Tag: joe vitale

What’s a key to self-help, self-improvement or self-development?

Meet Ace Pepper.

Ace is the most upbeat, revved up and amped up guy I know. He absolutely loves making amplifiers for musicians.

I’ve seen people in love with their work before – from plumbers to postal workers to electrical repair people — but Ace Pepper takes the passion award.

The man is plugged in. He lives to make amps and does for famous musicians. I met him at a guitar show I attended with Pat O’Bryan. I liked Ace’s energy and was curious to what made him so contagiously happy.

I didn’t see Ace for almost a year, though. When one of my amps started to whistle when it was supposed to hum, I thought of Ace. Pat and I went to see him, my old amp in tow.

Ace gave me an hour lesson in how amps are built.

It was exciting.

It was in-depth.

It was intense.

I didn’t understand any of it.

But the guy’s boyish enthusiasm for his work was riveting.

I ended up hiring Ace to make me the amp of all amps.

I told Ace I wanted something so astonishing that Bruce Springsteen would hear the legend of it and contact me, wanting to buy it.

Now here’s where this gets interesting.

I don’t know how to use a professional amp.  Oh, I know how to plug a guitar cable into it and turn it on. But Ace’s amps have a dozen dials, multiple plug-in holes, and wires coming out of the back of it. He makes amps that would challenge Tesla. Having him build me a professional custom-made amp was asking him to build me a car I couldn’t drive.

Yet.

And that’s a secret to self improvement.

I told Ace I wanted him to build me an amp that I would “grow into.”

What I meant is this: I’ll learn how to use the amp once I have it. I’ll experiment, ask questions, make mistakes and grow. I’ll stretch myself into a comfortable fit.

This is true of virtually anything you want to learn.

Set an intention and then start working/playing/learning to grow into it.

Same with singing.

I don’t sing.  Never used to, anyway. But I decided to do something huge and daring – not knowing exactly how I would accomplish it – and announced one day I would put on a one-man theatrical show called “Mr. Fire’s Wonder Show: An Evening of Magic, Music and Miracles.”

Talk about establishing a goal I’d need to grow into!

Singing?

Magic?

Miracles?

Well, the Law of Attraction kicked in and I started to attract the people and coaches I need to make that goal come true.

I stumbled into a vocal coach by the name of Guy Monroe. The guy is a-maz-ing. He’s also amped up about his work.

He took me under his wing, coached me with his vocal and verbal methods, and terrific upbeat energy, and I’m now singing Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Harry Chapin and more.

Recently I startled myself by singing Glen Hansard’s wonderful song, Falling Slowly, from the movie Once. I didn’t think I had a shot at getting close to the song, as it has such vocal extremes in it, from soft to shrill.

But Guy coached me, encouraged me, and I went for it.

I not only sang it, but I sang it pretty darn good.

Of course, I’m no Glen Hansard, but I’m an excellent Joe Vitale.

I’m proud of myself for daring something worthy and learning how to sing, accelerating my guitar playing, and getting an amp I have no idea how to use — yet.

Again, if you want to know a secret to self-help and self-improvement, re-read this post.

And then set a big, bold, daring goal for yourself, based on your passion.

It will help you “amp it up”.

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – You’ll notice that a key to growing fast and achieving your dreams with the Law of Attraction and more, is to have a coach. Listen to my interview with the Miracles Coach of 2009 by clicking right here. It’s another secret to self-improvement and self-help. Go for it!

International fitness model Jennifer Nicole Lee sent me this photograph of her wearing one of my limited edition T-shirts for my new book, Attract Money Now:

Jennifer was a Phantom Rider last January, when ABC News filmed our entire Rolls-Royce Phantom Mastermind together. That’s when I met her for the first time.

I already knew who she was from her famous infomercial for the Ab Circle Pro, from all the magazine covers she’s posed for (300), from her weight loss success story (which Oprah reported on) and from her book (which I wrote the foreword to).

But nothing prepared me for the experience of meeting Jennifer herself.

She’s beautiful, yes, but also upbeat, optimistic, positive thinking, charismatic, funny, likable, lovable, smart, persistent and oh so much more.

Yes, I liked her.

But there’s more to her than the obvious.

My driver that night said if Jennifer isn’t my #1 groupie, she’s at least my #1 fan.

She not only arrived with luggage full of my books that she wanted me to sign, but she also showed me her ipod and how it was loaded with all of my audio books. She often works out listening to The Attractor Factor.

But her ipod also had everything by me, from the iTunes self-help hit The Solution to my bestselling CD and DVD course on using the Law of Attraction to attract money, The Secret to Attracting Money.

As the evening went on, she would quote my own teachings back to me, such as “The more money you spend, the more money you receive.”

It’s clear that Jennifer is successful because she feeds her mind with success thoughts, stays positive, and takes action.

Every morning she and her assistant get in the car and drive around Florida, masterminding, brainstorming, and dreaming big.

She also read my latest book, Attract Money Now and said:

“This page-turner reveals the real secrets to attracting money! I love it!”

I confess that when Jennifer booked her evening with me for the Phantom Rider experience, I wasn’t sure how I could help her. After all, she’s already successful. And she’d already read all my books and listened to all my programs.

What was left?

But she later told me — as well as ABC News — that she got her money’s worth within the first 15 minutes of our conversation. We generated new ideas and came up with money-making plans she hadn’t thought of before. She loved it.

And the end of the evening, Jennifer gave me a million-dollar smile and said, “And the best part of tonight is you didn’t ask for a percentage for your ideas!”

You (and I) can learn from the secret of Jennifer Nicole Lee.

Focus on what you want, surround yourself with positive people and positive thought, and take action.

As Jennifer ends all her emails, what’s left is to just “Believe!”

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – You can learn all about Jennifer Nicole Lee at her website and you can still read my latest book, Attract Money Now, online for free by clicking on the below banner. Enjoy and remember — Believe!

A reader watched my DVD, Humbug, and emailed me this question:

“Was there one point in your life that was the turn around? I often ask people who’ve obviously hitched themselves to a Saturn 5 rocket the same question.”

I get that question a lot.

I’ve been thinking about it long and hard.

I know that taking on the attitude that anything is possible is part of the answer.  So is knowing the Law of Attraction and the idea that getting clear leads to preferred results.  So is always saying yes to life. And so is the idea of being ruthlessly honest about your desires.

But those are mindsets I’ve developed over time. They don’t answer the question about the single event that changed my life.

The thing is, there’s no “one point” where everything shifted for me. It was more a series of defining moments, some more memorable than others. For example:

Landing the book deal to write The AMA Complete Guide to Small Business Advertising for the American Marketing Association back in 1993, was a marker for me. I wasn’t paid much money (almost none) but it was my first book deal with a traditional publisher and the project made me feel accomplished and important. It also got me more clients and more speaking engagements. (I still love the book and use it myself, though sadly it’s now out of print. Some of it ended up in my book, Hypnotic Writing .)

Recording my program, The Power of Outrageous Marketing for Nightingale-Conant in 1997, was another turning point for me, one I had longed to have for over ten years. People who knew that company and their wonderful products began to treat me like I was a deity in the marketing world. That also influenced my own sense of value. (That’s also when I raised my fees. ) The program still sells like crazy today, and I’m still very proud of it. (One of my favorite sections is where I stage an interview with the great circus showman and master marketer, P.T. Barnum.)

Certain people helped me step up to a new level, as well.

Paul Hartunian changed my life. This publicity genius who once sold the Brooklyn Bridge as a PR stunt and got on Johnny Carson for it, once spent three hours over dinner in Houston telling me how to change my business. I took notes. I acted. Paul’s giving was a defining moment in my career. I’ll never forget him. He’s one of my heros.

Mandy Evans has been a “miracles coach” in my life for more than twenty years. This wonderful author of such books as Travelling Free has always been only a phone call away. Whenever I feel stuck and ready for the next level, I call her. I love her. She helps me get clear .

Bob Proctor — a living legend in the self-help movement — changed my life when he politely nudged me to publish the little book I was fearful about releasing, Spiritual Marketing. That book became an Amazon bestseller twice, got me into The New York Times, and led to my rewriting it and seeing J. Wiley publish it as the now long running classic, The Attractor Factor. And of course that book got me into the movie The Secret, which led to my being on Larry King, eXtra TV, CNN, CNBC, ABC, Time, Newsweek and…well, you get the idea.

Obviously, there’s no one event that transformed me.

If you want to know more, I’ve written about my journey through life in such books as Adventures Within.  It reveals other defining moments and the people who triggered them for me.

I really wish there was a simple answer to the question of what was my turning point moment, so we could both learn from it. But what may be better is to assume every moment is your turn around one, and act from that perspective. Life would then take on a glow .

Backed into a corner, and forced to say something was the one thing that changed my career, I’d give credit to the Internet.

I began as an Internet skeptic in the early 1990s. I didn’t believe all the hype about gold in cyberspace.

I was wrong.

I later wrote one of the first books about online marketing (CyberWriting).

And later, when Mark Joyner urged me to let him release my first e-book (Hypnotic Writing ), I began to taste fame and fortune.

So I have to give credit to being active online as a turning point in my career. (Note I said active online. I was and am busy creating and promoting products, not waiting for the world to come to my door.) The Internet let me take what I was doing locally and distribute it to the world.

But, as you can see, it was one of many defining moments.

Maybe the best way to wrap this up is with the following story:

I’m hearing from people from my past who saw the movie The Secret and then searched for me online. When they get to my main site , they write me and ask something like, “Are you the same Joe Vitale I worked with thirty years ago?”

One gent did that a while back. Turns out we had worked at Exxon together long, long ago.

He saw me on Larry King and couldn’t believe my level of success. He wrote to me saying, “I wish I had known what a gem I was hanging around back then.”

I thought, what if each of us treated each other like we were gems already — just unrecognized and maybe unpolished.

Wouldn’t that single change of perspective make every moment of our lives a turning point?

As Goethe wrote, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being.”

Ao Akua ,

Joe

www.MrFire.com

PS — A way to get a turning point moment for yourself is through Miracles Coaching. I believe that trained mentors can help you leap to the next level, and I still employ them for myself today. Expect miracles. And remember, every moment counts.

You can can get a quick, brief overview of Miracles Coaching by watching the below clip. Enjoy.

Sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, etc) has been another one of my inspirations. I met him decades ago. His 1992 book, Zen in the Art of Writing, inspired me as a writer. Lately I’ve been attracting signed copies of his books to add to my collection.  I love the man’s zest for life, which is what he says is a secret to great writing.

As I’ve been reacquainting myself with Bradbury, I went to his official site and watched some of the recent videos of him. One showed his library in his basement. It reminded me of my own vault of books. There were first editions of many authors who had influenced him.

It got me thinking. Just as Jules Verne influenced Bradbury, and Bradbury influenced me, virtually every successful person has been inspired/influenced by someone before them.

It’s another way to get coaching. I’m a firm believer that without coaching, you don’t grow very fast or go very far. Oh, you can still succeed, but it’s tougher. I think you need to find a role model in your field and aspire to their greatness.

Gene Landrum, one of my favorite psychological business writers (The Superman Syndrome, Power and Paronoia, etc), says all the greats do this. He points out that Oprah pretended to be Barbara Walters. In the beginning, I pretended to be Jack London, or Rod Serling, or Robert Collier, or William Saroyan, or Ray Bradbury. This psychological technique helped tease out my latent talents. As they grew, I integrated them all and became the author you read today.

If you want to attract success and break through your barriers and blocks, get a coach and get a hero.

Ray Bradbury is one of mine.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — You can still read my latest book, Attract Money Now, online for free by clicking the below banner: