Success tools: Free Startup Consulting

I've been a fan of the StartupNation podcasts for some time. Thanks to my membership on their site I received this link regarding Startmeup, an extensive free business startup consulting service from Resourcenation. The service apparently includes (according to the landing page) :

"A dedicated consultant

A customized startup schedule

Weekly articles, tutorials and advice tailored to the stage of your business

Assistance to help you find the best resources

Support in setting up your legal entity, insurance, marketing and more"

I am constantly amazed at how the ongoing process of disintermediation continues. Layer by layer, in our age, access to knowledge is being democratized, with the ongoing potential for a huge increase in individual productivity. I intend to explore these resources fully.

Success Books: Soon To be Reviewed

My reading is getting ahead of my reviewing. Here are two books I've enjoyed recently, and hope to review shortly:

Hugely true, honest, and practical.
















I tried the exercises in this book and found they had an effect. Luck is not magic (at least not PURE magic). More in my upcoming review.

Success Secrets: Mind-Body 'Links"

Two links from Science Daily:

Body Posture Affects Confidence in Your Own Thoughts
"Researchers found that people who were told to sit up straight were more likely to believe thoughts they wrote down while in that posture concerning whether they were qualified for a job.

On the other hand, those who were slumped over their desks were less likely to accept these written-down feelings about their own qualifications."

Mediterranean Diet Associated with Reduced Risk of Depression
"Individuals who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely had a greater than 30 percent reduction in the risk of depression ..."

Imagine. Thousands of volumes have been written about confidence, positive mental attitude, etc. Yet, what if two of our most basic basic habits, our posture and our food intake, had an overwhelming effect on our entire view of the world and ourselves? One of the key takeaways of this research is summarized in the old adage: "man makes the habits, then habits make the man". Another conclusion might be that the evidence continues to come in that we have responsibility for ourselves. Even such intimate, and seemingly uncontrollable traits as depression, self-confidence, etc, are subject to the influence of self-responsibility. It is we, not our family history, that choose to sit up straight. It is we, not our genetic makeup, or our "class", etc, who are responsible for, potentially, our susceptibility to depression, etc. Imagine if 100 million people switched from therapists and pill-popping to merely sitting up straight and eating right.

I'm no opponent of either psychotherapy or psycho-pharmacology, but it is instructive to remember that, 50 years ago, the "well known fact" that exercise and cardiovascular health are linked, was not well-known at all. In 50 more years, the links between our physical selves and our psychological selves may turn out to be a commonplace assertion.

Certainly we associate confidence with an upright bearing. Soon I will be reviewing D.A. Benton's Executive Charisma: Six Steps to Mastering the Art of Leadership, which devotes an entire chapter to this fact. The chapter heading: "Stand Tall, Straight, and Smile".