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.
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.
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
How many butterflies do you see around you?
Right now, in your home or office, probably none.
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,
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.
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.”
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.
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,
PS – Remember, check out Miracles Coaching to better grasp what I teach.
I read Michael Singer’s bestselling book, The Surrender Experiment, in one day.
His true story of simply meditating every day and doing whatever was in front of him to do led to everything from him being a land owner, leader of a spiritual community, author of a bestselling book, a multimillionaire with hundreds of employees, and more.
All he says he did each day was “surrender” to the “flow” of life.
While I loved the book, it raised a lot of questions.
For example, Singer seems oblivious to his own belief system.
Early in the book, when he is offered money to teach, he resists and refuses.
That hardly sounds like surrender.
It sounds more like he had beliefs about money.
Otherwise, why wouldn’t he surrender to the offering?
Later, when his software service becomes so marketable that it brings millions of dollars in his direction, he redirects it away from himself, buying more and more land and donating it to his growing spiritual community, which is where he happens to live.
There is nothing wrong with any of this, of course.
But being aware of this behavior is crucial to spiritual awakening.
Too many people still think “money bad” when in fact money is neutral.
It’s your beliefs about it that make it good, bad, or indifferent.
Also, Singer says he has “no intentions” and no “personal preferences” – yet he intends to meditate every day and intends to surrender to the flow, and prefers to meditate in the morning and at night.
And when he can’t decide something, the most powerful personality in the room gets him to “surrender” to his desire, such as take a job, or take pay.
Clearly, the author is intending and preferring.
But let’s go even deeper.
Singer’s surrender to the flow of life lands him with an FBI raid, a lawsuit of the magnitude more attorneys then you have ever thought possible are brought in to handle the case, and the journey through the courts lasts years.
While it all worked out in the end – which is part of Singer’s point – why did it happen in the first place?
Throughout his book he suggests that the “the flow” of life is an underlying spiritual force that has intelligence and that is taking care of us, leading us to the experiences we need for our next growth spurt and consciousness expansion.
While I don’t argue with the flow – I do my best to honor it each day myself – you have to stop and reflect on what is the flow – your unconscious mind or the sum total of all life’s previous decisions or some wise Divinity?
Carl Jung said it best with the quote I used in my book, The Attractor Factor —
Millions of people, including Singer, swear by meditation as the way to see beyond the chatter of the mind and find the flow.
But many new books, such as The Buddha Pill, offer compelling evidence that meditation can actually be dark.
Personally I feel it depends on the user.
If you are already of sound mind and body, meditation may help you relax even more and give you the ability to see behind the curtain, to the “whiteboard” or Witness of life.
But if you are new to meditation and personal development, and have any emotional issues or past traumas, meditation may mask your wounds, hide your emotions, and allow your unconscious to trick you.
For example, we saw the movie Love Sick the other night.
It was about a man who falls in love and then sabotages his love.
To everyone else, he is insane.
Why would he sabotage his own love life?
To himself, he is sane.
His behavior and what he sees is all very real, and very accurate, to him.
It isn’t until someone shows him an MRI scan of his own brain in love, and explains his self destructive behavior, that he wakes up and begins to reshape his brain to create new behavior.
But his “flow” led him to paranoia.
His “natural” tendency was to fall in love and then find a reason to break off the relationship.
That was his flow.
And it wasn’t healthy, or getting him what he really wanted.
Again, I firmly believe that the unconscious/subconscious is running the ship of our lives, and often into rocks.
We have to awaken to our own programming to get a handle on just what is urging us to act.
After all, I’ve spent decades teaching about “counter-intentions” — those unconscious beliefs that cause you not to attract your conscious intentions.
Books such as The Key and audios such as The Missing Secret are designed to help you awaken to what is and is not the flow in your life.
Here’s another example that you’ll probably relate to:
When you go on a diet, your natural “flow” is to keep eating, not stop.
The current of your life is already moving in the direction of over eating.
That is your present “flow.”
It will feel like you are battling the flow in order to hold your hands down when facing yummy foods.
So, do you really want to follow the flow when you are dieting?
Here’s another example:
When I was drafting the post about my new Gullwing Mastermind, I accidentally hit a key that deleted the entire post.
I was shocked.
I had no idea what I did, or how, or why.
In my panic, I closed all my open windows and rebooted my computer.
When I opened the post, the file had returned.
But then things got even stranger.
When I reached to hit the button to save my post, I accidentally published it.
I couldn’t believe it.
I wasn’t ready to publish the article yet.
But I took a deep breath, decided “something” wanted me to go ahead and post that article, and I accepted it.
But was it my unconscious or the flow that made me do it?
To paraphrase Jung, until you awaken, you will say Fate (or The Flow) is creating your life, when in reality it’s your own unconscious mind.
And let’s not forget that you can re-direct the flow with a decision.
If you haven’t been working out, your flow is to stay on the couch.
But after you set an intention and make a decision to exercise, your new flow will have you moving again.
At first it may feel unnatural, because you are going against the “flow” of a habit you had, but as you persist, your new flow will become natural.
Said another way, the neuro-pathways in your brain were already paved and running to keep you on the sofa; when you decided to exercise, you began to build new neuro-pathways, thereby creating a new behavior, a new habit, and a new flow.
So yes, there is a flow in your life already moving, but you can redirect it with a decision.
You just have to be awake enough to do it.
And now, before you go, let’s look at this whole issue even closer...
There is a deeper level of flow, the “witness” behind it all, and identifying more with It than the thoughts and feelings overlaying it, may be a wiser approach to surrender.
Our job is to discern the difference.
For example, what drove me to write this commentary?
On one level it could be my unconscious beliefs about being “right” and how I feel it is necessary to prove how smart I am by pointing out what Singer missed.
On another level, it could be due to the deeper flow nudging me to write this because it needs written, no matter what explanation or rationale, in order to contribute to the awakening of the planet.
Or maybe I jut decided it was a great opportunity to speak my mind.
Which is correct?
I honestly don’t know.
The Witness non-judgmentally observes all.
But I, like Singer, am simply doing what I sense is the next appropriate thing for me to do in this moment.
Again, I loved Singer’s book and urge you to read it. It is a hypnotic read, fast moving, and entertaining. He is on to something with surrender, but just be alert to what you are surrendering to.
After all, the Witness just witnesses; it doesn’t tell you what to do.
It will witness you cry or laugh or do or not do.
You, as a thinking, feeling being, still get to decide.
Bottom line: surrender to the flow that is the most loving and empowering, while paying attention to how you created/attracted the flow in the first place through your own previous decisions, and know that any decision you make now contributes to or even redirects the flow.
I’ll say that again –
Just something to think about.
Ao Akua,
PS – I am currently reading Singer’s earlier book, titled The Untethered Soul. It is also excellent.
Brace yourself. This is the first time I’ve ever made this offer. It is limited to 10 people. It will transform your life. It is BIG. Details below…
“Joe Vitale is a true marketing, sales and promotion genius.”
– Dan Kennedy, in his book ‘No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent’
“Just when you think you understand how the world works Joe Vitale comes along and takes you to a whole new place. He’s engaging, entertaining, enlightening and – oh boy – does he ever stretch your thinking.” – Ian Percy, Reg. Psych. and member of both the US and Canadian Speaker Halls of Fame.
“No one else I know of could help someone come up with a Barnum-like Big Idea and then help them take it to fruition = becoming a huge phenomenon, which means BIG money, fame, recognition, and unique world positioning. See Joe Vitale’s outrageous list of accomplishments to know this is the real deal.” – David Garfinkel, Copywriter, Author, Consultant
What else is possible?
What’s left undone?
What can you attempt to attract or achieve that would stun even you?
Yes, you can stay comfy.
You earned it.
But we both know that life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
That’s where “the rush” is.
That’s why people do dare devil endurance feats and climb mountains and open businesses.
They want more.
That’s why people in Kuwait, already wealthy, open retail shops.
They are seeking the gusto of life.
They want to feel alive.
What’s your next dream?
While you think about your answer, allow me to share my own answer.
My own big dream is the desire for a vintage Gullwing.
That’s a Mercedes SL300 Gullwing.
That’s the iconic car considered by many as the world’s first super car.
Gullwing doors.
Leading edge engineering.
Futuristic design.
Built in 1954-55 and sought today as investment grade masterpieces.
And fetching upwards to two million dollars.
Each.
I want one.
I want one because the desire for one is melting my limits about what I think is possible.
If a once homeless man like me can attract a vintage Gullwing, what else is possible?
It’s not about the Gullwing.
It’s about The Stretch.
So, what’s your Gullwing?
It doesn’t need to be a car.
It can be anything that makes you suck in air.
It can be anything you long for but have yet to achieve.
Anything that gives you chills.
Anything that makes you a little scared and a lot excited.
What’s your Gullwing?
What would you like to experience just because you want it?
I’m looking for 10 people to join a Gullwing Mastermind with me.
This is a full year program for creating miracles.
It’s what Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, declared was the key to success.
He wrote –
“The “Master Mind” may be defined as: ‘Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.'” – Napoleon Hill
The Gullwing Mastermind private group that I am inviting you to join consists of –
ALSO –
AND –
And you will have the power of a mastermind to help you achieve your goals.
Some of the most successful people I know are in one or more mastermind groups.
I met a man recently who is in five masterminds.
These are powerful, inspiring, life changing.
You not only draw from my experience, but you have the collective power of the entire mastermind group on your side – the wisdom, energy, support, experience, education, resources, contacts, and more.
Obviously, this is a priceless experience.
But maybe you need to know more about me —
* I started as a homeless nobody, lived in poverty for a decade, and went on to fame and fortune. Today I live the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Incredibly successful people hunt me down for consultations and engagements, like the princess in Kuwait who paid me six figures to speak at her event, and the son of the man who produced The Beatles who wants me in a movie and television show he is producing.
* I wrote more books than most people read in a lifetime – about 50 so far, with numerous ones being bestsellers, such as The Attractor Factor and the recent The Secret Prayer. These books have become #1 bestsellers on Amazon, in the overall category of ALL books. I have been published in every way you can name, and have secrets and insights about each approach.
* I recorded multiple bestselling self-help programs, for the largest and most famous audio producer in the world, and saw many of them become record-breaking bestsellers – even out selling Earl Nightingale’s famous programs. I know how to create, package, and sell programs so the world hears about them.
* I pioneered Internet marketing, wrote one of the first books every published about it in the 1990s, created outrageous attention grabbing stunts like being the first to hypnotize someone live online, using the Internet to out sell a Harry Potter book, and selling a hefty package and making half a million dollars in three days.
* I traveled around the world, speaking in countries as diverse as Russia, Peru, Poland, and Kuwait, and of course being a keynote speaker at major events in the USA, including for the National Speakers Association, and at mega-wealth events with Donald Trump and Tony Robbins on the same bill as me.
* I invented Hypnotic Writing, Hypnotic Marketing, Buying Trances, The Secret Mirror, The Secret Reflection, Miracles Coaching, Wealth Trigger, Hyper-Wealth, and much more, all of which are staggeringly successful. I know how to generate ideas, package them, and market them to the masses.
* I wrote sales copy for more authors, speakers, consultants, CEOs, celebrities and more, than I care to remember, increasing their sales, improving real world numbers, and more. I’m talking everyone from The Red Cross to hospitals and non-profits to Abraham of Jerry and Esther Hicks fame. I created Hypnotic Writing and wrote a book explaining it.
* I have attracted national media exposure being on everything from Larry King Live (twice) to Donny Deutsch’s Big Idea show, to being on ABC, Fox, CNN, CNBC and more. I’ve been in the New York Times and Newsweek. I know the value of media exposure in establishing you as an authority and the “go to” person.
* I have been in 15 movies, with The Secret being the most famous, and three more coming out in 2016. And I got in one of the movies because of a mastermind.
* I am coming out with my own television show in 2016. It’s going to combine a TED-style talk with Oprah-style interviews and the selling power of QVC, and is designed to inspire people to go for their dreams.
* I wrote Attract Money Now and give it away as a list builder and gift to humanity. I also give away numerous other books, including The Miracles Manual and The Abundance Manifesto. I know the value of “karmic marketing” in helping the planet and yourself.
* I brought ho’oponopono to the world, through my books, Zero Limits and AT Zero, reaching an estimated 5,000,000 people.
* Near the age of 60 I recreated myself as a musician and, at my last count, recorded 15 albums. I called myself the world’s first self-help singer-songwriter to separate myself from the overwhelming competition. Reverbnation voted me #1 singer-songwriter. My music videos have attracted hundreds of thousands of views. I have over three hundred thousand fans. My albums with Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon have made more money than most musicians ever make in an entire career. I know how to reframe and repackage to market to success.
* I developed a spiritual approach to wealth, ignoring cutthroat methods and always focusing on a balanced, healthy approach to success, based on passion and purpose. I know how to create win-win-win negotiations and conduct business from the heart.
* I can listen to virtually anybody for about 20 minutes and see or create a unique money making idea specific to them. I have done it with friends and strangers, helping them create products, and with my own wife, helping her create a bestselling cookbook.
* I created a movement to end homelessness, raised funds for those in poverty, and compiled a book to help others who struggle. I know how to think big, confront limitations, and urge people to go for their highest ideals.
* I discovered the “missing secret” in self development, the idea of counter-intentions, and have been teaching it to people for over a decade, in my books, audios, and Miracles Coaching program. This one method alone can accelerate results for anyone.
* I’m considered an expert on the Law of Attraction, and know how to use it, teach it, and go beyond it. I’ve explained deeper concepts than it in my books and audio programs, such as The Awakening Course. Most people have a superficial or erroneous understanding of LOA. I help them get clear. I help them get results.
* I invented e-classes back in the 1990s, which everyone and his brother offers today. I know how to repackage material as an authentically new product.
* I wrote There’s A Customer Born Every Minute, the only business book on P.T. Barnum, the famous circus promoter who was also a speaker, writer, politician, entrepreneur, publicity genius, and more. Studying Barnum (and others like him, like Houdini, Branson, and Trump) gave me the ability to “Barnumize” almost any business by finding or creating the Big Idea and promoting it to the world for fame, fortune and immortality.
* I created the Rolls-Royce Phantom Mastermind, where people flew in from all over the world to spend a few hours with me in the famous luxury car, going to dinner, sharing, and getting coaching from me. ABC television news covered one of them. I know how to think bigger than big and light a fire under people to go for their dreams.
I could go on.
The point is, you not only will get the collective genius of the mastermind, but you will also draw from my own experience as well.
But I have to warn you –
This won’t be cheap and it won’t be for everybody.
After all, when I offered the Rolls-Royce Phantom Mastermind, people paid $5,000 to $7,500 each for just the evening with me.
An entire year will of course be a much larger investment.
If you qualify, we can arrange a payment plan, too.
If this idea makes your palms sweat, but makes your heart race with anticipation, then contact my assistant for details.
Write Suzanne at suzanne @ mrfire.com (close spaces to make it a workable email address).
Are you ready to fly?
Are you ready to stretch?
Are you ready to go for the biggest dreams of your life?
What’s your Gullwing?
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
Note: If this offer to join my Gullwing Mastermind ends up being too pricey for you at this time, remember that you can always join Miracles Coaching right now. And you can always read many of my books, such as Attract Money Now, for free.