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We know what civil rights and copyrights are, but have you ever thought about your rights as a human being? 

You probably know about the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that the United States' Declaration of Independence demanded from England in 1776. Over the decades since, we have given ourselves many other rights, too, though you probably didn't learn about them in school. And they're not usually listed or written down.  

You have the right to make mistakes, to be less than competent, less than perfect. You have a right to ask for what you want… >>>

Do you consider yourself unlucky? Ever feel like fate has dealt you a bad hand? Let's experiment with another way of looking at things.

Did you ever feel cursed by fate? You know, as if something - bad genes, bad parents, childhood trauma, wrong color, wrong body, wrong side of the tracks (it really doesn't matter what) - has ruined your chances to succeed in life?  

If you do, there is something very important you need to understand, so you can take yourself from feeling like you do to where you want to be in the future. Here it is:… >>>

How good are you at keeping agreements - with yourself? By this, I mean all your agreements, and let me explain what I mean by that.

In their book "Life 101," John-Roger and Peter McWilliams pointed out that the agreements we make are always with ourselves - although sometimes they include other people. In that sense, they're like relationships. All our relationships are with ourselves, but often they include other people as well.  

Now, your word is one of the most precious things you have, but many people think very little of breaking it. This is a mistake for two… >>>

How effective are you while you're at work? Let's look at some ways to increase your on-the-job effectiveness.

If you don't feel very effective or productive while you're at work, it can lead to a downward spiral. When you don't feel effective, it can lower your feelings of self-worth. This, in turn, leads to even less effective performance, and down and down you go.  

A downward spiral is the last thing you need. Chances are you can work far more effectively than you are now and move yourself into an upward trend, instead. How? Well, start by getting control of… >>>

Today, let's look at the art of accepting things from others. Everyone knows that it feels great to give, and most of us have learned that it's better to give than to receive. But there's a blessing to being able to receive gracefully too, and it's what we want to look at today.  

How does it feel to give a gift that is virtually ignored or, worse, received badly? Pretty awful, right? Children, especially, labor long and with great love to make special presents for their families. It can be crushing to see their best handiwork ignored or passed off… >>>

Warranted high self-esteem, which has always been important psychologically, is a critical factor in economic well-being, too.  

For five decades, The Pacific Institute has been working with the most forward-thinking business and world leaders to teach them the importance of a workforce with high self-esteem. The concepts taught by Lou Tice have worked their way into mainstream American business culture. A book called "The Power of Self-Esteem," by psychologist Nathaniel Branden pointed out that a workforce lacking confidence in its ability to think and cope with life's challenges won't be very productive or competitive in a demanding global environment.  

Branden… >>>

Let's talk one more time about the skill of visualization. We talked about this last week, but more in relation to sports and sports activities. Today let's give it a broader application.

Visualization is a pretty simple technique that has incredible power to change lives and expand potential. In fact, you have probably been using it since you were very young. Then, we called it "playing pretend" as we "practiced" what we wanted to be when we grew up. Unfortunately, as we grew up, we let go of playing pretend. It may be time to pick it up again.

When… >>>

A lot of people are afraid of failure, but do you know anyone who's afraid of success? Let's talk about this rather common problem.  

Abraham Maslow, one of the 20th Century's great psychologists, called it a "Jonah Complex," because Jonah chose to turn his back on the great things God had planned for him. Of course, the Bible tells us that Jonah eventually found himself inside the belly of a great fish, but most people who fear success eventually find themselves consumed with regrets for things that might have been.  

We turn away from the challenges that will bring us… >>>

Today, let's talk about frustration - a feeling all of us experience from time to time - and how to overcome it.

One of the roadblocks on the path to success is frustration. Everyone feels it from time to time. It's kind of like anxiety with a little anger thrown in, isn't it? You feel like a tiger in a cage, filled with tension and negative energy but accomplishing nothing. And that tension and negative energy represent both the danger and the opportunity in frustration. 

The danger is the tension and the negativity, because negativity blocks all the positive feelings… >>>

Today, here are a few words about peak performance aimed at everyone who would like to improve at a sport or game, and we are not talking about performance-enhancing substances.  

People are finally starting to realize that "the right stuff" isn't something you have to be born with. The fact that we can learn to tap previously unexplored potential has been quickest, perhaps, to take hold in the world of professional sports. However, the principles involved will work just as well for weekend athletes and high school athletes, as well.

One of the best-known techniques, for what sports psychologists and… >>>