A tool kit for your life

There is no use whatever trying
to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push
anyone up a ladder unless he be willing to climb himself.
~ Andrew Carnegie

Nobody ever said it would be easy, right?

But why are there so many fancy words for such a simple idea? Self improvement, personal development, self empowerment, neurolinguistic programing, behavior modification, self fulfillment, optimizing your human potential, strengthening your interpersonal communication skills . . . Talk! It's all just highfalutin talk!

Bottom line is, you want to make things better.

Maybe you don't even have a real problem to solve. You're not depressed or broke or overweight or lonely. (If you are, congratulations! You already know where to start.) Still, things could be better. YOU could be better.

On the other hand, if everything in your life is terrific, you may wonder every now and then—just a fleeting thought—if it can last. But you know the answer to that: nothing is frozen in time. Things change. They get better, or they get . . . something else.

The point is, you want to have some control over which way things go in your life. But the only thing in life that you truly have control over is yourself.

So that's where you start. Decide what you want to do, and take one step in that direction. Then another. And in the perfectly natural way of things, one thing leads to another . . . one step leads to another . . . You change. You change the world around you.

Nope, nobody said it would be easy. But it shouldn't be so hard to start,

Take a look around. Explore the site and all it has to offer. If you don't see what you need, ; maybe we can find it for you. But the first step is simply deciding that you want to take the first step. Then, just . . .

Imagine what you can do!

Have you read the instructions?

Out here on the internet, it's a blooming, buzzing confusion of voices and ideas, advice, tools, and information. We've tried to organize the best resources available, so you can find the ones that will intrigue, stimulate and, of course, help,

Articles: The self, itself—along wiith its proper care, maintenance, and maybe enlightenment—is a huge subject. We regularly add articles so you can explore as many areas of self help and growth as possible. Come back to see if we've found what you need.

Power tools: We've discovered some highly effective tools—books, training, and software—that can give you a powerful boost toward achieving your goals. Find them listed on the left of every page.

Other resources: So many self-help websites; only one lifetime to find the really good ones. We check them out first, and we list only the best. That takes time, so please check often.

eBooks: In addition to the outstanding products we've discovered that you can find listed under "Power Tools," we're lucky to be able to offer you a special ebook of our own. The unique brilliance of this guide is that it allows you to select the components you need to put together your own individualized plan for self improvement. It's affordable, too. If you agree with us that one size certainly does not fit all, why don't you take a look at it now?

We've worked hard to put together a kit of the best tools and resources we could find, to help you build the life you want. Just imagine what you can do now!

Articles recently added

You Should Want to Improve Yourself . . . Why?
Why should you want to improve yourself? Isn't it a sign of weakness? Doesn't it demonstrate a lack of self confidence? Aren't you good enough as you are? In this article, you'll find out why none of these is a valid reason for not taking the path to self improvement. More . . .

10 Ways to Take Control of Your Life
At first glance, it would seem that positive thinking and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) have nothing to do with one another. But many of us with ADD develop negative thinking patterns because we become frustrated by our challenges and frequent feelings of being overwhelmed. This negative outlook then makes it even harder for us to manage those challenges and move forward. More . . .

Build Your Self Esteem: A Starter Guide
So how do you stay calm and composed and maintain your self esteem in a tough world? Here are some tips you can use as a starter guide to self improvement. To start, just think of yourself as a dart board. More . . .

Things You Thought You Knew About Leadership
Much has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and instructive and inspiring tales of leaders throughout history. But there are certain laspects to leadership ithat we often fail to recognize in the course of reading books. Here's a short list of things you may have thought you knew about leadership. More . . .

• Self Assessment: Tell It Like It Is (BusinessWeek Online via Yahoo! News)
  
  Last winter, when I filled out the self-assessment portion of my annual performance review, I decided to try something radically different: honesty.
  


• Parks build teens' self-esteem (Baltimore Sun)
  
  At-risk teens find in nature a way to stay off the streets while learning skills and teamwork Mike Browning helps Isaiah Barrett, 14, use a chain saw to cut through a fallen branch along the Muskrat Trail as fellow CJC member Claude Scott observes from a safe distance. At-risk city teens are finding in nature a way to stay off the streets while learning skills and teamwork.
  


• Cracking the whip on cruelty talk (Merredin Wheatbelt Mercury)
  
  "The thoroughbred horse is one of God's most magnificent creatures and, unfortunately, self-destructive enough by nature. They don't need all this help from those who love them."
  


• Enriching parks and self-esteem (Baltimore Sun)
  
  At-risk teens find in nature a way to stay off the streets while learning skills and teamwork Mike Browning helps Isaiah Barrett, 14, use a chain saw to cut through a fallen branch along the Muskrat Trail as fellow CJC member Claude Scott observes from a safe distance. At-risk teens are finding in nature a way to stay off the streets while learning skills and teamwork.
  


• Science and Sustainability are the Secrets to Successful Weight Loss (Carteret County News-Times)
  
  (ARA) - "Sustainability" is the current favorite buzz word of the environmental movement. But what if you applied the concept of sustainability to your weight-loss and health-improvement efforts?
  


• Thursday's news and tips (Investors Chronicle)
  
  • B&Q owner Kingfisher saw sales in the last ten weeks rise by 4.4%, but were down 1.5% on a like for like basis, a slight improvement on earlier in the year.
  


• Canadian Olympic team named for Beijing Games (CBC)
  
  Canada named its Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Games on Wednesday morning, with an eye on improvement after its showing in Athens in 2004.
  


• Hamm looking more like his old self again (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
  
  Paul Hamm faces more challenges over the next two weeks as he works to be “routine-ready� for the Beijing Olympics.
  


• Planning public priorities; City lays out capital improvement plan. (Columbia Daily Tribune)
  
  With hundreds of pages outlining projects to get done in the next decade and about $171 million requested for the next two years, the Columbia Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP, acts as a road map for future projects in the city.
  


• A Mercurial Narrator, Tackling a Web of Issues (New York Times)
  
  Laurie Anderson tried on a basketful of murky perspectives like so many pairs of sunglasses in the first of her five Lincoln Center Festival performances.