Fastest way to learn a foreign language

I'm going back to visit Brazil in December.

This time when I go I want to be fluent in Portuguese, also it is one of my top 5 goals for the years.

So to accomplish this with only 5 months remaining in the year, I have decided to find what works and model that.

I have other materials at home to study, but for those I would have to organize them and come up with a plan by myself. And since I have not become fluent yet, I looked for a successful person or program to model.

To that end I have decided to go with Rosetta Stone.

It seems to have the testimonials to back it up.

So I will be starting the program in September.

I will let you know my progress.

Luke

Big Updates For Personal Best

Hi,

Thanks for reading, I have several interesting quick topics for this blog.

First: Remember this Sunday CNBC will be running the next installment of "The Millionaire Inside." This weekends topic is Inspiration. It will feature Keith Ferrazzi, Robert Kiyosaki, Laura Morgan Roberts, Larry Winget. Be sure to watch this series is great.

If you miss it I'll put a summary up in my blog.

Second: For those of you who want to make money online check out www.thirtydaychallenge.com I have done this competition the last two years, they are great and free. Learn some wealth building skills here.

Third: For pet lovers, if you want to get four free pet books sign up for membership at this site: www.free-online-veterinarian-advice.com/askavet.html

Please check back later this week for the summary of CNBC's Millionaire Inside summary.

Thanks,

Luke

Enthusiasm, the God within

The word Enthusiasm comes to us from the Greeks.

It means "the god within." I suppose when the ancient Greeks saw someone with a lot of enthusiasm they thought a God was present in them.

How do you maintain enthusiasm in your life?

Many times people complain that they have no enthusiasm and then they ask how they can get more.

The secret to getting more enthusiasm is to get interested in what you are doing. You don't have to love it, just get interested in how is works, runs, is built, etc.

Enthusiasm can really make your day go quicker and more productive.

I urge you to get "a God within" today.

Luke

Fastest Way To Learn A Foreign Language?

Last night I was trying to come up with a plan to learn Brazilian Portuguese as fast as possible and as easy as possible. (my wife is Brazilian)

Anyways, I was make a list of different ways to learn, and then I remembered modeling. Modeling just means find someone who has learned the language before and do what they do.

I called one of my wife's friends and asked them how they learned it. They suggested a great CD set that totally immerses you in a foreign culture, writing, speaking, writing, and listening.

I am going to order this tape course, and try to become fluent in Portuguese in less than 6 months.

If you have any other suggestions please let me know at lukeblaise1m@excite.com

Thanks,

Luke

Millionaire Inside

If you are not aware, CNBC has been airing a series called the Millionaire Inside. Each show features 4 experts, some of which include Robert Kyosaki (rich dad, poor dad) and David Bach best selling author of the Automatic Millionaire.

Last night they aired an episode about debt. It wasn't the best one in the series so far, but for everyone looking to be inspired they are airing a brand new episode on July 28th about getting inspired about becoming rich.

Be sure to watch this series if you haven't already, it is a great show.

Luke Blaise

Positive Attitudes: How to Get One

Positive attitudes are a must if you really want to live a great life full of accomplishments. Many times two people can look at the same situation and see two totally different things. So how do we train our brains to look at these situations positively?

Life happens to everyone, and yet some people seem to always have a smile on their face, while others seem to always have something to complain about. These smiling people aren’t luckier than other people, they just have a better outlook on life; a positive attitude.

So how to we improve our attitude? Just as you have learned to have a negative attitude, you can train yourself to have a positive attitude.

One of the easiest ways to start is by trying to monitor your thoughts more. If you catch yourself thinking negative tell yourself to stop and come up with some ways that this situation could be viewed as a positive.

For example if you lost your job, instead of thinking negatively about the experience, come up with some positive aspects of the situation. Maybe this job loss means more opportunities are open to you now, like a better job, or starting your own business.

Children are born with a positive attitude, but as people get older, that positive attitude seems to go away. Your positive attitude doesn’t’ have to go away, and you can get your’s back. By following a few simple exercises you can teach yourself to only have positive attitudes.

Positive Quotes and Affirmations

Using positive quotes and affirmations can be a powerful addition to any self improvement program. There are numerous studies showing how powerful these techniques can be. So why aren’t you doing them?

Why do positive quotes and affirmations work so well? Well for most adults the overwhelming majority of our thoughts are negative. We didn’t always have such negative thoughts, as children we mostly had positive thoughts. Look at the children you know, the majority are happy and have positive thoughts, while the majority of adults we know have negative thoughts.

This is why positive quotes and affirmations can be so powerful in our lives. They give us the positive thoughts that we need to take our lives to the next level. By constantly telling ourselves great things and reminding ourselves about what we want to accomplish it is like we have a map leading directly to our goals.

If you aren’t using positive quotes and affirmations daily to improve your life and help you accomplish your goals, start today. Come up with some quotes and affirmations that inspire you and repeat them three times everyday to your self, until you accomplish what you want.

By incorporating positive quotes and affirmations into your self improvement program you can make achieving your goals more automatic. How? Habits are formed usually after 21 consecutive days of doing something. So if you can just keep this part of your program up for 21 days you will be automatically reminding yourself everyday about what and why you want to accomplish your goals.

Luke Blaise

Positive Affirmations

What are affirmations, positive affirmations, and how can we use them to propel our lives forward? Once you start using affirmations in your life you will learn how powerful they can be.

Affirmations are a statement of what you want or how you intend your life to be. Affirmations should be positive affirmations, meaning they should be about what you want, not on what you don’t want.

{Acheive your goals automatically}

One classic example of a positive affirmation is this: ‘every day in every way I’m feeling better and better.’ This one has a lot of history behind it. It was created by a physician in Europe to try and help his patients heal faster. He recognized decades ago the power that the mind has over the body and the environment.

If you have done affirmations you are likely aware of how powerful they can be. Use them as a constant reminder of what you want out of life.

How often do we say affirmations?

It seems like most people that promote using affirmations don’t specify how often to do them, but most say at least daily. Again this isn’t very specific. I try to do my affirmations at least 3 times a day and repeat them about 10 times with emotion, with or without vocalizing them depending on where I’m at.

How long do we say these affirmations?

I was watching a program featuring T. Harv Eker, author of the Millionaire Mind and he had a great answer for this question. His answer was to do affirmations until you achieve them. A simple and to the point answer, but not necessarily obvious to everyone.

Luke Blaise

Breaking a Bad Habit

First of all HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Breaking a bad habit can be very difficult, and it is for most people. So how can we learn to break bad habits? Fortunately millions of people before us have succeeded in breaking their bad habits, and we can learn how they broke their bad habits.

{here is a great program on the power of positive habits}

Breaking a bad habit is not an easy thing to do for several reasons. One reasons is that we likely to have been doing it for a while so it is almost ingrained in us. Another reason is we have a deep emotional attachment to this behavior, like smoking, and getting rid of it would be like getting rid of a piece of us.

Imagine a bad habit as one neural connection in your brain. Each time you repeat that bad habit another neural connection forms, so in a little while you have a neural highway so to speak, so it becomes easy and almost automatic to do this behavior.

Fortunately there are ways to break that bad habit, but it won’t be easy. Some people resort to hypnosis to break a bad habit like smoking or overeating. But let’s try some other ways to break a bad habit before that.

One way to break a bad habit is to try and change your state of mind each time you feel like performing that bad habit. For instance if your bad habit is overeating at night, each time you feel the urge to eat, try to take your mind off the food. Go outside and run around the block, sing a loud song, do whatever it takes to change your state.

It might seem a little extreme but trying to change your mind’s state when you feel the urge to do a bad habit can help. Remember each time you stop performing a bad habit that neural pathway gets smaller and smaller until it is no more.

Luke Blaise

Creating Positive Habits and Breaking Bad Habits

Positive habits can be very powerful in your life, as well as bad habits. So how can we increase the number of positive habits, and decrease the number of bad habits?

Positive habits are great because they can automatically help you to accomplish your goals in life, and make you healthier. That is the greatest quality of positive habits, they are automatic, you don’t have to think about them, and they lead your life in the direction you want to go.

The same, but opposite can be said for bad habits. They automatically take you in the direction you don’t want to go. Fortunately the steps to forming and breaking bad habits are simple, but that doesn’t make them easy to do.

Most experts think it takes 21 days to form a habit, or break a habit. So if you have the will power to do an activity for 21 days, or in the case of a bad habit, not do it for 21 days, you might be able to change your ways.

Another factor that goes into habit formation is the emotional intensity tied to that habit. For example, many people smoke because of how it makes them feel. Some people believe that they need a cigarette to relax; they believe it with their whole heart. For this person breaking the bad habit of smoking is going to be much harder due to the emotional attachment to smoking.

There are lots of other techniques available to make changing your habits almost automatic. You should harness the power of positive habits to take your life where you want to go and automatically accomplish your goals.

Luke Blaise

Build Confidence: Walk Faster!

Everyone wants to build confidence. So how can walking help you build confidence? It is easy if you change just a few things.

Everyone walks, and most people want more confidence, so how can we combine the two? Easy, just try to walk 25% faster. Look around the next time you are at the grocery store. Some people seem like they can barely stand, little alone walk. The people who are walking faster seem more confident because it seems like they are walking with purpose.

Try this simple exercise next time you want more confidence instantly. Just walk faster and with purpose and you will have more confidence.

Another thing besides walking faster is to walk with your shoulders back and your head up. Again just look around you and do some people watching.

Pick out the people you think are the most confident. Odds are they are the ones who are walking faster, with a sense of purpose, and with their shoulders and heads back.

Remember that motion creates emotion. If you walk slow with your head down you don’t have any motion, so how can you expect to have any emotion. Lift your head up and start walking faster and with purpose. You will have motion and hence more emotion, specifically confidence.

One little extra thing that you can do while you walk is to add affirmations, positive mantras you repeat silently to yourself. These affirmations could be anything from how you envision your life to be to any other goal. You can say your affirmation in rhythm with your steps.

This is another reason why walking faster is better, you can say your affirmations with more emotion when you are walking faster.

Luke Blaise

Goal Setting: Setting Ambitious Goals

If you are reading this article you know you should have written goals, if you don’t then write some down now. Goal setting is the key to moving your life faster in the direction you want to go. Most people have boring goals. How do we make our goals more exciting?

Having big exciting goals is vital if you want enthusiasm in your life. No one gets excited by little goals. When you set goals you should aim for the sky, not the ceiling. It is better to aim for the sky and miss than to aim for the ceiling and hit it.

For example if your goal is to earn $100,000 in a year, add a zero to that and make it $1 million dollars. No one gets excited over mediocre goals. Another example of this is if your net worth goal is $1 million, add a zero to it to make it $10 million. These last two examples come from T. Harv Eker, author of the Millionaire Mind.

Although his book is about how to become wealthy he does go over some good basic goal setting techniques that you can use in any area of your life.

Sit down with your list of written goals and ask yourself if you are excited about all of them. Are you excited about them? If you are not, then you will likely not achieve them no matter how easy they are to accomplish.

If your goals are boring, then re-write them in a way where you can be excited about them. Remember to aim for the sky, not the ceiling; ambitions goals will give your life the passion everyone is always seeking.

Luke Blaise

Self Improvement: Using Visualizing to Quicken Your Results

Visualization should be part of everyone’s self improvement program. Visualizing has been proven to work in dozens of scientific studies. So how do I apply it to speed up my self improvement program?

Visualizing yourself accomplishing your goals is a very powerful tool that many people don’t take full advantage of in their self improvement programs. Once you try visualization and see its awesome effects you will become a believer.

One classic study of visualization was done involving basketball free throw shooting with 3 groups of people. All three groups were asked to shoot free throws and their results were recorded. After that Group 1 only physically practiced shooting free throws. Group 2 did not practice any free throw shooting, and Group 3 only did visualization exercises involving visualizing themselves shooting baskets.

The surprising result was that Group 1 and Group 3 improved equally between tests. This proves how powerful visualization is.

Almost all Olympic athletes use visualization in their sports programs. East German athletes used these visualization exercises to dominate their competition for years in the twentieth century.

Remember that the mind cannot tell the difference between something that is actively imagined or real. Think about how powerful that statement is.

Start today by spending at 10 minutes three times a day visualizing yourself accomplishing your goals, and living the life you dream of. Make visualization a part of your daily self improvement program.

There are dozens of scientific studies proving the power of visualization. Athletes have been using these exercises for decades to dominate their competition. Use visualization to dominate your goals.

Luke Blaise

The Power of Positive Habits

If there is one thing that can help make improving yourself easier, it is habits.

Habits can make improving yourself and your goals seem almost automatic. That is the great news about positive habits.

What is the bad news?

The bad news is that it takes about 21 days minimum to form them.

Some people are starting to use Cognitive re-structuring to speed up this process.

Dan Robey has created a program so good that he even got Jack Canfield to endorse it. {How is that for taking massive action.} Dan's program can totally automate your self improvement.

I personally think you should check out his program. Because he is selling it through Clickbank he has to give a 60 money back guarantee.

Try the program for 60 days, if you don't like it you get your $40 dollars back!

You can view his pitch page here.

Thanks,

Luke Blaise

Law of Attraction: You Need Action Not Just Attraction

When the book, The Secret, came out it thrust the law of attraction back into the spotlight. This has lead to a lot of criticism of the book because for many people they don't fully realize how to use the law of attraction.


For many people once they read the book, The Secret, and learned about the law of attraction, they simply sat on their couches and started visualizing money coming to them magically. Well you can sit on the couch all you want but if you want things to come to you, you need to take action.


In order for the Law of Attraction to work its magic you need to work and work hard at taking action. This is where many people will fail when it comes to the law of attraction. It is natural for people to want things to come easily to them without any effort on their part.


The Law of Attraction is not new, not to anyone who has set goals before or has even purchased a new car! Why is the law of attraction like buying a new car? Because what happens once you buy a new car? Suddenly when you are driving you realize lots of other cars that are the same model as yours. Is this magic? No. It is just your brain realizing what you like and want and looking for it.


This is why setting goals is so important. You are telling your brain what you want to focus on and what you want to attract into your life. This way when opportunities present themselves to you, your brain remembers what you want and tells you to act on it.


A great way to get these goals into your subconscious is through automated affirmation software (I recommend Affirmware.) If you don’t' want to get automation software, which is easy to build with basic html, just post your goals on your refrigerator. When you post your goals in areas you walk by all the time your brain is reminded of your goals, even if you don't consciously read them.


If you are reading this article you are likely already putting the law of attraction to work in your life, just remember to take the necessary action.

Thanks for reading.

Luke Blaise

Challenge Your Comfort Zone and Build Confidence With 4 Exercises

Building your confidence by challenging your comfort zone can be a lot of fun. For many people they get stuck in a rut in life and when that happens you can’t build confidence because you never try anything new.

There are many simple steps you can take that will build your confidence and challenge your comfort zone. Here are 4 steps or exercises you can do this week to build your confidence.

1. Make eye contact. Many people today don’t make eye contact as much as they should, and many people won’t even look at you in the eye, much less your face. A great way to build confidence is by trying to hold eye contact with someone longer than you are used too. This may sound easy but you need to try it. You will find out it is hard to leave your comfort zone, but once you get into the simple habit of holding eye contact longer you will feel more confident.

2. Sitting up front in meetings. Most people sit in the back of every place they go. From classrooms to boardrooms, it seems like people are obsessed with sitting the back of the room. Next time you have to go to a meeting, sit in the front row, get used to sticking out of the crowd. At first when you do this exercise it will seem like everyone is staring at you, but this is good. It gets you out of your comfort zone and will build greater confidence.

3. Speak up more often. Many people at meetings don’t say a word and only speak when spoken to. This exercise is another great way to get out of your comfort zone. Nothing makes you feel more vulnerable than putting your personal ideas on the table for discussion.

4. Smile big. This is one of my personal favorite confidence building techniques. Not only do you feel better when you smile, but people will start to wonder what is going on with you. Not only will you stand out by doing this, people will start to talk about why you are smiling all the time. No one needs to know the real reason, just you!

These four exercises are all simple to do but will build your confidence. Once you try these exercises to challenge your comfort zone you will feel your confidence growing automatically.

The Magic of Thinking Big

Think Big! What does that mean and why aren't you doing it?

Most people are conditioned to think small. This isn't their fault, it is society's fault. Children think big all the time, but as people grow they get beaten down by the system.

Are you beaten down?

Think about some ambitious goals to accomplish.

For instance if your goal is to earn $100,000 a year, add a zero to that and make it $1,000,000.

If your net worth goal is $1,000,000 add a zero to make it $10,000,000.

It is hard to get excited about most goals because people don't set the bar high enough. Resolve to aim for the sky, don't aim for the ceiling.

I will leave you with a quote from Raymond Aaron to think about: "What have you done this week to double your income doing what you love?"

Think about that this weekend and be sure to check out this great software: Affirmware.

Luke

The Monthly Mentor

Having a monthly mentor can help you move your life forward much faster and achieve your goals easier. Do you need a mentor and if so how do you find one?

People are always saying that you need a mentor to achieve your goals, but for most people they assume that they have to go out and find an actual person to be their mentor.

Well this is not the case. While it is always best to talk to an actual mentor in person there is no reason why you can’t choose a person as your mentor and just read his or her books.

{Make your life a lot easier with Affirmation software}

For instance you could have David Bach, the personal finance best selling author, as your money mentor. Now you don’t have to talk to him, which might be hard, but what about reading his books, newsletters, and other articles about him to learn his views on finances.

Many people get caught up when finding a mentor, but it is not that hard, and if you find one you don’t like get rid of them and find a new one. You should try to have a mentor for each area of your life that you want to improve. By doing this you will achieve higher levels of success and achieve them faster.

Start today and identity who you want to be your mentor in each area of your life that you want to improve. Then at least once a month, read this person’s book or newsletter and identify tips that you can use right now to improve your life.

Automate Your Life and Goals

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to achieve your goals automatically? There are many simple techniques that you can use to help make achieving your goals easier.

Achieving goals takes a lot of time and hard work usually. Do you think that if you found out a way to achieve your goals automatically that that could increase the quality and joy in your life?

One thing you can do is to start identify areas in your life that you are experiencing difficulties, or are having trouble achieving a goal. Now try to identify if there are any things that you can to make achieving that goal seem easier?

One thing could be a software program (AFFIRMATION SOFTWARE) that every time you sit down at the computer shows you your goals or runs through affirmations for you. Can you post your goals in your high traffic areas around the house like the refrigerator where every time you pass your goals become embedded into your subconscious?

Another thing to do to help you achieve more with less stress is to always carry a notepad with you to write down your ideas or things to do list. Buy moving it out of your mind and onto paper you open up your mind to more productive and joyful thoughts.

Try to come up with ways where you are automatically reminded of your goals. By doing this you will find that you will achieve your goals much faster. Little improvements like this daily can lead to large changes over time. Your goal should be for continuous and daily improvement.

Luke

Aiming For Rolls Royce Quality In Your Life

Living in West Los Angeles I see expensive cars all the time. Cars like Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Masserati, and Bentley are a daily occurrence for me.

I’m always impressed when I see these cars. I asked myself why am I so impressed with these cars, what makes them so special? Well sitting next to a Bentley in traffic I came to realize that it was the quality. Quality is what makes these vehicles luxury items.

How can I afford one of these vehicles I asked myself? Then it hit me. The quality of my work and my contributions have to be of high quality, Rolls Royce quality.

Quality always demands a higher price in the end and always gives you the most value in the end.

Do you perform quality work everyday? If you want to have the fancy luxury items that are of high quality, is your work of equally high quality?

If you don’t live in an area where you see high end luxury cars everyday, look at them on the internet. Observe the quality in their manufacture and design. Is your quality of work of equal quality that these cars are at?

{Learn how daily habits can improve the qualtiy of your life: Daily Habits for Wealth}

Mediocre quality of work will only lead to a mediocre life. Who gets excited about mediocre work or mediocre people? When I see Fords and GM cars drive by I don’t see anyone turning their heads to check them out.

If you want the best that life has to offer, you need to give the best that you have to offer. Start today to committing yourself to Rolls Royce quality in everything you do in life, and soon you will be driving a Rolls Royce.

Mixing and Matching Gurus

There are lots of self improvement gurus out there willing to give you advice on how you should live your life.

Often times I see people proclaiming that one guru is better than the other ones and spending a lot of energy defending that person in forums.

I have learned that just because I don't agree with everything one guru says, that I have to throw all of this advice away.

Just take to parts of what Tony Robbins says that you think will work for you and throw the rest away. Some gurus like Tony Robbins give advice on many areas like health, finance, and realtionships.

I doubt you agree with everything he says in all areas, and probably shouldn't.

Although he does have some great self improvement exerciese.

No matter what self improvement program you do, make sure it is consistent. I have found that this is the biggest key of all.

You can make your life easier by getting some Affirmation Software, so at least some of your self improvement program is on automatic.

Luke

Commericals Better Than Affirmations?

Advertise in your own mind.

I first heard this concept from Tony Robbins and realized the power in this statement.

Everyday companies spend millions and millions of dollars on advertising to you. You hear the same commericals over and over again until it get pounded into your head.

After a while you realize you can't get that commerical out of your mind.

{Here is a great way to advertise to yourself: Affirmation Software}

Once you realize the power of advertising you need to harness this power.

Come up with a commerical about yourself. Come up with a commerical where you try to sell yourself the great accomplishment you have done or will do.

Then run the exact same commerical through your head over and over again until it gets ingrained into your head!

Come back for more!

Luke

Tell Yourself the Ugly Truth

Many people go through lives not fully realizing the true state their life is in because they refuse to face the truth.

{Here is an example that I know at least two other people have had and I'm not picking on fat people, it could be said for any other problem.}

I have had overweight people stand next to me and they have pointed out someone else who was also overweight, but not as overweight as them and tell me how fat that person was.

To restate what I just said, some people don't realize how big they are and think they are alot smaller than what they acutally are.

This is just one of many lies we tell ourselves everyday. Resolve to build healthy daily habits that will lead you to wealth and health.

What are you lying to yourself about?

Luke

I Have Proof of Your Worth!

Yes, I do have proof of your worth. In fact eveyone who watches the news on TV or reads the newspaper has this proof as well.

Many people don't think they are not worthy of certain things in life, but consider this:

If you were lost in the woods or mountains people would come looking for you! Why?

Simple because you are a human being!

You see this everyday on TV. A person gets lost hiking through the woods, a snow skier gets lost on a mountain, and you know what happens?

{Learn more about the Power of Positive Habits}

People, lots of people go looking for them, and they don't stop looking for them until they are found or until all hope is lost.

Therefore if you were lost, people, lots of people who don't even know you personally would go looking for you. They would not give up until you were found.

Just remember this simple fact next time you don't think very highly of yourself!

Here is to your success

Luke

Why Not You?

You deserve the best life has to offer and can achieve anything you set your mind too.

How do I know?

Well ask yourself this question: Has anyone else ever accomplished what you want to?

If the answer is yes then you definetly can acheive it.

(Daily habits can make acheiving your goals easy, learn about The Power of Positive Habits)

You need to give your self credit and start thinking more highly of yourself.

Excercise:

1. Write down the names of 3 to 5 people you know who are more successful than you.

2. Then ask yourself what qualities that you have that are better than the list of 3 to 5 people. Odds are you can find at least one area you are more successful than this list of 3 to 5 people.

3. Start believing in yourself.

Other people are not better than you, and if you think they are then you need to change your thinking!

Aim for daily improvement.

Thanks,

Luke

Welcome to Personal Best

Hi,

Welcome to Personal Best!

I hope through this blog to share what I think has helped me the most in terms of personal and professional development.

Thanks,

Luke Blaise