Thoughts on Wealth

Is TV a Waste of Time?

2007-08-25T06:40:00.000-06:00

A simple answer on whether TV is a waste of time.

If you're asking, it probably is. It's ok in moderation, as anything... but when you find you and the family stuck in front of it for many hours - until 1 AM or so - that's when you're not watching for relaxing, or education - it's just dizzyingly filling up your mind.

We all have our favorites... but when you feel that voice inside saying maybe you should get back to work - then that's a good indication you're past due.

Barnes Who?

2007-05-14T11:11:00.000-06:00

Let's say that there really was a Barnes who at some point in time worked with Edison. You've seen this time and again - how determination turns into reality. Barnes was SO determined - we don't know why - to work with Edison - that he stopped what he was doing and did something else. In other words, he "did" something about his desire. Since most of Edison's work was done by the early 1900's, Barnes likely wanted to cash in on that success.

Hill says that Barnes came into Edison's life "a little more than thirty years ago". The book was copy written in 1937 and published a year later. So Barnes supposedly showed up around 1905. At that time, Edison had invented about everything he was going to invent in life. Barnes showed up a little late to make an impact on anything Edison. That's why we don't hear about him anywhere.

In this chapter, Napoleon Hill tells us a key factor of opportunity; that it usually shows up in a different package than that we expect. Say we're planning everything to be able to make a trip to Guatemala for mission work, and expect that our sales from now until the departure date will pay for the trip. However, as fate would have it (more likely, God), sales slump and we can't see how we're going to make it depending on profits.

Yet we still keep our goal and plans knowing that if we believe and have faith, (sort of the same thing here), we will be meeting the people from Guatemala before we know it.

A phone call brings news of a immediate sale of a car we've been trying to unload for months. And, just as it happens if you believe, the money was just the right amount for the Guatemala trip. We planned one thing, opportunity took us another, better way.

The dictation machine Edison invented was marketed around 1888. Barnes was hired and later began selling the dictation machine. According to Napoleon Hill, Barnes was so successful that he was given the national distributorship and created the slogan, ""Made by Edison installed by Barnes." There is nothing on the Internet at this time with that slogan, or that says Barnes had this relationship. The only thing we have is this book. And there is a Ton of information on Edison and the people he associated himself with.

Okay, let's not toss the baby out with the bath water. I just think Barnes was a weak example for Hill to use. But that's not the point at all, I know. The point is that you can think your way into any situation and that everything you do is your fault. Well, let's rephrase that - everything that happens to you is your fault.

Next, some fellow found gold a few feet from where someone else left off. Why is that remarkable? Let's look at it like - why you didn't invent the potato chip bag clip, or Grandma's Cookies, etc... You had the idea first, no?

Think and Grow Rich - Edwin C. Barnes

2007-03-13T09:12:00.000-06:00

Some people think Edwin C. Barnes was a figment of Napoleon Hill's imagination. We can't find much on this fellow who takes up much of the first pages of the classic, "Think and Grow Rich". Did he really exist?

Hill starts out this first chapter by saying Barnes "thought" his way into a partnership with the great Edison. Thought - I know a lot of people - mainly Christians - get hung up on The Secret, because it all seems like we just rub a magic lamp and "your wish is my command."

On Oprah, I enjoyed James Arthur Ray's explanation of The Secret when he stated that we can't just summon up whatever we desire and do nothing. We gotta act. I think the believe part is putting feet to thoughts.

But Hill claims Barnes wasn't in a position to get what he desired no matter how hard he "thought" it. And here, for the first time, Hill tells us there are 13 principles that lead to riches. Okay, so we know the are 13. Kevin and I will track them as we go along.

So, Barnes needed to translate his desire into his actually becoming an associate of Thomas Alva Edison. Now what does translate mean? How did Barnes "think" into existence a train ticket to Orange, New Jersey - Edison's place of business? And why would Edison even give this poor fellow the time of day?

Let's take a look at that in our next post. Join us next time when we find out if Edison told Barnes to go back to the farm, or if Edwin even made it to the train station.

Questions from You!

2007-02-28T14:27:00.000-06:00

"Dear Kevin, I've been following your website and it is really cool. But I don't know how to get started. I have seen the Secret movie and love it. I just don't seem to have the time to make this work. And tips?"

Sincerely,
Peggy W. Dallas, TX

Hey Peggy!
Thank you for writing and showing interest in this whole process! You've already started to take steps toward attracting more wealth and abundance to you. One thing you should know is: Whether you know it or not, you've been using the law of attraction ever since you can remember! It works through our lives day-in day-out, whether you're on the clock, in school, or lounging around!
My advice would be to first turn off your t.v. (not saying you're a couch potato or anything ha!) You need to regain control of your thoughts, and watching the boob tube spew out various forms of "news" inundates you! It really does! I know you said you don't have enough time, but really try to set aside some time to just meditate or block out your extra environmental factors and concentrate on your thoughts and what you really want.
Look back at your question, you say that you don't have enough time! How can you ever expect to study and have time when you're telling the universe that you don't! It's little things like that that really make or break your faith.

Start by getting clear on what you want in life
Ask for it!
Believe you will receive it (Absolute faith)
Receive it! (Act as if you already have it)
FEEL the end result

This is a feeling Universe which is run on our thoughts! God wants you to be everything you can be, and this is why he made us capable of doing so!

Thank you for your question, and keep in touch.

-Kevin J.-

Questions for Napoleon Hill

2007-02-27T17:02:00.000-06:00

Most likely the only thing you know about Napoleon Hill is that he wrote Think and Grow Rich some time before you were born. I suppose it's good that people think more about the content of the book than they do the author. And I guess that's the way Napoleon Hill would have wanted it.

Hill was born in 1883, a time when Edison was stringing his first electric lighting system in New Jersey. The light bulb had already been perfected. The country was at ease. Napoleon Hill was interested in reporting and had a job as early as 13. I find it curious why he did not chronicle his journey during the writing of Think and Grow Rich, written while an adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt.

He did an interview style in the book How to Raise Your Own Salary - The Wisdom of Andrew Carnegie as Told to Napoleon Hill. But that book only tells of the time spent in Carnegie's home as the wealthy entrepreneur shared his secret of success.

Whatever the case, that had no bearing on Think and Grow Rich becoming a best seller. It just didn't matter - for as I said before - the content is more important than the author.

Hill claims in his "A Word From the Author" that he analyzed 100's of already successful men - over a "period of years". Things were a slower pace in those days. Certainly no one would wait that long today; we're too fast paced. "Show me the money!"

So we opt to purchase the analyzation of others, much like you're doing here. Just makes more sense - especially if the source is credible. Napoleon Hill wrote the book and put off publishing it for a time until his wife convinced him to get it published. At the time, it sold for around fifty cents.

To me, it's just incredible that he would give this work away. In today's money, that's about $7.00. What we know for certain is that not everyone will accept Think and Grow Rich. Most call it hogwash, or stuff daydreamers read. Since they can't explain it, they dump it. And that's okay. We never try to convince anyone here. These are ways that work for us.

Kevin said he may start a section on the steps you take to have wealth manifest in your life. More on that, soon. But wouldn't it be cool for you to have a step by step system to follow? No more re-inventing the wheel. Nice!

Application for you today: What Napoleon Hill is trying desperately to do in his "Word From the Author" is validate himself. That's it. He makes just the right claims to not be unbelievable. Still, you must accept here that there is some sort of secret. Mr. Hill passed away in 1970 at 87.

Your homework is to sit and close your eyes and believe - in an open minded way - that there is a way to attract what you want.

Next up, we tackle chapter one in Think and Grow Rich: Thoughts are Things!

We Take On Napoleon Hill

2007-02-26T19:11:00.000-06:00

He was given a task of interviewing literally dozens of wealthy men; Napoleon Hill did not chronicle, but synthesized what he learned in a book called, "Think and Grow Rich."

If you're reading this, you've most likely heard of Napoleon Hill.

What we intend to do is take a microscopic look at the book, word by word, and tell you how it relates to today. In addition, Kevin and I will discuss what certain parts mean to us. Feel free to comment with us.

This will be fun and educational - and the best part - you will leave with a wealth of information on how to use your thoughts to become prosperous like we have.

Thoughts are Things

2007-02-19T14:32:00.000-06:00

I've told this story to a few of my friends and I didn't really figure out what it meant until I studied the law of attraction.

This was at a time when I was living in Florida with my Dad who was out of town at the time. There was an audition to be held for a school play that my High School was having and I wanted to go, but since I didn't have a ride up there I wasn't too sure on if I should or not. I had called all my friends and they weren't able to take me, and by this time it was getting close to the deadline to audition (i think it was like from 4pm-6pm) so I decided to ride a bike up there and the entire time I was riding I was telling myself in my head "You're going to make it, you're going to be on time, you want this!". I didn't mention anything about not being late to myself and only thought positive thoughts, and the strangest thing happened. Everytime I came to a crosswalk, it automatically turned into the little walking guy for me, without me even having to push the button. This happened 5 or 6 times on the way up there!

Well long story short, I was the last person to audition because I made it just in time. Oh and I also got the lead part in the play!

I now understand it was because of how I let myself think. I could have just told myself a number of bad things and dwelled on all the negativity, but instead I decided what I wanted and I decided to go after it!

Sometimes all we have to do is stop planning and start acting.

:-)

-Kevin J.-

How Can I Improve My Muscle Strength

2007-02-17T09:29:00.000-06:00

I was going to title this, "Do Anything Better", as that's the way the March 2007 edition of Prevention Magazine has this subject labeled. But starting out with a question might help more people.

I was just glancing through Prevention and caught the cover story about Changing Your Body. What is interesting is how many old school methods don't make good rules in how to care for yourself.

When I got to the end of the article, the article mentioned how you can "do anything better", and stated something Kevin and I have been talking about here - how powerful your mind is.

Prevention states that we used to think that diving right into a project would be the best thing to do - to get it done better. But today's thinking is that we need to "think first". Scientists from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation have found that when we simply imagined exercising our little fingers and biceps for 15 minutes a day, five times a week for 12 weeks, our strength increases by 35% - without actually moving a muscle!

What? Read that again!

It's a testament to the power of our mind. When you simply visualize an action, your brain develops a model of it that allows you to recruit the muscles you need and then perform more effectively and efficiently when you actually do it - says Sean McCann, PhD, sports psychologist with the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

You know you've seen the Olympic athletes picturing themselves actually in the event before they go out and make it happen. This works and you can make it work for you, too. Not only in how your muscles work - but how you perform and how your mind will work when you get there.

Exciting?! This is one small proof this actually works. Tell us how this has worked in your life.

Alltel Litigation Serendipity

2007-02-16T15:50:00.000-06:00

Kevin and I are almost giddy sometimes when we're zipping instant messages back and forth across cyberspace. Kevin lives in Texas, near Dallas/Fort Worth, and I live about as far south as you can travel on the Gulf Coast side of Florida.

What was exciting this time was that I won the lottery! Well, not really - but I was a participant in the Alltel Class Action Settlement recently settled in Missouri.

I did not do anything, did not have representation in the case other than by the class action lawyer (which, I am quite sure made more than I in this case - but he/she knew it was coming). Surprisingly, because of some "Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee" assessed back in 2002, I am entitled to free calls on Alltel's network!

So, here's my phrase for you today: "Go expecting." Go expecting something awesome will happen to you. Expect that empty parking space, expect your garden to grow, expect your financial burden to be lifted.

And when you least expect it, blessings will flow. Luck? Not a chance.

No one can be this lucky.

First Things First

2007-02-16T13:13:00.000-06:00

If you haven't already watched "The Secret" then go out and get the DVD or the book right now and watch/read it....Don't worry, I'll wait...

Ok done?

At the beginning of February I checked my e-mail, as I usually do in the mornings, only to be greeted by an e-mail from my father with the subject line "Kevin, you gotta see this". Now I figured that he had just uploaded another video of my little sister running around or playing piano or pretending she had a radio show again. So of course I was inclined to watch it!

Well the next thing I knew I was watching a video called "The Secret" and I was thinking to myself, "What in the world am I watching? Why would I care what this "Secret" is?" All until I started to hear what was actually being said. I was actually about 5 inches from the screen at one point!

The Law of Attraction is immensely powerful beyond all thought, and throughout watching the movie I was kind of hung up on one key note.

Your mind does not and cannot process a negative.

Ok ok ok, I know what you're thinking. "But, Kevin I see bad things all the time and sometimes I feel sad, how can my mind not process negatives?"

Well that's not exactly what I mean!

Try this out, I learned this from James Ray, a speaker on "The Secret". Now this is powerful stuff

"If you say to your mind, "Not peaches" your mind receives "peaches". If you say to your mind ,"Not poor", your mind receives, "poor"."

"Think about it. If I ask you not to think about a hot fudge sundae, what happens? Try it now. Don't think about a hot fudge sundae. Don't think about the ice cream or the gooey hot fudge sauce. Don't think about the whipped cream or the cherry on top. Do not think about a hot fudge sundae. What happened? If you're like most people, you had to hold the picture of a hot fudge sundae in your mind in order to not think about it..."

these are both excerpts from his book "The Science of Success".

Today, sit down for a period of time and clear your mind of all the things you don't want. Visualize what you do want! Don't say "I want to be out of debt", instead say "I want $100,000" or more!

Definiteness of purpose
Desire
Ask
Believe
Receive.

Thanks for reading!

-Kevin J.-

Fear Keeps You From Your Goals

2007-02-16T11:40:00.000-06:00

I'm a big fan of Marianne.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch Akeelah and the Bee, a story of facing your fears and sticking with your goals. When Akeelah finally made it to the Scripps National Bee in Washington, D.C., the character Lawrence Fishburn plays quotes Marianne Williamson: "Our biggest fear is not that we are inadequate...it is that we are powerful beyond measure."

Okay, think about that one for a bit.

Don't you normally think that you think that is backwards? (Confused yet?) I mean, when we feal fear - we normally attribute it to feeling inadequate. Think of the last time that you wanted to say some great whitty come-back. Kevin is excellent with these. He's quick and whitty.

When you walk away from the situation, don't you feel that you just weren't quick enough to come up with a great zinger?

Yet Marianne tells us that studying human behavior, it boils down to being satisfied with second place - or worse. We don't normally want to do what it takes to be great. Not because we can't - but because of the effort we think we'll expend getting there and sustaining that position.

Where did we pick up that line of thinking? In my case, a lot of it was engrained in me from childhood. Phrases like - "rich people have lots of problems" and "rich people are mean", made me think that being rich might be comfortable, but you're better off living middle class.

I challenge you today to write down a list of those limiting phrases you grew up with. Let's address them! And add a comment here on what was your biggest and most limiting fear.

Dave 101

2007-02-15T17:04:00.000-06:00

Each of us has a myriad of circumstances that makes up our own personal tapestry. Each thread is an experience we've gained along the journey. I often think of how people who influenced my life, were themselves influenced.

For example, once at our church back in the early 1960's, a missionary showed a short film on Amazon Indians. It touched my parents' hearts and they decided to go to Brazil as missionaries.

That one event greatly affected my life. I spent around 10 years of my life in Brazil, graduated from high school there, often go back there to visit. However, it was on a trip to Portsmouth, Ohio, that we spent the night at a pastor's home. His son was my age and we immediately hit it off.

He, at the young age of 14, had his life planned; goals set, and how he was going to make those goals happen. Because of his passion for his quest, he had an additional copy of a book called, Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised, by Napoleon Hill. I read the book - and kept it with me for many years.

I've lost that original book, but have several other copies. Indeed, God have given me an opportunity, through my friend, to seek out the wisdom of wealth. And, guess what? I took full advantage of it!

It wasn't immediate - when the student is ready, the teacher will come. I wasn't ready for many years. But, my tapestry was growing - and strengthening.

In 1994, I stopped thinking about lack, and decided to begin a web hosting company. As you will find out in this blog, when you think greatness, you attract it! In a few months after starting, a young, entrepreneur computer software developer decided to host with me. As his scripts became the most popular on the Internet, my web hosting company soared!

In 2005, I started working with contextual ads, Google AdSense, and have made a small fortune - my best month running at over $30,000.00. And, now, I've teamed up with Kevin, to create a way you, too can enjoy what life has to offer; what God has to offer!

So, join with us. We post often - and sometimes crazy things that will get you thinking! Decide you want to change and embrace what we share here. It worked for us.

May your tapestry be filled with valuable threads.

Intro to Kevin 101

2007-02-15T16:44:00.000-06:00

My name is Kevin, and I'm ready to show you guys Wealth. I'm not talking about just some dollar bills thrown at you from upper management to keep you sedentary. I'm talking about real Wealth, living in abundance, living how you want to live, going where you want to go. You may be saying to yourself, "Why should I listen to you? You're just some poor college student with a broken down car!"

Well you'd be right. Unlike most people though, I know where I'm going in life, AND I know how to get there.

I have drive, I have ambition, and I have the right tools to get from where I am to where I want to be.

This is my journey, feel free to follow.

-Kevin J.-

Welcome to Thoughts on Wealth

2007-02-15T16:05:00.000-06:00

The purpose of this site is to give an opportunity for Kevin and myself to express ourselves about the topic of wealth. We have set no rules, no must do's, no order except the framework of discussing a topic we are both passionate about, and that is wealth.

Wow! What is wealth? To some it is "the quality of profuse abundance." I like that!

On this site, we'll be talking about the "profuse abundance" of money, and how you can get more of it yourself.

Who are we? Ah, yes... introductions are in order. And those are next.

Thanks for visiting - read on! And tell us your experiences with... weath!