It can be a crazy world out there at times — a world driven by crowd-thinking, political correctness, and philosophical nonsense that is bombarding you to “fit in.”

If it’s not conservative religious groups trying to regulate and control morality, it’s human rights activists going overboard to the point of trumping common sense.

Because of time-worn social norms, meddling governmental regulations, protectionist mindsets and victim-driven thinking, it’s NOT easy to fight the peer pressure to fit into a mold that isn’t YOU.

Is the world missing the real you because you’ve been conditioned to play it safe?

That’s not something we need to expand on any more than just asking that question.

Because, here’s something you can do to find out:

LISTEN to the song, from 3 Doors Down, via the video below. Close your eyes (you really don’t need to watch the Shrek clips, as it’s not the images that really matter). Feel the energy of the words. And, when listening to the song, in a quiet place, just ask yourself:

“Is it okay that I fight to ‘be myself’, even if others don’t approve?”

Only you can really know for sure.

♦ ♦ ♦

For another version — the official Let Me Be Myself Music video — watch at YouTube

Here’s the RUB though: finances often hold 90% of the populace back:  without a solid flow of income, without understanding how to use money to grow money, without fearless cash-flow, you’re standing in quicksand.

Read our short 5-page PDF here:
“How To Shake Off Income Worries”

Just talking about (or pontificating on) any aspect of “manifestation” applies to the part of life where you’re spending more time “in your head” than experiencing something (NOTICE I put emphasis on talking for a reason. I’ll get to that in a second).

Yes, we intellectually-wired and thought-infused humans (which is most of us,  by the way) DO have to go through the process of proving to ourselves (even though our conscious Self doesn’t know it) that we can’t just read, wish, daydream, affirm, reprogram, meditate, or analyze our way into a life of happiness, success and prosperity.

And the reason I bring this point up — that RESULTS (actually EXPERIENCING what we think, imagine, and say we’re going to do or have) over talk matters — is because spiritual rhetoric and time-worn surface-level “feel good” (or “non-challenging”) precepts and mottos continue to proliferate the self-help arena at an alarming rate*

*Yes, we’ll readily agree, it’s mainly due to marketers out there — disguised as “evolved teachers” who give the impression of becoming that way due to some magical recipe that apparently nobody else has figured out — who package up their wares for the MASSES. Hint: they know how to tell you what you want to hear in ways that’ll make your mouth water.

Believing that you are effecting change or growth in others or yourself — because you don’t rock the boat, or because you ignore so-called “negative” or emotionally challenging “stuff”, or because you pursue lofty states like “bliss” or “happiness” — when you’re really just rolling along on the winds of emotional comfort and spiritual safety, is VERY DANGEROUS.

Click the link below to learn why…

- Cont’d -

Recently a client of ours, who has gone through more unfulfilled pursuits than a junk-food addict goes through bags of chips, just felt the need to hang it all up — to stop her interests in entrepreneurship. Even though she finally verbally admitted to us that she was spreading herself too thin across multiple businesses, she just figured she’d be better served to “explore happiness” (her words, not ours).

The first thing that came to mind, when hearing that, was: “Is that sorta like going after a good beer buzz?”

George Bernard Shaw once cautioned: “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”

And, the rub around “happiness” — or more accurately said: the futile time spent in attempting to find somebody else’s SECRETS to HAPPINESS — is that it’s like trying to be in a constant state of orgasm. Hey, what a great state to be in, if you get it… and, if you’ve got nothing else to do or experience, huh?

But, like an orgasm that never leaves,  a happiness-high that extends its stay at your party can sorta cramp your lifestyle. After all, you’ve got places to go, people to see, more people to get to know, hobbies to pursue, and business to attend to.

In other words, “physical” life NOW!

In the comments to our May 23rd 2009 post, “Fake Happiness, Raw Growth, & The Next ‘Harry Potter,” one of our subscribers put full-spectrum living in perspective.

Azum writes:

“It is true that the pursuit of happiness is something that can cause unhappiness. We live in a world which can generally be an awesome place too… but we are also subject to an infrastructure of forced social adaptation that is governed by advertising and collective trends. As human animals with an inherent need to belong and be part of a collective, it is easy to fall prey to socio-cultural definitions of happiness and success, and aimlessly pursue them to maintain appearances and status.”

Barry’s interpretation?

Simply this:  Like it or not, the “physical” world we play in at the moment  rewards us for PRODUCING — for discovering needs (yours, not just others’), helping fulfill them, and then starting the process all over again.

When we set out to search new territory (new ideas, new systems of belief, new knowledge, new ways of doing things) we discover. When we discover something new, we’re always in the position to TRY (attempt) something new.

Sometimes we have fun, and get results with it, and sometimes we don’t.

You see, to me, striving for a STATE of “happiness”, like the ever-elitist quest to pursue enlightenment, isn’t so much about “getting there” as it is actually being awake and content enough to enjoy the ride… a ride that will be smooth AND bumpy along the way.

For instance, if you were to STRIVE to “get to” an unfrazzled, almost emotionless state (like some yoga teachers we know) whenever you needed to express a so-called “unevolved emotion” that would assist you (like “concern” or “worry” that DO come in handy every now and then), you’d almost be like the “hypocritical Christian” who society labels as such because they think or occasionally do bad things.

Oh, but, as they say in the south: “He’s just backsliding a bit. He’ll pray more, he’ll talk to the Pastor and he’ll be firm again in his faith.”

Yaaaaaawwwwnnn!

Get over yourself!

Guess what…. life, in all its beauty and ugliness, never told you you’d always experience perfection. So, it sure the hell ain’t asking you to be it either.

We know of a teacher who has an ongoing EXCESSIVE battle with negativity. He literally views “negative thinking” as an abomination of the human condition.  Seriously, there was at one point a line on his sales page that read: “Negative thinking is THE primary source of all the diseases that afflict human beings.”

For whatever reason, this self-labeled “teacher” just wouldn’t accept that this his very Johnny Quest-like personal adventure is proliferating the very thing he’s trying so, so hard — and putting so, so much energy on — to avoid.

So, if you’ve read this far, I have a question for you:

Have you ever considered that “happiness”, just like the needless quest for “enlightenment”,  is simply an  ”experience”, and NOT a permanent way of life?

To paraphrase Blair Warren, we don’t feel that somebody “gets” happy (or enlightened) like they get a tattoo, get a college degree or get married. Instead, it’s just an experience. It begins, it ends, and another one takes its place.

So yeah, it’s okay that you’re happy when you hold that sleeping newborn baby, and then frustrated when she starts crying incessantly — just like it’s okay that she’s content one minute and inconsolable the next.

To close, I wish upon you many “experiences” — ’cause, the more you have, the more vivid and responsive life becomes.

Oh, I almost forgot:

When it comes to teaching others who tap into their INNER-WORLD to get better results in their OUTER-WORLD, these guys get it (they’re not into useless surface-level drivel like so many new, wannabe teachers of the mind are these days).

Your Partners in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

P.S. No joke, Michael and Sean’s free 5-Part Manifesting Mini Course is better than most teachers’ paid flagship training.

For today, however, we’re just trying to open your heart.

So, let us know how you FEEL, by commenting below, about this video:

♦ ♦ ♦

Improve Your Health and Wellbeing With ONE CD

]]> http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/the-love-now-music-video/feed/ 17 http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-hard-working/ http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-hard-working/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:13:29 +0000 Barry Goss http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/?p=1139 Even though I was intentionally setting out to dive into some more intriguing areas of AskMen.com, I couldn’t help but notice this conveniently located (didn’t have to scroll the page to see it) and bolded question asked to Robin Leach:

Which houses took your breath away?

“Well, the house in Germany with 365 rooms and a room map so you would not get lost. The house in Australia that was so large, they had a chauffeur driving you from one room to another. A 50,000-square foot house that was on the Pacific coast in Mexico. An all-gold house in Hong Kong. Celebrities are nowhere as rich as some people think they are. It is usually people in the money business, finance, and international trade that are really rich. You generally find that the number of very wealthy [celebrities] is not more than a couple of handfuls.”

Mr. Leach reminiscing about these houses reminded me of all the times, when I was living in Virginia Beach for 12 years, that I’d hop on my mountain bike, head down to the boardwalk, and cruise on into a residential area of the beach called “Croatan”.

It was through this away-from-the-computer time that I’d immerse myself into the culture, richness, and vicariously live through the extreme “vivid” experiences, of the Rich & Famous…

Er, or was is just the rich? Read on to find out…

* * * * * * *

The main unanswered question I had, 100% of the time, as I propped my leg up on the right-side bike pedal and stared at the fabulous houses, wonderful swimming pools, tennis courts, and garages full of expensive automobiles, was this:

“Just how in the hell did these people earn, or get, their wealth?“

Well, PNC Wealth Management has confirmed the suspicion I had from the very first day I started this little-known, hard-to-quit habit of mine (Mansion Viewing).

They polled about 1,500 Americans with $500,000 or more in investable assets and found that 69% of respondents made most of their fortune through work, business ownership or investments. Only 6% made their wealth by inheriting it, while 25% made it through a combination of inheritance and earnings.

Nothing new, or surprising, in the way the numbers above break down. However, what is at least mildly interesting is that the survey found some major differences in the two group’s attitudes about money.

Similar to the way poor people think, in comparison to the rich, about how to engage life (see below), heirs seem to be in a restrictive box that keeps them from expanding their value to its full potential.

For instance, fully 37% of earners agreed that “the money I have made so far has come from being in the right place at the right time.” Among heirs, the number was 25%. I guess the heirs don’t subscribe to Warren Buffett’s “lucky sperm” theory.

Similarly, broke people think rich people are lucky. Rich people put themselves into a position to be “lucky,” and then work hard to make the “luck” show up.

In the area of HAPPINESS, 76% of earners agree that “my financial success lets me feel less stress and worry,” compared to 50% of heirs. Half of all earners agree that “as I have accumulated more money in my life I have become happier,” compared to a third of heirs.

Similarly, broke people are glad when the day is over. Rich people love when the day begins.

And about that gnarly, and insidious beast called WORRY — Heirs are more than twice as likely to say “having a lot of money brings about more problems than it solves.” Heirs were at 20%, earners were at 9%.

Similarly, broke people are too concerned about what other people are doing. Rich people are only concerned about what they can be doing to get more done.

And, on that same note, another broke-versus-rich mental truism comes to mind. And this was elaborated on from a recovering ex-Billionaire who, at the height of his career, was changing the way business is done… and was making a whopping half a million dollars a DAY (not a typo) as a result.

The truth goes like this:

Broke people think that other people’s opinions are worth more than their dreams. Rich people know that their dreams are worth more than other people’s opinions.

You can order the interview Heather and I conducted with Bill Bartmann on CD for a mere $14. Close to 80-minutes of solid, real-world, cut-to-the-chase information, from the Billionaire nobody knew, on how to fail and still make millions.

Okay, so back to the last part of the Robin Leach interview quote I pulled from AskMen.com:

“It is usually people in the money business, finance, and international trade that are really rich…”

Climbing a mountain is always more exciting, and brings more of a sense of fulfillment, than the descent. The payoff of a lottery win or 15 minutes of fame on T.V. might seem like the road to easy wealth, but, if you’re an entrepreneur, a passionate business person, or someone who simply does what they love and lets the money follow, keep doing it and never give up.

When the going gets tough — when you wonder about your next promotion, or get up sweating in the middle of the night thinking about ideas to bring in more money or more customers — just do what I do:

Take a breather, don’t think business, and just start imagineering.

That multi-sensory exercise involves you SEEING YOURSELF doing what you want, with whom you want, and where you want.

If you have somebody special cheering you on (a loved one), if you’re putting honest value out into the world, are passionate about why you do what you do, and learn to imagine now and then, there’s no doubt you’ll be having champagne wishes and caviar dreams

So, before I let you go, check out this inspiring HOUSE — a house on the coast of California on the market for $75 million smack-a-roos:

* * *

Stay tuned… on Saturday, by evening (Pacific Time), Heather will release a REPORT titled: “Passive Income Adventures — Education For Living a Rich, Leveraged Life“

This report will tie in with the monstrous discussion and commentary that is currently being had via our Institionalized Thinking Via Formal Education post.

We’ll talk to you this Saturday.

Until then…

Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

The program used real-world experiments in social psychology as the source of its humorous scenarios.

The resulting programs were not only entertaining, but also instructive.

For example, how independent is the average person when confronted with the all-powerful “consensus of the group?”

Not very.

This is the very reason (one main reason, anyway) that the warm and fuzzy side of personal and spiritual development continues to be perpetuated by NEW marketers entering this area!

Not only do they think it’s the cool, hip, in-crowd thing to do, they actually think (without a lot of authentic, honest self-talk and contemplation, by the way) that their recycled, surface-level, me-too content actually serves a purpose beyond spoon-feeding the masses the very “fix” that treats the symptoms and NOT the cause.

World-famous copywriter, Bob Bly, recently commented on how this phenomenon — of being enamored with fluff, fads, and molding your personality to “crowd mentality” — applies to marketing:

“…blogging, social networking sites, bulletin boards, forums — all that is well and good. But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to sell something or you’re just wasting your time.”

Yup, we hear ya, Bob… it’s a crazy thing, isn’t it? As we’ve been saying in a hard and heavy way over the past year on this blog:

When it’s your belief (your self-identity) that you’re always or mostly one way (i.e., loving, caring, enlightened); that you’re put here to be a messenger for something profoundly intangible (i.e., like bliss, happiness or love); that you’re supposed to always socialize or give away things BEFORE you can sell something you have of value… you go into cognitive dissonance when your behavior doesn’t fit the self-identity.

Yet, the majority, regardless of how personally unfruitful or non-productive it is, will always protect their self-identity at all costs.

Several days ago, we started our first post about “happiness” — how when you use your common-sense and ground your fluffy emotions, you’ll realize that not only can you not strive to find it around you, but it’s really something else you’re after. Many “Thank You’s” for everybody in our community who participated.

However, there’s one community member,  Azam Khan , who we feel said it best, as it applies to what THIS post is about:

Being transparent, holding yourself accountable for what you experience (or don’t experience), and not pretending to be something you’re really not.

In response to the I Don’t Want To be Happy post, Azam adds:

“It is refreshing to hear a clearly defined distinction between superficial happiness and true fulfillment. I have known many people who go through life wearing fake plastic smiles to make themselves appear more pleasant or personable, but are emotional wrecks inside, or totally numb.

“I believe the whole spectrum of the human emotional experience needs to be felt and acknowledged in order to be genuinely whole. And that is to never repress the shadow of our anger, resentment or negativity, but to truly feel and acknowledge them, and in some cases where appropriate, express them.

“It is true that the pursuit of happiness is something that can cause unhappiness. We live in a world which can generally be an awesome place too… but we are also subject to an infrastructure of forced social adaptation that is governed by advertising and collective trends. As human animals with an inherent need to belong and be part of a collective, it is easy to fall prey to socio-cultural definitions of happiness and success, and aimlessly pursue them to maintain appearances and status.”

And, this is a perfect transition to the event I’m leading off on June 6th. Kinda like Bill Hicks (we’ll talk about him soon) warming up for George Carlin, I’ll be starting off some rants and giving my direct, let’s-keep-it-real commentary to a “Personal Development Raw” event.

= = = = =

Personal Development Raw is only being offered, at this time, to a private, somewhat select group of students who have progressed through some no-nonsense, hard-core training by a friend of mine who is doing some pretty snazzy habit-busting things for his people.

Ya know the ol’ saying: “Insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.”

Well, my friend, who shall go unnamed until I get my hands on the recording and/or can direct you to the Personal Development Raw series he’s putting together, is ensuring his students don’t go insane.

Like Heather and I, he completely understands how the self-improvement, spiritual growth, manifestation / LOA niche attracts a lot of people (the majority) who are in a constant state of delusion (yep, a strong assertion… yet, we’ve dived deep enough to be able to say that).

In our friend’s words:

“The truth of the matter is, you are NOT willing to realize your faults, your mistakes or how you are constantly lying to yourself. Please don’t stop reading; if I have offended you, I’m sorry. But, I really think it’s time that a personal development professional begins to tell you what you need to hear, instead of hyping it up with philosophy and what you THINK you need to hear.”

So, my request of you is this:

WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO COVER ?

I mean, come on, I can obviously sit, talk, and elaborate on everything we’ve been revealing, exposing, and being critically direct about on this blog…

… like self-help teachers who have an  identity crisis with “marketing” and “teaching.”

… like how some of the most fragile, neurotic egos come out of the woodwork when we confront their hazy, cryptic, single-minded, over-analytical views of what The Secret means (or should mean) to them.

… like how certain marketers/publishers claim they’re trying to dig deeply and be intelligent researchers, impartial reporters, or scientists, yet when they get an expert on the phone turn the whole thing into an adoring gush-fest.

So, you get the drift:  What RAW things — things that you wouldn’t want your grandma to hear — do you want me to talk about?

Name it (by commenting on this post)… nothing is out of bounds for this call I’ll be conducting on June 6th.

———————————————————————–

And, yes, by the way, I WILL be strong-arming (aggressively cajoling) my friend to create a book out of the Personal Development Raw series he’s creating.

Why?

Simply because, in an age where the MASSES fool themselves every day by believing in mainstream propaganda (or at least, not questioning it or turning over the rock) and striving to perfect their game (the game called “personal accomplishment”) from hollow, lame, and Utopian practices, it’s NEEDED!

And, least I not forget!

I can’t begin to tell you how many of our readers have submitted tickets about wanting to write a book or make comments here on our LWL blog about “one day” being an author.

TRULY, if that’s you, there’s no damn excuse.

Have a dream of writing your own book?

Yeah, well, we do (did) too — we’re in the process of writing three of them, actually.

We got off our ass and are doing it. So can you.

Research tells us that 82% of people believe they have a book inside them. However, sadly 99.9% of people will go to their grave with their book still inside them. But don’t despair.

Don’t let that be you!

By accessing this FREE 68 Minute Audio and 43–page Publishing Guide, valued at over $147, you’ll discover a proven way to become a best-selling author…

Yup, watch out J.K. Rowling… Dale Beaumont, the publisher of this AMAZING publishing guide, has published 15 books over the past three years – selling over a quarter of a million copies. As he keeps up the pace, he’ll be right on your tail

Hey, Dear Reader, what can you learn from Dale ?

At the end of yesterday’s post, “The Pursuit of Pleasure,” Heather briefly mentioned (via the P.S.) a RESOURCE that’ll show you how to EXIT the rat race and become a “Mobile Entrepreneur” with the ability to live, travel or work anywhere.

The owner of this resource, ExitMyJob, wrote a very synchronisitic (similar in thought) article about “Happiness.”

While Heather’s post, from yesterday, talks about the “pleasure” of external places and things vs. the true “happiness” that comes from within, Bryant’s article looks at a more superficial definition of “happiness”.  He equates “happiness” with Heather’s definition of “pleasure”, and “fulfillment” with her description of “happiness”.

So the semantics are different, but the sentiment is similar…

—————————————-

By Bryant Jones

I don’t want to be happy…

What do you want? Do you really want to be happy?

I don’t think so!

Let’s look at what we humans really want…

I was in a conversation with a friend a few weeks back about the Exit My Job program and we got on the subject of being “happy”.  My friend quickly pointed out that as humans, it is not in our nature to want to be happy. “WHAT?” I said… he went on to explain that most of us chase being “happy” as the end goal in life, but that is not what we really want. How could this be…?

I had never heard a such a crazy statement. But I was curious about what he meant…

Well as we talked I found out it was true, I don’t want to be happy.

I have a feeling you don’t really want to be happy either.  And it maybe the VERY pursuit of happiness that has you unhappy and stuck in life.

So if I don’t want to be happy I must want unhappiness, right?  WRONG! Here’s what I really want… and what I bet you really want…. ready…

I want to be fulfilled, that’s right I want fulfillment in my life. Think about it, if we humans REALLY wanted “happiness” over anything else, why the hell would we go to a sad movie, or listen to a sad song? Does that make you “HAPPY”? No.

Would we ever go on roll-a-coasters and have the crap scared out of us? Does being scared make you happy? No. How about having kids? I have four and I can tell you I was NOT happy with the experience of raising my kids a lot of times – but I WAS fulfilled in being a father.

Now I focus on those things that fulfill me, and I want to help you do the same. So the next time you are looking at some area in life, don’t ask yourself “what would make me happy?”, ask yourself “what will give me fulfillment?”.

I bet you have a dream deep inside that you know would fulfill your very soul and I bet chasing all those “things” that are suppose to make you “happy” have you denying your dream. Am I getting through to you here?

I am saying that you very well might be chasing happiness and denying yourself REAL fulfillment. Why the hell would you do that? Because you are conditioned to do that, you are conditioned to MAKE people around you happy and to be happy yourself.

Think about this, as a society most of us are conditioned to believe that we BETTER be happy and if we’re not happy that “something is wrong”. And, that part of being happy is making OTHER people happy (which is impossible by the way).

So, we all start playing our “roles” in order to make others, and ourselves happy. We try to make our spouse happy. We try to make our kids happy. We try to make our boss happy. We try to make our parents happy. We even try to make total strangers happy.

We buy all the “stuff” that will make us happy. The new car. The new boat. The new house. We  buy all the “stuff” that will make other people happy too. You get the point…

And then comes along banks, big corporations and the media. Here’s how they fit in the mix and make it even harder on us to follow the “Pursuit of fulfillment”.

The banks say “I will loan you some money”, so then you can go to the big corporation and buy some more “happy making” stuff. Then the media steps in and reminds you how UNHAPPY we all are… but wait – here’s a commercial break to sell us some more stuff to “make” us happy just in time! You see the cycle?

So I say screw being happy – I want TRUE fulfillment. Leave me a comment and let me know what you want….

With love,

Bryant

Wish you could work from anywhere? How about a hammock on the beach?