“He spends very little on food during the week, then blows all his money drinking on the weekends. He really is penny-wise, pound-foolish.”  GoEnglish.com

When is the last time you made a decision which seemed to be advantageous economically, only to realize later that it proved very costly?

A wise person is hungry for truth, while the fool feeds on trash.  (Prov. 15:14; NLT)

In his book Food Rules (I’ve been recommending it for weeks now), Michael Pollan has a fascinating chapter titled, “Pay more, eat less.”  Almost sounds un-American doesn’t it?  Isn’t our whole technological drive to produce more at less cost?  Seems like the whole idea of paying more to eat less is a giant step backwards.  Why would anyone ever want to do that?

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“Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs, and other mammals].”  Chinese Proverb

How many of your meals last week included a serving of meat?

“Test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said. “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s rich food. Then you can decide whether or not to let us continue eating our diet.”  (Dan. 1:12,13; NLT)

This Daily Gram is boldly issuing you an invitation to join us in purposely becoming flexitarians.  What’s that you say?  Well, I have to confess that before just a few days ago, I didn’t know either.  But after doing a little research, I discover that the American Dialect Society named flexitarian as the most useful new word of 2003.  (Hmmmm, I must have missed that newsletter.)

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“When I started learning about how to improve my own biology with a healthier lifestyle, I learned that I could feel a lot healthier with cancer in my body, than before I was ever diagnosed with the illness.”  David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D.

How do you feel about experts who break ranks and give you information not generally available?

This is a book that we just discovered, but that we encourage you to consider adding to your library.  The short video below (a little over 7 minutes), should help you see the significance to the author’s message.  We encourage you to watch.

In Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s blog post about the book, he lists several compelling questions that the book addresses.  Among them are:

• Why the traditional Western diet creates the conditions for disease and how to develop a science-based anticancer diet
• How and why sugar and stress feed cancer—and ways to achieve life balance and good nutrition to combat it
• Why the effects of helplessness and unhealed wounds affect our ability to restore health
• How to reap the benefits of exercise, yoga, and meditation
• How to minimize environmental toxins
• How to find the right blend of traditional and alternative health care

The book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and IndieBound.

Prayer Power
Father, we thank you again for those experts who are willing to step out of the box and present information that is not considered mainstream.  Bless them for their bravery and protect them from the repercussions that inevitably result.

Link of the Day
A Conversation with David Servan-Schreiber

Blessings on you as you begin a new week.  May it be your best so far this year!

“In a digital world, the gift I give you almost always benefits me more than it costs.”  Seth Godin

How’s your giving spirit holding up through this season of giving?

Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.  (Luke 6:38; NLT)

Undoubtedly you have heard me refer to Seth Godin in some of my previous posts.  He is one of the most innovative thinkers I have ever seen.  Seth is the bestselling author of ten books. He writes about marketing, the spread of ideas, and managing both customers and employees with respect.

He just released another book

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I wanted to share a pretty unique article with you today from my trusted colleague and Nutrition Specialist Mike Geary.

You probably thought you already knew everything you needed to know about trans fats, but this article may surprise you…

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“Victim and responsible have nothing to do with the truth.”  Brian Klemmer

What if you were the cause of everything you experience?  (Hint — you are!)

Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.  (1 Pet. 5:8; NLT)

In my last DG I made the statement, “We do have control — indeed total control — over how we handle change.”  I was thinking about that some more, and feel that it would be good to explore that rather dogmatic statement a little further.  My thinking on this goes back to an incredible book that I read many, many years ago by Brian Klemmer titled If how-to’s were enough We would all be skinny, rich and happy!  Amazing book!  Timeless wisdom.

He devotes a whole chapter to victim versus responsible.  One of the most memorable word pictures he paints revolves around the old Jefferson nickel.  If you were looking at the heads side and were asked to describe what you see, you would describe an engraved portrait of President Thomas Jefferson.  If someone else were looking at the tails side and were asked to describe that same coin, they would think you were a nut case, because what they would be seeing would be an engraving of the Monticello homestead.

Which viewpoint is right?  Well, the obvious answer (obvious only because we understand the scenario) is that both are right.  How can there be two totally correct viewpoints of the very same thing?  What’s all that got to do with anything you might be asking.  Well, stop and think about the last time you were totally certain that your viewpoint was correct, and absolutely amazed that other people couldn’t see things as you saw them.  Hopefully (if you’re honest with yourself) you’ll be able to think of more than just a few such situations.  We all fall into that thinking pattern all too easily.

Now, transfer that concept of two different viewpoints of the same thing to the last time you can remember that someone did something to you that you were not happy about.  You could see yourself as a victim — poor me; look at the bad thing they did to me.  Or you could see the same incident from the viewpoint of your being at cause in one way or another for what happened.  (Please note that I did not say you were at fault or to blame; just responsible in that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time through some choice that you made back there somewhere.)  Observe that there is one incident, but two totally opposite viewpoints.

What I’m trying to say in all this is that it’s your choice which of the two viewpoints you decide to hold.  Nobody’s choice but yours.  You have total control over that choice!  If you choose the victim viewpoint, you will likely feel some negative emotions as you review the incident.  But even more important, there is NO HOPE for a solution.  Being a victim and having a solution are mutually exclusive!  If there’s a solution in sight, you can no longer be a victim.

If, on the other hand, you chose to adopt the responsible viewpoint, i.e., due to one or more of your decisions in the past, you were at cause for the incident, then the possibility for a solution now exists.  Again, no blame here — just responsibility.  Maybe you were indeed wronged, but you made choices which put you in the path of that undesirable situation.  Note the dramatic shift in emotions.  No longer negative, because there is now the possibility of a solution.

Can you see what just happened?  Just by changing your viewpoint, you went from a zero probability for solution to maybe a 50-50 probability.  Now, for the “no-brainer” question of the week:  Which odds would you rather play?  Zero to 50-50 just by the choice of which viewpoint you adopt.

Why does everybody (well almost everybody) seem to always choose the victim viewpoint?  I would love to hear your comments on this amazing quirk of human behavior.

Prayer Power
Father, we ask for the grace to make it clear to us when we are choosing the victim point of view.  Grant us the courage to stand up and be responsible.

Link of the Day

Blessings on you as you purpose to choose the be responsible for everything you experience.

“Purpose is implanted in us as well as revealed to us — we were made for what God calls us to be.”  Tony Stoltzfus

What greater good have you been called to serve with your life?

You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.  (Psa. 73:24; NLT)

As a life coach who has focused a good deal of my time by helping clients understand and determine their destiny, I’m always watching for new resources that would take my ability to help clients to a new level.  I believe I have found one, and I’m very excited about it.

Tony Stoltzfus, the person who taught Sharon and me virtually everything we know about coaching, has just released a new book titled A Leader’s Life Purpose Handbook: Calling and Destiny Discovery Tools for Christian Life Coaching.  My initial skimming of the book leaves me eager to dig deeper to explore some new (to me) thinking around destiny coaching.  As Tony points out, life purpose or destiny coaching up to now has primarily focused on “helping people look inside, discover their design, passion and abilities, and then pursue them.”  Some of his new thinking jumped off the page to me as I read his thesis that “calling” has been a vital, but missing, piece of one’s destiny discovery. Calling, in this case, can be defined as an external commission to serve a greater good.

Hmmmm…if he’s right, I’m guilty as charged.  I was erroneously treating calling as a synonym for destiny or purpose.  Tony is helping me to see that calling is discovered by looking outward rather than looking inward.  Pretty obvious…now that it has been pointed out to me. 

So Tony’s new book brings a more balanced approach to destiny discovery by looking in four directions:
–Outward at the external call
–Inward at what our design reveals within
–Backward at how our life experiences have prepared us
–Forward at dreams and passions pulling us toward our destiny

If you’re a coach, or even if you’re not, this book presents some very enlightening information that will take the whole pursuit of destiny discovery to a new level.  Thank you, Tony, for another awesome contribution to coaching.  I’m honored to be your student.

Prayer Power
Father, we thank You for new discovery tools and for anything that leads to a greater understanding of our destiny.  Our greatest desire is to pursue that destiny and to finish well.

Link of the Day
Coach22 Bookstore (click Coach22 Exclusives on the left to find Tony’s new book on sale)

Blessings on you as you purpose to passionately pursue your destiny, i.e., your reason for being.
 

Last Saturday I sent out a blog post announcing the upcoming release of Ann Sieg’s latest e-book, “The Attraction Marketer’s Manifesto.”  I’ve just learned that the book will be available on Monday, March 2.  And it will be free, just as her earlier book was.

I’ve configured a link that will tell you a bit more about the book, e.g., table of contents, screen shots of selected pages, etc.

http://www.JirehMarketing.info

At that site you can also put your name on a list that will allow me to send you notification as soon as it becomes available.

In case you missed what I sent out Saturday explaining the significance of this new e-book, I’ve duplicated it below:

Network Marketing Abuses

Many of you know that Sharon and I are involved in network marketing or MLM.  (And no, this post is not to pitch you on our latest product or on network marketing.)  We both feel strongly that the overall structure and benefits of direct marketing far outweigh the more traditional mass marketing approaches.

However, network marketing has been misunderstood, misapplied, and has received a terrible reputation over the years due to the misuse and blatant abuse by unscrupulous and uninformed participants promoting it as a vehicle for instant riches.  A couple of years ago, a free e-book written by Ann Sieg “rocked” the industry by exposing “The Seven Great Lies of Network Marketing.”  This infamous 35 page free report was called by many “the most controversial book in MLM.”

Attraction Marketing

Ann Sieg’s blockbuster book virtually spawned what has become known as “attraction marketing.”  Attraction marketing is based on the premise that you attract customers that are interested in what you have to offer rather than pursue prospects that may or may not be interested.  For most, especially in the networking business, it was a complete turn-around in mindset.

I have worked with a couple ministries and also with a couple coaches to apply the attraction marketing concept to promote their callings.  Attraction marketing is the anecdote to the horrendous interruption marketing that we have all become so sick and tired of.

All this to say that it looks like Ann is about to publish another industry-shaking book titled “The Attraction Marketer’s Manifesto.”  At this time, I don’t know much about it, other than the author’s credibility and reputation, but the “buzz” is that it is going to be even more significant that her earlier Seven Great Lies.

When more details are available, I’ll send out a quick announcement, but I just wanted to give you a “heads up” as I know that many of our readers are significantly involved in the direct sales industry as well.

Have a great weekend!

BTW, here’s a Squidoo lens I put together on this topic.

Network Marketing Abuses

Many of you know that Sharon and I are involved in network marketing or MLM.  (And no, this post is not to pitch you on our latest product or on network marketing.)  We both feel strongly that the overall structure and benefits of direct marketing far outweigh the more traditional mass marketing approaches.

However, network marketing has been misunderstood, misapplied, and has received a terrible reputation over the years due to the misuse and blatant abuse by unscrupulous and uninformed participants promoting it as a vehicle for instant riches.  A couple of years ago, a free e-book written by Ann Sieg “rocked” the industry by exposing “The Seven Great Lies of Network Marketing.”  This infamous 35 page free report was called by many “the most controversial book in MLM.”

Attraction Marketing

Ann Sieg’s blockbuster book virtually spawned what has become known as “attraction marketing.”  Attraction marketing is based on the premise that you attract customers that are interested in what you have to offer rather than pursue prospects that may or may not be interested.  For most, especially in the networking business, it was a complete turn-around in mindset.

I have worked with a couple ministries and also with a couple coaches to apply the attraction marketing concept to promote their callings.  Attraction marketing is the anecdote to the horrendous interruption marketing that we have all become so sick and tired of.

All this to say that it looks like Ann is about to publish another industry-shaking book titled “The Attraction Marketer’s Manifesto.”  At this time, I don’t know much about it, other than the author’s credibility and reputation, but the “buzz” is that it is going to be even more significant that her earlier Seven Great Lies.

When more details are available, I’ll send out a quick announcement, but I just wanted to give you a “heads up” as I know that many of our readers are significantly involved in the direct sales industry as well.

Have a great weekend!

BTW, here’s a Squidoo lens I put together on this topic.

“Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean I orchestrate the tragedies.  Don’t ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes.”  Wm. Paul Young

Why do you suppose some are so drawn to controversy?

So wherever you assemble, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.  (1 Timothy 2:8; NLT)

I promise to make this my last post on The Shack — at least for now.  But I did want to take one last shot at peaking your interest in this fascinating book.

If you’re drawn to controversy, there’s certainly a lot of that surrounding this book.  I loved what Brandilyn Collins wrote in her blog regarding The Shack, “It doesn’t contain the entire orthodoxy of Christianity, but that’s not its focus. Its message is of God’s love, and it is, in the end, a novel. However, there certainly is some controversy, although the naysayers are far outweighed in number. I do recommend reading the book because so many people are talking about it. It’s not fair to voice opinions without reading the thing.”  I couldn’t say it any better than that.

Kim Gentes writes, “One could argue that the images and metaphors may not sit well with the buttoned-down theocrats, and that, yes, perhaps the allegories aren’t perfect at every level. But the over-arching nuance of Young’s book is not that we need a theology class — it’s that we need to actually live what we say we believe. That God is love. That His efforts towards us have always been completely done in love, and will continue so. That His primary purposeful intent in dealing with mankind is to make Himself and His love completely and gloriously sufficient for us, whilst giving us the freedom to reciprocate that love back to Him in words and lives of praise, thanksgiving, and worship.”

With those two quotes, I will leave you be…at least on this topic.

Prayer Power
Lord, thank You for using a servant like Paul Young to draw our attention back to You.  It will be fascinating to see how all this plays out over the next several years.  What a blessing to be alive in times such as these.

Link of the Day
USA Today report on “The Shack”

Blessings on you as you choose to think for yourself.

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