July 2008

How are you handling higher gas prices? 

Do you moan and groan when you pull up to refill your car?

Some people complain, others just walk or car pool or bike more, and still others invent new solutions — like cool new cars.

Since I enjoy attracting new cars, I’m impressed with the latter group of people.

They are seeing opportunities and acting on them.

I’ve heard of all electric cars (such as the Tesla), all water cars, all solar cars, and of course a wide variety of hybrids.

One of the new hybrids has me excited. It’s a hydrogen-gas hybrid that’s still a super exotic race car. A limited edition one, to boot.

It’s called The Scorpion.

And it’s made right here in Texas, in fact only an hour away from my home.

Ronn Motor Company, Inc., based near Austin, was founded by automotive entrepreneur and visionary Ronn Maxwell, and former Dell, Inc. executive Adrian Pylypec.

Their car was just proclaimed Publisher’s Choice in the August issue of duPont REGISTRY: A Buyers Gallery of Fine Automobiles®.

The engine in the Scorpion hot rod is an Acura 3.5 litre V6, which generates 450 hp in twin turbo configuration. 

That’s about 200 mph.

Yet it gets about 40 miles per gallon.

And the CO2 emissions are nearly zero.

For a street legal race car, this is astonishing. 

The great gas mileage and zero emissions are due to a blend of hydrogen and gasoline.

As I understand it, the hydrogen is generated directly from an on-board water tank that holds 3 gallons of water, and only has to be refilled every 1,000 miles.

This clever solution avoids the need for heavy and expensive hydrogen tanks in the car itself.

Never before has an auto manufacturer included a hydrogen generator as a standard part of an automobile. This could be the end of the catalytic convertor.

I haven’t seen the actual car yet, but plan to visit the shop where it’s being made and ride in one later this week.

And at $150,000, I may order one of the first ones, or a special edition version of it, for myself.

My point here is that when you see a problem, do you also see the opportunity?

Donny Deutsch of CNBC’s The Big Idea repeatedly says that when you complain about something, right there is your ticket to wealth.

Other people might have the same complaint. Solve it and get rich.

Personally, I’ve never liked scorpions — until now.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS — You can read more about The Scorpion, and see some more pictures, at www.ronnmotors.com The company is also looking for investors, and has publicly traded stock. Visit their site for details.

 Peter Wink, my Vice-President of Marketing for my company, Hypnotic Marketing, Inc., said you wanted to know what books I’m reading. I suspect Peter wants to know, not you, but in case you’re interested, here goes:

Robert Collier’s How to Make Money At Home In Spare Time By Mail in Seven Lessons.

I’m a Robert Collier disciple, collector, and addict. His famous Robert Collier Letter Book changed my life as a writer. His early metaphysical books, such as The Secret of the Ages, changed my life as a teenager. I can’t believe I never knew of his course on making money by mail. I’m jealous that Bernie Malonson found it, not me, but I’m glad it’s back in print. Collier’s book is breezy reading, and the dozens of sales letter examples are priceless. The book is dated, as it came out originally in the late 1940s, but still. This is a gem. Another masterpiece by the original hypnotic writer: Robert Collier. Get it. Read it. Study it.

Magic In Practice: Introducing Medical NLP: The Art and Science of Language in Healing and Health by Garner Thomson with Dr. Khalid Khan. 

You shouldn’t be surprised by this one. I’m interested in language as well as health and healing. This one combines them all. It’s been blessed by NLP cofounder Richard Bandler, who wrote the introduction. I think this is heavy reading, as most NLP books are, but worth the effort if you want to better understand communication within the healing relationship.

Will Work For Fun: 3 Simple Steps for Turning Any Hobby or Interest Into Cash by Alan Bechtold.

Alan is one of my favorite Internet personalities. He’s smart, funny, clever, creative, and successful. I’ve only met him a few times, but always loved our brief chats. His book is like him: wise, helpful, light-hearted, yet practical and results oriented. This is one of those feel good all the way to the bank type books. He shows you how to turn what you do for fun into profit. Oh. And I wrote the foreword to it. So there’s your bonus reason for buying it right now. Good stuff. Get it.

The Buddha’s Teachings on Prosperity at Home, at Work, in the World by Bhikku Basnagoda Rahula.

What a great book! I’m relieved to see someone show that Buddha was not against wealth or success. He instead wanted you to be wealthy so you could help yourself, your family, and your community. That’s exactly what I say is the best reason to get rich. I never knew Buddha agreed with me. Anyway, this is an insightful, practical book that I keep returning to. Get it. Make it your devotional reading for a while. Rich stuff.

Up Till Now: The Autobiography of William Shatner by William Shatner with David Fisher.

Who doesn’t like James T. Kirk? I haven’t met William Shatner yet, but I want to. What a character. His book reveals his sense of humor, personality, and work ethic. The man never stops. If you don’t believe action leads to success, read this book. It’s conversational, revealing, and fun.

Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Robert Cialdini and Noah Goldstein and Steve Martin.

Robert Cialdini wrote the most popular book on persuasion in modern times (Influence) but has yet to release anything in print even close to it. Yes! is his recent attempt. He didn’t write it alone, and may not have written much of it, which is why there are two other coauthors listed. Still, this is a page-turner with an insight per chapter. Each chapter is short (only a page or two) but long enough to state a principle and then prove it. Worth reading to understand how to persuade as well as how you are being persuaded.

Powerlines: Word that Sell Brands, Grip Fans, and Sometimes Change History by Steve Cone.

Slogans, tag-lines, mottoes and jingles are what often make people act, vote, buy or even kill. It’s a tight sentence with words sewn together for emotional impact and memorability. It’s the “Just do it!” and “A Diamond is Forever” and “There’s no place like home” lines. Steve Cone calls them Powerlines. You can imagine how this captivates me, as I’m so into words. This is a fascinating encyclopedic overview of sentence bursts, including how to develop and use them for yourself. I find this book, well, hypnotic. There’s real magic here. Feed your brain. Get it. It’s “M’m! M’m! Good!”

Your Brain: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald

I love any book on proven ways to better use my brain. This one is a delightful, insightful, surprising look at how your mind works, as well as how to out smart it for better results. The facts are all juicy. For example, tryptophan in turkey is not why you get sleepy after a huge Thanksgiving holiday meal. There’s the same amount of tryptophan in chicken and beef. You get sleepy from the wine, the overeating, and the boring conversation at the table. Another example is that you can improve your memory if you just focus and stop multitasking (like reading this blog while on the phone), and if you add emotion to what you want to recall later. Also, your brain is a glucose hog. It can’t get it from your fat reserves, either. Only from eating. So grab some chips and go read this book. Now.

No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent by Dan Kennedy

I told you about this new book in a previous blog post. It’s worth reminding you about. It’s terrific. Anything by Dan Kennedy is worth reading, but this one really stretches your mind to see money and go get it. An added bonus, and bragging rights for me, is that I wrote the intro. Anyway, if you truly want to know practical and proven ways to tap the affulent so you can become affulent too, you need this book. Go get it. Go get everything by Dan Kennedy.

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle inspired 2,000,000 readers to discover the freedom of living in the now with his first book. In A New Earth, his long awaited second book, Tolle shows how transcending your ego-based state of consciousness is the way to end conflict. This simple and direct narrative focuses on your ego: how to spot it, be aware of it, and let it take a back seat to your life. This book is about awakening, and is a wonderful primer for my forthcoming audio program, The Awakening Course.

There are many other books stacked up around my feet, on my desk, downstairs by the kitchen table, and also by the bed. I might mention a few of those at another time, if you’re interested. (Or if Peter asks.)

Finally, what books are you reading that you really love?

I’d like to know. Post a comment and tell me. Thank you.

Now back to my books…

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – All of the books I mentioned are available at Amazon.

A few months ago Jillian Coleman Wheeler and myself filmed 15 short video lessons on Internet marketing. They are based on our book, Your Internet Cash Machine. Each is short, informative and free. They are designed to help you create and better run your own online business. You can now see the second one at —

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhYSi_LeXN0

We’ll post others over the weeks ahead.

If you missed it, the first lesson is here —

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHm22HdI01s 

Enjoy. 🙂

I’m hosting a free Attract Miracles Training call on Wednesday, July 30th, at 8 PM CST.

If you want to discover how to attract miracles of wealth, health, happiness and romance, then please register for the call at —

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/792246193

There is no cost or obligation.

The speakers on the training call are also sharing their wisdom live in San Diego in Sept. Register for that historic event at —

http://www.miraclesweekend.com/register/

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

How do you handle setbacks?

How do you handle disappointments?

How do you handle being stuck?

Let me answer with a story…

As you probably know by now, I own Francine, a rare 2005 Panoz Esperante GTLM exotic sports car, as well as rock star Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith)’s even rarer 1998 Panoz AIV Roadster. 

Obviously, I’m a fan of Panoz cars.

I’ve been to the Panoz factory, met part of the family, attended their racing school, and love everything by and about Panoz.

So you can imagine how excited I got when I heard that someone took a Panoz Esperante and turned it into a flying car.

Yes, a flying car.

When I checked, I found the story to be true. It was not only transformed into a car that could fly by Jesse James and his nine-man team, but it actually flew – and was broadcast on television.

The 2004 Panoz Esperante took flight on an episode of Monster Garage, making it off the ground for 280 feet before touching down safely.

I wanted that car.

Yes, I wanted that car. 

But when I checked, I learned the person who owned the flying car didn’t want to sell it. He just kept it in storage.

I thought that was pretty sad, but I let it go and forgot about it.

Until a few days ago, that is.

That’s when I learned that the Panoz flying car sold at auction for only $45,000.

Not only was that a ridiculously low amount of money — as the car alone is worth $105,000 and as a flying car it’s worth three times that (at least) — but the auction happened last January.

Six months ago!

I am rarely upset by things these days, but I have to confess learning the flying car sold for only $45,000 and six months ago almost caused me to blow a gasket.

How could I have missed the auction?

Why didn’t anyone tell me?

Talk about disappointment.

I contacted the Panoz folks and shared my frustration. They told me they tried to buy the car at that auction by somehow couldn’t get their bid high enough in time. They lost the car.

This seemed bizarre.

I’m obviously a collector of rare Panoz cars. The flying car would be a gem for me to own. It would be pure P.T. Barnum, who of course I wrote a book about.

But somehow I was out of tune, or not clear, or something.

Not only did I not get a chance to bid on the car, but the auction happened half a year ago.

What the – ?

But things got even more interesting and even more disappointing.

When I tired to find out the name of the person who actually won the car, so I could ask him if he’d sell it to me at a higher price, I hit dead ends.

I couldn’t find him, and the auction house wouldn’t give me his name for privacy reasons.

All of this caused me to be upset for three days.

Three days.

I’m not proud of it. But I’m trying to share a story here, as well as vent a little. This was an experience of deep disappointment to me. I took it personally, and judged myself harshly.

I felt stuck, unhappy, and un-clear.

So, what did I do?

As it turned out, I had to go back into the recording studio to record a few more segments to my forthcoming new audio program, The Awakening Course.

This is the most advanced material I’ve ever created. It covers the four stages of awakening and leads you through the first three stages, so you can experience them live. The fourth stage comes by grace, but can be described. I do it in the program.

As I recorded my new material about trust and letting go, I realized that I had been very attached to wanting that flying car.

VERY attached.

Yet a key secret to attracting whatever you want is to let go of attachment. Want it without needing it. As my friend Bootzie often says, “I’m perfectly satisfied, I just want more!”

“I’m perfectly satisfied, I just want more!” – Bootzie

That’s the spirit of detachment that attracts results.

I wasn’t detached.

And I wasn’t trusting.

My ego felt things should be different from reality.

My ego felt the car was right for me.

My ego was upset when the car flew away from me.

But the Universe (Divine, God, Gaea, Collective Unconscious, etc) sees the bigger picture. It knows more than your ego. You have to trust IT.

There may be several reasons for me not attracting that car, including –

* Where do you park a car with wings?

* Where do you fly a flying car?

* How do you fly a flying car?

And there’s the very real possibility that the person who won the flying car has better reasons for owning it than me.

In short, the way I handled this disappointment was by letting go, trusting, and moving on.

It’s very possible the flying car will appear in my life at some later point, but I no longer need it to appear.

I’m happy with or without it.

That’s where you want to be with everything in your life: at peace.

And that’s the secret to attracting what you want and surviving setbacks, disappointments and stuck issues:

You trust it’s all working out for your highest good, you do whatever is next for you to do in the moment, and you do it all from a place of serenity.

You move on – smiling, trusting, letting go.

You soar through life — with no need for a flying car.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – You can see pictures of the Panoz flying car (complete with bullet holes) at http://www.autoblog.com/2008/01/19/barrett-jackson-2008-panoz-esperante-flying-car/ Enjoy.