I have recently had the good fortune of utilizing a new and useful product. It is called the CellKeeper. This is a wallet and holster in one. The particular model I was using was the professional model. The following is a description from their site about the Professional Smooth Black model I am using:

This larger model CellKeeper comes in butter smooth and supple black faux leather with silver-plated hardware & metal halter square. Adapts to your preference of cross shoulder or waist positioning. Features include: extra-wide pocket flap with expandable snap closure, adjustable shoulder strap, id window, key hook, zippered internal coin pocket, lip gloss / pen sleeve, 3 credit card sleeves, internal cash pocket, exterior pocket to hold all your portable electronics. Elasticized side panels of pocket expand to fit any size cell phone, iPod, Blackberry, Treo, pocket PC and digital camera. Fabrication: Genuine Leather with plastic hardware & metal halter square. 

I used the CellKeeper for a week before I decided to write a review about it and it held up to its claims. Although there are not enough card slots in it for my daily use, it was more than ample for quick outings and I will definitely use it again when I travel. During the course of the week I upgraded my phone from a Katana to a Blackberry Curve and the CellKeeper Professional held both devices just fine. I used the CellKeeper during the hustle and bustle of my Christmas shopping. It easily detached from the belt clip, accessed my credit and debit cards with ease, the cashiers were able to plainly see my ID, and my phone stayed securely in the CellKeeper the entire time.

For any of you who travel for business, take vacation, go to the gym, or venture on an all day outing, the CellKeeper fits the bill. Quickly and handily take your phone, a few bucks, credit card or two and your ID all in one holder. The CellKeeper Professional is sturdy, convenient, and efficient and I have no reservations recommending it to the entrepreneur on the go. They sell the Professional model for $29.95. For more information visit www.cellkeeper.com.

Bad habits, we all have them. Some of us have more than others. But none the less, everyone on earth has them in one form or another. I recently attended the Millionaire Mind Intensive (read about it here). While in attendance I learned a little technique for changing bad habits. Stay with me to the end because it may sound odd or too simple. But, if you commit to it, it does work. I have used it and my wife has used it. We both achieved successful results.

First allow me to give a short explanation on how habits are formed at a fundamental level. When you are introduced to a new stimulus, your brain forms associations to words, pictures, textures, sounds, and smells. The physical path of the thought for the association is called a dendrite or dendritic fiber. In plain speak, it is the shortest path of least resistance from the stimulus to the association. For example, the first time you ever felt ice your brain, most likely, formed an association with cold. Now when you see the word ice, see an ice cube or hear some one say ice, you think cold. A dendrite has been formed between ice and cold. Your brain automatically travels from ice to cold before you can think about it due to the dendrite that was formed.

There are two types of stimuli that motivate behavior and they are pleasure and pain. Out of the two, pain is a stronger motivating factor. The reason is because our brain is programmed to help us survive. Survival tactics lead us to avoid pain. So, on a fundamental level, we are pre-programmed to take the path that is opposite of a stimulus that induces pain.

Now, on to the behavioral change process. As I said, it is simple to do but some find it difficult to execute. You will need a rubber band. Go get one of the thicker ones that resemble a bracelet and place it on your wrist. You want it to be lose enough that it does not cut off your circulation as you will be wearing it every day.

The first bad habits that a person really needs to work on is their image of self. Take a moment and write down the first negative thing that comes to mind when you think of yourself. Now, write down the exact opposite out next to it. For the purpose of this example, I will use the phrase, “I am not good enough.” This is a common phrase that many people develop a dendrite to that leads to their image of self worth. Hold your hands out in front of you, palms facing each other. Now, grab the rubber band and stretch it as far as you can pull it. Declare (declarations are out loud as opposed to affirmations which are simply thought) your negative item that you wrote down and let the rubber band go. The rubber band should strike the inside of the wrist and make a loud “thwap!” The louder the thwap the bigger the change. Immediately after the rubber band strikes your wrist, rub your wrist gently and lovingly while declaring the item you wrote exactly opposite of the negative item you previously declared. Using my example, the exercise would proceed as follows:

• Hands out in front of me palms facing.
• Grab rubber band and pull tight.
• Declare (remember that declarations are out loud) the negative connotation - “I am not good enough!”
• Let the rubber band go so that it strikes the inside of the wrist.
• Immediately rub the wrist and declare the positive connotation - “I am good enough!”

You see, what transpires is actually rather simple and rudimentary. Let’s say that me simply looking in the mirror was what sparked the thought of “I am not good enough.” My brain has a dendrite that associates images of myself with the feeling of not being good enough and the phrase “I am not good enough.” Now, each time the thought creeps into my brain and I “thwap” the rubber band, I am disrupting the flow of the thought through the dendrite that formed the path from self image to not being good enough. Remember, the brain is consistently in self preservation mode. It does not care how you perceive yourself. Your brain simply wants to protect the person and avoid pain. So naturally, each time you begin to think that you are not good enough, your brain wants to protect you and avoid the “thwap” of pain. By rubbing your wrist and saying positive words, “I am good enough,” you are building a new dendrite. Soon, when you see yourself in the mirror, the thought “I am good enough” will rush to mind rather than feelings of inadequacy.

Time periods vary depending upon person and severity of belief. But this exercise does work. I have personally used it to alter negative feelings and beliefs as has my wife. Each time I have a negative, non-productive thought or belief, “THWAP!” Believe or not, both my wife and I are much happier, more positive people with higher tolerances of self and for others. It may sound too easy or it may sound hokey, but it does work as long as you commit to doing it correctly. Go get your rubber band and begin your Thwap Therapy.

From Barfield Management to all of our readership, we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Festivus, Happy Lunar New Year, or what ever your particular celebration is between now and January 1st. We wish you joy, happiness, love, and success. And we thank you for your continued support and participation.

This week’s motivational quote is:

What is easy to do is just as easy not to do.

Think about that when going through your day and you encounter bad habits or negative influences. Correct your action and move yourself in a forward and positive direction.

I recently had a lunch meeting with an inspiring lady named Marlene Chism. She wrote a guest post about the effects of drama keeping you from your success. During the course of the conversation, Mrs. Chism commented upon my relationship with my spouse and encouraged me to write about it. Taking Mrs. Chism’s advice in the belief that others may find value in my elaboration, I am proceeding forward with doing so.

Many of you that are married, in a strong relationship, civil union, or other descriptor where two people live their lives together depending upon one another and caring for each other, will be able to identify with the following arrangement. I typically work outside the home while my wife works inside the home. This is a simple sentence that you have probably heard many times but few of you have taken the time to actually evaluate the impact of the implications of that sentence. I will be writing form the point of view of the man working from outside the home and the woman working inside the home, not to stereotype but because I am writing from my present experience. Adjust the sex to orient the story to apply to your particular situation.

I have heard couples where the spouses, who share the aforementioned situation, fight over money. The fight generally stems from some kind of financial dominance, guilt or resentment. The individual who leaves the home to work and collects a paycheck, earns the revenue, brings home the bacon, or whatever your term may be is typically considered the breadwinner. Because they are the breadwinner, the natural perception is that the money is theirs. The individual that works inside the home feels like they need to ask permission for things to be purchased or worse, they feel like they do not contribute to the family’s wealth. This type of thinking is poisonous. I have written on support teams and family is one of them. Support teams are vital to your success and as such, you should view the individual that works in the home as a vital member that contributes to your overall success.

This post makes the assumption that the individual that stays home actually participates rather than capitulates to laziness. My wife is one of the hardest working individuals I know. And let me put this out there for the entire world to read, “I Could Not Do This Without Her!” I will remove the emotional aspect from this temporarily and appeal to the fiscal nature of things. Without my wife undertaking the responsibilities that she does, I would have to hire the following people:

• Full time baby sitter to take care of my sons
• Private tutor to teach my sons
• Maid service to clean the house
• Maid service to wash the clothes (everyday)
• Personal assistant to accommodate my miscellaneous tasks
• Bookkeeper to reconcile the statements of 2 of my companies
• Web marketer to handle promotion of my various entities through social media
• Body guards to ensure the safety of my sons

Fiscally speaking, you can see that it would cost me quite a bit of money to hire competent entities to accommodate the above responsibilities. Now, many of you may not have as full of a plate as I do, but the example should show one thing, my wife is an integral part of my support team. Two things that she does that I can’t hire out for, that I did not list above, are give me peace of mind that my family is safe and taken care of while I am out of the home and grant me calm, with loving arms, upon my return home. To me, those are priceless. I can concentrate on what I do best, professionally, because I do not have to worry domestically.

Because my wife is an integral part of my support team, she has the same rights to the revenue I generate as I do. The money in our accounts is ours. We make major spending decisions together, but that is because we decide all things for our Home Team together. This point is a digression, but we recently implemented the Jar System and it dramatically assisted with our money management and made spending decisions much easier. If you want to know more about it, contact me.

Do not undervalue the individual that works in the home and supports you while you are out of the home. Worst yet, do not let that individual undervalue them self. I know that sounds odd, but they often times do. They feel that because their efforts do not directly lead to revenue generation that their role is less vital. This is where you need to step up and remind them of how important their support is. In order for this to work, you must have respect for each other and not take advantage of each other. If you treat your professional team members with respect, treating your home support team with respect should be a given (as should their respect for you). You must align your goals and work towards them as a team. For you will either grow as a team together to reach your goal or you will grow apart as individuals destroying your team. If one member is standing still while the other is progressing forward, the divide will continue to grow. Moral of the story, life is a team sport. Value and respect all members of your team or you will truly know how important they were when they are no longer part of your team.