SelfGrowth.com: 5 Ways to Be Free on July 4th & 12 Time-Freeing Tips

 [SelfGrowth.com]  Self Improvement Newsletter Improve Your Life Today!  7/4/16 issue:  5 Ways to Be Free on July 4th & 12 Time-Freeing Tips Email for: {EMAIL} * Self Improvement and Personal Growth Weekly Newsletter * Issue #929, Week of July 4-5, 2016 Publisher: David Riklan - [] In this issue: -- Quotes of the Week -- Article: Fireworks, Partying, and The Real Meaning of the 4th of July - By Ed and Deb Shapiro -- Article: 12 Tips to Help You Claim More Time for Yourself- By Marquita Herald -- Book Review: The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive - By Brendon Burchard -- How to Advertise in the Self Improvement Newsletter -- How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe from this Newsletter ------------------------------------------------------------ *** Quotes of the Week *** ------------------------------------------------------------ “A leader is a dealer in hope.” - Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821 “The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” - Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008 “Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action.” - Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881 ------------------------------------------------------------ *** ARTICLE: Fireworks, Partying, and The Real Meaning of the 4th of July - By Ed and Deb Shapiro *** ------------------------------------------------------------ Dazzling fireworks color the night skies. People are dancing, laughing and having barbeques with friends. The 4th of July is one of those holidays that we seem to always remember: It was the 4th of July many years ago when Ed flew from NYC to Rome on his long journey by air, land and sea to India. There he would train to become a Yoga Master. More recently he skied high up in the Rockies on the 4th wearing shorts and no shirt. What memorable 4th of July moments to you have? But why are we celebrating like this? In the years leading up to 1776, Great Britain was demanding higher taxes and asking that the colonists follow more British rules. This resulted in the American Revolution, where the dominance of the British was rejected in the desire for independence, declared on July 2nd. The declaration became official on July 4th of that year. This was a very important step and rightly celebrated, although, as Deb is British, we do have some conflicting opinions about this in our family! But despite the celebration, do we ever stop to ask what real independence means? Among other things, independence means freedom from control, self-determination, and nonalignment. Which, realistically, few of us practice. Most of us experience some level of being under the control of more powerful bodies, such as the IRS; few of us determine our own thoughts and beliefs but prefer to go with the general consensus; and most of us feel aligned to something, whether it be a political party, religion, race, or country, rather than being neutral or open to all. So how can we integrate a greater sense of independence into our lives? How can we truly practice such an important declaration, not just as a country but also as individuals? Five Ways to Embody Freedom 1. Think Your Own Thoughts Every day we hear politicians, the media, religious leaders and others telling us what they think is good for us. And too often we go along with there their opinions, with what everyone is thinking, without stopping to ask ourselves, “Is this what I think or believe as well?” The Buddha offered some great advice about this when he said, Don’t believe what I say. Find out what is real or true for you. 2. Say What You Believe How often do we come from our heart when we express ourselves? So often we are stuck in our heads and think one thing but say the opposite, because it is what everyone else is saying. We may have a great desire to fit in, but this can be at the expense of our real feelings and what is truly meaningful to us. It can be challenging to speak our own truth, but when we do it is ultimately very liberating. 3. Do What You Want To As long as what we do does not harm anyone else, then freedom is doing just what we feel. This can include dancing in the rain, wearing a red hat, or walking barefoot through wet grass. It especially means feeling free to do all those things we were told we should not do, like singing or smiling for no reason at all. ** To read the full article, [go here.] ------------------------------------------------------------ *** ARTICLE: 12 Tips to Help You Claim More Time for Yourself- By Marquita Herald *** ------------------------------------------------------------ Whether you are feeling overextended, overcommitted and overwhelmed, or just ready to free more time for summer, the following tips can help you take the first steps toward conquering your time crunched lifestyle find more time for "off the clock" fun. "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." ~ Peter F. Drucker 1. Begin by learning the difference between "Do I need to do this now?" and "Do I need to do this at all?" Just because you are busy and getting things done doesn’t mean you are actually accomplishing anything significant. As you plan your day or week, really think about the things you have to do as opposed to things you think you have to do. A lot of to do’s are not necessarily things we have to do. Often times the lines are blurred because we over commit or feel obligated to things that aren’t in line with our goals and rob us of valuable time. 2. Organize future events with a monthly accordion file: Put birthday cards, directions to a baby shower, a note to check on furniture deliveries, even vacation brochures in the appropriate months for quick reference and retrieval. 3. Create a “just in case” box for the car trunk: umbrella, cheap rain ponchos, scissors, big black marker, tape, paper towels, plastic bags, extra kids’ socks and a one-size-fits-all T-shirt, sweatshirt and pair of sweatpants for adults, another for kids. 4. Go digital with record keeping: Instead of printing every report, article, recipe or document you think you might need or want some day, burn records onto CDs for storage. You will be amazed about the amount of space you’ll save, not to mention printer ink and copy paper – and as an extra bonus you’ll be saving LOTS of trees in the process! 5. Take control of managing your bill paying schedule: Rather than having to constantly trying to keep track of when various bills are due each month, ask creditors to shift your due dates to lump them all together or to split them between the two pay periods of each month. ** To read the full article, [go here.] ------------------------------------------------------------ *** BOOK REVIEW: The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive - By Brendon Burchard *** ------------------------------------------------------------ Since the fateful night of his car accident, Brendon has lived a fully charged life, and he’s helped millions of people around the globe transform their lives and feel more alive, engaged, and fulfilled. In The Charge, Brendon argues that the only way to measurably improve the quality of your life is to learn how to activate the very ten drives that make you most human. These drives are your desires for more control, competence, congruence, caring, connection, change, challenge, creative expression, contribution, and consciousness. These drives shape everything you think, feel, and do in life, so understanding and mastering them is critical to your success and happiness. Strategically activating these drives on a consistent basis is the fastest path to living a fully charged life. Harnessing our human drives is not easy; if it were, we wouldn’t see so much restlessness in the world. That’s why Brendon has devised what he calls the true “activators” of human experience—a series of powerful yet simple actions you can take to radically increase your levels of energy, engagement, and fulfillment in all areas of your life. What Brendon uncovers in The Charge will surprise and challenge you. It turns out that most of the ways we seek to meet our human drives are actually counterproductive. We all want more control, for example, but seeking to have more certainty in our daily lives or to control other people will actually decrease our levels of control (and happiness). We have a deep desire for change, too, but we often fail to make the right kinds of change that would make us feel more alive and in command of our lives. In The Charge, Brendon helps us overcome these mistakes and illuminates the path for strategically and intelligently activating our 10 human drives so that we can have the one thing we all want: more life in our lives! Brendon Burchard is the founder of High Performance Academy and author of the #1 New York Times and #1 USA TODAY bestselling book The Millionaire Messenger. He is also the author of Life’s Golden Ticket and one of the top motivation and high performance trainers in the world. His famous training events and videos inspire millions of people to find their charge, share their voice, and make a greater difference. ***** The list Price of this book is $26.00. To purchase this book for $14.75 from Amazon.com, a 43% discount, [go here.]  ============================================= *** How to Advertise in the Self Improvement Newsletter *** To advertise your website or product to our Self Improvement Newsletter audience, go to [ To submit articles or other information, please send us an email at [editors@selfgrowth.com], or visit our Article Submission form at [    --------------------------------------------------- *** How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe from this Newsletter*** --------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to our newsletter, please go to our Subscriptions Page at [ To unsubscribe or update your information, go here: [Manage Preferences] Copyright (C) 2015 by Self Improvement Online, Inc. 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