Success is probably the end result of taking the right actions. Have you ever bought a toy for your child that needed assembly? Follow the included instructions and chances are high that you will succeed at putting it together properly. Don't follow the instructions and you
may end up with extra pieces and a toy that doesn't work.

If you know that certain actions are bound to produce certain results, then why is it so difficult to take the right actions when it comes to business and life in general?

We all want to succeed with our online ventures. Now that should be a given. After all, who goes into business to fail? Yeah, I know..... I'm stating the obvious. The truth of the matter is, success is not hard.... failing just happens to be easier. In fact, it's so easy.... thousands of businesses fail every day. Sad but true.

Let's assume that you want to succeed, but you are having a difficult time at it. Don't make a task list of what you need to do or need to get done. If task lists worked for you, you wouldn't be having a difficult time succeeding. Let's take a different approach.

Make an absolute truth list about yourself. What's the absolute truth? Let me give you examples of absolute truths.

Note: I interviewed a few people prior to writing this article to see if I could help them by sharing my "absolute truth" method. These are some of the absolute truths my subjects were kind enough to share with me. Keep in mind that these absolute truths belong to other people and may not apply to you at all. You will need to come up with your own honest list of absolute truths.

Examples of absolute truths:

#1 I stay up all night even though I know I've got important projects to do the next day. I also know that by staying up all night, I won't be able to finish the projects the next day because I will be too tired. Yet I stay up anyway.

#2 I smoke even though I know the risks. I know that I don't want to get lung cancer and I know that I want to be around to see my children get married and have children of their own, yet I continue to smoke anyway.

#3 I take my spouse for granted. I don't treat my spouse like he/she is the most important person in my life.... even though he/she supports me 100% in everything I do in my personal and business life.

#4 I know that by properly marketing my business, I will get more leads and make more sales... but I've not placed any ad orders or researched new places to advertise in the past two weeks.

----- end of examples -----

What do all of these absolute truths have in common?

They are all self defeating. But for some reason or other, the subjects chose to take the wrong actions and make those things their absolute truths.

For example #1, the subject is fully aware of the consequence of staying up all night and not getting enough sleep. It affects his/her ability to properly perform the following day, yet the subject chooses to stay up all night anyway. The subject does not suffer from insomnia. The subject simply suffers from poor judgment.

For example #2, the subject is also aware of the risks, is concerned, yet chooses to continue smoking. It's an addiction, it's a habit, it's still a choice.

For example #3, the subject acknowledges that his/her spouse is the most important person in his/her life, but chooses to take his/her spouse for granted. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

For example #4, the subject understands the importance of properly marketing his/her business to generate leads and sales, yet chooses to do nothing instead.

Try it now. Make an absolute truth list. Be completely honest with yourself. Don't share or show your absolute truth list to anyone. Password protect the file so you can be sure that nobody will ever read it. Once you feel secure that nobody else will ever read your absolute truth list, only then will you be totally honest and write down your absolute truths.

Once you've finished making your absolute truth list. Read it a few times. If you find that many of your absolute truths are self defeating, you will have discovered exactly the reasons why you are having difficulty succeeding in business or with personal relationships.

Once you realize which of your absolute truths are self defeating, you need to ask yourself the following questions.

If I know that a particular absolute truth is self defeating, why should I choose to continue to do it? If I continue to do it, I am choosing to fail. Why would I choose to fail?

Let's say that again....

If I know that a particular absolute truth is self defeating, why should I choose to continue to do it? If I continue to do it, I am choosing to fail. Why would I choose to fail?

When I succeed in business and with my personal relationships, I will be happier and I know this to be the absolute truth.

With your absolute truth list in front of you, it's like having all of the answers to the test of life. The crazy thing is.... the choice is simple, but it's entirely up to you. Which will you choose? To succeed or to fail?

The end result is actually the perfect starting place. Have you ever done a maze puzzle? Have you ever noticed that it's easier to complete the maze when you start from the END and work your way backwards? Have you ever done a jigsaw puzzle? One of the first things you do is look at the picture on the box so that you know what the completed puzzle is supposed to look like. You started with the end result in mind.

When you set a goal for yourself or your business, during your planning session, start with the end goal in mind and work your way backwards. There's a good chance that you will be able to accomplish the goal quicker by taking this backwards planning approach.

I plan on implementing this backward planning approach with my son before he goes off to college. If he has the end goal in mind as far as what he wants to do for a living, we can reverse engineer the desired end result and set him on the right path. By knowing what he wants to do for a living, we will know what type of degree he will pursue, and by knowing what type of degree he is going for, we will know exactly what courses he should enroll in.

Considering the increasing costs to attend an out of town university ($92,000 for four years), and the fact that I have three children to put through college, I'll be damned if I outlay that type of cash without a real deal end goal in mind and the proper planning in place to achieve that end goal.

To succeed, you need a clear cut end goal in mind. Otherwise, you will be wandering about never accomplishing anything because you don't know what you are working towards. Just like my cousin who I used to refer to as a "professional student". He went to college for 8 years and came away with a 4 year degree - because he had no end goal in mind. I think the only reason he stopped going to school
was because my aunt and uncle could no longer afford to pay for his "education".

I think you get the point. 8-)

Start with the end goal in mind, and work your way backwards while planning out the tasks needed to reach that goal. Take the right actions and work your plan, and I guarantee that you will save time, money, and effort... and reach your goal much faster.

SYDNEY - An Australian man who notified police to report that thieves were trying to break into his home and steal his cannabis plants ended up getting arrested himself. The police came to the house in Adelaide, capital of the state of South Australia just after midnight to discover four men trying to get away with the plants, which were being grown in two rooms there. The men were arrested, along with the 23-year-old homeowner, who was later charged with illegally growing 16 cannabis plants. "He was calling from underneath his bed," a police spokesman said. "I don't know what he was thinking. Perhaps he was smoking too much of his own product."

LUMBERTON, TX - A 56-year-old man dialed 911 and demanded that police arrest his fugitive cat. Police went to the home, but it wasn't the cat that was arrested. Police reports reveal that Lloyd Gregory Coleman continuously called 911 to insist that officers come and arrest his feline, who he claimed possessed outstanding warrants. Dispatchers warned Coleman to stop calling 911, but he didn't listen.
When the cops arrived, Coleman let them search his house for the cat. He also asked them to look for roaches - because he had a lot of them. Police didn't find the cat, but they did discover a prescription bottle of marijuana seeds. Coleman was arrested on complaints of abusing the 911 phone lines, and possession of drugs. Deputies couldn't confirm if the outlaw cat was still at-large.

EXETER, England - A burglar has been jailed in Exeter, Eng-
land, after stealing a complete fitted kitchen, including
the sink, from a house and installing it in his own home.
According to the Exeter Express, Patrick Corby stripped down
the $49,500 kitchen in the Exeter house over several days using power tools. He then carried off the units, freezer, refrigerator, dresser and carpets and re-built the kitchen in his own home, also in Exeter. Andrew Weir, the owner of the house, was living elsewhere. When the kitchen was later found, police discovered a total of 84 items stolen from the unoccupied house. Police said Corby was helped in the burglary by 33-year-old William Roast, who had been illegally living there. The absentee owner was shocked, according to prosecutor Richard Crabb, at the scene of "utter devastation" he found. Corby was sentenced to two years in jail, Roast to one.

SYDNEY - A bank robber who disguised himself as Santa Claus will be spending Christmas in jail after he forgot about the pants. Gregory Harland-White's plan was to rob a bank dressed as Santa, discard the suit in a horse trailer and make his getaway on a bicycle. He had purchased a Santa suit from a chicken feed shop near the bank and armed himself with two pieces of pipe taped together to resemble a gun. After robbing the bank, Harland-White ran into a nearby house trailer to take off the suit and then hurried towards his get away bicycle. Before he could make it to his bike, however, he was caught because he was still wearing the Santa pants. He pleaded guilty to bank robbery in a court in Tasmania and is awaiting sentencing.

A man who said he was "tired of walking" stole a steamroller and led police on a chase that never went over 5 mph. Finally, a police officer walked up and jumped onto the machine, forcing the man to stop.

A businesswoman was at work one day in San Francisco when a colleague saw her take out her credit card and slide it into the 3.5-inch floppy drive on the computer. Her colleague asked her what she was doing and she explained that she was shopping on the Internet.

A 23-year-old woman was arrested at the Salt Lake City airport hotel when she tried to pay for her visit with three $16 bills.

A man who installed windows in skyscrapers was showing his customers how strong each pane of glass was by getting a 10-
foot running start and jumping against the windows from the inside. However, the windows must not have been as strong as he thought: one shattered and he plummeted 27 stories to his death.

Two Texas men tried to rob an ATM by attaching the ends of a
chain to the front of the machine and the bumper of their truck. When they pulled, the bumper fell off the truck. The men then panicked and fled the scene, failing to notice that their license plate was still on the bumper.

Joey Buttafuoco, who gained notoriety in 1992 when his affair with a teenager led to his wife's shooting, was arrested Wednesday and charged with insurance fraud after making phony repair estimates at his auto body shop. Buttafuoco, co-owner of California Collision of Chatsworth, allegedly told undercover investigators how to file phony insurance claims for undamaged cars. Prosecutors charged him with three counts of insurance fraud and one count of grand
theft. He was being held on $50,000 bail. A separate action was also filed by the state to suspend or revoke the body shop's license, alleging the shop charged customers over $12,000 for repair work that was not done.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A hefty California prostitute turned the tables on an abusive, small client with his own knife and paraded him naked in front of other streetwalkers. The Bakersfield Californian said the man drove up to the unidentified woman and asked to pay for sex. He ignored her directions on where to park, and went to a field where he allegedly pulled a knife. The man stands 5-foot-5 and weighs 140 pounds and the woman stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 245 pounds.
She soon had the knife away from him and ordered him to strip. She then drove back to where other prostitutes were and asked if anyone recognized him. Police did and charged 45-year-old Adrian Ramirez with committing forcible sex acts on the 24-year-old woman. Police said Ramirez has a lengthy criminal record including four counts of rape. He is free on $250,000 bond awaiting his Dec. 30 hearing.

TORTILLA FLATS, Ariz. - An entire Old West Arizona town has
been put on eBay with an asking price of $5.5 million. Tortilla Flat, a historic tourist town of splintered-wood buildings and dust is posted on the site, and its listing has logged more than 6,500 hits. Nestled in the Superstition Mountains about 18 miles northeast of Apache Junction, the 1904 town offers prickly pear cactus ice cream, half-pound cowboy burgers and saddle seating at the bar. Dave Levi, 54, who has co-owned the town for five years with his sister and brother-in-law, Pam and Alvin Ross, said he is "getting
too old for this stuff." The land on which the town sits is leased from the Tonto National Forest Service. The 20-year, renewable and transferable land lease, now in its third year, is included in the sale.

WESTON, Fla. - A woman got a lot more than she asked for at
a McDonald's drive-thru. Janice Meissner ordered a bagel and a Diet Coke for breakfast, but her bag of food seemed unusually heavy. She soon discovered the bag was loaded with hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars in a sealed plastic bag.
The money turned out to be the restaurant's bank deposit.
Officials for McDonald's said the deposit was put in a food bag to make it less obvious before it was taken to the bank.
It was accidentally left too close to the drive-thru window and the employee didn't check twice before sending it out the window. Meissner did a double take after opening the bag before backing up her minivan to the window to return the money. McDonald's officials said they will send Meissner a thank-you letter and $50 in gift certificates.

After beating 1000 rivals in a 500-mile race, Percy the racing pigeon flopped down exhausted in a Sheffield loft and was promptly eaten by a cat.

In preparation for the 1992 New York Golden Gloves Championships, boxer Daniel Caruso psyched himself up by pounding his gloves into his face. In doing so, he broke his nose and was disqualified from the match.

While waving to the crowd after finishing fourth in the 500cc US Motor Cycle Championship in 1989, Kevin Magee fell off the machine and broke his leg.

During a cricket game in Kalgoorlie, Australia, Stan Dawson was hit by a delivery which ignited a box of matches in his pocket. As he tried to beat down the flames, he was tagged out.

Russian athlete Ivanon Vyacheslav was so thrilled to win a medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics that he threw the medal high into the air. It landed in Lake Wendouree, and was never found.

A producer is very hands-on at all stages of production. The producer is involved in casting, script development, hiring the crew, managing the film's budget, dealing with day-to-day issues that arise during shooting etc. While the director oversees all creative aspects of the production, a producer supervises the business/logistical side of things.

An executive producer on the other hand is often an investor who has made a financial contribution to the film but does not become involved in the day-to-day running of the production. The title executive producer may also be more honorary than real. Sometimes it is bestowed on the film's stars as part of their contract. A production company or studio executive that had some initial involvement in the project might also be given the title of executive producer as a kind of thanks.

CONTEST: Get Initiative - The Writing Initiative's 1st Annual
Prizes: Top Ten will be marketed to agents, managers, and studios
Deadline: December 31, 2003
Website: http://www.writinginitiative.com/

CONTEST: 3rd Annual American Gem Short Script Contest
Prizes: FilmMakers.com will produce the winning script
Deadline: February 2, 2004
Website: http://www.filmmakers.com/contests/short/

CONTEST: Maverick Blueprint Screenplay Contest
Prizes: over $18,000 in prizes, guaranteed options and representation
Deadline: February 29, 2004
Website: http://www.maverickblueprint.com

CONTEST: Hollywood's Next Success Screenwriting Contest
Prizes: guaranteed requests for the winning script from agents,
studios,
producers, etc.
Deadline: April 28, 2004
Website: http://www.hollywoodsnextsuccess.com

CONTEST: Hollywood Gateway Screenwriting Contest
Prizes: $5,000 cash, 12-month option, trip to Hollywood, among others
Deadline: April 30, 2004
Website: http://www.hollywoodgateway.com

CONTEST: Script P.I.M.P. Screenwriting Competition
Prizes: $10,000 in cash. $8,000 in prizes
Deadline: May 1, 2004
Website: http://www.scriptpimp.com/writing_competition

CONTEST: Nicholls
Prizes: Potentially 5 fellowships
Deadline: May 1st, 2004
Website: http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/index.html

by Randy Cassingham

Mark Edmonson, 18, was doing pretty well at Northwest Guilford High
School in Greensboro, N.C. Early in his senior year, he had a 3.8
grade-
point average, scored a perfect 1,600 on his Scholastic Achievement
Test,
was a National Merit finalist and, outside school, had incorporated his
own Internet company. Combined, that made him a shoe-in at the college
of
his choice, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

UNC sent him a letter of acceptance in April, 2003. However, the
letter warned, "your enrollment will depend upon your successful
completion of your current academic year." Further, it said, "We expect
you to continue to achieve at the same level that enabled us to provide
this offer of admission; we also expect you to graduate on time."

Edmonson graduated on time, but that's about all -- in his final
semester he earned only C and D grades, and failed one class entirely,
crashing his overall GPA to 3.5. Not surprisingly, UNC was unhappy, but
rather than rescinding Edmonson's admission it "temporarily suspended"
it
and asked him to come in for an interview to discuss the matter.
Apparently unsatisfied with the answers, after the interview UNC did
rescind Edmonson's acceptance, though it suggest he might consider
"transferring to Carolina after you have established a record of
success
at another college or university."

But Edmonson only wanted to go to UNC. Once he got their April
acceptance he not only slacked off in high school, he didn't bother to
apply anywhere else. "If they say he can't come, I don't know what
we'll
do," said his mother, Barbara. "We're kind of stuck."

Edmonson wasn't satisfied with "stuck": he called Marshall Hurley, an
attorney. In a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court in
Hillsborough, Hurley argues the university's admission letter was a
binding contract both parties agreed to. Thus UNC's rescinding the
offer
is an unjustified "breach of contract". It asks the court to order UNC
to
allow him to start classes immediately.

The suit claims the university didn't give Edmonson a chance to
explain what happened in his in-person interview, but admissions
director
Herb Davis differs. "He looked at his transcript and responded to my
question of what happened to him with philosophical quotes but nothing
directly related to my questions," Davis wrote in a formal affidavit in
response to the suit.

Attorney Hurley sees it differently: "I frankly think that his 1,600
[SAT] score was being held against him, that even with his lofty score,
they can teach him a lesson," he said. "I just think there's some
arrogance going on here, some bureaucratic arrogance."

Beyond the rather laughable claim that an institution of higher
learning would hold academic achievement against a student, would
Hurley
also consider it "arrogance" to accept the terms of a "contract" and
then
fail to live up to them? The acceptance letter made it clear what his
client had to do to be admitted to UNC -- the "terms" of the so-called
"contract" -- but he didn't do it. If there's a "breach of contract"
here, Edmonson is the one who breached it. By failing to have any sort
of
back-up plan to implement as he saw his grades slipping, and by putting
all his energy into a lawsuit rather than applying at other schools,
Edmonson only proved one thing: he's not the sort of scholar a
university
like UNC allows into its halls.

Apparently Edmonson's case wasn't strong enough for an injunction --
the judge refused to grant a court order forcing the school to admit
him.
However, the judge didn't throw out the suit, so it will be heard in
due
time. Meanwhile, Edmonson won't be going to school, he mother says.
"The
general feeling is just so negative that I'm not sure what he can do or
where he can go," she said. "I can't imagine any admissions person in
the
area, at N.C. State or Duke or anywhere, even looking at him." He'll
never know unless he tries, but it looks like Edmonson gave up long
ago.
And isn't that the entire problem?


SOURCES:

1) "UNC Admission Rescission Sparks Suit", Durham Herald-Sun, 19 August
2003.
http://StellaAwards.com/cgi-bin/redirect3.pl?39a

2) "Rejected Student Ponders Future", Durham Herald-Sun, 22 August 2003
http://StellaAwards.com/cgi-bin/redirect3.pl?39b

"Saudi Takes Four Wives in One Night to Spite His Ex"}
-- AFP headline
gefunden auf http://www.thisistrue.com/

Librarians are protesting a new "action figure" being released by Archie McPhee and Co. of Seattle, Wash. The $8.95 doll, complete with "amazing push-button shushing action!", is "a lovely idea
and a lovely tribute to my chosen profession," says librarian Nancy
Pearl, 58, whom the doll is modeled after. But other librarians don't like it one bit. "The shushing thing just put me right over the
edge," says Diane DuBois of the Caribou (Me.) Public Library. "It's so stereotypical I could scream." (AP) ...Hey! What part of "shush"
don't you understand?
gefunden auf http://www.thisistrue.com/

Mayor Stephen P. Laffey of Cranston, R.I., says he did nothing improper when he hired a private detective to make videos of
city employees sleeping on the job. "That's a public building and
there's not a reasonable expectation to privacy there," the mayor
said after being criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union. "There is no civil liberty to sleep on the job." (Providence Journal) ...Well that's certainly going to be a surprise to a lot of people.
gefunden auf http://www.thisistrue.com/

A judge in Beaver County, Penn., has thrown out an appeal of a school expulsion. The appeal, filed by the mother of a 13- year-old girl, argued that the girl should not have been disciplined since school rules don't specifically prohibit girls from performing oral sex on boys on the school bus. She apparently did not dispute that
her daughter committed the offense, which was witnessed by several other students. The 13-year-old boy who was the recipient of her attentions was also expelled. (Beaver County Times) ...But, he says, it was worth it.
gefunden auf http://www.thisistrue.com/

Schools in Rapides Parish, La.,
have a new policy: students may not be drunk or under the influence of illegal drugs at school. The policy was instituted since the old policy only prohibited "possession" of drugs which, argued the parents of a middle school student who sued, did not include drugs inside the body.
Their child had been expelled for testing positive for marijuana. The School Board settled with the parents and instituted the new rule to avoid further lawsuits. (Alexandria Town Talk) ...Yet thanks to "Zero Tolerance" they expel kids for having asthma inhalers.
gefunden auf http://www.thisistrue.com/

There are 318,979,564,000 possible ways of playing just the
first four moves on each side in a game of chess.

In the 1970 Census, the U.S. had 2,983 men who were already
widowers at the age of fourteen and 289 women, also at four-
teen, who had already been widowed or divorced.

Mollusks, soft bodied animals with hard shells, are the sec-
ond largest population of living things.

The total population of the Earth at the time of Julius Cae-
sar was 150 million. The total population increase in two
years on Earth today is 150 million.

People who have never married are 7.5 times more likely to
be hospitalized in a state or community psychiatric facility
than those who married.

Barnum's Fiji Mermaid, an ugly, dried-up, black object about
three-feet (one-meter) long, was promoted as being half-
monkey and half-fish. It was eventually found to be a hoax.

Poet Edgar Allan Poe ran a long-running hoax promotion of a
manned balloon flight across the Atlantic.

Tourists flocked to Palisade, Nevada when the city boasted
its regular gunfights and street brawls. However, what the
visitors didn't know was that all the fights were staged.

A report in The Illustrated London News of February 9, 1856
claimed that a living pterodactyl (an extinct flying rep-
tile) had been discovered in France.

A hotel operator hoaxed tourists to visit his city by crea-
ting a "Silver Lake Serpent" that lured many people to the
area.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger bought the first Hummer manufac-
tured for civilian use in 1992. The vehicle weighed in at
6,300 lbs and was 7 feet wide.

Americans consume 42 tons of aspirin per day.

Bayer was advertising cough medicine containing heroin in
1898.

Bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and las-
er printers were all invented by women.

Cocaine was sold to cure sore throat, neuralgia, nervous-
ness, headache, colds and sleeplessness in the 1880s.

For two years, during the 1970s, Mattel marketed a doll
called "Growing Up Skipper." Her breasts grew when her arm
was turned.