BALANCE: 10 Pricesless Strategies For the Next Decade

1) take an oath of financial honesty. a crushing credit card balance caused by your need to impress others is a costly lie. living within your means is living honestly. find ways to save 25$ a week and you'll free up 100$ a month. invest it and in 25 years you could have $80,000

2) stop settling for what the world offers. you need to be your own best advocated. if there's no raise this year because of the economy, meet with your boss to determine grounds for a raise next year. if you're self-employed and haven't increased your rates in years, why are you putting yourself on sale? recognize that this fear is keeping you from having more in your life.

3) get in great credit shape. a high FICO score is a key component to security. a FICO score of at least 700 is your best defense and if you find yourself in the job-hunting pool, a good score could distinguish you from others.

4) choose your legacy. will loved ones describe you in terms of what you bought for yourself, or will they talk about who you were and how fiercely you loved? make that question your guidepost, and it will guarenterr that life will be richer than you can imagine.

Tomorrow, INSIGHT: The 10 Step Renewal Plan

CLASSIC: Items You Can Never Go Wrong With

Adam Glassman, from O Magazine gives us a list of fool-proof items to fit any woman's wardrobe!

1) touches of animal print. on a bag or shoe, a little bit of zebra or tiger operates like a neutral.
2) a leather jacket. classic and can be played up or down.
3) a men's watch. men's styles are not too fussy or dainty.
4) a neutral shoe. in leather, patent leather, or fabric, a pair of heels that matches your skin color visually    extends the line of your leg.
5) an oversize blazer. the 'borrowed' from the boys' look isn't going anywhere.
6) a pencil skirt. sexy without being revealing, and appropriate at any age-it works for every woman.
7) a lace trimmed bra or camisole. adds a touch of femininity and makes you feel good!



Tomorrow...BALANCE:10 Priceless Strategies for the Next Decade

SHIFT: 10 Rules to UN-Learn

Oprah's 10th Anniversary Magazine entitled, 'What's Next For You,' is compiled of life lessons from O contributors to living happily, honestly, and beautifully for the coming decade. Below I will share with you some suggestions I find to be most valuable.


1) Problems are bad. You learned that problems suck But people without real problems go mad and invent things like base jumping or wedding planning. Real problems are wonderful, each carrying the seed of its own solution. Job burnout?! It's steering you toward your perfect career. An awful relationship?! It's teaching you what love means. Confusing tax forms?! They're suggesting you hire an accountant, so you can focus on more interesting tasks, such as flossing. Finding the solution to each problem is what gives life its gusto. Take a step back to absorb the fact that if life were easy, it would be boring. So embrace problems and figure out a way use them for problem solving and learning life lessons

2) It's important to stay happy.  It's okay to be as sad as you need to be. This kind of permission to feel as we feel-not continuous happiness-is the foundation of well-being. Allow yourself to feel how you want to feel but don't let it rule your life. You choose the kinds of thoughts and emotions that you want to think and feel. If you want to be happy you can be. If you want to be sad and depressed you will be. The mind is a powerful thing. It does what you tell it to do-so beware!

3) I'm irreparably damaged by my past. Painful events leave scars, true, but it turns out they're largely erasable. The very thing you're doing at this moment-questioning habitual thoughts-is enough to begin off-loading old patterns. Take an issue that's been worrying you and think of three reasons that belief may be wrong. Your brain will begin to let it go. There is a great proverb called, "The Story of Two Monks," which explains about letting go of the past. If you're holding onto something, chances are that you never resolved it to begin with and as soon as you do, that burden will be lifted from your chest!

Two monks were making a pilgrimage to venerate the relics of a great Saint. During the course of their journey, they came to a river where they met a beautiful young woman -- an apparently worldly creature, dressed in expensive finery and with her hair done up in the latest fashion. She was afraid of the current and afraid of ruining her lovely clothing, so asked the brothers if they might carry her across the river.  The younger and more exacting of the brothers was offended at the very idea and turned away with an attitude of disgust. The older brother didn't hesitate, and quickly picked the woman up on his shoulders, carried her across the river, and set her down on the other side. She thanked him and went on her way, and the brother waded back through the waters.  The monks resumed their walk, the older one in perfect equanimity and enjoying the beautiful countryside, while the younger one grew more and more brooding and distracted, so much so that he could keep his silence no longer and suddenly burst out, "Brother, we are taught to avoid contact with women, and there you were, not just touching a woman, but carrying her on your shoulders!"  The older monk looked at the younger with a loving, pitiful smile and said, "Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river; you are still carrying her."-- 4) If all my wishes came true right now, life would be perfect. People who have what you want are all over in rehab clinics, divorce courts, and jails. That's because good fortune has side effects, just like medications advertised on TV. Basically, any external thing we depend on to make us feel good has the power to make you feel bad. Weirdly, when you've stopped depending on tangible rewards, they often materialize. To attract something you want, become as joyful as you think that thing would make you. The joy, not the thing, is the point. Try waking up each morning with the mind set that you are satisfied with your job, happy to be alive and fulfilled by everything you have in life and you will start becoming that person. You can tell yourself to be who you want to be and enjoy being that person!

Tomorrow...CLASSIC, Items You Can Never Go Wrong With