4 surefire ways to skyrocket your popularity in life and love.

Illustrations by Jeff 'Wizard of Draws' Bucchino at Cartoon Clip Art

My ex-partner was an expert palm reader. She was also the most polular woman I've ever met.

Wherever she went friends and strangers alike would have her reading their palms within minutes, clamouring to be next. I once went to visit her in hospital and found her surrounded by nurses all with their hands in the air like it was a hold-up.

Let me tell you, everyone wants their palms read. And therein lies the secret of the guaranteed popularity of one who can read palms ... or perform any kind of Fortune Telling. Here are some links to get you started TONIGHT (if not sooner).

Telling people's fortunes comes in varying degrees of difficulty (you may like to go for something a little deeper like astrology or tarot ) ... on the other hand you can use a knowledge of palmistry for serious readings as well as on-the spot party tricks (or for when you're in hospital!). Or then there's the gentle art of reading tea leaves Here's another way to wow them all when you take out an ordinary deck of playing cards and offer to tell their fortunes with the fancy name of cartomancy Meanwhile get yourself a FREE numerology reading and/or download the course.

.Choose the one (or two or three) that speak to you ... my partner could also read the Tarot and had more than a superficial knowledge of astrology.

I want to share with you an amazing book I came across of over 400 pages called 'Fortune Telling Secrets'. This incledible book - which you can download right now and be reading in 5 or 10 minutes' time - covers absolutely everything imaginable ... how to interpret dreams, read palms, dice, dominoes, playing cards, tea leaves and stuff you wouldn't believe.

I have to admit that the story of the book's origins seems a little hard to swallow ... has someone been watching too many Indiana Jones movies? But then, coming up with a book over 400 pages long is no mean feat ... it took me 5 years to write a book (see story below) half that length. Get this gem now and be reading your friends' tea leaves tomorrow!

And you can (rightly) boast that your teacher was Madame Thibodeaux of New Orleans!

(Clarification. You may be surprised, as I was, that the 'Fortune Telling Secrets' book is only 128 pages long. Don't worry, you also get 2 free bonuses - 'Tarot Card Secrets' (175 pages) and 'Madame Thibodeaux's Fortune Teller' (115 pages) which all add up to 418 pages. Clearly they're reproductions of old books which, as they were, tend to be a bit rambling. However, you will surely find much information in those 418 pages which you can use. Maybe pick one or two areas in which to claim as your own specialty to impress everyone.)

Recently I ran into a friend at the local cafe and mentioned that I was taking up painting. Her friend immediately lit up and interrupted,

"Oh, are you a painter?"

Mention you're a painter or an artist and suddenly you have everyone's attention, total strangers included. People seem to think that anyone who paints holds some kind of special magic, that "creating" makes them somehow different from everyone else. And maybe they are.

The same happens whenever I mention that I'm writing, or have written, a book. I'll be at the hairdresser's and sooner or later I'm asked,

"So, what have you been doing today?"

"I've written a few pages of my book."

Immediately the standard questioning is replaced by a genuine interest in me and my doings.

Once you are a real author with a real book to promote, you can expect newspaper articles, radio interviews, book signings and reviews, at first in your local area then, if you so choose, state-wide and even nationally (for example, the New York Times Book Reviews). How you accomplish all this is covered in the "how to" guides below.

Suddenly, you've become extremely popular. Why do people want authors to sign their books? Because an author, in having "created" this item called a book, is valued in the community, if only for your autograph. You've joined the ranks of the rich and famous and highly respected celebreties. There's a belief that anyone who writes a book must be terribly knowledgeable (not necessarily so). And that they live an enviable lifestyle free to live wherever they choose. Don't believe it's possible? A writer who's actually done it has written a complete everything-you-ever-need-to-know guide on ''How to Work and Live Abroad from the Caribbean: It's Easier Than You Think to Make the Move to an Island Paradise'. While you're there I recommend you download the excellent FREE ebook 'Living the Freelance Life'.

The beauty of being a painter or an author, or both, is that ANYONE can be one ... and since the painting or the book is the product of the mind of the individual, as long as you have one (a mind) then that's basically all you need to be creative with a little expert instruction. nor does it cost heaps of money. I've self-published my book for nothing. With today's digital technology and the Internet I wrote and published a 211 page book AT NO COST. All I've paid is the price of a printed copy of the book.

Think you can't write a book for nuts? Not true. You can write an e-book in 3 days(which you can also publish as a physical book), that famous novel in a month you've had in the back of your mind for years, or if that still sounds impossible what about writing a children's book or, to tie in with your next holiday, the glamorous world of the travel writer gets you (and your companion) heaps of perks, freebies and upgrades on your trip. Or start today writing your own money-making blog. Your blogs will become popular by announcing each post to your friends/followers on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites.

OK then, there's nothing to stop you painting ONE work of art. Just one! Who cares what it looks like, as long as you can hang it on your wall where all can see and admire your genius. I suggest watercolour or acrylic paint and a few sheets of watercolour paper is all you need to start. Get your FREE 'Watercolour Secrets' ebook which you can download immediately.

Not long ago my granddaughter painted something new. Instead of the usual family stick figures or the landscapes with green grass at the bottom and blue sky and an orange sun across the top, she just pushed paint around a sheet of paper. It was nothing, but I liked the way the colours were interacting on the page. So I went to the local charity shop, bought a framed print for $3, replaced the awful print with my granddaughters masterpiece and now it's hanging on my living room wall for everyone to admire. With the addition of a white mask to enhance the picture and being behind glass in a frame, it looks great.

What my 6 year-old granddaughter can do, with a little help from the charity shop, so can you. All you need is one painting and you're a painter to the rest of the world.

PS. If you'd like some help on how to become a genius overnight then this could be the way to go ... find your inner genius in minutes!

The greatest lesson I learned from my life changing predicament was that I needed to find the "real me". I was shocked by the realisation that I had been living a lie, that that person who crashed and burned was not really ME! In every respecy - lifestyle, career, personality, goals, friendships (who all deserted me when I had "failed"), relationships, what made me happy, everything. Even my own self image.

Finding yourself, and living it, is the greatest popularity secret of all ... because people are going to like you, even to seek you out, which includes soulmates, because of who you are. It's easy to pick the phonies, even if it's an unconscious thing. Observe for yourself, can you pick the phonies, those who are not being true to themselves?

What I had desperately needed, and not found, was something like this extensive in-depth Life Coaching Secrets Course which, obviously, I've now found when the drama is all over. If you feel such a course would be helpful I can recommend it. You can do the course for yourself, but it's also structured as a training course complete with an official diploma to pin on your wall to say you're qualified to coach others. Which I think is an interesting prospect. Or for something simpler look at these 50 Life Coaching Exercises

Being a professional Life Coach would sure make you popular!

PS. Read my other lenses on how finding your real self can attract your soulmate, change your luck, find your perfect career, even explain "the meaning of life" ...

How many of us know much about relationships. Yet it's such a critical issue that we should be taught the subject at school. Instead most of us learn by trial and error ... in my case, mostly error. I wish I'd known about Michael Webb.

There are thousands of marriage counselors and millions of relationship self-help books. So what makes his 50 Secrets of Blissful Relationships any different?

First of all, it's great to see that, unlike many other authors, Michael Webb (who has appeared on Oprah as well as many other TV shows) let's you inside his world. You get real-life examples of ways to solve relationship challenges, all based on his own personal life.

Second, unlike many other "experts" and marriage counselors, Michael Webb walks the walk. Inside this book, you learn exactly what he's done to make this a reality. Everything you read, he does or has done to improve his relationship, and that's what I really wanted to see - experience and real-life practice.

The book itself is simply set out with about one tip per day and just continues like this until the end of the book. Just about every tip had me shaking my head in agreement, as it gave me real-life solutions and several of those "a-ha" moments of profound understanding, everything I wish I'd known in the past.

The only real down side of the book is that every tip is set out with the same formula: story or unrelated example, followed by how that example ties into relationships and that exact topic.

If you're impatient or in a hurry, you can always start about halfway down and find out exactly what point he's trying to make.

Also, instead of the tip titles providing a clear "how to solve X problem" or a clear topic description, it simply has a phrase that ties together with the information. Now while this is no big deal, it would have been nice to be able to skim the book to exactly the advice I wanted. Although if you read the information on the sales page, you can work out what information belongs where in the book. So it's not too bad.

All in all, this is one of the best relationship books I've ever seen and these relationship secrets could have saved me a lot of heartache, if not any one of my failed relationships.

PS. Learn how to be cool totally with the author's complete relationship library of 16 ebooks at a SERIOUS DISCOUNT for the whole package. Together, they cover everything you would ever want to know about romance, dating, relationships, marriage and sex. Get this huge relationship library and you'll be more than popular with the opposite sex.