This morning a friend called to talk about how much bad news is out there and how little good news we usually hear. Neither my friend or I normally watch the news. You really don’t miss much and the day goes much nicer.

After our conversation I went to the office. Someone had sent me some good news. In this case a link to an incredible and inspiring video. It’s interesting how often “coincidences” like that happen.

Seeing this brought to mind a question one of my mentors would ask me. He would ask

“What are you going to do today that will make a big difference in how your life turns out?”

What are you going to do?

The good news is the answer to that question often involves small kindnesses, small gestures, small actions, over time that add up to something big.

So be inspired by this man’s achievement. Then ask yourself the question and see what you can do today.

What do yo think about this man’s achievment? Share your comments below.

Many uses of computers can cause problems. I recall using a bad chair while writing a book. I could barely move during that time. Now I use a nice expensive chair and it makes a lot of difference.

Had the same experience with a computer mouse years ago. Started noticing changes in my hand so I switched to a Logitech Trackman Marble and the hand changes ceased.

Article in the Daily Mail about laptops causing back problems in users. Here is a quote:

Millions of others are at risk of “irretrievable damage” to their spines, necks and shoulders because of poor posture when using laptops, it was claimed.

The main specific problem mentioned in the above article is bending and straining to look down at your laptop monitor. The same problem exists on desktop systems. Make sure you monitor is high enough that you don’t bend your neck to see your screen.

I am tall and have to raise the monitor quite a bit. My preferred method has always been a stack of phone books. Cheap, easy to locate, and you can easily scoot the monitor around on the desk should you need to.

If you are experiencing pain be sure to check out the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook we frequently recommend. Read our review of that book here.

What are your big three?

Here as promised is the rest of the story on what happened to
the business update. Plus a discussion of the big three.

First I want to thank you for being a subscriber. Moving forward
I anticipate publishing at least every other week. Possibly
every week. Our focus will be on how you can increase the
business you currently have. If you do not already have a
business you can apply the ideas to getting one started.

This all started after a series of unfortunate events. I
personally was in a car fire, a bomb threat, a tornado in a high
rise building, and more in just a short span of time. Then the
company I was working for moved to Houston, TX. Not wanting to
move to Houston I found myself with my own little companies to
work with.

Since that time I have been refining what I do. Focusing more on
the big three. Working through some personal things that were
holding me back. Moving my activities more toward the things I
want to do and less of what I “have to do”. We have also been
blessed to welcome three precious children into the world in
that time period. All of this combined turned my thinking more
and more toward a concept I vaguely had in the back of my mind.
I call it “Lifestyle Business.”

——- Brief Commercial Note ——
My most recent book “Quick and Effective Internet Business” is
the beginning of a larger work on this concept of Lifestyle
Business. The book shows you how to start a business and create
a product around the things that interest you. You can read
about it here:

http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/p/quickbiz/
——————-

You can only focus on so many things in your life. For most
people three major things are about all you can handle. I have
started calling this concept “The Big Three”.

Say your big three are work, family, and a hobby. Then you
decide to start a business on the side. Now you have work,
family, hobby, business. Things go well for a while but at some
point the stress kicks in, your time gets crunched, frustration
and all the rest. How do you avoid the juggling act?

First identify your big three. You really have more than three.
Simply make a list of all the things you like to do. Then pick
the ones that give you the most enjoyment. With a little thought
you will find ways to combine some of the items. Did you find
two you can combine? Congratulations – you have expanded your
enjoyment and satisfaction while keeping yourself focused on
your big three.

How does this apply to your business? Make your business an
extension of your life. Sounds obvious doesn’t it? It is – until
you try to apply it.

Have you heard the expression “do what you love and the money
will follow”? It is true. The problem is sometimes you do not
love what it all becomes.

In the past I pursued my hobby (sleight-of-hand) as a business.
That went well for a while. Then the things I enjoyed about my
hobby were not so enjoyable any more. It lost it’s fun for me.
I’ve talked to other people who have had similar experiences
with their hobby/business – golf, photography, quilting, cooking
- it is all the same. Once things got going it just wasn’t the
same.

Am I saying you should focus on something outside your hobby?
Maybe. Maybe not. That puts you right back in the too many irons
in the fire scenario. I am saying approach the whole thing with
a different focus.

That different focus is the core of what I will be sharing with
you How to take the things you love and start a business. How to
incorporate the your big three into your business without
loosing the passion you already have. In fact you will find more
enjoyment for the things you already enjoy. You business will
become an extension of your life.

Sound good? Stick with me and we will all grow together. I have
some ways we can share our knowledge and grow together. It is
exciting. I will still share my observations about business in
general and tools in particular along with ways you can apply
the Lifestyle business concepts to your business and your life.

Talk to you soon!

~ Dan

p.s. I put a copy of this note on the TNPC blog. Why not share
your thoughts?
http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/blog/

I ran across this quote on the Internet. Made a note of the quote but forgot to put where I saw it. I don’t think it was original with the person who used in the signature of their email. Here is the quote:

“If you move one grain of sand the world will never be the same.”

I like the thought. It reminds me of a condensed version of the starfish story:

Once there was a man walking down the beach, and he noticed the beach was covered with thousands of starfish that were washed up with the tide. They were everywhere. As he walked along the beach he noticed a young boy up ahead throwing rocks into the ocean. As he got closer to the boy he noticed he was not throwing rocks at all but he was actually throwing the starfish back into the ocean.

He thought. “What a crazy kid. He really thinks he can save all of these starfish? There are thousands of them!”

As he got next to the boy he said, “Hey kid, what are you doing? You really think you make a difference?” The boy picked up another starfish, threw it back to the ocean and replied, “I made a difference to that one!”

I don’t know who to attribute that story to either. I have heard several speakers use the story and most recently ran across it while studying the Banabu 11 Principles course.

If you know the origin of either of these please leave a comment and let me know.

This week both my wife and a couple of my children were having
some pain. It was referred pain, meaning the pain originated
somewhere other than where you feel it. How do you know if it is
referred pain? Simply push on the pain and see if you can touch
it. If you can’t it is referred pain.

In all three cases here the pain was referred. My wife had pain
on her upper arm, my son near his hip, and daughter on the front
her leg. So we pulled out our copy of “The Trigger Point Therapy
Workbook” by Clair Davies. All three were helped by the
information in this book.

I found this interesting book while researching Fibromyalgia and
TMJ a few years ago. Nobody in my family has Firbromyalgia but a
friend of mine does and I wanted to know more about it. I have
TMJ that acts up on occasion. Somebody suggested this book and
I picked up a copy. It took a bit to understand the concept and
how to apply it but the result has been worth it.

The author began researching trigger points to help with a
frozen shoulder. The technique involves applying short, repeated
massage strokes to trigger points, tiny contraction knots in
muscle tissue where restricted circulation and lack of oxygen
cause referred pain. My family has found this book useful and I
have shared it with everyone I meet who is having pain. Read the
description at Amazon and see if it might be helpful to you to:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572243759/tnpcnewsletter?tag=tnpcnewsletter