davidmastersadmin | David M Masters

Want Vs. Need

You may find yourself dealing with the confusion surrounding wants and needs. In your mind, you have a pretty good idea what you want to have or experience in this life. Then there’s the greater part of you (that can be somewhat illusive) knowing what experiences in life you need which are meant to bring you the greatest benefit for your life and affecting the lives of those around you. It’s no wonder you experience some conflict trying to balance what you want versus what you need.

Needs

Certainly you have elemental needs we can all agree on, like air, water, food, clothing, shelter and sex (I know, we all have different ideas about sex, but let’s face it, if it wasn’t for sex we wouldn’t be here).

Then there are the things that we want. Our wants are categorized and prioritized by our personal preferences. The higher the priority, the more associated with need what you wants becomes.

Highest Priority

For instance, we all want to have a sense of being safe and secure, have a certain degree of health, wellbeing, and most of us have a longing to be loved. Love is a spectrum which runs from one end representing the admiration for a pet or someone on the fringe of our circle of acquaintances to the other end representing selfless or obsessive admiration and devotion. There is something about love, being loved, giving and receiving love and not quite being able to achieve a level we feel so enthusiastic about obtaining that drives us to extremes.

Of course we have other psycho-emotional desires, like respecting ourselves and being respected by our peers, feeling that our life has some sense of meaning, and that we may be able to contribute in some way to the greater good.

Other Preferences

Some of the other preferences that most of us share include wanting a sense of justice for what is right and what is wrong, a feeling of being unique to one’s self distinguishable from others, while maintaining a sense of camaraderie, self-reliant or independence while feeling as though you are part of a greater group of people, we desire a sense of accomplishment or accumulation of material things, admiration or status among our peers, and if wronged, we want to be vindicated or destroy our enemies.

What Makes You Feel Good?

Above all, we just want to feel good, and fortunately, our society revolves your desire to feel good. In fact, it creates environments to promote a sense of not feeling good, to maintain you in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction so that you are constantly supporting the commercial machine in a furious attempt to find something to make you feel good.

Atop the list of things that make us feel food (though momentarily) are money, drugs and sex. It is generally accepted among the ranks of Americans that money can solve most problems and the more of it one has, the more sense of satisfaction and happiness can be attained. Drugs (or any addictive stimulant, including alcohol, tobacco, chocolate and obsession with various other foods) can offer a false sense of wellbeing, calm or pleasant feeling in solace, and sex (especially when accompanied by orgasm) gives us that emotional high without the use of drugs. These things make us feel good, whether we like it or not.

But do they really satisfy?

Remember When?

Remember when you were a child? Did you know that when you were born, you were so pure and for most of us, that purity endured for a while into those early years of our lives; our minds, emotions, instincts, intuition and bodies so pure and full of love.

When you were a young child (2 to 3 years old), you were able to play with your toys, you could find contentment in most any situation, you had a knowingness of things, people, animals (a sort of sixth sense). As a very young child, you could play and bond with anyone you felt was “safe,” friendly, cuddly, adorable or happy. You could easily find happiness, even if left alone.

You could find joy in the simplest of things, your imagination was your magnificent unrestricted playground. If you didn’t like something, you could simply push it away, quickly recovering to find another source of joy, easily disregarding the thing you didn’t care for. Your emotions were uncensored. You could easily express your desires, dislikes, contentment and happiness. You were a free and unrestricted child of god, without fear and an incredible ability to love and be loved.

Very early in our lives, some earlier than others, (usually around 3 to 4 years old) we found our young selves being programmed by our parents and family to be the people we have become. From the time we are able to walk and talk, we are being programmed to fear the judge, realizing we could be judged, sentenced and punished by the people who previously loved and cared for us. The very people who so tenderly loved us were now demanding that we

Don’t do this, do that, don’t do that, do this!

A constant barrage of orders, demands, and punishment ensues as we are broken down (like training an animal) into obedient children in a constant state of fear, but soon we learn to exercise our right to be, finding ways for us to exercise our ability to victimize others. It’s not long and we find ourselves struggling for what is “mine” and desiring what is yours, as well as judging ourselves feeling unworthy and judging others, condemning them, determining the unworthiness of others to possess anything.

We are programmed to accept the idea of compliance or corporal punishment, first from our parents and then by others who are established as possessing a hierarchal level of authority over us. We are beaten (either symbolically or literally) into becoming an acceptable member of society or suffer the consequences of being ostracized, or worse, developing a need to be accepted by our peers, leading to the need to be rewarded for good behavior.

We are trained (or programmed) to become carbon copies of our parents, their parents and the parents before them, passing on the social attributes that keep us easily identifiable as manageable obedient consumers en masse. As we are trained to like or covet this and/or dislike certain things, circumstances or states of mind.

We, our parents, family, friends, teachers and preachers are trained to police each other, always quick to point out (willing to report or correct) anyone else who is veering too far off the acceptable path of our society. We are taught to polarize against each other, given two options of thought styles and forced to pick sides.

A sense of chaos and confusion is added to the mix as we are force fed an impossible flow of information and injustices to further polarize our thought process as an effective means of keeping us distracted from our true human potential.

All of this, combined, forces us to believe (control the acceptable limits of thought or being by restricting and training the power of our imagination) that life as we know it should be lived in a particular fashion. We lull ourselves into the vibratory state of worker bees and consumers, where we accept the idea that we need to go to school, work jobs, get paid (and/or perks) based on our level of obedient, educational training, to be fruitful and multiply.

We are supplied with enough information and methods of consoling ourselves (with friends who share the same beliefs, overwhelming flows of information, entertainment, drugs, alcohol, food, etc…) to keep us focused on what we believe is our acceptable lot in life.

All the while, even with this incredible effort to control who we are, who we think we are and what we believe is possible or acceptable, there is a part of us that remains safely buried deep within us that remembers when.

You remember when there was a time that you had unlimited potential; when the world in all its amazement unfolded in front of you. You were happy and content as your unbridled imagination flowed and you were one with everything.

You were perfect and free to be, in every way, just like all other life on this planet in nature. In nature, all things are just as they are. In nature, there is no judgment, criticism, or need to control a flower. A seed falls as it finds a place to nestle and grow, without structure naturally develop and maturing. Nature has a natural order and all things naturally fall into place is a perfect symphony of symbiotic life.

Then, there are the humans, who have introduced chaos into the natural beauty of our planet in an effort to control – and profit off of – us. And we fall for it every time in every generation as we promote the very things that prevent our evolution.

Then, there is you. You remember when… and you are awakening.

January 2017 Image Directory

Wrapping up the month of January, here’s a quick screen shot review of the month’s news. Let me know which ones you like the most. Thanks for your input, -David M Masters

Psychopath or Narcissist?	Guanxi Doing Business in China	Enter Business with an Exit Strategy
7 Steps How to Put Yourself Out There Online	How Much Do I Charge?	Sharing Your Love With Others
Is It Time to Rebrand?	We Are Power Cells for Negative Energy	15 Signs for Relationship Ending
Overcoming Entrepreneurial Burnout	Follow the Leader – Or Not	Awakening to True Love Workshop
Break Away for Your New Life	Mid-life Metamorphosis	How to Deal With a Jerk at Work
Don’t Stop Believing	The Disease That Kills Love and Relationships	Aren’t All Life Coaches the Same?
Distraction and Addiction	Living in the Now	How to Find Your Purpose
You Are a Mentor	Angels Among Us	New Year New You
If You’re Not Making Mistakes You’re Not Being Proactive Enough

If You’re Not Making Mistakes You’re Not Being Proactive Enough

If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not being proactive enough. Being proactive, making decisions, kicking ass, and taking names, moving forward regardless of circumstances all lead to making mistakes. The key to massive mistakes is to make decisions quickly and to make fewer poor decisions in the process. This builds momentum quickly.

I’ve often said, “Sure I make mistakes, but I never make the same one twice.” And the doingness associated with making decisions quickly and the creation of momentum while continuing to move forward is what has allowed me to have more high-quality experiences in my life than the average person.

In fact, when I am in a group, I try to filter my sharing of experiences in my life to three if I am in a “normal” group of people, because anything past three amazing experiences experienced in one person’s life is overwhelming, if not offensive, to “normal” people.

If you belabor and delay your decision-making abilities, you will miss so many otherwise utterly amazing opportunities which you may have enjoyed.

Certainly, you must exercise your due diligence and make decisions based on evaluating the data that you have. Though keep in mind that every moment you spend in data collection, discovery, and other

Will keep you from experiencing the joy of your opportunity, as it may slip away from you while you are buried in the details.

Will you make mistakes? Of course, you will, but the best statistics reward you for rapid decision-making. Around the world, those who make rapid decisions experience 80% more financial success and enjoyment from life every day than those who spend more time going over the details, postponing their decision-making, and missing otherwise fruitful opportunities.

Making decisions quickly translates to better opportunities, higher financial rewards, and more overall happiness in life every day.

That’s why you might find me using a pendulum, rolling the dice, or even flipping a coin to make a decision quickly and move on.

And mistakes?

Those who make decisions rapidly may make more mistakes than their painstaking peers, about 2% more on average.

If you ask me? It’s worth that two percent margin to get more out of each drop of life.

Psychopath or Narcissist?

There seems to be a bit of confusion among all peoples, professionals and laypersons, about how to correctly label a psychopath, sociopath, narcissist or any of the other personality types clustered among the Antisocial Personality Disorder spectrum.

In my work with victims of predators who clearly vibrate within the ASPD spectrum, we all get attacked by peers and predators who strongly disapprove or using any list of characteristics or labels whatsoever to identify a psychopath, sociopath, or narcissist. It is even more confusing when even the psychiatrists, psychologists and criminologists cannot agree on a particular diagnosis.

The problem? We’re talking about people. Regardless of their predatory tendencies, these warped individuals are people – just like the rest of us – who are each just as unique as the rest of us. In my work, I generally refer to these individuals with a basic set of extreme anti-social characteristics as “psychopaths,” because that was the clinical diagnosis of the individual who introduced me to the nature of these individuals. Prior to encountering this psychopath, I didn’t believe they existed.

Since then, no one can seem to agree on an effective means to qualify these people (if only there were a blood test or some other quantitative way to correctly diagnose where an individual is on the ASPD spectrum). Interestingly enough, every “expert” has their own method of diagnosis they are confident works well (or well enough).

As far as the differences between psychopaths and narcissists, most can agree on the following differences.

Psychopath or Narcissist?

As opposed to most narcissists, psychopaths are either unable or unwilling to control their impulses or to delay gratification. They use their rage to control people and manipulate them into submission.

Psychopaths, like narcissists, lack empathy but many of them are also sadistic: they take pleasure in inflicting pain on their victims or in deceiving them. They even find it funny!

Psychopaths are far less able to form interpersonal relationships, even the twisted and tragic relationships that are the staple of the narcissist.

Both the psychopath and the narcissist disregard society, its conventions, social cues and social treaties. But the psychopath carries this disdain to the extreme and is likely to be a scheming, calculated, ruthless, and callous career criminal. Psychopaths are deliberately and gleefully evil while narcissists are absent-mindedly and incidentally evil.

As Millon, in Personality Disorders in Modern Life notes, certain narcissists “incorporate moral values into their exaggerated sense of superiority. Here, moral laxity is seen (by the narcissist) as evidence of inferiority, and it is those who are unable to remain morally pure who are looked upon with contempt.”

Narcissists may not be considered evil, like psychopaths, and may lack the intention to cause harm. Narcissists are more likely to be indifferent, callous and careless in their conduct, which overflows into the way they interact with others. Their abusive behavior is primarily not considered to be as intentional or deliberate a psychopath’s.

Psychopaths really do not need other people while narcissists are addicted to narcissistic supply (the admiration, attention, and envy of others).

“When the egocentricity, lack of empathy, and sense of superiority of the narcissist cross-fertilize with the impulsivity, deceitfulness, and criminal tendencies of the antisocial, the result is a psychopath, an individual who seeks the gratification of selfish impulses through any means without empathy or remorse.” ~ Millon, Th., Davis, R. – Personality Disorders in Modern Life – John Wiley and Sons, 2000.

You might be interested in attending the Victims of Psychopaths Event

Guanxi Doing Business in China

Thanks to one of my clients, I have been learning more about doing business in China. For those interested in doing so, be aware you will be miles ahead if your intention to do so is predicated by Guanxi.

In China, Guanxi (relationship) is a complicated field. A special feature of doing business in China will be the Guanxi (relationship) which includes relationships with the government body, investors, partners and even relationships with your own staff. So, when doing business in China, it is important for foreign investors to learn to coordinate with the China government, especially establishing a good relationship with government bodies dealing with foreign trade and economic cooperation.

Governmental procedures for foreign investors in establishing investments in China is extremely complicated. If you are unfamiliar about the procedures, you will delay your business opportunities. Therefore, it is important for you to be familiar with the investment procedures before carrying out your investment in China. A safer and more appropriate way would be to seek help from local organizations familiar with the same field of business or consultant firms who are able to provide professional advice and assistance. Willpower and patience may be essential for an investor to be successful, however, it is necessary for you to get help from professional bodies to ensure that your success will be achieved.

You can start small by seeking a suitable local cooperative partner when developing the China market. Many investors had established Sino-foreign joint venture, Chinese-foreign cooperative enterprise, etc. as a stepping stone to enter the China market. You will have to figure out which investment mode to choose to align with the enterprise’s characteristics and will be the most suitable for developing the enterprise’s business into the China market. Some investors who have maintained investments in China for many years proposed to small and medium-sized enterprises to take one step at a time when making investments. They should not be too ambitious at the outset. It will be best if they establish cooperation with local partners so as to reduce their investment risk. Even though China’s investment environment is constantly maturing, domestic regional development imbalances still exist. Therefore, building cooperation with local companies will be the most ideal way to protect foreign investors’ interests and investments.

China’s labor market appeals to many foreign investors very much. This is because on one hand, labor cost is low, and on the other hand, through 20 years of reform, China’s workforce has become matured and their skills have been constantly upgraded, especially in the coastal cities. Educational development is undergoing at a tremendous pace in China. It is no longer difficult to hire a high quality labor force in China today. Many successful foreign investors have even credited their success in China to their Chinese local staff. One big problem that is causing problems for foreign investors is maintaining a good relationship (Guanxi) with the local staff. First of all, top management should cultivate the company’s vision and values into the employees because what the local people are taught under China’s educational system may crash with the foreign management system. Only by letting the employees understand the company better will allow the company to function better.

Chinese emphasize on courtesy and face-saving a lot. This is due to China’s traditional culture, and courtesy can be seen in every aspect of their business world. Being courteous to government officials, cooperative partners and staff is essential. Senior president of China’s Siemens Company has rated courtesy of top importance while summarizing his China experiences. Besides displaying courtesy on general commercial affairs, respecting traditional customs and practices is also vital. Chinese people are very hospitable, but their self-esteem is very strong and they pay a great deal of attention to how other people view them and their attitude towards them. This phenomenon can be seen greatly in Northern China, which is associated with ‘face-saving’.

While doing business with the Chinese counterpart or partner, it is essential to give face (respect) to the partner or the other party, so that in this way strong cooperation can be fostered and the business will be able to grow and last.

Many foreign corporations have strict requirements for their staff in their home country. In China, this management method would probably backfire. Past experiences have shown that this kind of strict management method may not be suitable for the Chinese’s gentle personalities. Employees’ morale will be affected and they may lose the willingness and motivation to work in the company.

Handling organizational relationship in a Chinese context is a necessary skill for foreign investors to acquire in order to handle interpersonal problems in the Chinese way. It is important for foreign investors to be flexible in their management and be sensitive to China’s culture in order to devise an ideal management system best suited for their companies’ organizational culture.

Enter Business with an Exit Strategy

Any time you think about starting a business, also be prepared to have an idea about how you can sell your business, if you have any hope of increasing your business potential over time.

With this in mind, you can start small, build your business and make it profitable. Then sell it, and buy a better business, until you’re content with being your own version of Warren Buffet. In other words,

Begin with the End in Mind

Here are some ideas to consider as exit strategies for your business when you are ready to move on:

Sell or give your company to a family member;
Sell your business to one or more key employees;
Sell to your employees (ESOP);
Sell your business to other shareholders;
Sell to an outside third party;
Bring in an outside investor and keep a minority interest
Go public;
Hire a management team to take over and become a passive owner; or
Liquidate your business.

Determining exactly which option is right for you is a challenge that many business owners put off until it is too late. Opportunities pass with time. If you wish to “leave your business on your terms and on your time table,” you need to be proactive about understanding your exit options.

It is recommended that you follow a four-step process to chart your path to the exit option is best for you. This process will ensure that your exit options are consistent with your personal goals and take into account the realities of your company and the marketplace.

Chart Your Path

1. Set Personal Goals

You need to identify your most important objectives; both in terms of financial goals (“How much money do I need from the exit to ensure my family’s financial security?”) and in terms of non-financial goals (“I want the company to stay in my family,” or “I want to my key employees to be rewarded during the exit”). Establishing well defined and written objectives is the first step in the exit planning process. Doing so in advance of your exit gives you and your advisers the time necessary to make your goals a reality.

2. Create Consistent Goals

With the help of your advisers you need to determine whether your goals are consistent with each other. Very often this is not the case. For example, many business owners want to receive all cash at closing when they exit their business. At the same time the owner may want to transfer the business to a family member or a key employee. Unfortunately, these two goals may be mutually exclusive. Family members and key employees often do not have sufficient capital to structure a transaction this way. A great deal of stress and heartache can be avoided by addressing these kind of issues early in the process.

3. Understand Value and Salability Issues

Once you have defined a set of consistent objectives, you need to understand the market value and salability of your company. This analysis is important in that it will provide you with further direction and can eliminate certain exit options.

For example, if the value of your company is below what you feel you need to support a comfortable lifestyle after your exit, you may decide to take some time to enhance the value of your business or to do further financial planning to ensure you clearly understand your financial needs.

In addition to understanding the value of your company you also need to understand how salable your business is. Value and salability are not always the same. Salability determines how quickly a business will sell and how much leverage a business owner will have when negotiating with a buyer. Salability depends to a large extent on external market conditions. External conditions are things that are out of your direct control like business, market or financial conditions. For example, the option of selling your business for cash to an outside buyer may be eliminated because of a downturn in your business or industry.

Work with an investment banking firm to determine the value and salability of your company. Only an investment bank that is actively talking with buyers can give you an accurate read of the marketplace and a “real world” sense of the value and salability of your company.

4. Understand Tax and Legal Implications

The final step in determining the best exit path for you is to a path is to evaluate the tax and legal consequences of the exit options that are available to you. This evaluation will include factors such as legal structure of your business entity, how its ownership is structured, exiting legal agreements, as well as any changes that must be made. For example, if a transaction involves a sale of assets and the company is a “C” corporation, there would be significant adverse tax consequences. Good advice from your CPA and attorney can help minimize the taxes you would otherwise have to pay.

Using this four-step process, you will be able to narrow the list of exit routes to determine which one is best for you. The important thing is to start at the beginning with the end in mind.

7 Steps How to Put Yourself Out There Online

If you have a business, an online presence and campaign can benefit (and may be mandatory for) your continued financial growth and outlook into the future.

1. Get Your Domain(s)

When I’m working with a client, I usually make sure they have several domains in their quiver. If possible, and in order of importance, they are:

The Top 4 Dot Coms You Should Own

Your name dot com
The name of your business dot com, dot net and dot org
What you do dot com
The name of your leading product or service dot com

These are the top 4 dot coms you should own at the very least. First and foremost, your domain collection is about protecting you, your brand, who you are and what you do. There are thieves hiding amongst the landscape of the Internet looking for people and businesses, like yours, who will target domains associated with you and your business, by them and hold them hostage for a premium. And sometimes, it’s worth paying a premium for a dot com that clearly defines your product or service.

2. Post a Basic Site Presence

Let’s say you’ve covered the basics and have your domains safely tucked away in your GoDaddy account, what next? Start by minimally setting up small websites for each dot com. No need to panic here, you don’t have to spend a lot of time or money investing in a web team to get the job done. I walk my clients through a simple 7 to 10 minute process to quickly and easily get this done through their existing GoDaddy account. No need to fret over it, this is a simple DIY web presence. No need to hire it our when you can do it yourself.

3. Who You Are, What Your Do and Where

Of course, this is only the start. Next up, you must know and define what you do and decide where you will position yourself in the marketplace. This is the real work of preparing to launch an effective online presence. Depending on how confident you are and where you are in your business’ life span, this may create a bit of frustration or friction, but trust me, it’s worth it. The information and data gleaned from this process is invaluable and will keep you focused on your business goals.

After you’ve collected all the data from your research and documentation, there comes the moment when you want to integrate this information on your web site. This is where you say, “goodbye,” to your basic web site. Now, it’s time for an upgrade.

4. Upgrade Your Web Site

You may need to upgrade your hosting account with GoDaddy, who has an excellent reputation for call-in phone support (avoid any unnecessary upsells. Their support team can be very aggressive in attempting to sell you products and services that you don’t really need). So, give them a call and tell them you want to upgrade your hosting account and use a user-friendly web platform, like WordPress, for your web presence. WordPress is not only easy, but is extremely powerful and there are many pre-designed templates (themes) and plugins that you can use to make your life online easier; and the price is right: Free.

It doesn’t take long for me to bring my novice clients up to speed and soon they are rocking the Internet like a web superstar. I would say, try it yourself; if it seems too overwhelming, consider hiring it out. If you outsource your web development, be prepared to learn enough about what is going on behind the scenes to make certain that you’re not being taken advantage of and be prepared to take an active role as you build your web presence.

5. Add Content Regularly

As you continue to build your web presence the basic rule of thumb is, “Content is King.” That is to say, posting valuable content about you, your business and what you do on a regular basis will serve you well in the data-infested murk and mire of the Internet. It’s all about being able to be ferreted out in the swamp. Your content will help people find you.

6. Internet Marketing

You will also need to do some online marketing, minimally some Google Adwords, and have some social media representation, such as Facebook presence.

You hear a lot about Search Engine Optimization (some good, some bad), nonetheless, it is necessary to have an understanding of SEO and take advantage of it when and where you can. Effective marketing online campaigns should be your best marketing tool dollar-for-dollar, if done right.

7. Keep On Keeping On

Like anything else in life, don’t think of your online presence as a one-shot deal. Nothing will deteriorate your online presence more than stagnation.

Everything on the Internet is changing every minute of every day. What worked like gangbusters yesterday, could be a worthless strategy tomorrow.

It takes a village to run a successful village and your web team is a priceless asset. Yes, you can start small and do it yourself, but as you grow be thinking about ways you can expand your web marketing to catapult your business to the next level.

How Much Do I Charge?

Inevitably, as I am working with business people the question comes up, “How much do I charge?” and remarkably the truth is, most businesses do not operate at an effective enough margin to achieve much more than a working wage, when entrepreneurialism should reward the savvy businessperson with an abundant lifestyle, not just a job.

In fact, if you’re an entrepreneur and your working for a living (basically trading hours for cash) you’re not doing it right. Although, if that is the lifestyle you want to live, then Bravo, more power to you. No judgment, here. Everyone gets to choose their own path and if that’s what you want, then, “Good for you.”

I attract business people to my practice who are intent on inviting more abundance into their life while offering products or services at a reasonable price. More often than not, what they think is reasonable is well below their potential. Much of this is due to fear. Fear of being competitive, fear of charging too much, fear of pricing yourself out of business, fear of loss, fear of change, fear of failure and most of all fear of yourself, your own worthiness to achieve your highest and best and reaching high levels of excellence.

When someone asks me for input on how much they should charge, just the asking of the question, “how much do I charge?” is a clear indication that they are charging too little. I’m serious. If someone asks me about their price point, I can guarantee that they’re probably generating half of the revenue they should be bringing in – minimum – and should be considering a plan to increase their business ten-fold.

Of course, making the leap to ten times your business revenue is likely going to take a more strategic approach than simply charging ten-times more for the same product or service that you’re offering today. No, you’re going to have to raise the value of your product of service ten times (or more) to reasonably achieve that feat.

The first fallacy in business is to assume that you can sell your product for a lower price and this will create competition for others in a similar business. If you choose this path, you are assuming that you can achieve higher volume sales while operating on a lower margin than your competitors.

In most cases (though not all) businesses who compete strictly in the low-pricing space are unable to compete long-term, and are less likely to break-through to the massive success they envisioned at the outset. When you’re operating on a tight margin, one wrong step could put you out of business. Without deep pockets, you may not be able to manage a misstep. On the other hand, if you are extremely well-funded, you may be able to weather the storm and achieve market domination (though this is very rare).

The Excellence Marketplace

You are far better off positioning yourself in the excellence marketplace, where high end products and services are offered to an exclusive clientele. Operating in the excellence marketplace, you are able to weather the storms that you may encounter along the way, and you are grateful for the lesser-priced providers of similar products or services for offering something of value to those who cannot afford your services.

If you encounter a potential client who is looking for a bargain price for you, your products and/or services, you can refer them to another provider who is better suited for their price point and expectations. You, your product or service is not for everyone (and if you tell me it is, we have a long way to go).

Let’s say you need to buy a new car, so you go shopping for the car you want and saunter into your local Mercedes dealership and select a C-300, an affordable entry level Benz. You love it and challenge the sales manager with your ability to get a Chevy Spark for a much lower price. (I will allow your common sense to follow this scenario to its logical conclusion.)

In any marketplace it is up to you to decide where you will position yourself in your industry. You can take the hard road and play in the excellence marketplace, or you can take the low-priced road in hopes that you might be able to survive in the long-run.

This is a decision that only you can make, and if it’s not too late, there is time for you to make adjustments and find the right marketplace for you to enjoy your future and all the best things this life has waiting for you; your reward for answering the call, whatever it may be.

Sharing Your Love With Others

Want to make the world a better place? Try sharing your love with others.

Whenever you share love with others, you’ll notice the peace that comes to you and to them. ~Mother Teresa

Sharing your love with others is the best way to feel love, because as love flows through you to someone else, the overflowing of your love soothes and satisfies your soul. It’s as if you have discovered the meaning of life in this benevolent act of sharing your love with others.

All of us (whether you are willing to admit it, or not) are hardwired to love and be loved. Some of us reject or deny love at all costs due to certain life experiences and/or a chemical imbalance in the brain, nonetheless you are designed and equipped to love and to share your love.

Sure, we all put on a façade to protect our vulnerable selves that reside beneath the skin, but the deeper we go inside ourselves, we find a longing for love that is often left unrealized. So, we covertly find ourselves in search of love. Occasionally, we find ways to satisfy our desire to be loved, like eating chocolate, listening to soothing music or soaking in a warm bath. Light some candles and combine all three of those for a solo experience which is better than the most common way to create the feeling of love, which is having sex (and an orgasm).

What do all these things have in common? Biologically, when you eat chocolate, listen to soothing music, relax while soaking in warm bathwater, or have an orgasm, any one of these things releases a chemical hormone called Oxytocin (also referred to as the love hormone).

When our brains release this hormone we enjoy the feeling of being loved or being in love but as the feeling fades a craving for more love develops. Sure, you could pet your cat, make a contribution to charity, or get a massage, three more ways to ramp up Oxytocin, but no matter how you try to cut it, noting satisfies more than experiencing unconditional true love that lasts a lifetime.

You might think that finding your soulmate might be the answer, “If I could just find someone to promise to love me ‘til death, then I will have the love I’ looking for.” If you’ve tried that one, how is that working out for you?

The truth of the matter is love, true love, comes from inside of you. It is the core of who you are. When you came into this world your heart was full of love, then life happened. As you grew and matured (this all starts not long after birth) you find your capacity for love decreases over time. Most of us are reluctant to love due to fear, or afraid to let someone love us for fear of losing the love we’ve shared with another.

And you couldn’t be more right because you will never find true love from another person. You, your life, your love must come from within. You must find love for yourself first, and the more love you can find and honor yourself with, the more love you will have to share with others. True love, the love that each and every one of us sincerely desires but cannot seem to find, lies hidden away inside us locked away and only you have the key to your treasure chest of love.

True love comes from within and sharing it with others allows it to flow from us to someone else and be reflected back to us creating a completed love-cycle that satisfies. While chocolate and sex satisfies briefly, sharing love from your unlimited source is more satisfying and can be savored over time without fading away, once you realize all the love you have inside of you.

Sharing your love is the most amazing way to feel your love, but for it truly to be meaningful, satisfying and long-lasting, you must have something to share. If you are giving love but don’t have much supply to share from, this can leave you feeling drained, reducing you to a caregiver, which satisfies for a while, but it is not long when your reserves of love begin to dwindle leaving you feeling used, resentful and burned out.

Alternatively, sharing your love from an unlimited supply of love from within fills you with love, peace and joy.

Fortunately, none of us are too damaged that we cannot find the love we seek within, because it’s always there, it’s always been there. You have the key, all you need is the courage to access it, and set it free. The problem is that often our individual treasure chest of love is secluded under layers of life experiences, so finding the lock may require some work.

You can do the work by reaching out and seeking ways to love yourself by taking full responsibility for your physical and spiritual needs and snuggling up with your inner treasure chest of love by any method that you can. I might suggest the book, The Mastery of Love by don Miguel Ruiz, or any of a hundred other books on finding big love deep within, or you could attend an Awakening to True Love Workshop, or similar seminar or retreat.

With your increased ability to love yourself and others, you can attract and achieve all the things in life that you’ve longed for while enjoying greater peace and happiness as your love overflows.

True love, the unconditional love that never ends imbues you with the ability to be bulletproof as you make your way through this life. You will find things that used to get to you, no longer have power over you because you are empowered with an unlimited supply of invincible unconditional love that loves no matter what.

Your love is not limited by time and space; you can share your love anytime, anywhere, in person, over the phone, via email or even from a private, meditative state. Your love is an energetic force that emanates within and can be transferred to others.

You will find yourself not only loving yourself, your family, your friends and your mate but you will also find the ability to share your love with complete strangers as well as your enemies.