until I was having them about every ten minutes. Now, I didn’t have a desire for sickness or a death wish. To the contrary! I passionately wanted health. I had a long-life wish! I just didn’t see any other intelligent explanation for the excruciating pain disabling my body. The physicians at Mayo Clinic ran more tests. I was cancer free. They checked my respiratory system. It was fine. Then they checked my nervous system. It was not fine—not in the least. The physicians basically told me, “Your nervous system is shot.” One of them said, “You have a nervous system similar to a soldier who has been in a heavy-fire war for 30 straight years without a break. Your adrenal gland

Introduction

has produced adrenaline nearly nonstop. It has worn itself out. Your nervous system can no longer respond to any kind of pressure or emergency, not even a very slight symptom of physical or emotional stress.” In laymen’s terms, I had a massive inflammation of the nervous system. Being diagnosed brought a certain amount of relief. I was grateful it wasn’t heart disease or cancer. But along with the physicians’ diagnosis came these words: “There’s nothing we can do for you. There’s nothing we can prescribe that will cure you. There is no medication, no surgery, no medical treatment and no physical therapy that will give you a quick recovery.” The physicians told me that they could prescribe heavy-duty pain medication to help me deal with the intense pain, but the medication would not help my adrenal and nervous system. It would only mask the pain. I was told very simply and bluntly that it would take a great deal of time—not many months but many years, before my nervous system could recover and respond to adrenaline without producing such incredible pain. I was advised to return home, sell my business or greatly scale back my involvement in it, go to my ranch, relax and be patient. They were saying all of this to a results-oriented man who was not the least bit known for his patience. As part of the Mayo Clinic experience, I met with one physician who recommended that I do a lifestyle study and meet with a psychiatrist. Trust me, I had never anticipated the day that I would need to sit down and talk with a psychiatrist about my life. At that point, I remained skeptical about the benefit of psychiatry. I was a spiritually driven man with strong faith. I was an intelligent man who specialized in analyzing problems and creating solutions. I was also a desperate man who needed help. I agreed to do the lifestyle study and meet with the psychiatrist—a man who was about ten years younger than me. At our meeting, I looked at the psychiatrist and he gazed back at

10 Keys to Create Wellness

me as if appraising me from the inside out. Finally I said, “What do you see in my lifestyle study?” He asked me simply, as he thumbed through the pages of the report before him, “Is this a true reflection of your lifestyle?” I had completed the lifestyle study questionnaire as honestly as I could. I said, “Yes.” He then launched into a 20-minute monologue of shock communication. He spared no words. “You may think, Mr. Ellison, that you’re out to save the world,” he said, “but you are not Jesus Christ. And furthermore, when you die prematurely, your death will get noticed throughout the world like a pebble of sand thrown into the ocean. Nobody will celebrate your death 2000 years later.” Normally, I would have stood up, thanked him curtly for his opinion and walked out of the room. “Who was he to tell me what he was telling me!” I stayed seated. I was that desperate. “I can’t imagine how your wife has lived with you,” he continued. “I can’t imagine how your children could have lived with you all these years. For that matter, I can’t even imagine how your employees in your company have worked for you.” I didn’t like what I was hearing but I intuitively knew deep within that I needed to hear his words. He obviously was trying to get my attention. The psychiatrist went on, “Both your physician and I believe that if you do not change the way you think about life, health and work, you will die a premature death. And if you don’t change the way you think, the quality of your life between now and the day you die will only get worse.” His words hit me with full force. Nobody had ever talked to me as bluntly or as sternly. He put the matter of my health squarely into my hands. He held out some hope, but wrapped it in a dire warning. If I didn’t make

Introduction

changes in my life and adopt a new way of living, my quality of life would deteriorate until I died prematurely. I went home from the Mayo Clinic feeling pretty helpless—actually, pretty hopeless. I went to the office in my home, laid down on the carpet and began to think about thinking. I had far more questions than I had answers. How could I begin to change the way I thought about life when I was 50 years old and well-entrenched in the way I saw the world, myself and my purpose in the world? How could I begin to adopt a right way of thinking when I wasn’t even sure what was wrong about the way I had been thinking? How much change could I hope to achieve, and how quickly? Where should I begin? Even as I asked those questions, I knew I needed to change. Change was not an option. It was a necessity. Since then, I have discovered that many other people reach that same point. Their overall wellness is so poor that change is not an option. To experience any quality of life, change is required. If the old way of thinking had brought me to that point—in great pain, without energy, with an inflamed nervous system and no quality of life—I certainly needed a new way of thinking. I just didn’t have the foggiest idea where to begin or HOW to change. In the past when I had needed healing in my body, I prayed for healing, so I began at that point. I prayed, “God, please miraculously heal me so I can do the things that I believe You want me to do, do the things that I want to do and be the kind of person that others want me to be.” I didn’t get the answer I wanted. If I have ever heard God speak in a way that seemed almost audible, it was as I lay on the floor that day. He seemed to say, “No, Michael, I won’t heal you. Don’t even ask Me for that. You do not understand wellness. If I heal you miraculously and instantly, you will only go back and abuse yourself again.”

10 Keys to Create Wellness

God seemed to be in total agreement with my physician and psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic. He was sending the same message, just in different terms: “You need to change the way you think about life, yourself and health.” God wasn’t going to do my thinking for me. He expected me to think and change. He expected me to seek and find a better way of living. He expected me to ask questions until I got answers. I got up from the floor just as ill, but with a completely different attitude and perspective. Instantly, I became a passionate seeker of wellness. I embarked on a journey to learn what I didn’t know so I could discover the ways I needed to change. Value Your Own Being As I began my personal search for wellness, I consulted the book that I have consulted throughout my life as a source of wisdom and counsel: the Bible. I found myself reading a verse of Scripture that I had read many times before, but on this particular day, it seemed to be in bold letters about two inches high: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19, NKJV) I put down my Bible, literally pinched the flesh on my arm and said out loud, “You are God’s temple, Michael. You are here to glorify God in this temple.” Almost immediately I added, “I will honor, I will nurture and I will respect this temple God has given to me.” Did I know HOW to honor, nurture and respect my body or my entire being in that moment? No. What I did do in that moment was change the way I saw myself. I changed the way I valued my being, which included valuing my body. I changed what I believed about my physical person. Out of

Introduction

my change in belief, I made a commitment to learn how to honor, nurture and respect the temple in which I dwelled physically, emotionally and spiritually. Up to that moment I hadn’t really valued my physical body. My body simply was here. It did what my mind told it to do and what my emotions asked of it. Suddenly I saw my physical self in a whole new light. I saw myself as an intricate creation of God, designed for beauty and function as a reflection of God’s awesome power and love. I enjoy tremendously the beauty of nature. To be in the mountains in the spring or summer, to see the wildflowers and wildlife, to breathe in the fresh air, to glory at vistas and landscapes that are pristine and unpolluted and to gain a new appreciation for the vast creativity of God…there’s nothing better! I had never, however, fully stopped to consider that I too was a creative work of nature. In that moment, I grasped with new understanding that I am a creation of God, fearfully and wonderfully made. God intends for me to express Him on this earth through my physical being. Certainly I had thought about my work—the tasks I accomplished, the programs I made, the ideas that bore fruit—as ways of expressing God to the world around me. I had not thought in terms of my physical body being such an expression. This was a revolutionary idea for me. Quite frankly, my first response to this new insight was to reject it. I wasn’t so sure that I liked the idea of regarding my flesh as a means of expressing God in the world. I found myself saying, “That doesn’t feel very comfortable.” The issue was far beyond any issues of appearance, vanity or pride. The issue was this: If I regarded my flesh as a means of expressing God’s creation and love in the world, then I had to take my flesh seriously. That sounded like something that would require not only intention, but time and effort. Prioritizing the care of my physical temple seemed like something that would require massive changes in the way I spent my days, ate my meals, related to others and structured my priorities. I had been prepared to make some changes, but massive change

10 Keys to Create Wellness

hadn’t been part of my plan up to that point. Nonetheless, massive change was what my doctors recommended. It also seemed to be what God commanded. I had to learn to value myself in ways I had never valued myself before. I had to rethink self. In all likelihood, if you want to be serious about seeking wellness and embarking on a journey that leads to greater health and well-being, you will to have to change the way in which you value yourself. You must believe as never before that your existence on this earth is important. You must believe that you have a higher purpose and meaning than you’ve adopted for yourself in times past. You must believe that the care of your physical temple is worthy of time and effort. Belief Motivates Action Since I made that first commitment to nurture, honor and respect my physical being, I have learned a second important lesson related to health and wellness: We each do what we believe we should do. It’s easy in our culture today—in which we generally have enough food to eat, enough comforts, enough of virtually everything a person might want—to take health and wellness for granted. We have the illusion of abundance in our society, even excess. The surplus at our fingertips works against us in many ways. We fail to understand that more is not always better and, in some cases, what we have is woefully deficient in producing genuine physical wellness or inner well-being. We have so many choices, yet so many empty calories, dangerous substances and unhealthy ingredients in our food and drink. We have so many people around us at all times, yet so few genuine friends. We have so much in the way of entertainment, yet so little that is

Introduction

morally uplifting and inspirational. We have so much information available in so many formats, yet so little that is truly useful or important. In the end, there is so much stimuli bombarding us at all times that it is very difficult to remember what we truly believe. It is easy to get swept up in the frenzy and forget what we truly value. Stop and consider what you truly believe about your body, your wellness and your purpose on this earth. Reflect on your values and identify your priorities. Values and priorities both flow from your belief system. It is what you believe that determines what you do consistently and habitually. Take a look at your habits. Do they line up with your beliefs? Getting To The Essentials I’m a bottom-line kind of guy. I want results that are measurable and that work—not just some of the time, but all of the time. I didn’t set out to find ten essentials of wellness. I set out to find those things that were absolutely vital for me to become well in my total being—physically, emotionally and spiritually. I wasn’t looking for what was easy. I wanted what was necessary. I asked repeatedly, “What happens if I make this change? Will my life be better?” If something worked some of the time, but not all of the time, I discarded it. If it was optional, it was not necessary. For something to be vital, it had to have positive benefits all of the time. It needed to be measurable or observable over time and it needed to be something that could become habitual in my life. In other words, it had to have a practical, real-world behavior associated with it and not just an idea. It had to meet my criteria of being simple to practice, yet profound in its effects. Are you willing to change the way you think about wellness, your

10 Keys to Create Wellness

life and the ways in which you want to feel inside and out? If so, you have just taken the first step on your journey to wellness. The 10 Keys To Wellness While searching for the keys to wellness, I looked for what I believed to be absolutely essential. It turned out that there were five things in the physical realm and five things in the emotional and spiritual realm critical to living a life defined as “well.” To stay alive physically, every person must: • Breathe • Drink water • Sleep • Eat • Move These are things you are already doing—and must do. So you must ask, “Can I be doing something better? Should I be doing something more? Is there a more efficient, productive way to meet my basic physical needs?” The answer is an unqualified and resounding “yes.” When you consistently and intentionally use these five keys in the physical realm, you nearly always experience a significantly greater quality of life. I also came to see that every person has five necessities for genuine emotional and spiritual well-being: • Give and receive love • Forgive and be forgiven • Find hope, which is vitally linked to expressing gratitude—being grateful for what you have gives you hope for what might still be • Let go of worries about things you cannot change and live with a peaceful acceptance of them • Build a relationship with God

Introduction

These are needs you are already addressing in your life right now— successfully or unsuccessfully. Every person has these needs. The questions to ask are similar to those you must ask about your physical wellness: “Is there something I could be doing better? Should I do more of something? Are there practical keys or habits that I can fold into my life in order to experience greater ongoing emotional, spiritual and relational well-being?” Again, the answer is an unqualified and resounding “yes.” These are the keys to a deeper abiding joy and peace—two emotions at the very core of your life when it comes to experiencing maximum quality, meaning, fulfillment and purpose. Make A Decision All aspects of wellness begin with a decision. The good news is that it is a decision that everyone can make. Decide today that you will be a seeker of wellness. Decide that you will change the way you think and believe. Decide that you will embark on a journey to become ALL that you desire to be. The extent to which you consistently practice the ten keys determines your state of wellness. Think wellness. Believe wellness is both possible and worth pursuing. Set your mind and heart to seek wellness in every dimension of your life. Determine that you will do what it takes to walk out the journey. Remember what I discovered: If you don’t live a NEW way of greater wellness, you are likely to die in your OLD ways.

Key #1

Breathe Deeply

Eliminate Toxins, Improve Physical Function and Decrease Stress

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Key #1

Breathe Deeply

ne of the best things you can do to increase wellness is something you already do: breathe! It is time to decide that you can and will breathe

in a way that enhances your pursuit of wellness. Good lung capacity and function are critical. The average person, however, has a decline in lung capacity of 9 to 22 percent per decade. The greater your lung capacity, the longer you will likely live. The good news is that better lung function is possible through deep-breathing techniques. The Benefits Of Good Lung Function There are several facts about lung function that you probably don’t realize: 1. The majority of the toxins you take into your body comes through your lungs. You breathe in pollution in many forms—exhaust fumes to cigarette smoke, hairspray to allergens. Breathing also purges the body of 75 percent of the toxins ingested. Deep breathing increases the removal of toxins from the physical body. 2. Oxygen is vital to brain function. Brain cells use oxygen to generate good mental processes—specifically the abilities to focus, concentrate and remember. The deeper you breathe pure air, the greater your mental clarity and creativity. Deep breathing enhances your cognitive functioning, which

10 Keys to Create Wellness

enables you to make better decisions and solve problems. 3. Deep breathing and breath control have been shown to produce remarkable physical results. Simply by breathing better, you may be able to lower your blood pressure, end heart arrhythmias, improve digestion and increase blood circulation. All of these factors can lead to greater overall health. 4. Deep breathing can reduce anxiety. Deep breathing is foundational to alleviating stress and dissipating anger, anxiety, frustration and impatience. Deep-breathing techniques have been shown to help people kick addictive and anti-anxiety drugs. Breathing techniques are increasingly used in psychiatric hospitals to help people overcome addictions and mental illness. 5. Deep breathing improves the function of your lymphatic system. Lymph is rich in white blood cells, so total body immunity improves with better lymph flow. Deep breathing can strengthen your resistance to disease. 6. Deep breathing can reinvigorate your energy level. Improving bodily systems, reducing anxiety and invigorating brain activity works to increase your overall energy, both physically and emotionally. 7. Deep breathing specifically helps women during critical stages of life. Deep breathing and specific breathing techniques have been shown to help women during pregnancy, increase the possibility of infertile women becoming pregnant and reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes in menopause. 8. Deep breathing can reduce pain. Various diseases, including cancer, and the pain associated with them can be better managed through proper breathing. Learn to breathe better and your level of wellness will improve. Make The Choice To Breathe Pure Air My wife, Susan, and I live in Arizona, a place where many people

Breathe Deeply

choose to live in order to have better and drier air. But not everyone can live in Arizona. What every person can choose is to create a less polluted personal space in which to live, sleep, eat and work. That may mean: • Putting fewer harmful chemicals onto your body (such as those often found in antiperspirants, bug repellants, sunscreen lotions and hairspray) • Spraying fewer harmful chemicals in your home (such as many found in cleaning and deodorizing chemicals or bug sprays) • Using fewer harmful chemicals in your garden or yard (often used to eliminate weeds and insects or enhance the growth of flowers, fruits or vegetables) • Avoiding smoke-filled environments and refusing to create a smoke-filled environment with cigarettes, cigars or a pipe • Exercising caution with inhalants or gasoline fumes In most cases, people can benefit greatly by changing the air filters more often in their air-conditioning or heating system. It is especially important to have good ventilation in a home if you are painting, staining or refinishing a wall, floor or other surface. You can choose to breathe purer air. Breathe Like A Baby A baby automatically breathes abdominally. Most adults do not. A baby breathes with its diaphragm—the muscle just at the base of the rib cage. Adults most often use their chest muscles. Start to breathe deeply by using your diaphragm. Even if you have never consciously breathed in this fashion, you can learn deep-breathing techniques. Lie on your back and put one hand on your

10 Keys to Create Wellness

upper abdomen and one hand on your upper chest. As you inhale, try to move the hand on your abdomen. Breathe as if you are attempting to inflate your belly, not your lungs. As you exhale, push down with your hand on your abdomen as if gently forcing the air out of your lungs. Repeat until you can tell that you are pushing air out of your lungs by using the diaphragm muscle and allowing air into your lungs by relaxing the diaphragm muscle. It may take a little practice! Take Breathing Breaks Once you have learned to breathe abdominally, take periodic breathing breaks. Take at least two 10-minute breathing breaks a day, then a third breathing break just before going to sleep. As you engage in deep breathing, close your eyes. Keep your back straight. Begin with a deep, audible sigh, and then quietly inhale. See how slow, deep, quiet and regular you can make your breathing. You should constantly feel as if you are getting enough air. Do this for at least eight deep breaths; then open your eyes and breathe normally. There are several variations of this deep-breathing theme. At times, focus on inhaling and make your inhalation as long as possible. Breathe in through your nostrils and exhale through your mouth. Other times, focus on exhaling more than inhaling. Attempt to squeeze all the air out of your lungs. You should be able to feel the muscles that help do this. Do not be concerned if you feel a little light-headed as you first begin to breathe deeply. This will pass as you become more accustomed to breathing from the belly. Over time, regular deep breathing can improve your overall lung capacity. This helps eliminates toxins, aids sleep and improves lymphatic flowâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;all important steps to greater wellness.

Breathe Deeply

Emotional Benefits Deep breathing has been shown to help people relax and dissipate harmful emotions. Are you aware that a number of negative emotions are linked to breathing patterns? • Anger is commonly associated with shallow inhalation, strong exhalation and increased muscle tension throughout the body, especially the neck, jaw, chest and hands. • Fear is associated with rapid, shallow and irregular breathing, as well as a tightened “knot” in the lower abdomen. • Grief and sorrow are associated with spasmodic, sobbing, superficial breathing and a hollow feeling in the abdomen. • Impatience has been associated with short, jerky, uncoordinated breathing and tension in the front of the chest. • Guilt or self-judgment has been linked to restricted, suffocating breathing and an overall sensation of being weighed down. • Boredom has been associated with shallow, lifeless breath and little sensation anywhere in the body. Note that all these negative emotions are linked to shallow, constricted or faulty breathing. Deep breathing can reverse these emotions, especially when accompanied by relaxation techniques. In sharp contrast, studies have shown that deep, comfortable breathing is associated with feelings of openness, energy and receptivity throughout the entire body. A person often has accompanying positive emotions of love, compassion, kindness and awe. Finally, free and deep breathing has been linked to greater creativity and improved self-image. This certainly makes sense. Clean, pure-air breathing can result in clearer thinking about wellness and can give you a greater desire for purity in every area of life. As you practice deep breathing, see yourself as inhaling the

10 Keys to Create Wellness

wonderment of creation, faith, hope, love and all things good. Exhale completely. As you do, exhale your problems, fears, anxieties, frustrations, stress and all things negative. In many ways, the entire universe reflects the rhythm of inhalation and exhalation. Tides rise and fall. Systems contract and expand. It’s the way the world—and you—are meant to function. ....

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of BREATHING DEEPLY to your TriVita business? Learn how to breathe deeply and teach others in your business this valuable toxin-eliminating key to wellness. _________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ All work, including wealth-creation strategies, require clear thinking and sufficient physical and mental energy. All work produces a level of tension or stress. Deep breathing can help give you the clarity and energy that will benefit you in business and help reduce stress. ___ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Take a deep-breathing break right now!

Key #2

Drink Pure Water

Pure Water in Sufficient Quantity Creates Greater Health

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Key #2

Drink Pure Water

re you a water drinker? Before I became a Wellness Seeker, I was not. I drank coffee, iced tea and soft drinks. When it came to soft drinks,

I liked ones with sugar and caffeine. I saw little benefit in drinking water. It didn’t have any taste and I didn’t believe it gave me energy. After I became a Wellness Seeker, I learned that water is critical to good health. Nothing hydrates the body like water and few things do more to promote health than drinking pure water in sufficient quantity. Next to oxygen, water is the most critical substance for life. It has been called the “silent nutrient” for wellness—a “must have” for life. Henry David Thoreau wrote: “Water is the only drink for a wise man.” The Ebb And Flow Of Your Body Your body may appear to be more solid than fluid, but in fact your body is 60 percent water. Water comprises most of your body’s fluids, including your blood. Every physical system depends upon sufficient water, including respiration, circulation, digestion, brain function, joint function, energy production and waste removal.

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Balance is key. The water you routinely lose through perspiration, urination, bowel movements and exhalation must be replaced regularly and sufficiently to maintain physical health. Major Benefits From Sufficient Hydration The benefits of sufficient hydration involve the entire body: • Water regulates body temperature. • Water lubricates joints. In many cases, those who drink more pure water report fewer joint pains and improved flexibility. • Water helps dissolve minerals and other nutrients to make them accessible to the body. • Water helps prevent constipation. • Water carries nutrients and oxygen to all cells of the body, helping distribute food and supplements in a more even flow. • Water moistens the tissues of the mouth, eyes and nose. • Water lessens the burden on the kidneys and liver by flushing out waste products. Water also has three important functions that most people do not realize: 1. Water has a rejuvenating effect on energy level. I did not think water did anything to give me energy, but almost immediately after I made water my beverage of choice, I noticed a real increase in my mental and physical energy. 2. Water helps with weight loss and weight maintenance. When the body does not have sufficient hydration, it tends to hoard or retain water and the result is water weight. Although this isn’t truly fat weight, it can be discouraging to the dieter. Water retention also makes a person feel bloated or fat and less likely to watch what he or she eats. However, when the body does have sufficient hydration, the body releases water routinely and one feels less bloated and more eager to move. Toxins

Drink Pure Water

and waste materials—including fat—are more readily flushed from the system. 3. Water benefits skin texture and appearance. People who drink sufficient amounts of pure water usually experience an improvement in the texture of their skin. It appears healthier and more glowing. All of these physical benefits add up to a decrease in sickness for people who reduce their intake of other beverages and simply drink more water. Overcoming Dehydration The opposite of sufficient hydration, of course, is dehydration. This is a condition in which the body lacks sufficient water to carry on normal functions. Many people think that dehydration happens only during illness or after a long hike in the desert. A mild form of dehydration can occur in the body unnoticed for years and the effects over time can be devastating. Even mild dehydration—as little as one to two percent loss of body weight—can sap energy and make a person feel consistently tired, sluggish or bloated. How can you tell if you are experiencing mild dehydration? Here are some of the common symptoms, which tend to be more prominent in the very young and very old: • Excessive thirst • Fatigue • Dry mouth • Headache • Muscle weakness • Dizziness or light-headedness • Constipation • Little urination • Urine that is dark or cloudy

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Times When You Need Extra Hydration There are times when extra hydration is warranted: 1. Exertion. If you are engaging in any activity that results in perspiration, you need extra water to compensate for the fluid loss. You need several cups of water to compensate for a short period of exercise. If you have a high-exertion job, such as hauling or lifting heavy objects all day, you need fluid at regular intervals. If the exertion involves significant perspiration, you need to replace sodium as well as fluid. 2. Sickness. When you are sick, you need additional water to flush toxins and waste from the body. With fever, vomiting or diarrhea, it is especially critical to replace lost fluids. Water with electrolytes may be necessary. 3. Pregnancy and Breast-Feeding. The Institute of Medicine recommends that pregnant women drink nearly 10 cups of fluid each day. Women who are breast-feeding should drink about 13 cups daily. 4. Weather and Altitude. A person needs additional water in hot or humid weather. Heated indoor air can cause a loss of moisture and altitudes greater than 8,200 feet can increase the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s need for water. Higher altitudes may trigger increased urination and more rapid breathing, which use up more of the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fluid reserves. Travelers should be aware that the humidity on an aircraft is approximately the same as the humidity of the Sahara Desert. A long flight can be exhausting even if you are sitting still, because your body responds as it would in an arid environment. Drink plenty of water on long trips, especially international flights. 5. Dietary Factors. Your body needs additional water if you eat salty foods or a high-protein diet. If you consume high-fiber foods or supplements, make sure you drink enough water to keep your digestive tract working normally. Odd as it may seem, some beverages have a mild dehydrating effect.

Drink Pure Water

In other words, these beverages trigger the body to release water, making it more challenging to maintain a healthy internal water balance. Try to reduce the amount of caffeinated coffees, teas, sodas and alcoholic beverages you drink. For every cup of caffeinated or alcoholic beverage you imbibe, you should drink an additional cup of pure water. 6. Sleep. You need water after a night’s sleep. Several hours of sleep is naturally dehydrating. Be Intentional About What You Drink Many beverages contain a lot of water, but the other ingredients can harm your health. Check your beverages for these additives: Sugar. Juices that are not freshly squeezed from whole fruit may have very high levels of added sugar. Sodas can have as many as eight teaspoons of sugar per serving. Some “flavored” waters are little more than a few drops of flavoring and sugar added to water. Fats. Dairy products have water, but they also have milk solids generally composed of fats that convert to sugar (lactose) in the body. Caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that often triggers a slight increase in metabolism, which can trigger a craving for food. Sodium. Carbonated beverages generally have sodium, also known as salt. The same is true for most prepared soups, both canned and dry. While the body needs a certain amount of sodium, it must be balanced with potassium to reduce the risk of chronic disease. The typical North American diet is too high in salt and too low in potassium. I am not a physician and I certainly am not going to state categorically that ingesting a great deal of sugar, fat, caffeine and potentially toxic chemicals will cause you to be unhealthy. As a Wellness Seeker, however, I can and do state that these substances do not promote wellness and carry the

10 Keys to Create Wellness

potential to inhibit wellness. As a Wellness Seeker, I encourage everyone to strip away anything that curtails, lessens, lowers, decreases, inhibits, thwarts or otherwise impairs wellness. How Much Water Do You Need? The amount of water you should drink is based on your weight. Here is the basic formula: Your weight in pounds: Divided by 2: __ That number divided by 8 (ounces to a cup):

That’s the number of CUPS of water you need daily. For example, if a person weighs 176 pounds, half of that equals 88, which is the number of fluid ounces of water needed daily. Eight ounces per cup equals 11 cups. This lines up with the Institute of Medicine’s daily recommendation of 13 cups for men and 9 cups for women. Some water is taken into the body through natural foods. Whole fruits and vegetables contain a great deal of water, as well as vitamins, minerals and fiber. For example, cucumbers are 95 percent water and oranges are 87 percent water. Even so, don’t automatically assume that you consume enough water. Calculate your intake. In truth, most people do not drink sufficient water and numerous surveys have shown that people routinely overestimate their water consumption. My suggestion is that you fill a 32-ounce container and drink only from it during a day. You may be surprised at how much water you still have in the container by nightfall. Most people need to drink at least two, if not three, full containers every day.

Drink Pure Water

Establish A New Habit Thirst is not a reliable gauge for when and how much you should drink. You need to hydrate your body long before you feel thirsty. Thirst is actually a warning signal, of sorts. You body is saying, “I need water,” not, “Some water might be nice.” Older people sense less thirst, so regular hydration becomes more important with age. Those who exercise vigorously often lose considerable fluid reserves before they feel thirsty. Most people need to make a conscious effort to keep themselves adequately hydrated. Here are seven simple, effective suggestions: 1. Drink a glass of water immediately upon arising in the morning and another one 30 minutes later. Since most glasses and mugs hold at least 12 ounces, you will have taken in three cups of water in the first 30 minutes of your day. That’s a good start! 2. Drink one or two glasses of water 30 minutes to an hour before exercising. You know you’re going to lose water during your workout, so prepare your body in advance. 3. Keep a water bottle at your desk or in your car. Sip from it often or train yourself to drink at least eight ounces every hour during the day. 4. Take water breaks instead of coffee breaks. Refill your water bottle or have a large glass of water during break time. 5. Consider choosing a sparkling water at social gatherings rather than an alcoholic beverage. You’ll feel better and drive home safely! 6. Add a little lemon or lime juice to your water. You’ll find it especially refreshing in hot weather. 7. Fill your water bottle to about an inch from the top and freeze it overnight. This will give you cold water for most of the day.

10 Keys to Create Wellness

The Need For Pure Water Technically, sparkling water, seltzer, soda water, tonic water and club soda are not considered water products, but soft drinks. They should not count toward your water intake. Unfiltered water can carry toxins, parasites and heavy metals. The jury is still out when it comes to the toxicity of fluoride and chlorine used in metropolitan water systems. Several long-range studies of these chemicals, which have been routinely added to some public water systems for decades, have yielded alarming results. If you live in an older home that has lead pipesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;or even in a new home with copper pipes and lead soldering at the jointsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;you may want to have your water tested for toxins. It is surprising to many people to learn that bottled water in many cases is no safer or less contaminated than tap water. If you are buying bottles of water, you need to check the bottle itself. Make sure it is made of non-leaching plastic, such as polycarbonate, so the plastic is not releasing possibly harmful toxins into the water. Non-leaching plastic bottles can generally be cleaned with pure hot water and reused. To ensure that your water is pure, you need to make sure it has been filtered. In order to purify or filter your own water, you need some type of waterpurification system. When considering a system, be aware of these terms: Distillation is the process of turning water into vapor. As water vaporizes, the heavy metals are left behind. When the vapors are collected and condensed into water again, the water should be pure. Reverse osmosis is the process of forcing water through membranes to remove minerals in the water. Absolute 1-micron filtration uses filters that remove particles larger than one micron in size, which tends to eliminate parasites as well as heavy metals.

Drink Pure Water

Ozonation is not generally a home purifying technique but one used by commercial bottlers. Ozone gas (an antimicrobial agent) is used to disinfect the water instead of chlorine. Any water treated by one of these four processes meets the standards of â&#x20AC;&#x153;purifiedâ&#x20AC;? water in the U.S. Pharmacopeia. All water purification and filtration systems require regular maintenance. Without proper maintenance, bacteria or other contaminants may build up. I personally use and recommend a water purification system for the drinking water in your home. The Emotional Link When you drink sufficient pure water, you have an emotional sense of satisfaction as you nourish your body for greater health. Pure cool water on a hot day is one of the most satisfying things I can imagine. Water refreshes, not only physically, but emotionally. ....

10 Keys to Create Wellness

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of DRINKING PURE WATER to your TriVita business? You will have more energy for business activities if you do the following: Calculate your own need for pure, fresh water daily. Drink this much water every day. Drink 24 ounces of water within 30 minutes of waking in the morning, then drink water every waking hour. ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Make sure you drink pure, filtered water. ____________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Check your water bottle to make sure it is made of non-leaching plastic. ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ The best advice for cleansing and replenishing your physical body can be summed up in four words: Drink sufficient pure water.

Key #3

Sleep Peacefully

Rejuvenate Your Body And Emotions Nightly

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Key #3

Sleep Peacefully

efore I became a Wellness Seeker, I had no regard for sleep. I actually viewed sleep as a waste of time. I thought that people who spent more

than six hours sleeping in any given 24-hour period were a little lazy, poor managers of time, or at the very least not living up to their potential. I personally slept four hours or less most nights for decades. I considered it an accomplishment to work all night without any sleep. It was a desirable goal for any given day. I was a driven man. In the end, I suffered physically from this terrible habit. Lack of sleep probably caused most of my nervous system inflammation, which drove me to the brink of disability and premature death. For most people, change regarding sleep begins with a change in attitude. That certainly was true in my case. I had little regard for sleep primarily because I did not know how much sleep contributes to wellness. Sleep rewards you with many benefits: • The body rejuvenates, replenishes and replaces cells. • Important hormones are secreted for growth and development. • Body temperature drops, blood pressure decreases and breathing slows—all of which allow the body to regroup and regain energy.

10 Keys to Create Wellness

• Muscles shut down and kidney functions change, allowing major organs to rest and repair or replace damaged cells. • Memory is consolidated. Truly, peaceful sleep is one of the Creator’s greatest gifts to men and women. From a health standpoint, sleep is vital. Most people need more of it. Sleep deprivation has become a major disorder in our society and increasingly contributes to the lack of overall wellness. How Much Sleep Do You Need? Sleep experts say most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep every night for optimum performance, health and safety. Teens need eight to nine hours. Unfortunately, most schools begin class early in the morning and teens’ biological clocks keep them awake later in the evening and asleep later in the morning. Many people believe they can cut back on sleep during the week and make up for it on weekends. That is not always possible. If you get only six hours of sleep a night but need seven to nine hours, that’s a weeknight deficit of five to fifteen hours going into a weekend. Few people can add that much sleep to their weekend. Another myth related to sleep is that older people need less sleep. Aging may affect sleep patterns, but the amount of sleep generally does not change. Older adults still need seven to nine hours each night. Those who awaken more frequently through the night may get less nighttime sleep, but the need for sleep is still the same. Some people believe that it doesn’t matter how long you sleep, only that you get a little bit of deep sleep. When you sleep, you typically drift between two sleep states in 90-minute cycles. For maximum rest and restoration, a person needs at least five to six complete cycles of sleep a night.

Sleep Peacefully

That means seven to nine hours of sleep. The Impact Of Impaired Sleep What happens if a person does not get enough sleep over time? Both physical and emotional health can be impacted. Physically, a lack of sleep or a sleep disorder can have an array of negative results, including: • Impaired ability to use insulin, which can lead to the onset of diabetes • Interruption of blood pressure cycles, which can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure) and cardiovascular problems • Insufficient growth hormone secretion, which has been linked to obesity • Impaired immunity, which can lead to greater susceptibility to disease Emotionally and mentally, sleep deprivation has been correlated to: • Difficulty concentrating or paying attention • Difficulty remembering • Decreased hand-eye coordination and other slowed responses • Difficulty controlling emotions • Increased anxiety, anger and depression Overcoming Sleep Disorders And Disruptions You generally need to plan for good sleep. Those who travel extensively across time zones or internationally must especially plan for good sleep. This includes getting in touch with your own natural circadian rhythms, which govern the release of important hormones. It also means gaining an understanding of the brain’s biological clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that is influenced by light and governs the sleep-wake cycle.

10 Keys to Create Wellness

In particular, you must recognize and address these sleep disorders: Sleep Apnea. This is a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. People with this condition often awaken frequently in the night, sometimes gasping for breath. The pauses in breathing reduce the flow of blood oxygen to the brain, straining the heart and cardiovascular system. Sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease are often correlated. Obesity and a large neck can contribute to sleep apnea. Snoring on a frequent or regular basis—especially irregular snoring patterns—is often a sign of sleep apnea. These irregularities are often associated with hypertension. The good news is that sleep apnea can be treated. Consult a physician if you have this disorder. Restless Legs Syndrome. This is a sleep and movement disorder characterized by tingling, crawling, creeping or pulling feelings in the legs. The person has an overwhelming urge to move to relieve the symptoms. Narcolepsy. This is a chronic neurological disorder that causes a person to experience sudden “sleep attacks” at any time, day or night. Insomnia. This is characterized by difficulty going to sleep, maintaining sleep or awakening too early. It is often a symptom of a medical or psychological problem. In most cases, it can be successfully treated. Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. Also called Circadian Rhythm Disorder, this condition occurs when the body’s biological clock breaks down and runs later than normal. The sufferer often cannot fall asleep before three or four o’clock in the morning and does not awaken before noon. Sleepwalking. This is the tendency to get up and wander while asleep. It is most common in children and tends to run in families. If someone in your house sleepwalks, it is important to keep doors and windows locked. Sleep Terrors. Those who suffer from this sleep disorder often scream, fight or thrash about wildly while sleeping and have no memory of it the next day.

Sleep Peacefully

A wide variety of therapies are available, including medication, light therapy, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices and scheduled naps. For some, a change in eating patterns will even out blood sugar levels, which helps improve sleep. How To Get The Best Night’s Sleep Possible There are a number of things a person can do to promote quality sleep. Here are ten proven tips: 1. Avoid caffeine. Avoid caffeine within eight hours of your bedtime. 2. Avoid alcohol near bedtime. Although alcohol is a sedative with calming attributes, alcohol has been shown to increase the number of times a person awakens in the latter half of sleep. 3. Exercise regularly. Those with a lot of movement during the day—walking, working out and other forms of activity—generally fall asleep faster and sleep better through the night. It is best to complete a workout at least three hours before bedtime. 4. Watch what you eat. Spicy foods and tomato products cause heartburn in many people. Heartburn makes falling asleep more difficult and causes more middle-of-the-night discomfort. Avoid eating too much before bedtime, but don’t go to bed hungry. Being too full or too hungry can disrupt sleep. 5. Give up nicotine. There are no health benefits from nicotine and when it comes to sleep, nicotine has extremely adverse effects. Nicotine has been linked to difficulty falling asleep, problems waking up and an increase in nightmares. 6. Restrict liquid intake. Have your last glass of water 60 to 90 minutes before going to bed. 7. Establish a regular relaxing bedtime routine. For example, relax in a whirlpool bath. Dim the lights half an hour before going to bed. Close curtains to create a dark environment. Send a signal to your brain that you

10 Keys to Create Wellness

are approaching the time to sleep. 8. Put yourself on a schedule of regular bedtimes and wake times. Plan ahead so that you have completed any take-home work a couple of hours before bedtime. Children and teens should complete their homework a couple of hours before bedtime, too. The same goes for extracurricular activities such as sports or social activities. Anything that stimulates physical or mental activity needs to end well in advance of bedtime. That includes Internet surfing and computer games! If you arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t getting the sleep you need, go to bed a half hour earlier tonight and incrementally add more sleep to your schedule until you are getting all the sleep you need. 9. Block out disruptive noise. Use earplugs, create white noise or play relaxing music to counteract disturbing noises, such as trains, sirens, loud conversations, airplanes, barking dogs or early morning traffic. In some cases, you may benefit by investing in rugs that absorb sound waves traveling through hard f loors, hanging heavy curtains at your bedroom window or installing double-paned windows. 10. Create a sleep-friendly environment, including a comfortable bed. Keep your bedroom dark, quiet and slightly cool. Consider purchasing a humidifier or dehumidifier to regulate the humidity level. Make sure your mattress provides the support you need. A good foundation or box spring is as important as a good mattress. Check your pillowâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;make sure it provides adequate support for your neck. If you use a body pillow, ensure that it has adequate support for your arms and legs. Indulge in good-quality bed linens. You will enjoy going to bed if your bedding is soft and luxurious. In all ways possible, value sleep and plan for a sufficient amount of it.

Sleep Peacefully

To help people fall asleep, I recommend a simple prayer, which helped me learn to sleep after decades of sleep deprivation. “Sleep, you are my friend. I invite you into my life to heal and rejuvenate my body. Thank You, God, for bringing sleep into my life.” Frequently, I had to say that prayer several times before I fell asleep. But an amazing thing happened within two weeks—I became a seven-hour-anight sleeper! Since a lack of sleep was likely the foremost factor contributing to my nervous system inflammation, a new habit of prolonged, peaceful sleep likely led to the recovery of my nervous system, which allowed me to pursue my life’s purpose once again. Sleep does more than heal and rejuvenate the body. It restores a sense of well-being to your emotions and spirit. ....

10 Keys to Create Wellness

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of SLEEPING PEACEFULLY to your TriVita business? You will think more clearly in your business if you do the following: Determine that you will develop a habit of sleeping seven to nine hours a night. ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Make sure your business appointments are completed at least two hours before you go to bed. ______________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Teach others in your family and business the value of sufficient sleep. Plan your family schedule so that each member of your family gets the sleep necessary to promote wellness._____________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ A full nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sleep helps a person live a fully awake day.

Key #4

Eat Nutritiously

Fuel Your Body With The Best-Quality Nutrients

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Key #4

Eat Nutritiously

everal years ago at our ranch in southern Colorado, we had a period of drought that lasted about five years. Then the pine bark beetle hit—a plague that

killed thousands of trees in Colorado. The plague moved through the Ponderosa Forest into the north-central part of Arizona and into the Prescott area. The results were tragic. Large, healthy, beautiful trees seemed to die overnight. How could such a tiny insect produce such devastating results? A weakness in the tree turned out to be a far bigger problem than the strength of the beetle. Normally, when a pine bark beetle begins to drill through the bark of a pine tree, the tree sends its pitch to the hole and stops the penetration of the beetle. These trees, however, had been deprived of nutrients from the soil that are carried upward into the tree by water. Consequently, the trees could not generate the pitch necessary to stop the boring of the beetles. The beetles penetrated well into the core, severing and disrupting the upward flow of water and nutrients at multiple points from all sides as the deadly pests swarmed the tree. The trees’ lifelines were cut and death came quickly. The lesson applies to human beings. Most people aren’t doing anything particularly bad when it comes to the way they treat their bodies. They aren’t depriving themselves of food or eating only harmful foods or inflicting injury

10 Keys to Create Wellness

upon themselves. They are, however, depriving themselves of the nutrients and nurturing necessary for good health at the cellular level. Then, when disease or injury strikes, the body does not have what it needs to resist the invading viruses or bacteria or mend the brokenness of bones, muscles and tissues. Seek to develop wellness at the CELLULAR level and you will likely experience total-body wellness characterized by sufficient energy, improved strength and an overall sense of well-being. The Body Was Designed To Heal Itself One amazing fact about the human body is that it has been designed to heal itself and resist disease. The immune system of a healthy individual constantly resists disease. The repair system of a healthy person constantly produces new cells to replace old, worn or weakened cells. The right fuel, however, must be present for the body to function as designed. The wellness message is rooted in the way a person thinks and the message here is this: Think about what you put into your mouth. Choose to eat what the body needs for health. Choose not to eat foods that are devoid of nutrients or harmful to health. For many years, I was well-conditioned and incredibly energetic. I worked out and ran regularly. It didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to matter that I was fueling my body with steak and other red meats, a lot of pasta and potatoes, a significant amount of pizza and soda, and fairly heavy amounts of caffeine and sugar. I ate in quantities that allowed me to maintain my weight. If I gained a pound or two, I simply worked out a little longer or harder to lose those pounds. I hate to think what my real health condition was at the cellular level. Actually, before I became a Wellness Seeker, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not even sure I knew

Eat Nutritiously

what “health at the cellular level” meant. In the aftermath of my nervous system inflammation that nearly stole my life, I became a serious Wellness Seeker. I discovered that these four food choices can make a tremendous difference in one’s wellness: 1. Choose to eat whole foods instead of processed foods. At best, processed foods and those using refined flour and sugar should be considered only emergency fuel—used only when real food is not available. This, of course, rarely happens. Whole foods are those that can be plucked directly from a tree or pulled from a garden—fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds with nothing done to them. These foods are best eaten fresh, raw, or lightly steamed and flavored with fresh herbs. Whole foods include whole grains, such as bran cereal, wheat germ and oatmeal (not instant oatmeal), as well as wild and brown rice. Legumes, beans and eggs fit the category, too. Beans and eggs are excellent natural sources of protein. Egg yolks contain cholesterol, while egg whites are high in lecithin, which emulsifies cholesterol. The lecithin balances the cholesterol for most people. Egg-white-only products are especially good for scrambled eggs. Eggs from chickens that are fed vitamin E are great additions to your diet. In comparison, processed foods include nearly all packaged foods, foods found in fast-food restaurants and commercial bakeries, some frozen foods and canned foods. The three big processes to avoid are these: • Whole grains processed into white flour • Sweet foods, such as cane or sugar beets, processed into white sugar • Fats processed through hydrogenation Eliminate all white flour, white sugar and hydrogenated fats (trans fats and partially hydrogenated fats included) and every cell in your body and brain will say, “Thank you.” Be sure to check food labels for chemical additives. Processed foods are nearly always loaded with salt, as well as some form of fat or sugar to add flavor. When you make the change from eating mostly processed foods to eating whole foods, food may suddenly seem bland. This will change,

10 Keys to Create Wellness

however, as your taste buds adjust. Over time, foods heavy in salt, fat and added sugars will seem distasteful and eating whole foods will feel very satisfying. When it comes to dairy products, choose nonfat milk, cottage cheese or yogurt. Avoid products laced with sugar or sugar-based flavoring, such as milkshakes and ice cream. Add more vegetables and fruit to your diet. Eat them raw, if possible, or lightly steamed or stir-fried. Experiment with new spices and herbs to keep mealtimes interesting and enjoyable. Choose organically grown produce whenever possible and do your best to eat whole foods as soon as possible after their harvest. (Organically grown produce has not been treated with pesticides, fungicides or chemicals that might detract from wellness.) By increasing the number of whole vegetables and fruits in your eating plan, you very likely will be increasing your intake of fiber. Fiber can scrub clean the walls of the intestines and colon, freeing the body of fatty buildup that inhibits a bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream. 2. Choose to eat more fish and less beef or fatty meat. Choose to eat more lean meats, like chicken and turkey, and less red meat. Be sure to remove the skin from poultry before eating it. Grill meats rather than frying them. Red meat, including ground meat contains higher amounts of fat. If you do eat red meat, select the leanest cut of meat possible. Again, avoid frying it in oil. Grill or broil it, trimming away as much fat as possible. Look for range-fed meats that have not been laced with antibiotics or genetically-engineered substances. Choose fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, cod, albacore tuna, haddock, bluefish and sardines. 3. Choose to eat breakfast. Breakfast is a great time to have whole fruit or a fruit salad. It is also important to have a good source of protein at breakfast, such as two boiled eggs or half a cup of nonfat cottage cheese or nonfat plain yogurt. Protein at breakfast can sustain your blood sugar levels at an even level until well past lunch. Protein at lunch can sustain your energy levels until dinner time. Regulated blood

Eat Nutritiously

sugar levels enable your body to avoid resorting to adrenaline to sustain energy or cope with stress. This is very important in maintaining a balance of stress-fighting hormones in your body. Those who control the release of adrenaline and insulin into their bodies reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes. Those who eat a balanced fruit and protein breakfast also have a lower tendency to overeat throughout a day. It becomes much easier to eat several small, evenly spaced portions of food throughout a day, which is the best way to maintain both blood sugar levels and weight. 4. Supplement your eating plan with necessary nutrients. As I became a Wellness Seeker, I began to read health reports and medical research. In the process, I learned a great deal about nutrients necessary for good health at the cellular level. I discovered that B vitamins are highly recommended as a therapy for fighting symptoms of stress. The B vitamins were extremely interesting to me since my physical condition was directly related to the adrenaline response that increases stress. I learned that energy levels and mental clarity are two sides of the same coin. Both are fueled by the B vitamins, taken as a whole and in balance. Vitamin B-12 has special nutrient value related to energy, mental clarity and stress. B vitamins can be consumed in green and leafy vegetables, but they can also be taken in supplements. B-12 comes in a pill that can be taken into the body and absorbed sublingually, which means “under the tongue.” I began to take B-12 sublingually every day and eat additional portions of vegetables and fruits. The results were amazing! I now take a regimen of the following outstanding TriVita supplements: • Sublingual B-12 • VitaDaily AM/PM • Vitamin C Time-Release Tablets • Vitamin E (1200 units) • CoQ-10 (150 mg)

10 Keys to Create Wellness

• Energy Now • Ginkgo Biloba (80 mg) • OmegaPrime (2-3 capsules) • Prostate Health (5 capsules) • VisionGuard (2 capsules) • Garlic (2 tablets) • AloeVita (2 oz) • Adaptogen 10 Plus (2 oz) • VitaCal-Mag D (2 tablets) Changes Begin With Decisions The vast majority of people cannot and do not make drastic whole-scale dietary changes overnight and stick with them. Lasting changes tend to be made one decision at a time. I made a series of small decisions in these four areas, then, as time passed, I made additional choices that were both practical and creative. Some of those decisions meant trying new cuisines, such as Asian or Mediterranean. I made decisions to eat slowly and chew my food more thoroughly. I sought foods that I called “feel great” foods—ones that would have the maximum effects of good nutrition, good presentation, good taste and a satisfying boost to my energy level and sense of well-being. Many people find it helpful to keep a log of what they eat. It helps them make wiser food choices and provides personal accountability. Portion control is often as important as food choices, and in some cases the timing of meals takes on new importance. The key is this: Think Wellness! Eat a balance of the best foods—as whole and fresh as possible—and supplement in key areas with high-quality nutrients. ....

Eat Nutritiously

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of EATING NUTRITIOUSLY to your TriVita business? You will have a greater sense of well-being if you do the following: Know fully the benefits of all the TriVita productsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;why, how and when to use them for what results. ________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Use the TriVita products. Become a living example of their benefits. ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Make certain that the refreshments you offer at business meetings and the meals that you share with business associates are nutritionally sound. __ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Determine which choices you need to make in order to think wellness when it comes to the foods you consume. Then make those choices! ___ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ To feel wellâ&#x20AC;Śeat well.

Key #5

Enjoy Activity

Now Is The Time To Walk Into Greater Wellness

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Enjoy Activity

Key #5

Enjoy Activity

art of being a Wellness Seeker involves adopting a new way of thinking about all aspects of health and well-being. Most people do

not like the word “exercise.” They think of exercise as boring, repetitive, painful and sweaty. The concept of exercise weighs heavily in their minds and emotions as a duty. Many people also do not like the phrase “work out” because it evokes thoughts associated with heavy weight lifting and painful stretching or embarrassing trips to expensive gyms. While there is no substitute for physical activity in wellness, it is very important to think in terms that are enjoyable, doable and beneficial. That’s why I use the words “movement” and “activity” when I talk to people about this key to wellness. Most people can identify at least one type of movement they enjoy—such as dancing, walking the mall or neighborhood with a friend or swimming in the ocean or pool. Most people want to stay active as long as possible in their lives. The words “movement” and “activity” are words loaded with good meaning. If you think in terms of enjoying movement and activity, you will be likely to move more, be more active and enjoy movement and activity on a daily basis!

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Made To Move Just as the human body was created to breathe, sleep and heal itself, so the human body was made to move—and move often. Numerous medical studies have shown that regular physical activity has 20 major benefits to the human body: • Reduces the risk of dying from coronary heart disease • Reduces the risk of having a second heart attack in people who have already suffered one • Decreases the risk of a stroke • Decreases high blood pressure • Relieves the pain of arthritis • Correlates to fewer hospitalizations, physician visits and medications • Increases circulation, which speeds oxygen, nutrients and water to the cells • Enables the lymphatic system to function better, purging the body of built-up toxins that can lead to disease • Triggers the brain to release health-giving hormones and enzymes that lift the spirit while bolstering the immune system • Keeps joints more flexible • Helps keep bones stronger • Lowers total blood cholesterol and triglycerides, while increasing “good” cholesterol levels • Lowers the risk of developing non-insulin-dependent (Type 2) diabetes • Helps maintain good muscle tone—a key to looking more youthful • Helps a person handle stress better • Improves sleep • Helps the brain function with greater focus and concentration • Assists in weight loss • Assists in maintaining desired weight • Builds physical stamina

Enjoy Activity

Every system in the body works better as a person increases his or her overall activity level. Furthermore, people of all ages benefit from even moderate-intensity physical activity. Nobody is too young or old to benefit from movement and activity. How Much Activity Is Sufficient? Nearly all health professionals seem to agree on this general rule: Adults should participate in regular physical activity at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week or do 40 minutes of vigorous physical activity at least three times a week. That’s the minimum for sustaining good health. Young people, college-age and younger, should strive for at least an hour of exercise each day. The good news for those who cannot block out 30 minutes a day for enjoyable movement or physical activity is this: Studies are showing that even 10 minutes of sustained regular activity done three times a day has the same benefit as 30 minutes of sustained exercise. Nearly everyone can find three 10-minute blocks of time each day to go for a brisk walk. Think through your normal daily schedule. Think how you might add 10 minutes of brisk walking before work, as a morning break, during lunchtime, as an afternoon break, as soon as you get home from work or right after dinner. Choose three of those times and lace up your walking shoes. Build up your activity slowly over time—perhaps adding more minutes, more steps, more repetition or a little heavier weight. The old saying “no pain, no gain” is wrong. If you begin to have pain as you walk or jog,

10 Keys to Create Wellness

or as you lift weights or do stretching exercises, stop that particular exercise. This is true for the pain that might indicate heart problems, but also true for pain that might indicate possible injury to joints, feet, ankles and legs. If you have been inactive for a while or have serious health concerns, you should see a physician before starting regular physical activity. In most cases, however, a person can begin with a 10-minute walk and not do any harm. If you are over 40 years old or currently at risk for heart disease, consult a physician if you experience any of the following: • Pain or pressure in your left or mid-chest area, left neck, shoulder or arm during or right after physical activity; or if you have had chest pain within the last month • Loss of consciousness or balance due to dizziness • Extreme breathlessness after mild exertion • Physician-recommended medication for blood pressure or a heart condition • Diagnoses of bone or joint problems that might be worsened by physical activity • Insulin-dependent diabetes or another medical condition or physical ailment that may require special attention Great Benefits From Walking Walking is perhaps the most basic adult movement. You have to be able to walk before you can run around a tennis court, get out on the dance floor or sprint to first base after hitting a ball. Like the other wellness keys of breathing, drinking water, sleeping and eating, walking is something that you are already doing. In your quest for greater wellness, the challenge is to walk more and to be more intentional about your walking activity. If done with enough vigor, walking can be an aerobic exercise that

Enjoy Activity

conditions your heart and lungs. Even in moderate intensity, walking has both short-term and long-term benefits. Walking is preferable to jogging or running for those who are over 40 years old and have not been active. Walking tends to cause fewer injuries to tendons and joints than jogging. Walking is the easiest and best physical activity for most people and it costs very little. Here are some basic walking tips: Invest in a good pair of walking shoes. You will enjoy walking more and stick with it longer if you have good shoes. Choose shoes with thick, flexible soles that cushion the sole of the foot and absorb shock for the rest of the body. Start slowly. You should be able to talk while walking and your heart rate should return to normal within 10 minutes after you stop walking. Walk about the same time every day. Make walking a daily habit that you will miss if you don’t do it. Increase your distance and speed over time. Use the first few minutes of a walk to warm up—walking slowly and gradually increasing your speed. Walk slower again at the end of your walk to cool off. If you are walking at dusk or early in the morning, wear reflective tape or clothing. Make sure that drivers sharing the street can see you. Avoid hard or uneven surfaces. Cement or rough fields can contribute to accidents and injuries. Drink water before and after a vigorous walk. If you are walking more than 30 minutes, drink water during your walk. Ask a friend to walk with you. It’s safer and you will enjoy the exercise more. Don’t give up. If you don’t reach your goal of time or distance on a given day, don’t be discouraged. Start again fresh the next morning. Find a family member to join you if you can. This can be a good, emotionally bonding time with a spouse or child. Consider joining an exercise group. If you can’t find a family member,

10 Keys to Create Wellness

neighbor or friend to walk with you, join a health club or YMCA. Try new routes. You might try walking through a zoo or park you have not visited in a while. Occasionally, engage in another type of activity. Vary your routine with swimming or biking. Even on a day when you are mainly walking, consider doing a few sets of stretching exercises or light weight lifting. Two 16-ounce water bottles filled with water can become a set of weights. Carry one in each hand as you walk. You will be strengthening bones and muscles even as you improve your cardiovascular health. Choose a comfortable time of day. Nobody enjoys physical activity if it’s too hot or too cold. Wait about 20 minutes after a meal before engaging in moderate physical activity. Don’t compare yourself to others. Your goal is your own wellness, not winning a competition. Keep a log of your activity. It will motivate you over time. Use A Pedometer To Count Your Steps A pedometer is a simple device that detects body motion and counts footsteps. It attaches to a belt or clips to a waistband. The price typically ranges from $5 to $30, depending on quality. You can find pedometers in many retail and fitness stores and in the TriVita catalog. Put on a pedometer first thing in the morning and wear it throughout the day. Check the number of steps you have taken two or three times during the day. Set yourself a goal. Ultimately aim for 10,000 steps a day. That’s the amount recommended by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. One of the main advantages of a pedometer is that it keeps a record

Enjoy Activity

of all the steps you take in a given time frame. A 30-minute walk might only produce 4,000 steps. That’s a great start to 10,000 steps, but in order to reach 10,000, you need to take two walks a day or figure out how to add more steps in the normal course of your regular routine. What can you do to increase the number of steps you take? Here are a few tips: • Park as far from the door of a store entrance as possible. • Get off a bus or subway one stop earlier and walk the remaining blocks. • Take the stairs for several flights instead of the elevator or escalator. • Get up and walk through your office or outside during water and lunch breaks. People who want to lose weight often find that the closer they get to 10,000 steps, day in and day out, the faster the pounds melt away. Replace Myths With Verifiable Facts Several myths about physical activity need to be replaced with verifiable facts: 1. Myth: Exercise makes you tired. Moderate activity actually helps reduce fatigue. It energizes the body. 2. Myth: Older people should exercise less than younger people. People of all ages need to engage in physical activity. Middle-aged and older people benefit from regular physical activity just as young people do. Regular physical activity in older people increases their capacity to perform the chores of daily life and helps them maintain independence. 3. Myth: Exercising with weights makes a person have bulky, bodybuilder muscles. Most weight-training exercises simply tone the body. They increase muscle strength without increasing muscle mass. A person at any age can benefit a great deal from activities that use light weights. 4. Myth: All physical activities have equal benefits. Some activities

10 Keys to Create Wellness

have greater benefit to the heart and lungs. These activities include walking, swimming and bicycling, especially with an intensity that causes the heart to pump within a target heart rate for aerobic benefit. Activities such as stretching help with flexibility and balance. Most activity programs that use weights help increase physical strength. 5. Myth: Unless you are really exercising hard, there are no physical benefits to movement. Even low-intensity activitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;such as gardening, yard work, houseworkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;can help lower a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s risk of heart disease if those activities are done daily. Obviously, walking briskly has more benefit to the heart and lungs than strolling leisurely. However, a leisurely stroll is better than sitting for hours in a rocking chair. In addition, that leisurely stroll might help to clear the mind, promote creativity, aid in socialization and give a person a greater appreciation for the whole of life. Activities Other Than Walking Choose activities you like to do! Some people with arthritis enjoy swimming in a warm pool or doing water aerobics at a gym because these activities are easier on their joints. Some people enjoy dancing, especially if they can get their spouse to join them in dance classes. Others enjoy riding a bicycle. Some would rather ride a stationary bicycle while watching television. Make sure you have adequate gear for your chosen activity. For example, if you enjoy swimming, consider using goggles and earplugs to protect yourself from chlorine and inner ear problems. If you play handball or racquetball, use goggles to protect your eyes. If you bike or skate, use a helmet and, if necessary, elbow and knee pads.

Enjoy Activity

Always remember that the best activity is the one that you will actually doâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and do consistently. Increased movement has been shown to benefit people in a variety of emotional and psychological ways. Many research studies conclude that increased activity has a beneficial effect on symptoms of depression and anxiety. Some research indicates that regular activity stimulates the growth of new brain cells that enhance memory and learning. Other studies show that regular physical activity prevents cognitive decline in older adults. In other words, it may slow dementia and improve decision-making and problemsolving. Movement and activity are beneficial to the whole of a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. ....

10 Keys to Create Wellness

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of ENJOYING ACTIVITY to your TriVita business? You will have a greater sense of well-being if you do the following: Develop a personal habit of greater activity and movement._____ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Invite others in your business to join your exercise breaks. _______ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Invest in a pedometer and encourage others in your business to do the same. Keep a log of your walking and consider the possibility of working with another person in your business to form a walking-accountability group. Compare notes on the number of steps you take in a given week. Encourage each other to keep walking through tough or stressful times. ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ The most important step in reaching a 10,000-steps-a-day goal is the FIRST step. Put on your walking shoes and get going!

Key #6

Give and Receive Love

Develop the Greatest Motivational Force of All

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Key #6

Give and Receive Love

ellness includes much more than physical health. Emotional, psychological and spiritual strength and energy are required to

sustain a strong sense of well-being and maintain the ability to pursue and accomplish significant, fulfilling life purposes. Love is perhaps the greatest motivator for changing your mindset and embarking on a quest for wellness. When I look back over the years I have been a Wellness Seeker, I have a profound understanding that love was at the root of my choice to change my life. Love compelled me to want to get well and love continues to compel me to stay well. When I experienced my personal health crisis, I came face to face with what mattered most to me: I wanted to know that I was loved and I wanted those I loved to know that I loved them. Love is most likely at the core of why people choose the life purposes they do. The love may be for family, mankind or God. Regardless of the focus or origin of love, it is what motivates each of us to create or accomplish something beneficial to mankind. It is love that moves a person beyond self to help others and leave something behind that will continue to benefit others in the future. When love is the foundation for wealth-creation and wellness seeking, both life purposes

10 Keys to Create Wellness

(the long-range picture) and daily activities (the short-range picture) take on tremendous importance. When it comes to wealth-creation, love motivates our care and concern for others. It compels us to take actions to create a better world for those with any kind of need. Love and giving cannot be separated. When it comes to our personal wellness, love gives us purpose for our days, which directly impacts our will to live. When we value those we love and know that we are valued in return, we want to make healthy choices. Projects and causes matter most because people matter even more. The Amazing Health Benefits Of Love Love is not just a nice, desirable emotion. It has numerous health benefits. Through the years, various words and phrases have been used to describe love, including: • Strong commitment • Open lines of communication • Shared tasks • Warm contact • Companionship • Mutual support These phrases, interestingly, have also been attributed to healthy marriages and long-term, highly valued friendships. Much of the research related to love is research related to loving relationships. The research has shown that love has profound physical benefits. Here are a few medical and psychological research findings: • People in good marriages have a lower risk of cardiovascular

Give and Receive Love

disease than those in high-stress relationships. • Married people live longer, have lower cancer rates and even contract pneumonia less frequently than singles. • Ovarian cancer patients with a strong sense of connection to others seem to have more natural killer cell activity at the site of their tumors than those lacking strong friendships. • People in close, loving relationships appear to have significantly higher amounts of immunoglobulin A, an antibody that is the body’s first line of defense in fighting disease and infection. • Hugging may dramatically lower blood pressure and boost blood levels of oxytocin, a relaxing hormone that plays a key role in childbirth, breast-feeding and sexual orgasm. Feelings of love and romance release brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. These affect the body in numerous beneficial ways. For example, people in healthy, happy, loving relationships are less likely to abuse alcohol, develop psychological stress disorders, suffer from headaches and back pain and disengage from physical activity. There are three distinct, major health benefits to love: 1. Coherent Heart Rhythms. New research examines heart rhythms and the various factors that create heart rhythm patterns. Some researchers have concluded that it is the heart muscle that monitors the bloodstream for hormones and translates this hormonal information to the brain, rather than the brain dictating the body’s need for hormones. They have demonstrated that the autonomic nervous system has two branches—one that speeds things up and another that slows things down. When you are angry, for example, the two halves of the nervous system get out of sync. One tries to speed up the heart and the other attempts to slow it down, causing an erratic rhythm. When you are in a loving state, however, the two halves of the nervous system operate in harmony. This creates a coherent heart rhythm,

10 Keys to Create Wellness

which helps the body naturally regenerate. 2. Love Overcomes Stress Hormones. One researcher has studied the production of cortisol, known as the stress hormone. Cortisol suppresses the immune system. It is released even if a person feels strong anger for only five minutes. The amount of cortisol released in that time can suppress immunoglobulin A (IgA), an antibody, for up to six hours. What an amazing finding—five minutes of anger can lower a person’s immune system for up to six hours! Lower IgA levels have been linked to increased susceptibility to colds, flu and respiratory disease. However, when subjects in this study felt love and appreciation for a single five-minute period, their IgA level rose significantly. This spike in IgA tapered off and then slowly rose for many hours afterward. The bottom line: Love and compassion boost the immune system. Cortisol can also cause a decrease in DHEA levels. DHEA is known as the anti-aging hormone. Negative emotions such as anger, hatred, bitterness and resentment can cause your basic cells and tissues to age more rapidly. Love and higher IgA can have the opposite effect. If you want to age more slowly and feel younger, turn toward love and reject negative emotions. 3. Acts of Caring. Although many studies have shown the physiological benefits of sexual activity, new studies show that simple altruistic social behaviors best described as “acts of caring” can also have health benefits. Those who help others appear to have greater mental health and physical functions across all age, gender, income, general health and religion categories. Another study has shown that simply holding hands with a romantic partner can greatly reduce the harmful physical effects of stress. One of the most interesting studies involved the way people remembered angry or stressful events. Just the memory of a stressful event can cause systolic (upper) blood pressure readings to jump more than 20 points and heart rate to increase 10 beats per minute. For the hand-holders, blood pressure and heart rate increased only half as much when they were asked to recall stressful events.

Give and Receive Love

Learn The Toughest Lessons About Love Learning to love is not automatic. Many people struggle with two of love’s toughest lessons. Loving Self. Perhaps the most difficult lesson is learning to love self. Many people are taught in early childhood to give generously and avoid selfishness or self-centeredness. We are taught to do for others, often to the extent that we feel guilty when we do anything for ourselves. A key to wellness, however, is to value yourself. You will not set high wellness goals, nor will you truly seek to create lasting wealth to benefit others, if you do not value yourself. You must see yourself as worthy of accomplishment, health and contributing something of lasting value. I personally like the word “nurture” and use it often. For me, it is almost a synonym for love. Love is giving what nurtures another human being. Nurturing words and actions promote goodness and wellness. Selfnurture also promotes goodness and wellness. It is not wrong to give yourself a break, take time to relax, do something that brings personal pleasure, reward yourself in a healthy way, enjoy moments of beauty or seek to be your best self. Receiving Love. The second toughest lesson is learning how to receive love from other people. People who are raised in an environment long on discipline and short on expressions of affection often find it difficult to receive gifts or simple expressions of love, such as hugs or tender words. The good news is that a person can learn to be a gracious receiver of love. The key is to stop thinking about self in those moments and think instead, “This is giving the other person pleasure. Don’t negate what he or she is seeking to do.” If you downgrade another person’s compliments, applause or expressions of love, you say to that person, “Your compliment is a lousy gift,”

10 Keys to Create Wellness

or, “You don’t really know what you are doing.” Don’t devalue acts of love from another person! You certainly wouldn’t want them to downgrade or devalue your expressions of appreciation, approval or love. Express Love One of the simplest and most practical expressions of love is sending a note. You might choose a blank card and write a message in it. Three of my personal favorite quotes on love are: • “To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others.” —François Mauriac • “The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, they must be felt with the heart.” —Helen Keller • “There is only one happiness in life: to love and to be loved.” —George Sand Your love note might include one of these quotes and a statement about at least one quality, act of kindness or character trait in the person that you admire or respect. Sit down right now and make a list of people who need to hear you say, “I love you.” It might also be an expression of, “I admire you,” or, “I respect you.” Make a decision that you will send a little love note to each of these people over the course of the next six months. ....

Give and Receive Love

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of GIVING AND RECEIVING LOVE to your TriVita business? Your relationships will improve immensely by doing the following: Think about the people you love the most and who love you. Keep photos of those people where you can see them often, perhaps framed photos placed on an office bookshelf, in your wallet or tucked into the frame of a frequently used mirror. These photos can serve as a wonderful reminder of why you are pursuing your life purposes, creating wealth and seeking wellness. _______________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Send a note to each of your business associates expressing your appreciation and respect. ________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Do something nurturing for yourself today. __________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Do you love enough to pursue wellness and create wealth to accomplish your life purposes?

Key #7

Be Forgiving

Set Yourself Emotionally Free To Pursue Your Highest Purposes

10 Keys to Create Wellness

Key #7

Be Forgiving

am convinced that any person who has passed their first birthday has felt emotional pain. The hurt may take the form of rejection from a group on

the playground or anger at insults or criticism. It may be felt in the wake of unjustified punishment or abuse. It could be the result of unwanted teasing or taunting from a bully. Emotional wounds often cut deep and remain unhealed all of one’s life. When a person hangs on to a hurt, either consciously or subconsciously, heartache develops that can seethe just beneath the surface of other emotions. That wound can give rise to outbursts of anger, feelings of revenge or deep shame and guilt that cause a person to cower and withdraw from life. Painful Emotions Can Become Toxic The bad news is that many people don’t recognize they are holding on to toxic emotions. At times, some people don’t really want to be free of these negative emotions. They become accustomed to anger, hate, revenge or shame and have no idea what it would be like to be free of these feelings. They suspect that the wrong done to them might never be righted or punished if

10 Keys to Create Wellness

they let go of their emotions. Just as a person might hold a criminal physically captive, many people hold on to a persecutor emotionally, with the idea that he or she will pay for the wrongdoing. The good news is that you can be free from toxic emotions. The cure is called forgiveness. Giving and receiving forgiveness are essential to wellness. Genuine Forgiveness One of the best working definitions of forgiveness is this: Forgiveness is letting go. It is releasing negative hurts and heartaches, releasing the emotions associated with painful experiences and releasing from the prison of your heart the person who inflicted pain on you. Forgiveness is not saying that the negative experience never happened, that it was not painful or that it was wrong for you to feel pain. Forgiveness is not denial. Forgiveness is not saying that everything is okay. Forgiveness is not glossing over a wrong and saying that it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter. Forgiveness is not saying that all claims to justice need to be laid aside. Wrongs should be righted or compensated. Negative situations and relationships should be healed and reconciled. Justice should prevail. In some cases, perpetrators or abusers need to be arrested, charged and convicted in a court of law. Compensation for losses and retribution may need to take place. Apologies should be spoken. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just one catch. You are not the person who can usually make things right. It takes two to reconcile. It takes a higher authority to administer justice. You do not have control or authority over the person who hurt you. Only God can change their heart, convict them of the wrong they have done or bring them to the justice they really deserve (and to the place of mercy that they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t deserve).

Be Forgiving

Forgiving is letting go. It is saying, “I choose not to carry negative and toxic emotions in my heart any longer. I choose to release them. I choose to release the memory of this situation from my mind and release the person who hurt me from the dungeon of my heart.” Why is this important? Because as long as you are holding on to something negative, you cannot receive something truly positive and helpful into your life! If you contemplate revenge, you cannot simultaneously think creative, productive, wholesome, enriching and honorable thoughts. If you harbor hatred, you cannot feel love, either. If you bear anger, you cannot be an instrument of peace at the same time. If you hold on to an old, painful memory, you will do very little to create a new, beautiful memory. If you cling to an old, hurtful relationship, you will do little to open yourself up to a new, loving relationship. You must let go of pain in order to receive what will genuinely improve your well-being and happiness. There are three things I know about forgiveness without a doubt: • No matter how healthy all of your other habits become, unless you forgive you will never feel your best physically, emotionally or spiritually. • Letting go of negative feelings allows peace and optimism to flow into you in a new and powerful way. • Not all forgiveness happens instantly, but the beginning of forgiveness happens in a moment. Forgiveness is an act of the will. It is a first step in the right direction. You may not arrive at perfect peace and joy instantly, but you can start in that direction right now and continue the journey until you arrive. When you and I say to another person, “You are forgiven,” we are

10 Keys to Create Wellness

also saying, “There is no longer an issue between us.” After you have forgiven a person, you will find that you don’t mind being in the same room with that person. You are free of any hold he or she has had on you. You have a new confidence and freedom to speak and act in a normal way because you really have ceased to be concerned about what that person thought, said or did to you in the past. I am not saying that you should automatically open yourself up to someone with total trust if that person has repeatedly hurt or abused you. You should learn from life and not subject yourself to repeated injury. What I am saying is that you can walk with your head held high and refuse to cower or shrink in the presence of someone who has hurt or abused you. When you let go of people and release your pain, you also free yourself from hearing their insults or internalizing their criticism or hatred. You have a higher degree of emotional immunity! I was once deeply hurt by something negative that happened in my business. I experienced significant loss and struggled with forgiveness. I knew, however, that in order to be better, I needed to make a conscious choice to not be bitter. But how could I release the bitterness and truly forgive? I chose to do a very simple thing, which turned out to be rather profound. I had purchased and planted two small palm trees by the tennis court at my home. About the same time I experienced this deep emotional pain related to my business, these two palm trees became sick. I was determined to help them recover. I named those two palm trees the names of the individuals who caused me so much pain in my business. Every time I went to play tennis, I walked by those trees and said, “I bless you.” I called the two trees by the names of those who had injured me. An amazing thing happened. Those two trees recovered, flourished and stand tall to this day! They remind me of the power of forgiveness. Not only did those palm trees become healthy, but I also became healthy in my

Be Forgiving

emotions. I released my pain, anger and bitterness in the form of forgiveness and blessing. My business also rebounded. Rather than focus on the hit I had taken, I focused on what it would take to rebuild. Forgive Self Just as it is often difficult to love self, it may be difficult to forgive yourself for past mistakes and failures. Guilt may be motivational for some people, but in the end, guilt is a miserable state. It can lead to very poor health habits and addictive behaviors. Guilt certainly correlates strongly to stress. I am convinced that much of the guilt people feel toward themselves is false guilt. False guilt can arise when one sets an unreasonably high standard of performance. Nobody can ever achieve perfection, but the pursuit of perfection and the failure to attain it can induce false guilt. People take on responsibility for negative behaviors that they did not initiate. This is especially true for people who may have been somehow abused during childhood. If one feels guilty for things for which he or she did not do or could not control, that is false guilt. Recognize your own false guilt and choose to let go of old memories associated with rejection, hurt and failure. In my personal life, I did something that brought me great freedom. I ref lected over the years of my life and identified every significant mistake. Then I wrote letters to the people who were involved and asked for their forgiveness. I also wrote letters to those who had hurt me, telling them that I was forgiving them for the hurt I had experienced and stating that I was setting the memory of the hurt free from my mind and heart. Unlike the short love notes, these letters were sometimes many

10 Keys to Create Wellness

pages long. And also unlike the love notes, these were letters that I wrote but did not send. I sealed these letters and threw them away. I shredded some and tossed others into a fireplace. The point of the letters was not to communicate with a person I had hurt or who had hurt me. In nearly all cases, the person involved would not have remembered the incident or did not think there was an issue between us. In several cases, the person was dead. The point was that I needed to forgive. I needed to let go of the experience, forgive myself for any pain I had caused and move on. Writing a detailed letter was a tangible way of scraping out of my heart the negative emotions and guilt that had become encrusted there. Let this truth sink deep into you: Another person doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to know that you forgive them or that you want to be forgiven by them. YOU are the one who needs to know that you have forgiven and released the issue so that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no longer an issue. Forgiveness is primarily for YOUR sake. The Foundation For Living In Peace Forgiveness lies at the core of all peace initiatives. It is the foundation for reconciliation and living with an inner sense of peaceful well-being. There are a number of places that study peace and forgiveness, including the Stanford University Center for Research in Disease Prevention. A researcher by the name of Fred Luskin is the director of the Stanford Forgiveness Project. He has worked with Byron Bland, a Presbyterian minister who serves as the associate director of the Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation. Their work is still in its infancy, but

Be Forgiving

both men contend that forgiveness can be learned. People can be trained to let go of their hurts and grudges. They have found that those who successfully complete “forgiveness training” show a significant decrease in symptoms such as chest pain, back pain, headaches, sleep problems, nausea and loss of appetite. The psychological and health benefits persist for months or years. Here are just a few of the techniques that are used in bringing about forgiveness: Tell your grievance story. Say it once as fully as possible. Write it down if necessary. Once you have told your grievance story, refuse to tell it again. Rehearsing a grievance or grudge only engrains it and solidifies it in your emotions. With each retelling of the story, you tend to have a rise in blood pressure, a surge of adrenaline and an increase in anger or frustration. Feelings of victimization can set in. In place of the old grievance story, create a new story about what you desire for your life. Talk about the attributes you want to have in your relationships with other people, including the person who hurt you. At times you may want to have distance or separation in a relationship. Recognize that for distance or separation to be completely satisfactory, you must want the other person to have some degree of peace and joy in their life, even as you have peace and joy in yours. That’s the best way to prevent them from seeking you out and ensuring that you don’t seek them out in vengeance. Recognize any anger you feel toward a negative situation in the past and channel that anger into something practical, tangible and positive that you choose to create for good. Get involved in a positive project of some type.

10 Keys to Create Wellness

The Health Benefits Of Forgiveness What happens when a person forgives? Certainly the emotional and psychological benefits are great. People have reported in a number of studies that relationships become stronger and feelings of happiness increase. Some studies have documented lower levels of depression or a decrease in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. There are five main physical benefits repeatedly associated with forgiveness: Reduced Stress. When a person becomes stressed, muscles tense, blood pressure rises and sweating increases. All three of these symptoms are reversed with forgiveness. Reduced Pain. Those who convert anger to compassion and forgiveness feel less pain and anxiety associated with pain. Better Heart Health. One study has found a strong link between forgiveness and improvements in both blood pressure and heart rate, which result in a decreased workload for the heart muscle. Improved Neurological Function and Memory. When old, negative memories no longer dominate, happier memories are more readily recalled. A person also has greater brain power available for creating, solving problems and making good choices and decisions. Improved Immune Function. Unhealthy hormones and chemicals cease to be released into the bloodstream, allowing for greater impact by positive hormones and neurotransmitters. These benefits associated with forgiveness seem to increase with age. Middle-aged and older adults benefit even more than young people from letting go of old hurts and painful memories. Time alone does not heal or bring about forgiveness, but intentional forgiveness can heal hurts that have been harbored for decades.

Be Forgiving

Continue To Live In A State Of Forgiveness Once you have forgiven another person or released an old, hurtful memory, it is important that you hold on to forgiveness. If you have any doubts about whether you have forgiven, simply voice your forgiveness once again. Say aloud, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I forgave that. I forgive it again. I let it go right now.â&#x20AC;? Make a commitment to ongoing forgiveness. Refuse to allow negative and toxic emotions to entrap you again. They are toxic to your health and wellness. Give yourself permission to love again, trust again and reach out to help other people again. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t shrink back from doing the right things out of fear of pain and hurt. Take the risk. You will likely find it easier to take the risk of loving and giving because you know that if people hurt you, you can forgive and walk freely and confidently with hope toward your own future. Forgiveness is a process, not just a moment. Start today and enjoy the journey toward a life in which you live in complete forgiveness of others and yourself. ....

10 Keys to Create Wellness

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of BEING FORGIVING to your TriVita business? You will be more respected when you practice the following: Make sure you have forgiven every person who has disappointed or hurt you in your business. Forgive every person who has rejected your message of wellness or thwarted your efforts to create genuine wealth. Let go of bad memories. Release negative feelings in your own heart by writing letters to those people, but do not send the letters. _______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Identify something positive you might do to counteract any hurtful behavior on the part of a business associate. Get busy doing that positive thing!__________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Over time, write a letter of forgiveness to every person you need to forgive, including yourself.

Key #8

Practice Gratitude

Express Thankfulness For What Has Been, What Is And What Is To Come

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Key #8

Pr actice Gr atitude

ome of the most important questions you can ask yourself as you pursue wellness are, “How grateful am I really? To whom am I grateful? How

am I expressing my gratitude?” Prior to my health crisis, I was grateful for many things I had accomplished, acquired and experienced. But gratitude was not a dominant emotion for me and I certainly was not intentional about expressing it. In many ways, I was like a high percentage of young men and women who are in an “acquiring” mode. I didn’t inherit any money or receive any unexpected windfalls. I knew from an early age that any degree of luxury or success in life would be the result of my own work, ingenuity and skill. If I wanted anything, I was going to have to pursue it and acquire it. Up to the age of 50, I spent my years setting, pursuing and reaching goals. I also helped others set, pursue and reach their goals. Not all of them were related to finances or career. Some goals were personal, some involved family and some concerned church and community. Some goals were tangible, others were not. When a person focuses on reaching beyond what is toward what might be—whether that pursuit is for more material goods, power, fame,

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recognition or accomplishments—the pursuit takes on passion and purpose. What I did not know then, but I realize now, is this: Performance in passionate pursuit of purpose must be balanced by deep gratitude. The activities related to my goals in those early years were marked by their intensity. I readily admit that I was very ambitious and competitive back then. Whatever game I played, I played to win. If I was fly-fishing on the river, I tried to catch the most fish. If I played golf with friends or clients, I aimed for the lowest score. If I went mountain climbing, I wanted to reach the summit first. If I did anything, I strove for perfection. This intensity limited my activities, because if I could not do something well, I chose not to pursue it at all. When I hit my health crisis and became a Wellness Seeker, I had to rethink and reshape my life. I came face to face with my ambitions and competitive drive. I had to answer these questions: “Where did all my ambitious energy and competitive drive lead me? What has my perfectionism brought me?” The answers were not good. My intense striving to achieve goals took me to a place of intense pain and weakness. While ref lecting on my own pursuit of success, I frequently said, “I’m just grateful to be alive. I’m grateful to have a chance to redo some things. I’m grateful for a loving family to help me through this. I’m grateful I can still think and make changes.” I found myself grateful for the simple things—a long night of sleep, renewed energy and signs of returning strength. I found myself grateful for the things I was learning about wellness. “But,” you may ask, “didn’t you just exchange the pursuit of career for the pursuit of wellness? Didn’t you merely switch from material and financial goals to health-related ones?”

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Yes…and no. I did set myself the goal of becoming as well as possible. But at the same time, I adopted an entirely new mindset. I set myself toward the pursuit of a goal that I knew I could never fully reach. Wellness cannot be quantified. It is a state of well-being. It is a journey toward living in that state of well-being. Wellness is a goal that cannot be ticked off a checklist or set into a timetable for accomplishment. The goals I now possess set direction in my life. I also developed a mindset of wanting to enjoy the process. Frankly, I never thought much about pleasure in the journey when it came to the goals in my first 50 years of life. I played to win. Only winning was important. Enjoying the process was entirely secondary. Today, as I pursue wellness and create wealth, I truly enjoy the process. I am grateful for every day and each good thing that comes into my life. The good thing might be an hour playing with a grandchild on the f loor, a walk with my wife or reading a letter from a person whose life has dramatically improved since they became a Wellness Seeker. Expressing gratitude is simple. It means saying with sincerity, “Thank you,” or “I appreciate you and what you teach me through your life,” or “I’m grateful to you for the example you are and the work you do.” Who is worthy of your gratitude? Anyone who contributes to your life in a positive way. Gratitude can and should be intentionally voiced or expressed in writing to any and every person who gives you their time, talent or skills. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to stop and say, “Thank you.” However, it can mean the world to the person to whom you voice your thanks and appreciation. For some people, you may find it is easier to put your appreciation and gratitude into a letter. For others, you may find it easier to verbalize your thanks. As with love, the important step is expressing your feelings.

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Develop An Attitude Of Gratitude Gratitude is far more than spoken words or written notes; it must become a perspective. Developing an attitude of gratitude means, first of all, that you place new value on the things that are truly important in life. Gratitude often requires an adjustment in priorities. Ask yourself, “What am I most grateful for today?” Make a list of the top 25 things for which you are most grateful. Then take a long look at your list. If you listed people among your top 25 “thanks” list, have you thanked the person for being in your life, loving you and giving to you? Have you thanked them lately? Ever? Today? The more you focus on the things and people for which you are deeply grateful, the more you will shift your focus from what you don’t have to what you do have. That shift in perspective can be as dramatic as a sudden earthquake. It can have a simple, but profound, effect upon your life. What happens when you focus on the negative aspects of life or the voids that you long to fill? You tend to become frustrated, anxious or worried. Dwelling on the negative can also fill you with fear and dread. Intense anxiety or frustration that goes unchecked or unrestrained nearly always leads to discouragement. Discouragement is just a few steps away from depression and despair. Hope dies. Apathy sets in. And just under the surface of apathy fester frustration, anxiety and fear. Over time, discouragement increases and depression can easily become chronic or clinical in nature. It’s a downhill slide all the way. However, if you focus on the good things you do have in life, a positive, uplifting cycle takes hold. Gratitude for what is creates an increased level of alertness for what might be. Grateful people enjoy greater enthusiasm for life. That enthusiasm generates an abundance of

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determination, optimism and energy. There’s a deep feeling of joy—being blessed, satisfied and well-nurtured. When you believe your life is filled with satisfaction and meaning, you experience a sense of abiding purpose and fulfillment: • Positive thoughts and feelings replace negative ones. • Dismay gives way to hope. • Fear gives way to faith. • Frustration gives way to optimism. • Sadness gives way to happiness. • Your mood is lightened and brightened. Psychologist Robert Emmons, Ph.D., has spent 20 years studying what makes people happy. He has concluded, “When people consciously practice grateful living, their happiness will go up and their ability to withstand negative events will improve.” Gratitude Demands Expression In the wealth-creation section of this book, we discuss the Law of Expression. Expressing gratitude includes expressing gratitude for things that have not yet happened, but you believe will become real in your life. A tremendous thing happens as you give thanks in advance for things that have not occurred. The mind and heart are set in a positive way to receive what will be. Are you aware that you can and should be thankful now for the wealth you will receive in the future? Are you aware that you can and should voice thanks today for the furtherance of your life purpose that will occur tomorrow? Expressing thanks in advance creates the atmosphere of gratitude in which creativity thrives and produces those things that you desire most!

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The Impact on Relationships Gratitude causes relationships to improve. Research has shown that gratitude impacts relationships in several ways: • Grateful people are more empathetic and quick to understand the perspective of others. • Grateful people are more generous and helpful, which means that they are more likely to share their possessions with others. • Grateful people have wider and stronger social networks. • Grateful people feel more responsibility for others. • Grateful people are less envious. The Health Benefits Of Simple Gratitude Just as love and forgiveness yield practical physical health benefits, so does gratitude. Studies have shown that those who routinely express gratitude: • Exercise more regularly • Report fewer physical symptoms of illness • Exhibit more energy • Sleep longer and better • Feel better about their lives as a whole • Possess more optimism about the future Mental and physical functions improve when people express gratitude. Optimistic people routinely have higher numbers of blood cells that protect the immune system, so they fare better during surgery and respond to treatment faster than pessimists.

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Keep A Gratitude Journal Perhaps the simplest way to make gratitude a focus of your emotional well-being is to keep a Gratitude Journal. Every day, or at least once a week, write down the things for which you are grateful. From time to time, take a few extra minutes to write down why you are grateful for these things in your life. Among the entries in your Gratitude Journal might be statements about: • People for whom you are grateful, both past and present • Your own physical talents and abilities for which you are thankful • Experiences for which you are grateful, both past and present • Opportunities for which you are grateful • Your physical and emotional health • Your spiritual life • The wonders and beauty of nature Be sure to express gratitude for your own personality and character— things like creativity, patience in difficult circumstances, love for your children, quickness to find humor in situations, and other positive traits. Be grateful that you are who you are! I came upon this anonymous quote recently: “If you can’t be thankful for what you receive, be thankful for what you escape.” You may find benefit in adding a section to your Gratitude Journal for a list of things you don’t have or experience. Sometimes taking a look at the problems that aren’t yours can help you focus on the blessings that are yours. Inspirational speaker and author Denis Waitley said, “I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.” In your Gratitude Journal you may want to keep separate sections for: Reevaluation. Try reframing a situation with a more positive attitude. For example, rather than seeing a business colleague as irritable and troublesome, write

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down his or her positive attributes. Identify reasons you are grateful for that person. Seek to identify what might cause this person’s attitude. Could it be exhaustion? Problems at home? Can you help this person, even if just offering encouraging words or a listening ear? Seeing the person from a new perspective—one in which you find some level of thankfulness for this person—can make your relationship with that person less frustrating and more positive. Something good can begin to take root when gratitude becomes the soil for improving relationships. Reflection. From time to time, write words of reflection on your relationship with God or your longstanding relationship with a spouse, child or friend. Contemplate God’s goodness to you. Consider the significance of your loved ones. You should find yourself welling up with gratitude. Think Gratitude And You Will Feel Gratitude Attitude and gratitude researchers assert that you can choose to have gratitude even if you don’t feel thankful. Emotions follow thoughts. You can choose to concentrate on the blessings in your life. The more you think about the good things, the more thankfulness you will feel. Your heart and head will come into harmony. Over time, what you consciously think about will become your basic attitude and perspective. What this means in a practical way is that you can choose to create entries in your Gratitude Journal even when you feel frustrated, pessimistic or downhearted. You can choose to write even when you feel uninspired. The more you write, and the more consistently you write, the more your frustration, pessimism and down-hearted feelings will surrender to joy. Intentionally choose to express gratitude every day. ....

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The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of PR ACTICING GR ATITUDE to your TriVita business? Express gratitude today to your business associates. Write a note of thanks, send an email or make a call that says, “Thanks for all you do. Thanks for being in my life.” ___________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Your pursuit of wellness, life’s purposes and wealth-creation can physically or emotionally take you away from those you deeply love. Take time to say “thank you” to those who patiently, lovingly and consistently support and encourage you through these times. _____ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Express your thanks aloud today for those things you believe are still ahead for you. Give creative voice to your gratitude._____________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Start a Gratitude Journal. If you already have one, spend time writing in it today.

Key #9

Develop Acceptance

Focus Upon What You Can Change, Rather Than On What You Cannot

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Develop Acceptance

s much as I advocate “change,” I realize that there are some things you cannot change. I accept the fact that not everything can be fixed,

perfected or even altered. Accepting those things that cannot be changed is a very important key in your quest for wellness. A Matter Of Choice The challenge every minute of every day is: “What do I choose to do?” Most of those choices are made against a large backdrop of things that we cannot change. You cannot change the weather. However, you can dress comfortably, plan your activities and decide how to go about them, no matter what the weather of the day. You cannot change your height or bone structure. However, you can choose how you will eat and move your body in order to help maintain your bone mass. You cannot change the tax system. You cannot avoid unexpected expense. However, you can manage your money wisely and use savings accounts and insurance policies to cover emergencies.

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You cannot change the fact that someday you will die. However, you can choose how you will approach issues related to death, how you will believe about eternity and how you will choose to live today. In virtually all situations and experiences, you face a set of realities that you cannot change, along with a set of choices you can make regarding those realities. When you accept the things you cannot change and focus on the things that you can change, you feel tremendous relief followed by a great deal of peace and joy. True freedom comes from that kind of acceptance. At that point, forgiveness and gratefulness come much more easily. Happiness increases and your heart rate and blood pressure can simultaneously decrease to healthier levels. Control Vs. Influence Manipulation is a serious but often overlooked aspect of control. Although it may not be intentional, manipulation and control do go together. They connect in various ways at various times. Manipulation occurs when someone attempts to control another person. The impact on that relationship can be devastating. In fact, you cannot change other people. In recent years, I have adopted this motto: I must accept people as they are, not as I wish them to be. You cannot change how another person will respond to a situation. Instead, you can choose to exert a positive influence upon other people and hope that they will make the best possible choices. You cannot change the personality or value system of another person. Instead, you can choose to exert a positive influence by displaying your own values and character. You cannot control the choices that your family members, business

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associates or customers might make. Instead, you can exert a positive influence by making suggestions, encouraging and supporting them. In most areas of life, you can exert influence, but you cannot control. Even though I am a Wellness Seeker and a wellness advocate, I know that I cannot manipulate my way to perfect health. I can, however, make changes and pursue habits that will have the greatest positive influence on my health. I can position myself for the best possible life for the maximum number of years. I can do everything I can do. Beyond that, I must trust God to do what only He can do. You may be able to influence a few people in your life or you may be able to influence millions. Television, Internet, mass communication and cell phone technology enable global contact. Even if you only influence one person for the better, you have a positive impact on your world. Never allow yourself to become discouraged about your level of influence. Do what you can and trust God to multiply your efforts. What Is It That We Are Wise To Accept? One of the most beneficial exercises you can do for yourself is to make a list of things that you are wise to accept as they are. I mentioned five thingsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;weather, height, bone structure, taxes and death. A wise person will accept many other facts of life. However, if you believe that you are forced to accept certain things, you may feel defeated or victimized. Wisdom dictates that you can continue to believe for change in some areas, but at the present moment, a level of acceptance is the most healthy and prudent choice. Include on your Acceptance List items such as: Accept self. Certain physical and personality traits are wise to accept today as they are. Accept that you can only do so much in any given day or lifetime. Accept that you will not always be the best, have the most, run the

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fastest or reach the highest rung on every ladder. Everybody specializes in some way. We are designed for that. We only have a set number of talents that we can refine into a set number of skills. We each possess a baseline of intelligence and specific aptitudes. We can dream, but not all dreams can or will come true. We are born with a propensity to sin and err. All of us have flaws, foibles and areas of weakness. Accepting the reality of yourself means learning to appreciate the best of who you are, while seeking to change certain thoughts and actions to avoid manifesting the worst of who you might be. Accept the reality of situations. Face up to what is real. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t live in denial or a fantasy world. Accept that some things are not as you would like them to be. You cannot change a situation unless you first perceive the reality of it. Reality is not what you wish, what you think should be or always what seems fair or just. Reality is what exists now. Accept nature and natural law. You cannot change the law of gravity, the migration of birds or the course of a storm. You likely will harm yourself if you behave contrary to natural law. You cannot control natural outcomes. You can plant a seed, water a seedling, prune, fertilize and cultivate a crop, but you cannot precisely predict the amount of your harvest from a handful of seeds. Nor can you ensure that you will even have a harvest from the seeds you plant. You can vaccinate and immunize your body and do everything to live a life free of disease, but you cannot ensure that you will never get sick or contract a virus or bacterial infection. Accept world situations. Everyone can change a small fraction of a limited number of global, political or financial issues. Few people exert international inf luence and no single person can change everything. That includes the outcome of sporting events and the rise and fall of stocks or commodities.

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Accept the free will of other people. You cannot always transform another person, no matter how hard you try. No person can make another person believe, give, relate or act in a certain way. You may be able to use force, make threats or exert physical pressure to manipulate another person, but you cannot override another’s voluntary free will. You can do your utmost to protect yourself and your family from terrorists and criminals, but you cannot ensure that you will never be the victim of a crime. You can create the safest possible environment in which to live and obey the law, but you can never completely ensure that you will live an accident-free life. Don’t be discouraged because of the things you cannot control or change. Accept the fact that you live in a world that is both messy and frightening at times. Focus your energy on the choices that you can make, not on the things you cannot alter. Don’t fight against the wind. Set your sail to make the most of it. The Opposite Of Acceptance Failure to accept life’s unchangeable factors causes anxiety, which can lead to worry and fear. Anxiety, worry and fear are not positive emotions. If you cannot accept a certain degree of uncertainty in your world, you will spend your energy attempting to create a false sense of security or artificial safety zone. When that happens, happiness evaporates. Failure to accept life’s unchangeable factors also manifests as regret. People who live in regret often voice the phrase, “If only….” Psychologists use the word “counterfactuals” when helping people live with regret. It may surprise you to learn that psychologists typically do not see regret as a negative. Rather, they see it as a platform of opportunity to make changes. If you regret the past, you can choose to make changes that create a better future!

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At the other end of the spectrum, you can begin to view your regrets this way: The road not taken may have taken you over the edge of a cliff. You may have been spared a worse fate, not robbed of a better one. In either case, regret can be the starting point for positive change. It is not a sin to have regrets. It is unhealthy to live in regret and allow it to create stagnation or pessimism. In the movie On the Waterfront, Marlon Brando portrays a dockworker named Terry Malloy. After bowing to mob pressure and deliberately losing a boxing match, he famously laments, “I could have been a contender instead of a bum, which is what I am!” He has regret, but he does not live with that regret. His regret drives him to change and become a contender. What Can You Change? I certainly don’t want to give you the impression that all of life is fixed. To the contrary! Many things can be changed. You are wise to make choices to change what you can, if the changes lead you to wellness. You can be a positive, proactive agent of change every day, in many ways. What you can change is deeply rooted in the first two keys of wealthcreation—desire and belief. I encourage you to go back and read those chapters again. Read about acceptance in light of beliefs and life purposes. What you accept directly relates to what you believe can be changed. Make a list of things you can choose to do. My personal list includes such things as: give compliments, smile, write a letter, go for a walk, give a hug, cuddle a grandchild, dress well, make wise menu choices, apologize, go to a ballgame, read an inspirational book, sing in the shower, buy some f lowers for my wife and so on. The list of things you can do is endless. To help begin your list, here are a few things you can change: You can change your daily habits. When it comes to the wellness

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keys in this book, you can make all of these changes. For example, you can choose to breathe more deeply, drink more pure water, get more sleep, eat more nutritiously, move more and enjoy activity. You can make these choices regardless of what anyone around you chooses to do. You can choose to be happy. You are the governor of your own attitude. You are the one responsible for your own happiness. You can choose to love yourself and others. You can choose how you will feel toward others. You can choose to encourage people, freely and generously offering help. You can choose to empathize. You can choose to forgive yourself and others. You can choose to live free of guilt. You can choose what you will believe. You determine your own spiritual values. You are the creator of your own character. You can choose what you believe about creating wealth to accomplish significant life purposes. You can develop your own philosophy of life. You can choose what you will learn and how you will grow personally. You can make choices to fill your life with beauty, simplicity, wholeness, playfulness, justice and goodness. You can face and overcome your fears. What is it that you fear? Loneliness, failure, sickness, poverty? You can take positive steps to generate friends, build relationships, enjoy better health and create greater wealth. You can manage at least a portion of your day. Even those who possess few material resources or live in extreme poverty have at least a few minutes each day to call their own. You can choose what you will do with your time. You can choose to pray. Nobody can keep you from developing a relationship with your Creator. You can choose not to complain. You can also choose not to worry.

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Three Key Questions In every situation, you can ask these questions: 1. Is there anything I can do to improve this situation? 2. Have I done everything possible to have a positive impact? 3. Will accepting this situation and moving on help me better deal with it? Do what you can do, then accept the fact that you’ve done all you can. Three Practical Habits Adopt these three simple attitudes to profoundly impact your life: 1. Watch your language. Monitor the way you speak—your tone and volume. Pay attention to what you say. Eliminate the words “should,” “ought” and “must” from your vocabulary. These are control words. Replace them with words and phrases such as “might consider,” “perhaps,” “I suggest” or “in my experience I’ve found….” Ask those close to you to help you turn “control” speech into “acceptance” speech. 2. Thank your critics. Don’t get angry if someone confronts, criticizes or attacks you. Thank that person! Take the portion of the criticism that may be beneficial and discard the rest. Of course there are times when criticism may not be pertinent or beneficial, but at least saying “thank you” defuses anger and bitterness. 3. Speak praise and compliments. At every opportunity, give a genuine compliment to those around you. Praise what is praiseworthy. The more you speak positive words, the more you release beneficial hormones and neurotransmitters to your body, build up other people and strengthen good relationships. Above all, give yourself some time to make changes in the area of

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acceptance. It is not always easy to move from control to acceptance, from manipulation to influence and from worry to faith. These changes may not occur overnight. Accept the reality that these changes may come slowly and choose to be patient with yourself. ....

The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of DEVELOPING ACCEPTANCE to your TriVita business? Your sphere of inďŹ&#x201A;uence will be larger by practicing the following: Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t war against the past. Rather, choose to influence future activities and results. ____________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Choose to influence your business affiliates and customers in positive ways. Accept the fact that you cannot control their behavior or the outcome of their efforts. Instead, influence them through encouragement, good training and ongoing expressions of appreciation and praise. _________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Make two lists: things you CAN CHANGE, and things you CANNOT CHANGE but must accept as they are. Focus your activities on the CAN CHANGE list!

Key #10

Develop A Relationship With God

Seek Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Help As You Pursue Wellness And Build Wealth

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Develop A Relationship With God

am extremely fortunate to have had parents and grandparents who taught me to pray and encouraged me to develop a relationship with God when

I was just a child. My faith is perhaps the most important key in my pursuit of wellness and the creation of wealth to fulfill meaningful life purposes. I discovered early in my life that I could always count on the presence of God. He has always been a true and loving Friend who encourages, supports and leads me through the dark times of fear and despair, as well as during times of tremendous productivity and joy. I have always believed that God wants me to live a life marked by wellness and purpose. As I went through my health crisis, I relied heavily upon God for guidance and help. I discovered that God delights in giving us forgiveness and direction. He is amazingly patient with us and delighted when we want His forgiveness. He is wonderfully compassionate to guide us step-by-step as we seek His direction. Through more than a decade of seeking wellness and several decades of creating wealth, I have asked God for specific direction on countless occasions. I have felt Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence and guidance in what I have shared in this book.

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Build A Relationship Through Communication Communication is the key to any good relationship, and your relationship with God is no different. Prayer is simply communicating with God. It is the way you connect to God. The very idea of prayer intimidates some people. They think they need to use a particular formula or say particular words in order for a prayer to be heard. In reality, God hears every person who prays to Him at any time and in any language. Prayer is telling God your thoughts and feelings, then listening for His response. It is talking things over with God, just as you talk things over with a friend. To be sure, God desires to be every person’s Best Friend. Prayer does not require language like “Thee” and “Thou.” No particular tone or posture is required. You do not need to be in a specific place to pray. God hears prayer in an automobile, in your living room or on a walk in the neighborhood. He delights in hearing from you wherever and whenever. Prepare To Pray There are a few things you can do to prepare yourself for a conversation with God. In many ways, these are the same things you might do to prepare yourself for an important conversation with another person, especially someone you love. 1. Create a quiet place. Carve out a piece of peace from your busy schedule. Turn off all noise, including the television, computer, radio and cell phone. Get alone. If you are at home and family members are engaging in distracting activities, kindly request a few minutes alone. 2. Release the busyness of your life and any feelings of negativity. Assess your emotions. If you are experiencing anger, frustration, anxiety or fear, identify

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it. Then spend a few minutes in deep breathing, releasing tension as you exhale. As you breathe deeply, reject negative emotions. 3. Direct your heart and mind toward God. This may take a little effort. Distracting schedules and problems can assault your mind in an instant. You may have to consciously set aside problems and distractions. If you find thoughts about negative situations creeping into your time of prayer, ask God to help you shut out those distractions so you can completely shut out the world and its problems for a few minutes. Say aloud, “God, help quiet my mind and heart and put my focus totally on You!” Focus specifically on various attributes that you know to be true about God. Some people think of God as a harsh judge waiting to pounce on every fault and flaw. That is not my perception of God; nor is it the perception of everyone I have ever met who has spent considerable time communicating with God. God is loving, good and kind. He is merciful, forgiving and patient. He is dependable, true to His word and utterly trustworthy. He is filled with joy and delights in imparting His joy to you. He is safe and secure. There are countless other positive terms to describe God. You may want to identify some. It helps to know WHO you are communicating with. Your perception of God and the traits you ascribe to Him can greatly impact your communication with Him. There are several things about which I have absolutely no doubt: • God exists, loves you and desires to have a relationship with you. • God has designed for you a divine purpose. He gave you unique gifts and talents to enable you to fulfill that purpose. • God desires to communicate with you. He wants to hear from you and speak to you in ways that you will understand. • You were planned for God’s pleasure. The moment you were born into the world, God was there as an

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unseen witness, smiling at your birth. Your arrival gave Him great pleasure. God did not need to create you, but chose to create you for His own enjoyment. You exist for His benefit, His glory, His purpose and His delight! The highest purpose of your life is to bring God joy and live for His pleasure. 4. Focus on the blessings of God you have received today and in the recent or distant past. Thank God for your life, family, friends, work, health and daily provision of air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat and shelter to enjoy. Thank God for giving you meaningful and fulfilling opportunities to learn, grow, produce and share generously with others. You may want to consult your Gratitude Journal at this point. Give God the credit as the ultimate provider of everything positive, good and beneficial in life. 5. Focus on areas in which you need to ask for Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forgiveness and help in forgiving and releasing others. Ask God for His forgiveness. Voice your willingness and desire to let go of hurts, fears and doubts as you forgive others for the ways in which they have injured, rejected or disappointed you. 6. Give voice to the things you need. Ask God to resolve the problems of people who are sick, friendless or lacking in basic needs. Ask God to meet your needs. No need is too small or too great to discuss with God. No need is beyond His ability or desire to meet in the way that is most beneficial, now and for all eternity. Express your deepest longings to God. 7. Talk to God about your desire to accomplish your life purposes and ask Him to give you direction to pursue those purposes and create the wealth necessary to fund them. Talk to God about specific people, specific opportunities, specific needs, specific desires and specific circumstances or situations.

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The Proven Benefits Of Prayer There are countless benefits of prayer. It would take an entire book to document all of them. The following results have been proven according to scientific and medical studies: • Prayer helps reduce anxiety, pain and distress. • Prayer increases the efficacy of medicine and therapy. • Prayer reduces fear and anxiety during medical procedures, such as angioplasty. • Prayer gives patients greater hope that medical treatment and medicine will work. Several studies have shown that even prayer from afar can benefit people recovering from surgery or other serious medical conditions. Remote, intercessory prayer has been shown to help patients recover from heart conditions. Other hospital-based studies suggest that those who receive prayer survive in greater numbers, relapse into sickness less often and recover faster than those without it. Still other studies indicate that patients who receive prayer need less medication and experience fewer complications. Those who have people praying for them tend to take their prescribed medications with greater regularity, attend physician appointments with greater faithfulness and seek out various means of increasing their faith or developing a better relationship with God. They also tend to pray for themselves more often if they know that others are praying for them. People who pray for themselves and others, as well as those who have others praying for them, tend to take better care of themselves, exercise more, sleep better, reconcile differences and forgive more readily and get sick less often and less severely. Praying people feel better about themselves and others. Prayer has been shown to be just as effective as other meditation techniques when it comes to slowing heart rate, lowering blood pressure and

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releasing healthy hormones and neurotransmitters. Prayer evokes feelings of peace and joy. It is highly effective in reducing fear, worry, anxiety and anger. In sum, prayer may be the most nurturing thing you can do for your total life! Combine Prayer And Other Activities Some people have told me throughout the years that they have combined deep breathing with prayer. As they exhale, they voice a word that represents something they want to release to God. They might exhale the words “anger” or “fear” or “discouragement.” They do this for a few breaths, then pause and breathe more normally. A few minutes later, they engage in a second round of deep breathing. As they inhale, they envision breathing in the goodness of God. They focus their thoughts on God’s healing power, love, mercy, forgiveness, strength, provision and other blessings. They see themselves filling up with the good things that God imparts to those who are in a relationship with Him. Other people have told me that they found it extremely beneficial to write out their prayers as letters to God. I encourage you to try prayer in the form of deep breathing and letter writing. These approaches may yield wonderful results for you. Pray With Others As you grow increasingly comfortable in your relationship with God, you may want to consider asking another person to partner with you in prayer. Get together occasionally, in person or by phone, to pray for each other. Pray for mutual needs related to your workplace, community or church. A wonderful thing happens to marriages, families and friendships

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when prayer becomes a component. People draw closer together and renew loving relationships. Prayer opens up new avenues of communication. It creates a deeper level of shared desires, dreams, needs and hopes. Praying with others increases your faith. All Good, With No Side Effects Prayer is free. Anyone can do it without any negative side effects! It has the potential to be the most positive and rewarding aspect of your life. Nobody knows everything that happens when you pray, but the positive possibilities are endless. Prayer does no harm, yet it holds the potential to change the world for good. ....

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The TriVita Connection How might you apply this key of DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD to your TriVita business? Develop a relationship with God as your supreme Wellness Coach and Senior Partner in wealth-creation as you pursue your lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purposes. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Ask God to give you specific direction and guidance about how to best pursue wellness and build your business. ________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ As you encounter others of like faith and trust in God, consider the possibility of joining with them to pray about your business activities. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t force it, but be open to situations where it happens naturally and comfortably so you will both benefit. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

Spend five minutes talking to God today.

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