Joe Vitale

In late 2014 I challenged guitar builder Tony Nobles to create a visionary Dream Guitar.

But I didn’t want it to be my dream guitar.

I wanted it to be HIS dream guitar.

Three years later, Tony succeeded.

He announced, “There is no guitar like this on the planet.”

I’ve now seen it.

And played it.

And he’s right.

It’s a masterpiece.

Let me tell the story behind it:

Tony has been building guitars for almost thirty years. He’s made them for celebrity musicians such as Joe Walsh, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Alejandro Escovedo and others.

He’s also made them for lesser known collectors and players, like me.

Melissa Etheridge showing me some of her guitars in her home

I have a collection of a hundred old and new guitars by great luthiers, known and unknown.

Some of them (to name drop) are Bean, Baldwin, Collings, DK, Manzer, Maton, Versoul, D’Angelico, Veillette, Bacce, McElroy, Teye, Oxbow, Huss & Dalton, PRS, Santa Cruz, Fylde, Gigliotti, Trenier, Tesla, Trussart, and Zemaitis, as well as vintage Martin and Gibson models.

I’ve also seen impressive private collections, like that of rock icon Melissa Etheridge.

Guitars are playable art.

And sometimes a good investment.

I love them.

And no, you can never have enough.

I suspected a luthier with Tony’s decades of experience might be open to a bold idea.

I wondered –

What if I acted like a patron saint of the arts and commissioned him to create something visionary from his own mind, not mine?

Tony accepted the challenge in 2014.

For the next two years he read, thought, dreamed and wondered.

He also came to my home and spent a day examining my own collection, from the Fylde guitar made out of a former Scotch whiskey barrel, to Danelectros with their lipstick pickups, to an Oxford Guitars baritone electric made from gem stones and prehistoric wood.

I would also supply Tony with coffee table sized books about some of the greatest guitars of all time.

One book in particular became the resource for what would become the Dream Guitar.

The book was a hefty volume called Archtop Guitars: The Journey from Cremona to New York.

It displayed artistic photos and inside stories of museum quality guitars from three legends, D’Angelico, D’Aquisto and Monteleone. I had bought it from Rudy Pensa, the author and owner of Rudy’s Music in SOHO in New York.

Tony would later tell me, “Whatever I created had to be of the caliber of these guitars in this book, else what was I doing?”

Fast forward to October 20, 2016.

After almost two years of research and incubation, Tony showed me a sketch of an idea.

It was a light pencil outline on a torn off sheet of butcher paper, but I could see the vision being born.

The 1970’s Ibanez “Iceman” guitar inspired Tony. Paul Stanley of KISS made the Iceman electric famous.

“I like how that guitar sits well on your knee,” Tony explained. “Builders often forget the guitar has to be comfortable.” (Tony is a player, too, being in the band The Beaumonts.)

But that was only the beginning.

He knew he wanted an archtop, like those in the Pensa book, and he wanted an electric pickup.

My only request when I commissioned this guitar was a Bigsby or whammy bar. I love them.

Otherwise, Tony had a blank canvas to create per inspiration and will.

Tony was now off and running.

Using sinker log redwood, rare Brazilian Rosewood, and more, he began to carve and build what would become the world’s first Dream Guitar.

“I wanted the fret system to be different,” he says, “so I used what’s called True Temperament.”

Those are “wiggly” shaped frets that look odd but help the guitar stay in tune better and longer.

Things got even more unique when it came to the pickup.

“The Austin Sidewinder pickup was made specifically for this guitar by Bob Palmieri of Duneland Labs in Chicago,” Tony says. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”

When I finally saw the Dream Guitar in late December 2017, right before Christmas and just days before my 64^th birthday, my jaw dropped.

But then I held it.

The guitar is feather light.

I thought of the term “floating guitar.” Tony says it’s less than five pounds. It sat on my leg as if it was tailor made to fit my knee.

Playing it was a surprise, too.

Each note has a distinct ring, and a sustain that is clear, rich, and drawn out.

The odd shaped frets weren’t even noticeable as anything different as I played, and may have made my chord fingering easier.

Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon, who I’ve made several bestselling instrumental albums with, was with me for the unveiling of the Dream Guitar.

He said, “Tony has undoubtedly created a masterpiece.”

I agree.

I play the guitar every single day.

It’s already inspired two new songs.

And it’s inspired a new instrumental album that Guitar Monk and I have started “allowing” to happen.

The Dream Guitar is, well, a dream.

I saw that Tony had stretched in making this guitar.

Tony told me, “The little push you gave me down the path of uncertainty really did spur some growth.”

For me, seeing a man exceed his perceived boundaries and go pass tradition was inspiring and gratifying.

My books, music, coaching, mentoring, and presentations are all encouragements to do more and be more, to dream and achieve.

Even the album I made with Grammy nominated singer Ruthie Foster, and producer Daniel Barrett, was all about stretching, so much so that we called it Stretch.

And the new book I have coming out soon about strongman feats of strength, titled Anything Is Possible, is all about exceeding what we think is impossible.

I feel I succeeded in inspiring a builder to stretch, just as his one-of-a-kind Dream Guitar is now succeeding in inspiring me to create and play new music.

Maybe consider:

What would you do if you forgot tradition, perceived limits, and everyone’s expectations of what was possible – including your own?

Ao Akua

Joe

PS – Tony Nobles can be reached at https://www.facebook.com/tony.nobles.5

Note: The professional photos of the Dream Guitar were by Rodney Bursiel.

Bonus: Here’s a 23-minute video about the making of the Dream Guitar:

The best book I read in 2017 was probably Ray Dalio’s Principles.

I say ‘probably’ as I read a bookstore full of books a year, and many get lost in the shuffle of turning pages.

If a book stands out, I tweet about it.

If it really sits up and rolls over, I write a blog post about it.

Dalio’s Principles made the cut for 2017.

I don’t know Dalio personally and actually never heard of him at all before I read his book.

He’s a billionaire entrepreneur and investor. He’s highly respected and successful.

After a lifetime of paying attention to what works in business and life, he compiled his “Principles.”

Apparently they were first put online.

They were downloaded over three million times.

When his book came out in 2017, it went to #1 on the NY Times bestsellers list.

Why did I buy the book when I didn’t know Dalio or his work?

A strong intuitive nudge urged me to preorder it.

Something about the title just said, “Read this next.”

As I’ve learned to do, I acted on that impulse.

And I’m glad I did.

The book is huge at almost 600 pages.

And it’s packed with wisdom.

I felt I was reading a software manual for life.

While Dalio sometimes comes across as a computer programmer, he’s actually more of a keen observer of life. As he finds insights that hold true, he writes them down as Principles.

Underneath Dalio’s drive is a prime directive that basically reminds him that he doesn’t know it all.

But the combined mind power of others could help him see objective reality and make clearer decisions.

At his TED2017 talk, he says, “Rather than thinking, ‘I’m right,’ I started to ask myself, ‘How do I know I’m right?’”

I love this question.

“How do I know I’m right?”

I love it because it’s so easy to deceive ourselves with our own thinking.

We can be illogical and not even know it.

When I coach or consult people, I often hear them say things they don’t hear as limitations. Until they invite outside input, they will continue to believe their own limitations.

It’s because thought is circular until you invite objective input.

Dalio solved this quirk of human nature by creating a way to judge the merit of an idea.

You don’t judge the person or the situation.

You judge the idea.

He calls it idea meritocracy.

Finding the merit of an idea.

One of the most unforgettable passages in the hefty book is when Dalio is told he has to have his esophagus removed.

Remaining as detached as he could, he decides to measure the merit of that recommendation.

He finds four other medical experts.

They all openly share.

They agree to a retest.

The result is Dalio kept his esophagus and changed a few basic lifestyle habits.

But he may have lost it due to the first doctor had Dalio not questioned the merit of his recommendation and been open to other experts opinions.

There’s abundance in this book.

I’ve folded back pages and underlined passages.

There’s no way I can memorize all his material. I have to keep a few basic principles in mind, such as –

“Reality is optimizing for the whole – not for you.”

“Pay attention to people’s track records.”

“Make your passion and your work one and the same and do it with people you want to be with.”

“Train your ‘lower-level you’ with kindness and persistence to build the right habits.”

“Almost nothing can stop you from succeeding if you have (a) flexibility and (b) self-accountability.”

Those principles seem stark and naïve sitting alone on the page.

Of course, those are only a handful of his principles and you’ll need to read his book to understand them.

But the book is friendly, easy, deep, and unforgettable.

Out of the thousands of books I’ve read and still own, only a handful make it to my desk, sitting at arms reach, to be seen or grasped at will.

They include legends, like Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich and Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho-Cybernectics.

Today I am placing Ray Dalio’s Principles in that little lineup of success classics.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – See my “Best Books Ever” list of 2015 at https://www.mrfire.com/law-of-attraction/best-books-ever/ for a sense of the books I read and like.

Happy New Year!

It’s 2018.

What are you going to do now?

What are you going to do that’s new?

What are you going to do different to create a new year and a new you?

You know that if you do what you did last year, this year is going to be a re-run.

You’ll get the same-old same-old.

It’s time to make a course correction.

It’s time to add a jolt to your direction.

If you want a mega-terrific 2018, you better do some new things now that scare you a little and excite you a lot.

For example, get off your butt (lovingly said) and get into my famous Miracles Coaching program.

The fastest way to transform, accelerate results, and make the new year the birth of the new you is with a trained Miracles Coach.

This has been repeatedly proven to work.

But you’ll never know if you don’t act.

Go get details and get a FREE consultation http://www.MiraclesCoaching.com

You can do it – but only if you do it now.

I believe in you.

Your move.

Happy New Year.

Happy New YOU.

Ao Akua,
Joe

PS – For a sense of Miracles Coaching, go read these free manuals — http://www.MiraclesManual.com

Because I wrote a popular business book on P.T. Barnum, called There’s A Customer Born Every Minute, numerous people have been telling me about the new movie titled The Greatest Showman.

The movie is a musical loosely based on the life of “The Greatest Showman” – P.T. Barnum.

I say “loosely” because the movie isn’t concerned about the facts; it focuses on the spirit of Barnum.

After all, the real “The Greatest Showman” didn’t dance, or sing, or run, or look or sound like the actor playing him, Hugh Jackman.

But Barnum would have loved the movie.

And I loved it, too.

“The Greatest Showman” is a big scale, old school Hollywood production, with a large cast, huge sets, big music numbers and fast dance routines, and more.

It is hugely entertaining.

It is fun for the whole family.

I found “The Greatest Showman” inspiring, uplifting, nurturing and contagiously happy.

Actor Hugh Jackman does a wonderful job of making Barnum understood and liked within the context of the times “The Greatest Showman” lived.

Barnum did in fact promote the unusual, and he was indeed a man behind “humbugs” and “hoodwinks.”

He lived in the 1800s, and his promotions were new, unusual, entertaining, educational, and highly curious.

He never said “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

People loved his shows.

He was the Disney of the 1800s.

But he didn’t have a fling with Jenny Lind, and he didn’t open a circus tent right after his museum burned down, and he didn’t retire to watch his children grow.

In reality the real “The Greatest Showman” wrote his autobiography, went into politics, lectured on the speaking circuit, made partners (like General Tom Thumb) rich and famous, and promoted even bigger events and shows, including the circus, right up to his death in 1891.

Still I loved this movie.

As long as you turn off any fact checking in your mind, you can sit back and enjoy one of the most entertaining movies of 2017 and early 2018.

And if you do care about the facts behind “The Greatest Showman,” then go get my book: There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – The Greatest Showman – the real one, not the Hugh Jackman movie version – used 10 “Rings of Power” to make himself and his businesses so famous that we still make movies about him 100 years after his death. Get the real story in There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.

“If you’re going to excel in business, learning about a showman like Barnum and applying some of the lessons he taught can give you valuable insights. Joe Vitale has captured ten of these lessons (he calls them ‘rings of power’) and shows how you can apply them in a way that will open your eyes and stretch your imagination. There’s a lot of money-making and fun wisdom here.”
— Joseph Sugarman, Chairman, BluBlocker Corporation

Here’s the true story of yet another person who went from homeless to great success using The Law of Attraction, The Secret, and other self-help books and principles.

I’m in Bangkok, Thailand as I write this.

I was flown here to present at a two-day seminar on The Missing Secret to success.

The people were warm and loving, the event was sold out, the traffic was awful, the food was amazing, and the Thai massages between my presentations were deeply and unforgettably relaxing.

But that’s not the good part.

One of the organizers is a young man from Sweden. His name is Andres Pira.

He left Sweden 15 years ago out of desperation.

He was 20 years old and unhappy.

His life was going no where, he was tired of the ten months a year of darkness, and he needed a way out.

His grandfather died, left him two thousand dollars, and he used it to buy a ticket to the warmest country he could get to fast.

That turned out to be Thailand.

But Thailand was not an easy road for a young man with no contacts, no experience, and no ability to speak the Thai language.

Within a short period, he was homeless.

He slept on the beach.

He was too embarrassed to ask his family for help.

He contacted a friend and confessed that he was desperate.

The friend said, “I won’t send you any money, but I’ll send you a book that might help you.”

A book?

Andres was upset.

He’s starving and his friend is going to send a book?

The book was The Secret.

Andres read it.

And as he did, something awakened within him.

He started to realize that his thoughts were creating his reality.

Since he was homeless, he didn’t like what his thoughts had created.

He decided to learn and use the Law of Attraction to create a better life for himself.

The next book he read was Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich.

After that, he read my first book on ho’oponopono, Zero Limits.

He was committed to change his life.

He succeeded, too.

Today he runs 19 companies, has 150 employees, and is a billionaire.

He is one of the largest real estate developers in all of Southeast Thailand.

One of his biggest properties in 2018 will be managed by Best Western Premiere.

But he also owns a gym, a law office, a gas station, several coffee shops and more.

He’s only 35 years old.

He told me this story after picking me up at the Bangkok airport.

I was fascinated.

Even though I had just spent 24 hours traveling – with 20 hours of that in the air – I was engaged and wanted to know more.

“You have to tell your story,” I said. “This is inspiring. People look at you and see a billionaire. They don’t see the homeless man who read self-help books and took action to recreate his life.”

“I have never publicly told my story,” Andres confessed. “It would seem like bragging.”

“It’s not bragging to admit you were homeless,” I explained. “How is being homeless a bragging point?”

He laughed.

I told him of my own struggle from homeless through poverty on to global success.

I tell my story not to brag, but to inspire.

I wanted Andres to do the same.

“You are hosting your first event this weekend,” I said. “Why not stand up at it and tell your story?”

He had never considered that idea.

Andres was nervous, but I coached him on how to present his case.

To his credit, he agreed to make his speaking debut at his own event.

He did, too.

And he was great.

People loved this young man and his honest rages to riches story.

Andres explained how he read The Secret, and then moved on to other books by the teachers of The Secret, including me.

In fact, Andres is so grateful for my books and audios impact on his life that he is taking me to Phuket, Thailand for a week of rest, all at his own expense.

As we continued our ride, he told me of various turning points in his life.

One was about giving.

Both he and his fiancé decided to start giving on their birthdays.

The traditional custom in most countries is to receive gifts on your birthday.

But Andres and his soon to be wife liked the Thai custom of not getting but giving.

So on his birthday, he went to orphanages with bags of gifts.

His fiancée did the same on her birthday.

They felt fantastic in making a difference in these children’s lives.

But Andres discovered another benefit to this giving.

“Right then I noticed my businesses began to grow and multiply. Somehow my giving triggered a receiving that I didn’t expect.”

Of course, I’ve written about giving in numerous books, including Attract Money Now.

But it’s always fortifying to hear of others proving the power of giving.

The more I spoke to Andres, the more I realized he deeply integrated what he learned from me and other authors, and yet made it his own and went beyond it.

I told Andres that he needed to write his life story, including his life and business lessons, and his meditations and visualizations.

Whether he wrote it, I wrote it, or someone else wrote it, I could see it transforming millions of readers.

Andres and I will be spending more time together in Phuket, so I may be able to get a fire started under him to share his life with you.

I hope you find this story as inspiring as I do. Again and again, we keep seeing evidence that the Law of Attraction works. But you have to not just read about it, but also apply it.

Andres did, and look at him now.

You can be next.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Great news! I convinced Andres to let me help him with his book. You can expect it in 2019. It’ll reveal his story, secrets, principles, meditations, extreme sports insights, multiple business practices, and more. Meanwhile, learn from him and his wife, as I have. My birthday is this month. I plan to turn the tables on custom and my past and make this 64th birthday one of giving on the day I usually receive. You don’t need to wait to your birthday to give. Look around. Someone needs your kindness. Why not give right now?