Goodies

This, too, Shall Pass

A dervish who had traveled long and hard through the desert finally came to civilization afer a long journey. The village was called Sandy Hills, and it was dry and hot. Except for the hay feed and some shrubs, not much greenery was to be found. Cattle were the main means of livelihood for the people of Sandy Hills, had the condition of the soil been different, they might have been able to engage in agriculture as well.

The dervish politely asked a passerby if there was someplace where he could find fool and lodging for the night. "Well," said the man, scratching his head, "we don't have such a place in our village, but I am sure Shakir would be happy to provide for you tonight." Then the man gave directions to the ranch owned by Shakir, whose name means "one who thanks the Lord constantly."

On his way to the ranch, the dervish stopped by a small group of old men who were smoking pipes, to reconfirm his directions. From them, he found out that Shakir was the richest man in the area. One of the men said Shakir owned more than a thousand cattle - "And this is more than the wealth of Haddad, who lives in the neighboring village."

A short while later, the dervish was standing in front of Shakir's home, admiring it. As it turned out, Shakir was a very hospitable and kind person. He insisted that the dervish stay a couple of days in his house. Shakir's wife and daughters were just as kind and considerate as he was and provided the dervish with the best. At the end of his stay, they even supplied him with plenty of food and water for his journey.

On his way back into the desert, the dervish could not help puzzling over Shakir's last words at the time of farewell. The dervish had said, "Thank God that you are well off."

"But, dervish," Shakir had replied, "don't be fooled by appearances, for this too shall pass."

During his years on the Sufi path, the dervish had come to understand that anything he heard or saw during his journey ofered a lesson to be learned and thus was worthy of contemplation. In fact, that was the reason he had undertaken the journey in the first place - to learn more. The words of shakir occupied his thoughts and he was not sure if he fully understood their import.

Procrastination Audio

I don't know about you, but I'm just a little shocked that it's not only October already, but it's almost the end of the month! Yeow! Where does time go, anyway?

I look at the long list of things I want to do and can hardly believe I think I can do it all. Yet, looking back on my life, I've done a lot more. So, yes, I will indeed get them done.

But I hold myself back at times. I get afraid. I get anxious I might fail - or even succeed. I leave projects to the very last minute and cheat myself out of a beefier outcome - not to mention sales and reveue I would have gotten, too.

We all do this same thing, now and then.

But that's OK, because we know how to deal with them, right? Good old EFT.

Today Barbara and Ann and I decided to slough off procrastination! We looked at what was in our way, yes, but more importantly, we decided what we wanted INSTEAD. Because you can't keep your eye on the road if it's always looking in the rear-view mirror.

No More Procrastination!

What I have found when I procrastinate is that I'm somehow or other not admitting a truth to myself.

For instance, a few days ago, I found myself feeling angry and dragging my feet when I really "ought" to have been getting ready for a meeting.

I stopped and asked myself why I was dragging. What came up for me immediately was the thought, "I don't want to go, I'm enjoying what I'mdoing now." Oh. OK. Then I weighed going as opposed to not going, and the long-term benefits of either option. I went, because of various reasons not necessary to add here.

No more anxiety, no more black and blue me feeling guilty about being late or feeling angry because I really didn't want to go. I could make a clear, conscious choice that felt good.

It's very simple, and makes for a quick release of anxiety and self-blame (kicking myself for being late, feeling guilty for not showing up, guilty for ... - you name it.).

Prosper - Borrow and Lend!

Check this out - this is very cool. A friend turned me onto it today:

Prosper, America's first people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone.

The way Prosper works is intuitive to people who have used eBay. Instead of listing and bidding on items, people list and bid on loans using Prosper's online auction platform.

LENDERS

People who want to lend set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select.

People who lend can easily diversify using "standing orders", which automatically make many small loans to different borrowers.

In addition to criteria commonly used by institutional lenders, such as credit scores, people who lend can consider borrowers' group affiliations. Groups on Prosper are critical to bringing people together for the common goal of borrowing at better rates. Groups earn reputations according to their members' repayment records. Groups with successful repayment histories should attract more lenders offering lower rates.

BORROWERS

Borrowers create loan listings for up to $25,000 and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay a lender. Then the auction begins as people who lend bid down the interest rate. Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them into one simple loan. Prosper handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrower and lenders.

Check it out: use this address: http://www.prosper.com/public/welcome/default.aspx
or click right HERE

Amp Up Your Energy

Two weeks ago, I had a very short, very high energy encounter with someone who was, to say the least, high energy. I've known about the fact that our bodies have electro-magnetic fields for years. But what I didn't fully comprehend until I met this man was how big a gap there can be - and how extreme it can feel - between one person's field and another. I mean, BIG. Spell that with foot-high letters.

I was at a meeting where this particular man was Dreaming for others in the group: he carefully listened to what they did and who they were, and then sort of got all glazey-eyed and started Dreaming their business for them.

It was an amazing phenomenon. In five minutes, he encapsulated each person's highest ideas and popped them through to possibilities they had never thought of.

When it came my turn, he looked at me and asked me the usual questions.

Click "continue" to find out how my system derailed me so that I missed out....

30% Savings on Gas, 70% Less Emissions

I got a note recently from someone on my list that I want to share with you, since it not only represents a way for all of us to 1. help the environment, 2. save on gas, and 3. spread an opportunity around. Here is what she says:

"Dear Angela,

"I have benefited from many of the ideas you have shared with me. I would like to share one with you in hopes you too decide to enjoy the rewards from it!

"I spoke with my brother Gerry, who is a mechanic, about this amazing new product and great business opportunity. It improves fuel efficiency by as much as 30% and reduces emissions by 70-90%...check it out go HERE .

I went to the international new car show this past weekend and saw the pressure the government is placing on the manufacturers to reduce emissions. I personally spoke with the Environmental Agent there who said; "we can push them only so hard, but they are making changes". "They" being the car manufacturers and affiliated oil and gas companies.

"It becomes apparent why the public is now given the opportunity to get the same product that the military and coast guards have been using for over 30 years to save fuel and reduce emissions! I'm sure you will agree that these corporate giants would not be cutting into their profits unless they were forced to do so, which is exactly what is happening. Another fact to consider; the hybrids are not reducing energy.

"There are actually high energy costs associated in manufacturing, running and disposing of batteries. Additionally, there is the necessary re-tooling of the gasoline engine to accommodate the hybrid running method. Therefore it makes perfect sense to simply reduce the fuel consumption and emissions associated with the gasoline engine.

What's Your Next Step?

This morning I had a conversation with my dear friend, Rebecca Marina.

As you may know, she and I have combined forces and done tele-classes and workshops together, especially dealing with energy, EFT, intuition, money and emotions.

I was telling her how, even after 10% of my list had signed up (in case you don't know, an internet marketer's typical signup rate for a call is between 1 and 3%) for the freebie last week on grants, the actual show-ups were very few. I did tell people to sign up even if they weren't able to come, so that was OK.

But.

What really astounds me, after hearing how easy Christine Groves (of GrantsmanshipInstitute.com) makes it to write your proposal, was that so few signed up for the Four-Week Successful Grant Writing Course!

I know it's not the price, because that's so low it's almost insulting to Chris.

Rebecca said she thought it was that people don't think their ideas are important enough to ask for a grant for. Or maybe they have something going on that first night - like Rebecca's class! (Which is OK - sign up anyway - listen to the audio and do the work on the first audio, then come the other 3 classes.)

Rebecca said she thought that most people might think, "Oh, no one would give me money for what I want to do!"

She thought that maybe people just haven't thought about 1) that their dream idea is valuable and worthy enough to even manifest, and 2) that the world suffers when we don't manifest our dreams. The whole world goes without. I say, we live, die, don't manifest our dream - why did we bother live so long?

Maybe I didn't tell you all about it in such a way that you really got how great a chance this is to create the things you've always wanted to do.

So I decided, as we talked, that I'd put together a special freebie class Monday night to help you address fears, doubts and worries specifically regarding your dreams and aspirations. See the info at the bottom to attend - no sign up page this time. And I'll also be giving away a goodie at the end of the 60-minute call.

The 8 Essential Elements for Writing Successful Grant Proposals

Over the past year as I have conducted my PIGEES.com and Rich-Radio.com tele-classes about money, marketing, emotional release and business success, I have received a ton of notes from people asking where they could get money for their businesses and other projects or organizations they wanted to get going.

When I was at the John Childers Millionaire Speakers Training in Nashville last December, John's assistant recommended I get in touch with Christine Groves, a 15-year veteran in the grants writing business.

So, I did! And I'm delighted to be able to bring her to you next week,
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, from 8 to 9:30 pm EST US time,
for a FREEBIE TELE-CLASS:
How to Get YOUR Money Using the 8 Essential Elements
of Writing Grant Proposals.

Impatient? Sign up right HERE

When I called Chris, I was all set to hear dry, boring information I'd yawn over by the second word. Surprise! Chris is passionate about helping people get money for their endeavors, and puts life into everything she does.

She said to me, "Did you know that there are 70,000 foundations in the US alone who give grants for over 700 topics? That there are over a million non-profit organizations out there ready to help you? That The Federal Government has appropriated over 400 BILLION in grant money to be awarded this year?"

Chris continued by saying that there is NO SCARCITY of money - in 2004, $241,000,000 was given out by individuals in this country. I was stunned - I thought, "Hey! Where's mine?!? I've been completely ignorant of the money sitting there available for creating my dreams!"

Chris continued on, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking, "Yeah, well, she's a grant writer - it's easy for her! I'll never be able to write a grant - I just don't think like that - and it's not like I'm not too busy already! And I wouldn't have a clue how to go about it."

Chris just laughed when I told her that, and said that was exactly why she holds intensive weekend workshops all over the country (for only $300!) to show folks how to write grants.

"But, Christine," I said, "I want to do a workshop for my list in a tele-class - can you do that?"

Well, it's pretty obvious what she said!

So if you have a dream project, a business or other endeavor you've been wanting money for - money that's just sitting there waiting for you to ask for it in the right way - this is your chance to jump!

Because Christine is delighted to not only reveal Three Essential Elements of Grant Writing to us on our freebie call, she's going to uncover the other 5 Essential Elements in her four-week course - How to Get YOUR Money Using the 8 Essential Elements of Writing Grant Proposals - that starts April 12th - so we can be prepared to ask for - and GET! - the money we want for our dreams, projects, businesses and organizations.

Get Yourself Free, Damn It!

You know, sometimes you just have to take a break. I do, anyway. We have a dollar theatre here in Kailua, and once in a while I sneak away and watch a movie. Well, truth be told, I do it at least once a week - I love movies. There's something about watching the silly antics of people and seeing how they get (oooh - almost let that one get by - sorry! - how WE get...) in trouble because we don't tell the truth.

Tell the truth? What you sayin', girl? I tell the truth!

Hm. Really? You tell the truth about how you FEEL? About what you REALLY WANT? About what you'd do if you weren't so AFRAID all the time?

Can't you hear that nasty, nagging, negative, teacher-y voice in your head? Pleagh. Do you suppose it will EVER let UP?

Probably not. We have enough of that stuff in our heads to last us three lifetimes. No wonder we do such messed up stuff sometimes!

But you know what? We don't have to listen. We don't have to choose the same old taudry, everyday, boring, rut-clinging, less-than, soul-killing stuff every time, every day, all day for the rest of our lives! Uh-UH! No way!

I can hear it now - what is she going on about? What is she going to sell us now?

Well, I'm going on about a movie I just saw. And I'm not about selling you nuthin'. I just saw Queen Latifah in Last Holiday. Now, I like all kinds of movies. Ones that make me think, make me cry, make me laugh (genuine laughter, not just stupid antics), and make me think of new ideas.

Well, this one made me MAD!

Tackling the Urge to Overspend

There's a very simple formula for creating wealth: Spend less than you earn and invest the surplus.

Corollaries to this are :
Save 10% of what you earn.
Only pay cash for purchases, don't use credit cards.
If you do use credit cards, pay them off every month.
Keep track of everything you spend and earn;

Somewhere along the line, you've probably come across all of the 'rules' for creating wealth. But like many people, you may find that your financial habits don't lend themselves to building a strong financial base.

The logical question to as is why do people keep spending and spending on so much stuff--stuff that often costs them for storage space, larger homes, or interest on credit card purchases?

What is it about the allure of material possessions that drives people to put themselves in financial danger while ignoring their inner desire for freedom and security?