SUMBANGAN : HARUSKAH MEMINTA INSENTIF PAJAK?

Salah satu rahasia sukses terbesar adalah “memberi” karena dengan memberi berarti kita mempunyai “lebih”. Ketika memberi, kita mengekspresikan bahwa kita berkelimpahan. Ekspresi berkelimpahan ini terpancar ke alam semesta dan sesuai dengan Hukum Daya Tarik (Law of Attraction), kita akan menarik keberlimpahan juga, bahkan berlipat-lipat.

Di sisi lain, ada istilah ”menukar” yang berarti memberi sesuatu dengan mengharapkan imbalan. Misalnya kita mau menukar pulpen dengan pensil. Kita memberikan pulpen kepada orang lain dan seketika itu kita mengharapkan akan menerima pensil.

Menyumbang termasuk pengertian memberi, bukan menukar. Pengertian sumbangan sendiri adalah pemberian sesuatu dengan tulus ikhlas kepada pihak lain dengan tujuan untuk meringankan beban/penderitaan orang yang menerima. Misalnya ada suatu bencana di suatu daerah. Orang-orang yang tertimpa bencana tentunya membutuhkan pertolongan untuk meringankan beban mereka. Pemberian kepada mereka inilah dinamakan sumbangan.

Sumbangan yang diberikan tentunya harus didasari perasaan tulus ikhlas, tanpa mengharapkan imbalan, baik imbalan langsung dari pihak yang menerima, maupun imbalan secara tidak langsung dari pihak lain (ketiga). Imbalan yang diharapkan dari pihak ketiga ini bisa dari Pemerintah berupa insentif pajak, atau bisa juga dari Tuhan Yang Maha Kuasa, berupa anugerah yang berlimpah.

Jika kita memberikan sumbangan, tetapi kita masih mengharapkan imbalan, baik langsung maupun tidak langsung, maka sumbangan tersebut belum bisa kita kategorikan sebagai ”memberi”, melainkan baru dalam taraf ”menukar”.
Nah, bagaimana perlakuan perpajakan khususnya Pajak Penghasilan terhadap sumbangan ini? Mumpung mulai tahun 2009 nanti kita akan menggunakan Undang-Undang Pajak Penghasilan yang baru, yang pada 2 September silam telah disetujui oleh wakil kita di DPR, ada baiknya kita juga ikut membahasnya.

Dalam ketentuan lama, segala bentuk sumbangan tidak boleh dibiayakan. Konsepnya waktu itu adalah menyumbang harus dilakukan dengan tulus ikhlas. Artinya, kalau kita sudah ikhlas memberikan sumbangan, kita tidak perlu lagi menghubung-hubungkannya dengan pajak. Kita tidak perlu lagi meminta kepada negara agar kita dapat keringanan pajak gara-gara kita telah menyumbang. Kalau mau menyumbang, menyumbanglah secara pribadi tanpa harus meminta negara untuk ikut membantu kita (dengan mengakuinya sebagai pengurang penghasilan kena pajak).

Sementara itu, dalam UU PPh yang baru, yang akan mulai berlaku 1 Januari 2009, beberapa bentuk sumbangan akan bisa dibiayakan. Sebagaimana diatur dalam Pasal 6, sumbangan yang dapat dibiayakan adalah: (a) sumbangan dalam rangka penanggulangan bencana nasional; (b) sumbangan dalam rangka penelitian dan pengembangan yang dilakukan di Indonesia; (c) sumbangan pembangunan infrastruktur sosial; (d) sumbangan fasilitas pendidikan; dan (e) sumbangan dalam rangka pembinaan olah raga.
Dalam Pasal 9 diatur juga bahwa zakat yang diterima oleh badan amil zakat atau lembaga amil zakat yang dibentuk atau disahkan oleh Pemerintah atau sumbangan keagamaan yang sifatnya wajib bagi pemeluk agama yang diakui di Indonesia, yang diterima oleh lembaga keagamaan yang dibentuk atau disahkan oleh Pemerintah, dapat dibiayakan.

Istilah ”dapat dibiayakan” di atas mengandung pengertian bahwa pihak penyumbang akan mendapatkan keringanan pajak sebesar 28% (untuk wajib pajak badan) atau 30% (untuk wajib pajak orang pribadi) dari jumlah yang mereka sumbangkan. Artinya, jika kita menyumbang dan termasuk kategori yang diatur dalam Undang-Undang Pajak Penghasilan, maka negara akan turut serta dalam bentuk keringanan pajak yang diberikan kepada penyumbang. Misalnya, Anda seorang wajib pajak yang menyumbang Rp100.000.000,00 untuk korban bencana nasional. Pada akhir tahun pajak, pada saat mengisi SPT Tahunan, Anda akan mendapat keringanan pajak sebesar Rp30.000.000,00.

Sebenarnya tanpa diiming-imingi insentif seperti ini, antusiasme masyarakat untuk menyisihkan hartanya untuk disumbangkan kepada korban bencana tidak perlu diragukan lagi. Orang akan berbondong-bondong untuk menyumbang, baik lewat media massa (radio, TV, koran, atau majalah), maupun lewat lembaga-lembaga lain. Ataupun masyarakat akan ramai-ramai membantu secara langsung, misalnya dengan membuat dapur umum, dan sebagainya.

Demikian juga untuk sumbangan keagamaan yang sifatnya wajib bagi pemeluknya. Tanpa ada insentif pajak, mereka sudah dengan perasaan tulus ikhlas menyisihkan sebagian penghasilannya untuk disumbangkan. Mereka tidak lagi berhitung akan mendapatkan sesuatu setelah melakukan perbuatan yang memang diwajibkan ajaran agamanya.
Sejak tahun 2001, pembayaran zakat kepada lembaga amil zakat yang dibentuk atau disahkan Pemerintah, sudah bisa dibiayakan. Namun dalam praktiknya, wajib pajak jarang yang memanfaatkan fasilitas ini, terutama wajib pajak orang pribadi yang tidak melakukan kegiatan usaha. Di samping karena sudah dilakukan dengan ikhlas, jika pembayaran zakat tersebut dibiayakan, maka SPT Tahunannya akan menjadi lebih bayar. Sebagai konskuensinya aparat pajak akan melakukan pemeriksaan.

Mulai tahun 2009, di samping zakat, semua bentuk sumbangan keagamaan yang sifatnya wajib bagi pemeluk agama yang diakui di Indonesia, yang diterima oleh lembaga keagamaan yang dibentuk atau disahkan oleh Pemerintah, dapat dibiayakan. Misalkan seorang umat Hindu yang telah membayar Dana Punia sebesar 2,5% dari penghasilannya kepada Badan Dharma Dana Nasional, maka orang tersebut akan mendapat keringanan pajak dari Pemerintah. Keringanan tersebut baru dapat dinikmati jika orang itu memperhitungkan dan melaporkannya dalam SPT Tahunan.

Kalau kita kembali pada pembahasan di awal, hal ini tentu menjadi sesuatu hal yang sangat menarik. Apakah atas sumbangan yang kita berikan, kita masih perlu meminta kompensasi dari negara dalam bentuk insentif pajak? Bukankah kita menyumbang dengan perasaan tulus ikhlas? Kalau kita masih mengharapkan sesuatu, bukankah itu sama maknanya dengan “menukar”?

Akankah kita bersedia menukar sumbangan yang kita berikan dengan hanya mendapatkan insentif pajak dari Pemerintah? Bukankah kalau kita “memberi”, kita akan mendapatkan keberlimpahan yang berlipat? Bukankah dengan sering dan banyak “memberi” (melalui sumbangan), pelanggan akan bertambah banyak, omzet akan menanjak, bisnis maju pesat, dan laba pun menjadi meningkat?

Nah, mulai tahun 2009 nanti, pada saat menghitung kewajiban perpajakan pada setiap akhir tahun, tentunya Anda akan dihadapkan pada pilihan : apakah atas sumbangan yang telah Anda keluarkan, Anda masih meminta kompensasi kepada negara ataukah diikhlaskan saja dengan tidak melaporkannya dalam SPT Tahunan? Anda sendiri yang memutuskannya.

Penulis:
I Nyoman Widia
Kaprodi Akuntansi STIE Tunas Nusantara

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

By Brian Tracy

Advancing Your Career
As your career advances, you move along the scale from employee, to supervisor to manager and finally, to leader. Managers, and some leaders, engage in what is called transactional leadership, the deployment and management of people and resources to get results.

Arouse Emotion In Others
However, at the highest end of the leadership scale, we come to what is called "transformational leadership." Transformational leadership is defined as leadership that arouses emotion, that taps into the emotional and spiritual resources of an organization. Transformational leadership empowers people to greatly exceed their previous levels of accomplishment.

Make People Feel Terrific
Empowerment is the key. Transformational leaders are those who can elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary men and women. The superior leader is like a catalyst in a chemical process that causes the other ingredients to work together in a superior fashion.

A Key Function of Leadership
Empowerment as a key function of leadership becomes even more important as the work force becomes dominated by members of the Generation X. These highly individualistic men and women are increasingly seeking higher meaning and purpose in their careers. They are not impressed by authority or hierarchy. If they don't get the satisfaction they are seeking from their work, they will go somewhere else. And the better they are at what they do, the more readily they will leave one job for another.

Provide the Emotional Glue
Transactional leadership is essential to getting the job done but transformational leadership is what provides the emotional glue that causes organizations and the people in them to excel.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to become a transformational leader and empower your people.

First, get excited about your work. The more excited and committed you are to your work, the more excited and committed will be the people around you. The leader always sets the tone for the department or organization.

Second, continually encourage and praise the people who work for you. The better you make people feel about themselves and their work, the more empowered they will feel and the more committed they will be to your company

Ada Apa dengan Tarif PPn.BM?

Dalam Rancangan Undang-Undang Pajak Pertambahan Nilai Barang dan Jasa dan Pajak Penjualan atas Barang Mewah (RUU PPN dan PPn.BM) yang telah diserahkan sejak 31 Agustus 2005 kepada DPR, Pemerintah mengusulkan kenaikan tarif PPn.BM dari yang semula maksimum 75% menjadi maksimum 200%. Menjelang pembahasannya di bulan Agustus ini, issue kenaikan tarif ini kembali mencuat dan menjadi polemik di berbagai media massa.

PPn.BM merupakan pajak tambahan yang dipungut atas konsumsi suatu barang (mewah) di samping Pajak Pertambahan Nilai (PPN). Artinya, apabila atas suatu barang tidak dipungut Pajak Pertambahan Nilai, maka PPn.BM juga tidak akan dikenakan atas barang tersebut. Sebaliknya, tidak terhadap semua barang yang dipungut PPN otomatis juga terutang PPn.BM. Hanya terhadap konsumsi barang-barang yang tergolong mewah saja yang dipungut PPn.BM.

Untuk dapat digolongkan sebagai barang mewah, ada beberapa syarat yang mesti dipenuhi (sebagaimana dimuat dalam Penjelasan Undang-Undang PPN dan PPn.BM), yaitu barang-barang tersebut tidak termasuk barang-barang kebutuhan pokok, atau barang-barang tersebut dikonsumsi oleh golongan masyarakat tertentu, atau pada umumnya barang tersebut dikonsumsi oleh masyarakat berpenghasilan tinggi, atau barang tersebut dikonsumsi untuk menunjukkan status, atau apabila dikonsumsi dapat merusak kesehatan dan moral masyarakat, serta mengganggu ketertiban masyarakat, seperti minuman beralkohol.

Peranan PPn.BM

Agar diperoleh gambaran yang berimbang, mari kita lihat terlebih dahulu peranan PPn.BM bagi pihak-pihak yang berkaitan dalam pemungutan PPn.BM, yaitu negara, konsumen, dan produsen (pabrikan). Di pihak negara terdapat Departemen Keuangan (dalam hal ini Direktorat Jenderal Pajak) sebagai pengumpul pendapatan negara, Departemen Perindustrian sebagai pembina produsen, Departemen Tenaga Kerja dan Transmigrasi sebagai pembina tenaga kerja, dan departemen-departemen lain yang mungkin berkaitan. Pihak konsumen sangat beraneka ragam, dari yang kaya hingga miskin, dan dari yang suka bermewah-mewah hingga yang hidup sederhana. Sementara itu, di pihak produsen terdapat produsen dari barang yang sangat mewah sampai dengan produsen barang yang tidak mewah.

Ada beberapa peran yang diemban jenis pajak ini dari sisi kepentingan negara. Pertama, dengan mengenakan PPn.BM, Pemerintah berharap dapat mengendalikan pola konsumsi – produksi masyarakat akan barang yang tergolong mewah dan secara tidak langsung juga konsumsi barang yang tidak mewah. Kedua, Pemerintah juga bermaksud dapat menyeimbangkan pembebanan pajak antara konsumen yang berpenghasilan rendah dengan konsumen yang berpenghasilan tinggi. Terakhir, dengan adanya pungutan PPn.BM, negara bisa menambah pundi-pundi APBN yang tentunya akan digunakan untuk menjalankan roda pemerintahan dan pembangunan.

Sementara itu, bagi konsumen, peranan PPn.BM (bersama PPN) adalah untuk membentuk pola dan prioritas konsumsi dari barang yang paling mewah sampai dengan yang tidak mewah. Pengenaan PPn.BM juga memberikan nuansa lain antara mengkonsumsi barang biasa dan mengkonsumsi barang mewah. Dengan membayar PPn.BM yang merupakan pajak tambahan di samping Pajak Pertambahan Nilai (PPN) atas konsumsi suatu barang, konsumen dapat merasakan ada sesuatu yang lain, jika dibandingkan dengan mengkonsumsi barang biasa (tanpa dipungut PPn.BM). Dengan adanya tarif PPn.BM yang baru, konsumen akan perlu mengatur kembali, baik jumlah maupun komposisi dari konsumsinya.

Demikian juga di pihak produsen, menghasilkan barang yang terkena pungutan PPn.BM akan berbeda dengan memproduksi barang biasa. Produsen perlu mengantisipasi tarif yang akan dikenakan dan harga akhir dari produknya untuk menentukan pilihan produk mana yang akan diproduksinya. Di samping itu, berapa jumlah produk yang diproduksinya juga terpengaruh oleh harga akhir (termasuk PPn.BM) dan daya beli dari konsumen.

Berdasarkan tinjauan dari ketiga sisi tersebut, tugas utama PPn.BM adalah untuk mencitrakan bahwa barang itu mewah, konsumsinya mewah, dan konsumennya pun mewah. Dengan demikian, dengan dikenakannya PPn.BM, kesan mewah benar-benar terasa. Selanjutnya, terserah pada konsumen dan produsen untuk menterjemahkan dan menyikapi PPn.BM ini dalam pengambilan keputusannya.

Apa yang harus dilakukan Pemerintah?

Setelah kita tahu peranan PPn.BM di atas, maka tugas pemerintah adalah mempertemukan berbagai kepentingan, baik kepentingan negara, konsumen, maupun produsen. Bagi negara, kepentingan penerimaan negara juga harus tercukupi, sedangkan bagi konsumen, kepuasan mengkonsumsi suatu barang dan juga barang lainnya (di luar barang yang terkena PPn.BM) harus tetap terpenuhi. Artinya, kepuasan untuk mengkonsumsi tidak terganggu oleh pungutan pajak yang tinggi. Sementara itu, bagi produsen, penarikan jenis pajak ini tidak akan mengganggu iklim produksi – distribusi mereka.

Tugas pemerintah berikutnya adalah menginventarisasikan barang-barang yang tergolong mewah. Harus dipilah mana barang yang mewah dengan berbagai tingkat kemewahannya dan mana yang tidak mewah. Dari hasil inventarisasi tersebut, kemudian ditentukan kelompok-kelompok barang beserta besaran tarif PPn.BM yang akan dikenakan, sedangkan terhadap barang di luar kelompok tersebut hanya dibebani PPN.

Akhirnya, Pemerintah harus dapat memberikan kepastian bahwa tarif yang sudah ditetapkan dan diberlakukan terhadap barang tertentu adalah pas, dapat diprediksi, dan tidak akan naik dikemudian hari. Mengapa tidak boleh naik? Hal ini karena derajat kemewahan suatu barang akan cenderung bergerak dari sangat mewah, mewah, hingga menjadi tidak mewah. Oleh karena itu, tarif PPn.BM terhadap suatu barang (barang yang sama) makin lama mestinya makin turun dan tidak boleh naik.

Hal-hal tersebut di atas perlu dipertegas dan dikomunikasikan oleh Pemerintah agar tidak mengganggu iklim investasi, produksi, dan ekonomi pada umumnya.

Kesimpulan

Direktur Jenderal Pajak, Darmin Nasution, sudah menegaskan di media massa bahwa usulan tarif PPn.BM tertinggi 200% tidak secara otomatis akan diterapkan pada saat berlakunya UU PPN dan PPn.BM. Tarif tersebut hanya dipasang untuk mengantisipasi kemungkinan-kemungkinan di masa mendatang akan muncul suatu produk yang tergolong sangat mewah yang perlu dikendalikan konsumsinya, sehingga memerlukan tarif yang sangat tinggi hingga 200%.

Selanjutnya, pernyataan Dirjen Pajak tersebut perlu dipertegas dan diwujudkan untuk menjiwai penyusunan Peraturan Pemerintah beserta peraturan-peraturan di bawahnya, sehingga tetap selaras dengan janji Darmin Nasution. Usulan tarif tersebut jangan hanya memandang dari sisi kepentingan penerimaan negara, tetapi yang harus perlu dijaga dan diperhatikan adalah usulan tarif tersebut jangan sampai mengganggu iklim berkonsumsi masyarakat dan iklim berproduksi produsen yang pada akhirnya malahan menjadi kontra-produktif.

Penulis:

Saliphasta S. (Dosen Magister Akuntansi Trisakti) dan I Nyoman Widia (Kaprodi Akuntansi STIE Tunas Nusantara)

MELEPASKAN MASA LALU

Kita bisa membagi waktu itu menjadi tiga, yaitu masa lalu, masa kini, dan masa depan. Masa lalu adalah waktu yang sudah lewat. Peristiwa-peristiwa yang sudah terjadi merupakan masa lalu kita. Masa kini adalah waktu saat ini, detik ini. Sementara itu masa depan adalah peristiwa/kejadian yang belum terjadi, peristiwa yang akan terjadi setelah detik/saat ini.

Karena peristiwanya sudah terjadi, maka masa lalu tidak bisa dan tidak mungkin kita ubah. Oleh karena itu, mari kita lepaskan masa lalu kita. Mari kita bebaskan diri kita dari keterikatan masa lalu kita. Keterikatan terhadap masa lalu akan mempengaruhi masa depan kita, bahkan bisa merusak masa depan kita.

Sebaliknya, mari kita nikmati masa kini kita. Kalau kita bisa hidup di masa kini dan terlepas dari bayang-bayang masa lalu (khususnya masa lalu yang negatif), di sinilah kita akan menemukan kebahagiaan.

Akhirnya, mari kita rancang masa depan kita. Mari kita ubah pilihan-pilihan kita, keputusan-keputusan kita, dan tindakan-tindakan kita, sehingga akan mengantarkan kita ke masa depan yang lebih baik, sesuai keinginan kita. Kita akan sampai pada tujuan kita, masa depan kita yang lebih sukses, lebih bahagia, dan lebih sejahtera.

Pengumuman Hasil Ujian CPNS Depkeu per Kota

Dari dua hari yang lalu memang susah untuk bisa masuk ke situs Departemen Keuangan khususnya yang memuat pengumuman hasil ujian TPA bagi CPNS Depkeu. Untuk bisa melihat hasil di beberapa kota, mungkin bisa diklik di bawah ini.

Excellence Combined With Integrity

By: Brian Tracy

How to set standards for excellence and back them with total integrity.

A Commitment to Excellence
Leaders have specific responsibilities and must fulfill certain requirements. One requirement of leadership is the ability to choose an area of excellence. Just as a good general chooses the terrain on which to do battle, an excellent leader chooses the area in which he and others are going to do an outstanding job. The commitment to excellence is one of the most powerful of all motivators. All leaders who change people and organizations are enthusiastic about achieving excellence in a particular area.

Be the Best!
The most motivational vision you can have for yourself and others is to "Be the best!" Many people don't yet realize that excellent performance in serving other people is an absolute, basic essential for survival in the economy of the future. Many individuals and companies still adhere to the idea that as long as they are no worse than anyone else, they can remain in business. That is just plain silly! It is prehistoric thinking. We are now in the age of excellence. Customers assume that they will get excellent quality, and if they don't, they will go to your competitors so fast, people's heads will spin.

Have A Vision of High Standards
As a leader, your job is to be excellent at what you do, to be the best in your chosen field of endeavor. Your job is to have a vision of high standards in serving people. You not only exemplify excellence in your own behavior, but you also translate it to others so that they, too, become committed to this vision.

This is the key to servant leadership. It is the commitment to doing work of the highest quality in the service of other people, both inside and outside the organization. Leadership today requires an equal focus on the people who must do the job, on the one hand, and the people who are expected to benefit from the job, on the other.

"Here's why I'm a winner in the game of life..." Ever wonder what stands between you and the life that you want to live? Why is it that some people always seem to win - while the finish line seems just out of your reach? It doesn't have to be this way. You can be the winner. You can be successful. You can be wealthy and achieve all of your dre ams - if you only knew how... What if I told you that by learning simple laws about life - you can turn what you have right now into the ric hes you've always dreamed of? ...Or that your family and love life, could become everything that you've always hoped they would be? Do you want to know the laws of success? There are laws that explain how people act in any given situation. Laws that explain why some people triumph while others fail. These laws can predict the outcome in the game of life. If you learn these laws, and apply them -- YOU will become a winner. Buy now and get my bestselling CD - For FREE! I want you to succeed. So when you buy The Universal Laws of Success and Achievement - I will give you my bestselling CD - The 21 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Money - absolutely FREE! This CD has helped thousands of people to create their own financial success. Buy The Universal Laws of Success and Achievement start living the life you've always wanted to live!

The Most Respected Quality
The second quality, which is perhaps the single most respected quality of leaders, is integrity. Integrity is complete, unflinching honesty with regard to everything that you say and do. Integrity underlies all the other qualities. Your measure of integrity is determined by how honest you are in the critical areas of your life.

Integrity means this: When someone asks you at the end of the day, "Did you do your very best?" you can look him in the eye and say, "Yes!" Integrity means this: When someone asks you if you could have done it better, you can honestly say, "No, I did everything I possibly could."

Integrity means that you, as a leader, admit your shortcomings. It means that you work to develop your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. Integrity means that you tell the truth, and that you live the truth in everything that you do and in all your relationships. Integrity means that you deal straightforwardly with people and situations and that you do not compromise what you believe to be true.

Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, identify the area of your work where excellent performance can contribute the very most to productivity and profits. Focus all your efforts in this area.

Second, do your very best on every task. Imagine that everyone is watching even when no one is watching. Imagine that everyone in your company was going to do their work exactly the way you do yours.

Never compromise your standards!

Email from Brian Tracy

This morning I have received email from Brian Tracy :

Nyoman,

Twenty-five legendary business geniuses will tell YOU how to improve your business, career and financial future in the next 90-180 days or less -- no matter what you currently do!

My good friend and marketing genius, Jay Abraham, just did something utterly impressive. I asked him to openly share what he did with you. He also agreed to let you "generously" experience this staggering event without charge. Here's HIS personal invitation to prosper:

Whenever I get the urge to engineer and orchestrate a one-of-a-kind business event, people think it can't possibly be that important.

But I have proven (in event after event) that I really CAN and DO introduce totally fresh thinking and breakthrough strategies that propel business owners and sales professionals to staggering profit and sales increases, rapidly and easily.

In all kinds of different business situations -- I've been able to stimulate "monster" growth, earnings and profit boosts.

How do I do it? I have a mastermind alliance, a Business Brain Trust that I turn to -- (constantly) -- for ideas, breakthroughs, fresh perspectives, assessments, on shifts in consumer response, psychology, etc.

My brain trust is composed of probably the finest business minds in the entrepreneurial world.

We're talking mammoth thinkers whose ideas and assistance is so prized that their clients regularly pay them fees of $25,000 to $100,000 PER DAY to tap into their precious business minds.

But I have to tell you, in all the years I've advised business owners and sales professionals, there's never been a time when shifting your thinking was as critical to success.

Frankly, if you could plug into the kinds of legendary experts that I regularly confer with - it would be easy to engineer continuously increasing sales and profits.

But that's never been possible for most of you. Their staggering prices and limited access make almost all of the experts in MY business Brain Trust unavailable to someone like you.

Until NOW, that is...

Because, ten weeks ago, I opened up the "profit floodgate" of windfall growth for a small group of invited attendees to a one-of-a-kind event that I organized in Los Angeles.

I called it "The Brain Trust Project."

My concept in orchestrating it was to bring together the finest array of world-class, cutting- edge business thinkers that I knew, to help struggling entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals get their businesses and careers going and growing...in a BIG way.

I used the economies of scale, coupled with my direct access -- to attract the top 25 business experts that I know.

We're talking legendary men and women that you probably don't even know about, because they typically travel in far higher, richer business circles than you frequent.

But they each know me, trust me - and they all have a strong affection for deserving, hard-working entrepreneurs and sales professionals like YOU.

They each agreed to openly share (with my attendees at the Los Angeles gathering) their individual, best-reasoned, best-researched expert ideas on what business changes you need to make NOW.

Changes that will help you to multiply the performance of your marketing, advertising, sales efforts, prospecting, lead generation/conversion, public relations, positioning, referrals, online marketing, etc.

I brought experts so "dizzyingly brilliant" that you have to hear them speak for yourself to fully comprehend what true business genius really looks (and sounds) like.

We're talking about you hearing definitive "top dog expert" on innovation and optimization in the field.

We're talking TWO Hall of Fame-worthy internet legends.

We're talking TWO sales training super-mavens whose combined thinking is light years ahead of almost anyone else.

We're talking the number one non-fiction author alive.

We're talking about another famous business expert who's written 30 bestselling business books.

We're talking the top two thought leaders on building trust with your buyers.

We're talking about a "mega-famous" expert on leveraging the efforts and energies of others to multiply YOUR results.

We're talking the top thinker on "personality" marketing and selling.

We're talking the top mind on selling to egocentrics.

We're talking the brightest light that I know on trend spotting and visionary, entrepreneurial thinking.

And on and on...

I believe that you could take the four days of brilliant idea-sharing and strategy-shifting advice each one of my 25 expert Brain Trust members shared AND...

You can use them to catapult YOUR business or selling career into greatness and make it wildly more profitable than you ever thought possible.

Today, more than any other time, you need this "Direct Access" to their world class, business brains.

But my program is over. You weren't there.

That's why I'm writing you, now...because you're someone Brian Tracy really respects and cares deeply about.

I'm inviting YOU to experience something unclassifiably enriching - Without Spending A Cent!

I've decided to let a group of people on Brian's list freely listen to a collection of "golden nugget," take-away samples of actual breakthrough ideas my Brain Trust shared at the live event.

I've patiently gone through each expert's session and identified the most stimulating and exciting, single idea that each expert shared.

I've taken the top ideas from each one and combined them together into one, 120-minute, ultra-fast paced, golden nugget, "take away" Sampler.

You're going to love listening to this "tour-de- force" introduction to the power that a world- class, business Brain Trust can bring to your business building and selling efforts.

You can listen in on one of three, 120-minute broadcasts that I'm hosting for Brian's subscribers-ONLY -- via teleconference -- without any charge to you, whatsoever!

I'm doing this because Brian wanted me to introduce you to (probably) the most important four-day, career-redefining event I've ever held.

I'm betting that -- once you hear just 120 minutes worth of brilliance from the four day event -- you're going to want to hear the entire four-day unhedged experience via DVD and CD.

You'll be even more motivated to test out the complete, four-day program, when you learn that I'm not asking for any commitment or payment to send them all out to you.

But that's way ahead of this invitation.

Right now, I'm inviting YOU (as a valued subscriber of Brian Tracy) to register "immediately" to be on one of the 90-minute teleconference broadcasts I'm doing just for him.

No cost, no obligation. My only request is that you show up -- if you sign up.

But since I'm sending this invitation to 200,000 people on Brian's list, only 1,000-max can get on each of three calls.

That means 197,000 of you won't get on. I'm sorry, but logistics limit available lines.

If you want in on one of these three broadcasts, I encourage you to register now!

Brian asked me to prove to you -- first-hand -- how to get any business or career exploding to greatness, TODAY.

By listening for just 120 minutes, you'll see and hear how it's possible to multiply your business and sales success many times over.

Again, click here to register.

Best regards,

Jay Abraham

P.S. I think the world of Brian Tracy. For him to want you to experience THIS 120-minute sampler tells me he thinks the world of YOU, too.

INCREASE YOUR THREE TYPES OF ENERGY

Increase Your Three Types of Energy
By: Brian Tracy

Most successful people can be characterized as having very high levels of energy. Since energy is the fuel with which everything is achieved, there seems to be a direct relationship between energy levels and levels of accomplishment. It is hard to imagine a tired, burned-out person achieving much in life. On the other hand, energetic, positive, forward-moving individuals seem to get and enjoy far more of the things life has to offer than does the average person.

Physical Energy is Basic
We have been led to believe that there is basically one kind of energy. We supposedly replenish this energy by sleeping at night, and during the day, we use it up again. It is as though we are machines powered by batteries, and each night we recharge our batteries for seven or eight hours. However, there are some problems with this view of energy. The biggest problem is that it does not deal with the fact that there are actually three different kinds of energy, each of which is necessary for maximum performance.

The three main forms are physical energy, emotional energy, and mental energy. Each of these energies is different, but they are interrelated, and they depend on each other.

The Sweat of Your Brow
Physical energy is raw energy, coarse energy, bulk energy, what we call "meat-and-potatoes" energy. Your physical energy is what you use to do physical labor. It is the primary energy applied by men and women who earn their livings by the sweat of their brow.

HOW MANY WORDS DO YOU KNOW?

Average people in the world use less than 10 percent of theirs brains. According to the Brian Institute at Stanford University, average people use their potential closer to 2 percent.

Word knowledge is directly linked to intelligence and accomplishment. There are more than 600,000 words in the English language. The average person uses only about 1,200 of these words in the daily conversation. About 85 percent of all English usage is covered by 2,000 words and fully 95 percent of newspaper, magazines, radio, and television use about 4,000 out of the 600,000 words available.

There is a direct relationship between your knowledge and use of words and your income, and between word usage and intelligence. Each word is actually a mental construct. It represent a thought. The more words you know and can use, the more complex and accurate thoughts you can think. People with extensive vocabularies are capable of higher level functioning, and are far more creative and insightful than those with limited word knowledge. People with limited vocabularies have limited thinking abilities as well.

So, how many words do you know?

Banning Private Motor Vehicles in City Centres

Because of climate change issue, many people, including governments, are discussing the idea of banning private motor vehicles in city centres. Governments want to control the number of cars entering their city centres in several ways. However, some people have some arguments against the policy.

There are two advantages in banning private motor vehicles in city centres. First, this policy perhaps leads to reduce pollution in the city centres. Gas emissions from motor vehicles bring about pollution. Only public transportations could enter the city centres. As a result, gas emissions can be reduced. Therefore, it can reduce pollution. Secondly, banning private motor vehicles in city centres is frequently an effective means of minimizing traffic jams. People can use public transportations only, thus there are a few cars in the city centres. Consequently, there is no traffic jams.

On the other hand, there are two major reasons against this form of interdicting private motor vehicles in city centres. Firstly, not all the destinations might be reached by the public transportations. If people want to go to a certain place, it is a problem if there are no public transportations to go there. As a consequence, private motor vehicles are still needed. Secondly, uncomfortable public transportations are likely to lead to people using private motor vehicles. People prefer to use more suitable ones than others.

Overall, the arguments against banning private motor vehicles outweigh the arguments in favour. Governments should improve the public transportations first, so people prefer to choose them than private motor vehicles. As a result, banning private motor vehicles in city centres is usually an effective solution for climate change issue.

The Cause of Stress Among Young People

Nowadays, not only in developed countries, but also in under developed countries, many young people seem to suffer from stress.

There are two situations which probably lead to stress among young people. Firstly, stress brought about by broken homes. Dispute or disharmony between parents are frequently an effective means of reducing attention and love from parents to children. Almost everyday they see disputes between their parents. The parents do not care about them. They feel alone and negative thoughts are accumulated in their mind. Consequently, they seem to suffer from stress. Secondly, a lot of homework is likely to lead to stress among young people. It appears that they spend lots of time to do homework, so they can not play games with friends. The homework might be too difficult. As a result, they can not do it correctly. This situation, if it occurs frequently, probably leads to stress among young people.

There are two solutions to ameliorate these situations. First, a harmonised family a cause of increasing attention and love each another between parents and children. If families are happy, they can give more love and attention to their children. As a consequense, they could avoid stress. Secondly, teacher should give less homework to students, in point of fact, no homework. Students should do their work at school until it is finished. Therefore, they could play games with friends after school.

In order to avoid suffer from stress among young people, it is important to set up a sweet and loving family.