I have spent years exploring ways to prospect for new customers and agents in a way that truly empowers people and communities whether they say Yes or No to buying my product or service.

Now that MyWealthCampaign.com and the Bronze level of WealthDiamond.com are functional, I am focused on setting up home-based training groups that anyone could offer from their home with email-based training and support from MagicLifestyle. Each workshop is structured for two hours and some run in series of four workshops.

This is the next step to fulfilling the dream to empower people with internet access to empower people who don’t have it.

People who connect to my email and video training via the internet can use the training templates to teach-inspire-empower others who don’t have access to the internet. By charging an affordable fee for the workshop a home-based trainer can teach, inspire and empower a whole bunch of people and earn something for themselves.

So whatever product or service you offer, My Wealth Campaign and Wealth Diamond (and quite a few more to come) can help you to create an environment to find more people in a way that adds value to their lives. Instead of feeling “sold” they will feel empowered. Imagine what that could do for your business.

What is worth more? A book of 1,000 pages that tells you how to be happy or a 10-page workbook that shows you five easy simple techniques to be happy?

It depends … doesn’t it?

Below the surface

On the surface the 1,000-page book will obviously cost more to produce than the 10-page workbook. Shouldn’t it cost more? Maybe, but that still doesn’t mean it’s more valuable, just more expensive.

And when you dig a little deeper you will often find that the cost of something (price) has absolutely nothing to do with value it can deliver to you. So it still depends.

Price is determined by all sorts of things from production, packaging and distribution as well as supply and demand factors.

Value, on the other hand, is determined by the “results” we get from something; and that could be a short-term experience such as a great meal or a long-term, life-transforming experience.

What if the 1,000-page book gives you a ton of information but you’re not inspired to take action to be happy while the 10-page workbook’s five steps are easy to follow and do and you get happier as a result of following the steps. Then surely the 10-page workbook is more valuable to you than the 1,000 page doorstop.

That’s what I happily rediscovered again

Last weekend I picked up a copy of Eric Berne’s book “Games People Play” at an open-air market. Just R2 for a rather old, water-damaged, second-hand book. Now I’d read the book 30 years ago and used parts of it some of my training courses. But many years and relocations later, I still had a basic understanding of the principle but I no longer had the book. Finding the book at R2 was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The paper was damaged, hence the low price, but not the contents! What Berne wrote 46 years ago was just as clear and inspiring on these warn and damaged pages as if I’d purchased a new copy from Amazon.

The package was battered but the gift was still perfectly preserved inside.

I read it the same day, and was inspired to see what had developed since Berne wrote it in 1964. And thanks to Google-power I am able to say “Wow!” So much has been done and it’s got me fascinated once again.

Time will tell how much value this R2 purchase will deliver but I appreciate that I have been reintroduced to a book I loved over 30 years ago and it has opened a new door to my own self-development. This small R2 purchase, and the time spent Googling, has offered up another valuable Happiness-piece to the MagicLifestyle puzzle. It has me inspired and energised. It’s been fun.

All this for just R2!

The quick lessons I’ve learned from this.
1. Look for the value beyond the price.
2. Extracting the value from something is a personal journey.

I can go to a restaurant with good friends and be served a beautifully cooked meal but if I am not present to the opportunity I won’t get the value … just an expensive meal.

Having reconnected, I’d now go out and buy this book new from Amazon. Seriously recommended.

We all know what it’s like to feel bad about doing something thoughtlessly. We wake when it’s too late, after the damage is done. And then there are the things we do over and over again, hating ourselves for it every time. Seemingly unable to stop.

But what about the joyfulness of doing something worthwhile, something that makes us feel great every time we think about it. Those times happen too, maybe more than we think they do.

For most of us, we’re more inclined to think we experience more of the first than the second. But that’s not necessarily the case and it certainly doesn’t have to be that way if we understand the nature of virtuous and vicious spirals.

The Process

Both spirals follow the same basic process but differ from each other in direction, scope and intensity.

Here is one loop of a spiral;

1. Think
2. Feel
3. Act
4. Experience
5. Interpret (Think)

Think of this process as one loop of a spiral where each of the five aspects leads on to the next. Thoughts lead to feelings which in turn lead to action. Action produces results which we experience and then interpret (think about).

Each loop starts and ends with thinking. A loop in the spiral can either start with an original thought or, most commonly, the interpretation of an experience. These thoughts start a new cycle of feeling, acting, experiencing and interpreting. One cycle feeding into the next.

Direction

The process starts with a simply, binary choice; positive or negative.

Our default tendency is reactive or negative; and in many senses thoughtless at a conscious level. Our reactions are rooted in our subconscious, survival instincts where any hint of danger calls for swift reactions – escaping from the jaws of a predator. Reactive, survival instincts may be appropriate in the wild but not in a complex human society.

On the other hand, positive conscious choices are responsive. They are acquired through conditioning or training which overrides the natural survival instincts of our primitive mammalian brain, the Amygdalla.

Quick exercise: Draw a horizontal line with a mark at the centre point. You can only move above the line or below it. So draw one arrow pointing upwards and another pointing downwards.

Each arrow represents the basic, binary choice; positive is upwards and negative is downwards. The positive cycle generally starts with a conscious, or conditioned, response while the negative cycle begins with an instinctive reaction.

Scope

Having made the choice, up or down, a whole vista of possibility opens up before one; 180 degrees of possibility. From the tip of the positive arrow draw six arrows leading off in all directions and from the negative arrow draw two arrows leading off it; these arrows represent the possibilities that open up to you once you make your positive or negative choice. I will explain the reason for the six positive and two negative arrows at the end of this article.

As I am sure you have experienced, once we make a choice to be positive or negative a variety of feelings become available to us. The nature of our thoughts and their intensity will determine which feelings we follow; either naturally or by choice. And each bouquet of feelings will in turn drive us towards a certain type of behaviour or action. And each action will result in a variety of possible experiences, some within our control and some out of our control.

Continue the exercise. If the first arrow represented “thought”, the arrows leading from that represent “feelings”. Now you can add another set of arrows to each of the ‘second’ arrows to represent “actions” and another set above those to represent “experiences”.

In either direction you end with a plethora of possibilities; more on the positive and fewer on the negative. That’s the scope of the spirals.

Intensity

As I am sure you have experienced, negativity feels stronger, or more intense, than positivity; in scientific terms this is called “negativity bias’

But, what may not be so evident is that most people normally have more positive experiences each day; what is called “positivity offset”.

So although negativity feels stronger most of us experience more positivity each day; it may not feel like it but that’s the average experience of most people. What is true is that most people don’t have enough positive experiences to fully offset the negativity they experience. As we will see in the next articles, it is the ratio between positive and negative experiences that largely determine whether we flourish and flounder.

It is easier to spiral out of control into a negative scenario than it is into a positive one. We see this on a daily basis whether in family feuds, civil wars and global conflicts, where sometimes seemingly minor incidents spark off massive conflict. And things go from bad to worse to terrible.

Positivity cycles are much less likely to spin out of control because they are less intense and because they invariably get interrupted by the proverbial “wake-up call”, some negative thought or experience that brings one “down to earth” again.

Understanding this can make a huge difference to the way we interpret our experiences and so choose the direction of our emotional cycles.

Scope revisited

Why did I ask you to draw six arrows above the arrow representing the positive choice and only two on the negative arrow? Good question and here’s a quick answer because we will look at this in more detail in a future article.

There are more arrows on the positivity arrow because positivity broadens one’s options whereas negativity narrows the options.

Reaction is an ‘in the moment’ thing and is generally represented by two main alternatives, fight or flight.

Positivity on the other hand takes a more studied approach and as such opens up many more possibilities.

But how can you take a ‘studied approach’ when there’s a crisis looming? Another good question.

Positivity allows you to ‘live in the moment’ both before and after the moment!

Positivity empowers you to imagine a positive response before you need it. For example you may see or read about an incident and then imagine how you would respond in such a circumstance. If and when you do experience such a circumstance, you have a ready-made template for your response. You don’t have to think about it in the moment, you act ‘according to plan’.

Positivity also empowers you to learn from past experiences and so develop a better plan for future, similar situations. Negativity invariably precludes learning by overwhelming us with negative feelings such as guilt, shame or anger.

Changing direction of a spiral

Who in their right mind would want to change the direction of a virtuous spiral? Obviously no one! Virtuous spirals are frequently challenged, the proverbial wake up calls. You don’t have to want to change the direction of a virtuous spiral. But it does need one to be alert to keep it moving in the right direction. .

But we do need to be ready to change direction of a vicious spiral if we want to truly enjoy life. This will also be covered in more detail in future articles but here’s what you need to know now;

At each point on the loop of “Think – Feel – Act – Experience – Interpret” there is feedback about what’s happening and, with it, an opportunity to change direction.

Changing direction always involves change! Sounds obvious but here’s what most people miss. It needs changing about the way “I” think about the situation. All too often we are inclined to think that others must change in order for the situation to change but that is a negative and dis-empowering position to hold and it always leads to more negative results. You might experience a change in degree (scope) but not in direction. The ball is always in someone else’s court. And that is not the way to control any game, let alone your life.

You’ve heard it said, “For things to change, you have to change!”

That is certainly valid and true, the question we must ask ourselves is this;

“How do I change myself if nothing else around me changes?

When you ask that question, you step into positivity and accept a new kind of power. Just do it!

Here is a short presentation on My Wealth Campaign and the amazing Rocket Science Saving (RSS) plan.

Join the My Wealth Campaign facebook group and start your own exponential saving plan. It’s going to be a blast!

Watch this quick PoerPoint presentation to see how amazing the Rocket Science Saving plan is.

Like me, you may know it’s true but it does us no good because we, as human beings, don’t relish change. It’s easier not to change; easier to maintaining the status quo even if it’s painful.

Many of us endure painful situations for years because we learned that “the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know”. But it’s only a half-truth! Partly true because who wants to exchange one devil for another? But not the real truth because we could be booting out the devil we know and taking back control of our own life! That is almost guaranteed to be better than living with the devil we know. Change can be good, change can be great!

How do you step out of your comfort zone? Here are four simple steps.

1. Recognize the realities of external circumstances.

There are many things we can change and much we can’t. That’s just the way life works. So heed this old proverb or prayer;

To change the things I can change
To accept the things I cannot change
To have the wisdom to know the difference.

Accurately understanding the way things work is the first step to living intelligently in a complex world and an increasingly complicated society.

“The truth will set you free.” To the extent that our understanding matches the realities of our circumstances, to that extent are we free to act intelligently. People who won’t adapt to a changing world always seem to lose.

2. Different strategies

Someone said that “insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.” If we don’t like the results we’re getting all we need to do is change what we are doing. Sounds simple enough! That will get different results but it may not necessarily get us the result s we want; that’s probably where the “devil you know and the devil you don’t know” proverb comes from.

But, with a bit of forethought and planning, a different strategy could very likely produce the results we want. Of course there is a risk that things may not work out as planned, so be prepared and be adaptable. Let us keep playing the game until we develop a few winning moves. That way we will gain some sanity and quite probably the things we want.

3. Different Outcomes

Like causes produce like effects. Orange trees always produce oranges, never apples or pears.

Different strategies produce different outcomes. The person who goes to night school to upgrade their qualification, expands their possibilities and horizons. The couple who decides to start a home business so that they can afford a better education for their children, create a different outcome for both their children and future generations as well.

Different strategies always result in different outcomes. And don’t forget that sometimes small changes can make a massive difference. They often do. In Japan it’s got a name, Kaizen and it underpinned Japan’s industrial transformation after the second world war.

4. Different Environment

External circumstances may not have changed at all but, because we have changed within these circumstances, we have a different place and role within the circumstances. We may be better positioned or qualified to take advantage of opportunities, we may be better equipped to handle a challenge.

Although the external circumstances may not change, our experience of it does.

People all around us may keep getting the same results they always have but, because we’ve changed our game plan, we experience things completely differently.

Wow! That’s truly powerful.

We may not be able to shape our World
but we are able to shape Our world.

We are what we eat … and think!

Ever watched a detective series series such as CSI or Cold Squad? Can you remember a scene where the pathologist is presented with a skeleton and asked to determine the cause of death?

Have you ever wondered about the skeleton itself? A professional pathologist could tell whether the skeleton was male or female but most people couldn’t. A rare group of reconstructive pathologists could even construct a fairly accurate resemblance of the person’s facial features from the shape of the skull but you and I couldn’t.

The point here is that we would need to be professional pathologists in order to see any significant differences between our skeletons. And we certainly couldn’t tell whether one had been fat and the other skinny.

Since we all have pretty much the same skeletal structure, how is that we all look so different?

One answer: Lifestyle!

“No, it’s genetics!”

“Nonsense,” say I “ genetics gave us a skeleton but our lifestyles give us our appearance and shape.”

There is a great deal that we inherit through our parents but there’s also much that we don’t.

Genetics determine a great deal of what we are; such things as your height, skin colour, facial structure and the like. But our lifestyle choices play a far more significant role than genetics when it comes to our physical appearance, radiance, health and vitality as well as the condition of our skin and hair.

Good news!

That’s good news by the way! We got the way we are by the choices we made, now we can get the way we want to be by making new choices!

Three lifestyle factors that are most significant in determining our general health and vitality and, in particular, our physical appearance are attitude, diet and exercise.

Attitude

What we think about most of the time makes a huge difference to our appearance and posture as well as the energy and commitment we put into our daily life. Everything that we are, and will become, begins in our mind.

Diet

Genetics may determine whether or not you will naturally tend towards being apple- or pear-shaped. But your diet will determine whether you are a fat or skinny pear or apple.

There is only one way we, as humans, get our nutrition and that is through our mouths. What goes into our mouths, is a matter of choice.

Exercise

Your activities determine your shape. Marathon runners don’t look like bodybuilders; each have different goals and therefore develop different muscle groups to achieve the results they want.

What genetics determines naturally, we can determine otherwise through the specific choice of exercise.

Look for synergy between attitude, diet and exercise to achieve the results you want.

By making the right choices we can;

• Feel better – wellness
• Look Better – radiance
• Do more – energy
• Go further – stamina
• Live longer – vitality

Be healthy!

Here is a short PowerPoint introduction to DreamCatcher.