Taking the path less traveled and following one's dreams -- [AUDACITY], [COURAGE], [FAITH]

This seems like pretty good advice in any situation! What are your thoughts?
(Excerpts:)

"...which decisions did you make that helped the most?
"- The decision to learn to speak in public... "
- The decision to commit. Commitment brings its own reward - in ways that are unimaginable things happen to speed you on your way. But you must commit."

Personal Branding Interview: Phil Town

• By: Dan Schawbel on May 1st, 2009
  

Today, I spoke with Phil Town, who is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Rule #1 and the upcoming author of Payback Time, which debuts in September. In this interview, Phil tells his own story of how he's build his personal brand to be what it is today. Also, he gives you the secret to getting a book deal and becoming a bestselling author, tells you how to invest in this economy and emphasizes the importance of social media in the world today.

Phil, how did you go from an average high school student pumping gas to a #1 NY Times bestselling author and world renowned speaker?

I took the path less traveled and followed my dreams. I wanted to be a soldier since I was a kid so I went in the Army and eventually was awarded the famous Green Beret and joined Special Forces. I liked some parts of what I did in Latin America and Vietnam but it wasn't for me so I got out at age 23. I got a job as a whitewater guide because running drugs looked too dangerous.

I loved running rivers, living outside and I did that on a bunch of rivers for ten years. I had a lot of time off season so I started reading philosophy, got stoned a lot to discover the secrets of the universe, turned to meditation instead, lived in India and France in ashrams so I could ponder the absolute and eventually was so absolutely broke I took an offer to apprentice with an investor who taught me the right stuff and then I went off and made my millions. And then wrote about it so you can do it, too.

There are hundreds of thousands of books published each year. How were you able to stand out? What marketing tips do you have for authors?

"The key thing to understand about the publishing industry is that they don't sell books, they publish them."

Since they don't sell books, they look for authors who can sell the books if they publish them. This ability is highly prized. They will pay you a lot of money for your book if you can show them how it will be sold in large enough quantities that they'll not only get their money back but also make a profit. In my case, I had been on a speaker circuit with several seminar producers and over 2 million people had seen me already. Plus, the seminar producers raised their credibility by raising my credibility so they featured me in ads after the book came out and they put the book out to their subscribers …. all of which drove it to #1.

"Here's the marketing tip of the century: create a large group of fans who will buy your book before you write your book."

In a horrible economy, what three pieces of advice do you have for hardcore investors and what three pieces do you have for a beginner?

• For the hardcores: Be careful. The best investments are usually the one's you don't make. And only buy wonderful businesses and only when they are on sale. Then go do something else and wait for the price to go up as it inevitably will.
• For the beginners: Ditto.

If you had to examine your personal brand throughout the past few decades, which decisions did you make that helped the most?

The decision to learn to speak in public. That led to being in front of people. That led to a book. That led to another book … and that will lead to a bigger audience. And that leads to a lot of fun.

The decision to commit. Commitment brings its own reward - in ways that are unimaginable things happen to speed you on your way. But you must commit.

You have another book coming out in 2010, and you're already preparing now for it's launch, with a Facebook page and Twitter. What role does social media play in your life now and in the future?

It is huge. Unimaginably huge. In two years I will not need a stage to speak on. My audience will be connected to me through social media and web 2.0. These are incredible democratizing tools that allow talent and skill to rise to the top. Learn how to use these tools. Do it now.

—-
Phil Town is the author of Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! (Crown Publishing Group, 2006)—the #1 New York Times best-seller and Amazon.com's top-selling business book of 2006. He heads the list of motivational speakers, addressing 500,000 people per year across the nation at the mega-seminar "Get Motivated." An ex-Green Beret and former river guide, Phil is a self-made millionaire several times over. Town usually is found sharing the stage with the likes of President Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell and Zig Ziglar, speaking to groups numbering 20,000. His latest book called Payback Time: How to Outsmart the System That Failed You and Get Your Investments Back on Track, comes out in September.

Source: http://personalbrandingblog.com/personal-branding-interview-phil-town/

An exceptional coffee and tea bar people talk about --[EXCELLENCE], [SERVICE], [ATTENTIVENESS]

This is from the excellent marketing blog of David Henderson - consultant, author, journalist.

Jane Told Claire, Claire Told Me

Posted: 18 Apr 2009

Word of mouth marketing is like third party endorsement. It's the most influential and powerful form of social media. Here's an example -

Jane P-B, a writer and professor in New York City, told our daughter Claire about a small coffee shop that she found to be remarkable. Claire loved it, too, and told me. I visited the coffee shop this weekend, and found it to be one of the best coffee shops I know of in North America. And, I am sharing with you.

If you are waiting for me to mention Twitter or some online social media tool … sorry, not this time. This is about old-fashioned third party endorsement, which remains a heck of a lot more enduring and important than any online tactic.

Oh, yes … what's the name of this wonderful coffee shop? 71 Irving Place. That's also the address, just a couple of blocks east of Union Square in Manhattan.

What's so special about 71 Irving Place?

• They craft outstanding coffee drinks from their own roasts, and have wonderful tea.
• The food they sell is delicious and outstanding quality.
• They have free WiFi.

They do not sell CDs, espresso machines and breath mints like Starbucks. Starbucks has lost its compass … it's purpose … and has become the Wal-mart of coffee shops. They can learn lessons from 71 Irving Place about how to be a truly exceptional coffee and tea bar that people talk about. It's a simple lesson - be really good at what you do.

Here's their Web site - www.irvingfarm.com.

A Deed of the Báb - the mystery of reward and punishment --[FORGIVENESS], [SACRIFICE], [LOVE], [JUSTICE]

Many thanks to Keyvan for translating and sharing this edifying story on the excellent blog kidsidebyside.org !

Story of the mystery of reward and punishment!

One of the early believers of the Bab, by the name of Haji Abu'l-Hasan Shirazi shares the following eye-witness account of his journey with the Bab and Quddus from Port of Bushihr to The Holy places of Islam in Arabia in 1844. At the time Haji Abu'l-Hasan was one of the Muslem pilgrims and a year later, when the Bab was brought to the Masjid Vakil for interrogation and humiliation by the government and Moslem clergy, Haji Abu'l-Hasan Shirazi recognised The Bab's station and became a believer. The divine power of meekness emanating from The Bab and the empathic capabilities of thousands of receptive souls was among the many ways that the loving and patient God assisted His ignorant and wayward servants to arise and recognize His new Revelation.

Through out the course of this journey which lasted two months and despite the rough sea, Haji Abu'l-Hasan witnessed the Bab, radiantly revealing verses and Quddus taking down the dictation. This Journey to the Holy cities was particularly full of sufferings for the Beloved Bab. From Bushihr He embarked on a small and crowded ship called Baghleh. Much of the crowd consisted of Persian pilgrims heading for the annual pilgrimage in Mecca.

The leader of the Moslem pilgrims was an ignorant and arrogant man by the name of Shaikh Abu Hashem. He was a power hungry, wicked, egotistic and vicious individual. Soon he became perturbed with jealousy and was burning with anger because the Bab refused to follow his lead in the group prayer. He felt insulted that the Bab did not pay respect to him in front of other pilgrims and missed no opportunity to do everything in his power to steer his group to insult the Bab and cause Him pain. His aggression became so blatant that the ship's captain reprimanded him and warned him about his behavior and told him to leave the Bab alone.

Eventually the ship's captain himself got into a dispute with him and the ignorant Shaikh insulted the Captain. This proved to be a deadly crime on board of a ship and was punishable by death. The captain was enraged and ordered the nasty Shaikh to be thrown into the Sea and off the board of his ship. In this instant the beloved Bab approached the captain and asked for the Shaikh's life to be spared. The captain was furious and could not stop screaming and ordering: "throw this cursed trash overboard".

The Bab knew that the captain was absolutely determined to have the Shaikh thrown into the sea. In order to prevent the Shaikh's execution, the Bab approached the Shaikh and tightly embraced His enemy to stop the Captain from killing him while asking the captain to pardon the Sheikh for His sake and release the Sheikh to Him. The captain was perplexed by the Bab's extraordinary action and his heart was touched by the Bab's request. He commented to the Bab that this cursed man has been hurting you more than any one else and of all people you should welcome his death. The Bab replied "These people are only hurting themselves, it is becoming for us to have a sin covering eye."

This intercession of the Bab and the radiance of His unconditional love awakened the ignorant and warmed the hearts of those who were sincere on board of the ship to the extend that they changed their behavior towards the Bab and from then on offered Him their utmost respect.

In one of His prayers the Bab reveals an unprecedented and unimaginable mystery about how God confers His blessings upon a servant when He so chooses and also how He ordains evil for a servant for raising against His Will and committing injustice.

"Indeed shouldst Thou desire to confer blessing upon a servant Thou wouldst blot out from the realm of his heart every mention or disposition except Thine Own mention; and shouldst Thou ordain evil for a servant by reason of that which his hands have unjustly wrought before Thy face, Thou wouldst test him with the benefits of this world and of the next that he might become preoccupied therewith and forget Thy remembrance."

- The Báb

Be awake

Keyvan
Story Translated by Keyvan from Payam-i Bahá'í

POEM: Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back --[THANKFULNESS], [ACCEPTANCE], [WISDOM], [POETRY]

From the Temple (1633), by George Herbert

Love (III)

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
        Guiltie of dust and sinne
But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lack'd any thing.

A guest, I answer'd, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he
I the unkinde, ungratefull? Ah my deare,
I cannot look on thee
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply
Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marr'd them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, sayes Love, who bore the blame?
My deare, then I will serve.
You must sit down, sayes Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.

Floods take land and crops, yet thankful for life's gifts! [RESILIENCE], [THANKFULNESS], [FAITH]

A BEAUTIFUL piece about resilience in the face of difficulties from the excellent blog Baha'i Perspectives.

"But I am blessed."

Posted: 14 Apr 2009

You will have to forgive me if this is against proper netiquette, but I am going to blog about one of my own articles.  It's one I wrote about after a trip to flood-affected areas of northern Namibia, telling the story of Helvy, a 84-year old great grandmother.  I met her in a relocation camp, where her village had moved after their homes were submerged when the nearby river burst its banks.

Almost six hundred people are living in the camp, five or six families in each tent. They have to sleep on the hard ground, and at night when it gets colder, only a few have blankets to cover them.  There are two taps in the whole camp, and the Red Cross has built three temporary toilets on the outskirts.  They have lost not only their homes, but also their fields of maize and sorghum.  So, not only is this year's harvest gone, but next year's one is lost too, because the seeds for next year come from this year. 

I met Helvy during our brief visit to the camp, a little bit after midday.  She was dressed in what I suspect is her best dress, accessorised with a beautiful long handmade bead necklace.  There had been a state visit earlier in the day, and the whole camp was spick and span.  Helvy was sitting outside her tent, cradling a sleeping child in her arms.  I don't know if it was one of her own great-grandchildren, but from the number of children clustered around her tent, I think she must be a child-magnet.

Through an interpreter, she told me about the night they had to abandon their home and escape to the camp.  She told me that they had lost most of their possessions and their food and about how scared she had been.  Then she gave me a blinding smile, and said "But I am blessed.  My family is safe, I am safe, and we are together.  I am very thankful to God".

I was taken aback.  After all this hardship, shouldn't she be bitter and miserable? Shouldn't she be bemoaning her fate, instead of being thankful?  I kept thinking about her all day, humbled by her radiant acquiescence, her detachment from material things, and her love for her family. She seemed to epitomise what the Baha'i Writings tell us about tests and difficulties:

For what can dark doubts do with the light of guidance, or clouds with the shining moon? Tests and trials only cause agitation to weak hearts. But the pure souls, a hundred thousand tests are but to them like mirage, imagination and shadow. 

Praise be to God that thou hast kept steadfast with all firmness under the millstone of tests like unto a grain of diamond. Be not grieved; tests lead to the development of holy souls and the ardor of the flame of fire causeth the pure gold to shine and the violence of winds is conducive to the growth and thriving of a firm and well rooted tree.

So the next time there is a blip in my ordered life, and things do not go as planned and I begin to feel sorry for myself, I hope I will remember Helvy and her blinding smile.

Allowing time for what we ENJOY: value of MUSIC -- [BEAUTY], [THANKFULNESS], [JOY]

From the excellent blog Baha'i Perspectives.

 

Turn it up

Posted: 09 Apr 2009 03:19 AM PDT

Recently, my husband and I were on a long road trip using the cheapest rental car we could find. As a result of our thriftiness, we had a car with only radio access (no ipod connection), which made for some meaningful one-on-one conversation. After a good thirty minutes of talking about work and our to-do-lists and so on, we started to get more creative.

I asked him, "What are the things you enjoy doing the most?"

He replied, "Are you serious? You know what things I enjoy doing!"

"Well… sure, I know some of them… maybe even most of them… but maybe there are things that will be new to me."

My husband, always willing to play along, proceeded to highlight a list of things he enjoys doing, some of which I definitely knew and a few things that were new to me.

Then he proceeded to ask me the same question. I started to list the things I really enjoy doing, and a very strange thing happened. Halfway through my list, I began to tear up and eventually cry a bit. I realized that most of the things on my list were things I WANTED to do, but not things I was actually DOING. Woah, man!

My husband and I proceeded to break down my list and realized that most of the things I enjoy doing are creative in nature (i.e. reading for pleasure, dancing to happy music, listening to inspiring music, and the list goes on and on). Why wasn't I doing any of it?

Initially I blamed it on a lack of time, but eventually we decided that if you really want to do an activity, you tend to make some time for it. Skip past further novice psychoanalysis, and we realized it all boiled down to guilt. I felt guilty spending an hour curled up with a good book or taking the time to listen to an inspiring song rather than using that same hour to do something more "productive" like responding to work e-mail after hours or doing an extra load of laundry.

The Baha'i writings speak highly of engaging in the arts such as music. In one passage, Shoghi Effendi tells us the following:

It is the music which assists us to affect the human spirit; it is an important means which helps us to communicate with the soul.

(Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol II, p. 80)

Abdu'l-Baha tell us the following:

Among certain nations of the East, music was considered reprehensible, but in this new age the Manifest Light hath, in His holy Tablets, specifically proclaimed that music, sung or played, is spiritual food for soul and heart.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 112)

I started thinking that maybe my soul decided to start that conversation to let me know that it's starved for some creative food. Although it's still not second nature, I have allotted myself twenty minutes a day since our road trip to engage in non "productive" activities. I'm starting to think that these twenty minutes might end up being the most productive minutes I have.

 

Effect of beauty on the spirit, blessings of generosity -- [BEAUTY], [JOY], [ORDERLINESS], [GENEROSITY],

 

This is from Druzelle's enlightening blog Luminous Realities: Exploring the Creative Process. Source is here. 

 

A Cherry Blossom Day

Posted: 05 Apr 2009 07:47 AM PDT

Cherry blossoms at Washington, D.C. Tidal Basin - Wikimedia

Early April in Washington, D.C. means the Cherry Blossom Festival is in bloom once again. The cherry trees – more than 3,000 – were a gift from the mayor of Tokyo in 1912, "a diplomatic gesture of goodwill." I can still recall from my own visit what a delicious feeling it is to walk along paths surrounded by such a graceful abundance of gentle beauty.

Even if you cannot be there, allow yourself to step out of the current flow of texting, twittering, and the rest of it to spend a few meditative moments in this video of A Cherry Blossom Day, sunrise to sunset. Let the haunting, instrumental strains of Sakura, a traditional Japanese folk song, seep into your spirit as the beauty of the day opens before you.

"Although sounds are but vibrations in the air which affect the ear's auditory nerve, and these vibrations are but chance phenomena carried along through the air, even so, see how they move the heart," wrote 'Abdu'l-Baha,* another 1912 visitor to Washington, D.C. "A wondrous melody is wings for the spirit, and maketh the soul to tremble for joy."

The physical realm exerts a powerful influence on the spirit, 'Abdu'l-Baha asserted in a more detailed explanation. This month's Scientific American Mind backs him up. Did you know scientific studies show that gazing on nature improves your focus? That the amount of light, height of celings, and other aspects of our living spaces have significant affect on how our minds work? People who care are paying attention to this emerging neuroscience and figuring how to apply it in the real world. Find interesting details for your own use in the article.

In the meantime give yourself the gift of a few meditative moments amongst the cherry blossoms.

* 'Abdu'l-Baha was the eldest son of Baha'u'llah. For more see The Master - Chapter 62 in The Story of Baha'u'llah.