Simple Ideas for Spring

Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen, of the YOU series of books, have your detox plan for spring. Reduce your risk of illness and improve your quality of life with these tips.

 

• Use products that protect your pillows and mattresses from dust mites. Their excrement—which totals 2 pounds every two years in pillows—can lead directly to asthma. You can obtain 1-micron filter sheets and pillowcases that let the air in but keep the micro dust of the animals out. Or just change your pillows. 

• Get a do-it-yourself home-testing kit, and check your basement for radon and mold this week. Both have proven dangers, and you’ll never know unless you look. 

• Leave your shoes at the front door. You track in toxins like lawn-care pesticides, which can get trapped in the carpet and contaminate children. It’s an old practice and it works.  

• Don’t microwave plastic; you’ll get small amounts of the phthalates in your food when you heat it. Cover food with ceramic, glass, paper towels or wax paper instead.

 

How To Create A Brand

Want to create a brand from scratch? How do you do it? William Wang, who turned Vizio into one of the top brands in the world in less than 10 years, suggests these simple steps:

1. Timing is critical. Wang had been in the consumer electronics industry for almost 20 years when he started Vizio. “I waited and watched, and then saw an opportunity and saw that my potential competitors were asleep.”  
2. Be persistent. Wang spends a lot of time and energy on advertising. You have to get your name out there, and in different mediums, so that various people are exposed to it.  
3. Consider price carefully. “Selling for less, especially if you are selling to consumers, works.” Vizio certainly made a name for itself by selling a product people wanted—quality flat-screen televisions—for far less than comparable sets sold by other brands.  
4. Quality matters. Wang says low prices are not enough. You must sell a quality product at fair prices if you want to create a successful, memorable brand. “That can be a challenge,” Wang notes, but as his company has proven, it is both a challenge that can be met and one worth meeting.  
5. Focus on what the customer wants. Listen to them and adapt your business accordingly.

 

 

Success Starts With Self Building

W. Clement Stone was just 3 when his father died, leaving nothing but gambling debts and a widow and son in poverty. At age 6, he was selling newspapers on the street to help support his family. He thought of himself as a “self-builder” and ultimately became a pioneer in personal development, publishing Success Unlimited in 1954, the predecessor to SUCCESS magazine.

Stone documented his philosophies in the personal development classic he co-authored with Napoleon Hill in 1960, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. Here are some of his core principles:

1) Seek clarity of purpose.

“All personal achievement starts in the mind of the individual. Your personal achievement starts in your mind. The first step is to know exactly what your problem, goal or desire is.”

2) Develop a positive attitude.

“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”

3) Embrace failure.

“With a positive mental attitude failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again.”

4) Look for the opportunity.

“Every great man, every successful man, no matter what the field of endeavor, has known the magic that lies in these words: every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”

5) Know the secret to happiness.

“To be happy, make other people happy.”