music
Self-Help Songs
How can “self-help songs,” well, help your self?
My six singer-songwriter albums all contain original tunes of “song therapy.”
They often contain positive messages of motivation, transformation, and inspiration.
It’s my way of helping you through challenges and tough times with songs of encouragement.
In many ways, my songs are “coaches” in lyrical form.
My newest album, The Great Something – now on iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon, and more – contains the most advanced and memorable self-help songs of my career so far. But don’t take my word for it. Note –
Stephen Oliver said (used with his permission) “I just received my copy of your new CD, “The Great Something”. As soon as I got into my home office (I’m a freelance writer), I put it on the stereo. I’m listening to it as I write. Now I’m in a quandary. I can’t decide whether it’s incredible or ‘merely’ fantastic. Either way, I love it. I’ve already added it to my night time playlist, along with all your other CDs.”
And Jimbo Berkey said (used with his permission) “After listening to your newest album, “The Great Something,” I am convinced that it is the most powerful and compelling message that anyone who hasn’t begun this journey could ever encounter.” (Jimbo went on to buy 20 more copies of the CD to give out to people.)
Let me explain how you can use self-help songs like the ones on The Great Something in your life:
“The Hook”
When you are facing a situation where someone or something is about to “set you off,” take a breath. The self-help song “The Hook” (on my One More Day album) contains the message “Don’t Take the Hook!” It’s a reminder that you don’t have to take the bait. In general, whenever you get upset, it’s when you went unconscious. Something or someone flipped your internal switch and you got mad or sad. The song “Don’t Take the Hook” is your reminder that you have choice; you don’t have to get engaged or outraged. You can always walk away. You can even walk away singing, “Don’t take the hook!”
“The Glad Game”
But if you do take the hook and find yourself upset, you can always play The Glad Game to recover. I wrote this self-help song because of the famous book, and many movie adaptations of it, called Pollyanna. “The Glad Game” (on The Great Something album) is your reminder that you can find the good in any situation or person. You may have to really look. But it’s always there. Always. This upbeat swing-rock-dance song will show you the way.
“Look for the Light”
One way to find the good, or play The Glad Game, is to “Look For the Light.” This self-help song, also on The Great Something album, is a reminder that there is light (or good, or glad, or positive) in any and every situation. This song was born when someone asked me how to handle political fighting and opinion conflicts that split people. I spontaneously said, “Look for the light.” There are always people doing good things, and good causes you can find and support. But you may need to pause and look for it.
“Empowerment”
You’ll find yet another way to use lyrics as affirmations in my self-help song “Empowerment” on my album The Healing Song. This instrumental cried out for my voice, so I allowed inspiration to guide me in speaking hypnotic commands of inner strength. Listening to this track alone can strengthen your mental core, so you can have, do, or be, whatever you imagine and work toward. I listen to this song every time it shuffles up on my playlist. It’s powerful.
“There’ll Be Days”
After my private songwriting lesson with rock legend Melissa Etheridge, all of my music became more focused. The self-help song “There’ll Be Days” (also on my latest album, The Great Something) is my favorite song for conveying wisdom in a traditional singer-songwriter folk format. It’s a reminder that some days will be tough, and some will be tender, but you can get through them all if you smile and remember this song. I know it doesn’t sound humble at all, but I think this song is pure genius. At least I can’t stop listening to it. It’s hauntingly beautiful.
“The Great Something”
When you need reminded that you aren’t alone, and that the dark night of the soul will pass, you might listen to “The Great Something” (the title track on The Great Something album). This self-help song was directly inspired by my lesson with Melissa Etheridge. She advised me to write in the first person. I took her advice to heart and wrote the most personal, raw, and revealing song of my life so far. I listened to it earlier today to remind myself that “The Great Something” – what others might call Divine, Universe, Nature, Gaia or something else – is with you always.
“Some Thoughts”
Everybody has thoughts, but not everybody knows they are not their thoughts. The self-help song “Some Thoughts,” on my One More Day album, is an upbeat tune reminding you that some thoughts serve you and some thoughts suck. But you can play the jukebox in your mind and just select a different song/thought at any time.
“You Gotta”
The self-help song “You Gotta” (on my album titled Sun Will Rise) is a pep-talk in song. With saxophone, guitar and an upbeat drum (by the drummer with the same name as me), this one is designed to urge you to get up, get moving, and move toward your dreams. “You gotta dream, dare, grow and go” is an affirmation and command. After all, any dream you want to attract requires movement from you, as life is a co-creation.
“Everybody’s Going thru Something”
The most popular music video I ever had created is the one made to breathe life into the self-help song, “Everybody’s Going thru Something” (on my very first album, Strut!). I wrote this song to remind us that we all have dreams and we all have pains. If we can be more understanding, we can bring more peace to the world. (See the music video at the end of this post.)
“Remember”
The smokey-bluesy-jazzie self-help song “Remember” (on the album Reflection) is a hypnotic-poetic ballad revealing the creativity technique I used to make numerous albums. The technique is called The Remembering Process and Daniel Barrett, my producer, and I wrote a book explaining it called, naturally enough, The Remembering Process. With baritone saxophone and a smooth groove, this spoken word song offers you another way to enjoy creativity. For some reason I want to say this song is really hip.
If this intrigues you, please see All Healing Music, the portal for almost all of my healing music (many recorded with Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon) and self-help songs (all recorded with my band of legends: Daniel Barrett, drummer Joe Vitale, Glenn Fukunaga).
Remember, what you listen to also programs you.
Choose wisely.
Ao Akua,
PS – Audio samples of my singer-songwriter albums are here: http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/JoeVitale1
PPS – You may also be interested in a blog post I wrote last year about Motivational Songs at https://www.mrfire.com/music/motivational-songs/
New Self-Help Music Video
My latest music video is a six minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of my sixth singer-songwriter album, The Great Something. There are lessons in it about going for your dreams, asking for what you want, hanging in there, and more. You’ll meet my band of legends, hear a little of my new music, discover the unusual creative process that helped me write songs, etc. You’ll also find me talking about the person I dedicated the new album to: rock icon Melissa Etheridge. I’m proud of this new music video. I hope it inspires you, too. Here it is:
Motivational Songs
Motivational songs?
Yes.
Why?
Because everything programs you.
You don’t have to be consciously focused on conversations around you, or the media blaring news over TVs in a bar or restaurant, or billboards in your field of vision as you drive, or even the music playing in the background as you work, walk, rest, exercise or lounge.
It’s still all programming you.
Your mind is picking up around 40,000,000 bits of information in every second.
Even right now, as you read these words.
You’re not aware of it all, thank goodness, because another part of your mind is filtering it.
That other part lets you become aware of only what is necessary to your goals and survival.
But that other part is also receiving all that other programming.
When it comes to attracting more of what you want using the Law of Attraction, you need to become aware of this hidden programming, and consciously surround yourself with what supports you.
And that’s where I want to talk about motivational songs.
Music can program you for lack and limitation.
I’ve written about this many times, explaining if you can’t seem to get what you want today, it could very well be due to the Rolling Stones singing “You can’t always get what you want” into your brain since the 1960s.
Great song.
Lousy affirmation.
What we need to do today is carefully choose what we allow into our heads.
We have choice.
You can still listen to the Rolling Stones, or any other band you love, just with an awareness of the lyrics and the consciousness to prevent any limited thinking programming.
You can also search for more upbeat, positive music.
For example, more and more music is being called “healing music” and “self help” music. It’s music intentionally created to motivate you, inspire you, or even enlighten you.
A quick search brought up these top motivational songs:
- What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
- Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor
- Over The Rainbow – Judy Garland
- Beautiful Day – U2
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye
- Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles
- Imagine – John Lennon
- Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
- Don’t Give Up – Peter Gabriel
- Let It Be – The Beatles
- I Feel Good – James Brown
- Heroes – David Bowie
- Heal The World – Michael Jackson
- Get Up Stand Up – Bob Marley
- Walk – Foo Fighters
- Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
- Dream On – Aerosmith
- Perfect Day – Lou Reed
- Lovely Day – Bill Withers
- Smile – Nat King Cole
You can of course create your own playlist of self-help or motivational songs.
Meanwhile, let me share some of my own adventures in making motivational music:
Back in 2011, when I began recording my first album, I consciously decided to make it a “meditation meets the blues” recording.
I brought in my muse and support at the time, Sarah McSweeney, and together with producer Daniel Barrett, we created Blue Healer.
We also recorded it in record time (no pun intended), so I could be on the cover of Austin All Natural magazine announcing my first ever music album.
We succeeded, too.
My famous band
My next album in 2012, was my first singer-songwriter one.
I knew I wanted to create songs that helped me feel inspired and motivated. The album title track, Strut!, was a rally call for people to “strut around” when they felt down.
It’s the positive psychology principle that just smiling, even when you don’t feel like it, will change your internal state.
Fake a smile to feel a smile.
Strut to feel like strutting.
My first major music video from the Strut! album became, over the years, my all-time most watched video. You can still see “Everybody’s Going Through Something” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzT_yljj-SU
At this point I’ve recorded five singer-songwriter albums.
I’m going to record album six in January, after my private songwriting lesson with the legendary Melissa Etheridge next week. (!)
I’ll again attract my all-star band back into the studio:
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer Joe Vitale (yes, same name as mine),
- legendary bass player Glenn Fukunaga,
- Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon,
- and of course my producer, Daniel Barrett.
Together we’ll make more motivational songs.
But I’m not the only one creating music to help people.
Free book at http://www.healingmusicbook.com
In the last few years of making music, I’ve met many other artists creating their own forms of motivational songs, or healing music, and self help music.
For example –
- Jana Stanfield, another great singer, told me about a group of singer-songwriters who were all making positive music. Called EmPower Music & Arts and it’s at https://www.empowerma.com/
- Bob Baker, well known for his books on how to market music, dropped by one day and gave me a copy of an album he created with Pooki Lee. I listened and loved it. Opening Up to the Good is all about feel-good music you feed your mind. Check it out at https://soulmassage.bandcamp.com/
- Ruthie Foster, a Grammy nominated blues singer I adore, made an album with me (!), and Daniel Barrett, called Stretch. We call it musical medicine. Details at http://www.transformingmusic.com/
- And of course Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon and I have recorded several instrumental albums, many of which are bestsellers for us. Almost all of them are inspired by the Hawaiian spiritual healing system called ho’oponopono. You can read about those albums and others at http://www.allhealingmusic.com
I could go on.
Obviously, you have choice in what you listen to.
The Jive Aces, a really cool swing-jump-jazz dance band from the UK, has a video that makes me smile whenever I watch it. Over 2,000,000 have seen it. It’s “Bring Me Sunshine” and you can watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXvJ8UquYoo
The point of this post is to help you remember to consciously guard the roads into your mind.
Whether it’s audio or visual, you want to feed your brain what will nourish and support you.
Listening to the right music is one key way to do it.
Meanwhile, dance, sing and strut your stuff!
Ao Akua
PS- A list of my singer-songwriter albums is here at CDBaby and almost all of my albums so far are listed at http://www.allhealingmusic.com
Member BBB 2003 – 2017
Selling Out vs Sold Out
Many people new to the Law of Attraction confuse material gain and spiritual awakening. They think it’s either-or: either you attract the money or you attract the awakening, but not both.
Obviously, that’s not what I teach.
In my books, such as The Awakened Millionaire, I explain that you want to profit from your passion, and that being true to yourself in business is also being true to your spiritual path.
It’s not either-or.
It’s both.
One evening I watched a documentary called Still Bill, on Bill Withers, the singer-songwriter famous for such tunes as Grandma’s Hands and Lean on Me.
In one scene in the film, he was congratulated for not “selling out.”
Bill paused and then said, “Look. We are all entrepreneurs. What’s the best sign we could ever put in our store? The greatest sign we can hang in our window is ‘SOLD OUT.'”
I loved his clarification.
Bill wrote songs true to him, and along the way he sold millions of them.
He didn’t “sell out” but he surely “sold out.”
Singer Bono once said “Selling out is doing something you don’t really want to do for money.”
I don’t want you to pursue money for money’s sake, but to instead pursue your passion and make money from it along the way so you can continue pursuing it.
In other words, focus on your passion, create a product or service true to you, promote it honestly and relentlessly, and then enjoy the profit from your work.
Sounds healthy and wise, doesn’t it?
You can do this, too.
It’s knowing your calling/passion/life mission, and being at peace with success, as you express yourself in the marketplace.
It’s not about “selling out” but being “sold out” while doing what you love.
I know people who deceive themselves into thinking they can’t make money doing what they love because they would be too focused on the material.
They completely forget that the material is the concrete form of the spiritual.
Judging “stuff” as not spiritual is spiritual snobbery; it’s a self deception; it’s an ego trip.
I’m not talking about hoarding or whoring, but about being comfortable living well as you do well.
As Milton Friedman said, “Rich or poor, it is good to have money.”
Anyone who wants to awaken needs to embrace all aspects of life and quit judging parts of it or themselves as bad.
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
It doesn’t take much character to judge anything as lowly; it’s takes much character to see the good in all of life.
Again, you can use the Law of Attraction to attract cars and cigars or spirituality and enlightenment – and you can use LOA to attract all of it.
The only limitations are in your mind.
That said, what would you welcome into your life?
As Arnold Patent, one of my favorite teachers, once said, “You can have it all!”
But, will you accept it?
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – You can always get greater understanding of these principles about Law of Attraction and more in my Miracles Coaching program.
Attracting Melissa Etheridge
Here’s a deeper insight into how the Law of Attraction actually works:
I’ve noticed that as soon as I sign up for a seminar or workshop, changes begin.
It may be just the decision that triggers change, or it may be something more esoteric.
Let me tell you a true a story about how this works…
A few weeks ago I decided to go back into the studio with my band and record my sixth singer-songwriter album.
As soon as I decided to do this, song ideas and new opportunities came to me.
For example, one day I looked in Facebook and there was a notice that rock legend Melissa Etheridge was doing a crowdfunding campaign for her new album.
As you’ll see in a minute, I’m a huge fan of hers.
I scanned her offerings and there was one for a two-hour, in-person, songwriting lesson with Melissa herself.
That excited me.
It also made me nervous.
After all, I’m a newbie as a singer-songwriter and Melissa is a goddess at it.
But as I say, “A goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot.”
I decided to go for it.
Within 24 hours, new energy for music hit me like waves of hot electricity.
I started writing new songs almost instantly.
Yet I haven’t had my session with Melissa yet!
As I mentioned, I’m a huge fan of Melissa Etheridge. Have been almost twenty years.
I fell in a hypnotic trance when I saw her on TV around 1995, scorching the screen with just her voice and acoustic guitar on an episode of Unplugged.
I’ve had this photo of Melissa Etheridge over 20 years
I mentioned her in my book on P.T. Barnum, There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.
I’ve seen her perform live numerous times.
I was a card carrying member of her fan club for years.
I bought a guitar signed by her.
I bought and read her autobiography.
I bought her song books to learn how she wrote her hits.
I tried to meet her, too.
She was going to be in the same organization I’m a member of (Transformational Leadership Council) and I thought I’d see her at one of our retreats.
I still haven’t met her.
But I will, when I have my private songwriting lesson with her.
And knowing I will, and knowing I will discuss my singer-songwriter passions with her soon, has turned on some “music production” switch inside me.
Just this morning, as I was working out, I received an entire song.
It just sort of “appeared” in my head.
I knew it was good because I couldn’t stop humming it.
I jumped off the treadmill and wrote the words down.
It was a complete song.
Everything was there.
I was amazed and delighted that it came with no effort and came by inspiration.
But it came AFTER I booked my lesson with Melissa and BEFORE I’ve had it!
Throughout my life I’ve noticed that when anyone makes a decision to attend an event designed to improve them, changes begin.
I saw it when I signed up to do a fire walk decades ago.
I saw it when I registered to experience The Forum seminar long ago.
I saw it when I signed up for Bill Phillip’s Body-For-Life challenge ten years ago, and more recently when I registered for his Transformation Camp and personally trained with him.
I saw it when I booked a saxophone lesson with Grammy nominated sax player Mindi Abair.
Grammy nominated sax sensation Mindi Abair and me
And I see it almost daily when people join my Miracles Coaching program.
As soon as they sign on the dotted line, and know they are committing to change, the change begins.
Why?
How?
I’m convinced it’s the decision to change that does it.
The decision sends a solid message to all parts of you that you are going in a new direction.
Suddenly your mind has a new target; a new goal.
Instantly your brain goes on “alert” for anything to help you with the upcoming changes.
There may be a more esoteric reason for it, too.
When you declare you are going to do something new, the Universe takes note, applauds you, and sends you support.
As Goethe put it –
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back — concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.“
Decision is the key.
It’s like turning the ignition switch on to engage the Law of Attraction.
Decide and things happen.
So, if there is something big you are considering doing, I say DO IT.
Just Do It!
Show your support for your desired change by signing up for it.
Make the decision.
It’s a concrete way to tell yourself and the world that you are doing something new, and you and the world respond by beginning the change that very day.
And yes, I am VERY excited to meet and learn from the rock icon herself – Melissa Etheridge!
Ao Akua,
PS – Learn more about Miracles Coaching.
