At work or play you're permanently being guided by an internal emotional guidance system. It's like one of the in-car GPS navigation systems. You punch in where you want to go and you constantly receive feedback as to whether or not you're on the right road.

If you watched "The Secret" many of the teachers talked about listening to your inner wisdom.

How many of you have heard of the saying "Ask and you shall receive"? Ok - great concept, but how does it actually work? Many thinkers, religious, new age and scientific have been exploring this puzzle in recent years.

Have you ever decided that you need to buy a washing machine and then suddenly noticed there is a rush of companies advertising washing machines? What about if you are expecting a baby - noticed how many people are pregnant around you?

This is due to a part of your brain called the reticular activating system.

The hardest job you will ever have is managing or teaching another person, whether that other person is an employee or a child.

It always amuses me that people place a high value on skills such as engineering, economics, medicine and yet what makes or breaks people, defines their life success and how they are seen in society are generally the so called "soft skills" of communication, leadership and interpersonal relationships.

Blogs and blogging is a fascinating social phenomenon. Blogs are similar to on-line bulletin boards. People use blogs as a way of self expression, saying what they think or feel about a topic or an issue, or in response to someone else's thoughts. Many people have their own personal blog to journal their day or their lives.

It is also an interesting phenomenon that people feel more open when communicating via email, text or a blog.

I love the end of financial year. I look forward to checking out my profit and loss statements and reviewing how the year has gone.

What many people are only just starting to realize is that your profitability directly reflects your thinking and approach. Your balance sheets tell you very clearly what you have been thinking during the year.

Think back to when you were a child for a moment - how did you feel when the postal worker delivered a letter addressed just to you? Most kids feel excitement, enjoyment and enthusiasm when they get a letter. It doesn't matter what the letter contained - the important thing was that it was addressed to them.

Now fast forward to today - how do you feel when you sort through your mail? Days when you get nothing but bills - I am betting you don't feel so great.

Headlines sell.

Take a look at any magazine front cover and you will see a stack of headlines enticing you to read further. The evening news bulletin - you hear headlines at the top of the news before they go into content. Direct mail - the headline is the difference between reading and binning your letter. Email - the subject line will determine whether or not your mail gets opened.

I am a closet Greenie - I love recycling things and finding lots of new uses for old things. A few years ago, a friend of mine suggested that articles could also be recycled. I was intrigued ... how can you recycle an article?

Before I share their secret - here's a quick business-marketing lesson.

In business you spend a lot of time building your brand to let people know you exist and to attract clients to you.

It costs about 3 times more to find a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer. But what does that mean? For most businesses, your best investment can and should be in keeping your existing customers happy, rather than always chasing new customers.

Many businesses I work with have functioning client acquisition strategies, but have nothing put in place to keep their existing customers satisfied.

Here in Australia we are heading into a Federal election in the near future. Over the years both in my office bearer roles in our local Chamber of Commerce as well as in my business consulting part of my business, I have closely observed businesses on the lead-up to an election.

There are some very clear business trends that smart businesses need to know and work within.

Auto-responders are a business's best friend. Before we cover how to write fantastic auto-responders, here is a quick recap. What exactly is an auto-responder? Think about when you meet someone and you ask them "How are you?" Most times the automatic response is "Fine thanks". People don't even think - the answer just automatically comes out.