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TO THOSE WHO DON'T WANT THEIR WORK PROMOTED

Hey guys and gals! We FIND and PROMOTE people's work, we never take credit for things we haven't written, we just love sharing the things that are interesting, but if you don't want your work or pictures shown, please let me know and I'll take it off, we're not trying to harm any one here or infringe on anyone's copyrights, just late night entertainment for my friends and I after a long days of work.

We're not making money off the site, nor are we publishing anything to other places through feedburner claiming that it's our work, just a hobby of finding cool things around the internet, that's all. Sometimes we copy and paste too quickly and a link giving you credit doesn't appear, if that's the case and you DO want your work promoted, we will add in the backlink, we would love to give credit where credit is due!

Please contact me or drop a comment on any posts you guys don't want up and I'll take it off within 24 hours, thanks!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

dude this hot air balloon is huge!

!!You On The Internet Dawg!! - Host Your Images For Free

Chicken Crap :: Stealthy Hunter

Chicken Crap :: Stealthy Hunter

nice

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Linkinn - 10 lamps i want in my house

Linkinn - 10 lamps i want in my house

20 Things I'm Glad Life Taught Me

How many times have you heard someone say, "Hindsight is always 20/20"? If you are like me, you hear it a lot and think it a lot more. Last year Jay wrote an article listing things he wished he'd known earlier. It got me thinking that the most crucial lessons in life and success aren't taught in books or written on blogs, but they are found by living life itself.

Sure, there may be nuggets of wisdom that we pick up from Dumb Little Man, Zen Habits, or Life Remix, but it is up to us individually to act upon them and learn the lessons. If it takes a failure for us to learn something important, so be it.

Here are 20 things that I personally came to understand and believe in. Your 20 could be totally different. Perhaps you only have 5, it doesn't matter. The key is that you learn from your life, your failures and your successes. Neglect any one of those and you are taking a rocky road to learning and personal development.
  1. You must create and look for opportunities: Opportunities rarely ever come knocking on the door of someone who's not seeking them. You have to create and seek opportunities for yourself. You have to take the initiative to get the ball rolling and the doors opening.

  2. Negativity will only bring more of it: When you focus only on negativity, obviously that's all you will see. You will not seek out positivity, and even when positivity comes into your life, you'll look for the negative part of it.

  3. Where you are does not determine where you can go: It doesn't matter if you're homeless or living in a mansion, poor or rich, or if you have a 4.0 grade point average or "failing", it won't make any difference in the future. There are countless rags to riches stories to back this point up. If you have the drive and talents, you can go anywhere. You create your own limitations and horizon.

  4. If you can't help others, you can't help yourself: Even if it's just to hold the door for someone or some other simple gesture, it will do wonders for your life. You'll feel great and you'll eventually be returned the favor sometime during your life, whether you realize it or not. If you don't want to help others, then others won't want to help you, and nor should they.

  5. Follow your passion, money will follow: If you have passion and have fun doing your job, then I wouldn't consider it a job. You can focus on creating even more passion for that subject and money will eventually follow you. If you focus only on the money, it won't come because you're focused on the quantity of your work and not the quality.

  6. Enjoy yourself: Have fun as much as possible, don't take everything so seriously. Push your worries aside and bring enjoyment closer.

  7. If it were easy everyone would do it: This is why get rich quick schemes will never be true. If it was so quick and easy then everyone would be millionaires. Making money and accomplishing tasks is hard work, but well worth it.

  8. Planning is good but so is being spontaneous: Planning ahead in business and in life is important but so is being able to quickly change that plan. Various people and events will get in the way of your plans, so you have to be able to modify or forget your plans at times. Be spontaneous once and awhile, it makes life interesting.

  9. You have many talents: You may be a talented athlete or musician but you probably have ten more talents you don't even know about. When people find something they're good at, they only focus on that instead of seeing what else they can do.

  10. Don't work hard without rewards: What's the point of working hard to follow your dreams if you aren't going to treat yourself along the way. Each little or big goal you accomplish should be rewarded with a proportionate treat, maybe a day off or a big slice of cake.

  11. Money does bring happiness: As I said, you shouldn't be chasing money but when you do earn it, you know you've been accomplishing something. It feels great and brings you happiness because you know you'll have more freedom and time to do what you want.

  12. Someone always has it worse: At times you may be having a bad day, but stop yourself and think about it; there has to be millions of other people are having a worse day than you.

  13. You'll need others: Make as many friends as you possibly can and never burn bridges. You will need others for your success.

  14. Being open-minded is the key to more knowledge: If you want to know more about the world you have to be open-minded. Give everything a chance.

  15. Failure is great: One of the most important, if not the most important steps to success is failure. You have to fail at least once, but it's better if you've failed multiple times. You can learn so much more from your failures than you could any other way. And when you finally achieve success, you'll appreciate it so much more.

  16. Most people are actually nice: This is something I've only recently realized. Most people are nice, but not usually to strangers. Once they get to know you and you get to know them, they will most likely seem like very nice people.

  17. Words and thoughts control everything: What you say and think will ultimately become reality. If you say you're going to fail, then you will because you'll find a way to make it happen. If you say you're going to succeed, the same will happen, you'll find a way.

  18. Your view is the reality: How you see an event or situation is how it exists. If you see something as tragic and negative then that's what it means to you. If you see something as exciting and positive, then that's what it is.

  19. Inspiration and motivation are everywhere: I don't care where you are, there is something there that can motivate and inspire you. You can be at war is some far away country, in horrible conditions, but there will be something there to keep you going and strive for something better. You just have to recognize it and keep it with you.

  20. You can change the world: Every single person has the ability to change the world whether directly or indirectly. When you change your life and the lives of those around you, you've changed the world. Small things that you do can make a huge impact on the world.
Written by Andrew Galasetti of Lyved

haha doesn't house look like the guy from half life?

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HAhaha, more sparta pics












300! (part 1) - zakeh blog

300! (part 1) - zakeh blog

300! (part 1) - zakeh blog

300! (part 1) - zakeh blog

PS3 Sells A Million In UK - Faster Than PS2

Less than a year after it's March 23rd launch in the United Kingdom and the PlayStation 3 has hit the million units sold mark, according to UK market research company Chart-Track. Despite a somewhat rocky start, Sony's initially luxury-priced console has managed to reach said milestone even faster than it's predecessor, the PlayStation 2. Not only has it outperformed it's older brother, but the PS3 has also been completely kicking the ass of Microsoft's Xbox 360 as well.

ChartTrack has also revealed that the Sony console has been outselling 360 for the last month. "It has been outselling 360 for the last four weeks, but they were neck and neck over the Christmas period, weeks 49-52," said ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch.
I'd imagine the recent triumphs of blu-ray over HD DVD have had quite a hand in spurring PS3 sales, and things will only get better for Sony's console.

Key Shaped Bottle Opener Keyring

Key Shaped Bottle Opener Keyring

Change Your Tree » Blog Archive » The 50 Worst Things Parents Say To Their Kids

The 50 Worst Things Parents Say To Their Kids

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parenting, 50 worst things, talking to children, emotional abuse, boundariesParenting isn’t easy. At the same time, it’s the most important thing we’ll ever do.

When you make the decision to have a child, you take on the responsibility of raising that child beyond the best of your ability. Let me clarify:

Parents always use the excuse, “I did the best I could.” Parenting is too important to simply do the best you can; the best you can is flawed from when your parents did they best they could.

Good parenting means learning from professionals and caring enough to go beyond trying. When you’re done, you want to be able to say, “I did it right”, not “I tried.”

Parent’s who “try” end up making huge mistakes. They don’t generally raise emotionally healthy children. And a trained ear can tell right off the bat what type of parent one is. How? The one’s doing a poor job always seem to be parenting from the same bad playbook.

Here are the fifty worst things you’ll hear parent’s say to their kids (and think theres nothing wrong with it):

1. “If you act like a baby, I’ll treat you like a baby.”

2. “Stop whining.”

3. “I don’t care” or “Nobody cares.”

4. “Stop crying” or “Big boys/girls don’t cry.”

5. “Shut up.”

6. “Grow up.”

7. “You’re being a brat.”

8. “There’s no reason to feel that way” or “You don’t feel that way.”

9. “You don’t have a choice.”

10. “I wish you were more like your brother/sister.”

11. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t do that.”

12. “You must hate me.”

13. “Your father/mother is a screw up/idiot.”

14. “Don’t be a wimp.”

15. “Don’t make me get your father to set you straight.”

16. “Are you stupid?”

17. “You’re spoiled.”

18. “I didn’t raise you that way.”

19. “How dare you talk to me like that.”

20. “Don’t get/be mad at me.”

21. “You’ll do as you’re told.”

22. “You’ll never be able to do that.”

23. “You’re just like you’re father/mother.” (in negative context)

24. “Are you trying to make me angry?”

25. “If you don’t stop that, I’m going to leave you here.”

26. “I’ll let it go this time.”

27. “Watch your mouth.”

28. “Don’t tell your mother/father.”

29. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

30. “If you behaved yourself more, your mother/father wouldn’t get so mad at me.”

31. “We never wanted you anyway.”

32. “Children should be seen and not heard.”

33. “Let me do that for you.”

34. “What does your mother/father say about me?”

35. “Get out of my sight.”

36. “I wish I never had you.”

37. “If you don’t stop crying, I’ll give you something to cry about.”

38. “Because I said so, that’s why.”

39. “I don’t care what your mother/father said.”

40. “Then I guess you’d better get a different mom/dad.”

41. “What’s wrong with you?”

42. “You make me sick.”

43. “I don’t like/love you right now or when you do that.”

44. “Act your age.”

45. “What will your friends/teacher/grandparents/my friends think?”

46. “I thought you were smarter than that.”

47. “You/we have to impress [person].”

48. “You’ll never amount to anything.”

49. “You’re getting on my nerves/annoying me.”

50. “Do you want a spanking?”

Try to avoid these phrases at all costs. If you catch yourself using one, the best thing to do is immediately apologize and explain to your child that what you said was not nice or appropriate. This validates them and teaches them that they should not use the phrase either.

Remember, being a good parent is as much about self control as it is about knowledge and technique. We all get frustrated, angry, and sad at times; the difference between good parents and bad parents is the ability to remain calm and understanding rather than reactive and emotional.

haha

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The Photo Crazy Blog - PhotoPumpkin.com » Blog Archive » Save the planet

The Photo Crazy Blog - PhotoPumpkin.com » Blog Archive » Save the planet

dude wth haha, these guys are crazy

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GodsThumb » Blog Archive » 40 Amazing Facts About Sleep

40 Amazing Facts About Sleep

40 FACTS ABOUT SLEEP YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW…
(OR WERE TOO TIRED TO THINK ABOUT)

-The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

- It’s impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.

- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you’re still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

- A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year

- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.

- The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper.

- REM sleep occurs in bursts totalling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.

- Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It’s possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.

- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.

- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film

- No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans.

- Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.

- Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting - to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.

- Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations - sleep and consciousness.

- REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term bubs. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hampster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.

- Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain’s sleep-wake clock.

- British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers’ body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers’ retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.

- Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.

- The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.

- The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents.

- Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.

- The “natural alarm clock” which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.

- Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period.

- In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.

- Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a “neural switch” in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.

- To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain’s sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That’s why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.

- A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won’t dream much.

- After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you’ve slept enough.

- Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.

- Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.

- Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnoea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

- Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep

- Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal

- Some studies suggest women need up to an hour’s extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.

- Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.

- Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.

- Most of what we know about sleep we’ve learned in the past 25 years.

- As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.

- Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.

- The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.

nice

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5 Lessons on How to Treat Other People - Mens Guide Journal - Men's Guide to Women

this one was pretty good too, check out his website


5 Lessons on How to Treat Other People

This is by no means an original work, but the lessons are timeless.  Man or woman, first date or ex-wife, these are 5 good lessons in how we should treat other people, even if they are not as kind in how they treat you. 


1. - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello".

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain One night, at 11.30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3. - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 -year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table.

A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.

"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins.

"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.

When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.


Wayne%20M%20Levine%20Promo%20Ad%202-4.jpg4. - Fourth Important Lesson - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5. - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts.

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away".

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

"Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching."

NOW more than ever - Peace...May God bless you Pass It On.....Pay It Forward

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HAHA RANDOM

Imagechan

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a little-too-late advice on building wealth -- brip blap

I THOUGHT THIS ARTICLE WAS PRETTY AWESOME! CHECK IT OUT!


Everyone on the web is full of advice, and I am no exception. Once in a while you come across advice that makes a lot of sense but it’s just a little too late to help you now. Here are a few good pieces of advice that are probably too late for 80% of the people who read them on building wealth. Remember that building wealth isn’t just about money - it’s about building an abundant, wealthy life. Health, happiness and money are components of wealth, and each supports the others.

1. At a very young age, make sure your parents or grandparents or mentors teach you everything you need to know about money while you are a teenager. Don’t go into debt. Spend less than you earn until you are able to earn more than you spend. Invest early and often. Pay yourself first. Stay away from the lattes. Pay cash. Buy and hold. Buy low, sell high. These are all great lessons, no matter what your age, but it helps to learn them when you’re 15 a lot more than learning them when you’re 55.

2. Before you get married, make sure you and your spouse are 100% open about goals from career to family to children to retirement to religion to the dream location of your home. Agreeing on these points is not required. Making sure you don’t violently disagree is. If you never mention that you’d like to have 7 kids and settle down on the family farm, and your wife is planning on becoming a jet-setting investment banker, you may be able to find a compromise - but if you can’t, it’s better to find out before you get married. Divorce is a lot more expensive than breaking up over coffee. Being (and having) a good spouse is critical to building wealth.

3. Don’t waste your time in college. If you are passionate about studying Japanese cinema theory, by all means study it. I would highly recommend considering backing it up with a practical fall-back course of study - just in case the Institute of Japanese Cinema Theorists doesn’t have an opening available when you graduate. If that happens, it’s nice to be able to take a job in finance at least until you build up the savings. And go to a public school.

4. Don’t get fat or start smoking or get into drugs or get STDs. Stay healthy. Being sick will cost you money. Being fat, or smoking, or taking drugs or getting STDs are good ways to get sick. The older you get, the harder it will be to bounce back from ill health. Stay healthy when you are younger. If you are sick, you can still achieve your goals, but if you can avoid getting sick - and you can’t, always - it is EASIER to achieve them.

5. Network from day one. Make (and keep) good friends. When I was an exchange student in high school, I made a lot of friends in my German high school. We exchanged snail mail addresses and wrote with decreasing frequency for the next few years. Putting pen to paper was difficult with the demands of school, social lives and family, so failing to keep touch was understandable. But nowadays, with a simple exchange of a Facebook id or an email you can instantaneously create a network. No stamps, no envelopes, no delays - you can flick everyone a message once every few months just to stay in touch. This practice creates a lot of “life spam” but it’s still a good way to keep your network in place and growing. I am convinced that networking is one of the cornerstones of building your career, and consequently of building your wealth.

6. Stay away from the idiot box, but particularly avoid becoming a serial watcher. I have no evidence to back this up, but I feel stupider when I watch sitcoms than when I watch movies. It doesn’t matter if we’re comparing Seinfeld vs. “Everything is Illuminated” or The Family Guy versus “Rush Hour 3″, somehow I feel my time was better spent watching a movie. The reason why is that it’s over. Seinfeld can take up 30 minutes of your life every day of the week for - apparently - the rest of human history. Rush Hour 3 is over after 90 minutes (and not a minute too soon).

7. Don’t be stupid. Get the book learnin’! Develop the street smarts! Just because you finished college doesn’t make you allergic to literature or textbooks or learning in general. Somebody who doesn’t constantly keep learning is somebody getting stupider by the minute, and it doesn’t take a genius to know that getting stupider does not increase your chances at becoming wealthy. See point 6 for more information.

8. Take risks. Fear is the mind-killer. If you train yourself to be conservative, you are training yourself to lose. When are you going to take risks? Your next life? My family and friends probably don’t think much of me as a risk-taker, but I have taken a few huge risks in my life - dropping out of PhD school to get my MBA instead, living in Russia, moving to New York on a whim. Already in my early middle age I regret more the opportunities I didn’t pursue than regret the ones I took that didn’t work out. I have done well, but who knows? One of those risks I didn’t take might have been the path to an even wealthier current me.

9. Try not to waste your time on hate. Without being too specific about it, I have spent a lot of time raging and ranting about various things - people I hated, politicians I hated, wars I hate(d), things about modern society I hated, things about the sorry state of the world I hated, the ways people acted I hated and even movies I hated. Hate is a strong word. I hate cancer. I don’t really hate sour cream. Hate is a strong emotion that will burn you up long before it burns up the target of your hatred. I hate war, for example, but more hate will not mean less war. Hate takes time away from concentrating on your goals. Hate takes time away from hopes and dreams. I hate hate. Oops.

10. Spend money on experiences, not things. I used to play Tecmo Football with my friends in college. I loved it. We had a good time. I have thought from time to time how fun it would be to play Tecmo again, but then I realize the game was actually really bad. I just liked hanging with my friends. I bought a beautiful black car right out of college and I also went on a week-long roadtrip up the East Coast with three of my fraternity brothers right before I bought the new car in my brother’s old Escort. I still tell stories about that trip. I can barely remember what the new car looked like. Things you buy fade. Memories of things you did will endure. If you took a flight in coach or in business class, you are more likely to remember the destination than the journey there. Don’t waste money on stuff.

11. Journal. I try to write down at least one or two lines in my electronic journal (OK, an Excel spreadsheet) every day. My entry may be as boring as “Cold today. Snowed a bit in the morning. Little Buddy said ’snow!’ for the first time.” The end. Right now, it seems pointless. When I go back and read similar entries from 12 years ago (when I started keeping a journal) it can be amazing. I wish I had started 20 years before I did.

12. Learn to sleep. If you set good sleeping patterns in your youth, you will be more successful in life. You will have more energy and you will be happier, which will aid in achieving a wealthy lifestyle. I have mentioned before that I read a book and completly misused its teachings on meditation to learn how to sleep. You want to know the short list: (a) don’t do anything but sleep and, ahem, “sleep” in your bedroom (b) go to bed when you are tired (c) wake up at the same time every day, including weekends and (d) learn how to breathe. Do it and you will be rested, relaxed and ready for riches…and alliteration.

13. Make written goals for your life. They can change over time. Not having goals makes life harder - to borrow a terrific concept from a book I’ve never read, a purpose-driven life should be your aspiration. The purpose does not need to be lofty. Mine is pretty simple. But if you write it down, it will simplify decision-making (does this move me closer or further from my goals). You may take the wrong exit off the highway of life sometimes, but knowing that you are headed to Denver makes it easier to decide whether to head east or west.

That’s the lucky 13. Even if you are out of college or already married or never started a journal, don’t spend time wishing you had done these things; figure out what you can do now and get started today.

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