Gawker's worthless 'Bain files' - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals ...

FORTUNE -- Gawker today?published?what it's calling The Bain Files, hundreds of pages of audited financials and private placement memoranda for old Bain Capital funds. Let me save you some time: There is nothing in there that will inform your opinion of Mitt Romney.

How do I know? Because I saw many of the exact same documents months ago, after requesting them from a Bain Capital investor. What I quickly learned was that there was little of interest, except perhaps for private equity geeks who want to know exactly how much Bain paid for a particular company back in 2006. Sure I would have loved the pageviews, but not at the expense of tricking readers into clicking on something of so little value.

Let's go over what Gawker believes it found:

"Mitt Romney's $250 million fortune is largely a black hole: Aside from the meager and vague disclosures he has filed under federal and Massachusetts laws, and the two years of partial tax returns (one filed and another provisional) he has released, there is almost no data on precisely what his vast holdings consist of, or what vehicles he has used to escape taxes on his income."

There actually is plenty of data on Romney's Bain-related holdings. For example, Bain's?own website?lists most of its active private equity portfolio companies. Then there are third-party databases operated by such organizations as Dow Jones, Thomson Reuters and CapitalIQ -- each one of which includes searchable lists of past Bain Capital deals (often with detailed financial information). And, finally, Bain isn't really in tyhe business of doing tiny purchases of unknown family businesses. When it buys something, there is almost always a press release and/or media coverage. Perhaps Gawker hasn't yet discovered the magic of Lexis-Nexis. Maybe it should sign up for the?daily Term Sheet email.

"Today, we are publishing more than 950 pages of internal audits, financial statements, and private investor letters for 21 cryptically named entities in which Romney had invested... Many of them are offshore funds based in the Cayman Islands."

I get it. "Cayman Islands" is supposed to be code for tax avoidance or shady dealings. But the reality is that most private equity firms form Cayman-domiciled funds to accommodate investors based outside of the United States (particularly when those funds also are making some non-U.S. investments). One private equity fund formation attorney I spoke with says that the Caymans structure usually doesn't have real tax benefit for the non-U.S. investors, but that they nonetheless feel more comfortable. He added that, for most U.S. private equity executives, the Cayman structure has little to zero impact in terms of personal taxes.

MORE:?Private equity's twisted trip down the campaign trail

"They also show that some of the investments that Romney has always described as part of his retirement package at Bain weren't made until years after he left the company."

Yes, because his retirement package provided Romney with ownership positions in Bain funds raised for 10 years after he left the firm (plus the ability to co-invest his own money). This isn't breaking news (mentioned here, for example).

"Bain isn't a company so much as an intricate suite of steadily proliferating inter-related holding companies and limited partnerships."

Right, it's a private equity firm. No one ever said it was "a company."

"When it came to the Bain investments, he simply listed the value of his investments in odd-sounding entities like 'Sankaty High Yield Partners II LP' with no indication of what was inside."

Odd-sounding? Maybe for those outside of New England (Sankaty is a Nantucket lighthouse), but it's also no big secret. For example, here's?the Sankaty website?that describes itself as a Bain Capital affiliate that "invests in a wide variety of securities and investments, including leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, distressed/stressed debt, mezzanine debt, structured products and equities." From that, you might guess that Sankaty High Yield Partners III is the high-yield bond part of its business.

Finally, many of Gawker's documents are for year-end 2009 (most of mine were for year-end 2008). As such, we can't even compare them to Romney's tax returns, since the GOP nominee still stubbornly refuses to release them.

MORE: Mitt's message on Bain

I totally understand why a stack of papers marked "confidential" seems exciting, particularly for those without a deep understanding of private equity. And I'm not taking any position on if Romney did or didn't duck taxes at some point, either related or unrelated to Bain holdings. All I'm saying is that Gawker has posted tons of smoke without any fire.

Sign up for Dan's daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers:?GetTermSheet.com

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/08/23/gawkers-worthless-bain-files-2/

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Ready. Get set. Repress! How genes are faithfully copied

ScienceDaily (Aug. 22, 2012) ? The first step in gene expression is the exact copying of a segment of DNA by the enzyme known as RNA polymerase II, or pol II, into a mirror image RNA. Scientists recognize that pol II does not transcribe RNA via a smooth glide down the DNA highway but instead encounters an obstacle course of DNA tightly wound around barrier proteins called histones. Those proteins must be shoved aside for pol II to trundle through.

Previous work from the lab of Jerry Workman, Ph.D., an investigator at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, showed how a protein associated with pol II called Set2 biochemically restored an inhibitory histone landscape once a round of transcription was completed in order to prevent expression of potentially harmful RNA snippets. Now in a study published in the August 22, 2012, advance online issue of Nature, his group uses yeast mutants in Set2 to reveal a surprising mechanism cells use to keep gene expression going -- both in appropriate circumstances and inappropriate ones, as in cancer cells.

"The goal of my lab is to understand is how transcription works," says Workman. "We knew that synthesis of an RNA strand must start at the beginning of a gene for it to ultimately code for a full-length protein and that it was essential to prevent RNA synthesis beginning at cryptic sites within a gene. In this study we addressed how that could happen on the molecular level."

Two classes of chromatin remodeling factors vie to activate or repress gene expression. The "activators" pry histones from DNA to allow passage of pol II by decorating histones with acetyl groups, which loosens their grip on DNA. The opposing team, which includes Set2, then terminates gene expression by planting their own biochemical flag, this one a methyl group, which then attracts an enzyme to snip off the acetyl groups and restore chromatin to an inaccessible state. This repression assures that erroneous initiation of transcription does not occur at a so-called "cryptic" site within a gene.

Previously, many assumed that histones remain in contact with a DNA strand while they were decorated or stripped of acetyl groups by chromatin remodelers. "That was one possible scenario but we simply did not know what happened to histones on chromatin as the RNA strand elongated," says Swami Venkatesh, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Workman lab and the study's first author. "We thought that some kind of exchange of histones took place during transcription but weren't sure whether it happens over an entire gene."

To investigate potential histone reshuffling, the group assessed chemical modification of histones in a form of the brewer's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae engineered to track whether labeled histones moved in and out of chromatin. Using this system they compared global acetylation and methylation of histones in all 6000 genes in both Set2 mutants and normal yeast.

They first observed that in normal cells the inhibitory methylation flag planted by Set2 spanned the trajectory of genes being expressed and that mark was, as anticipated, missing in Set2 mutants. In those mutants a large portion of genes showed a reciprocal increase in the acetylation mark, which could be explained by the loss of Set2's recruitment of the acetyl snipper.

Further analysis revealed many of those acetylated histones had not in fact remained embedded in chromatin but had instead been "imported" from outside stores or as Venkatesh says, "pre-acetylated." "This is important because it means that you don't need to bring in a remodeling enzyme to re-acetylate histones," he says. These studies also reveal that Set2 plays a more complex role in controlling gene expression than anticipated. "The methyl mark placed on the histones by Set2 serves two functions," explains Workman. "It not only recruits the de-acetylating enzyme that removes the acetyl marks from histones, but these new findings suggest it also prevents incorporation of pre-acetylated histones on the gene."

The group also correlated these chemical modifications to aberrant gene expression using microarray analysis, which showed that unlike normal yeast, Set2 mutants produce variously truncated "cryptic" RNA transcripts.

"As genes are expressed, you do not want to shunt the system to produce RNAs that cannot be used," says Venkatesh. "When cells undergo heat or environmental stress, they respond by making short RNAs encoding proteins that send a stress signal. Cells need Set2 under normal situations to keep these cryptic transcription start sites quiet."

Workman agrees, noting that truncated strands of RNA could possibly interfere with translation of normal RNAs into protein. "The fact that they are generated indicates chromosomal instability in the area encompassing these genes, a situation which can lead to cancer in humans," he says. "The human counterpart of the Set2 protein, SETD2, reportedly functions as a tumor suppressor and its activity is lost in several types of cancers, including breast and renal carcinoma."

Recognizing that histone exchange actually occurs over a large proportion is also relevant to cancer therapies in the pipeline. "Proteins that both acetylate and deacetylate histones are under investigation as targets of anti-cancer drugs," says Venkatesh. "So it is very important to know how acetylated histones are brought to a gene. Mechanistic studies like ours provide this kind of insight."

Also contributing to the paper were Michaela Smolle, Ph.D., Hua Li, Ph.D., and Madelaine Gogol -- all of the Stowers Institute -- and Krishnamurthy Natarajan, Ph.D., Malika Saint, and Shambhu Kumar of Jawarharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. This work was supported by the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and a grant from the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences (R01GM047867).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stowers Institute for Medical Research, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Swaminathan Venkatesh, Michaela Smolle, Hua Li, Madelaine M. Gogol, Malika Saint, Shambhu Kumar, Krishnamurthy Natarajan, Jerry L. Workman. Set2 methylation of histone H3 lysine?36 suppresses histone exchange on transcribed genes. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature11326

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/T_IlbLkx3Eg/120822130839.htm

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Ready For Your Moment? : Darren LaCroix | World Champion of ...

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Ever competed in anything?? How did you react to winning?? How did you react to not winning?? Last week the Olympics came to a close.? Just a few days ago the World Championship of Public Speaking took place. So many emotions. So many reactions.

If the competition were judged on the best practice run, the results could have changed.? Practice is important, but the contest is judged on performance under the pressure. It all comes down to ?your moment.?? There is so much riding on that one moment.? There are so many truthful stories on the faces of the competitors and their families after the results are in.? Whether it?s a world championship competition, a presentation to your big client or that life-changing conversation with your child, what happens in a moment can change the path of your life and someone else?s.

Twenty years ago, while listening to Brian Tracy?s audio programs, I remember him quoting Abraham Lincoln when talking about his numerous loses while trying to achieve his political goals.

?I will study and prepare myself and someday my chance will come.?

Wow.? It still resonates with me today.

?

Three important questions for each of your moments:

1) Have you fully prepared for your moment?

Did you ask for advice from people qualified to answer? People who have wisdom based on experience?? Often we seek out advice from people whom we know will give us the answer we want to hear.? When we fully prepare, we ask people who speak from experience and will give us the truth? even if we don?t want to hear it.

I had a pastor contact me with a question.? During our conversation I learned that he never prepared for his sermon.? When questioned, he told me he just allowed the inspiration to flow through him.? I?m not against being spontaneous. However, I honestly believe that he would deliver a more complete and inspirational sermon if energy was put into preparation.? I?m willing to bet if we listened to a recording of one of those sermons there may be some brilliant thoughts, but probably a lot of blah, blah, blah in between.

Sometimes life might not allow us to fully prepare because higher priorities may sometimes prevail, but in my opinion there is no excuse for not preparing.?? I heard famous collegiate football coach, Lou Holtz, say that he?ll excuse any mistake, except the lack of preparation.? David Brooks, 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking tell me, ?Darren let no one out prepare you.? Great advice!

2) What will you do with your moment?

What if you won? What would you do with that?

What if? you lost? What would you do with that??

In the World Championship of Public Speaking many competitors believe that winning equals an instant career.? No. It does not.? You may get invited to give many free speeches, but it comes with no golden ring.? There are many speakers who do not win and earn much more than I do.? There are many winners who do not speak full time. That?s cool. It is a choice. I?m no better than they are. I just chose to do something different with my moment.

I?m far from the best speaker who won.? I am a great marketer however. Therefore more people may know about my win.? I?ve invested a great deal of time on YouTube marketing and over $100,000 in advertising and promotions.? I loved learning that Harry Houdini may not have been the best magician of his time.? He was, however, the best marketer.

If your results were not favorable, remember there is a fine line between being disappointed and being bitter.? In 1998 I was bitter when losing a humorous speech contest to someone with a hefty amount of old jokes.? I boycotted Toastmasters for three years because of it, yet I lacked the confidence to even lodge a protest.? I?m not sure if you were aware or not, but Toastmasters went on without me in 1999.? I grew up and was urged by mentors, ?Darren, it?s not about writing a new speech. It?s about making your speech so good, people will pay to hear it.?

Wow! Talk about a new perspective! I ended up competing in 2001 for the purpose of improving the stories I was already telling in my keynote speech.? The cool part about that was, even though I won every time I gave it, I kept working on it even if I did not get a trophy.? The result was that my keynote improved.

Watching the Olympics this year, I enjoyed being reminded of the story of Dan Jansen who slipped on the ice while speed skating after hearing news of his sister dying.? He came back four years later to compete again and fell again.? Another four years after that he won gold.? Maybe there were lessons he needed to learn from the earlier mistakes that taught him the exact lessons he needed to win.

3) Will you appreciate you moment?

Whatever level you reach there are many people who did not make it that far.? It is normal to be disappointed, but will you appreciate and recognize what you did right to get there?? After the World Championship I often tell the people who did not place that there are 34,991 people (out of the 35,000 who compete) who wish they were you.? They wish they just had a chance for their moment on the big stage.

Joshua, a speech competitor from Canada, told me he had to hear the advice I give losing contestants who believe they were ?robbed? by the judges.? He had heard that I recommend waiting two weeks and watch a video of your contest speech and see if you can?t see what some of the judges saw. If you have the Own the Stage check list Craig Valentine and I created, use that while watching your video.? I loved Joshua?s honesty when he told me recently, he really thought his situation was different and he really was robbed.? He watched his speech two weeks later and he saw the flaws.? That takes a strong person to tell me that.? I think he was the first. I usually never hear from people again after I suggest that.

Coaching people in the speech contest was interesting again this year.? It is amazing the levels of ?coachability.?? Every person is different.? One that stood out was Claudia from Mexico.? She was incredibly coachable. She wanted to hear it all. She loved brutal honesty.? Though she is a great performer, she was challenged opening up and being conversational. When I pointed out that she was not opening up, she grew immeasurably as a speaker during the process.?? My favorite comment of hers was, ?I did not only become a better speaker, but also a better person.?? Wow, I love to hear that. She threw her whole self into the process and was willing to challenge herself.

Sadly, Claudia did not place at the semi-final level, but I was inspired by how much she appreciated just being there.?? She is a poster-woman for appreciation and faith.? I can learn from her example.? We all can.

How about you?? Do you fully prepare for your moments?? What will you do with your moment?? Will you appreciate your moment?

Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts?.

?

Stage time, stage time, stage time,

Source: http://darrenlacroix.com/keynote-speaker-darren/readyforyourmomen/

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Older Dads May Raise Risk for Autism ... - Health Nutrition and Fitness

New mutations in male DNA increase with age, study finds

By Carina Storrs
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 22 (HealthDay News) ? Men who have kids later in life may pass on more new genetic mutations to their offspring, possibly raising their child?s risk of disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, new research suggests.

New mutations arise in the sperm cells of men near the time of conception instead of being passed down through generations. They have been associated with relatively rare cases of non-hereditary autism.

Researchers in Iceland searched the genomes of 78 families for new mutations as they first appeared and looked at how the number of these mutations in children was related to the age of their parents. In most of the families, the child had either non-hereditary autism or schizophrenia.

The study, which was published Aug. 22 in the journal Nature, found that every year a man ages, he is predicted to pass on more than two additional new (or ?de novo?) mutations. More than 97 percent of these new mutations in children were explained by having an older dad.

?The father is an incredibly important contributor to mutations, and even if de novo mutations happen randomly, the more mutations you have, the more likely you will have one in a gene that matters,? said study author Dr. Kari Stefansson, CEO of deCODE Genetics, a genome analysis company based in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Previous research has linked higher rates of spontaneous mutations to older dads based on the sequence of select regions of the genome; this study is the first to make the connection based on data from the entire genome of parents and their children, Stefansson said.

?This study further establishes that paternal age is a risk factor for [non-hereditary] autism,? said Daniel Smith, senior director of discovery neuroscience at Autism Speaks, an autism research and advocacy organization.

Although it is not known how many cases are autism are non-hereditary, it is so far only thought to be less than 1 percent of autism cases, Smith said.

The rate of autism spectrum disorder in the United States has been steadily climbing and is now estimated to affect one in 88 children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

?Whether [paternal age] accounts for the increased prevalence of autism by itself is very unlikely,? Smith said. ?It?s definitely in the mix as an important risk factor.?

The current study of 78 families in Iceland included 44 children with an autism spectrum disorder and 21 children with schizophrenia. In most cases, the parents were not affected by these disorders.

Stefansson and his colleagues analyzed the entire genomes of the parent-child sets for a specific type of mutation called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), which essentially are typos that affect a single letter in the DNA code.

The team found that the number of new mutations was strongly associated with the age of the father, whereas the relationship between mutation rate and maternal age was not statistically significant.

In addition, the data suggest that the age of the father is linked to a steady increase in mutations, instead of reaching a ?tipping point? age after which mutations were more likely, Stefansson said.

Men are probably more likely to transmit new mutations to their offspring as they age because their reproductive cells divide and produce sperm throughout their lifetime, and every cell division is an opportunity for genetic errors to be made. In contrast, women are born with their full set of eggs.

The team uncovered new mutations in several genes that have been implicated in autism and schizophrenia, as well as nervous system development and behavioral changes.

The role of new mutations in disease risk is not limited to autism and schizophrenia, and they could contribute to other diseases that have non-hereditary cases, such as epilepsy, Stefansson noted. ?It is beginning to look like there is a fairly large number of diseases where the contribution of de novo mutations is going to be significant,? he said.

In addition to spontaneous mutations, environmental factors could play a part in non-hereditary autism cases, Smith said, explaining that unknown environmental factors, which older men have had more time to be exposed to, could promote genetic errors during sperm production.

Even though the rate of new mutations increases in children with age of the father, this should not be an argument for older men to avoid procreating or for younger men to freeze their sperm, Stefansson said.

?We don?t know how large a percentage of cases of autism and schizophrenia are caused by de novo mutations,? he explained. ?The risk is not huge.?

?On a grander scale, in the context of our species, the increasing mutation rate increases diversity when we are evolving,? Stefansson said. ?Getting rid of extra mutations might make us as a species less fit to survive the next natural disaster.?

?This study should not be used as guidance for parents,? Smith said. ?Many cases of autism are from parents in their 20s.?

More information

For more about the signs and symptoms of autism, visit Autism Speaks.??

(SOURCES: Kari Stefansson, M.D., Dr. Med., CEO, deCODE Genetics, neurologist, professor, medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; Daniel Smith, Ph.D., senior director, discovery neuroscience, Autism Speaks, New York City; Aug. 22, 2012, Nature)

Copyright ? 2012
HealthDay. ?All rights reserved.

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Article source: http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.aspx?Docid=667910

Source: http://health-nutrition-fitness.net/health-fitness-and-nutrition/older-dads-may-raise-risk-for-autism-schizophrenia-in-kids/

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Your Goals And You

Once you desire to go for any task, you need to set your goals for it. You move step by step towards your goal. It doesn't matter you move fast or slow. What matters is how you improve your life with these little trainings. As said no one is perfect so every one needs improvement in some or the other field. Recognize all your short term goals as well as long term goals. Take some time alone. Sit back and give a thought about how you live your life.

You should consider yourself as lucky as you have many things which others don't possess. The small things you get in this world, you do daily make you lucky and different from everyone. Keep practicing for your goals daily as it would eventually make you a winner one day. Motivate yourself. It is your life. You should rule it. Pick a piece of paper and write down the goals you want to achieve. In order to reach your goal you should make some changes in your life.

The main question is what are you going to do? You should be direct, specific, and straight forward towards your goal. Look at the empty places in your life which need to be filled. For example your career, did you chose it to fulfill your financial needs or you really love what you do? When you examine these empty spaces of your life, you would come to know where you have to make the changes. For every single decision you make, you give up few things. Everything comes with a cost. Goals which you set shouldn't be out of your reach. Develop goals which are according to you. If you aspire to be a painter and you study MBBS, you are very far from your goal. Some one who has lost his love cannot reach his goals.

Goals should be something for which your heart is craving for. It should answer the question why are you doing the task. Goals are something which should mean something to you. If they don't mean anything to you, you will fail. Like people try to give up smoking, obviously they want it for good reason but deep inside they are not ready to sacrifice it and hence, they fail. But if you see your child crying for the same reason showing that he is scared of losing his dad, your heart might become strong and your inner feelings would let you leave smoking for ever. Goals need to be very strong.

Rhea Alderson is a writer on topics about click here and features of 100 day challenge review.

Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/your-goals-and-you-289224

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Syfy for iPad app adds Sync feature, second screen content launches Tuesday with Face Off (video)

We're still not sure about the Sci Fi / Syfy Network name switch, but whatever you call it the network is the latest to jump on the trend of second screen features. Currently available on the latest version of its iPad app (and listed as "coming soon" for Android tablets on the official page an in the demo video embedded after the break), Syfy Sync will work with certain shows to pull up interactive content on your mobile device along with whatever is playing on TV. The first show to get the treatment is the season premiere of Face Off airing August 21st. Naturally, there's a social media element as well, with sharing to Facebook and Twitter, as well as integrated GetGlue check-ins. Whether or not you dig the second screen aspects or are just waiting for some better shows to come on, there are other upgrades with a new UI as, show related photo galleries and support for AirPlay to play the app's video clips on your TV. Syfy for iPad 2.0 with sync is available for free in iTunes, we'll let you know when the Android version is upgraded and if similar features head to any other mobile platforms soon.

Continue reading Syfy for iPad app adds Sync feature, second screen content launches Tuesday with Face Off (video)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Tablet PCs

Syfy for iPad app adds Sync feature, second screen content launches Tuesday with Face Off (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 04:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/20/syfy-sync-ipad-second-screen/

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Simple Life Lessons | Tipss.org

Throughout your life, you?re going to pick up a bunch of different life lessons based on your experiences whether good or bad. A lot of the lessons that we learn and tend to actually remember come from the bad experiences. I think there?s a lot of truth in the saying that we learn more from our mistakes and failures than our successes.

The following are some simple lessons that I?ve learned either from my own experience or from observing or talking with others. I think it would be quite valuable to take the time each year or even each month or week to sit down and think about what you?ve learned that time period and then write it down.

I?ll continue to add more to this section as I discover and learn new insights.

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Lesson #1: Don?t make obtaining happiness more difficult than it really is.

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Advertisers have done a great job in convincing people that in order to be happy, one needs to buy a bunch of things, eat out at fancy restaurants, travel the world, and live in big homes.

Although there?s certainly some correlation between what we own and experience to our level of happiness, it?s not necessary. Some of the happiest people on the planet are those who don?t own much at all. In fact, the happiest group of people are kids. They laugh at anything and just freely express their feelings of joy.

Happiness is just an emotional state. You don?t have to have this and that to happen in order to be happy. If you do, it?s only because someone convinced you so.

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Lesson #2: Gratitude is the key to happiness.

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Getting more things might make you feel happy for the moment, but it won?t last. Want proof? Do you still feel excited when you walk into your house? You did when you first bought it. Do you feel excited about your current job? You did when you first got hired.

When the things and people we have in our lives are there long enough, we tend to take those things for granted. Some people can feel miserable even though they?re surrounded with things they once couldn?t wait to get.

Being grateful and appreciating what you have will bring you longer lasting happiness.

So how do you do this? Try sleeping in your car for a week; you?ll appreciate your house more. Try taking the bus to work; you?ll appreciate your car more. Spend a week in a homeless shelter; you?ll appreciate everything you have more. Spend some time with people who can?t walk; you?ll appreciate your legs more.

You get the point.

It?s fine to chase goals in hopes of obtaining another reason to be happy, in fact, you should, but don?t forget that you already have plenty to be happy about.

Instead of pursuing happiness, happily pursue more happiness. (Read that again and again until you get it.)

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Lesson #3: Most of the best memories you?ll have will involve other people.

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One of the most rewarding ways to invest your time is to spend it with other people. Life is a series of experiences, some good, some bad. Either way, it?s enhanced and made more memorable when other people are involved.

Relationships need nourishment. In order to create a deep bond with the important people in your life, you will need to make the time to connect with them. We all live busy lives and often times, we get so caught up with our careers and other commitments that we put the people most important to us on the back burner. How many people do you know who you used to be good friends with but now you rarely even talk to?

Relationships take work but because your life is enhanced by them, it?s a good idea to invest the time and energy in keeping them strong.

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Lesson #4: Success takes a ton of work.

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I have to admit that I?ve fallen for the whole easy path to success more than once in my life. The lure of achieving great results without putting in much effort is certainly enticing.

Look at the fitness industry and you?ll see dozens and dozens of products from miracle pills to exotic workout equipments. Not many of those infomercials convey the truth about getting fit. They make it seem as easy as possible in order to drive more sales.

The truth is, success in anything worthwhile is going to take a massive amount of work. If it didn?t, you would?ve already achieved it.

So the lesson here is to forget the easy path and take on the challenging path. When you come into the game knowing that it?s going to be tough, you?ll be a lot more mentally prepared to withstand any great obstacles that stand in your way.

Remember, there?s no shame in making success look hard. When you become successful, people will think you got lucky anyway.

Source: http://www.tipss.org/simple-life-lessons/

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