Tag: optimism

Filmed years ago for television and just put online in its entirety, you can watch it right here:

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How do you attract more of what you want?

What do you do when it feels like nothing is working out for you?

Recently I interviewed Patricia Ryan Madson*, author of the book, Improv Wisdom. You might recall that I wrote about Patricia’s book on this blog on May 1st, exploring the question, “Without you, what would not get done?”

In my interview, Patricia said something that jarred me into a new reality.

She said, “In every moment, we are always receiving far more than we ever give.”

I had to reflect on her statement to truly get it:

In every moment, we are always receiving far more than we ever give.

Patricia went on to explain that right now you are receiving air, blood flow, support from a chair, technology from your computer or other device, light from the sun or your room lights, these words from me, and more.

But we take all of that for granted. All we stop and say thank you for is when someone gives you something or does something specifically for you. But what about everything else? The amount you are receiving right now is almost overwhelming.

Are you aware of it?

Are you grateful for it?

I had dinner one night with Paul Zane Pilzer*, author of The Next Millionaires. He explained over 300 people were involved in preparing our meal. He was referring to the farmers and pickers and distributors and carriers and restaurant owner and cooks and servers and more.

Imagine that. Over 300 people were working to deliver a meal!

I’ve been traveling a great deal again, for TV shows, movies, events, speaking gigs, music production and more. When I stop and think about all the “unseen helpers” who make sure me and my luggage get there on time, or all the “behind the scenes” people who do their jobs sight unseen so my face gets projected over the air to millions of televisions in homes nationwide, it is incredible.

New album "The Healing Song"

In order to complete my fourth music album, more people were involved than just my band. I traveled to L.A. and Nashville so Grammy winners could mix and master the music. This is a lot to be grateful for, and can even feel overwhelming when you become aware of it all.

“Wake Up to the Gifts” is the ninth maxim in Patricia’s wonderful and wise little book, Improv Wisdom. She asks us to look for the “unseen” gifts, like the screen and processor allowing you to read these words, or the planet giving you all you need to live and breathe right now.

She also asks us to understand the interdependence of all things.

I can’t write these words without you. You can’t read these words without me writing them.

But it goes further than that. We need the folks who made the computers you and I are using, the Internet providers, the electric company, the people making or delivering our food, handling our flights and our mail, and more. We also need the elements of life itself, that provide both you and me with all we need to stay alive.

You don’t achieve or attract anything by yourself.

Are you aware of that?

Are you grateful for that?

In Improv Wisdom, Patricia suggests you make “Thank you” your mantra.

Of course, in the book I coauthored with Dr. Hew Len, Zero Limits, we suggest you make the four phrases of ho’oponopono your mantra: “I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you.”

Either way, these methods are tools to help you see what you are receiving is a miracle.

It also is your opportunity to give back.

Since you are receiving so much, what can you do to give more?

You’ll never be able to give in a way that balances all you receive. That’s the miraculous imbalance of life: it’s stacked in your favor.

Think about this. You are receiving so much right now — most of which you were unaware of and took for granted — that you can never give enough to tip the scales. You can never give more than you receive. You are simply receiving way too much.

Think about it this way…

Every time you turn on your TV and flip through the hundreds of channels, remember that those shows were written, produced, directed and performed just for YOU.

Every time you go to the theatre and see a movie or a play, remember that it was made just for YOU.

Every time you turn on the radio and hear your favorite music, commentators, DJs, guest speakers, etc., for your listening enjoyment, again it was all created just for YOU.

When you think about the world honing its craft for YOUR daily entertainment, that’s powerful.

Can you appreciate how much there is to be grateful for?

It might make you think twice before complaining about having to pay $10 for a movie ticket nowadays. After all, the movie you are about to see probably had a budget of millions of dollars. Your investment is very small compared to what it costs to create a multimillion dollar motion picture…JUST FOR YOU!

The “miraculous imbalance” is also a gift to you.

But you probably never thought about it before today.

And here’s where you can begin to attract more of what you want.

Back to our opening questions…

• How do you attract more of what you want?
• What do you do when it feels like nothing is working out for you?

It begins by noticing everything you have already attracted.

The thing is, most people focus on what they got that they don’t want, or on want they want that they haven’t attracted yet.

That’s hardly a practical approach to success.

And if you know anything about the Law of Attraction, you know that’s the wrong place to put your attention.

When you notice and acknowledge what you are being given right now, you morph your energy and your mood into something far more magnetic, compelling and loving.

Noticing the good you are already receiving tunes your being into a “good magnet.” You can start attracting even more good because you’ve awakened to the good you have and are continuing to receive. This opens your eyes to the magnitude of life; the magic and miracles all around you.

So the next time you hear anyone say, “I’m not attracting what I want,” realize they are declaring their blindness and deafness to all they have been given and are still receiving. Your job isn’t to correct them. It’s to smile, look around, acknowledge the gifts, and find a way to give back.

That said, what can you do right now to give more?

Well?

Ao Akua,

joe

* I interviewed Patricia Ryan Madson (as well as Paul Zane Pilzer) for members of Hypnotic Gold. These are member-only interviews that I’ve been doing for more than seven years now, amounting to well over 80 interviews. For more information, and to find out how to become a member of this select group, just click right here.

PS – One more story of gratitude: When I was growing up, Clint Walker was the cowboy television star I admired. I never stopped to consider how his famous TV series, Cheyenne, entertained me weekly, for years, and yet I paid nothing. It was broadcast right into my parent’s home. Free. Today I realize how grateful I am for Clint and his show. (And my TV set.) He later appeared in many movies, such as The Dirty Dozen and Night of the Grizzly. You might imagine my surprise when I learned Clint Walker is still with us, alive at 85, writing his autobiography, working on a second novel, and selling signed photos and more off his website at www.clintwalker.com.  I wrote to Clint, to thank him for all he did to give me a positive role model all those childhood years. I haven’t heard from him yet, and may never. Still, I’m grateful. I’m pretty sure he is grateful for the “miraculous imbalance” in life, too. In the spirit of giving back, here’s Clint Walker from a few years ago sharing life and death stories about listening to your inner voice:

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Before a recent massage session, my massage therapist (Mary Rose Lam) told me how she made a horrible mess that morning.

She accidentally spilled her blueberry smoothie all over her gray carpet.  That left a big green stain. She was frustrated but told the story with a smile. I hadn’t been feeling well and the story made me laugh out loud. It shifted my mood.

“I’m really glad you spilled that smoothie,” I told her.

“Why?” she asked, looking surprised.

“Because you just brought a lot of joy to my morning.”

She laughed, knowing her sharing the story — even though it was a disappointment to her when the event happened — was pure entertainment to both of us when she related it to me after the fact.

I then told her I had somehow caught a bug and became sick earlier in the week. I rarely get ill, but this was alarming enough to cause me to cancel appointments and consider going to the hospital.

She looked concerned until I told her the rest of the story.

“On Wednesday — which would normally have been my time in the studio — I felt the urge to play the guitar. But when I picked it up, I didn’t have any strength for it. I was too weak. I put it down. But then I noticed my Dean Martin songbook. I flipped through it and saw the song called Smile. I put it on my music stand and sang it. To my amazement, it sounded great. I then pulled out my iPhone and recorded myself singing it. I emailed the song to Daniel Barrett, my music producer, and he said we should record it.”

I went on and explained that my new album, The Healing Song, is essentially done. We had just recorded ten songs and felt it was complete. Adding this new song would get it in under the wire, but that’s cutting it close. Yet I suspected and felt that I got sick to slow me down, so I could allow this new song to be noticed, and then added to my album. It would add something mystical and very different to the tracks. I felt the song was being pushed into my awareness by something greater than me.

What was pushing it into my awareness? We’ll look at that in a moment. Meanwhile…

My massage therapist was in awe.

“Every little thing is a miracle to you,” she said. “Even when you’re sick, you are led to a song that is going to transform your new album. You’re just so in the flow.”

She got me thinking.

Her spilling her blueberry smoothie seemed like it was “bad” to her, but the story an hour later made me laugh so hard I almost cried.

And my getting sick earlier in the week seemed “bad” to me, but it led to my discovering a song I am adding to my new album.

Well, what’s really bad then?

I’m sure you can come up with a list of things that most people would agree is bad, but what about these little snags and stumbles in your life?

Is getting sick bad?

Is spilling a smoothie bad?

Perhaps they’re all just miracles.

(Or am I “bad” in suggesting so?)

While you’re thinking, let me continue the story…

That Wednesday when I was ill and led to the song, Guy Monroe’s name kept coming to my mind. He had helped me with his vocal coaching for my album, Strut! His name was occurring to me again as I felt he could help me smooth out my singing for the song, Smile. I’m used to writing and singing songs that “holler and rock.” Smile is slow, relaxed, soft and meaningful. I felt I needed help with it. But I resisted the idea. (I was sick, remember.) It was easy to dismiss calling him.

But then something happened.

Guy sent me a text message.

He never texts me.

But he sent me a text message, just to say he was grateful for me being in his life.

That’s how the universe works. You get the messages internally first. But if you don’t listen, the messages start coming from the outside.

I’ll repeat that:

That’s how the universe works. You get the messages internally first. But if you don’t listen, the messages start coming from the outside.

I finally listened.

I called Guy. I told him about the Smile song. He instantly agreed to see me. We worked on Smile for three hours. And when I went into Daniel Barrett’s studio to record it, Guy met me there for support.

We recorded four versions of the song. The last seemed to be the best, and we left the studio that day feeling it was “in the bag.”

But something kept nagging at me.

Back home, I kept singing the song. I love the words and message and melody. But I don’t usually keep singing the same song over and over and over again. The only other time was with the acoustic version of the Rob Thomas hit song, “Lonely No More.”

Why was this song still haunting me?

When I went back into the studio with Daniel, and we listened to the version we thought was it, we both realized it wasn’t quite right. There was a word or two “off” in the song. Daniel is dedicated and persistent, so he kept trying hi-tech ways to correct that one word. Nothing was working. Neither he or I were going to settle for second best, either. We wanted this to be perfect. After all, three Grammy winners are involved with this album. I didn’t want anything less than the best.

So I did something new for me as a musician, especially at the point where the album was essentially done.

I offered to re-sing that song.

But wait.

Did that mean my sessions with Guy were bad?

Did that mean the previous four takes of the song were bad?

No. If nothing else, the sessions and takes were rehearsals. They prepared me for the best and final take.

Daniel was instantly agreeable to my recording the song one more time. He’s a joy to work with and goes with the flow. He set up the equipment and turned on the mike. I sang Smile.

One take.

When I was done, Daniel looked at me truly moved, totally quiet, with a tear in his eye.

“That was some of the best singing I’ve ever heard from you,” he said.

I’m usually critical of my own music the first time I hear it, but I had to admit, singing Smile that time around felt right even to me.

Now stop and think about this:

It appears that “something” was directing me to this song, and “something” was urging me to continue rehearsing it, even after I thought it was recorded and done. That “something” kept with me until I re-recorded the song and got the take we all agree is stellar.

So here’s my question for you:

What is that “something”?

When you get a “feeling” or a hunch or an inner nudge, where is it coming from?

When you have an intuition, what sent it to you?

Who sent it?

For me, it’s the Divine directing your life. As Dr. Hew Len (coauthor of Zero Limits) has often said, we aren’t in control. Either unconscious programs are or the Divine is.

We have to keep cleaning and clearing as most of what operates us is our programming. We’re run by our beliefs. What we want is to be so clear that all we hear is the Divine whispering direction to us.

I followed the whispered signs and signals and ended up with a masterful version of a famous hit song.

The end result is a song that will send chills up your spine when you hear it on my new album: The Healing Song. (Available in August.)

Back to my massage therapist.

I told her all of this and she again smiled and said, “Joe, every little thing is a miracle for you, isn’t it?”

Hmmmmm.

It’s a miracle for all of us — including you — we simply don’t acknowledge it.

We judge it as “bad” or “out of flow.”

But is it?

So if you get sick, or spill a smoothie, or get a nudge from within to sing a song or call a friend, note they are important signals.

Divine signals.

They are the miracles.

And it’s all good.

Smile.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Lots of stars have recorded the song Smile since it was written in 1954 by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons, which they based on an instrumental in the Charlie Chaplin 1934 movie, Modern Times. Here’s Dean Martin singing it on his TV show in 1974:

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Recently I got to spend an hour and half talking to actor Lou Ferrigno, best known for his bodybuilding career and playing the comic book hero in the classic TV show, The Incredible Hulk.

Lou is 60 years old and looking as fit as ever, if not better than ever. He’s focused, hard working, intense, smart, driven, and dedicated.

We met because of our mutual admiration for actor/body builder Steve Reeves. I have a large collection of Reeves items, from his car to his gym to his trophies to his clothes. I also coauthored The Steve Reeves Cookbook.

Lou idolized Reeves, met him twice, and modeled the famous Reeves classic physique to sculpt his own impressive body.

Lou Ferrigno and Yours Truly

I wish I could share all of the 90 minutes we spent together. He was very open with me, and I want to honor his sharing. We talked about everything from mindset to motivation, from fitness to aging, from our fathers to our careers. Lou was just as interested in me as I was in him. Lou’s life has not been a piece of cake. He’s had many challenges, and he has triumphed over all of them.

“If I hadn’t lost my hearing, I wouldn’t be where I am now. It forced me to maximize my potential. I had to be better than the average person to succeed. That`s why I chose bodybuilding. If I became a world champion, if I could win admiration from my peers, I could do anything.” – Lou Ferrigno

Lou works out five times a week, even while traveling, for an hour. He does twenty minutes of cardio and the rest of the time is spent lifting iron. He eats the same thing every day, which is egg whites for breakfast and salads at night. He tops off his carb intake at 150 grams a day and none after 7 pm. He has a glass of red wine at night. He doesn’t smoke cigars. He’s a family man with a big career. Despite all his successes, he has big dreams and is driven for more.

I gave him my audio set, The Secret to Attracting Money. He pointed at the word “attracting” in the title, smiled, and said, “I’m very interested in this.”

We were talking about thinking positive when Lou stopped me and said, “I’ve never heard it put that way before.”

I was so caught up in the exciting moment of hanging out with a legendary action figure and super star that I had to ask him to clarify.

“What’d I say?” I asked.

Lou answered, “You said when people start thinking negative, they lose all their power.”

Turns out power is a core theme with Lou. He admitted he was the most competitive person on the planet. He also said he went into bodybuilding as a form of self-protection. He built a physical wall, literally, to protect himself.

Cookbook by George Helmer and me

Lou surprised me by asking what books influenced me the most. I didn’t realize just how much he still wanted to learn and grow and expand his success.

I told him about The Book of est and The Magic of Believing. He didn’t know of either but seemed fascinated.

Again, our ninety minutes together covered a lot of ground. I encouraged him to host his own event, turn his books into e-books, record audio versions of his books, and more. He was very open to my ideas, and answered all of my questions as well.

If I had to give you one take away point from Lou, it’d be this: Do something.

Do something.

He is a massive take-action guy. We agreed that ideas are a dime a dozen and talk is cheap. It’s action that separates the men from the boys, and women from the girls, the wannabees from the successes.

Action.

I’m impressed and inspired by Lou.

When we were to part, he hugged me. I was surprised, as I didn’t read him as a hugger, but I sure welcomed the embrace by the incredible Lou Ferrigno.

His site is at www.louferrigno.com

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – I’ll be in LA appearing on CBS television news this Saturday morning, talking about my book, Attract Money Now. Tune in if you’re in the LA area.

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Someone wrote me this curious question–

“I have a question regarding your recent promotion for The Secret to Attracting Money,  I hope this doesn’t offend, it is a genuine question.

“You clearly want to help people out of poverty, so why are you charging $120 for the course? The people who need it most are people who are suffering greatly from having no money and because of this they can never buy the course to help them out of their situation?

“You are already a millionaire and do not need any more money to be financially secure, would it not be a wonderful gift of unconditional love to the universe to offer this course free so that it truly helps those who are suffering and cannot get out of their situation because they don’t have any money. In return the Universe will surely reward you.”

I say it’s a “curious question” because the person asking it doesn’t seem to realize a few facts —

You reveal yourself in what you see

1. I already give away my e-book, Attract Money Now.

Anyone who is broke — which is such a misleading term,  as most people reading my emails or this blog actually have money and don’t appreciate or acknowledge it — but any “broke” person can go read it right now at http://www.attractmoneynow.com

2. Most people don’t respect anything handed to them.

Oh, there are exceptions to every statement, but in general “free” is not respected. You can have my e-book mentioned above absolutely gratis, but did you go get it? I’ve been giving it away for over two years now. Did you read it? Did you use it? (Be honest.)

3. A physical product takes a lot of people to create, all of whom need paid.

If I charge for my audio course, The Secret to Attract Money, it’s because about 300 people are involved in its creation, marketing and distribution. My trying to pay all their fees isn’t wise or sane or easily possible. It’d also be unfair, as it would cause an imbalance in the ebb and flow of the financial world. Money needs to circulate. I’m not the creator of it; I’m just a channel. So are you. I do my part. You are supposed to do yours.

But let’s look a little closer at this.

Limiting beliefs are also invisible beliefs.

That’s right: Limiting beliefs are also invisible beliefs.

You don’t see them or usually even realize you have them.

The person asking the above curious question doesn’t realize he or she is exposing their limiting beliefs about money.

What about you?

Do you think money is evil?

Do you think there’s scarcity in the world?

Do you think poor people should be handed things?

Do you think wealthy people should just give away everything?

Do you think you have enough — or too much — money?

Your answers help reveal your invisible limiting beliefs.

Money is neutral.

What you unconsciously think about money is what is causing you to attract it — or repel it.

If you want to become more aware of all of this, and free yourself to live a life of magic and miracles, and to have enough money to help the people and the causes you care about, then go check out — http://www.SecretToAttractingMoney.com

Ao Akua,

joe

PS — Remember, if you are “broke,” then you can go read my e-book, Attract Money Now, free, over at — http://www.AttractMoneyNow.com

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