It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day... To allow the days to slip by you without really engaging yourself. But, soon those days turn into a week... Which turns into a month... Which turns into a year... 

Pretty soon another year has passed and you haven't accomplished anything of note... and you're not a single step closer to achieving your dreams.

But, it doesn't have to be this way.

Already you have an untapped power to succeed bursting inside you.

All you have to do is learn to release this energy, focus it... and everything else will fall into place:

• Train yourself to see "hidden" opportunities for getting ahead by unclouding your mind of negative thoughts. Look for the positive in every experience, and work with it...

• Discover new ways to work more quickly and more intelligently so that you can succeed at everything you do...

• Work at gaining a higher level of understanding of every aspect of life - from health to investing, romance to business... By learning more, you'll automatically be more interested (and interesting) in things and naturally learn more...

If you haven't yet taken a decisive decision and active steps toward achieving your dreams... do it now. This is your chance to live a happy, satisfied, purposeful, confident, fulfilled life.

----------------------------------

Your boss doesn't know it yet... but you're getting a big raise this year...

By Michael Masterson

Today, I want to talk about how you can get BIG salary increases - double, triple, or even quadruple what your peers get.

And to get your New Year started right, I want you to set a goal for yourself to increase your salary by at least 10%.

Businesses exist to make profits. As an employee of a business, it's your job to help produce those profits. So, if you want to get your boss to pay you more, you have to make yourself more valuable to him.

First, make a list of all the ways you are currently valuable to your boss. Then make another list of things you can do to increase your value. That list will be a good source of ideas for you.

In January, for example, you might make it a point to get your boss his most important report a day earlier than normal. In February, you might tell him he can delegate to you the sales call he hates to make.

As the months roll by, your boss will recognise that you are operating at a higher level. He may be surprised at first - even feel a little threatened, if you aren't going about it diplomatically. But he will appreciate how you are making his work life easier and more productive. And he'll begin to depend on you.

Eventually - and this may happen in four months or it may take a year - he will see you as an entirely different and more important employee than any of the others he deals with. He will begin to think of you as indispensable.

At that point, you will have no trouble getting your 10% raise. And, you might do much better than that.

The greater your contribution to your company's success, the higher the salary you can demand...

Superstar employees don't do a hundred things better than ordinary, good employees. They usually do just a handful. The important ones.

Promote yourself, not only when your salary review comes up, but throughout the year. Remember, it's your responsibility to make sure your efforts get noticed.

If you set for yourself the modest goal of getting a 20% raise this year - and get it. And then get an increase of just half that amount for the next 10 or 15 years... You'll be worth millions more when you retire than you will be worth if you do nothing.

In the name of happiness and success,
 

Pascale Barrow
Managing Editor of Personal & Finance Confidential