Tag: hooponopono

I went to a sleep study center recently. I needed to find out if I have sleep apnea. I don’t know the results yet, but I want to share this story of what happened while I was there.

It’s another miracle.

Tell me what you think…

The woman hooking me up with wires and sensors had an hour to kill, as she had that much set up to do, so she asked me what I did for a living.

“Lots of things,” I said.  “I’m primarily an author.”

“What have you written?”

“I’ve written over 76 books,” I said.

“Good God! Tell me about one of them.”

I told her about Zero Limits.

I explained the story of Dr. Hew Len and how he helped heal an entire ward of mentally ill criminals with a Hawaiian healing method called ho’oponopono.

“What’s that?” she asked.

I explained it was a way to change outer reality by changing your inner perceptions of it.

“Are you saying that the therapist changed his perceptions and the inmates got better?”

“Exactly.”

“Bogus!” she blurted.

I was slightly surprised.

I’m not used to meeting people so instantly close minded.

“I’m a psychologist,” she said. “I only look at the brain and empirical evidence for what works.”

“Then you’ll love my book,” I said. “I coauthored it with the therapist, and I interviewed the staff that worked at the hospital with him.”

She shook her head.

“Do you believe the stuff you write?” she asked.

That was a stunner.

“Yes, of course! It would be the greatest crime in my life to write what I didn’t believe.”

“Well, it sounds bogus to me.”

I let it go.

I was there to have my sleep diagnosed, not get in an argument.

But then something miraculous happened.

Around 5 in the morning, I announced I couldn’t sleep anymore and she might as well return and unhook me from the test equipment.

She came out, moving slow, and I noticed she was red faced and struggling to breathe.

I asked if she were okay.

“I think I’m having a heart attack.”

I instantly perked up and sat up.

I still had wires all over me and electrodes on my head and face. But I was alert.

“I’ll call 911 right now,” I offered. “My phone is right here.”

“No, the hospital is right behind us.”

“Then I’ll walk you to the hospital. Just get this stuff off of me and we’ll go.”

“I still have two other patients to unhook,” she explained. “Then I can go.”

“Sit down here,” I said, patting the bed.

She did.

“Take your time. There’s no hurry.”

As she sat beside me, I began to practice the four phrases of basic ho’oponopono.

I repeated, I love you, I’m sorry, please forgive me and thank you.

I didn’t say it out loud.

I just repeated it silently, as a mantra.

I noticed she seemed to relax.

Her breathing slowed.

She was still red faced and still anxious, but clearly more relaxed.

She started to remove the wires from my body.

As she did, I just kept practicing ho’oponopono.

When she was done, I told her I’d wait for her to finish the other two patients.

She left the room and I got dressed.

But even as I dressed, I continued saying the four phrases.

The other patients left.

I went out to the main area and saw her sitting at her desk, her head laying down like a student at school having recess.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said.

She was still struggling to breathe.

“I’m a cigarette smoker and haven’t had one in a while,” she confessed.

I waited and talked to her a bit.

Once I was confident she was truly stable, and that her supervisor would be coming in shortly, I left.

So, did ho’oponopono help her?

It helped me.

That’s the point.

Whenever you have something going on, do ho’oponopono on yourself.

As you relax into the miracle of now, you will feel better.

As you do, the outer may shift too.

But do it for you.

Ao Akua,

joe

PS – I  called a few days later to check on the nurse. She went on vacation. Maybe now she will truly relax. Maybe she’ll even read my books on ho’oponopono, Zero Limits and AT Zero. 🙂

Here’s the true story of yet another person who went from homeless to great success using The Law of Attraction, The Secret, and other self-help books and principles.

I’m in Bangkok, Thailand as I write this.

I was flown here to present at a two-day seminar on The Missing Secret to success.

The people were warm and loving, the event was sold out, the traffic was awful, the food was amazing, and the Thai massages between my presentations were deeply and unforgettably relaxing.

But that’s not the good part.

One of the organizers is a young man from Sweden. His name is Andres Pira.

He left Sweden 15 years ago out of desperation.

He was 20 years old and unhappy.

His life was going no where, he was tired of the ten months a year of darkness, and he needed a way out.

His grandfather died, left him two thousand dollars, and he used it to buy a ticket to the warmest country he could get to fast.

That turned out to be Thailand.

But Thailand was not an easy road for a young man with no contacts, no experience, and no ability to speak the Thai language.

Within a short period, he was homeless.

He slept on the beach.

He was too embarrassed to ask his family for help.

He contacted a friend and confessed that he was desperate.

The friend said, “I won’t send you any money, but I’ll send you a book that might help you.”

A book?

Andres was upset.

He’s starving and his friend is going to send a book?

The book was The Secret.

Andres read it.

And as he did, something awakened within him.

He started to realize that his thoughts were creating his reality.

Since he was homeless, he didn’t like what his thoughts had created.

He decided to learn and use the Law of Attraction to create a better life for himself.

The next book he read was Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich.

After that, he read my first book on ho’oponopono, Zero Limits.

He was committed to change his life.

He succeeded, too.

Today he runs 19 companies, has 150 employees, and is a billionaire.

He is one of the largest real estate developers in all of Southeast Thailand.

One of his biggest properties in 2018 will be managed by Best Western Premiere.

But he also owns a gym, a law office, a gas station, several coffee shops and more.

He’s only 35 years old.

He told me this story after picking me up at the Bangkok airport.

I was fascinated.

Even though I had just spent 24 hours traveling – with 20 hours of that in the air – I was engaged and wanted to know more.

“You have to tell your story,” I said. “This is inspiring. People look at you and see a billionaire. They don’t see the homeless man who read self-help books and took action to recreate his life.”

“I have never publicly told my story,” Andres confessed. “It would seem like bragging.”

“It’s not bragging to admit you were homeless,” I explained. “How is being homeless a bragging point?”

He laughed.

I told him of my own struggle from homeless through poverty on to global success.

I tell my story not to brag, but to inspire.

I wanted Andres to do the same.

“You are hosting your first event this weekend,” I said. “Why not stand up at it and tell your story?”

He had never considered that idea.

Andres was nervous, but I coached him on how to present his case.

To his credit, he agreed to make his speaking debut at his own event.

He did, too.

And he was great.

People loved this young man and his honest rages to riches story.

Andres explained how he read The Secret, and then moved on to other books by the teachers of The Secret, including me.

In fact, Andres is so grateful for my books and audios impact on his life that he is taking me to Phuket, Thailand for a week of rest, all at his own expense.

As we continued our ride, he told me of various turning points in his life.

One was about giving.

Both he and his fiancé decided to start giving on their birthdays.

The traditional custom in most countries is to receive gifts on your birthday.

But Andres and his soon to be wife liked the Thai custom of not getting but giving.

So on his birthday, he went to orphanages with bags of gifts.

His fiancée did the same on her birthday.

They felt fantastic in making a difference in these children’s lives.

But Andres discovered another benefit to this giving.

“Right then I noticed my businesses began to grow and multiply. Somehow my giving triggered a receiving that I didn’t expect.”

Of course, I’ve written about giving in numerous books, including Attract Money Now.

But it’s always fortifying to hear of others proving the power of giving.

The more I spoke to Andres, the more I realized he deeply integrated what he learned from me and other authors, and yet made it his own and went beyond it.

I told Andres that he needed to write his life story, including his life and business lessons, and his meditations and visualizations.

Whether he wrote it, I wrote it, or someone else wrote it, I could see it transforming millions of readers.

Andres and I will be spending more time together in Phuket, so I may be able to get a fire started under him to share his life with you.

I hope you find this story as inspiring as I do. Again and again, we keep seeing evidence that the Law of Attraction works. But you have to not just read about it, but also apply it.

Andres did, and look at him now.

You can be next.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Great news! I convinced Andres to let me help him with his book. You can expect it in 2019. It’ll reveal his story, secrets, principles, meditations, extreme sports insights, multiple business practices, and more. Meanwhile, learn from him and his wife, as I have. My birthday is this month. I plan to turn the tables on custom and my past and make this 64th birthday one of giving on the day I usually receive. You don’t need to wait to your birthday to give. Look around. Someone needs your kindness. Why not give right now?

I love Law of Attraction quotes, inspiring and motivational quotes, and just any quotes that make me think.

Some of my favorite quotes include –

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Einstein

But I never thought people would be quoting me so much over the last thirty years that my quotes would end up in a book.

Well, meet Dr. Joe Vitale’s Greatest Law of Attraction Quotes.

This new book contains more Law of Attraction and related quotes than I want to count. Some of these have been tweeted and retweeted numerous times all over the Internet.

Some of the most popular are:

Of course, when you keep working on yourself, you keep growing. As a result, some of my quotes from my early years seem like contradictions to quotes from more recent years.

They don’t contradict; they compliment.

They are simply spoken from different “grades” of life.

Early on I said –

Almost everyone is interested in overcoming fear – or should be.

Whether you want to speak in public, open a new business, talk to potential dates, do stand-up comedy, climb a mountain — or anything you haven’t done before — you’re bound to feel fear and want help in overcoming fear.

Well, how do you do it?

After recording six albums of songs, my Band of Legends politely nudged me to perform live.

While I’ve spoken on stage numerous times over the decades, I never sang on stage.

Thinking about it brought up serious fears.

Even terror.

A friend remembers me saying I would NEVER sing in public.

I had to overcome panic attacks, anxiety ambushes, and near nervous breakdowns to overcome the fear of public speaking.

But public singing?

Forget it.

I didn’t even sing in the shower.

Childhood memories of being humiliated when I tried to speak or sing stayed with me.

I overcame the speaking one.

But I refused to even touch singing.

It felt too vulnerable.

I managed to do it in the studio for my six albums, by basically managing my adrenaline, but I couldn’t accept ever singing on stage live.

No way.

But I did it.

I did it!

And it was a huge success.

I was strong and confident, owned the stage, and led my Band of Legends into a triumphant performance.

It was a historic moment.

It was a personal breakthrough.

And it will live forever in my mind as a moment of greatness for me.

So, how did I go from terrified to terrific?

I’ll share my own process, as it will illustrate the art of overcoming fear. I’m sure you can be inspired by this adventure.

I of course did all the standard things that I teach, from practicing ho’oponopono (as I wrote about in my books, Zero Limits and AT Zero) to rehearsing in the studio and in my mind.

But two months before the show, I also —

1. I got coaching.

A basic rule of self-improvement is this:

You can accomplish more if you have someone who believes in you almost more than you believe in yourself.

I first saw that insight in the home of Jerry and Esther Hicks, of Abraham fame, decades ago. Jerry (who has passed on and I greatly miss) told me he first heard it in an early television western. I don’t recall the name of the show, but I do remember the impact the principle had on me.

I started Miracles Coaching more than a decade ago for that reason – to give people someone who could believe in them.

To help them overcome fear.

To help them attract miracles.

I’ve had a lot of people support me and coach me in performing:

Jen Sincero is a badass author of two NY Times bestselling books, You Are A Badass and the recent You Are A Badass at Making Money. I discovered her first book years ago, knew it would be a hit, and interviewed her. We stayed in touch.

I had lunch with Jen when she came to Austin for a book signing. I knew she had been in a band at one point, so I told her my dilemma. She told me that I had already done the hard part of singing.

“You sang for Melissa Etheridge,” she explained, referring to when I had a private songwriting lesson with the rock icon last November. “Singing one on one is harder than singing on stage, and you sang for an icon you idolize and adore.”

The last time I saw Melissa Etheridge, just for a moment after her show in San Antonio in June, she told me she loves my latest album, The Great Something.

She said to “Keep at it.”

I dedicated that album to her. There’s a song on it I wrote for her.

Her encouragement helped me stay motivated.

She once told me, “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”

Sarah McSweeney is a singer-songwriter who is on my first album, Blue Healer.  She was the first person I sang for.

We met and she told me she always feels nervous before getting on stage. But she thinks of herself as a messenger, not a singer.

That reframe made the idea of singing easier.

“I am a messenger,” she said. “I focus on the song’s message.”

That insight helped me drop the idea of being a singer and adopt the idea of being a messenger. It helped me relax a little.

Meghan Sandau is a new friend. She has promoted big music events. She wanted to see me do a concert. She said she likes my music.

Her belief in me helped make me more secure.

In fact, none of this would happen without her.

She set up the event for my Band of Legends to perform.

She held my hand and encouraged me.

Meghan also suggested I do an energy clearing session with Nicole Pigeault of Los Angeles. I love energy work and do clearings for others so I leaped at the chance to hire Nicole.

Turned out to be one of the most powerful esoteric washes ever.

The hour session helped me release fears and settle into confidence.

But she wasn’t the only person to support me.

Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon has been coaching me for years now. We’ve made numerous instrumental albums together, such as Invoking Divinity.

He stayed in my corner, listening to me rehearse, listening to me confide my fears, and urging me to hang in there.

Then there’s Patrick Stark in Canada. He’s a filmmaker making a movie about overcoming fear.

It’s called “One Life: No Regrets.”

He interviewed me for it. He plans to sing on stage with the band U2. But it will be the first time he’ll sing on stage EVER.

Imagine it.

The first time you sing in public anywhere is on stage with U2 and thousands watching.

Well, if Patrick can drum up that kind of courage, then so can I.

Right?

I found preparing for the event mainly a battle with my mind. Most of my thinking was negative. It was all, What if it goes bad?

But Mindy Audlin came to visit. She teaches what if up thinking.

She wrote the book What If it All Goes Right?

She coached me in other ways to think: what if it is a breeze? What if I love it?

It also helps to see people successful in one field try their hand in a completely different field.

James Altucher tried stand-up-comedy. He’s a writer. He’s doing something out of his comfort zone.

But he’s willing to do it for the experience, and he’s sharing his learning curve to inspire others.

Though I haven’t met him, knowing he was stepping out beyond his fear fortified me to do it, too.

Of course, my beautiful Nerissa (above) believed in me, too.

She and I practiced “The Remembering Process” that Daniel Barrett taught me: we talked about the live show as if it had happened in the past and we were remembering how great it went. (See the book Daniel and I wrote: The Remembering Process.)

So the first thing I did was gather people who could coach and inspire me.

Next –

2. I got educated.

To prepare for my show, I attended an online Masterclass with David Mamet, and another with Usher.

Both were astoundingly good.

My band of legends: me, Daniel Barrett, Glenn Fugunaga, Joe Vitale

Mamet is a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright and screenwriter. I think he is a genius.

He said most people are afraid to be bad to be good.

You have to be bad first to start being good.

You have to start someplace.

I reminded myself of this as I prepared for the live event.

While I wanted to step out on stage and be “perfect,” Mamet reminded me that I will probably step out and be bad.

But bad is where you start. You can’t get to great without starting at bad.

Usher said to prepare, to be confident, but to expect something to go wrong.

Don’t expect perfection.

He told a story of a performance where he injured himself at the beginning of a two-hour show, and had to keep dancing and singing despite the pain.

His insights and pointers were priceless in helping me create a mindset for success.

And I bought a set of audios called The Relaxed Musician. It’s a 14-day course in exploring limiting beliefs.

It helped me realize I had a big belief that if I looked bad as a performer, it would hurt my reputation in other areas, such as an author or speaker.

But like most beliefs, it didn’t hold up.

I could forget all my lyrics and totally wash out on stage and it wouldn’t even dent my image anywhere else. Most people forgive and forget.

In fact, a miss on stage could give me a terrific story about how I bombed and lived.

But I didn’t stop there.

I read a terrific book on how to deliver an unforgettable live performance. I liked the book so much, I read it twice.

It was called, The Musician’s Guide to a Great Live Performance.

It became my bible. I read it on planes, took it with me on my iPad, and shared it with singer-songwriter friends.

And I read a wonderful book on overcoming fear and panic, titled You 1, Anxiety 0.

Author Jodi Aman helped take the mask off of fear so I could see what it really was: an illusion. I soaked up the wisdom in this book. It really helped me.

I also read a 1950 book by Vernon Howard called Word Power.

It was about how you talk to yourself, as well as to others, effects your behavior and your results. It’s not so much affirmations but self-talk.

Pretending you are fearless by saying “I am a fearless performer” is a way to begin being a fearless performer.

And I read a recent book, called Succeed.

It explained that just visualizing success is a plan for failure unless you also visualize planning for setbacks.

In other words, thinking the show will go without a flaw is not realistic, as Usher pointed out. There is no such thing as perfection.

But visualizing success, and understanding there is work to do to get there, can almost guarantee the result you want.

That was a mind-spinning insight.

I did more, too.

The Townsend even had a special drink for the live show

3. I got Nevillized.

With Meghan’s urging, I wrote out a script of how I wanted the show to go.

I focused on my feelings, not anyone else’s, so I could focus on what I could control.

The script was a type of Nevillizing (which I write about in my book, The Attractor Factor): feeling as if the event already happened, and happened the way I envisioned it.

I didn’t visualize the show happening, I visualized that the show already happened.

Big difference.

I wrote the script from the point of view of the next day, after I performed on stage.

I read and re-read it every day for a week before the show.

And —

4. I got relaxed.

I got massages, I got plenty of rest, I drank lots of water, and I went into a flotation tank at The Zero Gravity Institute for 90 minutes the day before the show.

I was doing whatever I could to be at peak form when I stepped on stage.

I was taking care of my body and mind.

I was getting ready for my moment.

5. I got faith.

Faith doesn’t always mean something religious.

Faith in yourself, faith in other people, faith in my practice and prep, faith in my Band of Legends – all of it gives a level of confidence that allows the best to surface.

As a slogan I coined says, “It is what you accept.”

I accepted that the moment would be perfect, even in any imperfections.

It would be “perfectly imperfect.”

I let go.

I trusted.

And, after two months of preparing, what happened?

My Band of Legends and myself performed on July 21st at The Townsend in Austin.

I’m the luckiest musician alive to have a band of this caliber: Drummer Joe Vitale (yes, same name as mine), bass man Glenn Fukunaga and lead guitarist Daniel Barrett.

These incredible musicians encouraged me, supported me, and brought my songs to life.

We raised the roof and tore down the walls.

We shook the earth and wowed the crowd.

Talk about overcoming fear!!!

I gave everything I had in me, delivering my messages with energy, enthusiasm, electricity, and a sense of fearlessness and fun.

At the end of our set, we got a standing ovation.

A standing ovation!

I did it.

And I loved it!

Now, what do you fear that is time for you to do?

Isn’t today a good day to begin overcoming fear?

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua

Joe

Resources:

http://www.TheBandofLegends.com

http://www.AllHealingMusic.com

http://www.MiraclesCoaching.com

http://www.Masterclass.com

http://www.quantumradiance.com

I love crowdfunding.

That’s where the fans fund the dream.

I’ve seen authors, musicians, inventors, and movie producers raise the money they needed for their projects by going straight to the people.

• I became friends with Grammy nominated saxophone sensation Mindi Abair when she crowdfunded her album.
• I studied songwriting with rock icon Melissa Etheridge when she used crowdfunding on her last album.
• I received a signed guitar when I helped Jim Peterik with his crowdfunding for his last album.
• I also supported local musicians I know by donating to their crowdfunding requests on Kickstarter.

But until today, I’ve never seen crowdfunding for spirituality.

As I write this, it’s 4 am here in Madrid, Spain.

I came here to give a presentation to 5,000 people.

Fifteen other speakers flew here as well, including Gregg Braden, Don Miguel Ruiz, Neale Donald Walsch, Mooji and more.

But the planned event – called BeingOne – didn’t occur.

It turned into a nightmare.

Five thousand people stood outside a bull fighting arena where the event was to be held.

But the organizers didn’t pay their bills.

Security would not let the people in. They hadn’t been paid.

Vendors left. There were no people inside to sell to.

People left.

They were upset.

The police came.

There were still thousands of people waiting for hours, confused, impatient and curious.

At least one author (I don’t know who) went to the standing crowd and spoke to them, comforting them, assuring them that all would be well.

The people appreciated him and the love he showed. But they paid good money for a three day event to see 16 speakers.

They weren’t happy.

Where was the event?

Where were the speakers?

Where was Dr. Joe Vitale?

I was in my room, reading social media posts about the missing event, and just as baffled as anyone.

After all, I flew to Spain from Texas solely for this event.

And I did it against the advice of my attorney.

Since I hadn’t been paid, the event organizers violated their contract. So my attorney said don’t go.

But I kept thinking about all the people who paid to see me. Many were flying from other countries. Many had to borrow to make the trip. Many had posted how they longed to meet me.

I knew I had to make the trip.

So I did.

But when I got to the hotel, I was told my room was not paid for.

I was stunned.

So here I am, sitting in Madrid, wondering why I and apparently 5,0000 other people attracted this experience.

I was looking for the lesson, not the loss.

But here’s where the story becomes miraculous.

Many thousands of people, after waiting half a day, left.

The thousands who stayed found out that the security detail needed paid before they would allow the crowds into the arena.

So these people raised the money among themselves.

They essentially crowdfunded the event.

But that’s not all.

When speakers needed translators, people volunteered.

When speakers needed audio for the event, people volunteered.

When the police needed people to move and sit, people volunteered to help the crowd comply.

It was amazing to see.

It was a miracle.

And it happened because good people decided to practice what they had been learning from the very speakers they came to see.

• They were not victims; they were victors.
• They were not giving in to circumstances; they were creating their own circumstances.
• They were not feeling bad or unhappy; they were finding the good and feeling the joy.

This brought me to tears.

By the time I took the stage, the crowd went wild.

They were almost delirious to see me.

I smiled liked the morning sun and opened my heart and repeated, “You are loved! You are loved! You are loved!”

“You are loved!”

I had two beautiful translators on stage with me. Both were volunteers.

They helped me and the crowd understand each other, though I suspect we were all just vibrating at a level of wordless love.

I spoke spontaneously. I answered questions. I did my best to deliver what these wonderful people had waited so long to see.

When my talk ended, the crowd roared like they were at a rock concert.

They stood.

They applauded.

They screamed in joy.

And this was the same crowd that had spent hours frustrated and confused, but stayed the course, raised the money needed, and got to see the speakers they love.

And now, closer to 5 am here in Madrid as I write this, I am still processing the power of people.

When you are clear about what you want, you can move heaven and earth – and raise funds if you need it – to make it happen.

Madrid proved today that miracles are real.

Crowdfunding helped.

But the people did it.

Anything is possible.

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua

Joe

PS – I have to mention that during the chaos of today, three people who were at the event and lost in the confusion, discovered the hotel I was in and called me. I met them, went on a walking tour of Madrid with them, and had a great time. When I got the call that the event was still on due to crowdfunding, I went and presented. All in all, a great day – just not one that went as planned. Maybe that’s the point: miracles occur when you quit insisting life be a certain way and you instead work with what you are given in the moment. But what do I know? It’s 5 am in Madrid and I’m processing a miracle.

Note: Here are my new friends…and their account of the BeingOne event is here… https://www.facebook.com/maria.cognifusion/posts/545621902493048