The Renewal Times

The Renewal Times is a publication of Renewal Technologies Inc. and is edited by Roger Ellerton.

This newsletter may be republished without permission, provided it is reproduced in its entirety and provided copyright is acknowledged. To reproduce sections of the newsletter, please contact Renewal Technologies Inc. at info@renewal.ca.

Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues. To become a subscriber or to view previous editions of this newsletter, please visit www.renewal.ca/newsletter.htm.

Please note: The material in this newsletter is presented for information only. It is not a substitute for medical, psychological or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional.

Included in this newsletter:

• Thought for the day
  
• Health Notes
  
• Upcoming Seminars
  
• Feature Article
  
• Humour
  
• More Information
  

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Thought for the Day
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Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

         Abraham Lincoln

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Advertisement
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Discover what's holding you back. Get the results you desire.

Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You by Roger Ellerton provides you with insights and proven techniques to improve your communication skills at work and at home.

. . . upbeat and positive-minded, offering step-by-step instructions to focus one's thoughts in the right direction. An excellent and easy-to-use self-help resource. Midwest Book Review, midwestbookreview.com

Available from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Chapters.indigo.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes and Noble and other fine book retailers.

NEW!   Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up is now available as an ebook at Amazon.com.

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Looking for featured authors such as Donald Trump, Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer and others? You can find them at Nightingale Conant.

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Health Notes
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Fear of Bone Loss Need Not Keep You from Shedding Pounds

Small-framed individuals with lower body weights are more susceptible to low bone mineral density (BMD), but fat loss from exercise in people over the age of 55 does not lower BMD, a study reveals. Lose weight with a combination of diet modification and extra exercise, and don't forget your daily calcium supplement.

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Be Careful with Full-Body CT Scans

If you're thinking of trying one of those full-body CT scans some clinics offer, you may want to wait for more research on how frequent scans may affect cancer risk. Recent research shows that annual scans over a lifetime could increase cancer risk mortality by almost 2 percent. The risk diminishes with fewer scans. However, more research is needed for an accurate risk-benefit analysis for this procedure.

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Upcoming Seminars / Workshops
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We are pleased to offer the following public workshops/seminars in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada:

Introductory NLP Evening

March 7, 2007 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Please come as our guest. Invite a friend to come with you. Registration is required so that we can reserve a seat for you. E-mail your name and the number of people attending to info@renewal.ca. For more information, please see www.renewal.ca/freeseminar.htm.

During this event, we will have a book signing for Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You and offer you a special discounted price.

NLP Practitioner Training

Seven consecutive days: July 9 - 15, 2007.

NLP Master Practitioner Training

Four weekends: March 23 - 25, April 20 - 22, May 4 - 6, June 1 - 3, 2007.

Getting More Out of Life

A series of three programs designed to help you get more out of life through discovering who you are at many levels -- your place in the world, your mission in life -- and to inspire you to take action to pursue your mission with passion and joy in a way that is respectful of others.

March 31 - April 1, 2007. Program 1: Discover Yourself -- Find Out What's Holding You Back

For our most recent schedule and a description of these workshops/seminars, please visit www.renewal.ca/neurolinguistic.htm

Click on the following link for the location of our NLP Training Centre in Ottawa (Stittsville), Ontario, Canada.

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Feature Article
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This article may be reproduced, provided it is reproduced in full, including author bio and a link to renewal.ca. If you republish this or any of our other articles without including the author's name, bio and a link to renewal.ca, you will be in violation of copyright law and sent an invoice.

Think Positively - Reduce Stress and Get More Out of Life

By Roger Ellerton Phd, ISP, CMC, Renewal Technologies Inc. www.renewal.ca

At one time or another, we all look at the gloomy or negative side of life. This is a natural part of being human. The problem occurs when we make negative thinking a way of life.

Studies have shown that being optimistic or pessimistic can affect how long you live and how well you live your life. For example, being optimistic has the potential to:

• Decrease stress.
• Provide greater resistance to catching the common cold.
• Provide a sense of well-being and improved health.
• Improve coping skills.
• Increase life expectancy.
• Make breathing easier for those who have chronic obstructive lung disease, such as emphysema.
• Improve coping ability for women with high-risk pregnancies.

Thinking Positively

Here are ten activities to assist you to think positively and hence get more out of life:

• Pay attention. An easy task that we do not often do. Start paying attention to your thoughts - what you say to yourself and the corresponding pictures you have in your mind or feelings in your body. Notice when you are thinking negatively and the impact that this has on you and the people around you.
• Have an outcome for whatever you do. Far too often, we do things with no other desire than to get the task done. The next time you go for a walk, no matter how long, have a positive outcome that is more than simply going for a walk and that will be a challenge for you in some way. For example, you may decide to notice and marvel at five things of beauty in nature that you had not seen before or make connections with at least three strangers by simply saying "hello" and maybe adding "have a great day!" When you set an outcome, make sure that it stretches you in some way and yet is doable. Whenever you repeat that activity or similar activity, make the outcome you desire bigger or more challenging than before.
• Change the way you talk to yourself, see the world and feel good about yourself. Now that you are paying attention to your thoughts and setting outcomes for everything you do, speak about and see these activities and outcomes in a positive manner. For example, if you have a voice in your head that keeps telling you that you will fail, change the tone of this voice to something that you find humourous, maybe something like Donald Duck’s voice. Then bring in a new voice with a very positive and encouraging tone that supports you in achieving your desires/outcomes. If in your mind, you have pictures of failing, make these pictures small, dark and colourless, while bringing to mind big, bright and colourful pictures that assist you in achieving your desires. If you have a feeling in your body such as a tightening in the pit of your stomach, what would happen if you became playful and massaged this feeling into the shape of a ball that you can kick away and replace with a warm, comforting feeling that permeates your whole body?
• Change your physiology. Shuffling along with hunched shoulders is not a positive physiology. If you are sitting, sit up straight; if you are walking, walk with a sense of confidence and enjoyment. Let the outside world see how happy you are with your shoulders back, breathing deep and a smile on your face.
• Focus on what you want. Tell yourself and others what you want, not what you don’t want. If someone asks, "How are you?", reply with "good" or even better "excellent", while using a tone of voice that shows you mean it. Notice how much better this feels than saying "Not bad."
• Avoid being a Victim. Take responsibility for your actions and your feelings. If in a conversation or interaction with another person, you did not get the outcome you desired; take responsibility for what you have done and how you feel about it. Notice that I did not say to be responsible for the actions or feelings of others; that is their responsibility. Taking responsibility gives you the opportunity to change things, rather than being a victim.
• Be flexible. Recognize what you accomplished. If you did not achieve your desired outcome, be flexible and approach it in a different manner (which may mean setting a different outcome or removing yourself from that interaction). If you try one key in a lock and it doesn’t fit, would you keep trying the same key repeatedly? Or would you be flexible and try other keys until you find the one that works?
• Let the past go and forgive. Dragging parts of your past with you, only slows you down. And who does not forgiving really hurt? Forgiving others - or yourself - does not mean forgetting or condoning what happened, giving up your values that were violated or assuming you are at fault; nor does it mean condemning the other person or seeking justice or compensation. Forgiveness can be viewed as forgoing the resentment or revenge when the wrongdoer’s action deserves it and giving the gifts of mercy, generosity and love when the wrongdoer does not seem to deserve them. To release the shackles of the past, you must be willing to forgive.
• Have a clear outcome for your life, family, career, etc. Select one of these outcomes. Then, every morning when you first wake up, picture this outcome in your mind with relevant and supporting sounds and feelings. Identify three actions (no matter how big or small) that you will undertake during the day that will move you toward your desired outcome. At the end of each day, review the actions you have taken and their results. If some of the actions you took, did not move you closer to achieving your outcome, look at this as simply feedback Use this feedback to determine possible actions for the next day or modify your outcome.
• Send yourself positive messages. When you first get up and just before going to sleep at night, say the following to yourself with meaning: "Every day in every way, I am getting better and better." Whenever you see a mirror, stop and look at yourself in the mirror and say "You are a wonderfully positive person and I love you dearly."

Enjoy life and its journey!

Author: Roger Ellerton is a certified NLP trainer, certified management consultant and the founder and managing partner of Renewal Technologies. The above article is based on his book Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You.

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Humour
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Managers

A doctor, a lawyer and a manager were discussing the relative merits of having a wife or a mistress.

The lawyer says: "For sure a mistress is better. If you have a wife and want a divorce, it causes all sorts of legal problems."

The doctor says: "It's better to have a wife because the sense of security lowers your stress and is good for your health."

The manager says: "You're both wrong. It's best to have both so that when the wife thinks you're with the mistress and the mistress thinks you're with your wife -- you can go to the office and do some work."

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A new manager spends a week at his new office with the manager he is replacing. On the last day the departing manager tells him, "I have left three numbered envelopes in the desk drawer. Open an envelope if you encounter a crisis you can't solve."

Three months down the track there is a major drama, everything goes wrong - the usual stuff - and the manager feels very threatened by it all. He remembers the parting words of his predecessor and opens the first envelope. The message inside says "Blame your predecessor!" He does this and gets off the hook.

About half a year later, the company is experiencing a dip in sales, combined with serious product problems. The manager quickly opens the second envelope. The message read, "Reorganize!" This he does, and the company quickly rebounds.

Three months later, at his next crisis, he opens the third envelope. The message inside says "Prepare three envelopes".

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More Information
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For more information, please visit our website or contact us at info@renewal.ca

Copyright © 2007, Renewal Technologies Inc. All rights reserved.

Books, ebooks and CDs by Roger Ellerton

Click on the following links to obtain more information on these products:

• Book/e-book: Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You.
• e-book: Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: 5 Step Action Plan.
• Book/e-book: Parents' Handbook: NLP and Common Sense Guide for Family Well-Being.
• e-book: NLP Techniques Anyone Can Use. Discover the power of NLP.
• CD: Ho'oponopono, a meditation to bringing balance into your life.
• CD: Balancing Modalities, a meditation to improve access to the visual, auditory, kinesthetic and auditory digital modalities.
• CD: Outcome MASTERY, a process and meditation to help you achieve what you desire - more comprehensive than SMART goals.

Renewal Technologies Inc.

Ottawa - Kingston - Gananoque
Ontario, Canada
K2S 1G2
www.renewal.ca
info@renewal.ca