Anybody can make money. As you've learned in the previous chapters, the tools and principles you need are really pretty simple. For example, if you harness the power of compounding, stay in the market for the long term, diversify intelligently, and keep your expenses and taxes as low as possible, your odds of attaining financial freedom are extremely high.
But what if you achieve financial freedom and you're still not happy? Many people dream for decades of becoming millionaires or billionaires. Then, when they finally reach their goal, they say: "Is that it? Is that all there is?" And believe me, if you get what you want and you're still miserable, then you're really screwed!
When people dream of becoming rich, they're not fantasizing about owning millions of pieces of paper with pictures of dead people on them! What we really want are the emotions we associate with money: for example, the sense of freedom, security, or comfort we believe money will give us, or the joy that comes from sharing our wealth. In other words, it's the feelings we're after, not the money itself.
I'm not belittling the importance of money. If you use it well, there are countless ways in which it can enrich your life and the lives of those you love. But real wealth is about so much more than money. Real wealth is emotional, psychological, and spiritual. If you're financially free, but you're still suffering emotionally, then what kind of victory is that?
Maybe this strikes you as an odd digression in a book about money and investing! But I'd feel remiss if I wrote an entire book that shows you how to achieve financial wealth while neglecting to share with you the secret of how to achieve emotional wealth. Fortunately, you don't have to choose between them! As you'll discover in this chapter, it's possible to be financially rich and emotionally rich. This, my friend, is the ultimate prize!
To my mind, the chapter you're about to read is undoubtedly the most important in this book. Why? Because what you'll learn in the pages to come is that there is a single decision you can make today that can change the rest of your life. This one decision—if you consistently act on it—will bring you more joy, more peace of mind, more real wealth than most people can imagine. Best of all, you don't need to wait 10, 20, or 30 years. If you make this one decision, you can be rich right now!
The truth is, I want to share this idea with you because it's been life changing for me. So, if you're ready to join me, let's begin the final step in our journey!
My entire life has been focused on helping people turn their dreams into reality. I've visited more than 100 countries and have spoken with people from every corner of the earth about what they really want. And do you know what I've found? Every culture has different beliefs and values, yet there are fundamental needs and desires that all human beings share. What I've found wherever I go is that we all crave an extraordinary quality of life.
For some people, that means owning a beautiful home with an exquisite garden. For others, it means raising three wonderful children. For some, it means writing a novel or a song. For others, it means building a billion-dollar business. And for some, it means being one with God. In other words, it's not about living somebody else's dream. It's about living a magnificent life on your own terms.
The first is what I call the "science of achievement." In every field, there are rules of success that you can either break (in which case, you'll be punished) or follow (in which case, you'll be rewarded). For example, there's a science to health and fitness. Biochemically, we're all different. But there are fundamental rules you can follow if you want to thrive and have high energy. If you violate those rules, you'll pay the consequences.
It's the same in the financial world. Just think about what you've learned in this book. The most successful investors have left a trail of clues for us to follow. By studying these patterns and applying these tools, strategies, and principles in your own life, you're accelerating your journey to success. It's obvious, right? Sow the same seeds as the most successful people, and you'll reap the same rewards. That's how you'll achieve financial mastery.
When it comes to the science of achievement, there are three key steps that can enable you to achieve whatever it is you want. Can you think of something fantastic that you've achieved in your life that once seemed impossible? Maybe it was a relationship, or maybe it was a dream job or a successful business, or owning a sleek sports car. Then think about how this dream went from being impossible to actually being in your life. What you'll find is that the path to achievement is followed by a fundamental three-step process.
The First Step to Achieving Anything You Want Is Focus. Remember: wherever your focus goes, your energy flows. When you put your entire focus on something that really matters to you, when you can't stop thinking about it every day, this intense focus unleashes a burning desire that can help you obtain what might otherwise be out of reach. Here's what's going on beneath the surface: a part of your brain called the reticular activating system is activated by your desire, and this mechanism draws your attention to whatever can help you achieve your goal.
The Second Step Is to Go Beyond Hunger, Drive, and Desire, and to Consistently Take Massive Action. A lot of people dream big but never get started! To succeed, you need to take massive action. But you also need to find the most effective execution strategy, which means changing your approach until you find what works best. You can speed up this process exponentially by modeling people who've already been successful, which is why we've focused so intently on money masters such as Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio, Jack Bogle, and David Swensen. By studying the right role models, you could learn in a week what might otherwise take you a decade.
The Third Step to Achieving Whatever We Want Is Grace. Some people call it luck, some people call it God. Here's what I can tell you, based on my own experience: the more you acknowledge grace in your life, the more you seem to have it! I've been amazed to see how a deep sense of appreciation brings more and more grace into our lives.
Of course, you need to do everything in your power to achieve your goals, but there are still things over which you have no control. Even the fact that you were born at this time in history, that you were given a brain and a heart that you didn't have to earn, and that you get to benefit from the awesome power of modern technologies like the Internet—none of this was within your control, nor did you create these gifts!
For decades, I was focused obsessively on the science of achievement—on learning to master the external world and on figuring out ways to help people break through and solve every challenge. But I now believe in my heart and soul that the art of fulfillment is an even more important skill to master. Why? Because if you master the external world without mastering the internal world, how can you be truly and sustainably happy? That's why my greatest obsession today is the art of fulfillment.
As I mentioned earlier, we each have a different idea of what constitutes an extraordinary quality of life. To put this another way, what fulfills you is likely to be different from what fulfills me or anyone else. Our needs and desires are infinitely and marvelously diverse! One experience that brought this home to me was an unforgettable day that I spent with my dear friend Steve Wynn.
A few years ago, Steve phoned me on his birthday to see where I was. As luck would have it, we were both staying in our vacation homes in Sun Valley, Idaho. So Steve invited me over to hang out. "When you get here, I've got to show you this painting," he said. "I've coveted it for more than a decade, and I outbid everyone at Sotheby's two days ago and finally bought it! It cost me $86.9 million!" Can you imagine how intrigued I was to behold this precious treasure that my friend had dreamed of for so long? I was imagining some sort of Renaissance masterpiece that you might see in a museum in Paris or London. But when I got to Steve's house, you know what I found? A painting of a big orange square! I couldn't believe it. I took one look at it and jokingly said, "Give me a hundred bucks' worth of paint, and I can duplicate this in an hour!" He wasn't overly amused. Apparently, this was one of the greatest paintings by the abstract artist Mark Rothko.
So why am I telling you this story? Because it perfectly illustrates the fact that we're all fulfilled by different things. Steve is more sophisticated than I am when it comes to art, so he could detect a depth of beauty, emotion, and meaning in those brush strokes that I couldn't see. To put it another way, one man's orange splotch is another man's $86.9 million fantasy!
While it's true that we're all different, there are still common patterns when it comes to achieving fulfillment. If that's your goal, what principles or patterns of behavior can you model?
The First Principle: You Must Keep Growing. Everything in life either grows or dies. That goes for relationships, businesses, or anything else. If you don't keep growing, you'll become frustrated and miserable, no matter how many millions you have in the bank. In fact, I can tell you the secret to happiness in one word: progress.
The Second Principle: You Have to Give. If you don't give, there's only so much you can feel inside, and you'll never feel fully alive. As Winston Churchill said, "You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give." Whenever I ask people about the most fulfilling aspects of their lives, they always talk about sharing with others. The true nature of human beings isn't selfish. We're driven by our desire to contribute. If we stop feeling that deep sense of contribution, we can never feel truly fulfilled.
It's also worth reminding ourselves of the obvious truth that becoming financially rich is not the key to fulfillment. As you and I both know, people often chase after money in the delusional belief that it's a kind of magic potion that will bring joy, meaning, and value to their lives. But money alone will never give you an extraordinary life. Over the years, I've spent a lot of time with billionaires, and some of them are so miserable that you'd feel sorry for them. If you're not happy, you can't have a magnificent life, no matter how fat your wallet.
What about professional success? Well, it's wonderful if your success brings you that sense of growth and contribution that we all need in order to feel fulfilled. But I'm sure you've met plenty of "successful" people who never seem happy or fulfilled. And how does that qualify as success? In fact, I truly believe that success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.
Let's think for a moment about a painful example of this.
In 2014 we lost someone whom I consider a national treasure: the actor and comedian Robin Williams. Over the last couple of years, I've spoken to audiences all over the world about this astonishingly gifted man. Again and again, I'd ask the same question: "How many of you in this room loved Robin Williams? Don't raise your hand if you liked him—only if you loved him." And you know what? Every place I go—from London to Lima, from Tokyo to Toronto—about 98% of the people in the audience raise their hands.
Was Robin Williams a master achiever? Absolutely. He started out with nothing. But then he decides that he wants to star in his own TV show, and he does it. Then he decides that he wants a beautiful family, and he creates it. Then he decides that he wants more money than he can spend in a lifetime, and he makes it happen. Then he decides to become a movie star, and he does it. Then he decides that he wants to win an Oscar—but not for being funny—and he does that, too! Here was a man who had it all, who achieved everything he'd ever dreamed of achieving.
And then he hanged himself.
He hanged himself in his own home, leaving behind hundreds of millions of people who love him to this day. Even more devastating, he left his wife and children traumatized and brokenhearted.
When I think about this terrible tragedy, I'm struck by one simple lesson: if you're not fulfilled, you have nothing.
Robin Williams achieved so much that our culture has conditioned us to value, including fame and fortune. Yet despite all his gifts, it was never enough. He suffered for decades, trying to deal with his stress through the use and sometimes the abuse of alcohol and drugs. Near the end of his life, he was also diagnosed with a progressive neurological disorder, Lewy body disease. His wife, Susan, recently wrote in the medical journal Neurology: "Robin was losing his mind, and he was aware of it. Can you imagine the pain he felt as he experienced himself disintegrating?"I Robin Williams was a good man who cared deeply about others—a man who contributed so much to the world, despite his long battle with addiction, depression, and ill health. But in the end, he made everyone happy except himself.
This reminds me of the safety instructions they announce whenever you get on an airplane: "In the event of an emergency, please put on your oxygen mask before assisting others." It sounds callous and selfish when you first hear it, but it actually makes sense: unless you help yourself first, how can you hope to help others?
Believe me, I know that Robin Williams is an extreme example. I'm not worried that you're going to kill yourself. But I see so many people—even the "richest" and most "successful" people—who are missing out on so much of the joy and fulfillment they deserve to experience. I want you to experience that joy and fulfillment today. Yet nobody teaches us how to be happy.
Let me tell you the story of what's changed in my own life. Over the last two years, I've been on a marvelous journey of the mind. I'm always looking to grow personally, so I'm constantly exploring different ideas about how to reach a whole new level.
A couple of years ago, I was in India visiting a dear friend of mine, Krishnaji, who is equally fascinated by these questions about how to achieve an extraordinary quality of life. As my friend knows, I've taught for many years about the power of being in an "energy-rich" state: a peak state where you can accomplish anything and where your relationships are filled with passion. By contrast, when you're in an "energy-poor" state, the body feels lazy, the mind feels sluggish, and you can't do anything much but worry, get frustrated, and snap at people!
My friend said to me, "What if you use different words to describe these two states?" As he explained, there are really only two different states you can be in at any given moment. Either you're in a high-energy state that could also be described as a "beautiful state." Or you're in a low-energy state (often characterized by internal pain) that could also be described as a "suffering state." He told me that his spiritual vision was to live in a beautiful state no matter what happened in his life.
My friend then echoed what I and so many others have taught for years: We can't control all the events in our lives, but we can control what those events mean to us—and thus what we feel and experience every day of our lives! By consciously choosing and committing to live in a beautiful state, my friend believed that he could not only enjoy so much more of life, but also give so much more to his wife, his child, and to the world at large.
I thought a lot about what he'd said. Now, I'm an achiever. If you're reading this book, you probably are, too. And we achievers don't believe that we're ever "suffering," do we? No! We just have "stress"!
In fact, if you'd told me even two years ago that I was suffering, I would have laughed at you. I have a heavenly wife, four glorious children, total financial freedom, and a mission that inspires me every day of my life. But then I started to realize that I frequently allowed myself to fall into a suffering state. For example, I'd get frustrated, pissed off, overwhelmed, worried, or stressed. At first I figured that those emotions were just a part of life. The truth is, I even convinced myself that I needed them as fuel to move me forward. But this was just my mind playing tricks on me!
The trouble is, the human brain isn't designed to make us happy and fulfilled. It's designed to make us survive. This two-million-year-old organ is always looking for what's wrong, for whatever can hurt us, so that we can either fight it or take flight from it. If you and I leave this ancient survival software to run the show, what chance do we have of enjoying life?
An undirected mind operates naturally in survival mode, constantly identifying and magnifying these potential threats to our well-being. The result: a life filled with stress and anxiety. Most people live this way, since it's the path of least resistance. They make unconscious decisions, based on habit and conditioning, and are at the mercy of their own minds. They assume that it's just an inevitable part of life to get frustrated, stressed, sad, and angry—in other words, to live in a suffering state.
But I'm happy to tell you there's another path: one that involves directing your thoughts so that your mind does your bidding, not the other way around.
This was the path I chose. I decided that I would no longer live in a suffering state. I decided that I would do everything in my power to live in a beautiful state for the rest of my life and to become an example of what's humanly possible! After all, there's nothing worse than a rich and privileged man or woman who's angry and ungrateful!
A Beautiful State. When you feel love, joy, gratitude, awe, playfulness, ease, creativity, drive, caring, growth, curiosity, or appreciation, you're in a beautiful state. In this state, you know exactly what to do, and you do the right thing. In this state, your spirit and your heart are alive, and the best of you comes out. Nothing feels like a problem, and everything flows. You feel no fear or frustration. You're in harmony with your true essence.
A Suffering State. When you're feeling stressed out, worried, frustrated, angry, depressed, irritable, overwhelmed, resentful, or fearful, you're in a suffering state. We've all experienced these and countless other "negative" emotions, even if we're not always keen to admit it! As I mentioned earlier, most achievers much prefer to think they're stressed than fearful. But "stress" is just the achiever word for fear! If I follow the trail of your stress, it'll take me to your deepest fear.
So what determines whether you're in a beautiful state or a suffering state? You might assume that it depends mostly on your external circumstances. If you're relaxing on a beach and eating ice cream, it's easy to be in a beautiful state! But in reality, the mental and emotional state in which you live is ultimately the result of where you choose to focus your thoughts.
I'll give you an example from my own life. For the last 25 years, I've flown back and forth between America and Australia several times a year. Nowadays I'm privileged to have my own plane, which is a bit like having a high-speed office in the sky. For better or for worse, there's no need ever to disconnect from work! But I vividly remember the dread I used to experience when I'd sit down on a commercial flight to Australia and wonder how I could possibly live without connection to emails and texts for the next 14 hours! How could my businesses possibly survive without me?
Then, one magical day, I was sitting on a Qantas Airways flight to Sydney when the captain proudly announced that the plane had international Internet access. All around me, people started cheering, clapping, and high-fiving one another! It was as if God had descended from on high and entered the plane! I didn't stand up and do a jig, but I have to confess: in my mind, I was clapping, too. And then, after 15 minutes of giddy delight, do you know what happened? We lost Internet access. It didn't work for the rest of the flight, and it's probably still not working after all these years.
So how do you think the passengers reacted? We were crushed! One minute, we're euphoric. The next minute, we're cursing our terrible misfortune. What's amazing is how quickly our perspective changed: moments earlier, Internet access had been a miracle; now it was an expectation! All we could think about was that the airline had violated our inalienable right to Internet access—a right that hadn't existed until that very day.
In our outrage, we instantly lost sight of the wonder that we were flying through the air like a bird, crossing the globe in a matter of hours, and watching movies or sleeping as we flew!
Isn't it ridiculous how jaded we are and how upset we allow ourselves to become? When it rains on our parade, when we don't get what we want or expect, we're so quick to give up our happiness and sink into a state of suffering.
Everyone has his or her own flavor of suffering. So here's my question for you: What's your favorite flavor of suffering? Which energy-sapping emotion do you indulge in most? Is it sadness? Frustration? Anger? Despair? Self-pity? Jealousy? Worry? The specific details don't really matter because they're all states of suffering. And all this suffering is really just the result of an undirected mind that's hell-bent on looking for problems!
Think for a moment about a recent situation that caused you pain or suffering—a time when you felt frustrated or angry or worried or overwhelmed. Whenever you feel emotions like these, your sense of suffering is caused by your undirected mind engaging in one or more of three particular patterns of perception. Consciously or unconsciously, you're focused on at least one of three triggers for suffering: 1. Suffering trigger is "Loss." When you focus on loss, you become convinced that a particular problem has caused or will cause you to lose something you value. For example, you have a conflict with your spouse, and it leaves you feeling that you've lost love or respect. But it doesn't have to be something someone else did—or failed to do—that caused you to perceive the sense of loss. This sense of loss can also be triggered by something you did or failed to do. For example, you procrastinated, and now you've lost a business opportunity. Whenever we believe in the illusion of loss, we suffer.
Suffering trigger is "Less." When you focus on the idea that you have less or will have less, you will suffer. For example, you might become convinced that because a situation has occurred or a person has acted a certain way, you will have less joy, less money, less success, or some other painful consequence. Once again, less can be triggered by what you, or others, do or fail to do.
Suffering trigger is "Never." When you focus on the idea or become consumed by a belief that you'll never have something you value—such as love, joy, respect, wealth, opportunity—you're doomed to suffer, you'll never be happy, you'll never become the person you want to be. This pattern of perception is a surefire route to pain. Remember: the mind is always trying to trick us into a survival mindset! So never say never! For example, because of an illness, an injury, or because of something your brother did or said, you might believe that you'll never get over it.
These three patterns of focus account for most, if not all, of our suffering. And you know what's crazy? It doesn't even matter if the problem is real or not! Whatever we focus on, we feel—regardless of what actually happened. Have you ever had the experience of thinking that a friend did something horrible to you? You became tremendously angry and upset, only to discover that you were dead wrong and that the person didn't deserve all that blame! In the midst of your suffering, when all those negative emotions were swirling inside your head, the reality didn't matter. Your focus created your feelings, and your feelings created your experience. Notice, too, that most, if not all, of our suffering is caused by focusing or obsessing about ourselves and what we might lose, have less of, or never have.
But here's the good news: once you're aware of these patterns of focus, you can systematically change them, thereby freeing yourself from these habits of suffering. It all starts with the realization that this involves a conscious choice. Either you master your mind or it masters you. The secret of living an extraordinary life is to take control of the mind, since this alone will determine whether you live in a suffering state or a beautiful state.
There are many different techniques you can use to take control of your mind and achieve a beautiful state. This is such an important subject that I plan to write an entire book about it. But you don't need to wait to begin this life-changing journey. You can decide right now that you will no longer settle for a life that's less than the one you deserve to feel and experience. All you have to do to change your life forever is commit in your heart and soul to find something to appreciate in every moment. Then you will experience the real wealth of ongoing happiness!
Are you up for making this bold and brilliant decision right now?! If so, let's support you by reviewing two simple techniques that I've found enormously helpful in staying on this course.
The first tool is what I call "the 90-second rule." Whenever I start to suffer, I give myself 90 seconds to stop it so that I can return to living in a beautiful state. Sounds good, right? But how do you actually do it?
Let's say I'm having an intense conversation with an employee at one of my companies and discover that he or she has made a mistake that could cause an array of problems. Naturally, my brain leaps into danger detection mode, launches that ancient survival software, and starts bombarding me with thoughts about all the ways I and our whole team might suffer as a result. In the past, I could have easily been swept up in a whirlwind of worry, frustration, or anger—a maelstrom of mental suffering!
But here's what I do now. As soon as I feel the tension rising in my body, I catch myself. And the way that I catch myself is really simple: I gently breathe and slow things down. I step out of the situation and start to distance myself from all those stressful thoughts that my brain is generating.
It's natural for these thoughts to arise, but they're just thoughts. When you slow down, you realize that you don't have to believe these thoughts or identify with them. You can step back and say to yourself, "Wow, look at that crazy thought go by! There goes that crazy mind again!" Why is this helpful? Because the problem isn't the existence of our negative, destructive, and limiting thoughts—everyone has those! What hurts us is the habit of believing those thoughts. For example, have you ever found yourself getting so mad at someone that you started to think, "Man, I really want to throttle this guy! I could kill him!" I'm guessing that you didn't actually do it. Why? Because you didn't believe the thought. At least, I hope you didn't!
Once I've detached myself from these unwanted thoughts, I start to focus my mind on finding something to appreciate. The survival brain is always searching for what's wrong, but there's always something to appreciate. As I always say, "What's wrong is always available . . . but so is what's right!" Maybe it's the simple fact that I'm alive and well, that I'm still breathing! Maybe it's the fact that the person who made the mistake is a beautiful human being who works hard and has the best intentions. Maybe it's the fact that I have the awareness to see that I'm suffering, which gives me the ability to stop and let it go immediately.
It doesn't matter what you appreciate. What matters is that by shifting your focus to appreciation, you slow down your survival mechanism. Love, joy, and giving, will all trigger the same positive transformation. This shift in your focus creates space for your spirit to enter the game, so you don't get stuck inside your head. If you keep doing this with real consistency, you actually rewire your nervous system, training your mind to find the good in every situation, so your experience of life is one of thankfulness and joy.
And you know what's miraculous? Before you know it, you feel free. You let go and start to laugh at things that used to drive you nuts. This makes for a happier life and healthier relationships, while also helping you to think more clearly and make smarter decisions. After all, when you're stressed, angry, sad, or fearful, you're not likely to find the best solutions. When you're in a beautiful state, the answers come more easily. It's like tuning a radio to the right frequency so the static disappears and you can hear the music loud and clear.
When I first began to use this technique, I should have called it the four-hour rule or the four-day rule because it sometimes took me so long to stop suffering and regain my equilibrium! But it's like any skill: the more you use it, the better you get. I've found that it really helps when I catch myself quickly, instead of letting those negative thoughts linger for longer than 90 seconds. Why? Because the best time to kill any monster is when it's little. You don't want to wait until it's Godzilla and it's devouring your entire city!
I'm still not perfect at this, and there are certainly times when I get hooked. But I use the 90-second rule so often that it's gone from being a discipline to becoming a habit. This one technique has given me an amazing level of freedom from all those destructive emotions that used to rob me of my joy and peace of mind. Those emotions still come, but they disappear quickly, overwhelmed by the power of appreciation and enjoyment. As a result, life is more beautiful than ever!
What you'll also find is that you're much more present for other people when you're not caught up in your own thoughts of loss, less, and never. When you're in a beautiful state, you can give so much more to everyone you love.
And you know what? There's power in happiness. There's a happiness advantage in life. Happiness is an advantage in your relationships, your business, your health, and in everything you touch. Living in a beautiful state no matter what is the ultimate freedom and the ultimate gift that you can give to those you love. It's the experience of absolute abundance—and abundance of joy!—that is true wealth.
Even better, you can possess this abundance now, instead of having to wait until you acquire a certain amount of money! And the good news is, this decision rests entirely in your hands. You alone can give yourself this happiness edge.
UNCHAIN YOUR HEART: THE POWER OF ALIGNMENT!
To overcome fear, the best thing is to be overwhelmingly grateful.
The second tool I'd like to share with you is a simple two-minute gratitude meditation that I've taught to tens of thousands of people in my seminars over the last year or so. I've recorded this meditation and made it available online at www.unshakeable.com and on the Unshakeable mobile app, so you can listen to the audio with your eyes closed.
But I'm also giving you a written version below. We all absorb information in different ways. So you may prefer to read this over, get a general sense of the instructions, and then do this brief meditation from memory, without the audio. I've found that reading it once to understand where the process is going is valuable, but it's much easier to listen to it, so you can stay out of the mind and in your heart. Either way, I hope you'll discover that it's a powerful technique for aligning your mind and your heart, quickly placing you in a beautiful state.
But first, let me give you a quick word of explanation about the science behind this meditation. If you went to a hospital and we hooked you up to an electroencephalogram (EEG) and an electrocardiogram (EKG), we could measure the electrical impulses in your brain and in your heart. What you'd see when you're stressed out and suffering mentally is that the lines on the EEG and the EKG would look jagged. But the jaggedness from your heart's rhythms would look nothing like the jaggedness from your brain's rhythms. In other words, they're out of sync.
But scientific studies have shown that this short meditative focus can dramatically alter those electrical impulses in your brain and your heart. What's miraculous is that the jagged lines on the EEG and the EKG tend to become rounded after this meditation. What's more, the lines from the heart and the brain become almost identical. Why? Because the mind and the heart are now operating as one. This is what happens naturally when you're in a state of flow.
The simple goal of this meditation is to change your emotional state by filling you with a sense of gratitude, and to use that emotion to solve whatever challenge has been causing you to suffer. Why gratitude? Because you can't be grateful and angry at the same time. You can't be grateful and fearful at the same time. If you want a miserable life, there's no better way to achieve it than to focus your mind on anger and fear! But if you want a happy life, if you want to live in a beautiful state, nothing works better than to focus on gratitude!
Step 1. First, I want you to pick an aspect of your life where you have some "unfinished business": something you need to change or resolve in your professional or personal life; an issue you've been putting off because dealing with it would be upsetting, frustrating, or stressful. Maybe it's a problem at work or a conflict or difficulty with a family member. On a scale of 0 to 10 (with 10 being the most upsetting), where would you rank it? Ideally, pick an issue that ranks at least a 6 or a 7, so that you can feel the true impact of this simple technique.
Step 2. Now set aside that situation for a moment and place both of your hands on your heart. Feel it beating. I want you to close your eyes and breathe deeply into your heart. And as you breathe, feel the blood and the oxygen flowing into your heart. Feel the power of your heart. Find the strength of your heart. What are you grateful for that your heart has guided you to do, enjoy, appreciate, or give?
Step 3. As you breathe deeply, feel grateful for your heart. Feel what a gift your heart is. Every day it beats a hundred thousand times and pumps blood through 60 thousand miles of blood vessels. You don't even have to think about your heart, and yet it's always there for you, even while you sleep. It's the ultimate gift, and yet you didn't have to earn it. It was given to you. Something loved you so much that it gave you this heart. And as long as it beats in your chest, you live. What a gift! Feel the power of that gift now.
Step 4. As you breathe into your heart, feeling deep gratitude for your heart, I want you to physically feel your heartbeat. And as you're doing this, I want you to think of three experiences in your life for which you feel incredibly grateful—and you're going to step into those three experiences one at a time. They could be big or small. They could date back to your childhood, or they could be from this week or even today.
Step 5. I want you to think of the first experience and step into it right now as if you're there, inside that memory, reliving it. See what you saw in that moment of pure gratitude: feel it, breathe it, own it, and feel so grateful for that moment. Fill yourself up with gratitude because when you're grateful, there is no sadness, there is no hurt, there is no anger. You can't be grateful and angry simultaneously. You can't be grateful and worried simultaneously. If we cultivate gratitude, we have a different life.
Now think of a second experience, another moment for which you can feel so grateful—something that felt like a pure gift in your life, a miracle, an act of grace, of love. And fill yourself up with the beauty and the joy of that experience. Fill yourself up with deep gratitude for that moment, taking time to feel it and appreciate it fully for at least 30 seconds.
Next, I want you to think of a third moment for which you could feel so grateful. But don't just think about it. Step into that experience, step into that environment, and feel what you felt in that moment. Savor it. Fill yourself up with the joy, the miracle, the gift of that experience.
Step 6. And now I want you to think of one more experience, but this time I want it to be an experience that was a coincidence. It wasn't something you'd planned for, and yet it brought such joy into your life. Maybe that chance experience led to your meeting a person you love or who changed your life or who enriched your life. Or maybe it led to a new career choice, or brought you new opportunities for growth or happiness. This coincidence happened just for you. Was it a coincidence, or were you guided?
I have a core belief that has often pulled me out of pain and into meaning. In my soul, I believe that life is always happening for us, not to us! Even the most painful situations cause us to grow, to expand, to deepen, or to care more. I'm sure there have been events in your life that you'd never want to go through again. Yet when you look back on it 5 or 10 years later, you see the higher purpose in it all. You see how life was actually working for you in that moment. Even those moments of suffering turned out to be great triggers for growth.
Take a moment to give thanks to whatever you believe has given you these gifts. Fill yourself up with gratitude to the universe or God or whatever you believe in. And trust in this universe, which is billions of years old, and which has always taken care of you, even when you felt that you'd lost your way!
And your heart knows the answer, doesn't it? Yes, it does. Trust your heart. It knows what to do. Breathe into your heart and give thanks for the answer. Your heart and mind aligned are a powerful force. When unified, they're unbeatable.
It's much easier to listen to this meditation than to read it, so please take advantage of the app audio. As I mentioned earlier, I've guided tens of thousands of people through this meditation. At this point, I ask them to raise a hand if they know what to do in this situation that used to stress them out. I then ask them to open their eyes and look around the room to see how many people have raised their hands. It's usually about 95% of the audience. In some cases, the situation requires more intense work. But this simple 2-minute meditation is just one of many techniques I can use to help them.
But here's the broader point I'm making: you and I have the power to vault ourselves out of a suffering state and into a beautiful state in just two minutes. How? By focusing on what we appreciate. It's so simple and yet so profound: appreciation, enjoyment, and love are nothing less than the antidotes to suffering. It's all about shifting your focus away from the illusion of loss, less, or never, and engaging your gratitude, appreciation, and love for what you already have in your life!
Take all of your negative thoughts and all of your negative emotions, trade them for appreciation, and your whole life changes in an instant.
Yesterday is but a dream, And tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Now, I'm not saying that you'll never suffer or be stressed again. You know as well as I do that life is full of extreme circumstances. No matter how smart we are or how rich we are, none of us is immune to health issues, the pain of losing people we love, and a myriad of other difficulties.
I can't control what's going to happen to you or your family in the future. I can't control what will happen with the financial markets, including the possibility of a crash that lasts longer and is more severe than anyone expects. I wish I could . . . But I promise you this: if you make the decision to master your own mind, you'll be mentally equipped to handle whatever challenges come your way.
Some people are experts on posttraumatic stress. But I've spent a lifetime focusing on the miracle of posttraumatic growth. I study resilient people who've been through the worst situations and still end up creating magnificent lives.
A few years ago, I met an incredible woman named Alice Herz-Sommer, a brilliant pianist born in Czechoslovakia in 1903. During World War II, Alice and her son were deported and sent to a concentration camp. She was forced to give piano recitals in the camp—and somehow pretend that she was gladly performing for her Nazi captors. Otherwise they would have killed her child. The extraordinary story of how Alice survived these experiences with her spirit intact is recounted in a biography entitled A Garden of Eden in Hell.
When I met Alice, she was 108 years old and living in England. She had endured so much tragedy, yet she was one of the most positive and inspiring people I've ever encountered, full of life and joy. She lived on her own and insisted on taking care of herself. She still played piano and sang every day. What struck me most was that everything seemed beautiful to her.
How amazing is that? To me, it's the ultimate reminder that even someone who has been through hell can be filled with happiness. I was most deeply moved by her description of her time in the concentration camp. Alice told me that every moment of her life—including those years—had been a gift.
When you meet people like this, you never forget them because they possess such an outstanding ability to live in appreciation, awe, and gratitude. Despite all of their challenges, they radiate love and joy. And then there are those people you want to slap in the head because they freak out when the milk in their caffé latte isn't hot enough!
So what are you going to do? Are you going to join me in my quest to experience true and lasting wealth today by training your mind to find joy in every moment? It's your choice whether to live in a suffering state or a beautiful state. You have the capability to become a master of enjoyment, to fill your mind with appreciation, to be happy no matter what. Best of all, the joy in you will affect everyone around you.
If you're ready to burn the boats and take the island, I recommend that you write a note explaining your decision to live in a beautiful state and why you've made it. Then send this note to three people you respect and ask them to tell you (gently!) if they ever see you slipping into a suffering state. You can also send the note to me at endsufferingnow@tonyrobbins.com. I'd be touched to hear that you've made this decision, why you made it, and how it's enriched your life.
By writing down your decision, you crystalize it, while also committing yourself publicly in a way that will help you stay the course. Even better, you may well inspire the recipients of your note to follow you in making this commitment to live in a beautiful state.
Everyone needs a vision. Mine is simple. I'm going to live in a beautiful state every day of my life—and when I get off track, I will snap myself back immediately. This will enable me to bring more beauty to the lives of others and all those I love. I hope you'll join me in this mission. Because let me tell you: living in a beautiful state is the greatest prize, the real jackpot, the ultimate treasure. This is rarer—and a much greater achievement—than being a millionaire or billionaire. If you can learn to ride the roller coaster of life and enjoy both the ups and the downs, then you are utterly unshakeable.
I started this chapter by talking about real wealth. So, as we come to the end of our time together, what is it? And how can you truly experience it every day? When I interviewed Sir John Templeton, one of the first great international investors to become a billionaire, I asked him, "What's the secret to wealth?" He said, "Tony, it's what you teach." I laughed and said, "I teach a lot of things. Which thing?" With a big smile on his face, he replied, "Gratitude! You know, Tony, we've both met people who have a billion dollars and they're miserable. So they're truly poor. And we both know people who seemingly have nothing, yet they're grateful for the breath of life, for everything. So they're rich beyond compare." In our hearts we all know it's not money that makes us rich. As I'm sure you've found, the greatest treasures are never financial. It's those moments of grace when we appreciate the perfection and beauty of it all. It's those moments when we feel something eternal and invincible inside us, the core of our spirit. It's the loving warmth of our relationships with family and friends. It's finding meaningful work. It's the capacity to learn and grow, to share and serve.
For me, it's also the joy of helping people to break through their limits and seeing them light up as they remember who they really are and what they're really capable of achieving. It's the delight of seeing their lives become a celebration instead of a battle. It's the magical feeling that somehow I've made a little difference, that I've played a role in the awakening of a marvelous and unique human being. It's appreciating that everything I've gone through has served not only me but others—that even the deepest pain I've experienced has led to something beautiful. In fact, there can be no greater gift than for your life to have meaning beyond yourself.
This is the ultimate game changer. Find something to serve, a cause you can be passionate about that's greater than yourself, and this will make you wealthy. Nothing enriches us as much as helping others.
People often say they'll give when they're rich. But the truth is, you can start giving even when you have very little. If a person won't give a dime out of a dollar they will never give $100,000 out of $1 million! Start now with whatever you have, and I can promise you blessings beyond compare! This psychological shift from scarcity to abundance makes you wealthy and brings you a glorious sense of freedom. In making this shift, you're training your brain to recognize that there's so much more available for you to give, to appreciate, and to love. And remember: It's not just money that you can donate. You can also give your time, your talent, your love, your compassion, your heart.
My daily prayer is to be a blessing in the lives of all those I meet. If you make the tools and principles in this book a part of your core, you'll be able to receive—and give—more than you could ever imagine. As this extraordinary abundance flows to you and from you, you will feel truly blessed—and you will become a greater and greater blessing in the lives of others. This is what it feels like to possess real wealth.
I'm thankful that you've allowed me the privilege of spending this time with you. I sincerely hope the contents of this book have been helpful to you on your journey to financial freedom. Perhaps someday our paths will cross, and I'll have the privilege of hearing the story of how this book has helped you accelerate the building of the life you desire and deserve.
Please return to these pages whenever you need a reminder of who you really are and all that you can create. Remember that you are more than the moment. You are more than your economics. You are more than any challenging time you may face. You are soul, spirit, and essence—and you are truly unshakeable. God bless you!


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https://english.radio.cz/business-news-8546086#player=on
Photo: archive of Radio Prague
In Business News: The EC proposal to lower the ceiling on business incentives could severely undercut investment in the country, the Czech Statistical Office posts the highest Czech current account on record, a Czech district court passes a breakthrough verdict in a dispute over bank fees and one in twelve Czechs now have a problem repaying their debts.
Lower ceiling on business incentives bad news
The EC's proposal to lower the ceiling on business incentives in the Czech Republic from the current 40 to 25 percent of eligible costs would severely undercut investments, according to the outcome of a poll conducted among 58 large foreign and domestic companies. Two thirds of respondents said they would not invest in new or existing projects if incentives were cut so steeply. Those who said they would still invest admitted the change could influence the height of the investment. Czech officials are against the proposal and are negotiating with the EC.
The EC sets ceilings on investment incentives that can be provided in any part of Europe. The Commission revises the system every seven years to reflect economic changes in the EU and the current system expires at the end of 2013, when new rules will come into effect that will last until 2020.
Highest Czech current account on record
The crown rebounded from its weakest level in 16 months this week after the Czech Statistical Office posted the highest Czech current account on record. The current account, a broad measure of goods and money flowing into and out of the country, showed a surplus of 27.7 billion crowns ( 1.4 billion US dollars) in February, exceeding the most optimistic market expectations. Analysts say the balance-of-payments data confirms that the Czech crown is safe in terms of external balance.
Breakthrough verdict on bank fees
Photo: Eva Odstrčilová
A Czech district court this week passed a breakthrough verdict in a dispute over bank fees, ordering the mortgage bank Hypotecni banka to return to one of its clients the entire sum he had paid for loan account management. The judge said it was not clear for what service the fee was being charged. The verdict has been welcomed by around 128,000 other bank clients who are also hoping to get their money back. The bank has appealed the decision and said it will use all the legal instruments available to try to get the verdict overturned.
Growing number of Czechs unable to repay their debts
Photo: archive of Czech Radio
The number of Czechs who are unable to repay loans is growing, according to the Solus association of loan providers which runs a register of debtors. One in twelve Czechs are now unable to pay their debts or make payments on time. The association says that in the first quarter of this year 8.1 percent of Czechs had overdue debt payments, compared to 8.0 percent in the preceding quarter. Payment discipline is reported to have worsened in all regions with the north Bohemian Usti region being consistently the worst performer. More than 45 thousand pensioners in the Czech Republic face legal action over unpaid debts. The number of young debtors is also growing.
Increasing dependence on pork imports
Photo: Filip Jandourek
The Czech Republic's self-sufficiency in pork dropped below 50 percent in 2012, the Chamber of Agriculture reported this week. Pork sales outstrip all other meat sales in the country with annual consumption of pork reaching 40 kilo per head. The country was completely self-sufficient in its pork production in 2004 but Czech pork has gradually given way to cheaper imports. The higher prices of fodder have made pig-breeding financially disadvantageous, forcing many breeders to end production. The Chamber of Agriculture has described the country's increasing dependence on pork imports as alarming.
Czech grid operator backs action against excess electricity flows from Germany
The Czech grid operator CEPS has backed a plan to build transformers which would protect the Czech grid against excess flows of wind-produced electricity from neighbouring Germany. The CEPS supervisory board approved the investment plan this week. The transformers protecting the system from overload and subsequent blackouts should be finished by 2016. The plan has not met with general approval. Critics say installing phase shifters in the Czech Republic will only deflect the German electricity flows to other neighbour states such as Poland and argue that unilateral action on the part of individual states poses a challenge to efforts to build a unified European electricity grid.
Some households to save on electricity and gas bills in 2021
ING forecast: Czech Republic to show negative GDP for 2020
Prague Stock Exchange falls to its lowest since economic crisis in 2009
Seven percent of Czechs go into debt to pay for Christmas, with a third taking high-risk loans

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Front Page, Islam
Muslim Congressman Was Farrakhan Spokesman
by Aaron Klein
Fresh from an interview dustup with the Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity, the first Muslim elected to Congress still is unable to explain evidence that his association with the anti-Semitic, anti-white Nation of Islam was much closer than he has claimed.
Newspaper reports from the 1990s indicate Ellison was known as a supporter and activist for Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, even speaking on behalf of the controversial group as a "representative."
The information and timeline provided by the newspaper reports are at odds with Ellison's public explanation of his association with the group.
During his first campaign for Congress, in 2006, Ellison wrote a letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota & the Dakotas claiming he had never been a Nation of Islam member.
Immediately after he was sworn in to Congress in 2006, he posed for photographs with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with their hands on a copy of the Quran.
Ellison's congressional office in Washington did not reply to a WND request for comment.
Tuesday night, Ellison was invited to talk with Hannity about the looming budget sequester, as WND reported. Responding to Hannity's montage of President Obama's statements about the upcoming automatic budget cuts, Ellison opened by declaring, "Quite frankly, you are the worst excuse for a journalist I've ever seen." The interview went downhill from there. (See video of the interview at the end of this article).
In the letter to the Jewish group, Ellison further claimed that his association with the Nation of Islam was limited to an 18-month period in which he was helping to organize the Minnesota contingent at the 1995 Million Man March.
Ellison's claims are contradicted by the newspaper finds, which place him as a Nation of Islam "representative" in 1997 and supporter in 1998.
In 1997, he delivered a statement for the Nation of Islam, apparently serving as the group's spokesman while being described as a Nation of Islam "representative."
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported the episode Feb. 3, 1997. The case involved Joanne Jackson, the executive director of the Minneapolis Initiative Against Racism, or MIAR, who found herself in hot water for controversial comments about Jews.
Jackson was a Nation of Islam supporter who had been quoted as stating, "Jews are among the most racist white people I know."
The Star Tribune reported "the appearance of Twin Cities representatives of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam at the MIAR's board meeting on Monday." Among the "representatives" was Ellison, according to the report.
The article said Ellison read comments on behalf of the Nation of Islam.
The Tribune noted Ellison used his religious name of Muhammad in reading the statement to the board in defense of Jackson.
"[We] stand by Ms. Jackson," Ellison said. "We stand by the truth contained in the remarks attributed to her, and by her right to express her view without sanction. Here is why we support Ms. Jackson: She is correct about Minister Farrakhan. He is not a racist. He is also not an anti-Semite."
Ellison also said Farrakhan's representatives in the Twin Cities have a "sincere desire to talk over the tensions between the black and Jewish communities with reason and truth."
The report said the statement "also criticized the board, questioning 'whether MIAR has the requisite understanding, knowledge or resolve to be an initiative against racism.'"
"It appears that MIAR's first initiative against racism should be directed at itself, or at least the 11 board members who voted to dismiss Joanne Jackson,'" the Tribune said.
WND also found an April 5, 1998, article in the Star Tribune describing Ellison as a well-known Nation of Islam supporter.
"Ellison, a newcomer to DFL politics, is well-known in the black community as the former head of the Legal Rights Center and a supporter of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam," the article said.
Ellison's affinity for the Nation of Islam traces back at least to his days as a law student in 1989 and 1990.
Keith Ellison-Muhammad
The PowerLineBlog.com reported in 2006 that Ellison had used the names Keith X Ellison and Keith Ellison-Muhammad during his student days, writing columns in a student newspaper that defended Farrakhan against accusations of anti-Semitism.
In another student column, Ellison called for a separate nation for blacks.
Minnesota Public Radio reported in 2006, during Ellison's first run for Congress, that he was also a member of the Black Law Student Association and was criticized for sponsoring anti-Semitic speakers at the University of Minnesota.
Dan Weiss, a University of Minnesota Law School classmate of Ellison's, told MPR at the time, "My recollections of Keith are of that person who was very much in support of the Nation of Islam and their messages they tried to convey to the larger community."
Ellison later promoted Farrakhan's Million Man March, appearing on stage for the speech of Nation of Islam activist and spokesman Khalid Abdul Muhammad.
In an April 2011 interview with Sean Hannity, Ellison was asked if he thought the Nation of Islam should be "investigated" by the government.
"I'm more of a constitutionalist, Sean," Ellison said. "You and I must agree that we wouldn't just investigate a group because we don't agree with them. We gotta have more than that. You'd agree with that, right? Wouldn't you agree with that?"
See Hannity's Tuesday night interview with Ellison:
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/muslim-congressman-was-farrakhan-spokesman/#uZF1IjePTUYOkTkE.99
EllisonFox News ChannelHannityKeith EllisonLouis FarrakhanMinnesotaNation of IslamStar Tribune
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Make a stop at the island's beautiful sandy beach of Pisses for water-sports and snorkeling. After lunch, the yacht departs for Syros. We visit Ermoupolis, the capital of the Cyclades, which is full of Venetian and Neoclassical buildings making it one of the most beautiful towns of the country.
After breakfast we cruise to Mykonos and anchor at the sheltered Psarou Bay, a busy and trendy beach. Many jet set society members are swimming there. Her beautiful turquoise waters combined with the beach bars provide the ultimate relaxing and luxury experience. A visit to the famous 'Nammos Restaurant' is a must! Cruise to the Old Port and be sure to visit 'Little Venice', one of the most charming districts of the island. Mykonos is well known for its all encompassing night life, so don't miss out!
Cruise to Delos, an open archaeological museum surrounded by crystal clear blue waters. A private tour in the significant archaeological place can be organized by the crew. We then cruise to the island of Paros and drop anchor at the Northern bay of Naousa (Agios Ioannis), where we will spend the night.
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The last day starts with a delicious breakfast on board. We leave Adamas to head to Athens for disembarkation. We make one more swimming stop at Agia Marina on the way.


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Fri, 20 Jul 2012 | Published in I Was There . . .
Counting Crows @ Lacoste Live! Concert Series, 7/17/12
By: Julie Kocsis
When I think of the Counting Crows, I'll have to admit, a summertime concert sponsored by Lacoste isn't the first scenario that comes to mind. But, on the evening of Tuesday the 17th, that was the scene. Situated in a large empty lot among the abandoned factories along Kent Street in Williamsburg, the Crows took the stage along with We Are Augustines, Fields Report and Kasey Anderson & The Honkies. Despite the heat index circling around 100 degrees and the air smelling like a combo of sweat, sunscreen and beer, the bands sounded fantastic.
Dressed in full suits (they must have been hot as hell), Field Report played a beautiful set of the most summertime-appropriate music. Pedal steel-tinged, easy going tunes made for a great way to get the show going. Immediately following them was We Are Augustines (formerly known as Pela), who played another excellent set of rock songs featuring lead singer Billy McCarthy's raspy yet strong vocals that, although occasionally border on melodramatic at times, are filled with a great sense of urgency and passion that reminds me of Brian Fallon from the Gaslight Anthem.
Topping the roster for the evening though of course were Counting Crows. I was skeptical of how good this band would look and sound on stage, as they slowly ease their way into becoming a "classic rock" band. (How old does that make you feel now?!) But dreadlocked Adam Duritz and Co. sounded fantastic as they played through an hour and a half set of hits ("Mr. Jones," "Hanginaround," "Long December") and lesser known tracks that spanned their full career. The most fun point in the evening was during "Hanginaround," a song that I'm sure that band is sick to death of playing by now (though they never let on to it) when all the members from the three opening bands were invited on stage to join in singing.
And the party continues! For more information about upcoming Lacoste Live! Concert Series shows be sure to check out Ticketmaster.
About Julie Kocsis
Julie Kocsis is Associate Editor and a contributing writer of ShortAndSweetNYC.com. Living in Brooklyn, she works for Penguin Random House during the day and writes about rock bands at night. In addition to her many band interviews as well as album and concert reviews that have been published on ShortAndSweetNYC.com, she has also been published on The Huffington Post, Brooklyn Exposed and the Brooklyn Rail.
View all articles by Julie Kocsis


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Key legal and practical issues on shared services.
What are "shared services"?
Shared services involve public sector bodies working or joining together to pool knowledge, skills and resources in the development or delivery of services (most commonly administrative or back office functions). As discussed below, there are a variety of models available including new models such as: those involving a range of different organisations (eg, a local authority, a university and an NHS foundation trust), those that aim to generate a commercial return and public service mutuals.
What are the attractions of shared services?
The main drivers are to improve efficiency and save costs through pooling resources and/or aggregating demand. For some models there may also be an opportunity to create new revenue streams, for example, by selling HR services to other public or private sector bodies. Creating or using a centralised service provider can also concentrate expertise and so deliver higher quality services to customers. Depending on the structure, the opportunity to save VAT may also be available.
How can shared service arrangements be structured?
There are variety of models available, ranging from relatively loose, informal working arrangements and joint procurement to the creation of new corporate vehicles. Examples of these include:
Framework agreements for several customers. An NHS body may procure a framework agreement for back office support services on behalf of itself and other NHS bodies in its area.
Joint purchasing. Two further education colleges decide to jointly outsource their back office finance and payroll function to a private sector company.
Public sector co-operation. Four local authorities sign a co-operation agreement for the reciprocal treatment of waste.
In-house (Teckal) company. Three further education colleges merge their finance and accounting functions by establishing a jointly owned limited company to provide those services, as shown below:
Joint venture. A university enters into a joint venture with a private sector company to provide HR and payroll services for both the university itself and other universities in the region, as shown below:
Public service mutual. A spin-out employee mutual company provides services back to its originating university, as shown below:
Informal joint working. Two local authorities work together on a project without any formal contract between them.
Joint appointments or employment. Two clinical commissioning groups jointly appoint a Head of Procurement to be the procurement lead for both organisations.
Will the public procurement regime apply?
If a public body is a "contracting authority" as defined in The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the Regulations), the EU procurement regime will apply where it lets services contracts over the relevant financial threshold. Subject to the exceptions discussed below, this applies even where the contract is between two public bodies. As a result, many shared services arrangements can fall within the scope of the Regulations as they often require over-threshold contracts for services to be put in place. Those structures where the Regulations may apply (to at least an element of the structure) and those falling outside the Regulations are listed below.
EU Procurement Rules may apply:
Joint purchasing
JVCo's (with private sector)
Employee mutuals (currently)
EU Procurement rules do not apply:
"Teckal" companies
Co-operation among contracting authorities in the carrying out of public functions
Informal joint working
Joint appointments/employments
Structures outside the public procurement regime
While informal joint working or joint appointments will usually fall outside the Regulations (because there is no contract for services), bear in mind that arrangements may initially be informal but may evolve over time into more definite structures to which the Regulations may apply.
The other two key models which are not caught by the Regulations are where:
services are provided by an in-house or "Teckal" company; and
the arrangement can be viewed as co-operation between public bodies in relation to a public task which they each have an obligation to perform.
We look at the structure and legal test for both of these models below:
The in-house or Teckal company
Here a contracting authority/contracting authorities can avoid the procurement regime by establishing a "Teckal" company to provide the services (named after the case which first established the exemption).
At present, the legal test is set out in Regulation 12(1) and, broadly speaking, has three parts:
The "control test": the contracting authorities must exercise [joint] control over NewCo similar to that which they exercise over their own departments. This means they have the power to exert decisive influence over strategic objectives and significant decisions of NewCo. Importantly, NewCo cannot include any private sector capital or interest; and
The "essential part test": NewCo must carry out at least 80% of its activities with the controlling contracting authorities. Other activities are of only "marginal" significance. NewCo is not market orientated.
There is no direct private sector shareholding in NewCo.
Given these three tests, this structure will be unsuitable for more complex shared services arrangements designed for commercial exploitation (as no private sector investment/ownership is permitted nor may NewCo do any significant business with third party customers). However, for simpler structures, it provides a useful model.
The "co-operation" in a public task model
Another EU procurement case, Hamburg, established that genuine co-operation between public bodies to jointly fulfil a public task which they each have a duty to perform, will also fall outside of the procurement regime. Currently, to meet the test set out in Regulation 12(7), the "contract":
must be concluded in a framework of genuine cooperation between the participating contracting authorities: aimed at carrying out jointly their public service tasks (ie, different in character to a contract for services);
involves co-operation only between public entities;
is non-commercial in character (with only a maximum of 20% of the activities concerned being carried out on the open market)
is governed solely by considerations and requirements relating to the pursuit of objectives in the public interest and is of little or no interest to a private sector supplier.
As with Teckal, this exemption will not assist where contracting authorities wish to use the shared services vehicle for commercial exploitation.
Also in "Other key legal issues and Challenges", it needs to say Data Protection Act 2018 (not 1988).
Other key legal issues and challenges?
In addition to working through the public procurement issues associated with any shared service structure, there will be a number of other legal issues and challenges to consider. These include:
Limitation of liability and indemnities. The arrangements should protect each of the public bodies against the possibility of a breach by one of the partners (or any JVCo, NewCo or other private partner).
Data protection and Freedom of Information. If the arrangement involves the sharing of personal data, each of the public bodies involved must have the power to share data with other organisations and must comply with the Data Protection Act 1988 and Human Rights Act 1998. Whether any new vehicle established is subject to the Freedom of Information Act will also need to be considered.
Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). If the arrangement involves the transfer of any staff, the TUPE regime will bite to protect employment conditions for transferring staff. Pensions arrangements for transferring staff will also need to be considered.
Powers. The contracting authorities involved must ensure they have the statutory powers to enter into the arrangements to avoid these being "ultra vires"
Corporate vehicle issues. Where the arrangement contemplates the establishment of a new corporate vehicle, its legal structure, shareholdings, governance, powers, voting rights and exit arrangements must also be considered. This will be of particular importance for Teckal companies whose structure must still satisfy the legal test.
Tax treatment: Some shared service models have the benefit of favourable tax treatment and can make savings on VAT. Models wishing to take the benefit of this must be structured carefully to ensure they satisfy HMRC's requirements.
Where there are different types of public body involved, there may be different limitations and governance/tax issues for each depending on their legal form. The participating bodies may also have different interests and incentives, all of which will need to be considered and reconciled.
Need help with setting up a shared services arrangement, or need to know whether the procurement rules will apply to your preferred model? Please call 0344 880 2963 or contact us.
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Taliban Targets Christians on Easter Sunday [Update]
By Katherine on March 28, 2016 2 Comments
According to CNN in Lahore, Pakistan, on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016, a suicide bomber killed 67 people. The Pakistan Taliban took responsibility for the bombing, saying they were aiming for Christians. Police officer Haider Ashraf reported that 300 others were injured in the explosion. On Sunday evening, numerous families were celebrating the holiday at Gulshan-d-Iqbal Park.
More than 340 people were injured and rushed to nearby hospitals just minutes after the explosion. A spokesperson for the ambulance service reported transporting more than 65 dead bodies to the morgue.
As of March 28, at 2:51 a.m. EDT only a third of the bodies have been identified; thus far there were 22 women and 15 children. Police officer Muhammad Iqbal, told reporters, the victims were covered in blood and screaming in agony when help arrived. A young newlywed couple were amid the deceased. A nine-year-old boy lost his legs.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a spokesperson for a splinter faction of the Pakistan Taliban, vowed the attacks would continue.
By Katherine Miller-Chichester
Edited by Cathy Milne
CNN: In Pakistan, Taliban's Easter bombing targets Christians, 67 people killed
The New York Times: Death Toll From Easter Bombing in Pakistan Reaches
Fox: Taliban attack on Easter targets Christians; 67 people Killed in Pakistan
Image Courtesy of FS1 – Community TV Salzburg's Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
easter sunday, taliban, taliban attack
Taliban Targets Christians on Easter Sunday [Update] added by Katherine on March 28, 2016
View all posts by Katherine →
2 Responses to "Taliban Targets Christians on Easter Sunday [Update]"
Bennie Miskell March 12, 2019 at 9:37 am
Great article. It is quite unfortunate that over the last ten years, the travel industry has had to deal with terrorism, SARS, tsunamis, flu virus, swine flu, as well as the first ever real global tough economy. Through it all the industry has really proven to be powerful, resilient plus dynamic, discovering new solutions to deal with difficulty. There are always fresh complications and the possiblility to which the sector must yet again adapt and reply.
Pingback: Taliban Targets Christians On Easter Sunday [Update] | The Truth Will Prevail | Unify News


We spent three wonderful nights in Edinburgh, Scotland right in the midst of their national referendum on independence from the U.K. The "No - Thanks" vote finally won out in the end, but it was a wonderful experience to see a country struggle with its identity. The city is fantastic and the people are even better. We loved our time here.


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Home» 2018 » September 2018 » Korean United Methodists Choose Prayer Over Plans
Korean United Methodists Choose Prayer Over Plans
The Alternative Plan Task Force, the Central Committee and the executive committee of the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church pray together at a joint meeting held in August 2-3, 2018. Photo by Thomas Kim, UMNS
The Alternative Plan Task Force of the Korean Association of The United Methodist Church and its Central Committee met to discuss the 2019 Special General Conference and the future of the Korean United Methodist Church at the First Korean United Methodist Church in Chicago.
General Conference, the ultimate decision-making body of The United Methodist Church, is held every four years. This special session has been specifically called by the Council of Bishops and will be held Feb. 23-26, 2019, to address disagreements regarding human sexuality in the denomination.
The Commission on a Way Forward consists of 32 members appointed by the Council of Bishops, and recently proposed three plans to discuss at the special conference. The three plans are the One Church Plan, the Connectional Conference Plan and the Traditional Plan.
In addition, the Council of Bishops has asked the Judicial Council, the highest court of the denomination, to decide whether the plans would violate the church constitution as found in the Book of Discipline. The Judicial Council will meet Oct. 23-26, 2018 in Zurich. The special General Conference is expected to consider as legislation the three plans, including those provisions that would require a constitutional amendment.
The Korean Association decided to form an Alternative Plan Task Force to handle this issue during the Central Committee meeting held in October 2017. The Alternative Plan Task Force, which was newly organized during a gathering of the association held in April 2018, as well as the Central Committee and the executive committee recently held a joint meeting.
During the opening worship service of this meeting, the Rev. Hannah Ka said, "We must change our life's value from doing to being. This means we respect each and every person in the body of Christ as a being of equal value before God."
"Jesus was interested in a Samaritan woman, a leper, a blind man, a bleeding patient, a child of a Gentile woman, a sinner, a tax collector and Judas Iscariot," said Ka.
"We have to realize that the thoughts of God are deeper and wider than our thoughts, and that our thoughts are only a part of God's infinite will. Even though our life experiences, situations and colors of faith are different, we are to hear the word of God rather than to pay attention to human beings," she concluded.
"There is a concern that the 2019 Special General Conference may be the beginning of a new conflict rather than a settlement and arrangement," said the Rev. Paul H. Chang, executive director of the Korean Ministry Plan. "We, the church, should pray and work for the unity of the church, and the two extreme groups at both ends should concentrate on mission rather than division and separation."
Myeong-rae Kim Lee, one of the leaders of the Korean American United Methodist Women and a member of the Way Forward Commission, recalled the history of the denomination. "In the 1800s, (U.S.) Methodism was divided into South and North due to slavery problems," she said. "A great number of people were sacrificed in the Civil War. Even after that, there was a great conflict over the ordination of women, but now no one talks about slavery or the ordination of women.
"I hope that the Korean United Methodist Church, which has grown up as a fruit of the mission of The United Methodist Church, will now become a bridge of peace and unite the divisions of United Methodism."
To read the full story visit: https://www.umnews.org
Church in Nigeria Opens Modern Hospital
Greetings from the General Secretary
Dear Friends, July started off with an inspiring Council Meeting…


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Here's How You Can Participate in the Super Bowl Halftime Show
The 15 Best Things to Do in Miami This Week
Cuba Out of Cuba: "Keeping It Alive For Future Generations"
Neil Vazquez
Neil Vazquez | September 17, 2014 | 1:27pm
As any second-, third-, or fourth-generation Cuban-American can attest, it's difficult to really connect with your roots. Bereft of the sights, sounds, flavors, and customs of your homeland, the desire to identify with your new American surroundings is greater than the nostalgic influences around us. For collaborators Alexis Rodriguez-Duarte and Tico Torres, it took meeting the godmother of Cuban music, Celia Cruz, to spark an interest in their homeland's culture.
The pair were living in London, working on establishing themselves in the world of editorial photography and styling. "We just called her hotel, and she answered the phone," said Torres. Soon they would all be having high tea at Cruz's hotel suite. It was a long way to go for two Cuban expats, raised in Hialeah, but it was just the journey they needed to set off a rediscovery of their forgotten heritage.
See also: Cubamerican Airs on WPBT2 Thursday: "It's the Story of Our Exile"
Luckily for us, their collective journey of rediscovery back to their roots is the subject of Alexis' show "Cuba Out of Cuba" debuting at the Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College this Friday. The exhibit is centered on displaying portraits of Cuban cultural figures living outside the island in exile. From the second you walk in you realize that while portraits of exiles are on display, it's the collaborators' highly personal take on their own exile history that is truly captivating.
"We knew all these people, and you can tell from looking at the images," said Rodriguez-Duarte. Whether it was the the cigar butt Cruz smoked with them one boozy night in New York, or the rotary telephone Rodriguez-Duarte's family would use to dial Cuba every month, every item has a personal touch.
For Rodriguez-Duarte, this show is one small compendium of his work as an editorial photographer for the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and L'Uomo Vogue. But it's this exhibit, in their adopted hometown, that is closest to their hearts.
"This is about documenting our history, and keeping it alive for future generations," said Torres. In fact, baring witness to the Cuban exile community's cultural exponents often involved a fair amount of rediscovery.
Artist and musicians, like their other exiled compatriots, were forced to work low-paying gigs as lounge singers or repertoire players. Cuban virtuoso bassist Cachao was playing at various New York bars before Andy Garcia rediscovered him, and produced two of his U.S. records that eventually landed him his first Grammy at the age of 76.
Also on display at the museum is "Journey to Freedom," an exhibit of archival documents, photographs, and ephemera that catalogs the Peter Pan airlifts from Havana to Miami. The mass exodus was largely comprised of Cuban children sent to the U.S. by parents and relatives to live with foster families until their parents could make it to the States.
These, along with several other shows, open with a big inaugural bash this Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. If you can't make it to the party, be sure to stop in to the Freedom Tower and get a free taste of the Cuban history and culture that's left an indelible mark upon or South Florida community. "Cuba out of Cuba" will be on display through August 30, 2015.
Follow Cultist on Facebook and Twitter @CultistMiami.
Neil Vazquez is an arts and entertainment writer who works at the intersection of highbrow and lowbrow A Miami native and Northwestern University graduate, he usually can be found sipping overpriced coffee, walking his golden retriever, or doing yoga.
Twitter: @neilassquez
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LINCOLN (SNR) - In their first return to Haiti since a devastating earthquake rocked the island nation's capital city Jan. 12, Faith In Action Team (FIAT) of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln sent a team of six dentists and four dental assistants to serve impoverished Haitians during a March mission trip.
Led by FIAT co-founder Don Killeen and his son, Dr. Martin Killeen, D.D.S, the team saw the first hints of the effects of the earthquake as they came in for a landing at the Port au Prince airport.
"It looked like a cracked egg," recalled Dr. Killeen.
From the main airport, the group had to travel by taxi a short distance to a smaller airport, where small Cessna aircraft had been hired to fly them to Kobonal Mission, the "sister parish" of St. Joseph Church in Lincoln.
As they exited the airport, they were shocked by the chaos of hundreds of people, clamoring to carry their bags in exchange for a tip… or perhaps to steal clothing and supplies. It was a sure sign of Haiti's desperation.
"You just had to circle the wagons and make sure you didn't lose any luggage," Dr. Killeen said.
Fortunately, the missionaries were able to stay together and keep hold of all their bags – which were no ordinary luggage. The duffels were packed with disposable gloves, antibiotics and painkillers.
These items had actually been sent to Haiti last September, along with three donated dental chairs and other dental supplies, in a shipping container paid for by banker Tom Johnson of Brainerd, Minn.
However, the day after the earthquake, Father Glenn Meaux, S.O.L.T., founder and pastor of the mission, telephoned Lincoln to ask if the shipped antibiotics, pain medications and disposable gloves could be donated to emergency medical workers. Dr. Killeen was happy to help in the midst of a crisis. He and the rest of the team arranged to bring replacement items with them.
Upon arriving at the mission, the team realized they had their work cut out for them. Even though Kobonal Mission is situated in a remote area among "the poorest of the poor," where there are no paved roads, no running water, and no electricity but the small solar cells Father Meaux had installed, the population has swelled from some 30,000 to as many as 40,000 people.
"We looked over the gate, and there were people as far as the eye could see… A few thousand waiting to get into the mission and get some food," Dr. Killeen said.
The next six days were long hours of emergency dental care. With two more dentists on hand this time, the team was able to see nearly double the amount of patients – around 700 individuals, compared to the 400 or so who were helped last year.
There is so much poverty and so little access to regular dental care – even toothbrushes and toothpaste are rare commodities – once again, the dentists and dental assistants faced a shocking number of serious dental problems.
"We found life-threatening conditions," Dr. Killeen said.
He recalled one boy in particular, about the age of 9, who had two cavities that had become so out of control, the infected teeth were draining out the side of his face.
"Had those gone on, had the infection spread, it could have killed him," Dr. Killeen stressed. "We got those teeth taken out, and we got him antibiotics." Unfortunately, this wasn't the only child the team saw who had that level of dangerous infection. The team worked sun up to sun down, seeing as many patients as they could.
"There's so much need, you could have a whole dental team working year-round extracting the infected teeth," said Dr. Killeen.
When Saturday morning arrived and they were all ready for a planned half-day break, around 120 people showed up at the mission gate, having walked six or seven miles for the chance to see a dentist. The team opened the clinic to help each patient.
The trip wasn't all work, however. Packed among the disposable gloves and medications were 14 new, deflated soccer balls for the Kobonal schoolchildren. The balls were donated by the kids of St. Joseph Elementary School in Lincoln, who had heard that their Haitian counterparts had been trying to play soccer with a wad of old socks knotted together.
After the balls were re-inflated, the dentists and dental assistants enjoyed a 15-minute impromptu soccer game with the Kobonal students.
"The kids just loved them," Dr. Killeen reported.
The group also spent time teaching kids how to care for their own teeth, using the free toothbrushes and toothpaste that had been donated.
"We went out to the countryside on the morning of the last day and saw this kid brushing his teeth with his brand-new pink toothbrush, six miles away [from the mission]," Dr. Killeen said. "That's the kind of thing that makes you feel good." Now that they've had a few weeks to rest and recover from their strenuous trip, Dr. Killeen is thinking about the next mission trip.


The Worcester Cathedral Guild of Bellringers is at the forefront of the current renaissance in bellringing.
This portal website has been built to support ringing in the city. Each of the seven ringing towers have their own band of ringers and their own identity. These bands work closely together, sharing resources and extending a warm welcome to visitors.
You can quickly find out about the Bells in the City, when we ring, how to get here, where to stay, and where to eat and drink. This portal is a resource for ringers in Worcester and anyone intending to visit and ring here. It will be continually updated and we'd welcome any feedback.
The Cathedral tower is home to the world's first purpose-built Teaching Centre. It is a resource for everybody to use and working with local schools, the Guild is developing new and exciting ways to teach this unusual performing art.


E.g.1Find a range of x in which a root for f(x) = x2 -x -3 exists.
Since there is a chagne in sign in the range, 2≤ x ≤3, a root of the function exists in the same range.
If f(x) = 0 and it can be rearranged in such a way that x = g(x), where both f(x) and g(x) are functions of x, x = g(x) is said to be in iterative form.
In the above iterations, g(x) = √(6 + x) or g(x) = x2- 6 or g(x) = 1 + 6 / x.
When the above equation - x2 -x - 6 = 0 - is written in one of the above forms with 'x' being the subject, they are said to be in an iterative form. That means, when the a value is substituted for 'x' on the right hand side the value of 'x' on the left can be obtained. Then the latter is put back in the equation to generate the other value. This goes on until, x approaches a constant value. This value is taken as a solution. Therefore, the actual iterative formula takes the following form, depending on the rearrangement.
The first value of x - x0 - is taken from a range of possibilities - guesses. Now let's solve one of the above equations using iteration.
First, guess a range where a solution could exist. Press the button and it will provide you with one.
Have you noticed the way 'x' values approach the solution?; the longer you go the better.You can now see the beauty of iteration; it helps us find the root of an a function; since we have different forms of iteration, we can use some of them to find all the roots.
Have you noticed the way 'x' values approach the solution? The longer you go the better. You can now see the beauty of iteration; it helps us to find the solution of an equation; since we have different forms of iteration, we can use each one of them to find some of the roots, if not all.
Of course, in this simple example, a quadratic function was used for illustration. Iteration is generally used for higher polynomials such as cubic functions and more complex functions.
Find a root of the function, x3 + 4x - 3 by iteration.
f(0) = -3; f(1) = 2 => There is a change in sign between x = 0 and x = 1; therefore, a root could exist in the range.
Now, let's make the iterative formuala.
Let x0, the initial value = 0.
So, the root is approximately, x = 0.673 (3 d.p.).
The following animation shows how to use Microsoft Excel in finding a root of a function by iteration.
Find a root of the function, f(x) = x3 + 3x - 5 by iteration.
So, there must be a root between x = 1 and x = 2. The iteration will find it.
As you can see, x = 1.67 is a root to 2 d.p.
Practice is the key to mastering maths; please visit this page, for more worksheets.
Please work out the following questions to complement what you have just learnt.
Solve x2 - 5x + 6 =0, using x = 2.5 as the initial value.
You can experiment with iteration here: change the value of x0 in x-nought and the number of iterations in no_iterations and experiment with it.
See the Pen Iteration for GCSE 9-1 and Pure Maths A-Level by VivaxSolutions (@VivaxSolutions) on CodePen.