Tag: Books

Decades ago — way back in the mid 1980s — I interviewed Stuart Wilde, metaphysical rogue and author of numerous New Age self-help books, such as The Trick to Money Is Having Some, Infinite Self, and The Quickening.

One of Stuart Wilde's books

I was struggling back then, but wrote freelance articles and book reviews for the health, yoga, and New Age magazines of the time. I was paid fifty dollars per review. I got the books for free. (That was the real perk.) It was fairly easy for me to get to interview the gurus, as they wanted the publicity. It was good for me, as I wanted to pick their brains. After all, I needed the help.

Stuart was a sleepy delight. We had breakfast — he had a three minute boiled egg and coffee; I had nothing, as I was broke — and I asked what was on my mind. I wasn’t a very good interviewer back then, but nobody complained. They were glad to speak to a so-called would-be reporter.

Stuart was kind and generous. At one point he looked at me with this soft gaze, and I could swear I could hear him thinking, “I love you, I love you, I love you…” He later invited me to his seminar in Houston, which was a turning point in my life. (I wrote about it in my 2003 book, Adventures Within.)

My (now dated) spiritual autobiography

One thing I remember asking Stuart was about how to know when you are in the flow, and what to do when things were not working out and you needed to change direction. (I have our interview on cassette tape somewhere and could check my question and his answer, but let’s go with this flow for now.)

I recall Stuart saying, “Sometimes it looks like you have hit a wall and nothing is happening, but the truth is, you’re right where you are supposed to be. It’s like climbing a mountain and you’re staring at the very rock you are climbing. You can’t see anything else. Looks like you are facing a block, but you are actually making progress as you climb the rock.”

His words comforted me over the years whenever I felt like things were not going well. I’d remind myself that good things were happening, that I was actually making progress, and I just needed to have faith that it would all show itself to me in due time.

Of course, from where I comfortably sit today, Stuart was right.

This lesson became apparent the other day.

I was driving my 2012 Fisker Karma EcoSport — the all electric luxury car I mentioned on this blog a post or so ago — when the slim panel along the left windshield inside the car came loose and hung there. I tried pushing it back into place. It wouldn’t snap. I started mumbling to myself how a $100,000 car shouldn’t have anything hanging in it. I decided I would get it fixed one day soon, and let it go.

For whatever reason, I woke up the next day and decided to call the car dealership. I was reluctant as it meant a drive to San Antonio, an hour away. That would mean giving up my entire afternoon. That wasn’t my plan for the day. But something in me said to call. So I did. They told me to bring the car in.

I drove to San Antonio in threatening rain, the Fisker service people took me quickly, fixed the problem quickly, washed the car, and put me back in it. Within thirty minutes I was on the road, headed home.

I felt wonderful about the whole experience. Even the sun came out, which made my washed brand new car look even more beautiful.

And then the phone rang.

I took the call over the car’s phone system, a first for me. Turns out it was Fisker headquarters. They had seen my previous blog post where I mentioned the car and how I get so many people staring at it, and they wanted to send out a press release quoting me. They wanted my permission.

Now stop and think about this.

Had that call come earlier that morning, or the day before, I might not have been so eager to say nice things. After all, my Fisker Karma had just dropped a piece of the car in my lap. I wasn’t happy.

But, I had listened to some inner nudge — where did that come from? — and took the car in, got it fixed, and was now a happy camper.

So when Fisker HQ’s called, I was all smiles and all compliments.

I told them, yes, of course, they could quote me.

That would be good for them, and also good for me.

Win-win.

THAT is being in the flow.

When I told the story to my wife, Nerissa, she said what she always says, “That happens to you all the time. You’re in the flow.”

While I appreciate the compliment, I wondered why everyone isn’t always in the flow.

And that’s when I remembered Stuart Wilde’s answer.

You are in the flow right now.

You may not agree to that assessment because you want your reality to be different than what it is.

You think you’re out of flow because you aren’t grateful for this moment.

You want something else.

The point to really get is this: you are in the flow right now.

Appreciate it, see its potential value, and you’ll awaken to how your life is unfolding.

Here’s another way to look at it:

Hypnotic Book On "est"

Werner Erhard (founder of est) used to say, “If you knew what God wanted you to do, you’d do it and be happy. Well, what you are doing right now is what God wants you to do.”

Think about it.

While you do, here are a few steps to get into the flow when you think you’re out of it:

1. Realize you are in the flow right now. You might be facing the rocky side of the mountain, and scrambling up it as you sweat and hold on for dear life, but you are exactly where you need to be in order to get to the top. Assume you’re right where you need to be for now.
2. Look for the gratitude nugget. Look for the lesson, or the reason you’re here in this moment. A year or more from now, you will look at this moment and clearly see how it led to something better. Look for that “something better” insight right now. Have faith it’s there.
3. Do the next thing. Action is how you move things along. When you get that inner nudge to make the call (like I did to the Fisker dealership), or write that email, or whatever it is for you, do it. Trust it’s the right next step in your flow.

You might look at your life right now and use the above three points as a helpful way to reveal what’s happening.

Life is a process, not a final moment where it’s all over and nothing ever changes again.

You may be — surprise, surprise — in the flow right now.

Could it be true?

Ao Akua,

joe

PS — Some car talk: I’m well aware that Fisker has had some challenges, such as a new car of theirs breaking down as Consumer Reports tried to review it. I also know Top Gear called Fisker the luxury car of 2011. I’m aware the Chevy Volt, which Nerissa drives, has had so much bad press — not deserving at all IMHO — that Chevy temporarily closed down their Volt production facilities and laid off over 1,000 people. Still, Nerissa drives her Chevy Volt and loves it. I drive my Fisker Karma and am learning to love it. None of this is to say you or I, or Fisker, or Chevy, is out of the flow of life. Fisker will repair any snags. Chevy will reopen production. Again, life is a process, not a final moment where it’s all over and nothing ever changes again. I’m delighted some car manufacturers are looking to eco-friendly design, and I’m proud to be on the early adapter bandwagon. But I’ll continue to drive my loud gas-loving Spyker and Panoz cars now and then, too. It’s all part of the flow. The real question is this: What is this moment asking you to do next? Go do it.

Member BBB 2003 - 2012

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Ao Akua,

joe

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Member BBB 2003 - 2012

Back in 1988 I was still struggling.

Oh, I had had some successes along the way.

My first published writing was in the 1960s, for a magic trick I invented. I’m still proud of it. Wasn’t paid for it, though.

A one-act play I wrote was produced and performed in Houston in 1979.  It even won an award. But I was broke before it and after it.

I saw my first book published in 1984. It was a moment of celebration. But I never made a dime from it.

But 1988 was to become a different story.

I was married, broke, desperate, striving and trying. I was teaching adult education classes on writing and publishing and making gas money. I did well enough at it to be able to pay $200 a month for the one room we occupied in a run-down home in Houston. The toilet was in the same room. So was the television set. So was my typewriter.

I did my best to hide my struggle as I pursued my career as a writer.

My writing classes were becoming popular and more folks were attracted to them. I would often get clients from them who wanted consulting about writing and publishing their own book, or to hire me for writing sales letters and news releases. I met a lot of wonderful people this way, and did it for years.

Click on image to read it free

One of the people who attended my talks became a dear friend. He was a wealthy man who owned an oil company. He took a liking to me. He never gave me money, even when he saw me struggling first hand, but offered encouragement and resources.

I helped him with a little booklet he wanted to write. He paid me with my first computer, which was his old one that he was tossing away. I wrote a little booklet on it, called Turbocharge Your Writing, which became a big seller for me and led to a lot of national publicity.

But that’s another story.

This new friend also introduced me to a wealthy businessman who wanted to write a book. More accurately, he wanted to be an author without the work of actually writing. So he met with me to see if I would write his book for him as a ghostwriter.

Over the course of a few weeks, I negotiated the best deal of my entire life at that time. It was a defining moment for me. I managed to sign a deal where I would equally own the copyright to the book, would get my name on the cover as coauthor, and I would be paid, too.

Now here comes the staggering part:

How much do you think I was paid to write that book?

Think about it. It’s 1988. I’m unknown. I have no major writing or publishing bragging rights. I’m struggling. I’m desperate. My rent is two hundred bucks a month. My car broke down regularly. I need a break.

I asked one friend and he said I was probably paid five hundred dollars.

Another friend said I was probably paid two grand.

What was I paid?

Twenty-one thousand dollars.

You read it right.

$21,000.

I took the down payment I received (about six grand) and went and bought a laptop computer, a suit, and gas for my car. Back then laptops didn’t have hard drives. You used one disk for the word processing program. You used another disk to save your work. I wrote the entire book on that laptop. I loved it.

This raises an interesting question, though: How did I close a deal for $21,000?

And here’s the eye-opening answer: I read books.

I read books on negotiating. I didn’t know how to negotiate. Who’s born knowing that? I had to learn. The best way for me to learn negotiating, or most anything else, then and now, is through books. I learned it so well at least one client said, “You’re probably a better negotiator than most writers.” He may have been right. But I also learned how to write from books, too. Books rule.

My research revealed many professional ghostwriters at the time were asking for $50,000 and up to write a book. I figured I was worth about half that.

No doubt I got some coaching and encouragement from my wealthy friend on how to deal with his wealthy friend. I had also been working on my beliefs about money at the time, slowly erasing limiting ones as I also built up my self-esteem.

But that’s certainly not the whole secret.

I hope you grasp at least one of the main lessons here: Whatever you want to learn, the answer is probably in books.

Books! So simple. So obvious. Yes, you still have to apply what you learn. But it all begins with reaching out to fill your mind with what might not yet be in it.

Obviously, it helped to have someone introduce me to a person who needed and could afford my services.  But that’s another lesson: I was taking action. I was doing public speaking when I was basically shy and terrified. I did it anyway. As a result, I became a more confident speaker, and I met people who could help me.

Recently I found a 1989 copy of the book I wrote for that client. It’s titled The Joy of Service. A few copies were listed on Amazon. One copy was selling for a penny. Another copy was offered for a thousand dollars. I bought the penny one.

But you don’t have to buy anything. I had the book typed up and turned into a PDF which you can read online right now. For free. Just click right here. Or go to http://www.thejoyofservice.com

The book is all about service. It’s a quick read and contains stories you’ll love.

But the best story of all is the one you just read: How I attracted $21,000 when I was broke — but knew where the library was.

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – Just in case you missed the exciting news, you can now order my first singer-songwriter album, Strut! You can hear excerpts from my healing music albums at either Strut! or Blue Healer. The direct links are:  http://www.HealingMojoMusic.com and http://www.GetUpandStrut.com

Member BBB 2003 - 2012

Decades ago a stripper hired me. Yes, a stripper. She wanted to write a book about her years as a topless dancer, and her transformation to being a military officer. I agreed to see her. Of course.

I enjoyed our meetings. She was attractive, upbeat and positive. She had a fascinating life (boy, could I tell you some stories) and she was on a new path in the military. I thought her story was fascinating and inspiring. Stimulating, too.

We met several times. We both knew her book had the potential for greatness. It could entertain and educate people. And I predicted it could be a bestseller. With the help of the Internet, which was new then but still a viable promotional vehicle, she could get the word out to thousands of potential readers. This would be a hit. I knew it.

But then she disappeared.

She didn’t answer her phone or email. I had an address for her, so I wrote her the old fashioned way, by snail mail. But the letter came back as undeliverable.

What happened?

One day I ran into her at a restaurant. She was friendly to me but aloof. She didn’t explain her disappearance or avoidance. I scratched my head for a while until I realized she had everything lined up for success except the most important ingredient of all: the inner.

I’ve seen this happen countless times with various people I’ve helped (or tried to help) over the years. They get really close to success and then back away. I remember one time having a check in hand for a singer, waiting to meet him to give him a tithe or love offering for inspiring me with his music.  He had promised to meet. But at the last minute, he didn’t show. We rescheduled. He didn’t show the next time, either. Of course, he never got the check. And that’s the point.

What I’m demonstrating to you is this: There is a very real “inner game” to success. It means if you don’t get in alignment with success inside yourself – with your beliefs and self worth and sense of deservingness – then you may very well sabotage your own potential. And you may not even know it. You’ll just blame someone (anyone) else on things not working out.

This is HUGE.

Part of my writings these days is about helping you get the inner game set up right. That means knowing success is good, money is good, you are good, the Internet is good, marketing is good, and winning is good. Until you feel that way inside yourself, on a deep level in your unconscious mind, your inner game will be off. And when the inner is not in alignment for success, virtually nothing you do will work.

Inner Critic vs Inner Master

None of this is new. I first wrote and spoke about “inner game” awareness back the 1980’s, and you’ll find it in my book, Hypnotic Writing. Back then I talked about there being a “critic” and a “master” within you. The critic stops you from completing anything because it turns your passion into mush. The master is the part of you that can do things successfully.

Too often, we listen to the inner critic. As a result, we end up sabotaging ourselves. What gets even more curious is the fact we seem to prefer it that way. We actually seem to like failing rather than succeeding.

I know this first hand. I struggled for decades. I was homeless. I was in poverty. I was miserable. I was doing everything right, yet I couldn’t seem to succeed. It wasn’t until I started turning within and working on my inner game that things began to shift. As I got clear within myself of all the negative and limiting beliefs, I was able to free myself to allow what I was doing to finally succeed.

What was the big secret?

I had to change the inner game within me from one of expecting failure to one of expecting success. Today I live a lifestyle of the rich and famous. Yet I’m the same guy who struggled decades ago, though. The only change is within me.

Let’s look at this a little more closely.

Why would you not be in alignment for success?

First, unconscious beliefs are running your life.

For example, most of us have been brought up to think “money is the root of all evil.” If you think money is evil, would you want to have any? Hardly. As I wrote in my book, Attract Money Now, money is neutral. The biblical quote everyone remembers is inaccurate. The longer quote says it’s the love of money that is the problem. Well, guess what, all the wealthy people I know don’t love money, they simply appreciate it. Big difference.

But the inner game goes deeper than that.

Most of us have been taught that we aren’t worthy of success. We received subtle messages from family, friends, culture, religion, government, and the school system and more that we are victims and that struggling is the way of life. I had to go through poverty and homelessness before I found that not to be true. You can make it true, of course. But it doesn’t have to be true.

Second, your self-talk is controlling you.

Most people don’t take any notice of what they are doing inside. The inner game is all about how you talk to yourself as well as what you unconsciously believe about yourself. I encouraged a former cheerleader to write a book on how all of us can create an inner cheerleader inside ourselves. Because she was in alignment for success and her inner game was set for success, she did in fact write and publish her book.

Develop Your Inner Cheerleader

I’ve often said that I can teach you about Internet marketing, copywriting, publicity and more. After all, I’ve written Buying Trances, There’s a Customer Born Every Minute, and so on. I’ve been marketing online for decades. I created marketing formulas that get results. I can teach you what works. But if your inner game isn’t ready for success, you’ll either not listen to me, misinterpret what I tell you, or simply not do anything at all.

Why? Because your inner voices are talking you out of your own good.

Listen to me. Even right now, as you read these words, there’s a voice in your head talking. It might be telling you to take notes and get ready to take action. Or it might be whispering that you need to stop reading this nonsense and go do the laundry.

What can you do about this?

1. Be aware. Listen to the voices in your head. The naysayers are the team on the inner game of failure side. The cheerleaders are the team on the inner game of success side. You can learn to tell the difference. You can learn to choose who to listen to. After all, you are in charge, not the voices. I’ve written a song for Strut!, my recent music CD, called “The Choice.” It’s to help remind us that we can choose who to listen to. You have choice.

2. Get support. I find results happen faster when you surround yourself with people who truly want your success. I created Miracles Coaching for that reason. That program has been helping people over five years now. But you can also create or join a mastermind group. The idea is to plant yourself where success will grow, by getting sunshine from other people. (And giving it to them, too, or course.)

3. Take action. The more you take action, the more you will get feedback about what you truly believe in your inner world. You don’t need to beat yourself up if things don’t always work. It’s all data. Just learn, adjust, and move forward. Not everything I tried worked out, but instead of giving up, I learned and moved on to create another project that did achieve success.

This is how the inner game of success actually works. It’s what happens on the inside of you that creates or attracts the outer results you get. If you want to change the outer, change your inner.

In a way, you have to became a stripper of beliefs (as opposed to becoming a stripper on stage).

May you strip away limitations and strut to success.

After all, you deserve it.

Right?

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – Last year I gave a presentation at the offices of my Miracles Coaching team where I explained seven ways to get clear. The group loved the steps. The event was filmed and later turned into a free course you can watch online. Go here to see it right now: http://www.joevitalecoach.com/campaigns/sevensteps/

PPS — You can hear excerpts from my healing music albums at  Strut! and Blue Healer. The direct links are:  http://www.HealingMojoMusic.com and http://www.GetUpandStrut.com Enjoy.

Member BBB 2003- 2012

Years ago I asked Rhonda Byrne — the woman behind the Law of Attraction hit movie The Secret — an important question.

We were having dinner in Maui when I asked, “How did you come up with the idea for the movie?”

She thought for a long time before answering, “I called it forth.”

“I called it forth” could mean a lot of things. But the other day I came across a quote from film maker David Lynch that made it all come together:

“Ideas are floating like fish. Desire for an idea is like a bait on a hook.”

It made sense to me because this is how I’m creating music. Songs are floating around in the ethereal world. My desire for a song attracts one to me. The more precise I am in my request for a particular kind of song, the more accurate the match will be.

Rhonda Byrne of "The Secret"

This doesn’t mean I’m in charge of the songs. I’m a receiver for them. Music is still the boss. Songs are still in charge. I get to tinker with the idea after it arrives, but the idea itself comes by grace.

But I attract it by desiring it.

For example, one year or so ago, when I had my training wheels on as a songwriter and was experimenting with writing songs for the first time, I remember thinking, “I want to write a song about being kind to others.”

That might sound simplistic to you. But even way back in the mid 1990s, in my first book on Internet marketing, called CyberWriting, I suggested we learn to write in kindness as a way to keep peace online. This “kindness theme” has been with me for decades, as a kind of prime directive in my life and work, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I wanted to express it in a song.

But how?

I remember sitting on my deck outside my office, looking at the trees, and desiring a song about this message. As I meditated, one started to come to me. I jotted down what I was receiving. I played with it. I picked up a guitar and added some chords to it. The end result is the powerful stand-out song called “Everybody’s Goin’ Thru Somethin'” on my first singer-songwriter album, Strut!

In short, I attracted the song by my desire for the song.

I do the same thing for this blog. I often have no idea at all what to write about, but my desire for a fresh blog post “calls forth” the idea I need.

News Flash: Strut! is now available for you to order. You can hear excerpts from my healing music albums at  Strut! and Blue Healer.

For example, I didn’t know I was going to write this very post on how to attract great ideas. All I had was a desire for a post, which is what started the process to “call forth” an idea.

I then stumbled across the David Lynch quote while reading a magazine. Once I saw it, something clicked in me. I then recalled my dinner with Rhonda, and the post began to come together. I then sat down and wrote this for you.

But it all began with my desire for an idea.

Rhonda called forth her idea for a film about the Law of Attraction. She had a desire to share her insight, and that desire “called forth” a means. The result was a movie of historic importance.

Street sign "Calling forth" music

You can do this, too.

What do you want to create?

A movie? A song? A business? A solution?

It doesn’t matter.

The first step is to declare your intention. Complete the sentence, “I intend to….” with whatever it is you want to attract.

“I intend to…create a website that brings in more sales.”

“I intend to…write a song about the theme of divine love.”

“I intend to…attract unexpected income by Friday.”

“I intend to…attract a loving person to date.”

My suggestions are loose as I’m making them up, but yours can be specific.

After that, allow ideas to come to you. Make space for them. Go for a walk. Relax in the hot tub. Sit in quiet meditation. Read a novel. Have a cup of tea.

Declaring your intention is the request that “calls forth” an idea to fulfill it. Making time to receive ideas is how you open yourself to hear the answer to your intention. Of course, after that, you need to take action on the idea to bring it into reality.

This process works for me.

It clearly works for Rhonda Byrne.

It will work for you, as well.

You just have to do it.

What would you like to “call forth” next?

Ao Akua,

joe

PS — Strut! is now available for you to order. You can hear excerpts from my healing music albums at  Strut! and Blue Healer. The direct links are:  http://www.HealingMojoMusic.com and http://www.GetUpandStrut.com