Last week I filmed my 89-year old father sharing the two minute prayer he says every morning. I was stunned to see it is similar to the prayer I say every night. The theme is gratitude. May it inspire you to give thanks daily, too.
“Affirmations don’t work for me.”
“That’s an affirmation, you know.”
“Huh?”
“Affirmations are anything you affirm as true,” I explained. “You can affirm something positive or something negative.”
“Say what?”
“You said ‘Affirmations don’t work for me’ which is an affirmation that affirmations don’t work for you.”
“I don’t follow.”
“You get what you believe and expect,” I explained. “If you believe affirmations won’t work for you, then you will get the experience of affirmations not working for you.”
“But they really don’t work for me!”
“I know. That’s because you are affirming that they don’t work.”
“You’re confusing me!”
“Look, the meaning you give an event is the belief that attracted it. If you feel affirmations don’t work, then you are attracting experiences to prove that affirmations don’t work. If you switched it, you could attract proof that affirmations do work.”
“But how would I do that when my mind says they don’t work?”
“That’s simply what you currently believe,” I went on. “It’s your current habit of thinking. But you can begin a new habit by beginning a new thought process today.”
“It’s that easy?”
“It’s simple but maybe not easy,” I said. “But you can begin right now.”
“Affirmations do work?”
“That’s a start.”
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – You can see your beliefs more clearly when you have a trained objective person helping you. Consider http://www.MiraclesCoaching.com
Jimbo Berkey bought one copy of my new album, Reflection, and then went back and grabbed 5 more copies.
Five more?
I asked him why.
He said —
“After putting Dr. Joe’s ‘Reflection’ disk
into the car player my search for music that
would lift me up and put a smile on my face
was over. With world class instrumental music
in the background playing toe-tapping tunes,
I can hear words that will make me a better
person as they seep from my conscious mind
into my unconscious mind and help me to keep
my thoughts on the ‘right’ side of the
universe all day long.“I quickly ordered five more copies . . .
why five? Well, my original copy is the one
I will wear out in my car cd player, and
three of the five copies I will gift to
friends that I think have an enlightened
spirit and will recognize them for the
treasure that they are . . . and the
other two? I will keep them in their
original wrapping in a special place
with my rare coins and original
Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall movie
poster because I am convinced that one
day these copies of Dr. Joe’s ‘Reflection’
will be valuable far beyond their cost.”
Apparently this new album is connecting with people of all ages.
Arames Castro is an 18 year old who listened to it and said —
“I’m sure you can imagine the excitement and
anticipation I began to feel as I realized
this is exactly what I’d been searching for.
I like to think of listening to it as “comfort
food for the soul.” My current favorite track
is ‘Reflection.’ The lyrics especially are
freakin’ awesome!”
And Rabbi Neil Schuman said —
“I find your music an uplifting review of
your teachings.”
And publisher Victoria Belue Schaefer said —
“What an amazing new CD you’ve created!
“It has shades of David Byrne and Brian Eno,
to me, which I’m wondering if was intentional
because Eno was quoted in the beautifully
produced CD booklet.“The powerful lyrics and modern jazzy-inspired
melodies blew me away.“The songs Love, Believe and Merlin are great,
but the song Remember was phenomenal! I’ve never
heard positive affirmations to music like that.
Wow! Wow! Wow!“And what about the song Do? Good grief. Rock monster
with nothing but empowering lyrics. We all need to
play this on a loop when we want to get – and stay
motivated.“I do believe you have created a new genre of music.”
I love all this positive feedback, of course.
But you need to decide for yourself how much you love the music and which songs are your favorite.
You can hear samples of all the tracks and grab the CD (which comes with a collectible, limited edition booklet, and with a surprise gift) over at http://www.ReflectionCD.com
Go see (and listen).
Enjoy!
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS — Previous healing music albums —
http://www.HealingMojoMusic.com
http://www.GetUpandStrut.com
http://www.AtZeroMusic.com
http://www.AligningtoZero.info
http://www.HealingRockMusic.com
http://www.ReflectionCD.com
http://www.TheHealingSong.com
Coming – http://www.432toZero.com
ZZ Ward is one of my favorite singers. I met her last year and gave her a copy of my book, Life’s Missing Instruction Manual. She read it and sent this to me (used with her permission):
“Hello Joe! I just wanted to let you know that I love “Life’s Missing Instruction Manual” the book you gave me at my concert! I read it every day, and I’m buying copies for all of those close to me!! It’s an amazing book and probably beats out the art of happiness for me which is also a very inspiring book. Any ways I just wanted to let you know!! Thanks again. – ZZ”
Thank YOU, ZZ!
I met a man on a plane once who told me he buys copies of Life’s Missing Instruction Manual, hides a one hundred dollar bill inside each, and gives them out to people who graduate or have some other milestone.
As the author, you know I like hearing this. 🙂
You can get the book (printed, Kindle, or audio version) at Amazon or wherever books are sold.
http://www.amazon.com/Lifes-Missing-Instruction-Manual-Guidebook/dp/111865966X/
Just sharing. 🙂
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – Be sure to check out ZZ Ward’s music at – http://www.zzward.com
I used to hate exercise.
Even though I’ve worked out with legends in fitness, and personally met icons like Frank Zane, Lou Ferrigno, George Foreman, Floyd Patterson and others, I never liked exercise.
I even own one of the largest and most well stocked private gyms you’ve ever seen, which includes famed bodybuilder Steve Reeve’s personal Universal machine.
I used to smoke cigars in it.
If I could pay someone to exercise for me, and still reap the benefits, I’d do so.
Gladly.
But personally training with Body-for-Life fitness legend Bill Phillips has changed all that.
I now look forward to getting my workout done every morning.
These aren’t walks in the park, either.
My 25 minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) cardio takes all I have.
And the 45 minute weight lifting is something I almost hate to do but love having done it.
I’ve learned that I may resist it or resent it, but I never regret it.
But the best thing of all?
I’ve created something called obstacle immunity.
I learned the phrase from the book, Spartan Up! by Joe De Sena.
De Sena created and runs the incredibly intense obstacle courses/endurance runs/insane peak performance events called “Spartan” that about half a million people have voluntarily entered.
Crawling up greased walls, running through mud, sprinting over rugged hills, dodging fires or any number of totally unexpected obstacles is what Spartan is all about. And penalties for not completing an obstacle are fifty burpees (fifty!), the most intense body weight exercise ever.
Spartan is designed to challenge you beyond what you think you can do.
It’s Hunger Games without the politics or the killing.
But it’s still intense.
De Sena says when you achieve athletic success in the unpredictable wild environment that his creative mind conjures up, you develop a resiliency to anything life can throw at you.
Your inner strength becomes almost super human.
I’m not suggesting you enter a Spartan race or Mud Run or CrossFit gig (unless you are inspired to do so), but tackling something as challenging as a burning morning workout sets my mind’s resistance meter to high.
If I can complete such a self-directed rugged workout, then I can do almost anything.
I leave the gym ready to handle life.
And the thing is, life is then much easier.
I don’t know Joe De Sena, or even anyone who entered one of his Spartan events, but his book validates what Bill Phillips and my trainer Scott York have said for years: getting that morning intense workout done gives you “a win” that makes you feel you can handle anything for the rest of the day.
As Bill Phillips, Scott York, Joe De Sena and even my father all say, exercise is medicine.
Too many of us want the easy street.
And we want it now.
I’m all for an easy life, but I’ve discovered life gets easier when you choose tough physical challenges and use them to fortify your mental ability to handle the rest of life.
When you take on a physical challenge, and you learn to endure struggle by controlling your mind and delay gratification, the result is a type of unshakeable bliss and inner self-confidence you will never forget.
Plus you develop an internal ability to handle adversity.
You create “obstacle immunity.”
You will be almost unaffected by any problem, issue or challenge you may face.
Your ability to handle stress will have increased.
When you set out to attract your goals, you will not be easily disheartened or discouraged when you face any blocks along the way.
This can help make you feel that anything is possible.
Any dream.
Any goal.
Any intention.
And guess what?
Anything really is possible.
Arguing for limitations is just, well, arguing for limitations.
I think Spartan Up! is incredibly wise, inspiring, and challenging.
Read it.
And then go do something big that will build inner strength.
What are you doing to challenge yourself?
What can you do right now?
Well?
Ao Akua,
Hercules Joe
PS — We all need help in going for our dreams. Consider Miracles Coaching.