Recently a person commented that I was just after “the dimes.”

When I said I was actually just following the Divine, somebody else said it was clear I was just after “the dollars.”

The two comments got me thinking about money, motivation and perception. I decided I would share some of my insights here with you. I think you’ll find it interesting, and it contains at least one lesson for you, as well. Here goes:

First, money is good.

Most people think, at least unconsciously, money is bad. You hear this sort of patter from “spiritual people” who haven’t fully embraced all of life.  They still think poverty will get them into heaven. They still think money is evil. They still think dimes and dollars are not the Divine. I’ve exposed the fallacy of this kind of thinking in my book, Attract Money Now (which is still free to read online). Anyone who thinks money taints you, doesn’t realize money can save you. It’s a tool. It’s a hammer that can build salvation. It is a concrete form of the spiritual.

I’ve said repeatedly that if you want to make a difference in the world, learn how to attract money and then direct it to where it will do the most good. I’ve given tens of thousands of dollars to causes I believe in. I’ve given tens of thousands of dollars to strangers as well as close friends. I’ve bought new cars for family members. I’m not saying this to brag or seek your approval. I’m saying this to expand your mind;  to illustrate the freedom and power you get to do positive things when you allow money into your life. Money is a powerful solution. No wonder great saints, such as Mother Teresa, raised millions of dollars and used it as they felt directed. Money is good.

Second, the key to success is following passion.

I have never taught or been motivated by money alone. That’s a fast track to unhappiness. The direct route to success is in following your passion, while using money as a scorecard that enables you to keep following your passion. That’s what I do. That’s what billionaires such as Donald Trump and Sir Richard Branson do. Since I’m writing these blog posts for free, the only thing compelling me is the passion to do so. I’ve told several friends recently that this blog is my pet project. I love it. My recent writing and thinking goes here. But I rarely focus on anything you can buy direct from me. Usually I simply get excited about something and can’t wait to share it with you. That’s not being money directed, that’s being passion directed.

That said, I also have bills to pay, just like you. If I charge for a book, it’s because a lot of people were involved in its creation (editors, printers, publishers, etc) and they all have bills to pay, too. My Miracles Coaching program, for example, has about 300 people involved in running it. Obviously I can’t give it away for free. Those 300 people also have bills to pay. Likewise, you need to charge for what you do, as well, if only to be able to live and work in the world. But the whole issue of money becomes an after thought if you first focus on following your passion.

Third, life is an ink blot test.

Basically, what you see in what I or anyone else does is a projection of your own unconscious beliefs. You have no idea what my (or anyone’s) internal motivation is, so you’re left to guess. Lots of room for error there. My fans will see that I’m sharing what I love; my critics will see that I’m selling what I like. Which is it, in reality? Am I serving or selling? It depends on the lens you look through. You have a choice. For me, I promote what I love and think will be of value to you. It’s of the purest intent. But I can’t control what you think, and I don’t want to even try. I do the best I can, based on my passion and my connection to the Divine. Sometimes I remind myself of what Abraham Lincoln said when he was hounded by people who didn’t understand what he was doing:

“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what’s said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”

The lesson here for you is to insulate yourself from people who belittle you and what you do. Get clear on your passion, get clear of limiting beliefs about money, and take action to make a difference in the world.

There will always be critics. It’s easy to be one. Just sit back and find fault with others. That’s a no brainer. But to actually do something worthwhile with your life, there’s the challenge and the thrill.

I end most of my emails to my list with the 16th Century Latin phrase, Aude Aliquid Dignum, which translates as,  “Dare Something Worthy.”

Follow the Divine, be true to your heart, dare something worthy, and let the critics squabble.

And if anyone questions you in a negative way, remember what Mark Twain advised:

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.”

Now go do something good.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Recently when I promoted my latest audio program, The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation, I asked people if they thought I should charge for it or give it away for free. The overwhelming vote was to charge for it. Even my customers knew the value of the product and the fairness of exchanging dollars for it. Follow your passion, charge for what you do, and use the money to make a difference in your life and in the lives of those you care about. By doing so you aren’t chasing dollars or dimes, you’re instead honoring the Divine. Sounds worthy to me.

Member BBB 2003 – 2011

Around 1994 my life was changed by a book called Spiritual Politics.

It helped me see the big picture of global conflicts and gave me an elevated view of what was happening. It delivered a fascinating analysis of the cosmic, karmic and metaphysical reasons behind politics, world affairs and current events.

It revealed that I had to work on myself to make a difference in the outer world. It’s a large, detailed, and exhaustive work on the hidden reasons behind the superficial news and talk show bantering. It’s all about change as an inside job. I never forgot the book.

Recently the same authors came out with a new book, The Practical Visionary: A New World Guide to Spiritual Growth and Social Change. I was so eager to read this one that I bought the Kindle edition from Amazon and instantly started reading it on my iPad. I liked what I saw so much that I went back to Amazon and bought copies of the paperback to give as gifts. I then reached out to the authors, Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson, to interview them.

The Practical Visionary offers overwhelming proof that every social problem you can name is being addressed by some person or group. There are entire chapters stuffed with resources. It does the soul good to see so much being done in the world to move us forward to unity. In a time when the mainstream media rarely nods in the direction of the good deeds people are doing, seeing all this evidence for the positive is wonderful.

None of this is to say you or I are off the hook. We can’t let others solve all the problems we see. We have work to do. But the best way to do it is to align with your connection to the Universe and do what’s right for you. As you do what you are called to do, you become The Practical Visionary.

Besides all the resources, wisdom, and optimism in the book, another reason I love it are the meditations in it. Early on there is a vivid one about pretending to turn an inner knob to raise the vibration of your energy until it matches that of Spirit. I was a little tired as I began the meditation, but just imagining playing with an inner frequency dial that raised my energy actually did raise it. Nice.

The Practical Visionary reveals eight keys for transforming yourself and the world. It’s not an either-or approach. As you work on yourself, you work on the world; as you work on the world, you work on yourself.

1.    Shift from what’s dying to what’s being born: discover the new world of practical visionaries all around you;

2.    Understand the big picture and the higher evolutionary plan: find your part and get engaged;

3.    Make your livelihood a social change strategy: be a spiritual warrior, an innovator, a reformer and/or an exemplar;

4.    Invoke the magic of your soul: explore the new world within you and make friends with your subconscious;

5.    Turn within to find a source of spiritual strength: develop a regular meditative practice to receive clear guidance;

6.    Clarify your higher purpose and vision: create a mission, practical strategy and right timing;

7.    See money as a spiritual asset: trust in the abundance of the universe—and be practical and wise;

8.    Transform duality and conflict into a higher synthesis: find common ground personally and politically to change the world.

The Practical Visionary is a mind-expanding and soul-enriching book that helps move you into a new paradigm. You might even call it The Abundance Paradigm. 🙂

There are some statements in the book that make you sit bolt upright and take notice, such as:

“To progress spiritually, you shouldn’t just go with the flow of whatever is happening, as some people mistakenly advise, as some flows of energy are good and some are harmful.”

And —

“On a deeper, metaphysical level money is concretized energy or prana (life force).”

And —

“Schedule your activities. While planning is an intention, scheduling is a commitment.”

There’s so much more in The Practical Visionary that I just want to keep writing about it. But instead of reading this review, go read the book. I love this book and suggest you read it, share it, and act on it. It’s at Amazon, in book stores, and available from the publisher: Unity.

Remember, The Practical Visionary is you.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Here’s a YouTube video from the authors about their book:

Thought you’d enjoy seeing a couple of quick video endorsements* for my Law of Attraction book Attract Money Now. The first is in English, the second by the same woman but in Spanish. Here they are:

Member BBB 2003 – 2011

* Both are paid endorsements from a woman who loves the book. Her endorsement is her own, in her own words. I paid her five dollars for each video for her time and trouble. Found her on Fiverr.

Now that I’m on an intense learning adventure to sing, play guitar, write my own music, and record my own album in 2011, I get to see what it’s like to struggle in the pursuit of a goal in a new category.

The key word is “new.”

I’ve written over fifty books. Writing another one would be easy. I’ve already wrestled with the demons in that category. I won.

But learning how to sing and play guitar is a new category for me.  I’m struggling in it.

The struggle isn’t real. Not in any outward, measurable way. But it’s sure real otherwise. The struggle is within; it’s the conscious and unconscious thoughts of self judgment that make us fight with our own progress.

It’s not any fun, either.

Let me explain:

In my third lesson with Daniel Barrett (lead singer for the band PorterDavis), he asked me to play and sing I song I had been working on. (The acoustic guitar version of the Rob Thomas song Lonely No More. See PPS below.)

I did. But as soon as I made a mistake, my body tensed, my playing got awkward, my singing was strained, and my face filled with tension. I was even mad at myself.

Dan’s eyes grew large and he waved his hand to stop me, saying, “Man, you just brought in the entire Gestapo on yourself!”

I stopped.

I took a deep breath.

I reflected on what just happened.

A part of me wanted my singing and playing to be perfect. Even though there is nothing like perfection in the world — none of us can agree on the perfect song or singer, let alone much else — some aspect of my mind had set the bar so high that there was no way I was going to reach it. And when I flubbed, that same mind beat me silly.

I realized what I was doing.

You can’t really learn much when you’re in chains.

I took a deep breath.

I relaxed.

I let the chains drop.

I remembered that the goal is to sing and play and learn, and to have fun as I did so. Yes, I had lots to learn. But beating myself for my efforts wasn’t helping. At all.

Dan and I talked for a while about how we judge ourselves harshly. It’s a learned behavior. We all have it. Try to learn anything challenging and new and you’ll see what I mean.

A part of us is trying to please our inner critics — parents or teachers, family or friends, or even ourselves. We’re trying to learn, but when we don’t meet those invisible high standards and those invisible voices in our head, we lower the boom on ourselves.

That doesn’t help.

No wonder so many people give up on their goals, dreams and intentions.

A lot of who they are listening to, that is talking them out of their own best interests, is their own mind.

As Bruce Barton (who I wrote about in my book The Seven Lost Secrets of Success) once said:

“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstances.”

If you’re trying to attract anything in your life, stop trying and start relaxing, all while moving toward your goal with intention, passion and action, and your results will accelerate.

Be as gentle with yourself as you would be with a baby learning to walk, or a puppy you’re training to sit up or roll over.

This is a huge insight.

My going through the process of learning to be a musician is letting me see how this works in me. I’m sharing it so you can reflect on how it works in you, too.

Don’t let the “Mind Gestapo” stop you or slow you.

It’s just a voice.

It’s just self-talk.

But you’re in control of it.

Bring in the Love Army instead.

Love yourself, your process and your present talents.

With love, you can achieve and attract what you want — and you’ll enjoy the adventure all the more.

I’m no longer struggling with playing guitar, singing, or writing my own music.

I’m now in charge of the voices in my head in this new category of learning.

I won.

You can win, too.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – This post also illustrates the need for a really good coach.

PPS – For funsies, here is singer/songwriter Rob Thomas (of the band Matchbox 20) performing the acoustic guitar version of his hit song, Lonely No More:

Member BBB 2003 – 2011

Recently I struggled with an inspired idea. I’ll share the personal story with you here as it illustrates how the Law of Attraction actually works.  If this pushes any buttons in you, use that as an opportunity to get clear of any limiting beliefs you may have about abundance. Those “buttons” in you are restricting beliefs currently wired in your brain. You can change them. This is your chance to experience a miracle.

Here goes:

Years ago I wrote about buying a $700 gold cigar lighter. (You can see the gold lighter and hear the story on the free DVD that comes with the hardcover version of my book, Attract Money Now.)

The lighter became a teaching tool to help people experience their limitations about money and deservingness, and to release them. After all, it’s not about the lighter. The lighter is just a lighter. It’s more about what the lighter (and the price of it) triggers in you.

With that in mind, let me tell you the following story…

A month or so ago I ordered an expensive ($10k) watch for myself. It’s a limited-edition Spyker inspired collectible Swiss timepiece, made out of turned steel and French Bouveret hand-stitched leather. It’s designed to replicate aspects of the Spyker car. It was engraved with my name on the back, and my Spyker car production number (174) on the side. It arrived, I put it on, and I’ve been loving it ever since.

The people who sold the watch to me (Expression d’Artistes) wisely kept sending me magazine reviews of their watches. That’s good marketing. It prevented any buyer’s remorse, and it kept their products top level in my mind.

But every time they sent a review, another watch kept leaping out from the photos. This other one is black French leather, pink 18-k gold with a black dial. The first time I saw a picture of it, I loved it. But I didn’t do anything about it.

The second time I saw the watch, I decided that it is calling me for a reason.

So I asked how much it cost.

Turns out it is over $30,000.

I paused to take that in.

Thirty thousand dollars for a watch?

I know luxury watches can sell for many times that amount, but still.

I know that a gold watch can be a sound investment, but still.

The world’s most expensive watch may be the Big Bang Chronograph, which sells for $1,000,000. Yes, one million dollars. It’s practically nothing but diamonds.

But still.

I wasn’t drawn to it.

Even so, the $30,000 Spyker gold watch seemed really expensive to me, and even for me.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about that watch.

Every time I thought of it, I wanted it.

The thing is, it was triggering my wealth comfort zone. I was hitting my own ceiling of deservingness, something I talk about in such books as Attract Money Now.

I really wrestled with this.

I did clearing and cleaning.

One memory that surfaced was this: It was decades ago. My late wife was cooking dinner. She picked up a jar of tomato sauce but dropped it. It shattered. And we didn’t have the two dollars to buy another one!

Memories like that one needed erased.

So I kept clearing.

I kept hoping the desire for the watch would leave me alone.

But it didn’t.

So here’s where I had to get ruthlessly honest with myself.

I reminded myself that I teach people one of the seven steps in Attract Money Now is Prosperous Purchasing. I was even reminded of how I explained this on national television last year when I was visiting a friend the other day and she played that very TV show for me. (She wanted me to see how good I looked on her giant flat-screen TV monitor. I was impressed.)

There I was, telling people, “When the desire is there, and the money is there, buy the thing!”

I said it’s a way to experience and anchor abundance. I also said don’t buy anything if it will put you in debt or make you feel desperate. Otherwise, if the passion is there, the product or service is there, and the money is there, buy!

Was I going to take my own advice or not?

Nope.

Not yet.

Then I remembered another key statement I teach people: that when you change your beliefs about scarcity to abundance, then spending money and giving money become ways to attract money.

That’s worth repeating:

When you change your beliefs about scarcity to abundance, then spending money and giving money become ways to attract money.

Did I believe what I teach or not?

And with my new audio program coming out tomorrow about abundance, called The Abundance Paradigm, with me declaring you can easily shift from the scarcity mindset to the abundance mindset, was I coming from scarcity or abundance when considering buying the watch?

Well?After doing just one of the advanced clearing processes in my new program, I finally got clear and decided to order the $30,000 watch.

Ah, life is so much better once you make the decision you wanted to make all along. 🙂

And here’s where the magic appeared.

The very day I wired the deposit for the watch, I received a royalty check from one of my publishers.

I was surprised as it seemed early. I was even more surprised when I opened the envelope and saw the amount.

It was the largest royalty check I had ever received — ever!

Buying the watch would be a tiny percentage of the check.

Clearly letting go of my scarcity beliefs, following my own advice, and staying in the flow of life rewarded me for my action.

Do you see how this works?

Inspiration was asking me to do something: get that gold watch.

Clearing was helping me dissolve the beliefs I had about taking action: you deserve what you desire.

Action caused me to complete the inspiration to get the watch as well as to attract more than enough money to pay for it: action leads to attraction.

The formula looks like this:

Inspiration + Clearing + Action = Magic!

Remember, this post isn’t about a $30,000 gold watch.

Not any more than the $700 gold lighter was about the lighter.

Instead, it’s about following your passion, honoring your inspirations, and letting what comes up be a personal development tool to raise your vibration and your deservingness level.

Everything that occurs in your life is designed to help you to awaken.

I’m telling you, there’s real magic and miracles in the world.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

What is inspiration asking you to do?

What is this moment asking of you?

Do it!

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Terrific new videos explaining the Law of Attraction, and three secrets to make it work for you all the time, including an amazing new clearing process I personally lead you through, are ready for you to view right here.

Note: My new audio CD program releases tomorrow. It’s called The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation. It’s the most spiritual, practical, and experiential program of my entire career. You will love it. Curious? Click here.

Member BBB 2003-2011