The Official Website of Michael Corthell

"Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson Don't confuse positive self-promotion(personal branding) with the narcissism that goes on all day with Facebook and Twitter and Instagram posts.

by Michael Corthell In the current era, we in America have been given many examples of how to promote one's self. But self-promotion isn't just for over-the-top narcissists. It is a necessity, as you shall see. The art of self-promotion, and it is indeed an art, is a very valuable skill, especially in a competitive job market, and is generally is the key ingredient in a positive and fulfilling life. Why is that? Because, in order to live that kind of life, we all must first love and encourage ourselves, before we can love and encourage others. ''Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.'' —Samuel Johnson Elsewhere in this magazine, I cover self-confidence, and how to get more of it. That confidence in yourself, and your own ability is the very first thing you need to develop when promoting 'you'. One of the hardest things to do for those of us who are selling ourselves is having the ability to separat

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ― Winston S. Churchill See every life as a life and  every human being as a human being.

“The bird dares to break the shell, then the shell breaks open and the bird can fly openly. This is the simplest principle of success. You dream, you dare and and you fly.” ― Israelmore Ayivor Positive Salvation: Acts of kindness, no matter how small, make a positive impact on someone's life starting with your own.

“The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.” ― Robert Frost There really is a fountain of youth. It is contained within your mind, and resides with your talents, and the creativity you bring to life. “The wisest are the most annoyed at the loss of time.” ― Dante Alighieri

The first wealth is health. –  Ralph Waldo Emerson A Google search didn't reveal any results for the query: 'meats that prevent disease'. But a search for 'foods that prevent disease' got millions of hits....nearly 100% of the results were about plants. For example:  17 Superfoods That Fight Disease - Health Magazine  and NutritionFacts,org  Meatless meals are built around beans, lentils, vegetables and whole grains. These plant-based proteins tend to be less expensive and offer many more health benefits. “One should eat to live, not live to eat.”  – Moliere

“When you are joyful, when you say yes to life and have fun and project positivity all around you, you become a sun in the center of every constellation, and people want to be near you.” ― Shannon L. Alder A natural law is something that just is, whether you believe in it or not. The law of gravity for instance doesn't rely on your belief in it to work. The Law of Attraction is no different.  “An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.” ― Napolean Hill, Think and Grow Rich  

“More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.” ― Roy T. Bennett It's all connected. You are a manifestation of the One or the source of all there is. That is why compassion is Holy.   “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ―  Mother Teresa

“There are three types of lies  ―  lies, damn lies, and statistics.” ― Benjamin Disraeli The trembling balance of Truth and Deception intersect at a point where rising primate meets falling angel.  “A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent.” ― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

“To say that the rich are sad and the poor are happy would be very narrow-minded and stupid. Both scarcity and overabundance tend to produce unhappiness in an individual. ” ― Dr Prem Jagyasi We create competition and conflict when we create scarcity.(yes, in the current dominant economic system we create it) “For many people the thrill of having more is intensified by the presence of those who have less. Waste is not the issue here. To many greedy individuals, power lies in withholding resources.” ― Bell Hooks, Where We Stand: Class Matters  

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” ― Ernest Hemingway Sometimes all people want is an empathetic person to listen to them. By offering to listen and by trying to understand with your heart, that simple act may be all it takes to start the process of healing in a suffering person. “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” ― Leo Buscaglia

“Even if all I did was stay away... it's still the best thing I ever did in my life.” ― Beverly Donofrio Life's Warning Label: Live your life, but harm no one. What you give out will be returned to you threefold. Who is like God? Do Good and Be Good!

“The great poverty is negative thinking.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita If you think that the world is out to get you, it will. ''Negativity is like burning plastic: while destroying itself, it annoys everyone with its stench.” ― Charbel Tadros

“Destiny plays its cards in a way that no one can comprehend.” ― Anurag Shourie, Half A Shadow You aren't responsible for the cards you were dealt, but you have a responsibility, and a divine duty to play them as best you can. “Fate deals the cards that set the game and every player takes their place. No soul can know what each hand holds, only time reveals such mysteries. Each player lays their cards in turn, believing that they control their destiny, blind to the web that connects us all. Every deed is not a single song, but alas, a single note in life’s symphony.” ― K.L. Harris, Equillian's Key    

“Our economy is based on spending billions to persuade people that happiness is buying things, and then insisting that the only way to have a viable economy is to make things for people to buy so they’ll have jobs and get enough money to buy things.” ― Philip Slater The way our dominant economy works now creates a social disease: poverty, and for people to actually gain off the misery of others and the destruction of the environment is completely unacceptable and will eventually destroy us if we don't change it.

“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” ― Abraham Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being Explanations are not solutions. “If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” ― Albert Einstein

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” ― Abraham Lincoln Your actions create either happiness or sorrow. 

  “The best sleeping pill is a clear conscience.” ― Dada J. P. Vaswani I am a vegan with a clear conscience, I sleep peacefully every night. “I nod in the darkness. He embraces me and before long he's fast asleep, a man with clear conscience and an open heart. I stay awake, listening to his breath and thinking of the webs we weave.” ― Lizbeth Gabriel, The Theater Of Dusk

“People die from lack of shared empathy and affinity. By establishing social connectedness, we give hope a chance and the other can become heaven. ( "Le ciel c'est l'autre" )” ― Erik Pevernagie JUST how difficult is it for one person to feel the injustice directed at another?

“The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don't.” ― Joshua Becker What's the ONE thing, that one joy, that's most important to you? Determine what that is and build your life around it. 

  We don’t even have to be the one doing or receiving an act of kindness to feel the positive effects. By simply by seeing a kind act, we get all the proven health and feel-good benefits. Studies also show that kindness is contagious. Whether you see, do, or receive an act of kindness, you’re more likely to pay it forward! Be positive.  Be mindful. Be grateful. Be true. Be kind  Be Vegan ! “I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love." ~ Gandalf (J. R. R. Tolkein ~ The Hobbit)” ― J. R. R. Tolkien

“The world says: "You have needs -- satisfy them. You have as much right as the rich and the mighty. Don't hesitate to satisfy your needs; indeed, expand your needs and demand more." This is the worldly doctrine of today. And they believe that this is freedom. The result for the rich is isolation and suicide, for the poor, envy and murder. ” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Our current (#capitalist) economy is driven by spending huge amounts(advertising) to trick people into thinking that happiness is about buying things, and at the same time insisting that the only way to have a better, stronger economy is to produce more goods for people to buy so they’ll have jobs and get enough money to buy these things. “Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Of our thinking it is but the upper surface that we shape into articulate thought; underneath the region of argument and conscious discourse lies the region of meditation.” ― Thomas Carlyle When you want something you never had(peace of mind for instance), you have to do something you've never done.

Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble. — Yehuda Berg The worst thing a person can do in trying to change the world is to stand alone.

“If you put good apples into a bad situation, you’ll get bad apples.” ― Philip G. Zimbardo The perception of what is good or evil can be manipulated, that is, it can be made a grey choice and almost every person can be pressured by external forces to be immoral in their actions.