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"Whether you be man or woman, you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor." --James Lane Allen

"There are only four great questions in life: What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? What is worth dying for? The answer to all of them is the same: Only Love." --Johnny Depp, as Don Juan de Marco

"Toil and risk are the price of glory, but it is a lovely thing to live with courage and die leaving an everlasting fame." --Alexander the Great

"A holy person is someone who is whole; who has, as it were, reconciled his opposites." --Alan Watts

This article is by Jonathan Fields (Source: JonathanFields.com)

Breakthrough research in the field of exercise physiology has yielded stunning revelations about the way we get fit. The big surprise, though, is not what we “have” to do, but what we might “not” have to do.

Our thoughts can literally redefine the size, shape and strength of our bodies.

For decades, exercise scientists have worked to discover how we get fit. Getting stronger, we were told, was about creating enough resistance in a muscle to create millions of micro-tears that would, over days, weeks and months, rebuild themselves, bigger, leaner and stronger. So when we lift weights, sprint or engage in pretty much any kind of exercise, we set this whole process in motion.

The entire cycle is known as hypertrophy and it’s always been considered a pretty mechanical experience. Weight loss has been tossed off with similar assumptions. Regardless of he method used for short-term weight loss, sustained loss always comes back to calories in and calories out.

Nothing foofy, just hard work. Thus, the famed old coach’s chant, “no pain, no gain!” But, what if we could make a change to that slogan?

No pain…huge gains.

It seems there may be a giant kink in this system. And, it has to do with the brain’s role in whole process.

Mind Over Muscles

Building muscle, it turns out, is not nearly as mechanical as we thought. And, in fact, a recent study by Erin M. Shackell and Lionel G. Standing at Bishop’s University reveals you may be able to make nearly identical gains in strength and fitness without lifting a finger!

That study measured the strength gains in three different groups of people. The first group did nothing outside their usual routine. The second group was put through two weeks of highly focused strength training for one specific muscle, three times a week. The third group listened to audio CDs that guided them to imagine themselves going through the same workout as the exercising group, three times a week.

And, the results blew everyone away.

The control group, who didn’t do anything, saw no gains in strength. The exercise group, who trained three times a week, saw a 28% gain in strength. No big surprises there. But, the group who did not exercise, but rather thought about exercising experienced nearly the same gains in strength as the exercise group (24%). Yes, you read that right!

The group that visualized exercised got nearly the same benefit, in terms of strength-gains, as the group that actually worked-out.

All of which leaves us with two big questions:

* How in the word did this work? And,
* Does this mean I can really get totally buff without ever working out?

Question 1 – How can your brain make you buff?

Okay, the answer to the first question—how does this work—is…we don’t really know, with certainty. We do know, however, that muscle conditioning and, in fact, all aspects of fitness and performance, are not nearly as purely mechanical as we once thought.

Your mind plays a massive role in at least two distinct ways

Through it’s connection to the endocrine system (the body’s chemical plant), different thoughts and mental states release hormones that can dramatically accelerate or retard muscle growth. In fact, some people, in search of a way to speed the process, ingest or inject extra amounts of these or similar chemicals. We all know what these are—steroids and their various derivatives. Not the smartest choice.

Other chemicals work on different organs to either fire-up or slow-down your metabolism in the blink of an eye, causing your to either burn a ton of calories lightning-fast or nose-dive into a slow burn.

In fact, a Harvard study reported in February 2007 further bolstered the impact of your thoughts on calories burned.

In that study, the housekeeping staff in a major hotel were told that what they did on a daily basis qualified as the amount of exercise needed to be fit and healthy. They made no changes in behavior, just kept on doing their job. Same as always.

Four weeks later, those housekeepers had lost weight, lowered blood pressure, body-fat percentage, waist-hip ratio and BMI. A similar group of housekeepers who had not been led to believe their job qualified as exercise saw none of these changes.

Simply believing their jobs were exercise caused their bodies to change. Unreal!

But, there’s something beyond the link between thoughts and chemistry, when it comes to the specific quest to gain strength. Chemistry may help accelerate the growth of muscle, but, it turns out…

…strength may not be nearly as much about muscle size or hypertrophy as we thought.

In addition to its chemical system, your body has at least one major electrical system—the nervous system. The signal that makes a muscle contract begins as an electrical impulse in your brain. That impulse is transmitted through your body’s electrical circuitry or nerves to your muscle.

How efficiently that impulse is delivered and how receptive your muscle is to that impulse determines, in large part, how forcefully that muscle can contract. The more fully and the faster it contracts, the stronger we say it is. We call this process neuromuscular facilitation.

Now, here’s the rub. You can turbo-charge your body’s electrical impulse system by repeatedly “visualizing” a muscle contracting, without ever actually contracting it. Based on this knowledge, we’ve known, for years, that visualization is a great way to slow down the loss of strength during recovery from an injury.

But, the big news is that simply visualizing an exercise may provide a nearly equivalent strength-building benefit as actually working-out.

More studies will go along way toward confirming this. And, if it’s for real, wow, can you imagine the opportunities. Now, what about that second question…

Question 2 - Does this mean I really can get totally buff without ever working out?

The short answer is—probably not…yet! Exercise, gains in muscle size and weight loss are all extremely complex processes. There is a ton going on all at once, which is why almost every study done on exercise is causative, not correlative.

It’s much easier to say weight loss and strength gains are “correlated” with exercise, than to say they are “caused” by exercise. Because, it’s nearly impossible to isolate what elements of exercise or “thinking about” exercise are doing what.

So, for now, a really well conceived “visualized” workout may yield similar gains in strength. But, we are not yet able to say it is possible to think your way thin or think your muscles bigger. The key phrase in that sentence, though, was “for now.”

I am incredibly excited about the potential of highly-efficient, virtualized workouts in the near future.

Applications include everything from accelerating rehab to slowing disease-related muscle degeneration, and, yes, even delivering the ultimate, sweat-free, lazy-man/woman’s workout.

A final word of caution, though. Exercise, actual body-moving, sweat-drenching, joint-freeing breath and movement are not only mission-critical to keeping your joints, muscles and connective tissue healthy, but, when chosen with the right criteria, can actually be a source of a lifetime of fun. And…

…if fun and exercise don’t sound like they belong in the same sentence together, hold onto your hat!

This article is just the first in what will soon grow into an ongoing series on creating, choosing and enacting an approach to exercise that is so fun and effective, it’ll have you reworking your calendar to find ways to exercise more.

--Jonathan Fields

"When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take -- choose the bolder." -- William Joseph Slim

6. Mind Mapping

One of the best ways to learn new things is to relate what you want to learn with something you already know. This is known as association and it is the mental glue that drives your brain.

Associations are also one of the best ways to improve your memory. To maximize our mental powers, we must constantly look for associations that connect new ideas and knowledge with old ideas and concepts that we are already familiar with.

Association is the primary method that memory champions use to win international memory competitions. If you want to enhance your mental abilities, then association is one skill that you will definitely want to practice.

Mind mapping is one of the best ways to practice association.

According to Wikipedia, mind mapping: “is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea.”

Mind maps have been used for centuries to aid in learning, brainstorming, memory, and problem solving.

To start creating your own mind map, simply get out a piece of paper, multiple colored pens, and begin drawing a handwritten mind map that connects a variety of ideas and concepts to a central key word or idea. The simple act of using your hand for thought can really get the brain going.

7. Write an Article

One of the best ways to learn a topic is to start writing about it yourself. This forces you to clarify your thoughts and dig a bit deeper into the topic at hand.

By expressing the core ideas in your own words, you will gain a much deeper understanding of the topic.

Explaining a topic to others will help you to “really” understand the matter because teaching something to others requires a completely different level of insight.

Think about it. If you had to teach a class, wouldn’t you make sure that you understood the material even better than the students. Take on the role of an instructor and you will find yourself gaining a much deeper understanding of the topics you study.

8. Peg words

Peg words are extremely powerful, but it does take some time to learn how to use them. However, once you master this technique, you can probably cut your studying time in half.

The use of pegs goes all the way back to the seventeenth century and Henry Herson. He came up with a list of ten objects that physically resembled the number itself. For example, the number 1 was represented by a candle. Number 8 was a pair of spectacles.

Peg words essentially become “hangers” or pegs on which you can hang different items that you want to remember.

This system works by pre-memorizing a list of words that are easy to associate with the numbers they represent. To begin, you can connect simple objects with the numbers 1-20. Those objects form the “pegs” of the system.

Once you have created a list of words for each number, you can then begin using your peglist to quickly memorize a list of objects.

For example, let’s say you want to memorize a grocery list of 10 items. To begin, you would need to make a peg list for the numbers 1-10. Here’s an example:

1- pencil
2- shoe
3- phone
4- door
5- book
6- basketball
7- hat
8- radio
9- car
10- barn

Now, you must associate the groceries on your list with each of your peg words. Remember that your associations must be exaggerated and filled with emotion in order to make them easy to remember. Here are some examples of how you could associate the grocery list with each of the peg words:

1- tomatoes - Visualize an army of pencils attacking a field of overgrown tomatoes.
2- grapes - Visualize your favorite TV character stomping through a big barrel of grapes with bright white shoes.
3 - cereal - Visualize opening your phone and having your favorite cereal start shooting out of the mouth piece.

Get the idea?

Once you have created your list of peg words, you can use them over and over again to memorize a variety of different lists.

You could use the peg system to memorize the Presidents of the United States, the periodic table, or the state capitals.

When creating your peg words, it’s best to use tangible things or objects for each peg word because objects are easier to associate other items to.

Also, make sure that you don’t use similar peg words for different numbers. For reference, always keep a full list of the peg words close by. In fact, putting this list in your wallet or purse is one of the best places. This way, you will always have access to the peg system.

At first, you may find it difficult to come up with the creative, illogical, and exaggerated associations that help you remember more. It comes with practice. However, once you have mastered the technique of association, you will find that you have also increased your creativity and problem solving skills at the same time. The key to creating good associations is thinking like a child again. Let your mind wander past the limitations created out of what we now know as “adulthood”.

9. Visualization

Visualization is an extremely powerful memory technique. However, visualization doesn’t just improve memory. It can also help reduce stress, improve sports performance, and increase your motivation.

Create descriptive pictures of your possible future and move yourself towards it. Visualize your next sports event or public speech to improve your performance.

When studying history, play out visual renditions in your mind of historical events that you want to remember. Imagine the smells, sights, and sounds of Gettysburg or the excitement and unity created by Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. By visualizing history with mental replays, you are much more likely to remember them in detail.

10. FlashCards

When it comes to rote memorization, flash cards are my favorite memorization tool. Flashcards can help you learn new subjects quickly and efficiently. They are especially useful for learning new vocabulary or even a new language.

One of the biggest benefits of flashcards is their portable nature. They allow you to study anywhere at any time. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the bus, stuck in traffic, or in the doctor’s office. You can always whip out your flashcards for a quick 2 to 3 minute study session.

To create effective flashcards, dedicate one point to each card. For example, you could put a vocabulary word on one side and the definition on the other side. This way, you can repeatedly quiz yourself until you have mastered all of the concepts.

Considering that memory is such a fundamental skill, it’s surprising that schools don’t teach us more about how to learn and use our memory to its optimum potential.

Our mind, just like the rest of our body, needs continuous exercise and training. Those who think they have a poor memory actually just have an untrained memory.

Just reading this article won’t improve your memory. A good memory comes from practice. Find something new and exciting to learn. Start testing out these methods as soon as possible.

You could learn how to fly, learn a new language, photography, or even investing.

When you have mastered these memory techniques, the world’s knowledge is yours to discover.

This article is from Mind Power News

Did you know that people compete every year to win the U.S. Memory Championship? To attain the rank of grand master of memory, you must be able to memorize 1,000 digits in under an hour, the exact order of 10 shuffled decks of playing cards in under an hour, and one shuffled deck in less than two minutes.

To this day, there are only 36 grand masters of memory in the world.

And while you may not be interested in memorizing digits and playing cards, I’m sure all of us would like to increase our mental brain power. Whether you want to quickly memorize the periodic table, learn a new language, recite the names of each president forwards and backwards, or cut down on your studying time, the following memory techniques will help you do it.

The brain wasn’t designed to remember abstract symbols like numbers and miscellaneous facts. However, if you can translate those symbols into vivid visual images and associations, even the dullest list of dates can become as memorable as your own telephone number. The key is to develop a system that allows for quick encoding and easy recall.

We’ll start with the basic techniques and then move on to the more advanced ones. Although the more advanced techniques do take a bit more practice, they also deliver bigger benefits, so don’t write them off too quickly. With practice, you can become a memory master.

1. Acronyms

One of the most common memory techniques is the use of acronyms. This technique uses an easily remembered word whose first letters are associated with the list of items that need to be remembered. Pilots use these extensively to run through essential checklists during flight time.

An example would be: ROY G. BIV: the colors of the visible spectrum Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Keep in mind that associations which are exaggerated, absurd, humorous, and involve all five senses are much easier to remember than normal ones. We remember emotionally charged events much better than boring ones.

2. Chunking

Chunking is one of the oldest memory techniques. Using this method, the items to be memorized are divided into small chunks or groups. Chunking is especially helpful for memorizing telephone numbers, ID numbers, etc.

For example, if you want to memorize the number 411645754, then split it up into small groups: 411, 645, 754. You can then memorize each group by rote. By dividing the larger number into smaller subsets, it will be much easier to commit the number to memory.

When using this technique, it is also helpful to make connections and associations among the different chunks and numbers.

For example, if you want to memorize a grocery list, you should group each of the items into related categories. So, one chunk or group might be composed of oranges, apples, and pears, while another chunk is made up of vegetables.

3. Acrostic

An acrostic is a memory technique that uses a made up sentence or poem with a first letter cue. The first letter of each word is a cue to an idea you need to remember.

One example is: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS).
This acrostic represents the sequence in solving or evaluating math equations. Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction

4. The Method of Loci

The Method of Loci is a memory technique that dates back to ancient Greek times when orators, philosophers, and others had to rely on memory for memorizing speeches and knowledge in general. This was essential seeing that the printed book wouldn’t come around until approximately two thousand years later.

Therefore, they invented the Method of Loci. This memory technique involves associating information you want to remember with specific locations, also known as loci.

These locations can be points along a journey or objects in a room. The ancient Greeks not only created rooms, but entire palaces and cities to remember lots of information.

According to Wikipedia, “In ancient advice, the loci were physical locations, usually in a familiar large public building, such as a market or a church.

To utilize the method, one walked through the building several times, viewing distinct places within it, in the same order each time. After a few repetitions of this, one should be able to remember and visualize each of the places in order reliably.

To memorize a speech, one breaks it up into pieces, each of which is symbolized by vivid imagined objects or symbols. In the mind’s eye, one then places each of these images into the loci.

They can then be recalled in order by imagining that one is walking through the building again, visiting each of the loci in order, and viewing each of the images that were placed in the loci, thereby recalling each piece of the speech in order.”

To create your own mental journey, you must first select the path you wish to use. Be sure to choose a location that has the same number of locations as the number of chunks in the information you wish to memorize.

Take a mental journey through the selected path. You should be able to recall the specific order of the locations without trouble.

Now it’s time to associate this new information with each location along your chosen path. If you want to memorize the presidents, then you might take a mental journey through your school. In the first room, you could have George Washington in an astronaut suit and cutting firewood. In the second room you could have John Adams break dancing in front of the classroom. And on and on until you have completed all 43 presidents.

Remember, emotion and exaggerated associations are the key to memory.

5. The Image-Name Technique

Here’s an excellent (but simple) memory technique for remembering names.

All you have to do is make up a relationship between the name and the physical characteristics of the person’s name you are trying to remember.

For example, if you were trying to remember a person by the name of Tom, you might associate their name with the person you went to prom with who was also named Tom. In this instance, you are making the connection between Tom and prom (rhyming) and between someone you previously knew from high school.

If you want to remember the name Sally, you might imagine them in a ballet. This association will help you remember their name because of the visual imagery and the connection between the “closely related” words that almost rhyme: Sally and ballet.

By making connections, you are instantly more likely to remember their name the next time you see them.

"If the creator had a purpose in equipping us with a neck, he surely meant us to stick it out." -- Arthur Koestler

This article is by Charlie "T" Jones (Source: Your Achievement Ezine)

Perhaps my findings are not the only solution, but with all my heart I believe the fires of greatness in our heart can be kept aglow only after we develop a sense of urgency and importance for what we are doing. I mean a sense of urgency to the extent that we feel it is a matter of life and death; and it is a matter of life and death, for in growing we are alive and in quitting we are dying in a sense. If you don't believe this, talk to anyone who has lost the sense of urgency of getting things done and has been drifting in complacency, mediocrity and failure. If you are without a sense of urgency in your work,TODAY you know what I mean.

A sense of urgency is that feeling that lets you know yesterday is gone forever, tomorrow never comes. is in your hands. It lets you know that shirking today's task will add to wasted yesterdays and postponing today's work will add to tomorrow's burden. The sense of urgency causes you to accomplish what today sets before you. Thank God for the sense of urgency that can change a dull, shabby existence into a sparkling life. Right now, ask God to give you a sense of urgency. Believe that He did, and then act accordingly.

--Charles "T" Jones

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