The Choice of Choice, or, How to Save the World (At No Charge, Either)

I was just interviewed on yet another national radio show, partly to celebrate the success of my recent #1 bestseller, Life's Missing Instruction Manual www.lifesmissingmanual.com and partly to see if I would fold under direct attack.

The host began the show with a doom and gloom speech that I'm sure appealed to the majority of people in America, if not the world.

He simply spoke what they were already thinking:

• Poor economy.
• Intense competition.
• Skyrocketing gas prices.
• Shipping charges raising.
• Pessimism about the future.
• Skepticism about the Internet.

You get the idea.

The world is a sad, sad place - at least according to him.

I listened to his dark opening remarks and wondered what he was talking about. I vaguely remembered that I once lived in the world he described. But I left it long, long ago, on the spaceship called Choice.

When the host introduced me, I began by saying --

"I just heard your description and I have to say that I don't live in the world you described."

"What world do you live in then?"

"I created my own world," I said. "There are countless others like me who are making a nice living if not a record-breaking luxurious living by using the Internet, being creative, taking risks and having a blast."

I went on to tell him how I just made my latest book a #1 bestseller by leveraging the Internet. I told him about the online marketing strategy behind www.themotherofallbribes.com and explained that others have used the same "ethical bribe" formula to sell books and other products.

I went on to tell him about my friend Pat O'Bryan, a once struggling blues guitar player who stood on my front steps one day and with an angry red face said, "All I want is to make enough money to pay my frickin rent."

Pat was more colorful in his expression then, but today he's got a following, a mailing list, a catalog of products at www.instantchange.com , and he will be hosting his first "Portable Empire" seminar in May - an event that sold-out six hours after he announced it.

I went on to tell the radio host about the clever college kid in England who raised more than a million dollars selling tiny pixel ads on a blank webpage. www.milliondollarhomepage.com

To his credit, the radio show announcer listened with an open mind. He asked me skeptically based questions, but I'm sure he was thinking of his audience, and what they were thinking as they listened to me rant on with a fiery plea for people to be inspired rather than depressed.

I did my best to continue to tell hypnotic stories that would awaken the positive in people. Just the day before I read a wonderful brief article in Ode magazine www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4268 about how the world needs more positive stories.

It pointed out that the media makes us think the world is bad off when in fact we're doing pretty darn good. Yes, we can improve. But we're not going to hell in a hand basket, either. It's up to media to help us focus on the positive. They need to tell us more stories about heroes and heroines, about the problems being solved rather than the problems we still have.

The radio show I was on is simply one of many that focuses on the darker side of the world. The truth is, this focus attracts more of the very thing it's focusing on. Obviously, this is pure "Attractor Factor" www.attractorfactor.com at work.

I know the media may not change. They know it's easy to grab listeners if they focus on negativity. It works. It sells.

So what can we do?

Maybe we as guests on radio shows -- or as marketers promoting our products -- can turn the focus to the positive by what we say, think, and do.

I went on that show and turned on the light.

I could have played into the hands of the host.

I didn't.

You can do this, too.

It's simply a choice.

When Hurricane Rita aimed itself at Texas, I took a deep breath and wrote a plea for people to think positive. I didn't want everyone to fall into victim mentality. Myself included. The media painted a worse-case scenario. I didn't. http://www.mrfire.com/article-archives/new-articles/stop-rita.html

When I write sales letters, I do my best to focus on the positive. I want to share my love, my excitement, my passion. An example is my article on "Evil Marketing? What a Bufflao Rancer Taught Me About Selling." http://www.mrfire.com/article-archives/new-articles/no-bs.html

If you don't believe the world is actually getting better and better, then read Paul Zane Pilzer's book The Next Millionaires. I interviewed him for my www.HypnoticGold.com program and think he's an inspiring genius. Read anything by him. www.paulzanepilzer.com

The point is, you have the power to make a difference.

The world doesn't have to change before you do.

In fact, when you change, the world changes.

The next move is yours.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS - I'm worried. Lindsay Lohan hasn't called me yet. Didn't she see my blog entry about her the other day?