But how does one achieve such coveted success?

Enter Get Hit, a new online video series from IFC. In this hysterical and somewhat brutal spoof, co-creators Peter Blomquist and Jeff Wiens take you step-by-step through the viral video creation process and show you how to claim your 15 minutes of fame.

Enjoy

Click here to watch Get Hit: How to Achieve Viral Video Success or Nearly Die Trying.

Based on the ever-popular Firefox web browser, Flock incorporates a number of social aspects allowing you to manage your online life with just a few clicks. For starters, you can add social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube to your Flock browser and get a quick overview of what your friends are up to in the media sidebar.

Flock also provides drag-n-drop capabilities so you can share pictures and videos you find on the web with your friends.

If you blog (and who doesn’t?!), you can do so directly from Flock. Simply link your blogging account to your Flock browser and then use the browser-embedded blog editor to create and publish directly to your blog.

Flock also incorporates your Flickr account, RSS feeds and your favorite images and videos from a variety of media services.

And if you’re still not sold, how about this: Flock is free. You can download at Flock.com.

I mean after all, we’re all walking around trying desperately to bring our thoughts into fruition - isn’t it only fair that we get a little guidance in that regard?

So, here’s what visualization is not: A fleeting thought or wish. Ten seconds of chanting “bring me money, bring me money” with your eyes closed. The intention to visualize at a later date, when its more convenient and no one is looking.

Visualization is also not the attempt at meditating on a particular thought or desire while mentally running through your grocery list or thinking about going out with the cutie-pie you met at the club last night.

And I have to admit - that last one tends to give me some trouble which (I’ll also admit) baffles me to no end. After all, I am the Queen of Blue Sky, a term my mother liked to use when I would start telling her how fantabulous my life was going to be when I grew up. I’ll have a big ranch house in the country, I’d tell her, with lots of rooms and a big wrap around porch. I’ll drive a Mercedes and have an enormous garden where everything grows beautifully. I’ll have a beach house in the Bahamas and an apartment in Italy or Paris for weekends. You can come stay with me if you like. “That’s nice dear,” she’d say. “And how will you pay for all this?” Oh, no sweat… I’m going to start my own law practice and then put myself through med school with the money I make from big cases. Oh, and I’m going to be a best-selling author too.

See? I told you…Queen of Blue Sky.

So then you can imagine my delight when the idea became popular that one could create their own destiny simply by visualizing. Yea for me! I’m already certified in this particular concept so I should be cashing in anytime now, right?

Wrong. Because while I have no problem at imagining all the wonderful things I’d like to get out of life, getting my brain to be quiet so that I can concentrate on those things is something else altogether.

See, (and tell me if you’re with me on this) my brain goes ninety to nothing every waking moment of the day. I imagine it does the same thing while I sleep as well but to be honest, I’m usually exhausted and don’t remember much from that portion of my life. For example, if you were to ask me what I was thinking about right now, here’s what I’d tell you:

• What I’m going to write next
• I need to wash a load of towels
• What can I cook for dinner tomorrow night?
• Are we out of toilet paper?
• I need to check my emails
• I need to find some stakes for my tomato plants
• I’m almost out of tea so I should stop writing and go make more
• I need to mail my house payment tomorrow

And that’s just a rambling few…

As you can see, my brain has taken multi-tasking to a new level so is it any wonder that I can’t concentrate on manifesting great wealth because my brain keeps interrupting me with reminders, to-do’s and ridiculously random stuff. And in case you’re wondering, I didn’t stop writing to go make the tea… I was afraid I’d lose my train of thought if I did

So, back to the topic of visualization… in our “gotta’ go, gotta’ move” kind of society where even mail is now instantaneous, how do we find a way to quiet things down?

Lucky for you, I did the research and yes, I’m going to share it… that was after all, the whole point of this post.

There are basically four states of consciousness - beta, alpha, theta, delta.

The beta stage is our normal waking stage and interestingly, I read a couple of sources that say an estimated 75% of our brain power is focused on maintaining and monitoring our body’s various physical functions. The other 25% is devoted to thinking and planning which makes me all the more impressed with the amount of “thinking” I seem to be getting done. I mean, that’s just with 25% of my brain - imagine how much multi-thinking I could do with 40 or 50%?!

Anyway, the next stage is the alpha stage and this is where visualization comes in. Alpha stages are reached during meditation, light hypnosis or listening to music. In essence, you’re aware of your surroundings but you’re still able to tune them out enough to allow your mind to relax and focus. It is said that alpha states are optimal for moments of clarity, psychic impressions and yes, manifestation.

The theta stage is akin to light sleeping or even a “trance” and can be reached during deep meditation, hypnosis and of course, dozing off. In the theta stage, people have experience divine visions, astral projections and encounters with spirits, angels and the like. Incidentally, theta is the stage that many shamanic healers seek when performing a ritual or inviting a vision.

The last stage is delta and this is where we achieve deep sleep.

Now for visualization purposes, we want to get to the alpha stage and while you may think (as I did) that shutting off the random thoughts without falling asleep is impossible, there are actually some easy tricks to teach your mind to basically shut up so that you can concentrate.

For starters, try counting backwards from twenty. Not out loud, just in your head and as you do so, picture each number big, red and smack dab in the center of your mental screen. By this I mean close your eyes and picture the numbers as you count them off. If a random thought comes flying through, you have to start over.

Piece of cake, you say? Ha! You’d be amazed at how many times I got to 17 and had to start all over again.

As to why bother with the numbers, what you’re essentially doing is training your brain to focus intently on one thing. The countdown gives you an easy focal point and as you regress from 20 to 1, you are literally slowing things down.

When you achieve the alpha stage you’ll know because you’re body will be tremendously relaxed. Things will seem much more peaceful and you won’t be inclined to notice external stimuli. Of course, if the phone’s ringing or your kids are fighting, the external stimuli might win out but not to worry… you can try again.

Once you’ve reached the alpha state, you’re ready to start visualizing your intentions and manifesting that brilliant life you’ve been thinking about. Images should always accompany your thoughts so try picturing the money flowing to you as you’re thinking money flow to me and you’ll find you have much more success.

Happy visualizing… I’m off to make that tea

~Jim Rohn

I found this quote while doing some work for a client and it really struck home. How many times do we allow others to “plan” our lives for us?

So, that got me to thinking: am I doing the planning and if I am, what’s on the agenda?

Look at any bookstore and you’ll see shelves and shelves of self-help books that promise to help you “discover your purpose”. The same is true with the web - search terms such as “manifestation”, “spirituality” and yes, “life purpose” and you’ll find oodles of websites that want to help you on your quest.

Which means that in the category of questions unanswered, figuring out the “point” of our existence seems to be the real biggie.

But perhaps the secret to finding your destination doesn’t depend so much on making the journey as it does making sure you’re the one doing the driving. After all, if you’re just along for the ride, then the journey isn’t going to have much meaning anyway, now is it?

And so often, that’s exactly what we do - we just go along for the ride. We take jobs we don’t really want in order to pay the bills. We stay in relationships that aren’t fulfilling because we like the security. And we put off our own dreams and aspirations in exchange for a stable, predictable life with minimal surprises.

But life is nothing if not surprising and instead of shying away from change, perhaps we should be embracing it instead. Yes, sometimes that can be quite scary but how will we ever discover our destination if we’re not willing to venture out and explore? Our society has become quite content to just bury our heads in the sand while a select few make decisions that could change the course of our lives. We have simply become victims of our circumstances, unable to really “change our lives” because well… its just out of our control.

But is it really?

So, let me pose the question to you: who’s doing your driving?

Do you take an active role in where you life is taking you or are you merely responding to whatever circumstances or situations happen to be present at the time? Do you know where you’re going and more importantly, is it where you want to go?

Are you changing the world as you believed you would as a child or have you traded those aspirations for something more “manageable”? Do you still dream of doing great things or do you just dream of making it to the weekend?

Do your days count? Your hours? Your minutes? Now, tell me… who’s planning your life?

I’ve seen this advertised on TV but like most things on TV, I get a little hesitant about buying. But then I saw this YouTube clip and all I can say is WOW! If you’re serious about getting in shape, Core Rhythms is definitely the workout to do it. I tried the moves in this YouTube clip and could seriously feel it almost immediately. Want to see the moves from the back? Watch this vid instead.

In a post at DirectMag.com, Ken Magill tells us the story of the direct mail marketer whose mailing campaign went bust because of the word “because”. The reason for the lack of success was due to the marketer’s level of familiarity portrayed in his or her letter.

Ken then directs our attention to a recent study from the University of Illinois on e-mail personalization and how expressing too much familiarity with your readers could actually be a bad thing.

Well, that must be making a number of marketers re-evaluate their strategy, don’t you think?

In fact, its become commonplace for direct mail campaigns to speak to the reader as if their our best friend. A quick look at my email and I see a lot of “we know you want to travel…”, “like you, I’m concerned about…” and of course the dreaded “because you want to improve…”

Which then raises the question: how much familiarity is too much?

According to the study, using the reader’s name is a good thing but pretending to be their best friend isn’t. Finally some statistics to support the need for responsible marketing.

So, here’s my question to you: if you are involved in direct mail campaigns, how much personalization do you use and how has it affected your success?

You can get this three-piece collection for just $20 bucks online - how’s that for a deal?!

Now, if you’ve never watched the History Channel, you’re seriously missing out. I first got hooked on the Decoding The Past series several months ago when they tried to decipher all the symbols on the US Dollar Bill. Since then, I’ve learned about the Mayan cultures, an ancient elixir believed to be the “real” Sorcerer’s Stone and some of the secrets surrounding Free Masonary and noted historical figures.

This episode was no less entertaining. Doomsday 2012 takes a look at all the different prophecies that say the world will end on December 21 (winter solstice), 2012. These prophecies apparently come from a variety of oracles and seers - from Merlin to the Mayans, the Priestesses of Apollo to the I-Ching - psychics from different locations and different times all seem to come to the same conclusion: the world as we know it will end in 2012.

But what I really found interesting was the Web-Bot Project - a computer program originally designed to forecast financial events for stock brokers. The Web-Bot it seems, started picking up other inklings around the World Wide Web and began returning other not-so-financial predictions, specifically predictions about the end of the world.

What kind of inklings you ask?

The web-bot is actually a system of spiders that work like a search engine, scanning forums, blogs and other sites where there is lots of content to be found. When the bots find a target word or something similar, it takes a snapshot of the text and reports back where it is collected and compiled.

The theory behind this technology is that humankind has a sort of precognitive ability. Various research suggests that we undergo language shifts about 45 to 90 days before a grand-scale and typically, emotional event. The bigger the impact of the event, the more “notice” we seem to have.

The web bots scour the Internet and look for this type of shift. Interpreting the data has been likened by the project’s gurus at UrbanSurvival.com to be similar to trying to make sense of the I-Ching. The information isn’t always black and white but rather suggestive and sometimes even a bit cryptic.

The really amazing thing about this technology however, is that it appears to be pretty accurate. The Web Bot Project has predicted a number of big events, included the fall of the Twin Towers on 9-11, Hurricane Katrina, Cheney and his shooting incident, the Space Shuttle explosion and the commodity shortages to name just a few.

Now, if you’re rolling your eyes at the whole “seeing into the future” idea, you should know that the Web Bot Project isn’t the first to rely on this assumption. Quite the contrary, a considerable amount of research has been done on this concept, including a fascinating study by Dean Radin at the Boundary Institute. This theory assumes that time is essentially “relative” and that future events can undergo a “tipping point” which will then bleed back into past events.

At the very least, you’ve got to admit its all pretty fascinating stuff.

So, what about the end of the world?

Well, the information that the web bots returned is a suggestion that a global event will take place in 2012. If you’ve done your homework on the Mayans, you know that their amazingly accurate and ancient calendar ends on December 21, 2012. The reason for this assumption is that on that date, the Sun is predicted to line up with the center of the galaxy’s equator, a “dark rift” as the Mayans called it and a profound astrological event. Additionally, it appears that if you chart the 64 hexagrams of the I-Ching, they map the major events that have taken place in the Earth’s history and end, yes you guessed it - in 2012. This is especially impressive since the I-Ching was written back in 2800 B.C. by the first Chinese Emperor, Fu Hsi. For more on this one, see Terrence McKenna’s Time Wave Theory.

But before we go running into an underground shelter, let’s remember that these oracles - electronic and otherwise - don’t really say what kind of event we can expect. There’s nothing that says we can’t experience a global shift in consciousness without the world literally coming to an end.

And the word “end” itself doesn’t necessarily mean bye-bye Earth. It could mean that we see an end to the world as we know it but perhaps a better world is waiting ahead. One that isn’t motivated by greed and marred by corruption. One that embraces the spiritual side of humanity over the materialistic ego. And quite honestly, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, now would it?

Do I think we’re going to see some global catastrophes in the near future? Truthfully, yes - especially as long as we continue to deplete the Earth’s resources the way we do. I also think the Earth cycles herself on occasion, clearing out the garbage and renewing herself as best she can. So yeah, maybe some trying times are ahead but I think we’re also on the verge of the next step in evolution. I think that’s what the “global event of 2012″ will be - one that connects us with the higher consciousness we’ve been trying so hard to ignore.

So, what do you think? Will 2012 be a catastrophe or an awakening? Or maybe, nothing at all?

So, what to do?

Here’s five ways to help you recession-proof your life and keep going even when the going gets tough:

Build (or Grow) Your Emergency Fund
If you haven’t already established an emergency fund, do it now. If you have, add to it as often as you can. As the economy spirals downward, we’re going to see more layoffs and higher prices until the Feds finally decide that “yep, we’re in a recession” and slow down inflation. Until then, things could get tight (okay, tighter) so you need to know you’ve got something to fall back on in case of an emergency. And that’s just what an emergency fund does.

Generally speaking, a solid emergency fund should have at least 6 months of salary (in a high-interest savings account of course) - 12 months if you can manage it, but by all means don’t stop there. Save as much as you can while the money is still flowing in and then don’t touch it unless you absolutely have to.

Eliminate Debt
This probably goes without saying but the more you can reduce your debt, the better off you’re going to be when you need to tighten your money belt. Paying even just $10 extra dollars a month to that credit card bill can start to make a big difference in the amount of interest you’ll pay over time and should you suffer some financial difficulties in the future, your balances won’t be quite as difficult to deal with.

Diversify
I wrote about this concept once before but I’m mentioning it again here because its just so darn important. Putting all your financial eggs into one basket is nothing less than shooting yourself in the foot. If that basket goes belly up, you’re in big trouble and you certainly don’t want to be job-hunting during a recession, now do you?

The solution? Diversify. Figure out how you can make some extra cash doing different things in different industries. Maybe you can sell some stuff on eBay, open a CafePress shop and set up a blog and earn income off of affiliate programs and adsense. Sell Pampered Chef or Tupperware, e-books online and moonlight through freelance services such as Elance and Guru.

The point is, if one industry or income stream runs dry, you’ve always got several others that can pick up the slack. You’ll also discover that this kind of diversification allows you to expand your skillset - something you’ll be glad you did if you’re suddenly forced to look elsewhere for work.

Cut Your Expenses
Don’t wait for the bottom to fall out before you start cutting back on expenses. Its simply too much stress to deal with at one time. Instead, start cutting back now, finding more frugal ways to live. You’ll find that the adjustments you make are easier to deal with when you do them gradually.

What can you cut? Eating out, gym memberships, magazines, movies and the like. Make a list before you go the grocery store and stick to it religiously. Buy generic brands when you can (they’re often cheaper than name-brand counterparts) and buy non-perishable items such as toilet paper and paper towels in bulk.

Don’t Panic
It may seem like the world is just crashing around you but you will bounce back. Seriously… you will. So don’t panic. You can’t stop a recession from coming but you can choose how you will respond. Dig in your heels and remind yourself that everything comes in cycles. Just as things are getting bad, they’ll also begin to get good again.

And a bonus tip:

Hold On to Your Retirement
Don’t cash in your 401(k) as a short-term fix - you’ll end up paying almost a 3rd in taxes and penalties to our beloved government and then what will you do? That nice little retirement fund will be gone and you’ll be starting from scratch.

But putting this magic spell into practice seems to be a bit more difficult. Here we all sit, visualizing our butts off, chanting delightful aspirations while we practice deep breathing. Yet, besides a general feeling of relaxation, our manifestation skills just don’t seem to be working.

Are we not breathing enough? Maybe our visualization technique is off. Could it be the chanting? Do we need to be louder?

Before you give up hope, here’s something I bet you didn’t know: The Secret really does have a secret… its just going to require a little action on your part.

See, trying to visualize a million dollars just mysteriously appearing in your checking account is kind of like trying to dodge all the raindrops and not get wet - its just not going to work.

Why? Is the Law of Attraction just a bunch of hype?

The answer is no.. The Law of Attraction actually does work. The problem is, we’re all missing a small but very important piece of the puzzle.

When the gurus told you to visualize your success, they assumed that this visualization would put you in a different state of mind. Believing that success was yours for the taking, you would approach things differently, Ask for that raise, take the leap and start your new business or finally open that investment account you’ve been talking about for the last two years. They thought that with your newfound confidence, the necessary behavioral changes would just naturally occur.

That’s why they all stress how important it is to really believe in what you’re visualizing. Its this belief that should register the change in your perception and thus, your behavior.

But its kind of hard to believe that you have “all the money you need” when you’re really wondering how your family is going to eat until your next payday. As much as you like the idea of that million just appearing in your bank account, you never really believed it would happen just like you wouldn’t be surprised when you weren’t able to dodge all those raindrops. And that’s where the Law of Attraction begins to fall apart: telling yourself that everything will work out is easy - believing it with all your heart and soul is something else altogether.

So the question then becomes: how can you achieve the belief you need to put the Law of Attraction to work? The answer of course, is success. The more you succeed, the more you’ll begin to believe but the problem is generating those first few successes. Kind of a catch 22, isn’t it?

Fortunately, there is another way to approach this whole “manifesting your destiny” idea and lucky for us, its actually pretty simple: you can’t think your way into a new way of acting but you can act your way into a new way of thinking. That’s Richard Pascale, I think, in case you’re interested… somebody please let me know if I’m wrong.

In any event, its both brilliant and true, regardless of who said it first. So when the manifesting gurus told you to think about your success and well-being, they actually had it backwards. Because as long as you’re struggling just to make ends meet, you’ll never really achieve that staunch belief that you have everything you need. And if you don’t believe it, you won’t behave as if you do. And ergo, if your behavior doesn’t change, neither will your circumstances.

So, we’re going to go at this from a different direction. We’re going to teach ourselves to act in a way that is harmonious with our visualizations. We’re going to change our perception by first pretending that its already true.

And we’re going to do this one together.

Here’s how it works:

The first thing you’ll need to do is create a list. Yes, a list… I love them. It keeps me focused and on track so if you want to play along, you’re going to have to trust me on this one.

The trick however is that this list isn’t going to reflect the things you want… No, no, no… its going to reflect your life as if all your dreams had already come true.

For example, instead of writing down “I want to be financially independent” you would write “I am financially independent”. By the same token, instead of writing “I want to lose weight” you would write “I am in great shape”.

But unlike your daily affirmations in front of the mirror, the list doesn’t stop there. Under each of these affirmations, you’re also going to list the reasons that you’ve made that statement. In short, explain how you can make such a claim.

So, if you’re statement is “I am in great shape”, then your reasons for making such a statement might be “I work out regularly” or “I eat a balanced diet that is free from processed and junk foods”. Ideally, you’d want to write both of those reasons by the way, along with any others that you think justify your claim of being in great shape.

Essentially, what you’re doing is defining your actions. You are writing down the way you would behave if you were living the life you’re dreaming about. Someone who is financially independent would want to make sure they stay that way by saving a percentage of their income, looking for new ways to make money and learning about investing and the like. Likewise, someone who is physically fit would probably spend some time lifting weights, stretching, running, swimming, etc. You get the idea.

Make as many statements as you like and give them as many reasons as you want. Take some time to think about it and feel free to adjust or edit your list as you go. Address all the different aspects of your life - health, wealth, spiritual and mental - because as we all know, a balanced life is always best.

Are some of your goals a little bigger than you can handle right now? Not a problem - just break them down into smaller, doable steps. Paying off $15,000 in student loans is a pretty hefty goal but paying off a $500 credit card is certainly a manageable task.

Use this list to incorporate in all those things you’ve always wanted to do. Learn Tai Chi for example or take a few classes at your community college. Study a foreign language, play a musical instrument or travel around the world. How do you define happiness? If you had all the time and money that you would ever need, how would your life be different? What would you do? How would you spend your time?

And most importantly, how would you ensure that it stayed that way?

When you’re done, you’ll likely end up with something that looks like this. That’s my list by the way, or at least the way my list stands to date. Some of the things on my list are already true but they are things I like and I think they’re important to my overall picture, so I added them to remind me that I’m already on my way. Notice that all my statements are in the present tense as in I am doing them now.

And that is the key. Because in order for me to act into a new way of feeling, I have to know what those actions should be. Once I’ve defined them - and this is important - I have to find a way to make them true.

See, I can visualize having no credit card debt all day long but as long I keep whipping out that credit card, my debt isn’t going to go away. I can imagine that I’m in fantastic shape but if I’m living on pizza and carbonated drinks, I’m probably not ever going to see those six pack abs that I want.

So then my success becomes a simple matter of choice. I can choose to act in a way that is consistent with my aspirations or I can choose to do something else. Either way, its still my choice. The beauty of this is that while there are some goals that will require a bit of time and effort, there are others that you can adopt immediately. Maybe you can’t really start behaving as if all your bills are paid because, well… they’re not. But what you can do is start saving a small amount from each paycheck or paying a little extra on each bill. And regardless of how limited you might initially be in some areas, there’s certainly nothing to stop you from really focusing on other, more attainable areas.

For example, you can start working out right now. You can stop smoking, stop drinking or grab an apple instead of a candy bar. You can start writing that novel, scoping out a spot for your garden and checking out martial arts dojos around town. So, even though you can’t adopt all of these new behaviors at once, you can start making a dent.

And that’s how you begin to build those success stories we talked about earlier… the ones that will teach you to believe in yourself and in the Law of Attraction.

Does it really work? Well, technically there’s no real way to prove that the Law of Attraction exists since it is after all, based on the energy of thought and the Universe’s response to that energy. But even if the entire idea is bogus, you’ll still be saving, exercising, reading, traveling, learning, playing and connecting with yourself in a way you never have before. So really, I don’t see how you can fail.

I’ll be tracking my progress with this experiment here - if you want to join in, feel free to post your list or even just a specific aspiration in the comments section and let us know how you’re doing