Can People Change?

I spent two months trying to figure out my career – my rise from nothing to something – so I could explain it in some comprehensible way to the Austin, Texas writers group of the National Speakers Association.

I knew no one would care about my story unless I gave them something to care about.

I knew that the Law of Attraction alone wasn’t enough for most people.

Telling my birth, struggle years, first tiny successes and list of failures, shooting star moments and such, could be lengthy.

It might fit in an autobiography, but not in a short talk.

So I decided to answer the question, “Can people change?”

To begin, let’s look at the me of 1974.

Brace yourself  –

I was broke, alone, unhappy, angry, and driven to be an author.

But my drive was more obsession than passion.

I modeled my life after self-destructive authors like Ernest Hemingway (who many said I resembled at the time) and Jack London.

And as a result of the unconscious belief that I needed to struggle, I went through homelessness and poverty and many “dark nights of the soul.”

I didn’t know that the Law of Attraction was in effect, matching my reality to my subconscious beliefs.

But, today, I am happy, successful, healthy, in a long term relationship, with fans around the world.

Look at me now –

What happened?

This is what I wanted to explain to the Austin special interest writers group of NSA members.

With that in mind, I created “The APS Formula.”

“The APS Formula” is a 3-step strategy for going from nothing to something – like I did.

I delivered the formula at the private event for 12 people.

I stayed away from Law of Attraction and just focused on visible, practical, doable steps.

Afterwards, the group leader told me, “Out of a scale of 1-10, your presentation was a 17.”

I know you weren’t at the event. So I’m revealing the formula here for the time first ever in print.

Here it is:

The A stands for author/authority.

If you aren’t an authority, few will listen to you with any respect.

The best way to be an authority is to be an author-ity; write a book.

My 1984 book Zen and the Art of Writing proved I could write. Later books, such as Turbocharge Your Writing and Cyber Writing and Hypnotic Writing, all did the same thing.

My first clients all hired me for writing, including a businessman who paid me the largest fee of my life to write his book.

My first talks and classes were all on writing and publishing.

When the Internet came along, I wrote articles about copywriting, sales letters, marketing; and they were posted online. This made me one of the first cyber promoters and cyber copywriters.

Some people today still know me as a copywriter from this early period.

Today I’ve recreated myself as a musician. I wrote a little book, Healing Music, to establish my authority as a singer-songwriter.

And because of my self-help books, such as The Attractor Factor and The Key, I’m now considered a self-help, self-improvement, and spiritual teacher.

Again, you want to be an authority and being an author can do that for you.

The P stands for promote/product/passion.

I learned if I didn’t promote my own work, it died.

I also learned I had to create more product, which I did with Hypnotic Writing, Project Phineas, and others.

I also followed my passion, as when I wrote The Seven Lost Secrets of Success. I was on a mission. The book made people know me, like me, and want to do business with me. One company bought 19,000 copies of the book. (!)

Project Phineas was my home study course, recorded in my bedroom with pillows under the door. I recorded it with my passion for “Phineas,” P.T. Barnum’s first name. It eventually became my first Nightingale-Conant product, The Power of Outrageous Marketing.

It was my passion for metaphysics that led to Spiritual Marketing, which later became The Attractor Factor, which led to an invite for me to appear in the hit movie The Secret, which led to redirecting history for me.

Same with Zero Limits (and later, AT Zero) and my passion for ho’oponopono.

Same with P.T. Barnum and my book, There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.

These were all products that I was passionate about and heavily promoted.

I went on the cover of Austin All Natural magazine to promote myself as a musician, shortening a one-year program into three months to get it done and seize the publicity.

Again, you need to promote your book, create more product, and follow your passions.

The S stands for speaker/salesperson.

I found that I could reach people and sell people if I got on stage.

At first it was just breakfast groups. But those led to other groups. And adult education classes through Leisure Learning in Houston. I had six people in my first class and was so terrified I nearly passed out. But word got out that I was worth hearing.

And, over time, I got better.

I developed products to sell in the back of room at my talks, like Hypnotic Writing.

I’ve been a keynote speaker at the national NSA meeting.

I’ve spoken to 20,000 people live in Peru.

But I started with six people.

And I turned my success at speaking into a product too with Hypnotic Speaking.

The APS Formula is a greatly simplified explanation of my successes.

When I think about it even deeper, I intentionally and usually un-intentionally used all 10 of the steps I reveal in my book on P.T. Barnum.

Anyone wanting massive success should read, study and apply the steps in There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.

Finally, I also think “The Great Something” was behind my rise from nothing to something.

I wrote a song about it, with a little inspiration from Melissa Etheridge, and it is on my new album, The Great Something.

If I can go from homeless nobody to famous somebody, you, too, can achieve your dreams.

Yes, people can change.

At least start here, with The APS Formula.

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – It’s always wise to get help. Check out my Miracles Coaching program.