People around the world have been talking about a movie so powerful that it can change the course of your life. This movie, The Secret, was created by Australian Rhonda Byrne, and she says that if you follow its philosophy, you can create the life you want—whether that means getting out of debt, finding a more fulfilling job or even falling in love.

Rhonda says she stumbled on what she calls The Secret at the end of 2004. At the time, everything in Rhonda’s life had fallen apart—physically, emotionally and financially—and she was in “total despair.” Then her father died suddenly, and she was worried about her grief-stricken mother. “I wept and wept and wept, and I didn’t want my daughter to see me sobbing,” Rhonda says.

That’s when Rhonda’s daughter gave her a copy of The Science of Getting Rich, a book written in 1910 by Wallace D. Wattles. “Something inside of me had me turn the pages one by one, and I can still remember my tears hitting the pages as I was reading it,” Rhonda says. “It gave me a glimpse of The Secret. It was like a flame inside of my heart. And with every day since, it’s just become a raging fire of wanting to share all of this with the world.”
After that first discovery, Rhonda read hundreds of books, listened to hundreds of hours of audio tapes and scoured the Internet for more information. She says she traced the idea of The Secret through history—all the way from 3500 B.C. to the present day. “Since I discovered The Secret, every single moment of my entire life has changed, and I am living my life for the first time,” Rhonda says.

Rhonda defines The Secret as the law of attraction, which is the principle that “like attracts like.” Rhonda calls it “the most powerful law in the universe,” and says it is working all the time. “What we do is we attract into our lives the things we want, and that is based on what we’re thinking and feeling,” Rhonda says. The principle explains that we create our own circumstances by the choices we make in life. And the choices we make are fueled by our thoughts—which means our thoughts are the most powerful things we have here on earth.

To help teach the philosophy, Rhonda created the DVD The Secret, which features experts including the Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith, James Arthur Ray, Lisa Nichols and Jack Canfield—who not only teach other people about The Secret, but say they are successful in their own lives because they know and use the principle.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith says he was a drug dealer in college—until he was arrested in a deal gone bad. Michael says he had a spiritual awakening during his trial and decided to turn his life around. Today he leads the Agape Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, where he teaches thousands of faithful followers the path to reaching their highest potential.

James Arthur Ray was insecure and awkward as a teenager until weight lifting helped the self-described geek gain confidence in his 20s. He says that surviving a near-fatal motorcycle crash and almost going bankrupt forced him to focus on the life he truly wanted. Now he runs a multimillion-dollar corporation dedicated to teaching people how to create wealth in all areas of their lives.

Lisa Nichols grew up on the tough streets of South Central Los Angeles. She admits that as a self-conscious teenager, she often used sex to feel loved by men. After hitting rock bottom at age 19, Lisa prayed for a better life. Now, she has made her fortune by motivating more than 60,000 teenagers to make better choices in their own lives.

Chicken Soup for the Soul creator Jack Canfield was deep in debt before he made it big. Now his best-selling books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, and Jack travels the country teaching the secret of his success.

The law of attraction means that everything that happens to you—good or bad—you attract to yourself. Lisa describes it as if you’re placing an order. “If you were at a restaurant and you ordered something, you fully expect it to come served that way. That’s how the universe is. You’re putting out orders—consciously and unconsciously,” Lisa says. “So if you say, ‘I’ll never have a great relationship,’ you just placed an order.”

Jack says everything you focus on can have an effect on your life—from books to magazines to thoughts. “All of that affects how we feel, and the feelings actually send out a wave into the universe, and anything that’s vibrating in a similar level gets attracted into our life,” Jack says.

“Most people focus on how it is. We talk about our current reality—’I'm in debt. I’m overweight. I’m not happy. I’m sad. The world’s not working. We’re at war,’ whatever. And the more you think about that and focus on that and talk about it, the more you attract that [negativity],” he says.

Although thoughts are powerful, Jack says the feelings that the thoughts generate are what actually attract things into our lives. “Too many times people are thinking a thought like, ‘I want to be my perfect body weight of 185 pounds.’ But they look at the scale and they see 205 and they think, ‘But I’ll never make it,’ … so they feel bad,” Jack says. Instead of wallowing in those negative thoughts, you need to find the positive in the situation. Jack says you should stop feeling bad about the weight, and instead feel positive that you are willing to do something healthy to make your life better. Carrying with you those positive feelings is one key to your success.

James says that in order to attract the things you want into your life—to place the right order—you have to do what he calls going “three for three.” “Your thoughts, your feelings and your actions all have to be firing simultaneously in the same direction,” he says. Visualizing your future life can help to hone your thoughts and feelings toward the things you want.

The panel says the thoughts and the feelings are often easy for people to grasp, but you still have to do something about them. “A lot of people watch The Secret and they say, ‘Well, I’m sitting around visualizing my millions coming into my lap.’ Well, they’ll come take your furniture away. And then how are you going to visualize [when you're living] on the curb?” James says. “You’ve got to act on it. Make decisions on where you’re going versus where you have been.”

Jack says that everything in the world is made up of energy, which is controlled by thoughts and feelings. According to Jack, thoughts can travel long distances, so you are sending out signals to many people without even knowing it, and these signals attract like energy to you.

Jack and James say that this means there is no such thing as a coincidence. “Everything happens by principles and laws in our universe. And so consequently, we have an absolutely unlimited power within us,” James says.

Michael says that thoughts—which turn into experience, speech and behavior—become the “feeling tone of your life.” “An individual can actually begin to generate a certain feeling of gratitude, of love, of peace and of harmony, and the universe will begin to match that feeling tone—and what will flow into your life will match the feeling that you’re holding,” he says. “It means that everyone…can release themselves from being a victim and begin to take control of their life’s destiny.”

Gratitude is one example of the magnetic force of the universe. “Basically, nothing new can come into your life unless you open yourself up to being grateful [for what you already have],” Michael says.

“If you think about it, the universe has a conveyor belt of presents lined up for you, and until you receive the one and fully are grateful for it, the next one can’t come out of the chute. It’s all lined up,” Jack says.

Lisa says this perspective applies to weight, family, friends and other aspects of life. She says too many people who want to make things better focus on what’s wrong with the present. “Instead of wanting to change it, appreciate what’s there,” Lisa says. “Find the things about it that work … and by doing that, you create a space for it to get better.”

For example, Lisa says she would like to lose some weight. But instead of focusing on the negative—that she hasn’t dropped the pounds yet—she loves and appreciates the present moment. “I accept it. I love it. I embrace every inch, every pound,” she says. In this way, Lisa is creating the space to “celebrate the now” and then invite better things into her life.

According to the panel members, much of the energy that people project into the world is done unconsciously. “People aren’t walking around thinking, ‘I want a bad thing to happen to me,’ but there’s an unconscious fear. There’s a doubt. There’s a worry. There’s a sense of separation there that’s running them,” Michael says. He adds that spiritual growth is “allowing that which is unconscious to become conscious.”

Michael says that spiritual growth does not mean religion but our “real identity.” “The love, the peace, the joy, the wisdom, the harmony—these are all qualities of the spirit that it’s seeking to express through us,” Michael says. “And so as we become more awake, more aware of that, our life is filled with that kind of vibration, that kind of feeling tone. To grow spiritually is to actually become more aware of who you really are.”

Ryan Bell, a single mother of a 4-year-old, is currently $43,000 in debt. “I’m just in over my head,” she says.

Ryan says her financial woes started back in college when she took out loans. After college, Ryan got a job, got pregnant and got married. To cope with the new bills, the couple opened more credit cards, and Ryan helped put her husband through school. Then the unthinkable happened: She and her husband got divorced—and Ryan’s debt worsened. “I went from living on two incomes to living on one income, but I kept the same bills,” Ryan says.

To support herself and her daughter, Ryan works long hours at a high-end clothing store. After her daughter goes to bed, Ryan works at her second job, a home-based Internet business. “It could be huge, but I can’t spend the amount of time on it that I need to to make it successful,” she says.

Now, Ryan sees every day as a struggle and won’t even go to the mailbox because she knows there are bills waiting for her. “I’m sick and tired of being a victim,” Ryan says. “How do I get out of this endless cycle of debt?”

Ryan’s choices have attracted debt to her, the panel says. To attract a solution, Jack says Ryan should turn her focus from her debt to what she knows her life will be like when she’s financially free.

Simply changing her language can also start to make a dent in her debt. When asked how she is, Lisa says she shouldn’t respond with phrases like “I’m surviving.” “That’s not the kind of life you want to live,” Lisa says. “When people ask me how I’m doing, [I say], ‘I’m phenomenal. I’m great’. Even in the midst of all—I’m great,” she says. “I’m great because I made it through.”

James, especially, can relate to Ryan’s troubles, having been on the edge of bankruptcy twice himself. He urges Ryan to take an “action step” toward her dreams. For Ryan, that’s starting a debt retirement program to pay a certain amount of money toward her credit automatically so she can focus every bit of energy on financial freedom.

Still, the most important stride toward a debt-free life, Michael says, is forgiving her ex-husband and to stop feeling like he owes her something. “Let him know in consciousness, in your awareness, that he cannot determine your destiny. You’re not leaving him unaccountable, but you’re severing those emotional vibratory tonalities so that you can be free.”

True forgiveness, James says, is when you can say the following to the person who hurt you: “Thank you for giving me that experience.”

But how can you forgive when something truly tragic or terrible happens? James says you should grieve, but eventually you need to look for a hidden gift. “Here’s what I encourage people to ask themselves: How does this serve me? … If you’re really willing to dig, there’s a lesson in there,” James says. “And secondly, what can I learn from this situation?”

Even if you can’t identify the gift now, Rhonda says to remain positive in order to benefit from of the law of attraction. “You can say, ‘There are so many gifts in this for me. I can’t wait to see what they are,’” Rhonda says.

In chronic situations with no end in sight, Michael says you should ask yourself another important question: “If this were to last forever, what quality would I have to grow to have peace of mind? Now, as my attention goes to the quality I have to grow, that quality starts to emerge,” Michael says. “The issue that I’m resisting and fighting against becomes less and less intense … it begins to dissolve because it doesn’t have your attention any longer.”

Panel member Lisa Nichols says her life was spiraling out of control before she learned The Secret. She grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where there were gangs, poverty and violence.

In fifth grade, Lisa was in the first class to be bused to the Valley—a predominantly white neighborhood—where she thought she would be welcomed. Instead, she was met with name-calling. “My self-esteem went way down,” she says.

Although she eventually became a popular student, Lisa struggled with depression. “At 17, when my best friends were thinking what college to go to, UCLA or USC, I was contemplating suicide and trying to figure out how to do it without getting blood on my mother’s carpet because I knew they couldn’t afford to move,” she says.

Growing up, Lisa was also told that she wasn’t pretty and wouldn’t find love. She began having “a lot of sex looking for a little love,” searching for her own validation in men. “The sex led to a lot of pain. I thought if I was saying no to the sex, I was saying no to potential love. And I didn’t want to say no to love.”

Lisa began to gain weight in order to avoid men altogether. After gaining 100 pounds, Lisa says she was obese and embarrassed.

Finally, Lisa reached a turning point. “I got on my knees and I said, ‘God, if you bring me through this … I promise I will spend every moment, every breath, supporting and encouraging others to do the same,’” she says.

Lisa decided to stop being a victim. She stopped looking for love elsewhere and fell “madly in love” with herself. Now, she teaches people how to treat her. “I’m the first example of how the world is supposed to love me and I have to give them the best example ever,” she says. “We expect someone to show us our greatness when [instead] I’m supposed to show up understanding my greatness and allowing you to celebrate it with me.”

After 16 years of marriage, Carlton and Beverly Credelle say the passion in their marriage had fizzled. “It just felt as though our life was just mundane, really passionless, almost emotionless,” Beverly says. “Like I didn’t have his mind anymore, his soul, his heart.” At one point, the couple hadn’t been intimate in a year.

Then, Beverly watched The Secret. “For the record, I’ve seen it 62 times. But the first time is when that lightbulb went off,” she says. Beverly realized she was part of the problem. She stopped complaining and began to focus on her gratitude for Carlton. “I started telling myself, ‘I am beautiful. I do deserve passion. I am in a passion-filled marriage.’”

Things changed immediately after Carlton also watched the DVD. Soon, he started making romantic gestures, like taking Beverly out for lunch dates and calling her during the day. She began doing little things for him, too—leaving him a rose in his car and surprising him with his favorite cookies.

Michael says Carlton and Beverly are an example of how gratitude brings about change. “My marriage now is wonderful,” Carlton says. “I feel the passion. I’m loving it.”

Launell is successful in all areas of her life—except when it comes to taking off the baby weight she started gaining 14 years ago.

The first step, James says, is to be grateful for her health and choose to stay healthy and whole. “I want you to start every single day … saying, ‘Thank you for the health I have.’ Say, ‘I love my legs because they’re working functionally,’” James says. “Concentrate on your health and wholeness every day, and you’ll attract more health and wholeness every day.”

Lisa says Launell also has to believe she has the right to have the body she wants. “Make a decision. Do you have the right? Are you ready for it? Are you ready to look in the mirror and love every inch?” Lisa says. “Make 2007 about showing up in the now for you,” Lisa says.

Repeating after Lisa, Launell declares, “I choose today to give myself the best life ever!”

You can start living the The Secret today by following three simple steps: Ask. Believe. Receive.

Michael says to start making a conscious effort every day to take actions that will sync with the energy of the life you dream about. “When you’re talking about action, you’re talking about walking in the direction you want,” Michael says.

But not just any action will do, James says. It has to be one that comes from the heart and will provide a real service. “It’s not, ‘If you build it, they will come,’ necessarily. It’s, ‘If you build it and it provides value, they will come,’” he says. “It’s that heart space. Not ‘What can I get?’ but ‘What can I give and how can I serve?’ And when you’re in that moment, the universe lines up behind you and it’s at your command.”

From: The Oprah Winfrey Show - The Secret

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According to the mileage book in my glovebox, I averaged about 21 miles per gallon in May. So far in June, I’m at 26.

New, more fuel-efficient, car?

Nope, I’m commuting in the same old Volvo S60 that has seen better days. Same dent in the right rear door. Same old Cheerios wedged under the child safety seat in back. (Yeah, I know. I’ll get to it, Honey).

So how did I do it? I’m trying to learn to drive more efficiently, and little by little, it’s working. With a few simple changes, you can easily squeeze more gas mileage out of the car you’re already driving.

A Note on the Calculations:

Your mileage will vary. Governments and automakers estimate fuel mileage savings by percentage — do x and you’ll get five percent better fuel mileage. I wanted to know what they meant in real dollars, so I used the average mileage Americans actually got from their cars in 2007 (22.4 mpg, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics) and boosted it by the percentage each tip should gain. I’ve assumed you spend 55 percent of the time driving in the city and 45 percent driving on the highway. I borrowed those assumptions from the formula EPA uses to calculate the mileage of new cars.

Using the average price of a gallon of gas as of June 12 ($4.05, according to AAA) and assuming you drive 15,000 miles a year (according to EPA estimates), I calculated what each tip would save in a year. The numbers aren’t a perfect prediction — I have no idea what you drive, or what’s in your trunk — but they do provide an interesting perspective. Here are ten easy ways to put the math to the test and put some more cash in your wallet.

1. Get that “Check Engine” Light Checked Out:

Possible Savings: Off the charts

A faulty oxygen sensor — a fairly common cause of those unexplained “check engine” lights — can actually cost you up to 40 percent of your engine’s performance. If the light’s on, make the appointment now. It could pay for itself very quickly.

2. Check Your Tire Pressure:

Possible Savings 133.9 gallons/year ($542/yr)

According to some government estimates, the average driver could boost their fuel efficiency by 25 percent just by keeping their tires inflated. That’s often a free, or cheap, repair. On my way to work, I pass two gas stations with air compressors I can use for free, and three — apparently owned by cheapskates — that take quarters.

3. Change Your Air Filter:

Possible Savings 60.9 gallons/yr ($247/yr)

Gas is half of the combustion equation. Air is the other half. A clogged air filter can rob 10 percent of your engine’s efficiency. A new air filter can get that 10 percent back — usually for under $15.

4. Drive 60 on the Highway, Not 75:

Possible Savings: 57.8 gallons/year ($234/yr)

On the highway, stay close to the speed limit, and keep your speed as constant as traffic allows. Most cars reach optimal gas mileage at about 60 miles per hour. Speeding up increases wind resistance against the car, making the engine work harder and burn more gas. According to the EPA, each 5 mph over 60 that you drive decreases fuel efficiency by up to seven percent.

5. Turn Off the A/C:

Possible Savings 31.9 gallons/yr ($129/yr)

Some air conditioners rob an engine up to five percent of its fuel economy. There is some controversy about this one — many newer cars are able to compensate for the energy used by an air conditioner and don’t suffer the same penalty for keeping cool.

6. Get Your Engine Tuned:

Possible Savings 25.8 gallons/year ($104/yr)

Most of us can boost our mpg by four percent with a simple tune-up.

7. Drive Calmly in the City

Possible Savings: 17.9 gallons/yr ($73/yr)

There’s a red light up ahead. You’re going to stop when you get to it. Do you keep your foot on the gas until it’s time to brake for the light? Most of us do, but that doesn’t necessarily make sense. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that accelerating rapidly and braking hard can reduce your car’s fuel efficiency by as much as five percent. And that may be a low estimate. Look at it this way — are you willing to spend money to stop at that light sooner?

8. Lose Weight:

Possible Savings 13.1 gallons/yr for each 100 pounds you remove ($104/yr)

Government estimates say that an extra 100 pounds in your car can reduce fuel efficiency by up to two percent. And that’s an average — the smaller the car, the more extra weight makes the engine work harder.

So, empty the trunk. In winter, don’t just scrape the windshield, scrape the entire car — snow and ice add to the weight of your car.

9. Lose the Roof Rack

Possible Savings 13.1 gallons/year ($53/yr)

Wind resistance is the enemy of fuel efficiency. Do you have a roof rack? Every time you drive, it’s making your car fight wind resistance, and burn fuel. Most of the time, that’s money you’re spending to carry an empty roof rack. Get a two percent boost by taking the thing off.

10. Change Your Oil on Time

Possible Savings 6.6 gallons/year ($27/yr)

After 3,000 miles, changing your oil (using the recommended grade) gives you back one percent of your car’s mpg rating.

How Much Can You Save?

If you follow the tips above, that’s $1,514 less you could spend on gas in the next year. Though it’s a rough estimate, it shows you what small changes in your habits — most of which you can make for free — could do for your wallet.

by Sean Tucker - U.S.News & World Report

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The common principles and practices of success of all men and women who became millionaires in one generation.

1. Dream Big Dreams - How to visualize, imagine and create an exciting picture of personal wealth and prosperity;
2. Develop a Clear Sense of Direction - Learn a powerful, proven goal-setting exercise that can change your life;
3. See Yourself As Self-Employed - How to take complete control of your career and your financial life;
4. Do What You Love To Do - Identify the ideal work for you and then get paid well for doing it;
5. Commit to Excellence - How to move into the top 10% in your field and be paid more than ever before;
6. Work Longer and Harder - How to organize your time so you get more done and contribute more value;
7. Dedicate Yourself to Lifelong Learning - How to continually upgrade your talents and abilities to earn more money;
8. Pay Yourself First - The most powerful process of wealth accumulation ever discovered and how you can use it;
9. Learn Every Detail of the Business - How to become an expert in your chosen field and double your income;
10. Dedicate Yourself to Serving Others - The starting point of all personal fortunes and how to begin;
11. Be Absolutely Honest With Yourself and Others - How and why personal integrity goes hand in hand with financial success;
12. Set Priorities and Concentrate Single-mindedly - The importance of focusing on your most important tasks all day long;
13. Develop a Reputation for Speed and Dependability - How to give yourself the winning edge in everything you do;
14. Be Prepared to Climb From Peak to Peak - Learn how to recognize the cycles and trends that can make you rich;
15. Practice Self-Discipline In All Things - Develop the most important quality for financial success;
16. Unlock Your Inborn Creativity - Learn how to solve any problem, overcome any obstacle, achieve any goal;
17. Get Around The Right People - The important of surrounding yourself with winners at each stage of your career;
18. Take Excellent Care of Your Physical Health - How to develop and maintain high levels of energy and fitness;
19. Be Decisive and Action Oriented - How to identify the most important action steps you can take immediately;
20. Never Allow Failure To Be An Option - How to overcome the fears that hold most people back;
21. Pass the “Persistence Test” - Learn how to bounce back from defeat and never, never give up.

By Brian Tracy International
These are just some of the powerful principles, methods and techniques you will learn in the Brian Tracy’s book or audio program.

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Money can’t buy you love. It can’t buy you happiness either.

Today’s materialistic world often urges us to buy the coolest gadgets, the trendiest clothes, bigger and better things, but research shows that possessions and purchases don’t buy us happiness.

According to an article on CNN:

By and large, money buys happiness only for those who lack the basic needs. Once you pass an income of $50,000, more money doesn’t buy much more happiness, [according to a happiness studies].

 
So while we are being pushed towards materialism, it’s for monetary gain by corporations, not for our own happiness. Unfortunately, it’s hard to escape the trap of materialism, and find happiness in other ways than buying stuff online or finding joy in the mall. But it’s possible.

Here’s a guide to finding a materialism-free life and discovering true happiness.

Escaping Materialism
All around us, there are messages telling us to buy stuff. On the Internet (blogs included), we see continuous advertising trying to get us to purchase a product or service. It’s the main reason for television, and movies are continually made with products placed throughout, so that we aren’t always sure what is advertising and what was put in there by the director.

Flip on the radio or open up a newspaper or magazine, and you’re bombarded my more advertising. Go to a shopping center/mall, and the urge to buy comes from every direction.

This message to continually buy, buy, buy … and that it will somehow make us happpier … is drilled into our heads from the days of Happy Meals and cartoons until the day we die. It’s inescapable.

Well, almost. You could go and live in a cabin in the woods (and that actually sounds nice), or you could still live in our modern society, but find ways to escape materialism.

Here are some suggestions:

• Limit television. Do you really enjoy watching TV for hours? Think about which shows you really, really love, and only watch during that time. When the commercials come on, go do something else. Or use Tivo to watch TV. You can even give up cable TV entirely, if you’re brave — I have, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.
• Eschew the news. Journalists will never tell you this, but if they’re completely honest, they’ll confess that the most important part of any news company, from TV or radio news to Internet or print new, is the advertising division. It’s the division that pays the paychecks of the rest of the company. The news is important in driving traffic to the advertising. So when you’re watching or reading news, you’re really being sucked in to advertising. Try this instead: boycott the news for a week. I’ve done it for about two years, and it hasn’t hurt me a bit. In fact, it’s helped me a lot.
• Limit Internet reading. I’m not saying you should cancel your cable Internet subscription or anything. I love reading blogs. But find just those that you truly love reading, that give you the most value, and limit your reading to those. And just do it once a day, for 30 minutes or so. If you can do that, you’ve gone a long way towards tearing yourself away from advertising.
• Give up magazines for books. Magazines are also designed with advertising in mind. And they rarely give you much value. Try reading an ad-free book instead. It’s a much better use of your time.
• Don’t go to the mall or Walmart. The only purpose of these places is for you to spend money. If you just want a place to spend your Saturday afternoon, find a place where you don’t need to spend money to have fun — a park or a beach, for example. If you need to buy something, go to a single store (not the mall) and go in and get what you need. Don’t browse and walk around looking at stuff. You’ll get sucked in.
• Monitor your urges. When you’re online, or watching TV, or at a store, keep track of the number of times you want to buy something. Keep a little notebook or index card, and just put tally marks. Once you become more aware of your urges to buy things, you can start to control them. If you could control them, limiting your consumption of media (see above tips) isn’t really necessary — although I would argue that it still gives you a better quality of life.
• Use a 30-day list. If you still really want to buy something, put it on a list, and write down the date you added the item to the list. Now tell yourself you cannot buy that item for 30 days. It might be difficult, but you can do it. When the 30 days have passed, if you still want it, then buy it. But you can’t buy anything (besides essentials like groceries) without putting it on the list for 30 days first. Many times, our urges to buy something will pass during this waiting period.
• Declutter. I find it pretty amazing to see all the crap I buy over a period of years, when I go through my closets and other possessions and start getting rid of stuff I don’t use or want anymore. It’s a gratifying process, and at the same time, it makes me realize how useless all our consumer shopping is. I don’t need any of the stuff! When you do this, you may be less likely to buy more stuff. Especially if you enjoy the decluttered look of your house as much as I do.
• Find other forms of entertainment. There are other things to do besides watch TV or movies or read magazines or newspapers or the Internet. Try playing sports or exercising, or playing board games or creating art or writing or reading a book. Try doing fun things with your kids or visiting relatives and other loved ones. Try volunteering with a charity. I’m sure you could come up with 100 free or cheap things to do.
• Buy used. When you get the urge to buy something, and you’re convinced that it’s needed, try finding it used instead of new. Look in thrift shops or garage sales or flea markets or similar places.

A True Path to Happiness
So, if you’re able to escape materialism, how can you find true happiness? There are many ways, and each of us is different, but here are some things I suggest trying:

• Grateful list. Make a list of things about which you’re grateful in your life. Give thanks for them daily.
• Think positive. Try eliminating negative thinking from your life, and thinking positive instead.
• Small pleasures. Make a list of small things that give you great pleasure. Sprinkle them throughout your day. Notice other small pleasures as you go through your day.
• Kindness. Practice random acts of kindness and compassion. Do it anonymously. Help those in need. Volunteer. Make someone smile.
• Love. Make an intimate connection with your loved ones. Develop your friendships. Spend time with them, converse, understand them, make them happy.
• Health. Exercise and eat healthy — it sounds trite, but it can bring great happiness to your life.
• Meaning. It’s often useful to find meaning, either through a church or spiritual way, or through those we love in life or through the things we’re passionate about. Give yourself a purpose.
• Flow. Eliminate distractions, and really pour yourself into whatever you’re doing. If it’s writing an article, like this one, really put yourself into it, until you forget the outside world.
• Know yourself. Become attuned to what brings you happiness. Study yourself. Learn about what you love, and about your ability to love. Increase your capacity for compassion.

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People used to obsess over frequent-flier miles. Now, with lending standards getting tighter, they’re applying similar energy to improving their credit scores.

Jeffrey Sheldon, a 36-year-old Purcellville, Va., computer-systems administrator, has an enviable credit score of about 740. But he’s planning to refinance his adjustable-rate mortgage in June and knows that lenders will be taking a particularly close look at his credit record.

when Mr. Sheldon was shopping for an auto loan last fall, he first compared rates online. Then, he allowed only two lenders to pull his credit report because he knew that lots of inquiries could drag down his score. Now, he’s making extra payments so he can pay off the five-year auto loan in 3½ or four years. He figures the lower debt level will boost his score, which already is near the upper end of the 300-to-850 range of the FICO score, the widely used measure of consumer creditworthiness.

“It’s a game you have to play,” Mr. Sheldon says. Once every few months, he charges something on one of his lesser-used credit cards because he fears that issuers will close inactive accounts, reducing his total available credit and damaging his score.

The behavior of credit-score strivers can appear bizarre to the uninitiated. Many rejoice over joining the “700 club,” feverishly apply for new credit cards they don’t need, keep drawers full of old credit cards they barely use and fight for the removal of the smallest blemish on their credit reports.

Even consumers with good credit, like Mr. Sheldon, are pushing to improve their FICO scores — and with good reason. Whereas just a year or so ago a score of roughly 680 to 720 would qualify for the best rates from many lenders, that bar has now been raised to 720 to 750, credit experts say.

Many lenders are demanding higher scores because they’ve been burned by rising delinquency rates. In the fourth quarter, consumer credit delinquencies hit their highest level since 1992, according to the American Bankers Association.

“The rules have definitely changed,” says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education for Credit.com. “Back when they were giving money away to anyone who could fog a mirror, you didn’t have to have those stratospherically high scores unless you were going after something really high-end.”

At the same time, new scoring systems may complicate consumers’ efforts to monitor and improve their scores. Fair Isaac Corp., the developer of the FICO score, is introducing a scoring model, dubbed FICO 08, that the company says will do a better job predicting the likelihood of a borrower defaulting on a loan.

These days, a clean credit record isn’t just important if you’re shopping for a loan: It could even affect your career. Potential employers, landlords and insurers routinely examine credit reports. “Having a good credit score is far more important now than it ever has been,” says Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action, an education and advocacy group based in San Francisco.

Yet many consumers battling to improve their credit score have found the fight frustrating, costly and even futile. Some pay hundreds of dollars to credit-repair services or adopt strict credit regimens, only to find that their scores won’t budge.

That doesn’t discourage people like Simon Hernandez, who spends hours each quarter studying his credit report as part of his quest for a score of 750. The 34-year-old Denver respiratory therapist plans to buy a house sometime next year and fears his score in the mid-600s won’t get him the best rates. He has two credit cards that he uses for gas and groceries and has sworn off applying for any other type of credit. Despite his diligence, he occasionally sees his score drop for no apparent reason. “I’ve spent hours looking to see if I’m missing something on my report,” he says.

The basic steps to build and maintain a good credit score haven’t changed: Pay your bills on time and don’t max out your available credit. Payment history accounts for about 35% of the FICO score, while the amounts you owe — including the number of accounts with balances and the fraction of available credit used on credit cards — accounts for another 30%. Other factors include the length of credit history and the types of credit used.

Another key step: Get a copy of your credit report. At annualcreditreport.com, you can get a free report from Equifax Inc., Experian Group Ltd. and TransUnion LLC, the main credit-reporting companies that provide records to lenders. (Consumers generally must pay to get their actual FICO scores.) Search reports for mistakes — more than a quarter of reports contain errors, according to a survey by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a Washington-based advocacy group. Dispute errors with the credit bureau as well as the lender. If the lender can’t verify the information within 30 days, it will typically be removed from the report.

Also note whether credit-card issuers are reporting a credit limit for your account. Issuers don’t always report these limits, and that omission may cause your highest balance on the card to be treated as your limit. That can make it appear as if you’re using most of your available credit, dragging down your score.

Consumers shopping for a loan can protect their credit score by moving fast. The FICO system, aiming to distinguish between a search for lots of new credit and comparison shopping for a single loan, ignores all mortgage and auto-loan inquiries made in the 30 days before scoring. If you find a loan within that period, the inquiries won’t drag down your score while you’re rate shopping.

Some popular strategies to boost credit ratings can actually backfire. While some consumers assume that applying for new credit will raise their available credit and boost their score, “You don’t want to increase your limits in a short period of time because that can be a great sign of risk,” says Rod Griffin, senior manager of public education at Experian. And though it may seem prudent to close old credit-card accounts that you’re not using, that can also sink your score.

New credit-scoring models, meanwhile, are putting new wrinkles into the credit-repair game. Fair Isaac’s new FICO 08 scoring model, for example, disregards “authorized user” records when calculating scores. Bottom line: People’s credit scores will be affected by cards on which they’re named as account holders, not authorized users. Experian and TransUnion plan to offer lenders the new scores in coming months.

Fair Isaac took this action after concerns were raised about credit-repair companies charging consumers to be listed as an authorized user on a credit card of a stranger. The new FICO model means people who have little credit history aside from their authorized-user status should apply for their own cards or get listed as a joint account holder.

Relative to older versions of FICO, the new model also generally places more emphasis on having a variety of credit types, such as installment loans and revolving accounts like credit cards, while increasingly penalizing people who use a big chunk of their available credit. Since the credit bureaus have developed their own scores to compete with FICO, consumers should know which one they are getting when they order their credit score. FICO scores from the three main credit-reporting companies are available at myfico.com.

Some consumers are discovering that all their tinkering is having little effect. Darrell Booker, 30, a database administrator in Richmond, Va., has tried all sorts of strategies to boost his score. Over the past year or so, he has tried to get some late payments removed from his credit report, disputed a paid account that showed up on his credit report as unpaid and paid hundreds of dollars to a company that promised to help him clean up his credit. But the only real boost to his score came when he focused on paying off his credit cards.

“Let me focus on things I know I can totally control,” he says, “and that’s reducing my debt.”

by Wall Street Journal Online

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