Tag: the book The Secret

Back in 1976, Jimmy Carter was running for US President and I was escaping from college at Kent State University.

I read his book, Why Not the Best?, and was fascinated. When Jimmy came to Ohio, I arranged to meet the candidate twice. It never went anywhere – well, it did for him – but I always remembered something I read in his book.

Have you done your best?

Jimmy told the story of applying for a job in the Navy and being interviewed by Admiral Rickover.

The Admiral asked how Jimmy stood in his graduating class at the Naval academy.

“I came 59th in a class of 840!” Jimmy proudly announced.

The Admiral asked in return, “Did you do your best?”

Jimmy paused and reflected — something I’ve always admired about him — and honestly admitted that no, he had not always done his best.

The Admiral replied, “Why not?”

This interaction caused Jimmy Carter to base his entire presidential campaign on doing the best. It also triggered the title of his 1976 book. And of course, he went on to become the 39th President of the United States.

That story made an impression on me back in 1976 and never left me. It’s still with me today.

Whenever I complete a project, I always ask myself, “Have you done your best?”

I won’t allow myself to slide and flippantly answer the question. I make myself really reflect.

Have I really done my best?

Is this all I can do?

Will a little bit more time and effort make it even better?

I often rewrite my books fifty times.

Or more.

I often rewrite these blog posts dozens of times.

Or more.

When I was completing my new songs for my forthcoming album, Reflection, I rewrote each a dozen times.

Or more.

New best album coming in April

And when I got into the studio with my band, I rewrote the songs again.

Why?

I was urging myself to do my best.

I was asking myself, “Have you done your best?”

When you look at the question from a sincere perspective, and don’t allow yourself any wiggle room in squirming out of an honest answer, you can usually see that you have not done your best.

At that point it’s up to you to make a decision and make it your best.

One of the reasons I have been so successful in so many fields is this stance of disciplining myself to do my best.

Even when I work out, following the advice of Bill Phillips and Scott York in my gym, I am always checking in with myself.

Doing my best

I simply ask myself what Jimmy Carter was asked: “Is it your best?”

If it isn’t, I work some more.

When I decided to be a writer in the 1960s, I would walk to the public library (two miles each way) and spend the entire day there studying books on writing. I remember pushing myself to learn the craft.

I would sit at a desk and follow the exercises in the books I was reading. I didn’t know about The Carter Question at the time. I was simply following my passion.

But ever since 1976, I’ve turned on the after burners and really question everything I write or create.

Is it my best?

Can I do better?

And now that I’ve taken up the saxophone, I’m doing the same thing.

I read the books, listen to the great players, study lessons online and with a personal tutor, and I always, always, always ask myself the Jimmy Carter question —

“Have I done my best?”

Again, being ruthlessly honest is the ticket to escape self-deception and self-sabotage.

Of course, you have to let go at some point and share your work with the world. But most of us are lazy and release mediocre work.

With such overwhelming competition in today’s world — there are 1,000 books published and 3,000 albums released weekly — it behooves you to do your best and only your best.

Good enough won’t cut it.

What about you?

Did you do your best?

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Late last year I noticed that Jimmy Carter was still working with Habitat for Humanity to raise funds and build homes. I instantly jumped on board to support Carter and his cause. I won first place in the fund raising contest and did well enough to receive an autographed photo of Jimmy and his wife, and won a free trip to New York City (which I passed to the second place winner). You can see the fund raising page I put up and promoted at http://helpbuild.habitat.org/site/TR/CWP/General?px=1936753&pg=personal&fr_id=1280

Member 2003 - 2015

According to Mitch Horowitz, in his new book, One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life, the phrase “Law of Attraction” was first used in 1855 by a trance medium named Andrew Jackson Davis.

A trance medium?

That was news to me.

I have an entire library of vintage New Thought, metaphysical, and spiritual books, yet never heard of Davis.

Apparently Davis went into trances and dictated metaphysical messages. His medium side channeled a large body of work, including a six-volume set of spiritual laws called, The Great Harmonia.

In volume four, Davis used the term “Law of Attraction.” But Davis meant the law to refer to the kinds of spirits you attracted to yourself after you died and went to the other side. His term had nothing to do with the cause-and-effect law we think of today.

It was in 1892 that the law as we know it began to take shape.

Prentice Mulford, an early New Thought author, mentioned it in his famous book, Your Forces, And How to Use Them.

In 1897, Ralph Waldo Trine used the term in his classic book, In Tune with the Infinite.

And Helen Wilmans used the term in her 1899 book, Conquest of Poverty.

But the biggest push in getting “Law of Attraction” into mainstream thinking came in 1902, when William Walker Atkinson devoted an entire chapter to the subject in his book, The Law of the New Thought.

As you can see, the term has been around a long time.

Of course, the core LOA (Law of Attraction) concept of “your thoughts create reality” goes all the way back to Buddha, Jesus, and ancient cultures.

Only the phrase “Law of Attraction” is relatively new – at least from 1855, if Mitch Horowitz’s research is accurate (and I believe it is.)

Reveals History of LOA

All of this reading and research caused me to go back and re-read some of my favorite LOA authors, to be reminded of their stories and secrets.

One of them is Brown Landone, a prolific author who lived almost 100 years and wrote such gems as The Success Process and How to Turn Your Desires and Ideals into Realities.

In my 1927 copy of The Success Process, Landone uses chapter three to explain “The ‘Doing Process’ Which Always Succeeds.”

I smiled to see how much focus he put on taking action, one of the most overlooked steps in many modern Law of Attraction groupies.

But Landone spelled out that the kind of action you need to take is what he called “idealized doing.”

For him, you began with “vivid imagining.”

That meant using all your senses to experience the end result of what you wanted to attract.

But the next step was to envision the process of getting there.

While you may not know all the steps needed to attract or achieve a specific intention, the more you could use your senses to see the ideal action to take, the easier it would be to guarantee success.

Landone wrote –

“Your ideal of the end you desire to attain is the ‘star’ to which you should hitch your wagon of attainment. But, very much depends upon the way in which you do the hitching. Idealized doing always succeed.”

I love the fact that Law of Attraction has gone mainstream, thanks to movies and books like The Secret, and my own books such as The Attractor Factor, but I’m often dismayed that people have a superficial understanding of it.

For example, too many LOA practicioners think all they have to do is sit and visualize and what they want will “just appear.”

Well, it might just appear.

The car might appear in your driveway.

The love of your life might ring your doorbell.

But more often than not, you have to help the process along with inspired action.

Go to a car dealership.

Visit a matching service.

Do something.

Another example of an LOA fallacy is believing you get what you consciously think.

In reality, you attract what you unconsciously believe.

In other words, you can consciously believe, visualize and affirm all you want, but if you unconsciously believe something different, you won’t get your intention.

I’ve said it many times —

An unconscious counter-intention will always veto a conscious intention.

You can affirm “Money is coming to me” all day but if you unconsciously believe “Money is bad,” then you will not attract more money, or if you do, you will get rid of it fast.

Your unconscious is far more powerful than your conscious. You have to work with it to clearly and quickly manifest the results you prefer.

These points are just minor examples of the depth behind the Law of Attraction that most people aren’t at all aware of yet.

What can you do to understand LOA and use it correctly?

In my opinion, nothing is more powerful than having your own Miracles Coach.

Meanwhile, if you’ve tried to harness the Law of Attraction’s power in your own life to attract money (or anything else) and feel you’ve “failed,” then you need to see this all-new video from me http://428155.vitalesecrets.com?subid=missinglink

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — Some say the brief video you’ll see at this link is the most eye-opening they’ve EVER seen. Others say they just love the vest I’m wearing. http://428155.vitalesecrets.com?subid=missinglink What do you think?

Member BBB 2003 - 2015

The secret to making 2014 better than any previous year is easy: do something different.

Don’t do just anything different, of course.

Be smart about your conscious change.

Here are three steps to help you make 2014 awesome:

With singer Sarah Marie on my 60th birthday

1. Declare a Specific New Intention.

Intentions engage your body-mind-spirit and also alert the Universe to your desire. State a new intention, or a revised old one; one that inspires and delights you, but one that is also doable in baby steps. In other words, “I intend to earn a million dollars in 2014” might be too big a jump. It might engage limiting beliefs. But a goal such as, “I intend to attract 5% more income each month” may be more believable and doable to you. The idea is for the intention to be within reach while still a stretch; something you can get to with daily steps. I also think your intention should be inspired, meaning it feels like a directive from the Divine and not an indulgence of your ego. Again, your past intentions/goals/resolutions may have been too big, or not connected to your core passion. Reassess and restate. Today’s the day.

Don't ask. The flying dolphin has to mean something.

2. Take Daily Baby Step Actions.

The Law of Attraction requires action. Do daily steps toward the intention. Often people set such big goals that they don’t know where to start, so they get overwhelmed and don’t do anything. It’s far wiser to break down the intent into little things you can do every day. You may not be able to make 100 cold calls all at once, but you can make 2 or 3 a day. You may not be able to release excess weight in one week, but you can do something daily to move in that direction, such as walking, drinking more water, etc. You may not be able to write a book in a day or a week, but you can write a little every day, and in time you will see a book. The point is by doing something every day, you will move to your goal. This is a simple thing you can implement today. I mean, right now.

With my love, Nerissa

3. Get Support.

Get allies. You’ll have far greater success in 2014 if you surround yourself with people who believe in you, and cut ties with the critics and naysayers who don’t. Having your own Miracles Coach is the number one thing you can do to make the new year a true stand-out for you. The right coach can keep you accountable, motivated, inspired and informed. One of the reasons for my successes in so many areas, including most recently in music, is having a support team. I always have a coach to help me “get clear” of any limiting beliefs within myself. The more I clear out the internal blocks, the faster I tend to achieve and attract my goals. This is the secret to greatness: get a coach.

Obviously, there are lots of things we could talk about to help make 2014 a record breaker for you, but the above three steps are the keys to change.

Sooooo….

Celebrating my 60th as king

Let’s review —

1. Declare a specific new goal. What’s yours? Think believable but BIG.

2. Take daily actions. What will you do each day? Baby steps lead to adult results.

3. Get support. Who will be your allies and coach? Enroll in Miracles Coaching.

Attracting beautiful women: (Top) Zion, Suzanne, Lori (Bottom) Nerissa and Robin

You can do it!

I believe in you!

Happy New Year!

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – And be looking for this head spinning new book, the long awaited sequel to Zero Limits, coming out in just a few days…

Coming January 7th!

Recently, when the Mega Millions lotto was up to a staggering hundreds of millions of dollars, I sent this email to a handful of friends –

“The lottery is at over half a billion dollars. If you won it, what would you do differently?”

Two of my friends took the question for what it was: a prosperity exercise designed to reveal your true desires.

With Daniel Barrett

Daniel Barrett, my music producer and my coauthor of the forthcoming book, The Remembering Process, listed well over a dozen ways he would spend, give, or invest the money.

It was pretty impressive, and got me thinking about my own list.

With Lori Anderson

Lori Anderson, another dear friend who supports me in all my endeavors, author of the new book, Divorce with Grace, listed her number one desire: to have her own television talk show.

She, also, got me thinking.

Their serious answers made me reflect on how I would act if I won the Mega Millions lotto, too.

What would I do differently?

Or what else would I do, with hundreds of millions of dollars to spare?

So I made my own list, which was eye-opening. (Apparently there are more music albums and more books in me.)

What about you?

Making a list of what you would do with that much money can be revealing, but it’s only the first step.

Note: Many people claim to have a system to help you win the lottery. Here’s one I have heard of (but not tried): http://outrageous.hooke1.hop.clickbank.net

The second part of the exercise is to ask yourself what you can do right now, even if baby steps, to move toward creating your desires.

It’s not about the lotto. Virtually everyone dreams of winning it, but almost none are prepared for it. You have to grow into handling that much more money. For many, it is too much, too soon.

But you can use the prosperity exercise of pretending you won to –

• Reveal your true calling, life mission, or heart’s desire.
• Reveal what actions you can take right now, in whatever small way you can, without more money.

Again, most people need to grow into having more money.

I’ve landed some pretty big publishing, speaking, and consulting deals. But had that money come when I was homeless or in poverty, or still struggling on a limited income, I would not have been able to handle the wealth.

I had to dissolve inner limiting beliefs about money, success, self-worth, and more to allow more money to come into my life.

This is why so many lotto winners lose their money. They aren’t ready for it.

Again, I invite you to use the fantasy of the lotto win to reveal your true desires, and then to nudge you to look in the mirror and ask what you can do right now to make your dreams come true.

And don’t deceive yourself into thinking you would just blow the money on cars and furs and travel and such. You can play with the kid’s view of money — “I’d buy a house full of candy!” – but you want to go deeper.

After you buy the new cars and the big houses and the world cruises and all the toys, wine and cheese that you want; and after you pay off all your debt and give money to family and friends and causes you believe in; what would you then do?

This is what “The Lottery Secret” is all about.

Face it —

You don’t need more money.

You need clarity and action.

Clarity.

Action.

That’s it!

With those, the money (or whatever may actually help you achieve your desire) will show up.

But you have to start the ball moving with clarity and action.

And you can begin right now by playing “The Lottery Secret” prosperity game.

So here’s the question again…

“The lottery is at over half a billion dollars. If you won it, what would you do differently?”

Well?

Ao Akua

joe

PS – If you need help exploring money as a spiritual self-help tool, and clearing yourself of limiting beliefs so you can accept more good in your life, consider The Secret to Attracting Money complete bestselling audio program.

PSS – Again, a system that claims to help you win the lottery (which I have not tested) is here: http://outrageous.hooke1.hop.clickbank.net

Member BBB 2003 - 2015

Recently I spent the weekend listening to The Zero Point, my newest audio program from Nightingale-Conant.

It might seem odd to hear that I listened to my own program, but you have to remember that I more or less “channel” my new programs.

I don’t use a script or read from a book.

Inspiration directs me and I just follow the lead.

Brand new!

The result amazes me, and makes me want to listen to my own audios to hear what I said. 🙂

For example, The Zero Point reveals — for the first time anywhere –The Law of Zero.

It also explains how to send requests to the Divine but also, more importantly, how to receive inspiration.

And there are great processes, like meeting Morrnah — the founder of modern ho’oponopono (as described in my books Zero Limits and At Zero: The Final Secret to Zero Limits) — and having her speak to you directly.

I also reveal the three levels of mind.

Three.

The guidebook that comes with this new program contains new clearing tools, images to use, and more.

Complete audio program!

Plus there are relaxation exercises, original healing music by Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon and myself, even two songs written and performed by me (off my Strut! album).

The Zero Point represents my latest, most advanced, most current, and most profound spiritual work ever.

It goes beyond the Law of Attraction, the Law of Creation, the Law of Right Acton, and even goes beyond ho’oponopono.

It’s designed to lead you to an awakening.

I loved hearing the program, and think you will, too.

Please check it out right here.

Ao Akua

Joe

PS — Here’s a brief overview of The Zero Point: