Joe Vitale

 It took me 53 years and nine months, but I finally did it.

On January 1st I wrote about a climbing rope I bought from John Wood and set up on a 15 foot tower outside by my gym. (See http://blog.mrfire.com/uncategorized/on-continuing-a-rocky-story/ for that original post.)

My goal was to climb it, of course.

I couldn’t do it growing up and my gym instructor humiliated me for my failure.

I didn’t try as an adult.

But it was unfinished business in my life. I wanted to succeed at this personal challenge and goal.

So virtually every day I tried to go up that rope.

There were several setbacks along the way, including an emergency appendectomy.

But I kept trying.

My trainer Scott York was patient and encouraging.

He’d climb the rope as if he were a monkey and then do chin-ups on the tower at the top.

I wanted to do that, too.

So I kept trying.

Every day.

And yesterday I climbed the rope!

Fifteen feet straight up.

No one was there to photograph the moment but now that I’ve succeeded, I know I can do it again, and even more easily than the first time.

I’m sharing it here to inspire you to set goals that are meaningful to you and work at them every day.

Persistence is a secret to success.

And it’s something you can practice every day.

If I can climb a 15 foot rope after 53 years and nine months of failing at it, what can you do?

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS —  What’s “the rope” in your own life?

I’m reading yet another book in the growing field of positive psychology. This one is Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert Emmons.

Dr. Emmons is Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology. He is also author of The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns (Guilford Press) and The Psychology of Gratitude (Oxford University Press). Thanks! is his newest and most accessible book. 

One of the most revealing insights early in this new book is that happy people achieve goals faster than unhappy people.

In other words, most people use un-happiness in any of its forms (anger, frustration, desperation, impatience, dissatisfaction, etc) to motivate themselves to achieve a new result.

But new research, reported by Emmons, proves that happy people — people already grateful for who they are, where they are and what they have — tend to more easily and quickly achieve the goals they say they want.

Emmons writes “…happiness makes good things happen. It actually promotes positive outcomes.”

This is remarkable news. I’ve been saying it for years, though, and wrote about it in my book The Attractor Factor: happy people tend to attract positive results faster than unhappy people.

And the really great news is that you don’t need anything to be happy.

Happiness is available to you right now.

I write about this in my forthcoming book, The Key. One of the best ways to experience happiness is to find something to be grateful for right now.

As you do, you shift your perception, which shifts your feelings, which causes you to attract and act in new directions.

Most people bicker, complain and blame.

You can imagine what they feel like, or what they accomplish.

But if you stopped and wrote down five things you were grateful for right now, you would transform your perception and begin to act and attract more of what you really want — and even faster.

I’m enjoying reading Thanks!

In fact, I’m very grateful for it. 🙂

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – This month marks the one year anniversary of my Miracles Coaching program. It has been a phenomenal success. The last group of participants are finishing up their program and we have an opening for you. Get all the details at http://miraclescoaching.com I’m very thankful for it, too. 🙂

I was tossed every question you could think of — about writing, marketing, blogs, publicity, Amazon gift certificates, bestseller campaigns, Dr. Hew Len, “Digit” and more — at Pat O’Bryan’s last UnSeminar.

The scheduled speaker was late and I jumped (was pushed) on stage to field questions.

The result was one of the most information-packed hours you’ve ever seen or I’ve ever given.

One friend said, “I can’t believe you gave away ALL your secrets!”

I was nearly in tears at the end of the hot seat, mostly because of the last question I was asked.

I also got a standing ovation. 

You can now see the whole thing on DVD.

Get the scoop at www.patobryan.com/revelation.htm 

Go see.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – What questions did they ask me at Pat’s event? They’re listed at www.patobryan.com/revelation.htm Go see if one of yours is there.

 A few months ago I wrote about an old world craftsman by the name of Arlin Liss who hand makes unique cigar humidors. I was so taken by his work that I hired him. The above picture is of the cigar humidor he just completed for me. 

I’ve called Arlin Liss the Michelangelo of cigar humidor makers.

I saw Michelangelo’s Pieta’ — considered the greatest sculpture in history — in Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in Rome, Italy. 

It’s breathtaking.

I’ve also seen Michelangelo’s David in Florence, Italy.

It’s astonishing.

But I think Arlin Liss is just as good.

Okay, maybe I’m waxing poetic here, but you get the idea.

Arlin is a master craftsman, an artist with wood, who loves what he does and infuses his work with that love.

Consider: Are you doing what you love, with passion and skill, so others see an artist at work?

If not, why not?

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – My original post on Arlin and prosperity thinking is at http://blog.mrfire.com/uncategorized/question-prosperity-or-problem/   

PPS – You can see more pictures of my new humidor at www.arlinliss.com/_Cocobolo/Joe%20Vitale/Humidor_Details.htm (It’s expected to arrive here on Thursday.)

The people behind the upcoming Try It On Everything movie (which I’m in) just sent me the following note —

We are filming a final event for the film at the end of October. 10 people in a retreat for 4 days doing EFT to see what’s really possible. If you know anyone who might be interested can you pass on the information?  Accommodations, food and event is covered. Accepting 10 people from all different backgrounds who are really ready to make some shifts in their life. From people working on physical challenges to emotional….  Its going to be beautiful to capture. Heres the link –  www.tryitoneverything.com/application.shtml