New Years Resolutions and the best intentions are of no use to you unless you love and value yourself enough to follow your desires/dreams, whether they be about health, relationships, your career etc.

Do you have a desire to follow a new career path and do something you love in 2011? If the answer is ‘YES’ then you may find this blog helpful.

Are you constantly looking for and trying the next best way to make money and improve your cash flow?

Are you tired of being in the rat race and chasing your tail, trying to make ends meet?

Do you go from one money making venture to the next?

Is your motivation for what you do primarily about the money?

Are you bored and/or lost the passion for what you do?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you may find the following tips about how to choose a career helpful:

Firstly, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What need do I sense?  (in my family, in my community or in the organization I work for) Do your research and make sure there is a demand for what you propose to do.

2. Do I possess a true talent that, if disciplined and applied, can meet that need?

3. Does the opportunity to meet that need tap into my passion? You may be talented at something, but you must love doing it and feel inspired to do it in order to feel fulfilled in your career.

4. Does my conscience inspire me to take action and become involved?

5. Can I stick at it? Am I willing and able to commit long term to my new venture? Patience and Perseverance are essential – Success is achieved by consistently taking small steps towards your goal over a long period of time.

Secondly, trust that when yo do what you love and love what you do the money will follow. When we follow our hearts and feel inspired, we will be supported in that choice.

So Make a New Years Resolution for 2011 and beyond to ‘Do what you love and Love what you do’.

PS – Remember to spend your money wisely – To get out of the rat race and to stop struggling financially you may need to put a lid on ‘Wanting’ and ‘Having’ and focus more on BEING present and enjoying what you already have.

Are you gullible – easily convinced or persuaded? Do you buy into concepts, beliefs or products easily and/or without doing proper research? Are you going from one fad to the next? Are you looking for a miracle or a quick fix? Do you swing to extremes in various areas of your life?

…OR are you just completely confused about what to believe and what not to believe?

If you answered ‘YES’ to any of the above questions, you may find the following tips helpful:

People who are trying to sell us a product or convince us of their theory or belief need to get our attention; the way they do this is by tapping into our conditioning.

We are conditioned by society and the media to pay attention to ‘exciting and/or ‘bad’ news, drama, sensationalism, extremes, quick fixes, simple solutions and miracles. And unfortunately, the greatest motivator for most of us is FEAR.

These are therefore the most common strategies that are used time and time again to get us to buy into stuff.

Here are some signs to watch out for when it comes to health claims:

1. Extreme statements like; ‘Product A; the Deadly Poison’, ‘Food A is ‘loaded’ with Growth Hormone’, ‘Ingredient A is toxic’, ‘Drinking milk is like drinking glue’, Product A is full of toxic chemicals and so on… When words like ‘loaded’ are used, alarm bells should ring.

2. Absolutes or Blanket Rules – Product A causes a particular medical condition (this is also an example of over simplification), Sugar Kills, Colours and Flavours are like poison, food additives are harmful, immunizations cause autism, or ingredient A is harmful because it causes the following problems and so on.

3. Sensational Stuff – Miracle Cure, Instant results, Magic Solution, Instant Success and so on.

4. Scientific Medical Jargon and/or Statistics – Be skeptical of someone who rattles off a long list of complicated medical terminology and statistics and particularly without making reference to the relevant studies – this strategy is used to impress you and make you think that this person must know his/her stuff. It’s usually CRAP!

5. Qualifications and Motivations – Find out the persons qualifications, but more importantly, do some research into their history and reputation. There are a lot of qualified people out there who will say whatever is necessary when they are more motivated by the money than they are by making a positive difference in people’s lives. And remember, most of us have our own personal bias, including so-called experts, which unfortunately will often over-ride the truth.

6. Simple Answers/Solutions and/or General Sweeping Statements – The human species is so complex and everyone has individual differences that there is never one simple answer that applies to everyone. And general sweeping statements like; ‘Milk is bad for you because it’s full of fat and cholesterol’ is just way too simplistic to be true; for example, skim milk has NO fat and the cholesterol content is relatively low. A statement like ‘natures perfect food’ is another example of a stupidly simplistic statement.

7. BUZZ words – Watch out for words that have developed positive associations and/or negative/scary connotations because once this happens, every man and his dog jumps on the band wagon ready to use these words to convince you that their theory or product is the answer to all of your problems. Here are some examples of buzz words; Poisonous, Detox, Toxic, Chemical Free, Nothing Artificial, All Natural, Organic, Green, Whole Foods, Liver Cleansing, Body Cleanse, Raw, and the list goes on…

8. FEAR and Conspiracy – Here’s a secret they don’t want you to know and ‘they’ is likely to be the government or any industry or body that most people love to hate or distrust, like the dairy industry, pharmaceutical industry or any really wealthy powerful industry for that matter. Another example is; the government is covering up the truth.

One of the biggest problems in our society is this; when we have a bad experience or react badly to something, then suddenly, this particular incident, person, thing, ingredient, product or food is ‘bad’. Most of us make very strong judgments very quickly based on our own personal experiences.

Here’s an example; if someone reacts badly to MSG, an artificial colour or flavour, a perservative, or a particular man-made ingredient added to food or a product, then suddenly it’s ‘BAD’ and should be avoided by everyone. But why don’t we do this with foods like eggs, nuts and seafood… these foods may not only cause a bad reaction in some people, but in some cases may even kill them. So why don’t we suddenly label them as bad for everyone?

My theory is that most people love to hate anything that they perceive to be man-made or artificial, but eggs, nuts and seafood are natural whole foods so they’re okay, unless you have an allergy of course.

Man-Made products in many instances have actually saved millions of people’s lives and eased suffering, so we need to stop ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water’ -  just because there are some harmful man-made things, just as there are natural things, it’s time to stop disregarding them all. A great example of this is the pharmaceutical industry – just because there have been some harmful medications in the past, doesn’t mean all medication is bad.

Here’s the truth;

*Some natural things can harm or kill you and so can some man-made things.

*Some natural things are good for you and so are some man made things.

*Most things, man-made or natural, will be harmful if consumed or used in excess.

The bottom line is this; no matter how good it is for you, there comes a point where too much becomes bad for you and is therefore harmful and may even be toxic. A great example of this is water, salt and sunlight – all of these are essential for good health, but too much water or sodium can kill you and too much sunlight can cause cancer. Because the sun can cause cancer, does it mean that we should avoid it completely. No, of course not! It’s all about BALANCE. Most things are not toxic unless they reach a level of concentration at which they then become harmful.

It all comes back to BALANCE!

So lets stop going to extremes, relax (because stressing about it will kill you before most other things) and find a balance that works for you.