In last weeks article The End of Wealth, we offered a small prize of a $20 Amazon gift certificate to one person who left a comment.

The winner we have chosen is Bruce from Brucisms. He said:

“I believe we are turning a corner. After two decades of working 80 hours per week to have the nicest house, car, clothes - a lot of people are just tired and empty.

It is my (possibly overly optimistic) belief that there is a true movement toward responsibility and values. I think we see this both in terms of increased interest in both spirituality and conservation. I think a lot of us have awakened after a couple of decades of materialism to a hangover, and realize that we aren’t kids anymore.”

But that wasn’t all. As a follow up, Bruce had the following book suggestion:

“As a follow up for your readers - I would highly recommend Jason Jennings’ wonderful book “Think Big, Act Small.” After researching the top public and private companies in the US, he and his team narrowed the field to 10 companies that had achieved 10% increases in profit every year for 10 or more consecutive years. The extraordinary thing is that the common factor in all these companies were exceptionally high values!

It seems that doing the right thing pays the best over the long term…”

Thank you to every one who left a comment. You had some very interesting things to say, and it certainly wasn’t easy to pick just one winner.

Being able to acquire bigger and better things in life is not making us any happier. In fact, you may be surprised to hear that our happiness levels peaked in 1957. According to David Wann, co-author of Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic, the most affluent countries around the world are the same ones experiencing the most stress. Despite the fact we live in larger homes and have more gadgets than our parents ever dreamed of, depression and stress are very common problems.

Our addiction to consumption and getting the biggest, newest or trendiest thing is taking us further away from what really brings deep satisfaction to our lives. We have reached a place in our evolution where time is becoming a precious and valued commodity. Our souls are craving a simplicity with the underlying want of feeling less pressure and less stress in our lives.

If you are not yet convinced of the value in living a simple life, the following are 8 reasons why you should consider embracing a simpler life:
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“Success happens not by chance, but because you were given a chance and took advantage of it.” - Kevin Geary

To most people, being born in a free country is the greatest gift. To others, it’s a fleeting thought. For the latter, I feel sorry.

Before I go any further, I must admit that not everyone will find success. There will always be those who sit around waiting for success to find them. There will be those who are simply not willing to achieve it. And then there’s the fact that success would not exist without failure. All of these things create what we know; a world where success and failure are experienced by different groups of people.

Everyone in a free country has the opportunity to succeed. So why doesn’t everyone succeed? Because success and failure are choices made consciously and subconsciously and failure is chosen by many for various reasons.

Here are 7 undeniable reasons why some people fail where others succeed:
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It’s natural to experience nervousness when meeting new people. So much hangs in the balance of that delicate first impression. Act the wrong way and you might be perceived as stupid, weird, or worst of all, the dreaded creepy.

To prevent this from happening, its important to understand body language and the way it affects perception. By reading the body language of others and managing your own, you can create the first impression that represents you best.

The Basics of Body Language

The idea of reading body language can seem like voodoo, but the truth is you’re already doing it. The mind subconsciously interprets body language and uses it to form impressions.

Do you ever have impressions of people that don’t seem justified? Maybe they strike you as strange or untrustworthy, but for no particular reason? Chances are, their body language is giving off bad signals that your brain is reacting to subconsciously.

Once you start paying attention, these signal are easy to spot. It’s a language you already speak and it’s extremely intuitive, you just need to become consciously receptive to it. This post is intended to be an overview of the basics, but there is more good info here and here. Click here to continue »