Tag: healing

I went to a sleep study center recently. I needed to find out if I have sleep apnea. I don’t know the results yet, but I want to share this story of what happened while I was there.

It’s another miracle.

Tell me what you think…

The woman hooking me up with wires and sensors had an hour to kill, as she had that much set up to do, so she asked me what I did for a living.

“Lots of things,” I said.  “I’m primarily an author.”

“What have you written?”

“I’ve written over 76 books,” I said.

“Good God! Tell me about one of them.”

I told her about Zero Limits.

I explained the story of Dr. Hew Len and how he helped heal an entire ward of mentally ill criminals with a Hawaiian healing method called ho’oponopono.

“What’s that?” she asked.

I explained it was a way to change outer reality by changing your inner perceptions of it.

“Are you saying that the therapist changed his perceptions and the inmates got better?”

“Exactly.”

“Bogus!” she blurted.

I was slightly surprised.

I’m not used to meeting people so instantly close minded.

“I’m a psychologist,” she said. “I only look at the brain and empirical evidence for what works.”

“Then you’ll love my book,” I said. “I coauthored it with the therapist, and I interviewed the staff that worked at the hospital with him.”

She shook her head.

“Do you believe the stuff you write?” she asked.

That was a stunner.

“Yes, of course! It would be the greatest crime in my life to write what I didn’t believe.”

“Well, it sounds bogus to me.”

I let it go.

I was there to have my sleep diagnosed, not get in an argument.

But then something miraculous happened.

Around 5 in the morning, I announced I couldn’t sleep anymore and she might as well return and unhook me from the test equipment.

She came out, moving slow, and I noticed she was red faced and struggling to breathe.

I asked if she were okay.

“I think I’m having a heart attack.”

I instantly perked up and sat up.

I still had wires all over me and electrodes on my head and face. But I was alert.

“I’ll call 911 right now,” I offered. “My phone is right here.”

“No, the hospital is right behind us.”

“Then I’ll walk you to the hospital. Just get this stuff off of me and we’ll go.”

“I still have two other patients to unhook,” she explained. “Then I can go.”

“Sit down here,” I said, patting the bed.

She did.

“Take your time. There’s no hurry.”

As she sat beside me, I began to practice the four phrases of basic ho’oponopono.

I repeated, I love you, I’m sorry, please forgive me and thank you.

I didn’t say it out loud.

I just repeated it silently, as a mantra.

I noticed she seemed to relax.

Her breathing slowed.

She was still red faced and still anxious, but clearly more relaxed.

She started to remove the wires from my body.

As she did, I just kept practicing ho’oponopono.

When she was done, I told her I’d wait for her to finish the other two patients.

She left the room and I got dressed.

But even as I dressed, I continued saying the four phrases.

The other patients left.

I went out to the main area and saw her sitting at her desk, her head laying down like a student at school having recess.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said.

She was still struggling to breathe.

“I’m a cigarette smoker and haven’t had one in a while,” she confessed.

I waited and talked to her a bit.

Once I was confident she was truly stable, and that her supervisor would be coming in shortly, I left.

So, did ho’oponopono help her?

It helped me.

That’s the point.

Whenever you have something going on, do ho’oponopono on yourself.

As you relax into the miracle of now, you will feel better.

As you do, the outer may shift too.

But do it for you.

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – I  called a few days later to check on the nurse. She went on vacation. Maybe now she will truly relax. Maybe she’ll even read my books on ho’oponopono, Zero Limits and AT Zero. 🙂

My 93-year-old father was moving some old furniture around when he discovered a few long lost black and white photographs.

One of them was of me.

From 1954.

At the age of ten months.

I had never seen the photo before.

But as I stared at myself of almost 65 years ago, I saw a happy child.

My father told me, “Joe, you were one happy baby!”

Maybe I was.

But I certainly wasn’t happy shortly after growing up.

And I went through long periods of unhappiness as an adult, and as a struggling writer wanting to be a success.

What happened to that happy child?

What happened to that uninhibited smile?

Oh, it’s still here.

People can see the baby smile in my adult face today.

But where’d it go for so long?

My guess is, it never left.

And I’m guessing your original innocent smile is still in you someplace, too.

Lately I’ve been encouraging people to look for their very early baby pictures.

Not the ones where you are still in diapers, and not the ones where you are going off to school.

I want you to find the baby pictures where you are showing signs of awareness and your “original smile” is still on your face.

Get that photo and use it as a meditation.

Stare into the smile.

Let it expand from within yourself.

Feel the original innocence of bliss today.

Because it’s still there.

And if for some reason you can’t easily or quickly find an early photo of yourself smiling, then consider looking at my photo. Or someone else that makes you grin or giggle. Or draw or paint one.

The point is, that original smile is not lost.

It’s in you.

I used to teach a form of meditation where you imagined an inner smile within yourself. As you visualized it, it grew. Before long, you had an outer smile.

Your inner child is still within you.

And it is still smiling.

It’s time to find it again.

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – I also believe there is something like an “original laugh,” too. That’s where you laugh without control or inhibition. Recently author-singer-TV celebrity Lisa Winston and I held a Facebook Live to discuss our forthcoming event, “Own the Stage.” We were so open and playful with each other that by the end of the broadcast, we were laughing so hard we were crying. Where is your original laugh? Where is your original smile? I urge you to look within and see…

Whenever you attempt a new goal, no matter what it is, you have to be aware of critics or criticism.

I’ve had my share of them over the decades.

It used to trouble me, as I didn’t understand how some people could be so negative or hurtful.

But an insight from science helped me.

It came from my favorite science author, Loretta Graziano Breuning. Her book on cynicism, Beyond Cynical, explained that critics have a chemical that goes off in their brain when they criticize someone.

In short, they feel good about themselves because they feel superior to someone else.

This feeling of “one up” comes from a serotonin shot in their brain.

Emmet Fox, a legendary author of metaphysical books, explained, “Criticism is an indirect form of self-boasting.”

When someone puts down you or your idea, it makes him or her feel smarter than you; better than you.

Critics like that feeling.

Loretta’s book, Beyond Cynical: Transcend Your Mammalian Negativity, grabbed me as soon as I read the back cover copy:

“Cynicism feels good because it triggers the brain chemicals that make us happy. It triggers dopamine by making things seem predictable. It boosts serotonin by making you feel superior to ‘the jerks.’ It stimulates oxytocin by cementing social alliances. Cynicism relieves cortisol as you fight or flee in your mind. Negativity is natural, but you can go beyond it if you choose.”

Now criticism makes sense.

Critics spread their negativity not to help others, but to help themselves.

It’s a type of drug addiction.

Only the drug is in their brain.

In other words, critics often criticize simply to (unconsciously) make themselves feel good.

They get a chemical rush in their brain, they like it, and they want more of it.

And thus a critic is born.

But are critics or criticism helpful?

I’m not talking about professional critics.

An employed critic’s job is to review art, movies, books, food, music and such. I’m not convinced they truly help people, but that’s another article for another time.

I’m not talking about inner criticism, either.

Getting past your own “monkey mind” of self-talking negativity is part of the awakening process to achieve your goals. But that’s also for another time and another article.

I’m not talking about invited criticism, either.

Visionary giant Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX advises to constantly seek criticism. He says, “A well-thought-out critique of whatever you’re doing is as valuable as gold.”

What I am talking about here are the people who offer their criticism without your asking for it.

These are the people who show up and rain on your parade, before you even begin parading.

They don’t even like the idea of a parade, let alone your own parade.

And they don’t like rain, either.

How do you handle these people?

My rule of thumb is this: when you are starting a path to a goal, don’t share your dream with anyone except those who can help you attain it.

For example:

I have a ten-year-old great nephew who wants to build a car company.

Yes, a car company.

He has ideas for the make, model, name, and more. I’m in awe at his enthusiasm and creativity. I marvel at his ability to dream big, fearlessly and relentlessly. I wasn’t like that at age ten.

I was at a party with him once.

He started to share his auto design ideas with a relative.

But the relative started to bat down and criticize my great-nephew’s ideas.

“That’s been done before,” this critiquing relative told him. “None of your ideas are original.”

This same critic added, “Don’t be afraid of criticism. Welcome criticism.”

The critic’s comments were not helping my great nephew.

They were not practical suggestions.

They were not improvements or refinements.

They were dismissals.

Of course, most ideas have been done before.

The trick is to combine them and reinvent them and extend them so they become something new.

There will always be “new” cars that are “just” refinements of other cars. And some of these new cars will sell well.

So my nephew has as much a chance as anyone to create a car company that succeeds.

Besides, he’s only ten. Let him dream.

I don’t think my great nephew was swayed or stopped by the unsolicited criticism, which is a testament to the fortitude of him and youth.

In fact, when I checked on him later, he was still exuberant about making cars.

He told me, “You’re getting the first one I make, Uncle Joe. It’ll just cost you one thousand dollars for parts and stuff.” (He’s a kid. He has no idea of money yet.)

But not everyone is like that.

Even today, I keep my big goals to myself.

I don’t invite negativity.

I only invite support and input from people who might be able to help me achieve the goals.

You have to protect your dream in the early stages.

It’s much like an unborn child. You don’t want people judging you or it before it is even born.

If you are wanting to start a business, for example, I wouldn’t invite criticism.

Instead, invite people who have acknowledged success in the area of starting a new business.

Ask their advice, suggestions, and input, but not criticism.

I see uninvited critics as people who kill dreamers and dreams.

“If you have no will to change it, you have no right to criticize It.” — Mark Twain

I agree with Twain.

If you have something to offer to help a dreamer achieve their goals, then offer it.

But to condemn, criticize, complain, or any way rain on the parade, or darken a person’s sunshine, isn’t helpful. If that’s all you got, you should remain quiet.

Mark Twain also said, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

My own policy is to encourage people.

“I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.” — Charles Schwab

Since I have no idea what the future holds, there’s no possible way for me to accurately predict if any idea will work or not.

So if I see or hear of someone pursuing a dream, I cheer him or her on.

I got the nickname “Mr. Fire” decades ago for this trait of always “lighting a fire” under people to go for their dreams.

Besides, encouraging people lights up my brain.

It’s my brain drug.

It feels good to help, to serve, to encourage.

Goethe said, “Correction does much, but encouragement does more.”

I’ve found being encouraged a type of fuel for my success.

Actor Kevin Bacon said, “A good director creates an environment, which gives the actor the encouragement to fly.”

When I was filming my first acting role, the director (Liz Tabish) made me feel safe and encouraged me.

As a result, my first starring role in an indie movie was easy and fun.

And according to the early reviews of Cecilia, I did pretty well, too.

In the end, you have to follow your dreams to feel fully alive, despite encouragement or criticism.

Of course, at some point you have to complete your project and release it to the world.

And that’s when you can expect critics and criticism.

When I was recording my first album back in 2012, a musician friend warned me, “Gird your loins! When you release your music, everyone will slam it. Just remember there are people who don’t like the Beatles, and I think they were gods.”

A friend of mine once said that “success breeds contempt.”

It helps explain why so many of my friends turned against me when my levels of success started to escalate beyond the sky.

It stirred the critics.

My point here is to keep your plans to yourself until they are complete.

And after that, remind yourself that there will always be critics.

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right–for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Life is really about pursuing your own passions and purpose, despite the odds and the critics.

Whatever your goal, whether to attract money or health or a relationship or some big audacious dream, there will always be people who will say you can’t do it, or explain why it won’t work.

“Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn–and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.” — Dale Carnegie

Just remember that critics are drug addicts.

They get high on putting down others.

So understand them and forgive them.

And also realize there are always people who will cheer you on, believe in you, support you and encourage you.

“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” ~ Epictetus

Look for those cheerleaders in your life.

Surround yourself with them.

And let the critics criticize and complain.

Stay too busy going for your dreams to even notice them.

To quote author Elbert Hubbard, “The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.”

‘Nuff said.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – You can find clarity and support in my Miracles Coaching program.

Almost everyone is interested in overcoming fear – or should be.

Whether you want to speak in public, open a new business, talk to potential dates, do stand-up comedy, climb a mountain — or anything you haven’t done before — you’re bound to feel fear and want help in overcoming fear.

Well, how do you do it?

After recording six albums of songs, my Band of Legends politely nudged me to perform live.

While I’ve spoken on stage numerous times over the decades, I never sang on stage.

Thinking about it brought up serious fears.

Even terror.

A friend remembers me saying I would NEVER sing in public.

I had to overcome panic attacks, anxiety ambushes, and near nervous breakdowns to overcome the fear of public speaking.

But public singing?

Forget it.

I didn’t even sing in the shower.

Childhood memories of being humiliated when I tried to speak or sing stayed with me.

I overcame the speaking one.

But I refused to even touch singing.

It felt too vulnerable.

I managed to do it in the studio for my six albums, by basically managing my adrenaline, but I couldn’t accept ever singing on stage live.

No way.

But I did it.

I did it!

And it was a huge success.

I was strong and confident, owned the stage, and led my Band of Legends into a triumphant performance.

It was a historic moment.

It was a personal breakthrough.

And it will live forever in my mind as a moment of greatness for me.

So, how did I go from terrified to terrific?

I’ll share my own process, as it will illustrate the art of overcoming fear. I’m sure you can be inspired by this adventure.

I of course did all the standard things that I teach, from practicing ho’oponopono (as I wrote about in my books, Zero Limits and AT Zero) to rehearsing in the studio and in my mind.

But two months before the show, I also —

1. I got coaching.

A basic rule of self-improvement is this:

You can accomplish more if you have someone who believes in you almost more than you believe in yourself.

I first saw that insight in the home of Jerry and Esther Hicks, of Abraham fame, decades ago. Jerry (who has passed on and I greatly miss) told me he first heard it in an early television western. I don’t recall the name of the show, but I do remember the impact the principle had on me.

I started Miracles Coaching more than a decade ago for that reason – to give people someone who could believe in them.

To help them overcome fear.

To help them attract miracles.

I’ve had a lot of people support me and coach me in performing:

Jen Sincero is a badass author of two NY Times bestselling books, You Are A Badass and the recent You Are A Badass at Making Money. I discovered her first book years ago, knew it would be a hit, and interviewed her. We stayed in touch.

I had lunch with Jen when she came to Austin for a book signing. I knew she had been in a band at one point, so I told her my dilemma. She told me that I had already done the hard part of singing.

“You sang for Melissa Etheridge,” she explained, referring to when I had a private songwriting lesson with the rock icon last November. “Singing one on one is harder than singing on stage, and you sang for an icon you idolize and adore.”

The last time I saw Melissa Etheridge, just for a moment after her show in San Antonio in June, she told me she loves my latest album, The Great Something.

She said to “Keep at it.”

I dedicated that album to her. There’s a song on it I wrote for her.

Her encouragement helped me stay motivated.

She once told me, “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”

Sarah McSweeney is a singer-songwriter who is on my first album, Blue Healer.  She was the first person I sang for.

We met and she told me she always feels nervous before getting on stage. But she thinks of herself as a messenger, not a singer.

That reframe made the idea of singing easier.

“I am a messenger,” she said. “I focus on the song’s message.”

That insight helped me drop the idea of being a singer and adopt the idea of being a messenger. It helped me relax a little.

Meghan Sandau is a new friend. She has promoted big music events. She wanted to see me do a concert. She said she likes my music.

Her belief in me helped make me more secure.

In fact, none of this would happen without her.

She set up the event for my Band of Legends to perform.

She held my hand and encouraged me.

Meghan also suggested I do an energy clearing session with Nicole Pigeault of Los Angeles. I love energy work and do clearings for others so I leaped at the chance to hire Nicole.

Turned out to be one of the most powerful esoteric washes ever.

The hour session helped me release fears and settle into confidence.

But she wasn’t the only person to support me.

Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon has been coaching me for years now. We’ve made numerous instrumental albums together, such as Invoking Divinity.

He stayed in my corner, listening to me rehearse, listening to me confide my fears, and urging me to hang in there.

Then there’s Patrick Stark in Canada. He’s a filmmaker making a movie about overcoming fear.

It’s called “One Life: No Regrets.”

He interviewed me for it. He plans to sing on stage with the band U2. But it will be the first time he’ll sing on stage EVER.

Imagine it.

The first time you sing in public anywhere is on stage with U2 and thousands watching.

Well, if Patrick can drum up that kind of courage, then so can I.

Right?

I found preparing for the event mainly a battle with my mind. Most of my thinking was negative. It was all, What if it goes bad?

But Mindy Audlin came to visit. She teaches what if up thinking.

She wrote the book What If it All Goes Right?

She coached me in other ways to think: what if it is a breeze? What if I love it?

It also helps to see people successful in one field try their hand in a completely different field.

James Altucher tried stand-up-comedy. He’s a writer. He’s doing something out of his comfort zone.

But he’s willing to do it for the experience, and he’s sharing his learning curve to inspire others.

Though I haven’t met him, knowing he was stepping out beyond his fear fortified me to do it, too.

Of course, my beautiful Nerissa (above) believed in me, too.

She and I practiced “The Remembering Process” that Daniel Barrett taught me: we talked about the live show as if it had happened in the past and we were remembering how great it went. (See the book Daniel and I wrote: The Remembering Process.)

So the first thing I did was gather people who could coach and inspire me.

Next –

2. I got educated.

To prepare for my show, I attended an online Masterclass with David Mamet, and another with Usher.

Both were astoundingly good.

My band of legends: me, Daniel Barrett, Glenn Fugunaga, Joe Vitale

Mamet is a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright and screenwriter. I think he is a genius.

He said most people are afraid to be bad to be good.

You have to be bad first to start being good.

You have to start someplace.

I reminded myself of this as I prepared for the live event.

While I wanted to step out on stage and be “perfect,” Mamet reminded me that I will probably step out and be bad.

But bad is where you start. You can’t get to great without starting at bad.

Usher said to prepare, to be confident, but to expect something to go wrong.

Don’t expect perfection.

He told a story of a performance where he injured himself at the beginning of a two-hour show, and had to keep dancing and singing despite the pain.

His insights and pointers were priceless in helping me create a mindset for success.

And I bought a set of audios called The Relaxed Musician. It’s a 14-day course in exploring limiting beliefs.

It helped me realize I had a big belief that if I looked bad as a performer, it would hurt my reputation in other areas, such as an author or speaker.

But like most beliefs, it didn’t hold up.

I could forget all my lyrics and totally wash out on stage and it wouldn’t even dent my image anywhere else. Most people forgive and forget.

In fact, a miss on stage could give me a terrific story about how I bombed and lived.

But I didn’t stop there.

I read a terrific book on how to deliver an unforgettable live performance. I liked the book so much, I read it twice.

It was called, The Musician’s Guide to a Great Live Performance.

It became my bible. I read it on planes, took it with me on my iPad, and shared it with singer-songwriter friends.

And I read a wonderful book on overcoming fear and panic, titled You 1, Anxiety 0.

Author Jodi Aman helped take the mask off of fear so I could see what it really was: an illusion. I soaked up the wisdom in this book. It really helped me.

I also read a 1950 book by Vernon Howard called Word Power.

It was about how you talk to yourself, as well as to others, effects your behavior and your results. It’s not so much affirmations but self-talk.

Pretending you are fearless by saying “I am a fearless performer” is a way to begin being a fearless performer.

And I read a recent book, called Succeed.

It explained that just visualizing success is a plan for failure unless you also visualize planning for setbacks.

In other words, thinking the show will go without a flaw is not realistic, as Usher pointed out. There is no such thing as perfection.

But visualizing success, and understanding there is work to do to get there, can almost guarantee the result you want.

That was a mind-spinning insight.

I did more, too.

The Townsend even had a special drink for the live show

3. I got Nevillized.

With Meghan’s urging, I wrote out a script of how I wanted the show to go.

I focused on my feelings, not anyone else’s, so I could focus on what I could control.

The script was a type of Nevillizing (which I write about in my book, The Attractor Factor): feeling as if the event already happened, and happened the way I envisioned it.

I didn’t visualize the show happening, I visualized that the show already happened.

Big difference.

I wrote the script from the point of view of the next day, after I performed on stage.

I read and re-read it every day for a week before the show.

And —

4. I got relaxed.

I got massages, I got plenty of rest, I drank lots of water, and I went into a flotation tank at The Zero Gravity Institute for 90 minutes the day before the show.

I was doing whatever I could to be at peak form when I stepped on stage.

I was taking care of my body and mind.

I was getting ready for my moment.

5. I got faith.

Faith doesn’t always mean something religious.

Faith in yourself, faith in other people, faith in my practice and prep, faith in my Band of Legends – all of it gives a level of confidence that allows the best to surface.

As a slogan I coined says, “It is what you accept.”

I accepted that the moment would be perfect, even in any imperfections.

It would be “perfectly imperfect.”

I let go.

I trusted.

And, after two months of preparing, what happened?

My Band of Legends and myself performed on July 21st at The Townsend in Austin.

I’m the luckiest musician alive to have a band of this caliber: Drummer Joe Vitale (yes, same name as mine), bass man Glenn Fukunaga and lead guitarist Daniel Barrett.

These incredible musicians encouraged me, supported me, and brought my songs to life.

We raised the roof and tore down the walls.

We shook the earth and wowed the crowd.

Talk about overcoming fear!!!

I gave everything I had in me, delivering my messages with energy, enthusiasm, electricity, and a sense of fearlessness and fun.

At the end of our set, we got a standing ovation.

A standing ovation!

I did it.

And I loved it!

Now, what do you fear that is time for you to do?

Isn’t today a good day to begin overcoming fear?

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua

Joe

Resources:

http://www.TheBandofLegends.com

http://www.AllHealingMusic.com

http://www.MiraclesCoaching.com

http://www.Masterclass.com

http://www.quantumradiance.com

The big mistake most people make when it comes to using the Law of Attraction – or using anything to achieve their goals and dreams – is wanting to know how.

“How do I make it happen?”

“What are the exact steps I should take?”

“How do I get from here to there?”

The thing is, you rarely if ever know how in advance.

Once you complete a goal and can hold it in your hand, or show it off to friends, you can explain the how of it.

You’ll then have a complete beginning-middle-ending story.

The puzzle will be revealed.

You can then explain the steps you took.

But not before you attract it.

Recently I surveyed my list, asking what book they would like to see me write next. While virtually everybody wanted more books like Zero Limits and AT Zero on ho’oponopono, a few wrote in some suggestions.

Those people were usually wanting to know how to attract something specifically, and how I did it.

They wanted stories of people revealing exactly how they attracted their goals.

They were asking for step-by-step plans.

This is the big mistake.

Let me explain:

When I was making a name for myself as a copywriter and marketer back in the 1990s, a lot of things occurred that I couldn’t predict, let alone know how to make happen.

For example, the Internet came along.

Who saw that coming?

I was one of the first to be online already – on what were called Bulletin Board Systems (a kind of miniature, local only, limited reach Internet) – so when the actual Internet was born, I was already there.

The speaking and writing I was doing in Houston, where I lived at the time, now being posted on CompuServe and AOL, broadcast my name across planet Earth.

It helped make me cyber-famous.

It was certainly an essential step in my career.

But I never saw it coming.

It was never on my to-do list.

How could it be?

Are you starting to see how this works?

During these same early years, I wrote a little book called Spiritual Marketing.

I released it online, free, and it touched millions of lives.

I never knew it would do anything. I released it to the world in the hope that it would help people.

But The New York Times wrote about it.

And Bob Proctor urged me to publish the book.

And it became an early print-on-demand book.

It was also my first Amazon bestseller.

But I wasn’t following a “how to make it happen” plan.

No such plan existed.

These synchronistic events were happening as a side result of my passion and persistence.

They were happening organically.

They were happening on the way to my dream.

I couldn’t predict them because I couldn’t see them.

They were on the unseen road ahead, to be discovered as I kept moving forward.

And along the way in this adventure a publisher contacted me. He later published my book, Spiritual Marketing, but with a new title: The Attractor Factor.

That became the most powerful and popular self-help book I’ve ever written.

And The Attractor Factor was given to a television producer in Australia. She read it and contacted me.

She said she wanted me to be in a movie she was making about the Law of Attraction.

It was to be called The Secret.

That movie changed my life.

It put me on Larry King’s television show, twice, and got me invited to speak in countries I didn’t know existed.

How do you make those things happen?

After all, none of them could have been foreseen.

When people ask for the step-by-step exact plan to make something happen, they are making the mistake of thinking there is such a plan.

There isn’t.

There is a general formula, but not a specific one.

There are formulas for helping you choose your intention, start taking action, and maintain momentum once you get going.

But there isn’t a specific “do this and then do this” plan.

Even Mark Twain knew it.

Twain said, on his 70^th birthday, “You can’t reach old age by another man’s road. My habits protect my life but they would assassinate you.”

Thinking you can copy the specific things I did in my life to attract and achieve specific results in your life is a big mistake.

Thinking there is a “how” to get where you want to go is an error.

You attract the results you want with the formulas I have revealed, in books like The Attractor Factor, Attract Money Now, and most recently in The Miracle.

Other self-help authors have other formulas.

Mine goes something like this:

1. Declare your intention or inspiration.
2. Take the first baby step to begin moving toward your goal.
3. Keep taking action on all next steps and new opportunities.
4. Surround yourself with positive people and messages.
5. Clear any limiting beliefs as you notice them.

You’ll notice there isn’t a specific task that will work for you and everybody else.

There isn’t because there’s no way to know it in advance.

Steve Jobs knew this, too.

Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”

Melissa Etheridge told it to me this way –

“You just get on the path, you just do it, and that’s your intention, and then you let The Great Something bring you the stuff.”

Have faith that it’s all working out in your favor.

Have faith that “The Great Something” is – as I sing in my title track song on my new album – your “hidden ally” in life.

Have faith in yourself, the Universe, The Great Something, and your journey.

And then one day, after the dust has cleared, and you realized you attracted your goal, you can look back and tell the how of it all.

You can then connect the dots.

But all you can do today is the next obvious action step.

It’s the next “dot” that will lead to your success.

Dot by dot, by dot, you will get there.

Now go do today’s “dot.”

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Check out www.MiraclesCoaching.com