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…

Since so many people ask how to attract money, I thought it would be useful to share this money attraction secret from 36-year-old billionaire Andres Pira. It’s from the forthcoming 2019 book, Homeless to Billionaire. 

Vibrational Giving 

A New Approach to Attracting Great Wealth 

(An Excerpt from Homeless to Billionaire)

By Andres Pira

(with Dr. Joe Vitale)

Most people know that giving can lead to receiving. But most people do it wrong. I discovered a specific way of giving that has brought me millions of dollars. It helped me become a billionaire before I reached the age of 35. Let me tell you how I used this method to attract my first million dollars.

I am originally from Sweden. I moved to Thailand at the age of twenty to find my way in the world. But before I made any money, I became homeless. As I dug myself out of that dire situation, I noticed that Thailand has unique views about giving.

In Thailand, for example, on your birthday you don’t receive gifts, you give them. That was entirely new to me. But I started practicing it. As I gave more, I received more. As I gave more money, I received more money. I became fascinated and decided to experiment with this apparently magical law of giving. I wanted to see how it works, and if I could improve it.

The way most people give – if they give at all – is by tithing. That is the traditional way of giving ten percent of your income to a religious organization. Most religions teach that you need to give ten percent of the money you receive as a form of “payment” to God. While that has worked for centuries, and I have no argument with it, it’s not the way I do it.

Others have learned that giving money to any source that has inspired them will trigger a force that brings more money back to them. Dr. Joe Vitale, one of the teachers in the movie The Secret, tells people to give ten percentage of their income to wherever they receive spiritual nourishment or inspiration. That could be an Uber driver, a waiter, someone you meet at the store who says encouraging words, or an organization or anything else. I like this idea because it opens up the possibility of giving to others, including but not limiting to a church.

The trouble is, post people give only money and expect only money in return. While that works, it’s a limitation. The Universe (whatever you choose to call The Great Mystery of life) may have something better for you, but you limited the road back to you by insisting that what you get back is money. In my experience, the Universe may have many other gifts waiting for you, not just money, but your expectation of receiving only money is blocking the other good you could receive.

My own method is more refined and more focused. And it doesn’t always have to do with giving away money. In short, I’ve discovered that the emotion you feel as you give anything at all is what you will receive back. This is far more important than you may realize. If you feel hate as you do anything, you are setting up an “attractor field” to experience hate later. If you feel love as you do something, you are also engaging in a principle to attract love back to you later.

When I wish someone a good day, I do it with genuine feelings of wanting him or her to have a good day. Most people say, “Have a good day” with no feeling at all. It’s automatic. It’s dead. But I say it wanting to change the emotion of the person hearing it. I truly want them to have a good day. The feeling I give out as I say the words is one of love. As a result, what I expect to get back sometime later is the feeling of love. It may come as great news about a project, or a check, or a profitable idea, or a new connection, or some other reason to celebrate. But I give out love and what I get back is love.

In other words, when you give money, feel ecstatic as you do so and what you will receive in return is something with the feeling of ecstasy attached to it. That may be a return in the form of money. But it could be anything else. It could surprise you. It could be something unexpected, and not just money. What you gave was some emotion, so what you receive will be the same emotion, but multiplied at least ten times.

I’ve learned that this “vibrational giving” or “frequency giving” is the real secret to making giving work. While giving anything is a good policy, giving with conscious awareness of your emotions will bring wealth beyond all imagination.

Now let me share my story of making my first million dollars with this method.

Many years ago I visited an orphanage in Thailand. It was sad because all the kids had HIV. They didn’t have any government support and they were struggling. I wanted to help. I agreed to paint the building, all the rooms, and give the kids toys. I didn’t do it to receive money. I did it because I felt great in helping.

And that’s the secret to giving: feeling. How you feel when you give is what you will receive in return. Emotion creates vibration. And you can’t create anything without emotion. Unfortunately, most people aren’t aware of their feelings when they do anything, let alone when they give.

While I had been visualizing making my first million dollars, I also didn’t know how it would happen. But when I was at that orphanage, I didn’t think spending money there would bring me a million dollars later. All I knew is the kids need help and it would make me feel good to help.

So I invested about eighty thousand dollars in hiring people to paint and rebuild the place. I felt great as I paid for the services. Again, I was using “vibrational giving” as my tool. I knew that the feeling I felt as I gave is what I would get in return later, in some unexpected way. There was nothing calculating in my action. I didn’t give money to get money.

Instead, I did something that made me feel great, and I expected something to happen later that would also be a great feeling. But money wasn’t the focus. I just made sure to feel great. While eighty thousand was about a fourth of my yearly revenue at the time, spending it didn’t make me feel stretched or worried. It made me feel good.

As a result, a real estate deal I had in the works went through. I closed a property worth so much that my commission was more than one million dollars. In fact, it was one million plus about eighty grand. So I not only made my first million, but I also got my investment back.

And how did I feel? Fantastic, of course. The feeling I had when I invested in helping the orphanage (feeling great) came back to me to multiplied (feeling fantastic). I copied that check, framed it, and still look at it every day. I still feel great every time I see it.

Mother Teresa had it right when she said, “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”

Again, this isn’t only about money. It’s about what you feel as you give anything. The feeling you give out is what you will receive back. Practicing this “vibrational giving” works for me, and will work for you, too. Try it and see.

*****************

Andres Pira, President of Success Events and Blue Horizon Development, is the largest real estate developer in Southern Thailand. He and bestselling author Dr. Joe Vitale are completing the book, Homeless to Billionaire: The 18 Wealth Attracting Secrets for Becoming a Money Magnet. For details please see http://www.homelesstobillionaire.info

Jaime Vendera is a famous vocal coach who challenged me to write a book on using Law of Attraction and mind power etc for musicians. I threw the challenge back at him. The result is our new book, already a bestseller, titled Mind Over Music. Here’s my introduction, which explains the back story:

Why Anything Is Possible

An Introduction by Dr. Joe Vitale

One day I checked Facebook and there was a curious message from Jaime Vendera. I knew Jaime from his books on singing, which helped me with my own vocal technique. I had gone from zero to musician in the span of a few years, and Jaime was one of my never-met coaches along the way. I had bought and read his books. I knew he was a badass vocal coach. His ideas had helped me, and still do.

So I looked at his message. He wrote:

“Listen up, Vitale, the Universe smacked me again to put this in your brain…and I am pretty sure I told you this a few years back:) You REALLY need to write an “LOA/Ramp up your music making mojo” type book. It’s not a book about the art songwriting, but more a book lining out the steps to get a musician off their butt and finishing their songs and recording/releasing them… You are THE perfect person to write this considering what you’ve accomplished!!! If you don’t write this, that voice in my head will never leave me alone. It will pester me to pester you until you hear it too;) There, I told you, just as I was instructed to do. So now please write the book so it will make the voices stop, hahahaha;)”

I admired his playful audacity. I’ve written over 70 books and Jaime knew it. He also knew my expertise in self-help methods, as well as the Law of Attraction, applied to would-be musicians, would be a hit.

He also knew that my appearance in the hit movie The Secret, and my books on the Law of Attraction (LOA), made me qualified to teach musicians.

But I also felt that this idea was his, not mine. I suspected he was just tossing a monkey at me and hoping I’d adopt it. I already had enough monkeys.

So I wrote back to him saying:

“hmmmm Maybe it’s in your head and not mine so you write it and i add to it to be coauthor…”

Seemed like a fair counter offer to me. Jaime could blow me off but at least I didn’t dismiss him. I was acknowledging his idea but turning it back in his direction. I was sending the monkey home. To my surprise, he accepted my challenge.

He wrote back saying:

“Hahaha well that will work then. I just had this image of you explaining how you knocked out so many songs so quick. I’m knocking out 4 new products right now but I’ll start writing soon.”

He did, too. Not only did he start writing, but he caught on fire and wrote the entire book by himself – in only four days.(!)

A week later he wrote to me saying:

“Just letting you know I never back down from a challenge;) I am writing three new books, filming two new videos, two new audio programs, and writing/recording as we speak, and it is all part of the focus of this book. feel it should be called MIND OVER MUSIC and show the musician that Writer’s block is only a state of mind, as well as teach them how to get it out of their heads and recorded in record time. So, I had a quick question for you. Do you have a musical bio I can copy/paste. i want to mention the day you decided to become a musician and record and ALL the albums you have released since then. I am blown away by your energy and what you’ve done. It is soooo refreshing.”

He was referring to my becoming a musician with 15 albums recorded in about 5 years. That seemed impossible to most people. But I teach “Anything Is Possible” (and wrote a book titled that very statement.) I sent him the material he wanted and he inserted it into his book. Then I read the book.

Now it was my turn to be blown away.

He wrote the book with a passion I rarely see in other authors. And he gave steps and secrets and insights along the way. He included me and my story of becoming a musician, beginning with zero experience, and going on to record numerous albums, study with rock icon Melissa Etheridge, and even overcome terror to sing on stage with my Band of Legends.

In short, he had created the very book he wanted me to write. And he did it without me.

But being the kind and generous soul that he is, he wanted my name as coauthor because he said I inspired the entire project. He wanted me to have credit. That’s the kind of loving person he is. So I accepted.

The good news for you, the reader, is you get to benefit from the combined experience of two authors, teachers, coaches, and musicians: us.

I’m living proof that you can dissolve blocks and get in the studio and on stage, no matter who you are, where you are, what your level of experience, your age, or much else.

And Jaime is living proof that when you adopt his methods, you will shine in the studio and on stage, too.

All in all, you are about to read an illuminating guide to getting past the excuses and blocks and into the studio and onto the stage. Bright lights and applause await, as well as the deep satisfaction of sharing your music with the world.

And now, curtain up…

Ao Akua

Joe

PS – Our bestselling book, Mind Over Music, is more than Law of Attraction and self help principles; it is about facing fears and overcoming doubts so you can get in the studio or onto the stage. It is on Amazon for Kindle and in print at https://smile.amazon.com/Mind-Over-Music-Through-Blocks/dp/1936307456/

Last month I was lucky enough to be given an advanced prepublication review copy of The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga (Atria Books, May 2018 release).

I say “lucky” because the book changed my life.

I had never heard of it before. But the book is a runaway bestseller in Japan. It sold 3.5 million copies in Asia.

• A million copies sold of any book is miraculous.
• Over three million copies sold in Japan alone is staggering.

The book is a dialogue between a student and a philosopher.

The chapters are short.

The messages are potent.

Most of the material stems from the work of psychologist Alfred Adler. As much as I’ve read in psychology, I wasn’t familiar with Adler.

I am now.

Adler (1870-1937) was an Austrain physician, psychotherapist, and the founder of Adlerian psychology, sometimes called Individual Psychology.

Around 1907 Adler and Freud, along with Rudolf Reitler and Wilhelm Stekel, began meeting weekly in a type of early mastermind. Their “Wednesday Night Meetings” eventually grew into the birth of the psychoanalytic movement.

Freud and Adler did not agree and went separate ways. I’m currently collecting and reading Adler’s works, such as Understanding Human Nature (1927) and The Science of Living (1929).

While I am digging into the original words of Adler, I find The Courage To Be Disliked an easier approach to understanding him.

Here’s why…

The Courage to Be Disliked is a refreshing stir for self courage.

Rather than giving away your power to circumstances, you use your power for choice.

The book explains etiology, which is the idea of cause and effect, versus teleology, which is the idea of meaning and choice.

“We are not determined by our experiences, but are self-determined by the meaning we give to them…” – Alfred Adler

In other words, many schools of thought (including Freud’s) say you are the product of your past and/or your environment.

That is cause and effect thinking, or etiology.

But Adler’s approach is to say you can create your life from new meaning and choice, which is teleology.

Obviously, the latter is more empowering and freeing.

The latter doesn’t need anything outside of you to change for you to change.

You can change with a decision.

The Adler way is not one of victimhood but of empowerment.

For example, rather than saying you are the way you are due to the circumstances of your childhood, or current circumstances, you instead choose to create how you want to be from goals selected out of this moment.

• The past has no hold over you.
• Environment has no hold over you.
• Others have no hold over you.

At first glance, the concepts in The Courage to Be Disliked could seem daunting and unrealistic.

But as I kept reading the book, and following the concepts being explained, I realized that this book is a manual for awakening.

There are too many concepts to repeat here, but one crucial one is this:

“All problems are interpersonal relationship problems.”

Let that sink in.

“All problems are interpersonal relationship problems.”

The idea (simplified) is that you may sometimes try to please others, which is giving away your power to others.

You can’t easily be happy if you are waiting on another’s approval.

When you choose yourself, you are free.

You may be disliked; but you are free.

But here’s an even deeper insight…

An advanced insight is this: you have an interpersonal problem with someone in order to justify something you don’t want to do.

In short, you created the need for an excuse and then created the interpersonal problem to rationalize the excuse.

The problem or person didn’t come first; your need for a way out did.

This is similar to my own observation:

“The meaning you give an event is the belief that attracted it.”

You don’t realize it, but it’s actually you and your meaning/beliefs creating your life.

This completely transforms the idea of problems with other people.

You created them!

The Courage To Be Disliked explains all of this, and more, in an easy to read style.

It’s simply a conversation.

But “the student” is asking what you would probably ask.

And “the philosopher” is responding as might Socrates, or Adler himself.

Along the way you get “aha” moments of insights.

For example, learning to separate tasks is important.

That means learning to understand what is under your task to do, and what is for others to do.

• Wanting someone to like you isn’t your task. It’s theirs.
• Wanting a child to clean his or her room isn’t your task. It’s the child’s.
• Wanting to be recognized for success isn’t your task. It’s the public’s.

Knowing this “task separation” gives you freedom.

“We cannot think, feel, will, or act without the perception of some goal.” – Alfred Adler

I’ve often referred to people trying to give me their task as them trying to give me their monkey.

They don’t want to care for “the monkey” so they try to pass it off to me.

But I have enough monkeys.

Knowing that I don’t want another monkey, and that their task isn’t mine to do, makes it easier for me to have a boundary and maintain it for my own self-care.

As a result, I can be free.

Here’s a recent example:

Jaime Vendera is a vocal coach. A terrific one. He’s written Raise Your Voice and The Ultimate Breathing Workout. He’s helped lots of singers, including me.

He wrote to me one day saying he had an idea for a book I could write. He suggested it could be about mindset for musicians.

While I liked the idea, I sensed he was passing a monkey to me.

So I wrote back, saying it was his idea, or his task, so he should write it.

To my surprise, and his credit, he took the challenge.

He completely wrote the book, showed it to me, and I added some content, and a subtitle to it.

We are now coauthors of the book, Mind Over Music: Break Through the Blocks to Get Into the Studio and Onto the Stage. (It’ll  be out next month.)

Instead of my taking on his task, I simply kept my boundary and supported him.

The result was a win-win for both of us.

Do you see how this works?

The Courage to Be Disliked contains far more wisdom, theory, and technique than I could possibly relay in this article.

But I don’t want you to settle for this post.

I want you to read the book.

Whether you do or not, of course, is your task, not mine.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – The Courage To Be Disliked will be in stores May 8, 2018. You can order it in print, for your Kindle reader, or on audio right now at Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Courage-Be-Disliked-Phenomenon-Happiness/dp/1501197274/

I’m not actor Bruce Willis, and I’ve not met him yet, but I know something he may not.

Let’s call it “Bruce Willis Manifesting.”

It’s a way to use your mind to attract what you want.

It’s something you already do when you think of your favorite celebrity, and it’s something you can consciously direct to manifest what you want.

It’s actually a very cool way to speed up the manifestations of your goals, desires and intentions.

Interested?

Let me explain:

Recently a woman was about to interview me, but couldn’t calm down.

“You’re a legend!” she kept repeating. “You’re a legend!”

She was going gaga for me.

But why?

I certainly know the feeling of being star struck in the presence of a celebrity.

I was that way with rock icon Melissa Etheridge.

I was that way with actor James Caan.

Same when actor-bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno came to my house.

I met President Jimmy Carter twice and couldn’t speak either time.

If and when I meet Bruce Willis, I’ll probably be star struck with him, too.

At least for a few minutes.

But why?

I propose the reason you and I are in awe of stars we like is a clue on how to manifest what we want faster.

So give me a moment to explain.

Last year I was invited to act in my first indie movie.

A woman came to my music show last July at The Townsend in Austin.

She heard my Band of Legends and me and afterwards invited me to act in her movie.

I haven’t acted since kindergarten. I was one of the three little pigs in a kids’ play.

But I told this delightful woman I’d do it.

And I did.

It was the movie Cecilia.

When you see it, you might experience the manifestation strategy I’m wanting to discuss here.

But even if you don’t see that movie, maybe you saw me in the movie The Secret.

If not, I’m in about 15 other movies, with three more coming out this year.

And of course I’ve been on Larry King Live national television, twice.

All of this public exposure is making more people recognize me.

And when they do, some are star struck.

I remember landing in Peru and a bunch of people ran up to me.

It spooked me because some of them were security guards.

I thought something was wrong.

But no, they wanted to meet a star from a movie.

They wanted photos.

And autographs.

At baggage claim.

Why?

So let me get back to explaining:

We watch a movie we like.

We see a star we like.

There is emotion.

Our brains “brand” this emotion onto our minds.

We “link” the visual of seeing our favorite star with the emotion of what the movie is triggering in us.

Then, if we ever see our star on the street, the mental switch is triggered.

And we go gaga.

If you don’t know a celebrity, and he or she walks by, you won’t think anything of it. That star hasn’t been inputted into your brain to have any meaning.

There’s no “programming.”

There’s no emotion.

There’s no “link.”

But if you see a celebrity that you go gaga for, that you watch in all their movies, that you feel love for, you will flip out.

This is “Bruce Willis Manifesting.”

Why?

The movie star has activated the Reticular Activator System or RAS in your brain.

Your RAS responds to emotion, imagery, and repetition.

Anything you think about with emotion, imagery, and repetition will act as a new program in your brain.

And you will unconsciously use the Law of Attraction to bring it into your life.

Melissa Etheridge showing a “Mustang” guitar given to her by the Ford Institute

So, if I see Melissa Etheridge on stage, and on television, and on DVD, and I watch her moved by the emotion in her songs and her performances, and I do this repeatedly for two decades, then the day I meet her is going to feel like lightning struck my spinal cord.

And that’s what it felt like when I went to her home for my songwriting lesson with her.

I was star struck.

My RAS had been “Melissa Etheridge” programmed

So let’s take this concept to a deeper level.

I’m a huge fan of actor Bruce Willis.

I’ve seen all his movies, bought all his music, and follow his career.

His movies, from Die Hard to 16 Blocks to Death Wish, all do something for me. (16 Blocks is one of my all time favorite movies.)

Whenever I get to meet him, I’ll probably be star struck and silent, at least at first.

Why?

“I’m really just a regular guy who has had an incredibly blessed life.” – Bruce Willis

Because he’s branded in my brain with the three ways you engage your RAS: imagery, emotion, repetition.

• I’ve seen his movies. (Visual)
• I’ve felt something while watching those movies. (Emotion)
• I’ve watched many of the movies more than twice. (Repetition)

This imagery, emotion and repetition has wired Bruce Willis in my mind.

But you can use this “gaga” switch of the mind to attract more of what you want.

And this is where you should take notes.

You can use this “Bruce Willis Manifesting” Secret

I’ve written about this formula in numerous books, including the brand new one, Anything Is Possible.

In short:

1. See it. Imagine what you want to have, do or be.
2. Feel it. Imagine using it or living it or being it.
3. Repeat. Do this repeatedly.

You have just used the three step system that stars innocently use to get in our heads: imagery, emotion, and repetition.

It’s also the same three things that your RAS requires to make a change.

So we can thank our favorite stars for showing us a way to control our mind.

Your Mental Movie

One way to make this formula work is to create a mental movie of what you want, complete with the sensory experience of imagining that it is all complete and real.

In other words, when you watch a film on television or in the theater, your mind is being programmed.

You are seeing a visual, feeling emotion, and repeating the experience throughout the film.

But you can use this same technique to program your mind intentionally: by creating a mental movie.

By Creating a Mental Movie!

And instead of feeling like a star struck little child when you meet your favorite star, you can thank them for showing you a way to manifest what you want.

And now you know something even Bruce Willis doesn’t know – “Bruce Willis Manifesting.”

What will you create next?

Imagine it.

Feel it.

Repeat it.

Make a mental movie of it and step into it.

And then, Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua

joe

PS – Here’s Bruce Willis showing you how it’s done with emotion, imagery and repetition: