Today is Friday and you know what that means. It’s time for another Dear Burt.

Today I’ve decided to address the 7 years period. It’s quite a broad subject so I had a long somewhat involved answer it.

Every 7 years we enter into another octave of life.

The difference in these cycles is most notable during the early, formative years. The 14 year old is drastically different from the 7 year old, the 21 year old is miles apart from the 14 year old and so on. While there remains a vast difference between the ages of 7 and 14, we tend not to notice as big of one between the ages of 21 to 28, 28 to 35, and so forth but the difference still exists.

What we can expect from each cycle or octave depends on our intent. If you believe that at a given age you’re “old”, then you’ll reflect age. If you believe it’s a new start, then watch out world, here you come.

So set the intention today to approach either your current octave or your upcoming one as a fresh start at life and don’t think of yourself as getting older, you’re simply being given an opportunity to do it all again. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.

Now onto the questions for this week

Dear Burt,

Thanks for all your weekly comments, I always look forward to them. You mentioned something about the SEVEN YEAR PERIODS of life. This week I will be hitting age 71. Entering the 11th. period. Any comments on that period, what to expect, etc.?James

Dear Burt,

Thanks Burt, I also enjoy these weekly videos very much. I have a question concerning Quantum Jumping. Is it possible to experience a Quantum Jump through dreams?David

Dear Burt,

Burt, I want to read your books but I can’t find them anywhere. Do you have them in e-book format? I’ve wanted to read them from the moment I was aware of them but didn’t know how to get them. Please e-mail me as I know no other way to get your response. Thanks — Love your painting. I am an artist as well. I live in Commerce, GA a small, small place and I like it that way. Thanks for sharing your wisdom. I will think of my head and eye when they ache. Epiclaritis be gone!Carla

Dear Burt,

Thanks again Burt. I look fo­ward to Fridays! Can you tell me the difference between Reiki and Qigong energy work? Do they both work from a distance? Do they work better in person? PS I love the picture!Valerie

Dear Burt,

I really look forward to Friday evenings when I get to listen to your message. I have been listening to the Daisy Pond for quite some time now. Somewhere I read that it is not good to fall asleep during med­i­ta­tion. I seem to fall asleep every time. Could you share your thoughts on this? I am trying to do a new set of cds that include relaxation, breathing techniques, and healing and want to get the most from them. Thank you.Lin

Dear Burt,

Love your ”Dear Burt”, so insight­ful. I have been a fol­lower of your work for a cou­ple of years now and I must say, my life is so much more fun now. I quit hav­ing excuses; I only have projects now, tons of projects. I don’t worry any­more and I cer­tainly don’t lack in any way shape or form. I am happy and ful­filled. Thank you. Just one ques­tion. I still fall asleep some­times when med­i­tat­ing. I knew it was nor­mal when I started but how long is this going to last?Thank, love your stuff. Martyne from Quebec City Canada

Here is my video response:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of “Dear Burt”. Please leave your questions and comments for next week.

Sincerely,

Burt

How’s this for an eye-opening statistic?

Studies show that a whopping  88 percent of people who make New Year Resolutions fail to accomplish them. In fact, most people already give up on them before Valentine’s Day!

We’re almost at the end of January, so I must ask you…

How are yours coming along?

Have you cut down on or stopped a bad habit like drinking, smoking or snacking?
Have you began to lose those extra pounds?
Have you started learning that new hobby, or building the foundations for that new business?

I hope you’re doing better than most people, because if there’s one thing many of us are good at, it’s making excuses!

How many times have you heard someone — or even yourself — saying something along the lines of…

“It’s still early in the year, I’ve got plenty time to catch up.“
“It’s too difficult. Who am I trying to kid?“
“I’m not going to force it. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

Even worse, some of us don’t even bother making an excuse! We just sweep them under the carpet and try our best to forget them.

But really, you’re not just sweeping your resolution under the carpet — you’re also sweeping away any hopes of becoming a better person.

So why does this happen to so many people?

Let me tell you the truth — every broken New Year Resolution always boils down to at least one of the following reasons…

I call them ‘The 3 Enemies of New Year Resolutions’:

1. You are not 100% committed to taking massive action

2. You don’t know where to start

3. You don’t have the right tools to get you started

Now I’m going to let you in on a little secret…

One of my New Year Resolutions was to help you achieve yours

And that’s why over the next couple of days, I’m going to tell you exactly what you need to do to take down these ‘Enemies’, and finally start achieving your New Year Resolutions.

(And trust me, it’s a lot easier than you might think!)

We’re going to start with the first step…

I need you to make a commitment.

In the comments section below, write down your list of New Year Resolutions. They can be as big or as little as you want them to be — as long as you are 100% committed to achieving them.

Start your comment with the following line:

“Burt, I am 100% committed to achieving the following New Year Resolutions by December 31, 2010″

And then, just continue writing down your resolutions in a numbered list.

Can’t wait to hear from you

Sincerely,

Burt

Dear Alexandra,

None of this would have been possible without you.

You’ve been amazing to work with, and more importantly a true friend over the year plus we’ve known each other.

We started out with nothing but a dream, and look where it’s taken us.

The American Monk is as much your achievement as it is mine. To say I appreciate all the effort and dedication you’ve put into this dream would be an understatement.

I see it as much more than just setting up websites and teleseminars, sending emails and helping out our members — I see you as a partner in our quest for making the world a better, more enlightened place.

Your patience, resourcefulness and kindness continue to inspire me to reach greater heights, and I can only hope that I’ve been able to do the same for you.

Remember that weekend we spent individually wrapping up copies of the MindBox just so we could get them out to our members on time? Things were just a little more chaotic back then, but you stood by me without a single complaint.

I could go on and on here, but I think you get the idea. You’ve been a true blessing to me, and I can’t wait to see what else the future holds for us.

Happy Birthday!

Burt

P.S. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone how young you’re turning

The above letter is my birthday message for my assistant Alexandra. If you’re subscribed to my mailing list, you’ll be familiar with her through her emails to you. I’d like to make this one really special for her, so I’d really appreciate if you could send her a quick birthday message in the comments section below.

I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she receives all your wonderful wishes. Lets try to blow past our record of 908 comments!

Sincerely,

Burt

A recent study has found that the achievement gap between white and African-American students significantly decreased immediately after President Obama’s nomination acceptance speech, and just after his election victory.

What this means is that President Obama’s achievements have directly influenced black children in America to rise up and do better in the classroom.

The study was featured in the New York Times, and you can see it for yourself here.

Click here to read the article

This is an incredible finding, and it just goes to show how powerful role models can be in our lives.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this:

• Why do you think the Obama Effect happened?
• Have you personally observed any cases of the Obama Effect?
• What do you think this means for our future?

Please leave your comments in the box below.