Tag: the movie The Secret
Stretch Yourself
I’m in the recording studio with Grammy nominated legend Ruthie Foster and award-winning singer and producer Daniel Barrett. We have joined forces to create an album together.
I’m flattered beyond belief that these two superstars want me on an album. After all, I’m relatively new to being a musician. And I’ve been a long time fan of both of them. To be in the studio with them is mind boggling.
I was so excited to record with them that I showed up for our first session thirty days early. (!)
But what’s really interesting is how we are all stretching ourselves.
For example —
Daniel Barrett, Ruthie Foster, and me
Ruthie is famous for her singing but not her lead guitar.
On our album, she is playing lead electric guitar.
Daniel does everything, from engineering to singing and more, but he doesn’t play the drums. Or at least didn’t.
On this album, he does.
I’m a newbie to music and don’t have all that much experience doing anything (even though I’ve released eight albums in over three years). I certainly am brand new and uncomfortable on the saxophone.
On this album, I am playing a baritone saxophone.
What’s going on here?
Ruthie Foster stretching
Each of us is stretching out of our comfort zones.
Why?
How?
When you stretch your comfort zone, you reach a new level of comfort and confidence.
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” – Robert Browning
When Daniel, Ruthie and I go into the studio, we talk, share, joke, and play. Out of our openness, we come up with songs. Out of our willingness to take risks, and exceed our comfort zones by pursing our desires, we create new possibilities.
The result is magic.
And some pretty cool music.
This is an important lesson for each of us.
You have “comfort zone limits,” too.
When you find them and nudge them a bit, you extend your power and attract new results.
We aren’t doing daredevil stuff in the studio.
When you look in the mirror, what do you hear?
We are taking what we haven’t done before but want to do, and focusing on making something happen by doing it.
We are simply following our inspiration and taking action to create something new.
Yes, there is often fear involved, but we feel the fear and do it, anyway.
We turn the fear into fuel.
Here’s an example —
One day, while Ruthie was playing lead electric guitar (and truly wowing me at it), I received an idea for a song.
I jotted it down.
As she kept playing, I started singing the song in my head.
The lyrics and her melody seemed to work together.
When she was done playing, I did something daring.
I said, “I want to sing!”
This was a huge move on my part.
Singing at all, any time, any place, has been a challenge for me.
I’m new at it.
I’ve been insecure about it.
And to sing for Ruthie Foster — one of the best singers I’ve ever heard in my entire life — was a courageous even outrageous thing to suggest.
Even though Ruthie had mentioned just the day before, “I like your singing, Joe. You can sing with me if you want,” I didn’t feel ready to leave my comfy mindset and step into her arena.
But.
But I wanted to push out of my comfort zone.
My heart was racing but I knew I had to do this.
Daniel and Ruthie are loving and supportive, and urged me on.
After all, each of us was doing something new.
We were all stretching.
So I took a deep breath, got in front of the mike, and belted out my tune.
After I sang, Daniel said, “That was some of the best singing I’ve ever heard out of you.”
Really?
Adding Bari Sax
I looked over at Ruthie and she was beaming a sunny smile and nodding her head in agreement.
It was amazing.
Daniel’s drumming, Ruthie’s lead guitar, my vocals — it was a stretch for each of us but it all came together into a powerful new song that will be on our forthcoming first album.
And that song will probably be titled, “Stretch Yourself!”
All I’m reminding you here is do what you fear.
If you have a dream but feel nervous about it, that’s good.
It means you care.
The next step is to get up and do something about it.
Your comfort zones are invisible lines in your mind.
You can melt them with a little stepping forth.
I’m packing up my baritone saxophone and heading back to the studio right now.
It’s time for Saxman Joe to do his thing.
What are you going to do today to stretch yourself?
Ao Akua,
Saxman Joe
PS — Ruthie Foster told me she got an “Aha!” from listening to my song, ‘Reflection,’ off my latest singer-songwriter album of the same name. You can hear samples of all the tracks on that album and grab the CD (which comes with a collectible, limited edition booklet, and with a surprise gift) over at http://www.ReflectionCD.com
BONUS: If you’ve never heard Ruthie Foster sing, watch this…
Member BBB 2003 - 2015
What Works?
“None of your books work!”
“None?”
“None!”
“I’ve written over 50 books. You’re saying not a one of them works?”
“Not for me.”
“Decades ago I attended a seminar that was supposed to be a turning point in my life. I thought it was a waste of time. After it, I met with a friend who pointed out that the seminar was designed to get results, and that it was getting results for others, so maybe it wasn’t the seminar, it was me.”
“Are you blaming me for your books not working?”
“I”m suggesting that you may have some issues about what I teach, and those issues will see to it that the books don’t work.”
“So you’re saying if I believed they would work, they would work?”
Expanding my beliefs, I'm now Saxman Joe
“Kinda.”
“So you’re putting all the work on me?”
“Well, I wrote the books, but I can’t do the work for you.”
“You’re like all the other authors!”
“If they are offering you methods that work, and they work for others, but you insist that they don’t work, then it seems logical that the issue is with you, not the books.”
“But others agree with me and say your books don’t work!”
Miracles Manual Vol 1 and Vol 2 now available for free
“Of course. I’m sure there are people who believe like you, and you are of course attracting them to you because of your shared belief, but there are many times more people who believe the books do work, and they are attracting evidence to support their beliefs. Both camps are proving the Law of Attraction.”
“Screw books! I’ll wait for the movie.”
“You mean like The Secret?”
“Saw it. Didn’t work, either.”
“Have you ever thought that the common element in all of your complaints is you?”
“So?! I don’t want to change!”
“Ah. There’s the core of it!”
“Huh?”
“You don’t want to change, so of course nothing will work for you. You’ll see to it that it doesn’t.”
“That’s nonsense!”
Best book on Law of Attraction (The book that got me invited into the movie The Secret)
“In truth, you don’t fear change, you fear the unknown. If you knew change would be good for you, you’d welcome it.”
“But I’m tired of people saying I can have it all. I can’t!”
“You just affirmed your own limitation.”
“What?”
“You said you are tired of people saying you can have it all and that you can’t have it all. That’s the belief that is creating the reality of nothing working for you. It’s actually all working — to give you exactly what you believe.”
“My head hurts.”
“You are just wrestling with a new view of life that doesn’t yet fit your current view.”
“So what do I do?”
“Read one of my books but this time apply it as you think ‘Maybe this stuff will work for me after all’.”
“It’s that easy?”
“Simple is probably more accurate a word.”
“What should I read?”
“I have numerous free books. Maybe Attract Money Now or pick up either Volume One or Volume Two of The Miracles Manual or if you want a quick read, look at The Abundance Manifesto.”
“Those are all free?”
“Yes. But I have numerous books you can buy at Amazon, too.”
“Free is good.”
“I thought so.”
Ao Akua,
PS — The fastest way to create change is with the right help. Consider Miracles Coaching.
PPS – Volume 1 and now Volume 2 of The Miracles Manual: The Secret Coaching Sessions are still free for you at http://www.MiraclesManual.com but if you prefer the Kindle version to read on your iPad or Kindle or other device, it’s now available for you (for only .99) at —
US
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KGY70L2
UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KGY70L2
CANADA
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00KGY70L2
SPAIN
http://www.amazon.es/dp/B00KGY70L2
FRANCE
http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00KGY70L2
ITALY
http://www.amazon.it/dp/B00KGY70L2
GERMANY
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00KGY70L2
JAPAN
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00KGY70L2
AUSTRALIA
http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00KGY70L2
You can also get a printed paperback version of either volume (for about $10 each) at http://www.amazon.com/The-Miracles-Manual-Coaching-Sessions/dp/1496148584/
Member BBB 2003 - 2015
Afflatus
Recently I posted this on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/drjoevitale :
“Inspiration gives you a desire. Decision makes it an intention. Action makes it real.”
That statement helps clarify what it takes to attract what you want. But let’s explore it deeper than a Facebook text-bite so you understand the power of it.
First, an idea is what you get a feeling to do.
An idea is an internal nudge to create something.
It’s different for each person as each of us has a different life mission. My inspiration might be to write another book, or compose a new song. Yours might be to run for political office, open a bakery, or raise happy kids.
An inspiration is either from what I call the Divine, or it’s from your ego.
Nobody outside of you knows for sure what is right for you. It’s your life and up to you to discern the difference. With a little reflection, though, you can tell where the idea is coming from. Nothing wrong with an ego desire, but it’s nobler to come from a higher purpose.
Your Questions Answered
Recently a listener of my latest audio program, The Zero Point, contacted me and told me about the word “Afflatus.” He thought it might be a better word for the kind of inspiration I refer to these days. He was right.
According to Wikipedia, “afflatus” is a Latin term used by Cicero. It means more than “inspiration,” and in fact translates as —
“…the staggering and stunning blow of a new idea, an idea that the recipient may be unable to explain.”
I love the word afflatus so much that I dedicated my latest album, Reflection, to it.
Again, you can receive an idea based on Memory (previous data in your mind), an Inspiration (combining previous ideas into something new), or from afflatus (a completely new idea that stuns you).
The idea should move you to want to take action.
As I also wrote on my Facebook page –
“If you don’t have some self doubts and fears when you pursue a dream, then you haven’t dreamed big enough.”
And that leads to…
Available for Pre-Order
Next, your decision is what gives the idea power to become a reality.
You have free will, so you can ignore the idea, or you can decide to bring it into reality.
I learned decades ago that if I ignore my inspired calling, my life is bumpy. When I decide to follow my inspiration, life is smooth. I prefer the latter.
Again, it’s your choice. When you decide to follow your inspiration, it now becomes an intention. Intentions rule the earth. It’s just wiser to pursue a higher intention than a lower one.
What’s the difference?
- An ego based intention is only about you.
- A Divine based intention is about you and others.
Decades ago I spoke on the same stage as Jose Silva, the founder of Silva Mind Control. Jose said a goal should influence you and at least three other people.
I love that guideline. It gets you out of your own individual experience of life and moves you into a deeper awareness of others.
It also makes taking action easier.
When you know that your actions are going to touch at least three other people, then you are more motivated to decide to do something.
So step two is to decide.
And that leads to…
Finally, action brings the idea, now an intention, onto the earth plane.
Nothing happens until something moves.
You are a co-creator with life. Life itself wants you to do something. When you do it, you trigger it becoming real.
If I want to write a book, I have to sit down and write.
If I want to play the saxophone, I have to sit down and practice.
If you are going to open a bakery, you need to fill out the forms and do the work.
Meet Saxman Joe
This is where a lot of Law of Attraction students fall short. They think if they just affirm it, it will appear.
Well, it might.
But more often than not, you have to do something to work with reality. It’s no accident that the word ‘action’ is in the word ‘attraction.’
Let me give you one final example of how this process works:
Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon and myself are in the studio recording the third album in our trilogy of “zero” music, following the success of At Zero and Aligning to Zero, this one to be called 432 to Zero.
As is our custom, we don’t plan or strategy. We “make space” for inspiration to guide us, and we are ready to take action on a moment’s notice. We are in the studio, prepared and ready.
What do you hear?
One day neither of us felt compelled or inspired.
We sat in the studio and looked at each other. We’ve done this enough to know that sometimes you have to wait, and sometimes nothing will come. We’ve learned to trust the process and be patient.
Suddenly I felt afflatus strike.
I looked at Mathew and shared my idea.
“What if I played two harmonicas?” I asked.
“But we don’t have a bass line or a foundation track for you to play against. You’d be playing to yourself.”
“I know,” I said. “But I feel like trying it. If it doesn’t work, we can just delete the audio file.”
“Why two harmonicas?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I somehow feel if I just improvised harmonica in what’s called the second position, and then improvised playing in the first position, I’d be in the same key but the two harmonicas would sound different.”
I have no idea where that idea came from.
But since it arrived as a gift, the next step was to decide to act on it, and the third was to take action.
Mathew agreed to try it.
I pulled out two harps, and started to play.
I simply allowed myself to be guided by whatever feeling was welling up and directing me.
I didn’t think about it. I trusted that the process would be whatever it was, and that was good enough.
When I was done playing, Mathew was beaming.
“That was incredible!” he said. “We may have just created a whole new genre of music!”
To hear how it came out go here:
http://youtu.be/uGKQpa48z_o
That’s how this process works.
The formula is simple.
Inspiration gives you a desire. Decision makes it an intention. Action makes it real.
That said, what are you going to do next?
Ao Akua,
joe
PS – My Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/drjoevitale
Member BBB 2003 - 2015
My Illuminati Confession
Ever since my book, Attract Money Now, came out a few years ago, people sometimes write and ask if I am a member of the Illuminati.
The first time it happened confused me.
“Why do you think I am a member of the Illuminati?” I asked.
“Because of your belt buckle,” was the reply.
My belt buckle? Seriously?
I’m flattered that people were looking at my waistline but it also confused me.
I looked at the cover of my book and sure enough, I’m wearing a belt buckle with a symbol of a pyramid and eye.
Note the belt buckle
The thing is, the cool looking buckle was given to me about ten years ago by a fan who wanted to congratulate me on my weight loss.
There was and is no more meaning to it.
It’s a belt buckle.
I let it go and didn’t think much more about it until…
The other day I was checking email and watching reruns of Modern Family on television when I noticed yet another person asking — this time on this blog — if I was a member of the Illuminati.
That’s when I decided to tell the truth.
“I don’t even know what the Illuminati is,” I confessed.
Since I didn’t want to look completely uninformed, and since it appears that people were talking about me being a member on some discussion forums, I asked one of my assistants to explain the Illuminati to me.
Here’s what she said:
Illuminati is about mind control and aiming towards the New World Order in order to achieve world domination. The Illuminati wishes to enslave the whole world in a satanic plot for a one world government. Illuminati feels that it is their karmic duty to "Reveal and Conceal" -- meaning they use overt symbols in your face without revealing what the symbols are in order to hide their agendas while subliminally programming people's minds. The "all seeing eye" you have on cover of The Secret to Attracting Money audio course and the pyramid on your Attract Money Now belt buckle are part of the symbols they commonly use. Here's example: Katy Perry's music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KSOMA3QBU0 and then here's the conspiracy theory behind the video's meaning: http://www.prisonplanet.com/katy-perrys-dark-horse-one-big-children-friendly-tribute-to-the-illuminati.html
According to this type of paranoid thinking, virtually every celebrity or politician you name could be a member of the Illuminati.
One list includes —
- Jay Z
- Cypress Hill
- Chris Brown
- Celine Dion
- Halley Berry
- Eminem
- Rick Ross
- TB Joshua
- Charlie Boy
- Tonto Dikeh
- Davido
- Wizkid
- P-Square Twins
- Britney Spears
- Aaliyah
- Nicki Minaj
- Beyonce Knowles
- Alicia Keys
- David Bowie
- Madonna
- Paris Hilton
- Barack Obama
- Aretha Franklin
- Bob Marley
- Angelina Jolie
- Jim Carey
- Bob Dylan
- David Bowie
- Justin Bieber
- Kanye west
- Marilyn Manson
- Lady gaga
- Lil Wayne
- Rihanna
- P-Diddy
- Wiz Khalifa
- T-pain
- Rihanna
- Kim Kardashian
Jim Carey?
Really?
Bob Dylan?
Seriously?
And me? Joe Vitale?
Really?
I have no interest in government (just ask my wife) and certainly not in world domination.
I can barely handle a house of cats.
Have any of these speculators actually read my books?
Rather than just looking at my belt buckle, they might actually open the book and discover what I really think.
People who believe in conspiracy theories and world domination scenarios are coming from victimhood.
They feel powerless in their life.
They want an explanation for their struggle.
Rather than take full responsibility, and move into the Empowerment stage of awakening (which is what I write about in such books as The Awakening Course and At Zero) they want to blame others.
Super stars are easy targets.
The wealthy are easy, too.
After all, they must have “something” that you and I don’t have in order to be so mega-successful.
They must all belong to some secret organization which helps all members succeed and leaves the rest of us to struggle.
Right?
Wrong.
If such an organization exists, I’ve certainly never been invited to join it.
Sometimes I think people who complain and conspire have too much time on their hands.
“People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Rather than spending time expressing their life mission and following their passion, they use their hours to create conspiracy theories and projected scenarios that have nothing to do with reality.
Like me and my belt buckle.
But let’s see if we can learn something here.
I did a little research of my own about the pyramid and eye on my belt buckle — the same symbol, by the way, that is on the US dollar bill.
Here’s what I learned:
That famous symbol on the US dollar bill is called The Eye of Providence. It’s sometimes interpreted as the eye of God watching over all of us.
God watching over us?
That doesn’t sound bad at all.
According to the most relied on unreliable source, Wikepedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_Providence, the symbol is…
“The Eye of Providence is mistaken for the Illuminati symbol. The original Illuminati symbol is actually the Owl of Minerva”
Owl of Minerva?
No, I don’t know what that is, either.
And I’m not a member of some Owl of Minerva club.
But isn’t it curious that people looking at my belt buckle and assuming it’s a clue to me being in the Illuminati, don’t even know what the actual symbol of the Illuminati is?
I’m flattered that some people think I’m so rich and powerful that I might one day help run a world domineering government.
But when I look over the above list of alleged Illuminati members, I have to confess that I’ve never even met one of them, let alone worked in secret (or even in public) with any of them.
The truth is, I’m a regular guy who has worked hard and done well writing books for a living, was lucky enough to be invited to be in the hit movie “The Secret,” watches reruns of Modern Family on TV with his spouse, writes and records self-help healing music, smokes cigars to commune with the Divine, and is learning to play the saxophone.
Of course, some people think the saxophone is The Devil’s Horn.
They probably think the sax is a clue to something.
Well, I can’t please everyone.
And neither can you.
Please focus on expressing your life mission, no matter if people condemn, understand, complain or applaud.
It’s what you’re here to do.
Ao Akua,
PS — I wrote a song on my new album explaining how life is a reflection of what is in you. The song is called “Reflection.” The album is called Reflection. (Seemed like a no brainer.) It’s relevant to this blog post, as what people project about others is usually what they actually feel about themselves. Think about it…
What do you hear?
