When you’re a hard working woman in today’s culture chances are you give a lot more than you receive, you often put your self-care secondary and you are exhausted. I feel for you as rejuvenating oneself is an ongoing challenge I have been managing for years. When I was in the corporate world during my lunch break I would often go to the nearest luxury hotel or a local park. I would sit out by the pool or trees and pretend I was on vacation for 20 minutes of my lunch break. Getting outside regularly is a great way to get your vitamin D replenished from the sun. If it is cold outside, 10 minutes is all you need.

Some offices are instituting meditation rooms. If you are in management or have a manager, discuss the possibility of providing a room where you can dimly light it (with soft lighting), have some plants and some chairs and/or pillows for meditating. A sofa and CD player would be great options as well. Warm colors and pictures of nature on the walls would help. A little Zen clock with timer would be helpful to ensure people don’t fall asleep there.

The mind is a powerful entity. When we give it some quiet time, amazing things can happen. As a hypnotherapist, I have created custom visualization CDs for people that have helped them stop stuttering, be more relaxed, focused, productive and athletic. They have relieved pain and anxiety as well as shed pounds. I encourage you to find the time to take what I call a power nap. It entails either twenty minutes where you meditate, use a guided relaxation program, or nap.

If you would like to try a guided relaxation audio, there is a free 15-minute audio available at www.ReEnergizenow.com. Load this onto you mp3 player and take your mini-vacation at the office any time you need a break. You can use this during that low energy time of day. You’d be amazed at what a power nap can do for you. Often times these guided relaxation audios have versions to which you can fall asleep; there is a nice selection of these power napping audios at www.SanDiegoHypnosisWorks.com.

If you really have a lot going on, you may be in need of more rest. Most women today do not get enough rest. And if this has been a pattern for a while work on getting eight to nine hours of sleep daily.

Furthermore, make a list of ways to nurture yourself and do one thing a day. Here are some additional ideas for your list: meditate, gentle yoga class, receive a massage, take a bath, float, drink more water, take conscious breaths during your day, take a nap, sleep, take a day off and do nothing, get a facial or give yourself a facial, go for a walk, go for tea with a girlfriend, hire a babysitter and go to a movie, journal, slow down, keep relaxing music on in the evening, write a love letter to yourself, ask for a hug from someone close you, take a vacation or staycation (vacation at home), read the other inspiring Heart books by Sheryl Roush, develop close relationships with like-minded women or join communities of women who will celebrate and inspire you (like Club Joy at  www.WomenInJoy.com).

Most of all I want to remind you of the incredible woman you are. You are precious and lovable and deserve the very best that life has to offer.  So love yourself a lot. Think about how you would treat your best friend who you adore. Would you buy her gifts, say great things about her, be there for her to listen to her deepest thoughts and feelings? Yes… So do that for yourself.

Rejuvenation is an ongoing process. Radical self-care pays off. You will look younger, be more productive and thus be able to work less. You are reading this because your health needs to be a greater priority. That doesn’t just mean exercising and eating right. It means rest, relaxation and nurturing.

Here’s to your joy and rejuvenation.

Laura Rubinstein, Certified Hypnotherapist, Master Leadership Coach and author of the Feminine Power Cards and Transform Your Body in the Mental Gym offers practical tools that allow people to create more passion and harmony in their relationships and profits in their businesses. http://FemininePowerCards.com

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Let’s face it. Criticism has become a dirty word.

Pick up any thesaurus and you’ll find “criticism” in the company of “nit-picking, objection, disapproval, and objection.”

The truth is criticism doesn’t have to be a dirty word.

In a broader context, criticism is an assessment, review or observation that can even be in the form of appreciation. Nobody seems to ever talk about that one: When the criticism is good, we don’t call it criticism, we call it approval. We call it praise. We call it being appreciated.

And who doesn’t enjoy sincere appreciation for their work?

Anyways, for constructive criticism to occur three things have to happen: There should be interest on the part of the criticizer and the criticized, there should be bonding and trust that the discussion is for the right reasons, and the criticism should be presented as a discussion.

When the criticism meets these three criteria, there is a strong foundation for learning to occur, and for both members to benefit from honest criticism.

Here are the three advantages to constructive criticism:

Gives New Perspective & Valuable Insight

When someone invites our criticism, we have the opportunity to help that person by giving our perspective or insight into the situation.

For example, say someone asks us to check out an article they’ve written to get our opinion. Chances are the person really wants to know what we think so that they can make it the best it can be.

Our objective reading of the article can give the person valuable insight into how they can improve the article. If they weigh the importance or usefulness of the criticism, they can rewrite or revise the article to make it better

Thus, the writer and article become more valuable due to the constructive criticism.

Here’s the real kicker: different people have different perspectives and knowledge about the way the world works. Each person brings a unique perspective to the table. If we listen and try to understand their perspective, we can apply that perspective to our work to make it better.

Think about it. Say someone wants to improve the design on their website. Who could provide beneficial criticism? Web designers? Regular readers? Casual readers?

Everyone provides a unique perspective.

Furthers Bonding and Trust

If we’re able to give our honest opinion on something, and the other person finds it valuable, we can increase our bonding and trust with that person.

Giving constructive criticism shows the other person that we value his or her work. The result is an increased level of respect between us and the other person.

If we’re lucky enough to have really cool friends that reciprocate coolness, they will provide their valuable perspective to us.

Let’s say that we help our friend out by reviewing his article and improving the spelling and grammar so people can read it easier.

He says, “Wow, that sure is swell. I can’t believe I have such knowledgeable and cool friends willing to help me.”

So when we want to make sure one of our articles is near perfect, we can send it on to our friend and ask him for his honest opinion.

More than likely, he’ll return the favor to help us out.

As Jim Rohn said, “Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.”

If we give our valuable perspective, others might be inclined to return the favor.

No Hurt Pride or Resentment

So, when we offer even the slightest disapproval of others or their work without them inviting us to, we are basically asking for them to hate us.

Hans Selye said, “As much as we thirst for approval, we dread condemnation.”

Constructive criticism is different in that we only give it when we’re invited to give it. We give constructive criticism to people that we know and trust, and the people we are criticizing know our true intentions. We present constructive criticism as a discussion, and that our viewpoint is only one perspective and isn’t necessarily fact.

As well, constructive criticism is more about giving an overall view of things: what’s going well, what could be improved upon, etc.

In return, the people we criticize are thankful that we’ve provided valuable feedback to improve themselves or their work.

Your turn: In what situations do you think constructive criticism could be particularly helpful? How do we avoid people getting angry with us for offering feedback? When is it not appropriate to give criticism?

Jered Slusher is the founder of Mass Influence Leadership, a community of leaders driven to gain control over their future, lead other people, and achieve massive amounts of success. Get your free “Stocking Your Leadership Super-Powers” e-book at http://www.massinfluence.org/free-book

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When faced with a big decision, it is natural for you to seek advice from friends, colleagues, and experts. Sadly, it can also be natural to ignore that advice when you don’t hear what you want to…

I was chatting with my friend Fred and he was lamenting the very high mortgage payments he had to make. Not only were the payments high, but after the real estate bubble burst the property was worth less than the mortgage (not an unfamiliar situation for many these days, I am sure).

Fred says, “the stupid thing is that before I bought the property I was talking to one of these ‘real estate gurus.’ I asked him, ‘is it time to buy real estate yet?’ He said, ‘no.’ So of course I went and bought the house anyway.”

Fred said this not out of anger or spite, but simply out of humorous self-reflection. He knew how ridiculous it made him sound. But we have all been on both sides of this; getting advice that we don’t take and being asked for advice that others ignore.

It’s natural to want to argue against or ignore advice that we don’t like. But just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s right. Seeking advice is a smart thing to do, but before you do, make sure you are ready to accept it.

Here are three questions to ask yourself to before you ask for advice:

Are You Looking For Advice or Validation?

Often when we go looking for advice we are really just looking for people to pat us on the back and say, “yes, what you are doing is correct, keep doing it.” Or we have an option that we want to be right (even though deep down we know it isn’t) so we go looking for advice that will tell us it is.

My friend wanted to buy a house. He wasn’t necessarily looking to find out if the time was right or not; he was looking for someone to validate that yes, the time was right.

Don’t bother asking for advice if all you are looking for is approval. It won’t work out well for anyone.

Are You Ready For the Truth?

Seeking advice without an open mind is like mining for gold while blindfolded: even if you came across a “golden nugget,” you would never even realize it?

If you’re going to go through the trouble of seeking advice, and if you’re going to take up someone else’s time getting it, then the least you can do is be very open to anything and everything they say (Note: this is *not* the same as when someone gives you unsolicited advice; this is just for when *you* are asking *them* for their opinion).

The truth hurts. The person may advise you to do something you really don’t want to do. They may tell you that your brilliant idea has a huge flaw. They may tell you that, in their opinion, you are making a huge mistake.

If you’re not ready to face the truth, don’t bother seeking the advice.

Are You Ignoring Advice Out of Emotion or Logic?

I’m not saying that just because someone gives you advice that you have to take it. Heck, I’ve ignored lots of advice in my day! Ultimately you are in control of your own life and only you get to decide what’s best for you. But if you are going to ignore someone’s advice, then make sure you understand why.

Are you ignoring the advice because you have thought it through fully and decided that in your particular situation it doesn’t make sense? Or are you ignoring it because it makes you uncomfortable, or you don’t like it, or it’s not what you wanted to hear? The former is a perfectly valid reason; the latter is going to get you in trouble.

Be careful! Humans are brilliant at making decisions emotionally and justifying rationally. Make certain that your reasons for ignoring the advice (which you sought out) are truly logical, not emotional.

The next time you are faced with a difficult or complex decision, review these three questions before seeking advice. If you are blessed enough to have smart experienced people who can help you, then these questions just may prevent you from stupidly ignoring what they say.

Avish Parashar is the Motivational Smart Ass. As a motivational humorist and blogger, Avish makes people laugh while giving them simple ideas to make their lives easier and more successful. To read more of his ridiculous rantings on self improvement, watch videos of him in action, and download the free “How to Think Quick” MP3, visit http://www.MotivationalSmartAss.com

Oscar Wilde, as famous for his witty quips as for his plays and novels, once said, “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It’s never of any use to oneself.” Although we can take Wilde’s maxim with a grain of salt, he makes a good point in his usual ironic way. Listening to advice is difficult because, simply put, it’s very often wrong. On the other hand, you could be given good advice that holds generally, but it’s not applicable to your specific situation. Or, what’s worse, you’ve been given some good advice, but it’s not what you want to hear. You don’t listen, and then you make the very mistake you could have avoided by listening to the advice you asked for in the first place.

While there are no definite rules for listening to advice, here are some basic tips for knowing when to heed suggestions and when, as Wilde said, “to pass it on.”

1. Who’s your source?

If you want to know whether you should listen to someone’s advice, the first thing you should do is impartially evaluate the person advising you. It’s easy to think that since X is your BFF, she’ll know exactly what to do in any given situation. Analyze exactly what your dilemma is, then ask for advice from those who have been in similar situations before.

But, be forewarned that just because someone has been in your shoes before doesn’t mean that your problem will be solved with their same course of action. Cognitive psychologist Daniel Kahneman researched cognitive biases in his paper about focusing illusions . “When people consider the impact of any single factor on their well-being,” writes Kahneman, “they tend to exaggerate its importance; we refer to this tendency as a focusing illusion.” Kahneman suggests that focusing illusions can very often be the main source of error in decision-making.  So, it’s very possible that when you take a friend’s advice based on her being in a similar situation before, you may be focusing on only one aspect of your shared experience, to the irrational exclusion of other factors.

Another big mistake that many people make when asking for advice is selecting the most confident–not the most qualified–person to help them out. A recent NewScientist article describes an advice-taking study conducted by Carnegie Mellon researcher Don Moore. In the study, Moore gave cash to a group of participants whose task was to correctly guess the weight of several different people based only on photographs. However, the participants were not allowed to guess themselves; rather, they had to buy advice from a group of four volunteer advisors. The participants were not allowed to see the advisors’ weight guesses; they were only allowed to see each advisor’s confidence level.  And, just as Moore hypothesized, the advisor who was most confident about his guesses sold the most advice, regardless of his accuracy.

2. Did you pay for the advice? So what?

In another advice-taking study, Harvard Business School researcher Francesca Gina determined that people will give more value to advice when they pay for it, regardless of quality. Gina suggests that people tend to overvalue advice for either two reasons. For one, they buy into the “sunk-cost fallacy,” meaning that, in trying to get their money’s worth, people will take advice simply because they don‘t want to waste funds. Another reason for Gina’s findings may be related to cognitive dissonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when a person experiences an inconsistency between information one receives and ideas a person believes are true or important about themselves. In Gina’s study, cognitive dissonance occurs when people spend money on advice. Even though the quality of the advice may be poor, they must listen in order to resolve the inconsistency that arises because they feel strongly that they are not the type of person who would spend money unnecessarily.

3. Do you even need advice?

American author Erica Jong once said, “Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.” Jong’s quote speaks to a fairly common phenomenon in which advice-seekers need only positive affirmation about a particular decision in order to proceed. Ali Hale’s recent Pick the Brain blog post, How to Stop Waiting for Permission discusses the counterintuitive notion that you must wait for the go-ahead before you try something you’ve already decided you want to do.

Foregoing advice may be a good idea when we think of the value inherent in learning from mistakes. Tevjan Pettinger, in his Pick the Brain article, “How to Learn from Mistakes”, explains how mistakes are a necessary part of self-improvement. Taking advice to heart too often can lead to a situation in which you are avoiding risk at the cost of potential success. As Theodore Roosevelt once so aptly put it, “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

Image courtesy of Stephen Barnwell.

I was in an “on-line forum” the other day when someone asked the question, “How do you increase your income?” The person asking the question was no longer working their “day-job,” and was seeking to make money in other ways.

This person was making a few dollars each week teaching kids how to play basketball, but was looking to make additional money.

The Solution

In order to increase your income, you must increase your value; “YOU” must become more valuable.

By becoming more valuable you will increase your “socially perceived value;” the value society believes you provide, for this, society will owe you a debt. What is money but a social debt, it represents the value you’ve provided thus far; what society owes you. You take that social debt (i.e. money) and then purchase whatever you desire in exchange for the debt.

Let’s Recap: You exchange your time to become valuable, which in turn allows you to purchase things that you value. Before you can purchase things that you value, you must provide others with what they value.

Your salary represents the monetary value you are able to extract from the world. If you make a $100,000 a year, that means society believes that you provide $100,000 of monetary value annually. In order to make more money, you need to increase society’s perspective on your value.

How does a basketball player provide more value?

A basketball player creates more value by becoming a better basketball player; by becoming more valuable himself. He spends his spare time practicing to become “the best” at what he does. He practices when everyone else is taking time-off. He plays with players who are better than he is; he studies and learns how to “out-shine” the competition. He spends his time sharpening his skills. By doing this, he becomes increasingly valuable, and he will make more money.

How does a comedian provide more value?

By becoming a better comedian; he or she spends their time listening to other comedians. They learn from the most successful. While others are sleeping they’re awake writing jokes that have never been heard before. They become more valuable by offering the world something that it’s never seen before. Scarcity makes valuable.

How do I provide more value?

I provide more value by listening to other self-development teachers (iron sharpens iron); I listen to at least an hour of self-development everyday. When I write, I’m writing from what I’ve learned after listening to dozens of other teachers, and hundreds of books. Every book I read makes me more valuable. I know that if my focus is narrow and constant, eventually, I will become one of the greatest self-development teachers.

Enough Value to Make a Living

In order to provide enough value to make a good living, you have to dedicate your time to becoming the best at what you do.

As a first step in becoming the best, you need to commit to “be” your personal best. Honestly ask yourself right now, “Am I giving my very best to what I’m doing, am I giving my all, am I the best version of myself?” I often ask myself these questions, and the answers are not always “positive ones;” when the answers aren’t positive, I begin to look for ways to give my all.

Walter Cronkite said, “I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.”

You must empty yourself into your “task” in order to create real value….

Time

It takes time to provide value, when a basketball player first starts playing basketball in elementary school, he doesn’t get paid. It’s not until years later, when we has perfected his skills, and his talent is rare, that he can get paid for the entertainment value he provides.

You must utilize your “time” to make yourself increasingly valuable so that you can command a higher price tag. The more you study, the more you learn, the more time you dedicate to your passion, the more valuable you will become.

This is why you should never quit sharpening your skills, sharpen them often and daily. Eventually you will become very valuable.

That’s why you should do what you love, because you’re going to be doing it for a while before you succeed.

Finally, it’s not enough to just be valuable

I could be the greatest basketball player in the world, but if know one knows about it, what good would it be. Will I get paid for being a great basketball player? Of course not.

Once you’ve become valuable, you need to showcase that value to the world using leverage (e.g. open up a basketball camp and let everyone know about it); now you’re providing real value; and society will gladly pay to see that value. As the quote goes, set yourself on fire and people will come to see you burn! Thank you for reading.

Mr. Self Development is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain. For more information visit Mr. Self Development; just reading his blog will raise your prosperity consciousness, expand your mind, and challenge you to live the abundant life.

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Dear College Freshmen,

Congratulations on being accepted to the university of your choice and making it through your first semester! I’m sure it feels great being out on your own, and that you’ve already made tons of great friends and had many exciting experiences. I’m writing because I want to tell you a few things I wish I’d known when I was in your position; four short years ago. These are things I learned, regrettably late, that make me wish I could redo college. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes.

Find what you really love

It might not seem like it, but the choices you make now affect the rest of your life. We’ll all be working for a long time; having a job you love is essential to happiness. Think about it, people spend more time at work than anywhere else. Do you want to spend your life bored and indifferent, counting the minutes until the end of the day? Right now is the best time to find your passion. You have the free time and resources at your disposal.

Waiting too long to find mine was a huge mistake. I chose an easy employable major. I thought I’d be happy doing anything that paid well. Trust me, this doesn’t work. Unless you fit into a predefined category, you have to investigate many different options to find the right fit. Start looking now and you’ll be much better off. I set myself back a couple years by wasting this opportunity. Now I’m busting my ass to catch up.

Follow your whims. Talk with students and professors who share your interests. You’ll meet a thousand dead ends, but finding the right path is priceless. Don’t expect it to find you and don’t think that it doesn’t matter.

Don’t Sweat the social circles

It might seem like getting into the right frat/sorority and hanging out with the “cool people” is a huge deal, but realize that none of this will matter at all in four short years. The people that are concerned with social circles are insecure. They feel a need to validate themselves with an outside authority. Have the confidence to validate yourself and people will love you for it.

At the end of college those circles evaporate and what remains are the lasting friendships you’ve made. Don’t chase coolness at the expense of real relationships. I wasted a couple years being frustrated by my social position when I should have had confidence in myself.

Neither studying, nor partying, is everything

Don’t be one dimensional; it is important to find balance and avoid extremes. There is a lot more to success than having the best grades and there is a lot more to having a great time than partying nonstop. Don’t let an obsession with either keep you from getting the most out of college.

By being one dimensional, you cut yourself off from meeting people who think differently than you. If you obsess over grades, you won’t realize that there are a lot of really smart people who don’t get good grades. Success is built on more than following the professor’s instructions.

If all you do is party, at the end of college when the party ends, you’ll see that many of your “friends” were only there for the good times, and that without stimulants you have few lasting relationships. It took me a long time to learn that partying nonstop is just as dull and monotonous as studying nonstop. Don’t miss a great opportunity to meet interesting people and discover what really makes you happy.

Conclusion

I hope this letter inspires you to make the most of your college experience and avoid the mistakes that I made. You have a great opportunity to position yourself on a path to happiness and success. By being smart now, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and hardship later. Best of luck in all your future endeavors!

The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the contrary, just as if it had been a common sermon; for the vendor opened, and they began to buy extravagantly, notwithstanding all his cautions.

Franklin knew that knowing the right way to live is much easier than living the right way. Being industrious and frugal each and every day is a tough task, one that most people will never master. It takes an enormous amount of self-discipline and perseverance to become wealthy and successful. Most people who read these posts and the Way to Wealth will agree with the advice but will soon forget it and go on making foolish decisions. This isn’t going to change; people can’t be helped that don’t want to help themselves.

But I also believe there are a lot of people who want to help themselves but have lost sight of the right way to live. I know from experience that a person can be influenced by a negative environment without realizing it. The consumer culture of America incessantly pushes us to buy things we don’t need. We waste our time because we are constantly distracted by media. It is now more difficult than ever to be industrious and frugal. I wrote these posts with the hope that a person who has problems with idleness and extravagance might read them and start to rethink their lives. Up until recently I have always been a very lazy person. After reading the Way to Wealth I started to rethink my mentality. I realized that I’d been trapped by a pessimistic apathetic state of mind. It took a long time to break my old habits but I have steadily improved my productivity and attitude. The old me would never have made this website.

I am still tempted by laziness everyday, but recognizing my own weakness allows me to overcome it. Being industrious is addictive. It fills me with confidence and inspiration. We all have more energy than we believe. After you take the first step to improve your life you build momentum every day. If you want to make that step, take the wisdom of the Way to Wealth to heart. You will certainly profit from it.

However, it is important to remember that we are tiny beings at the mercy of fortune. On this Franklin said:

Do not depend too much upon your own industry, and frugality, and prudence, though excellent things, for they may all be blasted without the blessing of heaven; and therefore ask that blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it, but comfort and help them.

I can’t help wanting to emulate Franklin. Best of luck to you in your search for wealth and success. We all need it.

Buy Franklin’s Way to Wealth on Amazon

Ben Franklin’s Way to Wealth – Part I Industry

Ben Franklin’s Ways to Wealth – Part II Frugality

The second section of the Way to Wealth imparts the importance of frugality. It isn’t enough just to earn money, you have to be smart about what you do with it. In this collection of sayings Franklin describes how a lack of frugality will cause financial ruin and describes the temptations that lead people to spend foolishly.

1. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, keep his nose all his life to the grindstone, and die not worth a groat at last
2. Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship
3. Buy what thou hast no need of, and before long thou shalt sell thy necessaries
4. A fat kitchen makes a lean will
5. Many estates are spent in the getting, Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting, And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting.
6. Think of saving as well as of getting: the Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than her incomes
7. Women and wine, game and deceit, Make the wealth small, and the wants great.
8. What maintains one vice, would bring up two children
9. Who dainties love, shall beggars prove
10. Fools make Feasts, and wise men eat them
11. Buy what thou hast no need of, and before long thou shalt sell thy necessaries

So many people are left poor because they are extravagant. Frugality is different than cheapness. Frugality is spending wisely and avoiding unnecessary expenses. Do you ever eat out when you could cook, buy new clothes when your old ones are fine, or buy expensive electronics you don’t really need? This undermines all the hard work you do! To build wealth you must save the money you earn.

1. Wise men learn by others’ harms, fools scarcely by their own
2. Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire
3. Ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees
4. Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom
5. When the well’s dry, they know the worth of water
6. If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some
7. He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing
8. Fond pride of dress, is sure a very curse; E’er fancy you consult, consult your purse.
9. Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more saucy.
10. When you have bought one fine thing you must buy ten more, that your appearance maybe all of a piece
11. Tis easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it
12. Great estates may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore.
13. Pride that dines on vanity sups on contempt
14. Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy

When people get some money they feel an urge to go spend it. We want to keep up with our friends and neighbors so we go and buy the finest clothes and the newest gadgets. One new purchase leads to another. To become wealthy, you need to overcome your pride and live humbly.

1. But what madness must it be to run in debt for these superfluities!
2. When you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty
3. The second vice is lying, the first is running in debt
4. Lying rides upon debt’s back
5. Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue: ’tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright
6. Creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times
7. Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter
8. The borrower is a slave to the lender, and the debtor to the creditor
9. Disdain the chain, preserve your freedom; and maintain your independency: be industrious and free; be frugal and free
10. For age and want, save while you may; No morning sun lasts a whole day
11. Gain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever while you live, expense is constant and certain
12. Tis easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel
13. Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.
14. Get what you can, and what you get hold;’Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold

The stupidest thing you can do is borrowing money unless absolutely necessary. By doing so, you make the creditor your master and pay much more in the long run. Get over your pride and drive that beat up car for a few more years. Live in a smaller house than your wealthy friends. If you live beyond your means you will pay for it.

Buy Franklin’s Way to Wealth on Amazon

Ben Franklin’s Way to Wealth – Part III Conclusion

Ben Franklin’s Way to Wealth – Part I Industry