In 1931 Vash Young inherited a fortune. This was during the Great Depression in the USA when much of the country lost jobs, savings, hopes, dreams, and more. Young was so grateful for his inherited fortune that he spent his entire life sharing it.
Last week I inherited his fortune.
It was strange, unexpected, and yet incredible.
I didn’t know Young before last week, though I had heard of his fortune.
I never imagined he would pass it on to me.
I’m grateful for it, of course.
Who wouldn’t be?
And I’m now going to share that fortune with you.
Let me explain.
A friend of mine in the Miracles Coaching program told me about an old book he found that he thought I might like. But he couldn’t recall the title or author. He was obviously moved by the book. I’m a bookaholic, so I was interested, even without all the details. I asked him to send me the book’s info when he came across it. I didn’t think any more about it.
But last week my friend sent me a package. Inside was the mysterious book. The title is A Fortune to Share. The author was Vash Young. I had never heard of the book or the author. Since I was busy with projects, such as scheduling the launch of my new audio program (The Abundance Paradigm), and already had fifteen books to read either on my ipad or my desk, I just put the book aside. It would have to wait.
But the book wouldn’t wait.
Something about it called me to it. Maybe because the book was from 1931 and looked like a lost gem in self-help and self-improvement; maybe because I love success literature and this title seemed like it was from that category; maybe because I hoped the author had been a friend of a man I wrote about from that era, Bruce Barton, in my book The Seven Lost Secrets of Success; maybe because the author put a spell on the book. I don’t know. But before I knew it, everything else got pushed aside and I started reading A Fortune to Share.
Within minutes, I was captivated.
The book is written in the first person, with the author talking to me about his fortune and how it changed his life. The old Young of poverty and reckless living was gone; the new Young was now so rich that even the Great Depression couldn’t touch him.
His mission became the life-long quest to share his fortune with others.
I was riveted.
Young explained that you own a factory. Most of the time you make junk in that factory. As a result, no one buys from you. No wonder you were broke and struggling. No wonder life looked bleak. Your factory wasn’t producing what anyone wanted.
He went on to explain that the same factory could make gold.
Gold?
How?
In your mind.
In your mind!
As it turns out, the fortune Young inherited was the gold inside himself: his ability to control his thoughts, beliefs, moods, and attitude. He could let the factory of his mind create a life that was miserable, or he could take charge of that factory and get it producing new thoughts, beliefs, moods and attitude that he and others would want.
He inherited a mental fortune.
As long as Young (pictured below) accepted his fortune and shared it, everything he wanted would come his way, and without trying to make it happen.
Young literally did attract a financial fortune (he sold over $80,000,000 in life insurance) due to his discovery and his sharing. He went from a life of go-getting to a life of go-giving. (He later wrote a book titled The Go-Giver.) The more he gave, the more he attracted. His mission truly became one of sharing the mental fortune inside himself to awaken your own understanding that you have a mental fortune inside you, too.
While it’s easy to wish that Young’s fortune was all cash and he shared it by writing checks (which he often did, just not to you or me), what he actually gave us is something far more valuable: he pointed out you have a cash-making machine in your head.
In short, we attract “junk” when we think from selfishness and fear; we attract “gold” when we think and act with love.
A Fortune to Share contains much more information, and many wonderful stories. It’s a hypnotic read. Breezy. Easy. Fast. It also delivers some unforgettable wisdom, such as:
“Any experience can be transformed into something of value.”
“Prosperity can not be built on fear!”
For a long time, Young would hold “Trouble Day” every Saturday. He would let anyone walk into his office, dump their troubles on him, and then Young would do his best to help the troubled soul with his philosophy, and often with money.
In talking to an unemployed man one day, Young tells him, “You haven’t been unemployed all these months, you have been working for the wrong boss. You have been working for failure, discouragement, fear and worry and the sad part of it is that there has been no salary for your labors. You seem to be destitute, but I am going to tell you how to become rich overnight. I want you to deposit the following thoughts in your mental bank tonight: ‘I am not afraid – I am a success, not a failure – I have an inexhaustible supply of courage, energy, confidence and perseverance.'”
Young helps the man out with a suit of clothes and a little money, and reminds him to draw on his new mental bank account when he needs it.
Within a week, the man has a job he loves.
Young’s first book was so sincere, helpful and timely that it became a national bestseller. He followed it with several others (which I have yet to read but eagerly await), including The Go-Giver, Be Kind to Yourself, and Let’s Start Over Again. All were bestsellers. All were booster rockets for a weary country suffering during the Great Depression of the 1930s. When Young was in his seventies in 1959, he wrote a final book summing up his philosophy of life, called Fortunes For All.
I found Fortunes For All and read it. Loved it, too. On the cover the publisher says, “Let Vash Young show you that your mind is worth $175,000 or more!”
How can your mind bring you $175,000?
Here’s the secret:
Young explains that instead of asking, “How can we have more?” we should ask, “How can we be more?”
He then invites you to try an experiment:
“Go off by yourself with a pad and pencil and write out your own ticket for a happy and successful life. By that I mean put down all of the things you would like to have or be.”
He adds, “After imagining every wish has been granted, then go one step further. Start in being the ideal person you think you would be if you had everything your way.”
Young’s philosophy of fortune basically said that once you began to be that happy, successful person now, then you would naturally attract all you wanted from the being.
Sounds a whole lot like step four in my book, The Attractor Factor, and step five in my book Attract Money Now, where I suggest you “Nevillize” a goal to help bring it into reality.
In other words, feel what it would be like to already have the thing you want or be the person you long to be. Feel it now.
But Young is also wanting you to be something greater than a satisfied person. He wants you to embody the traits of — dare I say it — God.
Decades ago in Houston I gave a talk where I encouraged people to think like God. I said God wouldn’t think in terms of lack and limitation. Why should you?
But Young wants you to act like God, meaning live love, compassion, forgiveness and all the other positive, enlightened states that a God would have.
Be God.
Young was a great believer in taking action, too.
A chapter on selling in Fortunes For All proves that he sold such a staggering amount of life insurance by focusing on giving, thinking of others over himself, and following his being principle. But he also took non-stop action. Even when Young was on jury duty for three weeks, he still held the sales record for the month. How? He kept taking action.
All of this is so inspiring and powerful that I wish Vash Young was still alive so I could thank him in person. But I’ve inherited his fortune. And I’m sharing it with you. I’m hoping you will now share it with others, too.
Take control of your mind and you can live a life of magic and miracles — a life of good fortune.
It’s Vash Young’s inheritance.
It’s my inheritance.
And now it’s yours.
What do you think, anyway?
What is your factory producing?
Who’s the boss of your own mind?
Who are you being?
Enjoy your new fortune.
Ao Akua,
PS – Be sure to pass your fortune along to others by telling them about Vash Young, his books, and this blog post’s message. Together we can share the wealth, and make a difference in the world. Thank you.
Note: My new audio program, The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation, comes out on November 9th.
Secret #6 of the ten principles of abundance is below.
I’m calling this series The Abundance Manifesto. This is to help pave the way for my new audio program, The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation (coming out soon).
These are my observations about how you can attract personal and planetary wealth. Wealth, of course, is more than money, so these ideas are more sweeping than you may at first realize.
Since I’m just sculpting these thoughts, please be forgiving in reviewing them. In fact, what I’d love is your opinion. Please comment on each to help me refine them all. The end result will be a useful set of insights for you, me, and everyone else.
Here’s number six:
Thou shall implement Divine inspiration
Abundance comes to those who act on the gifts given to them from Divine inspiration. An idea isn’t a random event; it is an unexpected delivery from an abundant universe. Not acting on the idea is a refusal of a gift. Acting on it is an affirmation of trust. Those who implement Divine inspiration tend to profit from their actions. This benefits all. This is abundance.
PS – Get your free sample of Miracles Coaching by clicking right here.
Note: My new audio program is called The Abundance Paradigm:
Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation.
Stay tuned for details.
History tells us that in 49 B.C., Julius Caesar and his troops broke the Roman Law forbidding any general to cross the Rubicon River. It left no one in the Roman Republic with any question as to Caesar’s intention.
He had a goal.
He had a mission.
There was no turning back now.
Caesar said, “The die is cast, the game is on.”
At some point it’s wise to accept or create a “Rubicon Challenge” for yourself. It’s a way to stretch your talents, exceed your potential, dare something worthy, and achieve what others might call impossible. The line or “river” you cross is the self-imposed limitation of your own potential.
I just did that by declaring I will sing, play guitar, write songs, and record my own audio CD in 2011.
I’ve already been taking guitar lessons with Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon. And I’ve been taking singing lessons with vocal wizard Guy Monroe. I’ve seen progress and I’m having a blast.
But it’s time to go to the next level.
It’s time to cross the river of limitation.
And here’s where my own Rubicon Challenge appeared.
Back in 2006 I held a publicity stunt in Austin, Texas called The Canine Concert. It was the first ever concert for dogs, played at a sound level only canines could hear. The band that donated their time and talents was Porter Davis. It was a hot summer day but people turned out, including the media, and we all had fun. This youtube video gives you a feel for the event:
That was years ago. I hadn’t seen or heard from the band since. Recently the lead singer, Daniel Barrett, emailed me and asked to have lunch. Of course, I agreed.
Over Tex-Mex food and sharing, Dan (pictured with me above) told me about his new service. He offers 100 hours of personal coaching in singing, songwriting and guitar playing, ending in the studio recording five songs. He called it a boot camp for musicians. While he wasn’t trying to sell me (as he had no idea I was already taking singing and guitar playing lessons), I began to feel that our meeting was more than a coincidence.
After lunch, I couldn’t stop thinking of Dan’s service, which he called Rubicon Artist Development. We met again a week later, shared several emails, and discussed my taking on his challenge.
I wanted to.
But I admit I was full of massive doubt.
Could I do this?
Could I write songs?
Could I play and sing well enough to be recorded?
Could I find the time to practice as well as keep up my lessons with Mathew and Guy?
I spent a lot of time thinking, dreaming, worrying and more. I’m surrounded by great musicians in my personal life, from Sarah Marie and Michelle Malone to Pat O’Bryan and of course Mathew Dixon. (Mathew and Michelle pictured below.)
But knowing they can play great music didn’t make my decision any either.
I was still nervous about taking the challenge.
Until I realized that if I had this much excitement as well as apprehension, then I had to do the challenge.
As I wrote in my book The Attractor Factor, my rule of thumb is to follow goals that scare you a little and excite you a lot. If I’m giving that advice to others, then I need to take it myself.
I accepted Dan’s Rubicon Challenge.
Why am I telling you all this?
Because in 2011 I’m going to announce a movie project and a challenge for you revolving around Miracles Coaching. You’ll hear about it and it will interest you. But most likely you’ll have questions, concerns, fears and doubts.
Accept them, investigate them, and release them.
You grow stronger and wiser when you accept the challenge you know you want.
I’ve accepted another one.
What will yours be?
Ao Akua,
PS – Dan’s Rubicon Challenge site is right here.
Secret #5 reveals the only choice you have to make. It’s below.
As you may recall, over the next few weeks I’m posting ten principles of abundance. I’m calling them The Abundance Manifesto. This is to help pave the way for my new audio program, The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation (coming out any day now).
These are my observations about how you can attract personal and planetary wealth. Wealth, of course, is more than money, so these ideas are more sweeping than you may at first realize.
Since I’m just sculpting these thoughts, please be forgiving in reviewing them. In fact, what I’d love is your opinion. Please comment on each to help me refine them all. The end result will be a useful set of insights for you, me, and everyone else.
Here’s the fifth one:
Thou shall choose the higher ground in every decision.
The ego resists love and forgiveness. It is an illusion self-created and self-maintained. It causes broken homes and broken dreams. In every decision, there is a choice: Come from love or come from ego. Most come from the latter. The higher ground is to choose love. When the choice exists, ask, “What is the more loving decision here?” Choose love.
PS – Be sure to get your free sample of Miracles Coaching by clicking right here.
Note: My new audio program is The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation. You will soooo love it. Stay tuned for details.
Heavy Hitters magazine doesn’t have a website (!?) but I couldn’t help but share with you my Spyker exotic car from Holland being in their latest issue. (It’s on newsstands now in the USA in the automotive section.) Here’s the feature two-page spread:
Photos by Brian Fitzsimmons