When you develop the right
ATTITUDE OF MIND

“Body & Mind Development? Are you crazy? We only invest in “Skills Improvement”…you know, things like safety, operations, technology, management techniques. We don’t waste time on that “Positive Attitude” stuff!”

Sound familiar? Unfortunately, there are some people who still espouse that philosophy.

Would you feel safer in the air with a happy, positive pilot or a disgruntled, negative, angry pilot? Would you prefer a happy, positive, relaxed physician/ mechanic operating on you/your aircraft or a frustrated, upset, stressed-out physician/mechanic? Would you prefer a constructive, helpful, considerate associate as your team member or a complaining, demanding, selfish associate? Would you prefer a cheerful, loving, thoughtful spouse or a critical, impatient, whining spouse? How about your son, daughter, student, employee, employer, client or supplier…one with a dependable, positive attitude, no matter what happens…or one that explodes at the first sign of difficulty?

“Positive Attitudes,” dependable, reliable, positive attitudes, can be developed in anyone in their daily performance. The SUCCESSFUL LIFE Course has been helping people do this for over a quarter of a century…thousands of people, of all temperaments, from hundreds of companies. This kind of personal life-enhancement translates to bottom line results in safety, job performance, profits and longevity. We guarantee it! If you don’t experience noticeable, appreciable improvement immediately, there’s no charge for our services!

Positive Attitude enhancement is a basic prerequisite curriculum for all personal and employment development programs. If a person’s attitude is substandard, results of all “skills” improvement training will be substandard. You can build a winning organization by developing the positive personal power of your individual team members. That’s what the SUCCESSFUL LIFE Course is all about!

CBS News 60 Minutes said, “We did not believe it was possible to significantly improve a person’s performance patterns in three days. Yet, upon participating in this program, we found that lives were significantly improved as a result of the special techniques of this unique program.”

This intensive personal development program helps individuals attain, recognize, and enjoy the art of improved personal living; attitude improvement; more vibrant physical, mental, and emotional health; improved self-awareness, appreciation and direction; personal, business, and family goals establishment and achievement; and, the art of happy, successful daily living. You’ll learn specific techniques on how to relax, re-energize, and get the equivalent of a 2-hour relaxing nap in 15 minutes. You’ll learn how to effectively and persuasively deal with “difficult” people; how to defuse conflict and toxic situations; assertive, positive situation control; improved communications; personality profile recognition for improved interpersonal relationships; understanding and more effectively dealing with family, friends and business associates.

Ed, Earlene and their professional Executive Development Systems team help you implement real world solutions to the challenges of today…not theory, dimensional repositioning, diagnostic psychoanalysis, or integrated models for internal trade-offs…just practical, proven, specific daily living techniques on how to enjoy life rather than endure it…how to make your personal and business life less stressful and more successful.

1. Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

2. Thou shalt not be fearful, for fear makes us weak, doubtful and unproductive.

3. Thou shalt not cross bridges before you get to them.

4. Thou shalt be honest and trustworthy at all times, in all circumstances. Honesty is the mark of a great soul; dishonesty is despicable.

5. Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you for they make very poor bedfellows.

6. Thou shalt not borrow other people’s problems. They can take better care of them than you can.

7. Thou shalt not try to relive yesterday for good or ill—it is gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life today.

8. Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.

9. Thou shalt be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It’s hard to learn something new when you’re talking.

10. Thou shalt not become bogged-down by frustration, for 90 percent of it is rooted in self-pity and it will only interfere with positive action.

Written by R. Todd Eliason for Success Magazine July 2009.

For 40 years, Ed Foreman has made it his mission to help people the world over live happy, healthy, abundant lives.

If there were a way you could make every day a terrific day, you’d probably be interested. Wouldn’t you? To cynics, that may sound like an impossible dream, but for the past four decades Ed Foreman has helped people all over the world have more terrific days than bad days.

Growing up poor as the son of a peanut and sweet potato farmer in Portales, N.M., Foreman went from being a roustabout on oil rigs to the only person in 100 years to be elected to the U.S. Congress from two states (Texas and New Mexico). He has taken chances as an entrepreneur, finding both enormous success—and failures to boot. He now spends his days helping others learn from his experiences and take an easier, more successful route, one day at a time.

Raised on the Golden Rule

Foreman says he gets his sunny disposition on life from his mother. “I had these big ears and no hair but she told me I was beautiful and smart and taught me I could do anything I wanted in life if I was willing to work hard for it,” he says.

Shortly after graduating from New Mexico State University with an engineering degree, Foreman was inspired by Giant, a movie starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. The movie was about a poor man who came into a lot of money in the oil business. “I wanted to become financially independent and didn’t want to worry about where my money would be coming from,” Foreman says.

He took a job as a petroleum engineer and came up with a better, faster way to drill oil wells. Soon he was making money so fast he had to furnish an office and secretary to look legitimate to the IRS. “They were there because they couldn’t believe how anyone so young [26] could make so much money so fast, and do it honestly,” Foreman says.

Congress Calling

Although the IRS never found any accounting discrepancies, Foreman didn’t like what he felt was an intrusion into his private business life. “I became concerned about the size, power and control of the federal government, and I decided to run for Congress and do something about it,” he says.

With a little charm and a whole lot of work, Foreman beat out the incumbent Democrat and became the first Republican to be elected to the U.S. Congress from West Texas. His first stint in Washington didn’t last long; he was voted out in 1964 along with other Republicans. But Foreman was back a few years later, this time as a congressman from New Mexico, where he served until 1971.

Back to Business

Instead of staying in Washington, D.C., Foreman got into land development and worked in New Mexico at his brother’s petroleum distribution and concrete businesses.

Foreman started doing some motivational speaking for his employees just to get their spirits up. His speaking engagements caught the eye of his suppliers and customers. Soon his assistant was bombarded with paying speaking requests.

What people loved about Foreman was not only the message he delivered, but also the way he delivered it. “The message I was sharing wasn’t that different from other speakers at the time,” Foreman says. “But I think the difference was I delivered it with conviction, a little humor and the knowledge of having been there. I have experience in making payroll and went through an IRS audit. So I could talk to people with conviction and laugh about it at the same time because I had lived through it.”

Getting an assist from CBS News’ 60 Minutes

In the early 1980s, Foreman, along with his partner Earlene Vining, got a call from a producer of CBS News’ 60 Minutes who wanted to do a feature on their positive-attitude-development training program. Thinking it was a friend playing a prank, Foreman said no thanks and hung up on the producer. Ten days later, he got a call from Morley Safer. Foreman said, “Morley, I have never seen you do a positive piece in all the times I’ve watched your program. So why do you think I would want to subject my employees and suppliers to your kind of international ridicule?”

But Foreman offered Safer a deal: If the reporter and his crew came to Texas and participated in the three-day program, Foreman would consider doing the segment. To his surprise, Safer agreed. What resulted was a very positive segment on Foreman’s Successful Life Course that was shown by satellite around the world.

As a result of this free publicity, Foreman got calls from major corporations interested in the course. Today, he has students from 17 countries. “People wouldn’t be traveling halfway around the world and investing their own money on a thought-changing experience if it wasn’t having a significant impact on their lives,” Foreman says.

“That’s basically what we teach—the power of thought to make you into what you want to be.”

The Daily Menu: Living Your Way to the Good Life

For more than a quarter of a century, Foreman has been inspiring others to live happy, healthy, abundant and successful lives. And it all started with a very simple philosophy on how to have a terrific day, every day. Foreman says you decide whether or not you’re going to have a good day. It’s part of his Daily Menu, for laughing, loving and living your way to the good life.

“We teach that life comes to you every day and says, Here’s the menu for the day” Foreman says. “You can either have a terrible day or a terrific day. And you get to choose which side of the menu you are going to take. Successful daily living is brought about by having one happy, successful day. If you can find the formula on how to have one happy, successful day, and you can repeat that seven days in a row, you’ve had a good week. Now do that 52 times in a row, and what do you have? You’ve had a great year.”

Foreman says a successful day begins with getting up early, preferably before 6:30 a.m. or a couple of hours before departing for work. Next, he recommends putting something positive in your mind when you first wake up. “What we found is when you first awaken, you’re at the alpha level of your subconscious mind, which is the maximum brain energy learning level,” he says. “And whatever you put into the mind during those first few minutes begins the programming of your day.”

Afterward, Foreman recommends a little walk to watch the world wake up. “Observe the beauty of nature around you. Smell the freshness of the air. Begin to appreciate and give thanks for the many blessings you enjoy.”

Foreman says that later, when people ask you how you are, you answer with one word: terrific. “When you say that, you are triggering an entire reaction in your body,” he says. “And the body is saying, ‘Well, if the mind is saying I’m terrific, maybe I’ll put a spring in my step, or maybe I’ll put a smile on my face or put a song in my heart.’ As you continue to tell yourself that you’re happy, you will become happy.”

Think About What You Think About

If you catch yourself thinking about unhappiness, ill health or adversity, Foreman says you need to change the channel and think about what you want to happen. For example, if you’re watching a television program that’s making you feel worse, most people would turn off the television. Foreman disagrees. “If you turn it off, what do you think about? You think about what you were just watching. You see, the mind is never blank. So what you do is you change the channel to something more positive and uplifting. And you watch that for a little while, and then you turn it off. That’s why I tell people to think about what you’re thinking about. And if you’re not thinking good thoughts, then change the channel to what you want to have happen.”

Living a Paid Vacation

Walk the halls of Ed Foreman’s office and you will see walls covered with photos of a man who has lived a fulfilling life. And today he is leading the life he dreamed about when he was working his father’s farm in New Mexico. “I remember, I would look up into the skies and see planes that would go over our farm, and I would think, you know, someday I’m going to be on one of those planes and I’m going to be traveling to a far-off, beautiful place.”

Foreman has altered that dream a little, and instead of planes, he prefers to travel the country on his fleet of motorcycles. A few years ago, he rode his Honda Goldwing trike to Alaska, a 7,200-mile trip that took 35 days. “I’ve lived a paid vacation for the past 40 years,” Foreman says. “I’ve been able to speak and visit with people and help inspire them to live happy, healthy, abundant and successful lives. Isn’t life terrific?”

Looking for some fun, excitement, history and adventure? You’ll find all four…’n more…in Ecuador! Our three-week exploratory/study tour to Ecuador (December 29, 2009 to January 19, 2010) was truly interesting and informational. We met and talked with fascinating people… sponsor group included participants from USA, England, Australia and Canada at four 3-hour Improved Living Course sessions.

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We visited and photographed many locations from the northern border with Colombia, south along the Andes Mountains via Ibarra, Cotacachi, Otavalo, Mindo Village Cloud Forest, Quito, Ambato, active volcano near Banos, Riobamba, Alausi, Devil’s Nose train excursion, Ingapirca (Inca ruins), Cuenca, Chardeleg, to near the southern border with Peru.

Our itinerary included a regular Saturday “livestock exchange” (similar to a Navajo Indian Pow Wow), vegetable market and colorful handicraft vendors… the talented leather craftsmen, gold and silver artisans and remarkable world-renowned “PANAMA HAT” weaving, shaping and design operations… small mountain farms tilled with plows pulled by oxen… little rural villages with “ready-to-eat” hogs, chickens and guinea pigs displayed along the roadside.

We made a stopover in Guayaquil en route to the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the Pacific coast. An eight-day yacht cruise of Galapagos included giant tortoises, mating sea turtles, colorful, curious iguanas, acres of seals and sea lions, miniature penguins, sharks, whales, flamingos, albatrosses, and 1,633 varieties of other birds… towering cactus trees, mescal, volcano tubes, caves and craters… an enjoyable study tour of the Charles Darwin Center, plant and animal research and indigenous evolutionary development review.

Flight travel then to Coca, at the edge of Ecuadoran Amazon region, commonly known as “El Oriente,” followed by antique bus travel to the banks of lower Napo River, a major tributary to the Amazon River, then we navigated 3 hours down river in a large outboard canoe-type boat into the Amazon jungle. From there a humid, adventurous two-mile hike through the jungle to a picturesque swamp-lagoon where we then got into small canoes and paddled our way across an isolated, mirror-smooth lake to the picture-perfect SACHA LODGE with 26 thatched-roof cabins on stilts with hammocks and modern conveniences, flushing toilets, hot showers and ceiling fans… among wild fauna, butterflies, toucans, agoutis and monkeys.

In addition to our interactive educational sessions, international cultural and political exchanges, we recorded over 500 photographs, a few of which are shown here. People all around the world are similar in so many ways… once you get to know them… they are friendly and hospitable… working to make a decent life for themselves and their families… and open to learning “How to Make Every Day A Terrific Day!”

LIFE is GOOOD! The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. SUCCESS is loving life… and DARING to live it!

EARLENE VINING
ED FOREMAN

Ed says now he can ride 76 mph and is looking forward to 100 mph.

Texan’s youngest Congressman Ed Foreman.
In this photo: Ed Foreman
Photo: Leonard McCombe/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Jan 01, 1963

Who says you can’t have fun and continue business at the same time? With sophisticated cell phones and international communications connections, you’re “in the office” everywhere!

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We just completed a 4-week, 5,300-mile international motorcycle tour that had us visiting clients and conducting programs across 11 States of the USA, 5 Provinces of Canada, numerous State and National Parks, and a variety of unique resorts and villages.

We departed Dallas, June 26, 2009 going north through Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, crossing into Ontario, Canada, at International Falls, Minnesota. After 6 enjoyable days of fishing, outdoor exploring, and outward bound experiences on Lake of the Woods, south of Kenora, we ventured on west through Winnipeg, Manitoba, across the magnificent plains of Saskatchewan, to the bustling metropolis of Calgary, Alberta. Attending the historic, renowned Calgary Stampede was remarkable, “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth!,” and enjoy a “sampling” of the many photos taken along the way.

Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise…especially Banff and Jasper National Parks…are glorious sites! Traveling by motorcycle, you experience it all…sounds, sights, smells, temperature changes, rain, wind, sunshine…deer, bears, foxes, elk, buffalo, eagles, pelicans, etc.! We traveled up over the Continental Divide through the Rocky Mountains, down to Radium Hot Springs and Cranbrook, British Columbia, dodging a hailstorm here and there, to the quaint crossroads stopover at Elko, BC.

From BC, it was south through Glacier National Park in Montana, Whitefish, Great Falls, and Livingston…then into Wyoming, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks to Jackson Hole and Rock Springs…through the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area to Dutch John, Utah, to view brother, “Senator Chub Foreman’s,” work in constructing the magnificent Flaming Gorge Dam many years ago.

From Utah into Colorado through Dinosaur, Rangely, Grand Junction and Montrose to the fabulous villages of Ouray, Silverton, and Durango, we experienced hairpin switchbacks, mountains, waterfalls, rivers, and streams. At Pagosa Springs, we enjoyed the bubbling hot mineral baths.

Chama, New Mexico, is a charming village with lots of neat little riverside cabins and the historic Cumbres & Toltec railway that takes you up through the passes and colorful canyons, across bridges and streams to old mining and lumber camps. Then we explored on south through the Carson National Forest, Chimayo, Pojoaque and Tesque to the quaint pageantry of Santa Fe, where we enjoyed fresh roasted corn, tacos and goodies on the Plaza.

From Santa Fe to Las Vegas, NM, across the grassland ranches, to Tucumcari to Amarillo, Texas, Childress, Vernon and Wichita Falls, and back into Dallas…what fun, adventure and excitement…but it’s good to be back home for a few days…then the adventure continues!

Ed Foreman
Earlene Vining
Bryan Vining

Sometimes we get so caught up in getting things done that we forget to enjoy the process that leads to accomplishment.

There was a movie a year or so ago (I won’t tell you the name of the movie so I don’t spoil it if you haven’t seen it yet). The teacher was telling the student that there was something really cool to see at the top of this mountain trail. It took three hours to get there. All along the way, the student was excited and having fun, looking forward to seeing this really cool thing. When they got to the top, the student asked, “ok, what’s so cool?”. The teacher looked around and said “This rock is really interesting.” The student was visibly disappointed. The teacher said “but you’ve been excited and happy for the last 3 hours.” The lesson being, of course, to enjoy the getting there.

When you go to a movie… Do you go to “get it done”? Do you sit down in the theater and say “I hope we can get this movie over with quickly!”. No, of course not. We go to the theater to enjoy the plot unfolding, to enjoy the experience of the large screen, expansive sound, (and the good snacks).

As you’re planning your vacation, do you review your itinerary saying “We’re going to go there, there, there, and then back home. Oh wait, we are already home. There’s no reason to go, we have already accomplished the vacation.” Silly, right? The whole point of the vacation is to enjoy the trip, not to get it done.

We would be so much happier if we would just “enjoy the ride” no matter what we’re doing…working, eating, driving…whatever it is.

Enjoy the ride!

Want to know how to increase your wealth mentality, feel good, and help out a deserving person, all at the same time?

Leave a big tip when you go out to eat.

Very often, an extra $10 or $15 means quite a lot more to your waiter or waitress than it would to you or me.

They are working very hard for very little money. They may carry heavy trays or hot plates all day. They often have to put up with abusive customers. And still they put on a happy face and treat you like a guest.

These waiters and waitresses are not looking for a hand out. They are working for every cent they get.

The next time you go out to eat, take a few minutes to observe the person waiting on you. Watch how they take care of several parties at the same time. Notice their attitude when they talk to you. Most of the time, if you do this, you will get a new perspective on what they do.

When they do a good job, give them a bigger tip than what is expected. You’ll see someone seeing themselves with renewed self esteem. You’ll be helping a deserving person out. And you’ll feel good for brightening another person’s day. It will make you feel wealthy, too.

Where else can you do so much for so little?