Tag: fitness

Three times.

That’s how many times I’ve watched the Netflix documentary, Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru, which was released on July 15, only days ago.

I’m in the movie The Secret and I haven’t watched that film three times in ten years.

Watch spellbinding Tony Robbins Film

So why am I so captivated with this film about Tony?

It’s raw but real.

Hard-hitting but healing.

Profane but profound.

I found myself crying throughout it.

I found myself having internal breakthroughs just watching it.

I found myself relating to Tony’s inspired approach to change.

The film captures Tony’s closed-door week-long event called Date with Destiny.

In some ways the event reminded me of the old Werner Erhard est program, and to today’s Landmark Forum.

This film puts you in Tony’s secret space, much like Luke Rhinehart’s The Book of est puts you in an est event.

In both cases, you can safely observe the sometimes rollicking emotions people experience.

And in both cases, you can experience transformation just by going for the ride.

All you have to do is pay attention and feel.

Oh, there are holes in the movie.

Tony says change happens in a moment.

Yet later in the film, when he’s asked how he changed, he says there was no one moment.

Tony comes across as the trigger for change and not any method or principle.

Yet if Tony is needed for change, then methods don’t exist; there is no method. It’s him.

But I’m not a critic of the film; I’m a fan.

That’s why I’ve seen it three times – so far.

I let any holes or inconsistencies slide by as I focus on the good in the movie, the breakthroughs, the insights, the energy, the sharing – all of which act as a catalyst to awaken viewers who aren’t even physically in the seminar room with the giant king gorilla.

This makes the film itself a tool for transformation.

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore told Joe Berlinger (the director of this film on Tony), “I believe it will actually save lives.”

I believe it, too.

A few more reasons why I love the film –

Tony goes past the little problems people offer and goes deeper, to the operating system under what they present.

When a 19 year old says her problem is her diet, Tony digs deeper to discover her issue is with her father, not her diet.

The movie helps prove why we all need coaching; without a trained person’s objective feedback, we will continue to blame our problems on others or on little things and entirely miss the big hidden operating system below our conscious awareness.

And I love statements such as, “You know what your biggest problem is? Thinking you shouldn’t have any.”

Tony goes on to explain that problems are gifts.

I don’t know Tony personally — we spoke at the same event in Chicago years ago, but hours apart, so we have yet to meet* — and I get nothing for endorsing this film from him or the director or anyone else.

But I urge you to watch it and let it stir your soul.

See https://www.netflix.com/title/80102204

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – My own television show, all fourteen episodes, is edited and in the hands of Amazon. Stay tuned for details. Meanwhile, go watch the film about Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru. It’s stirring, soulful and spellbinding.

* You can read about the event where I spoke on the same stage as Tony, Trump, and others at http://blog.mrfire.com/a-tony-robbins-first/

Member BBB 2003 - 2016

I’ll be 62 years old (young) at the end of this month.

While that means I’m a member of AARP, I can get discounts at certain stores, and my remaining hair is turning gray, it doesn’t mean that I have stopped growing.

In fact, I’m aging backwards.

I’m youthing.

In the last year alone I —

— attended a strongman training and bent a horseshoe, a steel bar, and a nail, all with my bare hands, and drove a spike through a board with my fist. I was the oldest person in the room, even older than the instructor, and probably the most inexperienced when it comes to feats of strength. But I attended anyway. I learned a lot, too, including the fact that virtually “Nothing is impossible.”

Bent and straightened this horseshoe

— attended an advanced guitar camp with legendary player Tommy Emmanuel. I was one of the oldest in the room, was surrounded by players far more advanced than me – including a 14 year old girl who dazzled everyone with her skills – but I attended anyway.

— attended an online class to learn how to play the baritone saxophone, wrote an article about playing for a sax mag, recorded an entire album of saxophone music, hired Grammy nominated sax sensation Mindi Abair to perform for me and tutor me, and more.

— discovered a synthophone — an alto sax turned into a midi instrument — and bought one and learned how to play it, using it to help make another healing music audio with Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon, called The Enlightenment Audio.

– went into the studio with one of my favorite singers in the entire world – Grammy nominated Ruthie Foster – and producer Daniel Barrett and created an album called Stretch! with me writing lyrics, playing baritone saxophone, and singing with Ruthie. Talk about a stretch! But I did it.

Daniel, Ruthie and me Stretching

— traveled to Kuwait to speak to people interested in self-improvement and curious about positive psychology, but also traveled to numerous domestic spots, as well, including to one where we discussed my having my own television show in 2016.

— despite having written more books than most people read in their entire lifetime, I released several more, including the best selling The Secret Prayer and volume 3 of The Miracles Manual. And I just signed a publishing deal for my next book, coming out April 2016.

— and even though I’m an author of books designed to help people, I’m still buying and reading other people’s self-help books, too. I’m always searching for new authors, new voices, new books, new material, to help me expand my thinking and my life.

Why?

Why do I continue to invest in courses, books, audios, coaching, classes and more?

Why am I continuing to do this as I turn 62?

Because I’m still learning, growing, improving, stretching and discovering myself.

Because I don’t know it all and am eager to discover more about myself and life.

Because as long as I keep moving forward, they won’t throw dirt on my face.

I have no idea your age, and it doesn’t really matter.

My father is 90 and still enthusiastic about life.

He gets up earlier than you or me or the sun every morning and wallops a standing dummy five hundred times.

And that’s before he does light weight lifting, walking, and other exercise – with a hernia.

Actor Dick Van Dyke is 90 and still dancing.

Turn on the right music and he’ll start free styling it without a word or a prompt but with a gigantic bright smile on his happy face.

I’m sure you are younger than 90.

I’m reminding you to think big, do big, and move forward in big ways, no matter what your age.

Or, drop the “big” and just think, do, and move.

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” ― Sophia Loren

It’s the end of this year.

The new one is firing up.

Ready or not, here it comes.

What would you like to accomplish in 2016?

You can begin right now by signing up for a course, or a class, or coaching.

The idea is to joyfully experience life.

It’ll keep you young, bright, happy and healthy.

“You’re never too old to become younger.”  – Mae West

And isn’t that what life is all about?

Happy Birthday to me.

Happy New Year to you.

Let’s make this new one rock.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — Consider my father. He’s 90 years old. He still gets up every morning and works out for two hours. He also is the primary caregiver of my ailing, bedridden mother. And, at 90, my father became an author. His book, The Most Contented Man, is on Amazon. He’s starting another book. He’s ninety. I’m sixty-two. Do you really have any excuses not to stretch and grow, learn and do?

Member BBB 2003 - 2016

When the world’s strongest man, Dennis Rogers, came to visit me recently, he explained that most people give up just seconds before they are going to reach their goal.

With strongman Dennis Rogers and horseshoe I bent

“I’ve seen it hundreds if not thousands of times,” Dennis explained. “Right before the steel is going to bend, the person stops.”

He was referring to bending nails, horseshoes and steel bars, but his observation is true for any goal you’re seeking.

While some people procrastinate in getting started, still others stop too soon.

They give up on their goal because it’s “taking too long” or “it’s too hard” or they feel “it’s never going to happen.”

But the curious thing is, they were only moments away from the achievement.

In the movie Bending Steel, which is about upcoming strongman Chris “Wonder” Schoeck, the star explains how he finally bent a stubborn piece of steel: “I didn’t want to give up five minutes before the miracle.”

At the of the movie, he is on stage explaining that the metal he wanted to bend had haunted him for months.

On stage, he persisted and the metal bent.

The operative word here is persisted.

I’ve seen this in my own life, in countless areas, but most recently in learning feats of strength from strongmen Dennis Rogers and David Whitley.

After they teach me how to do a feat, I try it on my own.

When they are in front of me, encouraging me, I keep going, using will power, muscle power, strength and endurance until the steel melts in my hands.

Yes, I bent it

But I also noticed that I had great difficulty bending anything when I was alone in my gym.

I tried to bend a horseshoe every day for two weeks.

Couldn’t.

I tried to bend one in front of two visiting friends.

Couldn’t.

It perplexed me until I wrote David Whitley for advice.

He replied, saying it could only be one of or a combination of three things:

1:  The horseshoe is beyond your current strength level

2:  Your technique is off

3:  You lack confidence/desire

That really made me think.

Did I not believe I could do it?

Was my technique off?

Was I trying to bend too hard of a horseshoe?

I went back into my gym, looked at the horseshoes I had bent, and the ones I couldn’t budge, and realized I was trying to bend at a level I wasn’t ready to accomplish yet.

So I dropped back to a slightly easier horseshoe, got my mind and body in position, and — bent the horseshoe!

Chris "Wonder" Schoeck bent a steel bar into this scrolled shape as a gift to me

This story is relevant to you and whatever you are trying to accomplish.

Ask yourself –

1. Are you trying something beyond your current level of skill?

2. Are you using the wrong method or technique to get it done?

3. Are you fully believing in yourself and your ability to do it?

As with me reaching out to Dennis and David for personal coaching, very often you need expert help in achieving and attracting your goals. That’s where Miracles Coaching might be useful to you.

Whatever you decide, remember, most of us give up right before the miracle.

Remind yourself to hang in there and your “horseshoe” will give.

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – Inside Secret: Because I know having a crowd cheer me on will trigger more motivation in me – much like cheerleaders at a football game get the crowd and team energized – I bought an applause app called Rent-A-Crowd. It’s exactly what you think: you open it and tap it to hear applause. It can be a small group of people applauding or an entire stadium of raving fans. Your choice. Now, when I attempt to bend a nail or horseshoe, I play the Rent-A-Crowd applause app and pretend a crowd is cheering me on. Another app I use is called Applause. It works, too. I sometimes play it for friends when they do something good for themselves. Go ahead. Applaud me for giving you this tip.

Member BBB 2003 - 2016

If I handed you a horseshoe and said “Bend it,” what would you do?

Probably nothing, right?

Same thing if I offered you a metal bar.

You’d hold the cold steel and wouldn’t know where to begin.

Your mind wouldn’t have any idea how to start.

It would seem impossible.

But the other day I came home and handed Nerissa a bent horseshoe and a twisted metal bar.

“You bent these?” she asked in amazement.

Yes I bent that horseshoe and twisted that steel rod, under the guidance of strongman Dennis Rogers

“Yep,” I replied. “And I also drove a nail through a board with my hand.”

“How is that even possible?” she asked.

And that’s where I had an “aha” about how we can more easily and quickly change beliefs.

Let me explain…

I attended the Strongman University seminar with the legendary Dennis Rogers and strongman David Whitley. You may recall their names because I wrote about them on a previous blog post.

Both guys are powerfully strong, and prove it by ripping thick phone books, decks of playing cards, bending nails and spikes and steel bars and horseshoes, breaking out of chains, holding people high in the air with one hand, and more.

They come from a long history of strongmen (and women) who do feats of strength for a living.

I attended the event to find out their tricks of the trade.

Turns out, there aren’t any tricks.

These strongmen are actually doing what you see them do.

I blasted a nail through a board with my fist, as Dennis Rogers and David Whitley watched

While there may be magic trick approaches to getting similar results, Dennis and David and the old school authentic strongmen don’t use tricks.

They are using intent, will power, knowledge of technique, and a tremendous amount of focused sheer strength.

I know because it took everything in my body and mind to bend a horseshoe.

My muscles ached, my breathing was hard, my face was flushed, my neck veins were popping, and I groaned and struggled as my entire body and mind were focused on bending that horseshoe.

And I did it, too.

Not bad for my first attempt ever

But when I first held it, it seemed impossible.

After all, a horseshoe is hard steel and made for a horse.

It’s not designed to give.

How was I going to bend it?

But here’s what happened:

I saw David do it.

Then I saw a few other people in the event – including two petite but strong women – do it.

And then I knew it was possible for me, too.

In other words, seeing living proof of it being done convinced me – it changed my belief system – and I realized it was now possible for me, too.

This insight made me realize that when you want to change something in your life, you might need to read, see, or meet someone who has already done it.

Once your mind accepts the reality of change, it then becomes possible for you, too.

You still have to take action, of course.

The horseshoe will not bend by itself.

I have to pick it up.

I have to see it in my mind bending.

And I have to collect all the muscle and energy and focus possible within me and aim it at that horseshoe.

But because I know it can be done, I’m more inclined to give it my all.

And when the horseshoe bends, you feel like superman.

Same is true for all your goals.

Once you achieve one, the rest become doable.

You don’t have to pick up a horseshoe and bend it, but wouldn’t it be cool if you took on a daring challenge and completed it?

And if it’s a big challenge – like bending a horseshoe or steel bar was for me – then read about or watch a film about someone who already achieved the goal you want to achieve.

Their success will teach you and inspire you and let you know that what you want to do is possible.

And then, go do it.

Ao Akua,

joe

"It is what you accept"

PS – What if you try and fail? Truth is, I wasn’t able to do all the feats of strength that David and Dennis taught. I couldn’t rip a phone book, tear a deck of cards, or bend a metal spike. I tried so hard that my muscles still ache today. So, did I fail? Not at all. As long as I keep trying, and remind myself that it is possible for me to do, then I will succeed. The “failure” was simply feedback that my grip needs to be stronger. And that means my “failed” attempts were actually part of my training. Just trying to rip or tear or bend was building my muscle. You never fail as long as you keep moving forward.

Member BBB 2003- 2015

A dear friend asked me to create a list of recommended current books to read. I loved doing it. He looked at that list and said he hadn’t read any of them, and had only heard of one of them. With that in mind, I thought you might like to see the list. Here you go…

Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Incredibly terrific. It’s “Fantastic!”

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Recall-Unbelievably-True-Story/dp/1451662440/

The Walk by Philippe Petit. Riveting. Unique. Made me hyperventilate.

http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Philippe-Petit/dp/163450500X

I, Mammal by Loretta Breuning. Enlightening. Read all of her books.

http://www.amazon.com/Mammal-Brain-Links-Status-Happiness/dp/1941959008/

The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth. Fun, funny, flippant. It will spin your writing into a spell generator. (“Spell” as in “I’ll put a spell on you!”)

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Eloquence-Secrets-Perfect-Phrase/dp/042527618X/

The Book of est by Luke Rhinehart. Hypnotic. Loved it so much I published it.  🙂

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Est-Luke-Rhinehart/dp/0557306159/

Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder by Samuel Wilson Fussell. Wise, well written and deeply revealing.

http://www.amazon.com/Muscle-Confessions-Samuel-Wilson-Fussell-ebook/dp/B00TGJJ12O/

Making the American Body by Jonathan Black. Entertaining.

http://www.amazon.com/Making-American-Body-Remarkable-Passions/dp/0803243707/

Mark Twain: Man in White by Michael Shelden. Love Twain.

http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Twain-Adventure-Hardcover-January/dp/B010EWNKVE?

The Shack by William Young. Novel.

http://www.amazon.com/Shack-William-P-Young/dp/0964729245/

Rejection Proof by Jia Jiang. Hilarious and empowering.

http://www.amazon.com/Rejection-Proof-Became-Invincible-Through/dp/080414138X/

The Power of Neuroplasticity by Shad Helmstetter. Simple yet beautiful.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Neuroplasticity-Shad-Helmstetter-Ph-D/dp/1499794606/

Lincoln: Biography of a Writer by Fred Kaplan. Love Lincoln.

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Biography-Writer-Fred-Kaplan/dp/0060773340/

Thomas Jefferson: Art of Power by Jon Meacham. Fascinating.

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Power-Jon-Meacham/dp/0812979486/

Bill Veeck by Paul Dickson. The Barnum of baseball.

http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Veeck-Baseballs-Greatest-Maverick/dp/0802778305/

Chronicles by Bob Dylan. Reads like a folk song with Dylan style.

http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Bob-Dylan/dp/0743244583/

The Most Contented Man by Joseph J. Vitale. My Dad. 🙂

http://www.amazon.com/Most-Contented-Man-Autobiography-Joseph/dp/1512287253/

Stuntman! By Hal Needham. Lively read.

http://www.amazon.com/Stuntman-Car-Crashing-Plane-Jumping-Bone-Breaking-Death-Defying/dp/0316078999/

The Einstein of Money by Joe Carlen. Insightful.

http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Money-Timeless-Financial-Benjamin/dp/1616145579/

Not Impossible by Mick Ebeling. Inspiring.

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Impossible-Doing-What-Couldnt/dp/1476782806/

The Power of Impossible Thinking by Yoram and Cook. Life changing.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Impossible-Thinking-Transform-Business/dp/0131877283/

The Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein by Ed Spielman. Astonishing.

http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Journey-Joseph-L-Greenstein/dp/1885440308/

And any book by Joe Vitale... 🙂

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – I love books. Feel free to leave a comment telling me about your own favorites.

Member BBB 2003 - 2015