I went to a party about six years ago and apparently said something that made a difference in one woman’s life. Through mutual friends, six years later, the below story came to me. I’m posting it here to remind you that you never know how what you say and do could influence another, and to also remind you to believe in yourself and go for your dreams. Here’s the story (used here with her permission):
After 13 Banks Turned Down My Loan I Could Still See the Fields Full of Crops
Six years ago I started a farm in Wimberley. I’d been swimming at Jacob’s Well for years and had baptized my son in the waters, so Wimberley was very special to us. It wasn’t until we moved here that I realized just HOW special! The moment I found our land I had “the goose bumps” so intensely that I knew God wanted me to buy it-even if it looked like the biggest mission impossible. I’ve just learned to follow His orders, no matter how crazy and impossible they appear! If you get the goose bumps you have to leap, but at the end of construction of our new home, the bank reneged on our loan and for the first time I could remember things with this mission just weren’t falling into place financially.
I could still see the field full of crops someday, hundreds of bees and chickens everywhere and a healthy happy son. God suggested this in the first place, so it was going to work out somehow, but as quiet as I got, thinking, listening, and waiting, I wasn’t getting anywhere with the Bank . I began to wonder if I’d just made a huge mistake. What the heck was I thinking? A man at our church was a mortgage broker, and he offered to help us find another bank. He went to 13 banks and they ALL turned down my loan. It was looking mighty grim. You can’t imagine the pressure I was feeling from the situation but mostly from my head! I’d started thinking I was a completely selfish idiot, but I never got mad at God. Somewhere there was either going to be a lesson or there was going to be a miracle…and that’s where Joe Vitale came in.
We’d been invited to a New Year’s Eve party at a cool new friend Elizabeth Lee’s. I dressed up but was so preoccupied with our “situation” that it was hard to relax. All over the party people were drinking and laughing, and all I could do was smile to hide the worries I was feeling. Then I noticed a guy across the room that looked like he might be interesting and didn’t look busy, so I went to introduce myself. As he started to say his name I realized I’d seen him in a movie, and he said, “Why yes, I was in the movie The Secret”, which I’d seen and LOVED! He invited me to sit and the rest is history to me.
He told me all about his recent trip to Romania and how he’d traveled all over the world. He so enjoyed meeting all the different types of people and cultures, recognizing the common thread in us all and guiding folks to dream and create bigger. What really struck me were this man’s eyes. When he spoke to me about my farm, the banks, and the crisis at hand he just kept asking me to really dig down deep and ask myself, “Who deserves this farm more than me? Who’s worked harder than anyone? Get a number in your head, the amount of money you need to keep the farm, and then stick with that. Just focus on that number and the fact that you’re worth it, you DESERVE it, and it will come to pass.” During that two hour conversation with Joe I went from feeling like a horrible loser to a worthy, hard-working woman who just might able to pull this off after all!
I remember he kept saying to search “somewhere in your DNA. You feel unworthy, and you’ve got to pull that up. Who else is worthier than YOU?” It was an amazing conversation that I will never ever forget. Two days later I walked confidently into a little bank in Dripping Springs, and they picked up my loan! I was thinking about my conversation with Joe the whole drive there – drumming up that good “deserving” vibe feeling, and it worked! Thank you, Joe, for teaching me how to dig deeper, to believe in myself, to focus and to bring in all possibilities. There’s no limit-except maybe sleep deprivation! Wish I’d had a tape recorder that night!
Kathleen Mooney
Owner of EIEIO Organic Farm www.eieiotx.com
I’m living my “bucket list” dream of being a musician by recording my fifth singer-songwriter album (my eleventh as a music artist).
The songs on this new album are apparently better than ever, as legendary musicians are saying the lyrics are “perfect” and “hypnotic” and “every song is a favorite.”
Drummer Joe Vitale – yes, he has the same name as me – who is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has created over 200 albums, with over 50 being gold (and many platinum) records – asked me how I came up with the songs for this new album.
Here’s what I told him:
1. Intention
I have an intention to turn one of my messages into a song. In other words, I have positive messages – the ones I spend entire books writing about – and I want to morph them into songs people want to hear.
2. Inspiration
I have a Cuban cigar (now legal) and relax. Anything could help, as long as it relaxes me, and lets my mind drift. This mind wandering is what allows me to receive a song to match my intention.
3. Implementation
I pick up an acoustic guitar — usually the one Tony Nobles made for Ray Wylie Hubbard that I later bought – and just ad lib a song. I let it be nonsense or sense. I try not to judge too early. I want the song to come to me, from the muse or my mind, or the dance of both.
4. Record
I then turn on the voice recorder on my iPhone and record what is coming. This may be an entire song, a few chords, lyrics, or other snippet. Doesn’t matter. I record it.
5. Revise
I then transcribe the song, so I have the words on paper for me to tweak or approve. I usually spend a lot of time bringing the message into rhyme and polished form. I’ve learned you can polish inspiration.
From there, it’s a matter of living with the songs and seeing if they take more refined shape and that I really like them.
After that, it’s time to get my band together – Daniel Barrett, drummer Joe Vitale, Glenn Fukunaga and Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon – and see how they can help me arrange the music to fit the message. (Sometimes I have guest artists, as well. Grammy nominated singer Ruthie Foster sings on my new album.)
The result is a Hypnotic Song.
And because they are generally three minutes long, the songs are like 3-minute self-help books.
My new album – the one we just completed recording – contains the best songs I’ve ever written so far.
From rock to jazz to poetry to sing-a-long, there’s something for everyone.
It’s called “One More Day: Life Lessons in Hypnotic Song.”
You can pre-order it at One More Day.
I’m sharing this with you today for a few reasons:
1. I want you to go for your dreams, too.
Whatever your secret positive desire, you deserve to experience it. You’ll never know if you don’t try. Do it. Now.
2. I want you to set intentions and trust that inspiration will come to you as a result.
While intentions can be limitations, they can also be directives. Use them as starting points to “call forth” something great.
3. I want you to be fearless.
Being a musician in my sixties is a wild jump for me, yet it is not only working, but working flawlessly. My music is well received, my songs and singing are getting better and better, and I’m having a blast. Had I not faced the early doubts and fears, I would have missed this incredible life.
Sing your song, dance your dance, live your life.
Pre-order the new album “One More Day: Life Lessons in Hypnotic Song” by clicking right here.
Expect Miracles!
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – I posted this brief video on Facebook and 12,000 people viewed it there. It’s a sneak peek at a song off the new album, with me describing the depth of it, and how it moves me. See http://youtu.be/xiELqAr1Exk or you can see it on the album site right here.
Recently I found a one hundred year old copy of Wallace Wattles’ famous book, Financial Success Through Creative Thought, or, The Science of Getting Rich.
This 1915 leather bound edition of the book first privately published in 1910, is the one that inspired Rhonda Byrne to create her bestselling book and movie, The Secret.
While my computer took an hour to download new operating software, I reread Wattles’ book.
I’ve read it before, of course. But several things surprised me on this fresh reading.
Here are a few facts that jumped out:
I loved reading the book again because I could see clearly that many people who criticize or misunderstand the Law of Attraction have simply not read Wattles’ original text.
Or, if they did read his book, they glossed over all the parts they didn’t want to face, much like the many who watched the move The Secret and somehow fogged out when I appeared on screen and said you had to take action.
That’s the nature of unconscious limiting beliefs.
They filter reality so you only see what is a match to your beliefs.
Of course you have to take action.
Of course what you attract will come through natural means.
Of course it all begins with thought, which leads to behaviors, which leads to results.
Wattles is down to earth, very practical, and psychological in his approach.
He explains that you have to form an image of what you want to have, do, or be in your mind.
That image, held with faith and focus, will command the invisible elements of the world — the “stuff” that makes up everything, including you and me — to begin to form into your desired image. It will begin to unconsciously nudge yourself and other people to help you attract what you hold in mind.
You then have to work, with gratitude and holding your faith, in the direction of making it materialize, even if, at first, you can see no way to make it happen.
If I had to sum it up, I’d say that Wattles delivered a very simple, logical, and practical formula for attracting wealth. He’s not “woo woo” at all. He’s psychological rather than metaphysical, somehow knowing what psychologist William James declared –
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes” and —
“Act the part and you will become the part” and —
“Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit.”
And something to think about from Wallace Wattles —
“The only service you can render God is to give expression to what he is trying to give the world, through you. The only service you can render God is to make the very most of yourself in order that God may live in you to the utmost of your possibilities.”
Wattles book is still in print, and copies of the original 1910 edition are available for free online. I urge you to find one and read it.
And then turn what you learn into action.
Wattles wrote – “The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself.”
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS — This free new e-book can help you, too: http://www.theabundanceproject.com/book1.php?linkid=428743
A friend about to turn 40 years old sent me this question –
“What is the main/biggest thing you wish you knew about money before you were 40?”
I thought about it and came up with the following answer:
Stop worrying; it all works out.
Since I’m now in my sixties and have gone from homeless to poverty to filing bankruptcy to sleepless nights and more, only to end up living the life of one of the rich and famous, I’d say that all my worrying didn’t help at all.
Worry is a belief. It’s trained behavior. Most of us think if we worry, we will whip ourselves into doing something. But worry doesn’t stimulate right action. It stimulates more worry. And from a Law of Attraction view, worry begets worry.
Think about it: Under the feeling of worry are fear based thoughts, such as “What if this doesn’t work out?”, “What if my car is repossessed?”, “What if I lose my job and then…and then…and…!?!”
Those thoughts will create a reality that matches them.
Those thoughts will lead to desperate behaviors, and cause you to ignore more prosperous opportunities.
Those thoughts will create the same old scenario.
As I’ve said many times, you will easily attract what you fear or what you love, because both are strong emotions packed with high voltage energy.
It’s wiser to focus on what you love rather than on what you loathe.
Come from faith rather than fear.
Come from prosperity rather than panic.
Said another way –
Watch which thoughts you feed. If you think lack and limitation but pray for peace and prosperity, you are like a farmer who plants strawberries but prays for tomatoes.
I’ve learned that I need to work but not worry.
Trusting work, faithful work, passionate work.
But no worry work.
Using worry and fear to motivate yourself is a fool’s game. It doesn’t help.
Had I known this fact of life before the age of 40, I would have been happier and slept better, and probably reached success sooner.
In short, keep working, stop worrying.
My friend also asked —
“What single factor/knowledge/idea would you say was the most influential in being financially free and successful?”
Again, I meditated on the question and came up with this answer —
Realize money can come from multiple avenues.
For decades I thought money would only come to me from my writing. I couldn’t see any other way. While I continued to labor at day jobs I hated, just to survive, I also continued to write and submit my work to publishers. My entire focus was on money coming from writing.
I couldn’t see the bigger pie.
I couldn’t see the world of infinite possibilities.
I couldn’t even imagine it.
When I began to expand my mind, through books and audios I borrowed from the library, and allowed money to come to me in new and even surprising ways, my income increased.
For example, I began to speak in public.
That was a huge undertaking for me because my natural inclination at the time was to be a book nerd and live in the library. Public speaking was terrifying. Even traumatizing.
But I did it as it introduced a new way to receive money. Either I would get paid to speak or I spoke for free but sold my books in the back of the room. It worked.
I did more than speak, too.
I also tried publishing my first book as a correspondence course. This got my mind to relax the restraint that published writing meant having a publisher. It didn’t. I could take a book, break it into lessons, and sell it as a course.
I tried it once with a classified ad. (This was long before the Internet.)
It failed.
But a decade later, when I tried the same thing online, it became a major income stream for me. It led to my creating e-classes, and attracting tens of thousands of dollars (and a BMW Z3, which was a big deal for me at the time) as a result.
Learning to expand my mind about how money could come to me also led to recording audios.
The legendary publicist and dog lover, Paul Hartunian, told me how easy it was to make audio programs in my home. I listened to this wonderful mentor and acted.
I bought a cheap cassette player, put pillows under the window and door cracks, and recorded a marketing program in my bedroom. Most of it was based on what I learned from researching P.T. Barnum, and writing a book about his business secrets, titled There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.
I sold that home made program for $500 a copy. It later became my first Nightingale-Conant program, called The Power of Outrageous Marketing.
And that, of course, led to me creating numerous audio programs for Nightingale, and becoming one of their best selling authors ever.
My mind expanding didn’t stop there.
All the self-study I had put into becoming a writer meant I had skills most others didn’t have.
Bob Bly taught me (through his books and later with snail mail letters he was kind enough to write to me) to be a copywriter. That lead to a nice income writing sales letters, ads, and more (eventually even writing sales copy for Jerry and Esther Hicks, of Abraham fame).
As I continued to expand my mind, I learned about direct mail marketing.
I borrowed a little money from my parents, rented a mailing list, and sent out a sales letter I had hypnotically written about a new software program. (To show you how long ago this was, the program was DOS based and came on a floppy disk).
It worked.
I still remember opening my post office box and seeing an order for the software. I felt like I had won the lottery.
I also wrote a book about my own invented form of copywriting, had it bound at Kinkos, and sold it at my talks. That self-published manual later became my first e-book, thanks to Mark Joyner, which led to a long series of profit attracting digital products.
It changed my life forever.
It’s still famous today, in print and as an e-book, titled Hypnotic Writing.
And all of this was long before I was ever invited to be in the hit movie The Secret, which of course also changed my life forever, as it shot me into global notoriety and led to numerous unexpected opportunities.
I could go on, but you get the point.
My income increased when I didn’t insist that it come to me in a particular way.
Expand your mind to allow money to arrive in other ways.
Money doesn’t have any beliefs about you; you have beliefs about money. It will come to you if you don’t block it or wear blinders when it drives by your home.
To help you stop worrying and expand your mind —
Read books by Catherine Ponder, Arnold Patent, Napoleon Hill, and me.
Read The Power of Impossible Thinking by Yoram Wind and Colin Cook.
Read Create or Die: A Manifesto for Fearless Creators Everywhere by Dr. Morgan Giddings.
Listen to audio programs from Nightingale-Conant, from Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hanson, and me.
Listen to The Secret to Attracting Money by Joe Vitale.
Of course, you still have to follow your passion, take inspired action, maintain your character and your health, but the above will get you going in the right direction to attract more money.
Happy New Year!
Expect Miracles!
Ao Akua,
NOTE: If you are truly panicking because the bills have piled up, you’re out of work, and you see no end in sight, remember that there are numerous resources available to help you. Yes, take care of your mindset, but also call for help when you need it. The back of my book, Attract Money Now, has a resource section. It’s free right here.
PS – The fastest way to expand your mind is with the help of your own Miracles Coach. Check out Miracles Coaching.
For only $61 – my age later this month – you can have a box of goodies shipped direct to your door worth over $400.
These aren’t just any goodies, either.
The cool box you will get – or your friends, if you get it as gifts for lucky others – will include my brand new all saxophone album, which some call “a masterpiece” and “mesmerizing.”
You can’t get it anywhere else.
And you’re essentially getting it for free because of everything else you will get in this limited offer.
But if you don’t care about the sax, or praying to the Divine through music, or how women swoon to my sax playing, there are plenty of other collectibles in the box.
DVD’s, CD’s, bestselling book, and more.
Everything you will get – and it’s a lot – over $400 worth – is described at – http://hypnoticbirthdaysale.com
This deal won’t last forever because I won’t, the holidays won’t, and my inventory won’t.
Help celebrate my 61st by getting $400 worth of surprises — for yourself or others — for only $61.
Please go see – http://hypnoticbirthdaysale.com
Happy Holidays!
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – Think what a bundle like this will cost when I turn 80. 🙂 http://hypnoticbirthdaysale.com