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Today is the 26th June and it is actually “My 26th Birthday”. I have prepare a special video message to coincide with the launch of ‘Property Millionaires Live’, which is being is going to be held at the end of July. Please press play on the video box below and to find out more please go to http://www.SecretsExposedLive.com.au. Enjoy!

Last month we celebrated the launch of one of our new books, Secrets of Great Success Coaches Exposed! If you look down a couple of posts you will see a number of photos from the live book launch we held. However we also created this special presentation combining photos and video from the event. Click on the play button below and hear from each of the Success Coaches who were at the launch.

The other day, Katherine and I went to an all-day baby training. Without a doubt, it was the most eye-opening seminar I have ever been to, and I have been to A LOT of seminars.

I have a total new appreciation for women and especially those that have given birth…. total respect!

I won’t even begin to tell you the stuff that we actually spoke about or share the details of what we saw on video, but here are a couple of photos for you. If you want to leave a comment about your experience, please click on the comments section at the end of this post. Looking forward to hearing from you so I know what I’m in for

The other day I was at a friends house and I discovered this Scroll hanging on the wall. I thought it contained some really great thoughts and I wanted to share it with you.

Last week, we shared a success tip in our weekly Newsletter which came from Andrew May. We had quite a lot of interesting comments which you can find below.

Enjoy the read.

Andrew is the founder of Good Health Solutions – Australia’s largest corporate health and wellbeing consultancy, employing over 100 full-time staff members. In addition, Andrew has worked as the physical performance manager for the Australian cricket team as well as a performance advisor to the Sydney Swans. Now describing himself as a reformed workaholic, Andrew has some interesting advice that comes directly from his chapter in Secrets of Great Success Coaches Exposed! Read below.

Why do you recommend that people should slow down their lives?

We live in a world that teaches us that faster is better. Speed is the new ‘king’ and our lives are measured in bits and bytes, dissected into milliseconds and micro detail. Is it any wonder our health, relationships, sex lives and performance eventually start to suffer? While we do need to regularly shove the throttle into turbo drive and plough through those ‘to do’ lists, it is equally important to spend time in cruise mode, or time just going slow! The challenge is that we have all been conditioned to think that slow is evil. Nothing could be further from the truth.

My challenge for you is to build set periods of ‘slow’ into your week. Try tai chi, slow walks with your dog, staying in bed reading the paper without feeling guilty, slow food, or slow sex (according to James Gleick, author of Faster, the average time we spend making love in our fast-moving society is four minutes). Take some time to slow down and enjoy your life!

Furthermore, the latest psychology research advises that people take a minimum of two to three weeks holiday every year to fully recover. So bury the laptop, turn off your phone and take a break!

Here are seven holiday tips to renew, refresh, and recharge:

Invest time in planning your break – so many people plan their working day to the last second but fail to give any thought to their time off.

Leave your work in the office – don’t take reports or proposals to finish on your summer break by the beach. Be disciplined and leave work in the office. Besides, is the world really going to end if you don’t do that extra board report right now?

Don’t fully load your holiday diary like an average working week – adrenaline junkies are notorious for getting back from a week’s holiday totally stuffed (physically and mentally) and in need of a proper relaxing holiday. Don’t spend every waking moment doing things, leave some margin and space to just chill and have time out.

Bury the laptop – even though you’re going to be regularly tempted, don’t get sucked towards the evil screen. Leave your laptop in the office or in a cupboard in your house. You might even find you are addicted to your laptop, mobile and PDA. If you think I’m talking to you right now, try weaning yourself off them for a week (seriously!).

Try something new – try and learn something or do something totally new to give your brain a rest from the normal day-to-day grind. Go windsurfing, paddle a kayak, recite some phrases in French, try a different type of yoga class or book in for a relaxing massage.

Get up at the same time every day – a big trap on holidays is the circadian rhythm ‘free running cycle’. You find you go to bed a little bit later each night and by the end of your break you’re going to bed at midnight or one in the morning and not getting up until late morning. Try to go to bed and get out of bed at your usual times. If you are sleep deprived, reward yourself by going to bed an hour earlier each night or having an afternoon siesta.

Learn to relax – as a reformed workaholic, I honestly had to learn to relax. I can remember watching movies and at the same time thinking (sometimes even writing) about unfinished ‘to do’ lists. Set up boundaries that force you to relax and try doing something else a little bit new in this day and age – turn off your mobile phone!

Here are some comments which came in response to this success tip.

Pamela Baker-Hoang
I couldn’t agree more as I am guilty of doing some of those things when I really should be winding down. Trying to do 2 or 3 things at once is counter productive so enjoy your R&R time as you have earnt it. Relax with that thought.
PS:Thanks for your tips Dale and associates.

Lawrence Rausim
I agree very much with the success tips for this week. I feel guilty if I have an off day and I have to go for some schedule meeting because I feel I missing out on information.

Tracey Maclean
OMG Andrew is talking about me! I felt confused even thinking about relaxing however, one difference for me is that I love what I do so its not too much of a chore. OK I’m up for the test of taking on something new.

Chi Le
Totally agree with the ideas to ‘totally switch off’. You will have to design a ‘relaxing plan and activities’ to replace your normal working schedule or else you will still be working while you are not in your formal offices.

Have you ever heard of Australian Anthill Magazine? It’s a great publication that always has really interesting content and latest news about what’s happening in the world of fast growing businesses. I also like the graphic design in this magazine as it is always very trendy. You should check it out sometime.

Below is an article that appeared in the most recent issue which featured myself and another successful self-published author named Lisa Messenger. In the article we shared the advantages of taking a non-traditional approach to publishing and why there’s a lot of opportunities out there for other aspiring authors and entrepreneurs.

Things are getting pretty exciting as my wife Katherine is now just on half way though the pregnancy of our first child.

Last week we had an ultra sound to make sure that everything is growing, as it should be. I must say that throughout the process I was completely in awe and amazed to see how much the baby had grown in such a short period of time.

We were able to see fingers, toes, the baby’s nose and mouth, and even its little legs kicking away. We even saw the baby doing a few somersaults, which we’re sure it gets from me. Here is a quick photo:

Last night, we celebrated the launch of our latest Secrets Exposed book titled "Secrets of Great Success Coaches Exposed". The book takes people up-close and personal with 15 of the country’s best.

With contributors scattered right across the country and two permanently based in the United States, we were delighted that 9 of the 15 were able to join us in Sydney for the launch of this book. The night began with champagne and nibbles plus lots of meeting and greeting and inspired conversations. This was followed by a few speeches, but certainly the highlight of the evening was hearing from each of the contributors share a little about who they are and what it meant to them to be part of the Secrets Exposed Book. Below are some photos from the event and we are also cutting together a short video, which we will upload in a few days time once it is complete.

Thanks again to all in attendance and we look forward to continuing to make this book a huge success.

While we were in the Hunter Valley we visited a very small boutique bookshop, which mainly stocked fiction and children’s books. Not expecting too much, I wandered over to the business section, which had all of five books, however I was totally delighted that two of them were Secrets Exposed Titles.
The owner of the bookshop whose photo is below was a little surprised when I told her I was the author. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, I can’t really say I looked the part, however it was lovely to meet her. So if you are ever in the Hunter Valley, make sure you visit the bookshop near Roche Wines.

After almost two months of working 7 days a week, I felt it was time for some well deserved rest and relaxation in the Hunter Valley. For those outside of NSW (or Australia for the matter) the Hunter Valley is two hours drive north of Sydney. The region boasts some of the best wineries in the country and the winding road and picture perfect scenery is absolutely magic.

Without making you too jealous, when we arrived we drove around some of the vineyards and picked up a few bottles of quality wine. Unfortunately for my wife Katherine, and fortunately for me, she can’t drink alcohol, so I managed to drink her share and proceed to fall asleep for the rest of the afternoon. Now that is what I can relaxing! However, when I woke up I almost had a heart attack because Katherine had put a whole cup of bubble bath into the spa and I literally had to rescue her from being completely swallowed by the bubbles. By that stage it was dark so we walked across to the beautiful restaurant and shared a great meal. This was followed by more wine then building a fire and eating toasted marshmallows for dessert.

Day number two was more of the same so all in all, it was a very relaxing time and I am now feeling rejuvenated and looking forward to Friday’s book launch. Here are a couple of photos. If you click on each of them you can upsize them.