First Things First
by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill
The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way
by Wayne W. Dyer
The Essence of Success
by Earl Nightengale
Look for the authors above on Amazon.com, at book sales, or at your favorite web site. Amazon and others offer used books and tapes as well as new.
Balance is the key to personal and professional success.
Knowing your goals and the path to achieve them is essential.
Being successful takes practice and dedication.
"Consistency across the roles we plan in our lives is the greatest stress reducer available."
-- Karl W. Palachuk
"With regard to essentials, I have never had occasion to change my mind."
-- Henry David Thoreau
"A capacity to change is indispensable. Equally indispensable is the capacity to hold fast to that which is good."
-- John Foster Dulles
"It takes relaxation--and focus--to create and understand the balance in our lives."
-- Karl W. Palachuk
Relax, Focus, Succeed was written for me… well… for anyone “like” me who’s ever had more to do or fires to put out than hands to pull out your own hair with. And since we’ve all been there at some point; this book will speak to you. Karl’s book reveals an escape from the ‘powering thorough’ that we do every day to get through a multitude of life without ever really ‘living’.
Relax, Focus, Succeed takes the reader down to the core of what makes us who we are and walks us through figuring out what we really want in life, how to maintain our center and create a well-balanced, happy, successful life. Karl is motivational and inspiring.
Hannah Welch
Marysville, CA
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I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Karl Palachuk and found myself taking notes. His philosophy is that we need to slow down, take care of ourselves, and reprioritize our lives. I am guilty of being a workaholic and never feel like I'm accomplishing as much in a day as I should. But this is the first time I have ever given myself permission to take care of myself first--not to mention to enjoy my family and friends more.
And Karl was right, the work isn't going anywhere and the world won't stop spinning if I let it sit for awhile. This book is a true inspiration! I now schedule workouts into my schedule every day--something I never considered before. But I realized that I will be more productive in the long run if I'm taking care of myself. This is GREAT STUFF!
Stephanie Chandler
Sacramento, CA
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Karl has outdone himself in this book. I started reading this at a stop light and had to pull over and finish two chapters before halting my day and going home to finish the book. There are many practical and meaningful applications that are just helpful. I was pushing the limits of bad health and very bad overwork habits. This book has helped me tremendously. This book ranks with the quality of the E-myth.
You will pick this book up and have a hard time putting it down!
B. Vincent "Ben"
Auburn Hills, MI
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Thank you, everyone, for your support.
With the release of the new book, I did a little review of the web site and past newsletters. This newsletter has been published regularly since December 2002. That's almost five years! Time flies when you're having fun.
The web site remains very popular. Several people are now providing links to the Relax Focus Succeed® web site. I just posted three new articles, so the site continues to have fresh content.
As with most things we build, this "resource" was not created over night. A little writing (almost) every day. A little work to build the site. A little attention here and there.
As Tom Peters says:
The essence of sustainable competitive advantage is:
1) The obvious;
2) The little things;
3) The accumulation of little things over the years.
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We also started revamping the Recommended Reading List. It was just too darn big. So now we'll have two lists: the big monster list; and the focused list of just a few very key books and CDs.
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A Request
If you bought the book Relax Focus Succeed®, and you liked it, please take a moment and add a positive review at Amazon.com.
This month we look at several aspects of consistency.
I hope you'll find something interesting and useful in this month's newsletter . Please remember to pass it on to a friend. I welcome your feedback. Thank you, as always.
I have been interviewed by a
few magazine reporters recently regarding
Relax Focus Succeed®
(the book, the newsletter, etc.). It's very
interesting to me where people have
confusions about the RFS philosophy.
Granted, most of these folks haven't read
the book, the newsletter, or the web site.
Still . . .
One theme seems to keep coming up:
Consistency.
Believe it or not, these really are related
to one another. Let me recap the related
philosophy.
First, I argue that we are all many
people. That is, we play the roles of spouse, employee/employer, parent,
member of the community, etc. So we spend our days putting on one mask and
taking off another. This is a natural growing field for stress.
Second, there is a tendency to actually work toward different values in these different roles. At work we need to maximize efficiency and watch the budget. With the kids we need to focus more on understanding and nurturing. With the spouse we focus on love and support.
These goals are not necessarily inconsistent with one another.
But the values that need to be stressed in each setting are not set in any
overall framework for your life. So they become like completely separated boxes.
Third, one of the most universally accepted values is integrity. What does integrity mean to you?
Integrity is a complex concept. It is a combination of honesty and completeness. Works of art and computer databases have integrity when everything works together the way it's supposed to.
The opposite of integrity is actually easier to define. The opposite of integrity is a two-faced liar. Two-faced means someone who tells a different story to different people. And a liar, of course, lacks honesty.
But we need to be careful. Integrity has strong moral overtones. I want to be a person of integrity because I want to be honest, and I want to be the same person with everyone I meet.
There is nothing morally wrong with having inconsistencies in your life.
Quite the opposite: it is completely normal to have these inconsistencies. It's a natural bi-product of our modern, complicated lives.
But inconsistency creates stress. Inconsistency creates a tension that makes integrity more difficult. And, to the extent that integrity is related to wholeness and completeness, inconsistency reduces integrity.
So what do you do?
Here are some thoughts on where to start.
First, go through the value setting process. See
this article on the web site:
Value
Setting: The Essential Task That Makes Goal Setting Worthwhile. If you've
already got a nice, concise, written list of values, then review them.
Second, begin to construct goals and a personal vision statement based on these values. Important point: set such goals for each role you play (employee, parent, spouse, church member, etc.).
This process sounds simple, but it can be difficult and emotionally draining.
It can also be extremely rewarding. The result will be a series of goals that are completely consistent with your core values. So you can look at daily activities and draw a line directly to your goals, your vision, and your values.
If you don't start at the base (the values), it is very difficult to force consistency upon your daily activities and goals. But if you rebuild these goals and activities from the foundation up, then consistency will simply be built into your daily activities.
Some people place no value on consistency because they equate it with abstinence, refusal to change, and a foolish desire to never change one's mind. Hence:
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
And while it's true that you should not be afraid to change your mind from time to time, a consistency borne of your core values and principles is an honorable and difficult achievement.
When the entire world is swirling around us with change, what can we cling to? The answer is: Our values and principles. But we need to articulate these with a calm mind, not in times of turmoil.
Just as with any other muscle of success, working on your values and principles today will prepare you for success in the future. You can create a great deal of change that brings your life more in line with the values and principles you hold.
The rest of the world might think you're changing. In truth, you're just putting things into alignment with goals and values that those people don't see.
Hard work. But worth it.
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### RFS ###
That's it for this issue.
Please pass this newsletter on to a friend. But please pass is along in its entirety. Thank you.
If you received this newsletter from a friend, sign up for your own free copy at
www.relaxfocussucceed.com/Newsletter.htm
I welcome your feedback.
This is one of the best books I have ever read, I have many on business motivation as well as many for your personal life and these seem to contradict each other. Karl shows you how to create the necessary balance in your life. I did not realize how much unnecessary stress I was causing myself until Karl pointed it out, this made an immediate impact in my life in all three areas Personal, Family and Business. I highly recommend this book especially for anyone trying to run their own business.
Bret Meche
Opelousas, LA
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The most important thing Karl's book did for me was to remind me of how important it is to relax in order to be successful. Too often we get so busy that we forget to take time to relax in order to focus our minds and thereby succeed. Karl's exercises throughout the book are very practical.
Sue Lynn Canfield
Roseville, CA
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I love the way Karl's book makes powerful and grounded statements. He is motivational, informative and hits the nail on the head. I recommend his book highly and I recommend it to my clients who are working toward more balance and relaxation in their lives.
Jenifer Novak Landers
Folsom, CA
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I will be rereading this book constantly until I get every habit fully ingrained in my head. I am off to buy a notebook for my "quite time".
Thank you Karl!
Brielle Beard
Oklahoma
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I have read, and re-read this book from cover to cover. Its a fantastic book.
This book shows you how to do as the title says Relax, Focus and Succeed.
Brilliant book . . . highly recommended.
Chris Timm
UK
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