Have you ever woke up on the wrong side of the bed? Do you carry that bad feeling with you well into the morning? If you are feeling irritable and cranky when you wake up, there is no way you can be successful that day unless you ditch that feeling in a hurry.

Most people will reach for the coffee pot and try to push through the day, but drinking caffeinated coffee loaded with sugar and cream will only exacerbate the problem. Although caffeine can wake you up and give you a lift, it is a fine line to walk. Too much caffeine can make you dependent and make you nervous, irritable, hypersensitive or even bring on headaches. This is the last thing you need if you are already edgy.

Here are some things that can quickly change your morning and put you on track to have a successful day.

FOODS

• High Fiber, Low Fat, Low Protein: High fiber, low fat, low protein foods will give you what you need to get out of that funk. Oatmeal is packed in soluble fiber that slow the absorption of sugar into the blood which will smooth out blood sugar levels in your body. You can increase the effectiveness by adding other high fiber foods to your oatmeal like low-fat granola, strawberries, apples or citrus fruits will increase the effectiveness. In addition, the soluble fiber forms a gel that slows the emptying of your stomach preventing you from feeling hungry again right away.
• Omega-3 Fats: Load up on Omega-3 fats. Walnuts are also a great topping since walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3 essential fatty acids are needed for brain cells and mood-lifting neurotransmitters to function properly. It is believed that they help the serotonin receptors on the surface of brain cells to function more efficiently. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that boosts mood and curbs food cravings.
• High Carbohydrate Foods: High carbohydrate foods also help by allowing an amino acid called tryptophan flow to your brain, where it morphs into serotonin. Fats (other than Omega-3 fats) and proteins retard this process though. An English muffin with a small amount of low-sugar fruit jam fits the bill

Avoid bad “carb” foods like commercial granola bars, graham crackers, potato chips, cakes and pies. They flood into the system too fast and cause your body to order up a big shot of insulin, which then tips the balance you’ve tried to maintain. You will get a quick boost and then by mid-afternoon, you will want to take a nap.

SUPPLEMENTS
Some supplements might also provide you a quick mood adjustment.

• B-12 Vitamins: Researchers have found that high to normal blood levels of B12 increased the effectiveness of drugs and therapy in 115 depressed people. It is believed that your nervous system needs B12 to synthesize serotonin, the same chemical that antidepressants boost. Other studies suggest that getting enough B12 may prevent the blues in the first place.
• Omega-3: Omega-3 fish oil supplements containing both docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), It is highly believed that these chemicals help your body’s efficiency in processing serotonin.

As with all supplements, take as directed as overdosing on any of these can be harmful

EXERCISE
If you are in a foul mood, get your blood pumping. Anything from a few pushups and sit-ups to a full jog or workout will help adjust that early morning foul feeling you have. Something as simple as taking a quick walk around your block when you wake up can do the trick.

PREVENTION
If waking up on the wrong side of the bed is an ongoing thing, there are other things you need to do:

• Exercise – Many studies have established that regular physical activity can help you feel better when you are dealing with mood issues. The type of physical activity really doesn’t matter. Just choose something that you enjoy. Start slowly, perhaps with walks around the neighborhood. Try exercising with a friend or relative or sign up for a class. Sharing the activity with someone may help you stick to a new exercise regimen.
• Get sunlight – Open the curtains in the morning and get as much light as possible. This could be hard if you wake up before the sun comes up or its rainy or cloudy. The human body was designed to be exposed to sunlight on a regular basis. It is a vital part of your mental and physical health.
• Get enough sleep – Make sure you are getting enough sleep, but not too much. Much of your internal chemistry is regulated by how much you sleep. An average adult should sleep for 7 hours.
• Avoid alcohol and drugs - Excessive alcohol intake and many illicit drugs can contribute to mood swings.

So start the day right and live an Envibrant life!

Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it…

I have already talked about a handful of reasons that businesses fail. Now it’s time to talk about how to make sure you start a business that succeeds. I will reiterate, restate, remind and basically hammer into everyone’s head how critical it is to have your personal goals written out. Before taking the next step into a business venture, you can increase your odds of success 10-100 fold just by writing out your personal goals with due dates! I would never set out on a life or death adventure without adequate preparation, and for a business venture you reduce your risk of failure by being prepared with your goals. I will remind you of this again, but for now let’s move on.

I am going to share with you some secret sauce for success. A successful company, whether a sole proprietorship or a large corporation has to know why it’s in business. That is, what is your business’ purpose? The answers, if it is a business you are starting, need to be synchronized to your personal goals, values, desires, morals and ethics. Your business venture must do more than support you with money; it must also fulfill and gratify you. Furthermore, it must be a reflection of you. Why build a prison when you have an opportunity to build a paradise?

So now is the time to write out why your new venture is in business. This is not your mission statement that will come later. This is an opportunity for you to build out the framework and rules by which your venture will operate. Here are some samples to get you started. At some later time I will post some corporate specifications, but there will be a cost for those. Small sample of corporate specifications:

1. This is a for profit business
2. We want to develop products and services for the sports fitness industry
3. We want a business that is in harmony with our personal values and financial demands
4. We want a national customer base
5. We want to sell our products through established channels and online
6. We want no direct competition from day one
7. We want an ethical product and service
8. We want to work from an office in San Francisco with a view of sailboats
9. We want rapid market acceptance and rapidly accelerating cash flow
10. We want _______________

My company has over 50 well thought out criteria/specifications. The more detailed your corporate specifications, the more likely you will actualize them. The magic is imagining, within reason, what you want to have your business accomplish to serve your personal needs and goals.

These guidelines are then the second most critical document for you successful venture. It comes down to reducing your risks and uncertainties. In the end, how can you ever be passionate about your business today or five years from now if you haven’t set out with a good foundation and set of specifications? You must answer this question today or the market will test you…and by then it may be too late!

Tuesday November 6th, 2007 is a mid-term election date. These elections mostly revolve around local government positions and issues. Some would feel these are insignificant and choose not to participate. But, if you don’t vote you have no right to complain about the government decisions you don’t like, no matter how much they suck.

With the number of people that actually vote each year, it often becomes the fact that the minority is making the decisions for the majority. Often less than half the registered voters show up for mid-term elections. The less we vote, the more we are sending the message to those in power that they should do whatever they feel fit. This can and has meant the suppressing of our rights. Without any voter feedback, politicians have to go without any guidance.

What you do on voting day does matter. Your vote sends a message whether or not your decision is reflected in the majority or not. You can vote on party lines alone. Voting Republican would give the standing President a vote of confidence in fiscal policies, the war on terror and immigration reform. If you vote Democrat, you can help empower the Democratic Party to serve as a check on the GOP issues. Voting for the incumbents will show you like the way things are going, voting to replace them would show you want change and are not happy.

Read your voter information pamphlet and understand each issue. Many politicians seem to go out of their way to write these as confusing as possible so it’ll take a while to get through each one. Most voter pamphlets will include arguments for and against the issues and candidates. Just reading who supports each issue can give you an idea of whether or not you’d be likely to support the measure or not. In San Francisco there is a verifiable nutcase on our board of supervisors, merely seeing what he supports gives me a great indication of what I will need to vote against.

So on this Tuesday, head down to your registered polling place and vote. It is the law that your employer gives you time to vote. But if you don’t, you lose your right to legitimately complain about anything that happens in the election.

Last night I went to see a live music show at a local club. Having worked in the concert industry for the past year, I have been to all of the big name concerts where ticket prices top $85 a show. But I had forgotten how much I enjoyed those inexpensive shows where bands play in a place the size of your living room. These are shows where the bands are their own roadies setting up and taking down their stage. Where you can buy them a beer after their set and let them know how much you liked them or even tell them they stunk.

For less than the price of a movie ticket I saw three bands do 10+ song sets for 3 hours. And in an age where modern communication has almost completely removed the need to interact with people and be social, going to a small club with a number of strangers all with a common interest was refreshing. We focus much of our time these days using phones, computers, online shopping and social networking sites to create a barrier between us and people. It is almost possible to avoid everybody if one chooses to do so. But by nature, we are social people and require human-to-human interaction to keep ourselves sane and healthy.

Local plays, concerts and comedic acts are way to stop the self inflicted isolationism created modern technology and to help out your local community. The type of event you go to automatically prequalifies those there as people you have some commonality with. It also gives you a chance to broaden your musical and cultural tastes. You could see a band that might be the next best thing. You can watch something that you could actually interact with. You also support your local artists and businesses keeping your community vibrant and alive.

This morning I met with a successful business school graduate. He was looking to take on more substantial career challenges and was interested in a start-up. He was asking me for a little insight and here is more or less what I told him…Anyone can start a business, but only few are successful. Why is that? Here are the top ten reasons start ups fail:

1. Business founders’ heads are not screwed on right
2. Improper market analysis
3. Addressing saturated, stagnant or dying markets
4. Weak incentive systems
5. Premature incorporation or patent filings
6. Premature venture financing or money leveraging techniques
7. Weak or no business plans
8. Incorrect sales forecasting
9. Attracting weak people
10. Dishonesty with self, partners, vendors or customers

There are more, and I will speak to these another time, but for now I will focus on #1. Get you head screwed on right by writing out your goals! Here’s why: Your motivation for starting a business may run from wanting a sense of independence to controlling one’s destiny to wanting to get into a pursuit of passion. Whatever your motivation, you have got to have your head screwed on right! Your business will have goals, incentives, objectives, deadlines and deliverables. Trust me on this; all the successful ones have these elements and more. Write out your goals. Get your personal goals in order; know what is going to motivate you, set up the purpose for starting your own business. That is job one. As an investor and employer I want to know what makes you tick and what motivates you. You should know that about yourself…in ink. Moreover, I want to know your goals with deadlines and detail. What business is it of mine to ask these very personal questions? My business operates on goals, objectives, tasks and deadlines. For you to help me achieve these I want to know that your own house is in order and that you operate the same way. That way I can help you achieve your goals as you help the corporation achieve its goals. This also tells me you care enough about your own life to start to plan it. It is also a simple test of maturity…not age, but plain and simple…you have your head screwed on right.

Now you could be starting a sole proprietorship or a huge conglomerate, but start with your head in the right place! It will be easier for your investors, vendors, customers, employees and colleagues to see what drives you and that your focus is real and possibly unshakable. This is the first brick in building your successful business. Make it a goal to complete your goal list before you do another thing.

Travel is an important part of my work and leisure life. In the last year I have found myself caving in the Modoc Lava tubes, motorcycle touring around Mount Shasta, wandering through vineyards in Alsace, hiking the lava beds in Hawaii or deserts of Arizona at night, and lounging in a hammock in Sayulita. Some of these trips are planned and others come together in a moment’s notice. In preparation I have put together a grab bag of items I must always take when traveling. I keep my toothbrush, eye kit, a mini first aid kit, and medicines in a toiletries bag that is always ready when I need to run out the door. But, one of the most indispensable tools I have found is a Petzl Zipka Plus headlamp. The nice thing about it is the built in head strap. Retractable head strap minimizes the bulk and keeps the thing from looking like I am a disheveled camper. Its sleek design looks good in the city as well as anywhere. The bonus is that with the retractable head strap it fits handily in my pocket. The Zipka Plus is a gift that is well received and appreciated by everyone I have gifted. The bonus is that I get thanked long after I have given the gift!
Among the many ways I have used it are: as a bicycling headlamp, as a reading lamp in bed (it doesn’t keep the person next to you awake), for caving and spelunking, strapped to my wrist for night hikes in the desert, on the end of a stick to look behind a desk for a missing paper, and so many more ways it has been useful. If you don’t already have one of these, get one. They may seem pricey, but first few times you use your Zipka Plus you will consider this one thing indispensable. I do.

I have a truck, I couldn’t live without it. I need it to haul around my off-road motorcycle, take trips down the coast, go camping, haul stuff around, etc. But I now regularly make the decision whether or not I really need to get in it and drive. There are lots of reasons to keep your car parked these days and it shouldn’t take much to convince anybody. Gas is expensive. Cars create pollution. And do not think that your electric or hybrid doesn’t cause pollution. The energy it runs on have to come from somewhere. Most electric plants are still fossil fuel plants. To build that car it required energy and transporting it to where you bought it caused more pollution as those trucks and boats shipped it from wherever it was built. And don’t believe for a second that these cars remove the dependency for oil. Those tires your car rides on are made of petroleum. The plastics in the car are made of petroleum. The roads you drive on are sealed in petroleum byproducts. Everybody that built your car most likely drove their car to the plant where it was built. And when you are done driving that car after 6-10 years, it ends up in a landfill where those toxic chemicals seep into the ground and keep on polluting the earth for a few generations to come.

I am lucky enough to live in a major city so I have lots of options. I can shop locally for groceries, take buses around and ride my bicycle almost anywhere. It can be more difficult if you choose to live in the suburbs inconveniently located away from the things you need, but it is still possible to reduce your driving. I am not proposing by any means that you stop driving, I know I am not. But I challenge you to think about how you can reduce your impact on the earth by reducing how much you drive. Just avoiding a few unnecessary trips a week can not only save you money and help your health if you walk more, but collectively, it makes a significant difference in the world’s pollution and the dependency on foreign oil.

Before you hop into your car the next time, ask yourself:

• Do I really need to go?
• Can I group multiple trips into one?
• Can I walk or ride a bicycle?
• Is there any convenient public transportation options?
• Is there someplace closer that I can walk or bike to?
• Can I carpool with somebody else?

Organization and efficiency in the kitchen is must. No successful chef can operate in chaos and disorder. There is a French term for it - Mise en place [miz eñ ‘plass]. Literally translated it means, “setting in place”. In the cooking world it is thought of having “everything in place”, doing all possible prep work before the actual cooking process. The concept is used by chefs everywhere to cook in an organized and efficient manner. This is how the best restaurants run flawless services with packed houses. During the time leading up to the service, recipes are checked and all of the ingredients and equipment that will be required is assembled. Ovens are heated, stoves checked for proper operation. Using the concept of “mise en place”, the chef can cook without having to stop and assemble items. When time is critical, this is the only way to go.

But isn’t your time always critical? This same concept can be applied to your personal and business lives. Think of your day at the office, if you get everything ready before the day starts, it can make you more efficient. From your actual desktop to your computer desktop, order creates efficiency. How are the files on your desk organized? How are the files on your computer organized? Would you be able to quickly find that document you worked on 4 months ago?

No single organization system is good for everybody, so use how you think to make things easier for you. I order all of my computer files by categories starting with business and personal. Under each of those folders, I have it broken down into all of the aspects of that category. For business, I have Clients, Marketing, Finance, Sales, etc. For my personal category, I have Friends, Finances, Pictures, Music, etc. In each folder, everything is labeled by date using the following format. YYYYMMDD – Name of file. Using this format, each file is automatically sorted by date within the folder making it easy to quickly find the last file I worked on last.

Now I am not by any means encouraging anal retentiveness or developing OCD problems, but a little bit of organization goes a long way. If you feel stressed for time in the morning or just want a few extra minutes of sleep, you can streamline your morning routine to give you that extra time. How are things organized in your bathroom? Is your closet arranged in a way that makes it easy to get dressed in the morning. Simple things like hanging shirts and pants together as an outfit could save you time. Adding all of these things together could shave 20 minutes off your morning routine.

Some things that might help:

• Desktop manager for Macintosh - FREE
• Desk Organizer
• Mobile Scanner to Scan Paperwork
• ORG Home Solutions
• Closet World
• Caboodles Ultimate Organizer

Have any tips or good companies to recommend that help get your life in order? Leave a note.

They cost less than a dollar and can make millions of times that! They are ultra-thin yet they pack influence and power. They don’t need recharging. They fit in any pocket and can go anywhere. They are not clunky like a whole sheet of paper. They are always ready as something to write on in a pinch or as matter of looking organized! They file away easily. You can write on them and use every inch of them or you can write one thing on them and file them or discard them. Single use or multiple use and they are recyclable. They can amuse a kid, and impress an adult. They can get you a date. They can be the key to get to a very important person. They can raise a million dollars or carry a stock tip. They can mean the difference between a million dollar idea and a lost idea. They are great for illustrating a concept or writing down a brilliant flash of inspiration. They bring order and tranquility and a sense of accomplishment. They are the 3×5 card.

1. Flash cards for studying
2. Speech notes
3. Meeting Agenda
4. Shopping lists
5. Personal mission statements
6. Affirmative statements
7. Goal lists and reminders
8. Night table notes
9. Business cards
10. Name tags
11. Recipe cards
12. Book list
13. Assignment notes
14. Note to self
15. Single day task list
16. Personal journal
17. Getting the name, phone, email etc for a date
18. Giving name, phone, email etc for a date
19. Travel directions
20. Notes from lecture, seminar, speech or other presentation
21. Hike notes
22. Favorite or affirmative quotes
23. Music or CD notes
24. Note for UPS, FedEx or postman
25. Note inviting people in if music is too loud to hear the doorbell
26. Vital info card for traveling
27. Photo notes
28. Short phrases for international travel
29. Parking spot or location reminder
30. Business card drawing entry card
31. File box labels
32. Notes for a lecture, seminar, speech or other presentation
33. Reminder to breathe and relax
34. Reminder for who’s who at a party
35. Notes of important statistics
36. Photo and notes on someone you are meeting the first time
37. Shoehorn
38. Small envelope or enclosure for tiny hardware (screws, pins, x-acto blades, shims, watch batteries, drill bits, etc.)
39. Bookmark
40. Mini dustpan or mini scraper

So the day at work couldn’t have gone worse. Your significant other is driving you crazy. You don’t have enough money to cover this month’s bills. Anxiety over your job is tearing you apart. Whatever the case may be, you can’t begin to resolve it if you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed. You need to clear your head and return your body chemistry back to normal.

When you get stressed, your body produces chemicals like adrenalin and noradrenaline. Your heart rate goes up and your blood vessels dilate. Digestion slows down and extra glucose pours into your bloodstream to give you a quick boost of extra energy. Blood is directed to the muscles and your brain. Your body’s production of sex hormones also drops. But why? Well, your body has fully prepared itself to run, defend itself, fight, or hunt. But you don’t run or fight. As a matter of fact, most of the things people do to cope with stress like eat, drink and smoke, only exasperate the problem.

When was the last time you took a walk? When you get stressed, you need to burn off energy. If you are not already going to the gym, running or playing some other type of sport, a 15-30 minute brisk walk can take the edge off.

Here is how to take a proper walk. Put on some comfortable shoes. Leave your phone, PDA and/or pager at home. Who really is going to miss you for 15 minutes? You can bring the iPod or leave it at home. If you do bring it, have a playlist already set for such an occasion. No need to go somewhere special. Walk out your front door or just outside your office. Take deep breaths as you walk and strut with quick long strides. Look around; even if you are walking down a street you drove down a million times before, you might notice something new.

If you get your heart rate even slightly above normal, your body will get exactly what it prepared itself for and go back to its normal state. The health benefits of walking are too numerous to list here, but are just a few:

• Elevate overall mood and sense of well-being
• Lower stress levels
• Manage your weight
• Lower your blood pressure
• Prevent depression, colon cancer, constipation, osteoporosis, and impotence
• Lengthen lifespan
• Relieve arthritis and back pain
• Strengthen muscles, bones, and joints
• Improve sleep

So get out and start walking!