Joe Vitale

Years ago I wrote a dissertation for my Doctorate in Metaphysical Science called “Got Spirit”? It was an in-depth study of the most popular metaphysical, new thought and new age movements and the marketing practices their founders used to establish them.

I wrote it because so many people seem to have a negative attitude toward money and marketing that I wanted to see for myself how the biggest and most famous spiritual movements got that way.

I suspected the greatest meta-physicians — from Jesus to Phineas Parker Quimby to Mary Baker Eddy to Ernest Holmes to Mother Teresa — were all comfortable with money and either did marketing or had someone do it for them.

It was an illuminating study. Turns out every one of these spiritual teachers and their movements knew the value of money and marketing. Each did everything from writing, speaking and advertising to publicity events to get attention and attract followers.

If that’s the case, then why do most metaphysical practitioners today — most people, period — dislike marketing and money?

The most obvious answer is they believe, “God will provide.”

That reminds me of the story of the man with a beautiful garden in his backyard.  One day a man walked by, saw it, and stopped to admire it.

“You have an amazing garden here,” the stranger said.

“Thank you,” said the owner.

“It’s really God’s garden, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” replied the owner. “But you should have seen it when God had it all by Himself.”

The point is, God (or the Divine or Nature) provides us with the basics, and we have to do something with what we’ve been given. If we just allow things to grow in the backyard, we’ll have a jungle, not a garden. Someone has to tend to the earth. Even if we’ve been given (or learned) the talent to heal, we have to let people know we have it for us to be able to use it. In other words, we have to spread the word.

That’s marketing.

It’s no different than what Jesus, Phineas Parker Quimby (pictured above), Mary Baker Eddy, or even Mother Teresa did. If someone hadn’t helped them spread the word, we wouldn’t know of them today.

The success of Unity Church is a case in point. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore managed to raise all the money they needed to build and expand their business. It wasn’t until 1942 that the real secret of their financial support was revealed. The Fillmores had created a now famous “Dedication and Covenant” on December 7, 1892, that read:

“We, Charles Fillmore and Myrtle Fillmore, husband and wife, hereby dedicate our selves, our time, our money, all we have and all we expect to have, to the Spirit of Truth, and through it, to the Society of Silent Unity.

“It being understood and agreed that the said Spirit of Truth shall render unto us an equivalent for this dedication, in peace of mind, health of body, wisdom, understanding, love, life and an abundant supply of all things necessary to meet every want without our making any of these things the object of our existence.

“In the presence of the Conscious Mind of Christ Jesus, this 7^th day of December, 1892 A.D.”

Please note that while the Fillmores signed an agreement with Spirit, they also wrote, published and distributed materials to market their message and their offerings. In short, they had to do both: Implement marketing and work with Spirit. I call it the phrase I coined: Spiritual Marketing. It could have easily been called Spiritual Money.

The point here is that money and marketing are not separate from Spirit at all. They are in fact Spirit.

When someone says, “I don’t care about money, I just want to follow Spirit,” they are revealing their own limitations about the reality of the world.

Money is Spirit.

Saying you aren’t interested in money, or marketing, is a form of self-delusion. You don’t need to be in love with money to appreciate it and attract it. When you realize it’s a tool of Spirit, you are in a position to create miracles.

Dr. Hew Len, my coauthor for the book Zero Limits, is clear that money is of Spirit. He uses the ho’oponopono practice to clean on everything, including any negativity around money. As a result, our book is a bestseller and I send him huge checks for half of everything that I ever receive from anything related to Zero Limits products. He simply receives.

When you have Spirit, you can have money.

They aren’t separate.

Got Spirit?

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — Miracles Coaching can help you with all of this. Click here for more information.

A friend of mine read my last blog post and sent me this email (used here with his permission):

Thank you for this Joe.

Perfect timing for me to receive actually.

Since we met a few years back I have been focusing on generating more money to serve the consciousness that we both love.

I have through conscious intention become business partners with John Assaraf, significantly grown my Dojo and created some really wonderful tools to help people awaken to their dreams.

I recently received two nasty e-mails one saying that all I focus upon is money and another saying that my business had become “a money-centered, entrepreneurial environment”

At first it hurt and really stung to read this — I have always been about the love. Yet after reflecting on my core intentions and reading your Barnum post tonight I realize that people with money issues cannot see past their own hang ups and therefore they choose to project onto others what “they think” they see. It is a shame really, as there is so much good that is being done by people who understand the true value of money.

The truth is it still is ALL about the love for me — now just with more resources to serve 🙂

For example, I recently sent a few thousand dollars to my mother to help with some unexpected bills – wow the joy I felt in finally being able to offer her a hand (she has done so much for me) – it really cannot be expressed with words!!

Two weeks ago I went to John’s home in San Diego and watched him help the Just Like My Child Foundation raise tons of money to build a school and hospital for homeless children in Uganda.

Last week my wife Sabrina helped produce, direct and MC a charity event called Dancing with the Stars, Austin — she was a huge part of raising $675,000 to help protect innocent children who are abused by their parents!

Today I understand the true value of money and the core motivation of those like you, Barnum, Assaraf, my wife — and yes, myself.

I am grateful for the growing desire within myself to make a true difference. I am also committed to generating abundant income so that I can make a true difference in this world.

So thank you for today’s blog post and please know that you helped me a while back by planting some important seeds in my mind — thoughts that I could attract whatever I wanted.

Anyway I wanted to say thank you for that and let you know those seeds blossomed into wanting to share more love and serve others with a greater capacity.

Warmly,

Tristan

Tristan Truscott
CEO, i-Grasshopper
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Conscious Thinking • Conscious Living”
http://www.i-grasshopper.com
http://twitter.com/i_grasshopper

I love Tristan’s email.

It made me speculate why some people criticize those who attract money and live a luxurious life.

It has to do with their belief system, of course.  It seems most people consider money to be a necessary evil. They need it to survive but they don’t really like it. And if they get more than enough money, they try to get rid of it fast. That’s why some lotto winners are broke a year later. On an unconscious level, they didn’t want to keep all that money. It triggered their “wealth set point” and they had to bring their income back down to their comfort level. Of course, one way to unconsciously justify not having money is to condemn those who do have it.

I wrote my latest book, Attract Money Now, to help clear and release negative beliefs about money. Money in and of itself is meaningless. Just paper and metal. When you travel as much as I have recently, you get to see that money in one country looks like Monopoly money in another country. (Try buying anything in the USA with Russian rubles.)

Money is only meaningful to you once you attach meaning to it. For most of us, we unconsciously absorbed meaning before we could speak, from our family and friends, and later from the media, government, religion, etc. Most of us have never questioned what we deeply feel about money.

The wealthy people I admire have positive meaning attached to money. Like Tristan, they’ve discovered that the more money they attract, the more they can use it to help themselves and others.

I enjoy money. It enables me to have toys, whether guitars or cars, and it lets me help others, whether my own family or complete strangers, such as with a movement to end homelessness (called Operation Yes).

You also get to put a happy spark in lives when you have money.

For example, recently I bought a lot of outdoor furniture for my new office from www.texaswebstore.com. Some was Teak root from Taiwan (above picture, which reminds me of Hobbit forest furniture), and others were former ox carts in Taiwan (as pictured below; the table was once a cart wheel).

When the movers came, I asked them if they would move some other items while they were here. They agreed and did. They moved a cigar humidor, a roll top desk, and a wooden guitar display case. When I asked them how much they wanted for the extra work, they shrugged and said, “Whatever.”

I pulled two new one hundred dollar bills out of my pocket.

“How’s two hundred dollars?” I asked.

The mover’s eyes widened and they nodded approval.

Before they could speak, I handed one of them two hundred dollars and then reached into my pocket and handed the other one two hundred dollars.

At this point they couldn’t speak.

I felt terrific to know I helped these men with a spontaneous gift that was so unexpected and so large that they’re probably still talking about it.

It’s a lot easier to attract more money when you know money is neutral energy and you’re going to use it to make a difference in the world.

As I wrote in my previous blog post (quoting P.T. Barnum), we can’t all see alike, but we can all do good.

Money enables you to do more good.

It’s one of the most powerful spiritual tools ever created.

Just ask Tristan.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — You can still get my new book free by clicking the banner below —

In 1855 P.T. Barnum was attracting a world-wide name for himself. He turned a dying dime museum of New York City into the thriving Barnum’s American Museum, the Disneyland of the day. He wrote his autobiography and saw it become a bestseller. He created General Tom Thumb and entertained royalty with him. But not everyone loved Barnum’s success. In 1855 someone wrote an article titled, “How to Kill Off Barnum”. Here it is:

As you can see, the strategy of the unknown writer was to cut off Barnum’s success by keeping him out of the newspapers. The ironic thing is, the article appeared on the front page of a newspaper. Here it is:

Obviously, this “strategy” was poorly thought out. Not only did it assist Barnum in remaining and maybe becoming even more famous, but the young showman went on to become one of the wealthiest and most well known people in the world. The writer of the article, however, remains completely unknown.

I find this relevant today. Too many people are criticizing others who are achieving success. Instead of focusing on their own goals, they spend their time and energy writing negative posts and reviews. They don’t seem to see that (a) their work isn’t stopping anyone and (2) their work is a distraction from their own calling.

Reading Will Bowen’s new book, Complaint Free Relationships, is helpful. Listening to Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art is also enlightening. Both show that complaining about others is a way to avoid doing your own work.

P.T. Barnum said, “We cannot all see alike, but we can all do good.”

Do something good today.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — My book on P.T. Barnum is There’s A Customer Born Every Minute. It’s at Amazon, in book stores, etc.

Will Bowen’s new book is coming out soon. It’s called Complaint Free Relationships. Will wrote the international bestseller, A Complaint Free World, in 2007, and I called it the best book of 2008. I think his new one will become the best book of 2010.

The premise of Will’s work is that complaining is a habit you can change. Why would you want to change it? Because complaining is causing (or attracting) the very thing you are complaining about. Complaining begets complaining.

Depending on what level of awakening you’re on, you’ll either think Will is a sad dreamer or you’ll think he’s an optimistic visionary. I consider him the latter. I love his message so much that I’m a volunteer adviser on the Board of Directors for A Complaint Free World.

Will’s new book focuses on relationships because that’s what virtually all the complaining is about. Think about it. Probably in every situation you can name, the complaint is about another person. And your complaining isn’t helping them, or you.

I just started reading Will’s new book — it’s not out yet, so I’m looking at a pre-pub galley proof — and I’m in awe at his insights and suggestions. He’s making me aware of how I think about other people. Will points out that your thinking leads to your speaking, and your speaking reveals what you’re going to attract into your life. In other words, short circuit the thinking, change the speaking, and you’ll attract a different result.

In terms of my book The Attractor Factor, Will is covering the first two steps in my five step formula: stop before you openly declare what you don’t want (the complaint) and instead speak what you do want (the intention).

In terms of the book I wrote with Dr. Hew Len, Zero Limits, Will is revealing how you are causing your relationships to work, or not. He’s also showing you what to do next.

This isn’t easy. The habit of complaining is so ingrained and so second nature that it feels natural to us. But it’s not natural; it’s just learned. It’s a bad habit that isn’t serving us. It’s time for a change.

As with Will’s earlier work, he challenges us to stop complaining altogether. He asks us to wear a purple band on the wrist and, when we catch ourselves voicing a complaint, change the band to the other arm. The goal is to go thirty days without speaking a complaint or moving that bracelet.

For most people, it takes about six months to go thirty days complaint free. Why? Because it’s that hard to stop complaining. You’ll start each day with the thirty day goal in mind but before long you’ll speak a complaint and need to start over. If you don’t believe me, try it.

Will’s new book is backed with current scientific research. For  those who think complaining feels good and gets them results, the documented research proves it doesn’t help at all. It’s a form of self-deception to think complaining changes anyone. It not only hurts others, it also hurts the complainer. It simply doesn’t work.

You’ll be able to get Will’s new book at book stores and of course online on December 29th (my birthday). If I were you, I’d go pre-order a copy right now. And since the holidays are upon us, get several copies for family and friends.

I’m pretty sure they won’t complain about the gift.

At least not after reading Will’s new book.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — Will’s main site is A Complaint Free World.

PPS – Baby picture above is of me at eight months old. I look complaint free, don’t I?

Now that my breathtaking new office is done, with wall to wall and floor to ceiling bookcases, I’m trying to decide what should be the first book I bring into the new sacred space.

Should it be one of my own books?

One of my friends?

Or one of the many rare, even autographed books by authors I love, such as Neville Goddard, P.T. Barnum, Claude Bristol, Joseph Murphy, Edward Bernays, Jack London, Mark Twain, William Saroyan, Shirley Jackson, Robert Collier, Napoleon Hill or – ?

I have a huge collection of books on marketing, copywriting, publicity, metaphysics, spirituality, fitness, muscle building, magic, hypnosis and more.

But of all these books, which one deserves to be the very first to gain entrance into my new office?

I went out to dinner with friends and told them of my challenge. One of them was an author and of course wanted his book to be the first in my office. Another friend suggested I have a contest and let people vote on the book that should be first.

None of it felt exactly right. We left dinner and went walking. We stumbled across a new art gallery. Inside was the artist showing his work.

It was called “Art that makes you laugh.”

I asked the artist why it was called that.

“Follow me and I’ll show you,” he said.

He brought me to a painting of two sharks swimming, headed to a judge’s bench in a courtroom.

I didn’t see anything funny about that.

“Read the caption,” the artist said.

I looked and read, “Counsel approaching the bench.”

I laughed.

Turns out the artist has been drawing humorous pictures like that one for decades. He’s known for his unique art. He’s a former advertising guy turned artist. Apparently he’s doing just fine.

I bought three of his paintings for my new office.

And a copy of his book.

His book is a collection of his funny art, titled, Are You Laughing At My Art?

I took it home and put it in my office.

Before I knew it, I realized I had finally brought a book into my new space.

But it didn’t feel like the right first book, as I had no previous relationship with it, so I didn’t put it on a shelf.

Instead, I grabbed my signed copy of Napoleon Hill’s famous book, Think and Grow Rich, and a first edition of Hill’s book, How to Sell Your Way Through Life.

Those two books are classics of success literature. They look wonderful on my shelf, too.

Now, what will be the third book I put on the shelf?

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — The artist is Jeff Leedy. That’s him in the photo with me. Funny guy. His site is right here. Top photo is of my new office with Food Powers Queen Nerissa Oden posing in it.