law of attraction

A dear friend asked me to create a list of recommended current books to read. I loved doing it. He looked at that list and said he hadn’t read any of them, and had only heard of one of them. With that in mind, I thought you might like to see the list. Here you go…

Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Incredibly terrific. It’s “Fantastic!”

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Recall-Unbelievably-True-Story/dp/1451662440/

The Walk by Philippe Petit. Riveting. Unique. Made me hyperventilate.

http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Philippe-Petit/dp/163450500X

I, Mammal by Loretta Breuning. Enlightening. Read all of her books.

http://www.amazon.com/Mammal-Brain-Links-Status-Happiness/dp/1941959008/

The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth. Fun, funny, flippant. It will spin your writing into a spell generator. (“Spell” as in “I’ll put a spell on you!”)

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Eloquence-Secrets-Perfect-Phrase/dp/042527618X/

The Book of est by Luke Rhinehart. Hypnotic. Loved it so much I published it.  🙂

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Est-Luke-Rhinehart/dp/0557306159/

Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder by Samuel Wilson Fussell. Wise, well written and deeply revealing.

http://www.amazon.com/Muscle-Confessions-Samuel-Wilson-Fussell-ebook/dp/B00TGJJ12O/

Making the American Body by Jonathan Black. Entertaining.

http://www.amazon.com/Making-American-Body-Remarkable-Passions/dp/0803243707/

Mark Twain: Man in White by Michael Shelden. Love Twain.

http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Twain-Adventure-Hardcover-January/dp/B010EWNKVE?

The Shack by William Young. Novel.

http://www.amazon.com/Shack-William-P-Young/dp/0964729245/

Rejection Proof by Jia Jiang. Hilarious and empowering.

http://www.amazon.com/Rejection-Proof-Became-Invincible-Through/dp/080414138X/

The Power of Neuroplasticity by Shad Helmstetter. Simple yet beautiful.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Neuroplasticity-Shad-Helmstetter-Ph-D/dp/1499794606/

Lincoln: Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan. Love Lincoln.

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Biography-Writer-Fred-Kaplan/dp/0060773340/

Thomas Jefferson: Art of Power by Jon Meacham. Fascinating.

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Power-Jon-Meacham/dp/0812979486/

Bill Veeck by Paul Dickson. The Barnum of baseball.

http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Veeck-Baseballs-Greatest-Maverick/dp/0802778305/

Chronicles by Bob Dylan. Reads like a folk song with Dylan style.

http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Bob-Dylan/dp/0743244583/

The Most Contented Man by Joseph J. Vitale. My Dad. 🙂

http://www.amazon.com/Most-Contented-Man-Autobiography-Joseph/dp/1512287253/

Stuntman! By Hal Needham. Lively read.

http://www.amazon.com/Stuntman-Car-Crashing-Plane-Jumping-Bone-Breaking-Death-Defying/dp/0316078999/

The Einstein of Money by Joe Carlen. Insightful.

http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Money-Timeless-Financial-Benjamin/dp/1616145579/

Not Impossible by Mick Ebeling. Inspiring.

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Impossible-Doing-What-Couldnt/dp/1476782806/

The Power of Impossible Thinking by Yoram and Cook. Life changing.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Impossible-Thinking-Transform-Business/dp/0131877283/

The Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein by Ed Spielman. Astonishing.

http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Journey-Joseph-L-Greenstein/dp/1885440308/

And any book by Joe Vitale... 🙂

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – I love books. Feel free to leave a comment telling me about your own favorites.

Member BBB 2003 - 2015

The following is the cover story feature article in this month’s issue of Austin All Natural magazine, by yours truly:

Sept '15 Cover

“Let me make you a paper weight.”

It was Dennis Rogers speaking. Many consider him the world’s strongest man. Celebrities call on him for advice on performing and getting strong. He’s performed over 2,600 feats of strength shows. He’s a legend.

We met over lunch. He wanted to give me a gift, or rather make one for me.

He wrapped his hands in a thin leather protective covering, and then began to bend a wrench before my eyes. I couldn’t comprehend how he did it. I had felt the wrench beforehand and it was a genuine metal tool, heavy and solid. But it bent like it was warm butter.

By now the kitchen staff had seen the bent wrench and saw the small lunch crowd forming around Dennis and me.

“Would you like me to roll a frying pan for you?” Dennis asked the cook and staff. “It can be a souvenir you can hang in the kitchen.”

They all agreed, their eyes bugged out and waiting.

Dennis pulled out a frying pan, put his fingers over the edge, and began to slowly roll it like it was a tortilla. It was astonishing to see. It was surreal. Dennis was clearly focused, breathing hard, putting his life force into his efforts.

He handed the completely rolled up pan, now of no practical use, to the chef.

None of us could believe it.

I had seen strongmen and feats of strength before. When I was in Russia, a man billed as the world’s strongest man – I guess there can be more than one – bent a heavy nail before my eyes. He, like Dennis, used sheer power and intense focus to get it done.

I admired it. I could see applications in other areas of life. I wanted to know more.

The origin of strongman feats of strength goes back to prehistory, maybe even back to caveman picking up boulders and protecting their caves.

The first of the recorded characters was probably Milo of Croton, an ancient Greek wrestler, circa 558 B.C.

His training was simple: find a young calf, lift it.

Next day, find a heavier calf, lift it.

Next day, find a heavier calf or cow, lift it.

It was an early exercise routine today named progressive overload. But that’s the ancient Greeks for you. They didn’t name it. They just knew the process made them stronger.

But feats of strength were performed throughout history, right into the circus and on the vaudeville stage throughout the 1800s.

As time went on, strength displays were broken into categories, such as power lifting and bodybuilding.

I admire men and women who use intention and strength to accomplish something the rest of us might consider virtually impossible.

• Julie Havelka, a competitive female strength athlete, wrote Personal Best: How to Train for the Sport of Strongman. She reveals the intensity of mind and muscle needed to accomplish these feats.  Lifting huge stones, tractor tires, or small horses isn’t uncommon.
• Eugen Sandow (1867-1925), considered the father of modern bodybuilding, began his career as a sideshow strongman. The list of colorful characters goes on, and is alive today in people like Dennis Rogers.
• Joe Holtum, in the 1800s, would catch a cannon ball in his bare hands. He lost a finger or two along the way, but always drew a crowd.
• And I once saw a clipping about Joe Vitale – yes, the same name as mine – a circus performer in New York City in the 1900s who lifted over 500 pounds – with his teeth.

Some of these early strongmen, most notably Joseph Greenstein, whose stage name was the Mighty Atom, also pursued strength as a means of mental and spiritual development.

Authentic strongman and strongwomen don’t use magic tricks to get their results. They want to impress themselves as well as you.

This is one reason I’m attending Dennis Rogers and Dave Whitley’s Oldetime Strongman University Training in Austin September 19-20. http://www.dennisrogers.net/oldetime-strongman-university-seminar/

I want to learn what it takes to be a modern walking Hercules, able to bend nails, wrenches, frying pans or your car keys, but doing it as a type of meditation. Using it to stretch myself into bigger possibility thinking.

Dennis told me, “The area of strength that David Whitley and I will be teaching is the artistic display of physical strength. I say this because you must certainly build your body, particularly your core and grip, but it also requires a creative mind and artful presentation.

“It is the art of the old vaudeville and Coney Island strength stars. Men like Eugen Sandow, Siegmund Brietbart, Warren Lincoln Travis, and ‘The Mighty Atom.’ “

According to author and strength historian David Willoughby, “It was Sandow who raised feats of strength out of the grunt-and groan category and made them spectacular and entertaining.”

But it’s not about the bent item, it’s about learning to use your mind and muscle to get results. That’s priceless anywhere.

David Whitley said, “It is the bodily expression of the mind’s power.”

And that’s why I trained with the “old school” bodybuilders, like multiple Olympia winner Frank Zane, who advised me, “Watch your thoughts. Most people let their mind talk themselves out of what their muscle can do. Push past the voice.”

And Steve Reeves, the legendary early bodybuilder who played Hercules in the original movie, said he would visualize his muscles growing as he worked them. Arnold does the same thing.

It’s mind over muscle.

Dennis Rogers once told me that most people give up in trying to bend a wrench right before the wrench is going to bend. “They let their minds talk themselves out of what they can achieve,” he explained.

David Whitley said, “We tend to think of the physical first, but being strong is something that goes beyond the physical performance of feats and encompasses the entire being. It is a means of discovering, unifying and expressing the True Self.

“The essence of being an old-time strong man in my opinion is recognizing and acknowledging the infinite potential of the human mind. The ability to bend steel, rip decks of cards, etc., has its roots in the same place as every great invention or work of art we have ever seen: The Imagination.”

You can see how relevant this is to all aspects of life, not just in the gym or on stage. It’s about using your mind and body to achieve your intentions. It’s about training in a way to exceed your own “personal best” and proving to yourself and others that virtually nothing is impossible.

Now, stand back, as I’m going to break that chain around my neck on the cover of the magazine…

Ao Akua

Joe

PS – If you are in the Austin, Texas area, you can find the current issue of Austin All Natural at places like Central Market, Whole Foods, and leading edge book stores and yoga studios. You can read it online right here.

Member BBB 2003 - 2015

The passing this week of self-help author Wayne Dyer has shaken and saddened the world.

He influenced millions, inspiring them, educating them, being a light for the road ahead.

He wrote forty books, recorded numerous programs, and spoke to millions.

He changed my life, too, way back in the early 1980s.

I borrowed his books and cassettes from the public library. I watched him on television.

He was brilliant in articulating principles I had not heard before.

He was one of the first great living teachers in my life.

Wayne Dyer radiated love.

I still remember him talking about the difference in scolding a child, and scolding a child’s behavior.

They were two different things.

The child was never wrong, but their behavior might be.

The first audio program I ever heard of his was How to Be A No-Limit Person from Nightingale-Conant.

That was probably around 1980. I was still struggling but deeply searching, too.

Wayne’s program helped me rethink my own life, including my beliefs and behaviors.

He helped awaken me to inner powers and renewed optimism.

He helped get me through the dark night of my soul.

Wayne Dyer left a legacy

I also learned book marketing from Wayne.

I remember the story of him quitting his job in 1976, loading a station wagon with his first book (Your Erroneous Zones) and traveling the country for an entire year, going on every radio or TV show that would have him as a guest.

It was old school door-to-door marketing.

He was relentless and persistent in sharing his message to the world.

When he returned home, his neighbors said, “Hey, while you were on vacation, your book became a bestseller.”

Obviously, he made it one.

I never met Wayne in any formal way but we spoke at the same event for Hay House in Austin a couple of years ago, and I saw him once years beforehand.

“The next time you are contemplating a decision in which you are debating whether or not to take charge of yourself, to make your own choice, ask yourself an important question, ‘How long am I going to be dead?’ With that eternal perspective, you can now make your own choice and leave the worrying, the fears, the question of whether you can afford it and the guilt to those who are going to be alive forever.” –  Wayne Dyer

We were walking along the beach in Maui, going in different directions, and I said hi to him.

He paused long enough to acknowledge me, but I kept walking.

He was with a friend and I was focused on my walk.

I’m certain he would have stopped and chatted, as I sensed his humbleness, serenity and friendliness.

But the moment passed.

And now Wayne Dyer, age 75, has passed.

I regret that I didn’t stop my stroll long enough to share a few words, and to thank him in person for influencing me, too.

The world will miss Wayne Dyer, but they will never forget him.

His contributions will live forever.

As will our love for him.

Thank you, Wayne.

You did well.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – A news report of the passing of Wayne Dyer is here: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/self-help-pioneer-dr-wayne-dyer-dies-75-n418556

Member BBB 2003 - 2015

How many butterflies do you see around you?

Right now, in your home or office, probably none.

How many butterflies do you see around you?

But you will probably notice a few later today – maybe in a magazine photo, or on television, or out in nature – at least until my question evaporates from your consciousness.

Why?

In researching goal setting for my upcoming talk for the Texas Association of Magicians (TAOM) convention in Austin, Texas on September 6, 2015, I was reminded of our RAS.

RAS means Reticular Activating System.

It’s at the base of your brain stem.

It’s job is to basically sort through the millions of data bits surrounding you in any one moment to deliver the seven bits that are relevant to you.

Numerous authors gave their own names to this natural tool of survival and selection.

In 1960, Maxwell Maltz wrote a breakthrough book called, Psycho-Cybernetics. In it he called the RAS your “servo-mechanism.”

Seems like an odd name to me, but it worked for Maltz and legions of his readers.

Either way, there is something in you that will help you attract your intentions if you activate it.

So let’s look a little closer…

How does your RAS select what’s relevant?

Basically in two ways:

1. Anything to help you survive.

2. Anything related to a goal.

Survival is the default setting.

Your brain is designed to help you stay safe and reproduce.

You don’t have to think about it. It’s hard wired into your brain.

Most of the work of your unconscious is around the idea of keeping you here and assuring some aspect of “you” remains after you’re gone.

But you can also program your mind for additional filters.

For example, whenever you set a goal or intention, you are programming your mind to help you attract and achieve it.

You are inserting a new command into your RAS.

It will then begin to filter those 10,000,000 bits of data in every moment to deliver what is relevant to your goal or intention.

But how do you program your RAS?

The best way to get a new command into your brain is with a goal or intention that fulfills these three qualities:

1. Emotional

2. Vivid Imagery

3. Repeated

In other words, a goal needs to be fueled with emotion (love, hate, or fear are the biggies), it needs to be vividly clear as an image (the mind responds to pictures), and it needs to be repeated (to get it installed in your mind).

When I asked you to look for butterflies, I was temporarily turning on your RAS to look for butterflies.

Without an emotional reason to see butterflies, or a clear picture of what butterfly you wanted to see, and without repetition, you will soon forget all about butterflies.

This is true for anything you want to attract or achieve.

Your mind is designed to help you achieve your goals, but you have to tell it what you want.

Why not do that right now?

Here’s how:

1. Select a desire, goal or intention.

2. Find an emotional reason for wanting it.

3. Create or find a clear image of it.

4. Look at the image, and feel your desire for it, every day.

Of course, you still need to take action.

Wallace Wattles (of The Science of Getting Rich fame) said what you want will arrive through natural means.

Don’t expect a Hollywood movie style Harry Potter production of your goal, but do welcome it if it comes that way.

Expect Miracles – and do what you are inspired to do.

Meanwhile, enjoy the butterflies.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – I’m speaking at the TAOM convention because I am a lifetime member of the Society of American Magicians, the organization founded by Harry Houdini. But I’m far less interested in magic tricks as I am in real magic. If you want real magic, too, then please click right here.

All 3 volumes are Free

Member BBB 2003 - 2015

What would be better than thinking or saying “It is what it is”?

As I wrote in my April 9th post, the above line is victim thinking.

It leaves little room for hope, change or action.

People say it to shrug and give in to what they think is unchangeable reality.

What would be better?

It occurred to me like a flash of inspiration that this line would be more accurate and empowering: “It is what you accept.”

You can do it!

In other words, reality is what you accept.

“It is what you accept.”

Someone asked me about the phrase, “It is what I decide.”

“Decide” could work, except it’s not entirely true.

I had two friends die within a week, one totally unexpected.

If I could “decide,” I would decide to have them live.

I can’t do that.

But I can accept their passing.

“It is what I accept.”

By accepting what I can’t change, I still live in agreed upon reality while acknowledging my power in the acceptance.

It’s a bit like the famous advice known as The Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

While most people associate the famous prayer with AA, it actually came out of a struggle in politics against evil.

According to Susan Cheever, “…it may come as a surprise to learn that the prayer was originally conceived not as an antidote to addiction but in response to the barbaric evil of Nazi Germany that threatened civilization itself during World War II. Written during the darkest depths of the war by the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, a first-generation German-American, the prayer captured the dreadful ethical predicament faced by Niehbur and his fellow German anti-Nazi émigrés in the United States, who were safe from persecution but powerless to intervene against Hitler.”

The “wisdom to know the difference” is the key.

Too many of us give in without checking in.

We don’t use our wisdom.

Many better advice is from a Mother Goose rhyme from 1695:

For every ailment under the sun

There is a remedy, or there is none;

If there be one, try to find it;

If there be none, never mind it.

At least with this new slogan, you can sense that you have choice.

With "Divorce with Grace" author Lori Anderson, celebrating my new "Secret Prayer" book and new albums. Note my T-shirt.

If you are backed into a corner, you can choose to see options or you can choose to surrender.

Either way, you get to choose what you accept.

Notice that the new line gives you more power.

You may or may not use it of course.

Creating your own reality is all about choice and awareness.

I am sure you will make the right decision to be the most empowered.

Whether you use it or not will depend on what you accept.

But notice that it’s entirely up to you.

“It is what you accept.”

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – Remember, check out Miracles Coaching to better grasp what I teach.

Member BBB 2003 - 2015