Tag: dreams

One day my cell phone rang.

It doesn’t ring very often because very few people have the number.

I didn’t recognize the calling number, and there was no Caller ID name listed, so I figured it was a random sales call and declined it.

But a minute later, the phone rang again.

Same number.

Again, I declined it.

But a few minutes later, I got notified of a message.

Curious, I played the voice mail.

I was shocked at what I heard.

It was a slightly muffled conversation between two people, a man and a woman, bad mouthing my music.

It was like being a fly on the wall, listening to a couple bash your first born.

Specifically, they were quite openly thrashing my first singer-songwriter album, Strut!, from 2012.

My first singer-songwriter album 2012

“It’s trash!” the woman said.

“It’s really garbage!” the man said.

I was shocked.

Baffled.

Hurt.

I recognized the woman’s voice.

I thought she was a friend.

Their entire conversation lasted several minutes.

Since the woman had “butt dialed” me by accident, she didn’t have a clue that their exchange had been recorded.

But it was.

I’m not sure how you would feel if you overheard people you know trashing something you created out of love and passion, but I was confused.

I reached out to my music support team, my friends who helped create that first album, and told them what happened.

They were angry.

They wanted to call the woman and give her a piece of their mind.

I didn’t want to do that.

I wanted to process the Twilight Zone-ish experience and see what I could learn.

As I meditated on the bizarre event, I realized a few things –

• not everyone likes my books (!)
• not everyone likes me (?)
• much of music today doesn’t appeal to me

Of course, I wouldn’t call someone and tell them my opinion of their books or music or them, but realizing that not everyone loves me or my work, while baffling, was somehow comforting.

And then I thought about all the good things regarding my first singer-songwriter album.

Musician makes cover

For example –

• Strut! has original songs that were nominated for awards,
• one song was turned into a music video with over 300,000 views,
• the album was mentioned in Rolling Stone magazine,
• the songs were recorded with the help of Grammy nominated people
• and one Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician,
• and I was voted #1 singer-songwriter by Reverbnation for it.

Voted #1 singer-songwriter 3 years

So, obviously, my music must not be “trash.”

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but what is?

And I admit that my later albums – such as One More Day (a bestseller that sold out almost instantly after it was released and includes Grammy nominated singer Ruthie Foster on one hypnotic track) – reveal a more polished singer-songwriter, but I doubt that the first album was that bad.

Latest Bestselling CD sold out

Not everyone loves Elvis, the Beatles, Lady Gaga, or Neil Diamond – and those people are legends – but not everyone likes any of the hundreds of thousands of new, alternative, jazz or any of a staggering amount of music coming out today, either.

So, what are you or I going to do?

Stop?

Give up?

Let the critics win?

Mark Twain wrote in his autobiography –

“I believe that the trade of critic, in literature, music, and the drama, is the most degraded of all trades, and that it has no real value–certainly no large value…However, let it go. It is the will of God that we must have critics, and missionaries, and congressmen, and humorists, and we must bear the burden.” – Mark Twain

I’m with Twain, but I didn’t get to the same conclusion overnight.

All of this was a day-long process.

It took me more than a few minutes to get clarity.

After I realized that what I was given was an opportunity to clear up some limiting beliefs I had about approval, I was free to turn the event into a teaching lesson for you and me both, hence this post.

As I wrote in my book, The Attractor Factor, I pulled a TIISG: Turn It Into Something Good.

As you pursue your dreams and goals, you will probably encounter a person or two that doesn’t approve.

You have to continue forward anyway.

There will always be critics.

Their job is easy: put you or your project down.

Your job is harder but more rewarding:

Allow them their opinion, and continue towards your vision.

After all, everyone with a butt has an opinion.

And if you’re really worried about being butt dialed a bad review, just turn off your phone.

Ao Akua,

joe

"Dare Something Worthy!"

PS – If you want to see for yourself how bad my music is, go review all 15 albums I’ve created over the last 4 years at All Healing Music.

Member BBB 2003 - 2016

My first book was published in 1984.

It was called Zen and the Art of Writing.

My first book published in 1984; received no money but the road to credibility was born

It contained methods for increasing creativity, from NLP to meditation to Focusing to improv, all tools I had studied along the way in developing myself as a writer.

It was cause for celebration as I had struggled my entire adult life to get published, through homelessness and poverty, and a lot of desperate days and nights.

Well, I was finally published.

But ultimately that led to disappointment.

Because I didn’t have a name, or a following, or a marketing formula, or a very good publisher, the book was a dud.

I didn’t receive a dime from the book.

Ever.

No advance.

No royalties.

Nothing.

I was left to continue my struggle.

It would be almost ten more years (!) before I had a book published that did anything for me.

In 1992 I released The Seven Lost Secrets of Success and got a taste of what it’s like to be a rising star as an author.

I discovered that a book is an advertisement for my services.

People would read it and want to do business with me.

I never received an advance for the book, though.

But being the author of it brought me opportunities.

I was invited to speak at events, go on radio shows, get hired to write sales letters and ads, and more.

The book brought me business.

But it would get even better.

In 1994 I wrote The AMA Complete Guide to Small Business Advertising for the American Management Association.

I received a small advance – finally – for that book.

At first I was disappointed at such a low amount.

But after decades of trying to get published and finally receiving an advance, even a small one, I was grateful.

And that book changed my life.

Complete strangers and large companies hired me without meeting me, all because I was the author of an important book.

I’m talking known entities like The Red Cross, as well as movers and shakers such as politicians, lawyers, authors, speakers, celebrities, oil magnates, millionaires and billionaires, CEOs and more.

All I had to do was answer the phone.

And by then I had a bit of a local name as a copywriter, had my own small database of fans, and was with a publisher that at least knew a little about marketing.

I was able to leverage my books into attracting more money.

Being an author made me an author-ity.

That was a turning point in my career.

That experience of being published and being seen as the authority happened repeatedly, and kept growing, as I kept writing, publishing, and marketing.

In 1996 I wrote one of the pioneering books on how to make money online.

It was titled Cyber Writing and it, too, brought me more business as a copywriter, even though the book itself brought me almost nothing in terms of royalties.

And because the Internet was now available to the masses, my audience became the entire world.

Of course, releasing Hypnotic Writing (thanks to Mark Joyner’s persistent encouragement) as my first e-book (and later selling it to a major publisher) did wonders in establishing me as the copywriter to hire.

I became an Internet celebrity.

I could list more publishing milestones, both audio and print, but you get the idea.

Obviously, being an author gives a credibility that is bankable.

But the best was yet to come.

I've written way too many books to list here, but this one got me into the movie "The Secret"

In 2006 I was invited to appear in what became the hit movie The Secret — invited because of one of my books (The Attractor Factor) — and I ended up in the New York Times best-selling book, The Secret, too.

And while I wasn’t paid to be in the book (or the movie), being included in such historic wonders brought global attention to me and elevated my career into outer space.

Being a contributing author in such a mega-bestseller brought me even bigger and better opportunities, even when neither the book or movie brought me anything directly financially.

I’m now an acknowledged success.

The offers and opportunities keep rolling in.

It’s a sweet life.

But it sure didn’t happen overnight.

What I’m offering you today is a way to have “overnight” success – and save yourself all the hassle and disappointment I went through – by being a coauthor in my next bestselling book, what I’m calling “The Prosperity Factor.”

http://www.instantbestsellingauthor.com

A few people want to know why there’s an investment to participate.

Easy answer:

Because you’re paying to skyrocket your career in one strategic move.

You can play the game and try to get published on your own.

I did that.

It took me DECADES.

Literally.

And even if and when you get published on your own, you still need to promote your book.

If you don’t have a built in audience, or a reputation, or a list, or a plan, good luck.

I tried that, too.

Took me years.

What I’m offering you is a one time chance to explode on the scene – riding on my name and fame, benefiting from my database and strategy, and guaranteed to be a bestselling author almost overnight.

http://www.instantbestsellingauthor.com

I have a team in place to help you.

I have the printer and the contacts.

They all need paid.

Your investment is an investment to leap over the desperate masses and shine as a bestselling author – now, not decades from now.

It’s an investment in yourself.

Believe me, if I could have done this in my struggle years, and hitched my wagon to a star, and had success as an author almost instantly, I would have grabbed it.

It would have saved me years to decades of waiting, praying, trying, hoping and struggling.

If you see the value of being in and on the cover of my next bestseller, and advancing your career in one smart move, then go to http://www.instantbestsellingauthor.com

This is your chance.

Seize it.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Keep in mind that a lot of people will want to be in this book, and space is obviously limited, so if you are sincerely interested in advancing your career in one strategic smart move, then please zip over to http://www.instantbestsellingauthor.com right now. This is your moment. Grab it. Why not do it right now, while it’s on your mind?

Member BBB 2003 - 2015