Joe Vitale

In order to write one of my next books (Buying Trances: A New Psychology of Sales and Marketing, to be published in 2007), I read hundreds of books on sales, marketing, psychology, and persuasion. Many of them you already know. Some you don’t. Here’s one I bet you probably never heard of but should go get today:

Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion: Discover the keys to opening people’s hearts and minds to liberty by Michael Cloud.

This is from The Advocates for Self-Government Bill of Rights Press. Whatever you think of politics, I think you should get this book. It shares persuasion methods I’ve never heard of before, but are heart-felt and powerful. For example:

The “Would You Push the Button?” technique seems incredibly revealing for helping people see for themselves their own thinking process. As Cloud points out in his brief but readable book, people aren’t convinced of anything unless they convince themselves of it. So, you play into that human trait. You ask the button question to find out what people really think.

In some cases, they will talk themselves out of their own position once they hear their own views spoken out loud.

In other cases, they give you something to work with to deepen the discussion.

The way it works is this:

Simply ask, “If there were a button in front of you, and by pushing that button you could completely remove/repeal/end (fill in the blank), would you push the button?”

After they respond, you can ask why questions to further explore their reasoning.

Cloud also suggests asking follow-up questions such as, “What would be the best benefits?” and “How would things be dramatically different?”

Cloud’s examples are in the world of politics, of course, but what if we borrowed the method (which he says he learned from Leonard Read) and use it in self-growth or selling situations?

An example might be:

“If there were a button in front of you, and by pushing that button you would never be unhappy about anything ever again, would you push that button?”

Or another example might be:

“If there were a button in front of you, and by pushing that button you could remove all your objections to buying this book right now, would you push that button?”

Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion contains many other short but powerful methods of persuasion. It’s also written well, is breezy reading, and makes you think.

It also contains wonderful stories. One of my favorites is about IBM founder Thomas Watson telling a struggling writer the secret to success. Watson says –

“Double your failure rate.”

I suggest you get this book.

See www.billofrightspress.com

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS — Scott York and I will be hosting a free teleconference call on Wednesday, August 30th, at 8 pm Central to explain www.yourbusinessbody.com and the $150,000 challenge. We’ll also answer your questions. Call will last about 30 minutes. Mark down the following:
When: Wednesday, August 30th, 2006.
Time: 8:00 p.m. Central (9:00 p.m. Eastern)
Phone Number: (641) 297-7200 code 383547
Note – All you pay is long distance phone charges. The call is limited to the first 100 people.

Continuing my reading of books on non-duality led me to Burt Jurgens’ trilogy, including Aren’t You Just THIS?

It’s in this book that I stumbled across a thought about money that jarred me into an awakening.

Someone writes Jurgen, asking him to “Show me the money!”

Jurgen wrestles with the subject and says –

“Well, what is money? Isn’t money quite similiar to ego? Or isn’t it at least (or perhaps at most) a tool of the ego? A way to exert ego’s power through time and space?”

I found that very interesting. I’m well aware that money is a tool. But I hadn’t snapped to it being a tool of the ego “through time and space”.

Jurgen goes on to say —

“For the most part, money only has actual power at the moment it is spent.”

That made me stop and reflect, as well. I began to reconfirm my belief that money is meaningless in and of itself. We want it so we can use it at some future point.

I kept reading and came to this:

“So isn’t a desire for money really a desire to change WHAT IS? No, not even that. It is a desire to change WHAT MAY BE.”

Ooooooo. That’s good. Money is our hope to escape this moment.

More than that, we’re in this moment worrying about future moments.

Yet the great irony is, you can never escape this moment or totally control the future ones.

This is it.

The author doesn’t spend much more time on the subject, but his sword cut through the illusion long enough for me to see the ego wants money for some future use. In short, we’re not happy right now and we want it to escape future moments like right now.

The thing is, all we have is right now.

Once we — that’s you and me — appreciate this moment and even wallow in it, we get what we need in the next moments. They come out of this moment. And when they get here, it will be this moment, too.

Don’t pursue money.

Pursue happiness.

That’s what you want money for, anyway.

And from a non-duality view of life, look at what is behind the pursuing.

What’s that watching?

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS — If you don’t understand any of the above, look at what is trying to understand and then look at what is behind it. What is behind it is you. Remember my favorite T-shirt: “Meditation is not what you think.”

PPS – Don’t worry. I’ll get back to the “real world” in my next post. Indulge me a little for now. Thank you.

What do people think of the new monthly DVDs where you can watch me train in my gym under the guidance of Scott York while he keeps pounding me with marketing questions?

Here’s what one subscriber says —

I just finished watching the first two DVD’s of ‘Your Business Body’ and they are awesome! I love the candid view of Joe’s life and his thoughts! The way you torture (aka, train) him in his gym and grill him with marketing and business questions all at once is seriously priceless!

There is no doubt in my mind Joe is going to get in serious shape with your fast paced, NO BS workouts! I am impressed with how tough Joe is as well! He’s the perfect client! He never says “No” or complains or whines. People can learn a ton here, not just in the business sense, but in how Joe is so dedicated and driven to be a success in all areas of life.

This is top notch, must have stuff that people need to experience!

Keep it coming because I’m looking forward to seeing more!!

Best,

Zach Even – Esh
www.REALManFitness.com

Thank you, Zach. I never thought of myself as “tough,” but your objective view makes me rethink my own perspective.

Thank you.

All others take note: You can get the DVDs over at www.YourBusinessBody.com

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – The September ’06 issue of Joe Vitale’s News You Can Use is now online. You can see the current and all past newsletters (7 years worth) by going to www.mrfire.com and clicking on the “Past Newsletters” link on the left. Enjoy.

PPS – If you’re serious about making a living from information, you can’t do any better than get to this site. It describes a famous event I’ll be speaking at in November. But I’m the minor character in this line-up of greats. It’s all designed to help you succeed in business using only words. See www.earlytorise.com/Mr.Fire/ Let me know if you plan to attend so we can meet up.

PPPS – We leave for a much needed vacation on Saturday. I’m ready now.

I’ve been reading some unusual books recently. These are the kind that turn my brain inside out and hang my thoughts out to dry.

It’s quite liberating, really.

Here’s an example:

I just completed reading Awakening to the Dream: The Gift of Lucid Living by Leo Hartong.

Please note that the sub-title says lucid living, not lucid dreaming. I mistyped it when I first wrote it here because it’s so easy to jump to an assumption about what the book is about. The book is about being awake. It’s a brief but eloquent book about Advaita, which is the philosophy of non-duality.

Let me give you a small head spinning taste from the book:

“If you watch your mind, you will see that thoughts arise of their own accord. Please, do not simply accept or reject this. When you honestly observe and investigate, it will become clear that you are not the thinker of your thoughts.”

Later in this book he says this:

“…ask yourself what your next thought will be and see if you can know it in advance.”

I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what my next thought will be.

Not ever.

I mean, never.

They just appear.

Once they pop into my awareness, of course, I can judge them, act on them, dismiss them, argue with them, wait for a better one, and so forth. The thoughts become the chatter in my awareness. They’re entertaining sometimes. Other times, not.

With mental toughness, I can choose the thoughts that best serve me. (I feel sorry for the people who don’t know mental toughness or haven’t read my book, The Attractor Factor. They must be at the mercy of their thoughts, which drive them to do — or not do — all sorts of things.)

But even as I watch and choose my thoughts after they appear, new thoughts — which I can’t predict — keep coming.

So my question is this:

Where are they coming from?

You can say thoughts come from your unconscious, subconscious, self-image, mind, or something else, but aren’t all of those labels just more thoughts?

From what I understand after reading this marvelous little book, thoughts are simply and magically part of the unfolding of the divine play called Life.

In order to find peace, we want to be the observer of the thoughts.

Not the judge of the thoughts; just the observer of them.

Judging the thoughts is yet another thought.

This is why my favorite T-shirt says, “Meditation is not what you think.”

Think about it.

Better yet, don’t.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – Wait till I tell you what non-duality has to say about money! Stay tuned.

PPS – Now you know why I call this blog Beyond Marketing.

A friend just asked me what I’ve been up to lately. As I jotted down some of my activities, I thought you might want to know of them, too. Here are some bulleted points, in no particular order:

* New book “Meet and Grow Rich,” the definitive guide to masterminds, with Bill Hibbler, is an Amazon bestseller this week www.meetandgrowrich.com

* Next book “The Successful Coach” with Terri Levine and Larina Kase comes out in September (it’s in stores now)

* “Zero Limits” book with Dr. Len on ho’oponopono is being written now. See excerpt at www.mrfire.com/article-archives/new-articles/worlds-most-unusual-therapist.html

* Paperback version of “The Attractor Factor” hits in December. It’s being translated into numerous languages, such as Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian.

* “Life’s Missing Instruction Manual” picked up by Wal-Mart and featured in Bottom Line Secrets newsletter.

* Audio versions of “Life’s Missing Instruction Manual” and”The Attractor Factor” will be out early 2007.

* “Hypnotic Writing” comes out in Dec as a hardcover published book.

* Just completed “Buying Trances: A New Psychology of Sales and Marketing” for 2007 release. Early reviewers are calling it “genius” and “a masterpiece.”

* Next “Beyond Manifestation” workshop will be Nov 11-12 in Austin. Audios from past one at www.beyondmanifestation.com

* “The Secret of Money” one day event with Mindy Audlin at Unity in Wimberley October 21. http://www.unityathome.org/events.htm

* I’ll be speaking at Pat O’Bryan’s next “Portable Empire” event end of Sept. www.marketerschoice.com/app/?Clk=1554504

* Started my own business-and-fitness contest with Scott York at www.YourBusinessBody.com

* Working on nutritional formulas with Dr. Marc Gitterle and Jeff Sargent such as cholesterol lowering one www.cardiosecret.com and a bodybuilding, muscle building, fitness one described at www.bodybuildingformula.com

* Just became a life-time member of the Society of American Magicians, the group Houdini started in the early 1900s

* About to come out with DVD series showing “Inside the Mind of a Marketer” with Nerissa filming me meeting people, working, doing odd or human or whatever “life” things; Joe’s realty TV show.

* Will be speaking in Poland in December; New Zealand, and Australia in early 2007.

* Will soon be releasing a DVD called “Art of the Humbug: The Story of the Great Powerball Lotto Hoax“

* Just completed “The Canine Concert” DVD and it will soon be at www.canineconcert.com

* My appearance in the movie “The Secret” continues to make me a minor celebrity www.whatisthesecret.tv

* Completing my fifth fitness contest next week, then getting on a plane for some long awaited R & R.

There’s more but that’s all I can recall for now. Best way to keep up with me is to sign up for updates at www.mrfire.com

And what are you doing these days?

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – Take note: For the first time in his legendary career, Robert Ringer – the “mentor to mentors” -, will share his personal-power techniques with you in a breakthrough, step-by-step teleseminar series. For more information about how you can get on the Path to Power, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your browser http://m301.infusionsoft.com/go/p2pjv/JV/ Go for it.