I have.

This weekend, I conquered a childhood fear and fulfilled a lifelong dream at the same time… and then I created a 3 minute video to inspire you to conquer yours.

Life’s too short to be held back by limiting beliefs and irrational fears.

Watch the video and conquer yours…

Your partner in success,

P.S. In this quick video I reveal a very out of fashion clothing accessory. Wear it at your own risk…

P.P.S. Please leave a comment below and let me know what fear you’re going to conquer this week and how you’re going to do it…

It was dark and I was driving to the airport to collect two friends visiting me on the island. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a dog running across the freeway…

I slammed on my brakes, trying to keep the car from skidding out of control, but the dog kept running. Seconds later I felt a series of loud thuds followed by shrieks of terror and agony as the dog got dragged underneath my truck.

My heart started racing and time slowed down to a standstill as adrenaline pumped into my veins.

“Oh s#%t”, I thought to myself…

as I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the injured dog writhing in the middle of the freeway.

The dog’s agonized howls penetrated my car even though I had music playing, the windows were shut and I was 100 meters down the road.

I’m not proud to admit it, but my first thought was:

“There’s no way that this dog is going to be alive much longer… Another car will probably hit it again in a few seconds. I’m going to keep driving to the airport, pick up my friends and forget this ever happened…”

I kept driving for another 10 seconds, but the dog’s agonized howls haunted me like the sound of a baby crying for its mother.

I didn’t want to take responsibility for having hit the dog. By most people’s standards, the accident was the dog’s fault and that justifies leaving the dog to die on the side of the road.

I’ll come back to my story in a moment, but before I do, I want to ask you an important question:

Have you ever hurt someone, lied to someone or stolen something and then didn’t own up and
take responsibility for it?

If your mind is telling you that you have never done a thing like that, it’s lying to you.

Think of that time when you hurt someone, lied to someone or stolen something and then didn’t own up and take responsibility for it…

Got it?

Remember the guilty feeling immediately after you did the ‘bad’ thing? You knew you’d done something wrong.

Perhaps the memory of that event gnaws at you the way I could hear the howling dog yelping and see it writhing in the rear view mirror.

Consider for a moment that your “Howling Dog” is your conscience…

It’s your heart trying to tell you to do the right thing, the scary thing, the terrifying act of taking responsibility for your actions.

Think back to your incident again…

Remember how quickly your mind kicked in to shut your Howling Dog up and justify why it was OK not to take responsibility? That’s what our minds do in an attempt to keep us ‘safe’ or out of trouble.

Here’s the problem 99.9% of people don’t admit to themselves:

Whenever you hear or see your Howling Dog and you ignore it, it haunts you unconsciously and slowly, but surely eats away at your aliveness.

First, the guilt makes you tired and lethargic…

Then, as time passes, you forget that the incident ever happened BUT it leaves behind a slow-release poison that begins killing you from the inside out.

You begin feeling emotionally dead inside…

After a while, feeling dead becomes normal and life stops being a fun, joyful experience.

You LOSE the ability to attract good things into your life.

It’s as if your attraction magnet breaks down…

I know that you know what I’m talking about…

After years of silencing or killing your Howling Dogs (i.e. not taking responsibility for your actions and ignoring your conscience)…they KILL YOU – from the inside.

This often manifests as disease in your body or an inability to attract ANYTHING good into your life. It’s as if your life has become poisoned.

If you can relate to this, there is only ONE thing you can do to save yourself.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for your actions TODAY. Otherwise, you’ll wake up tomorrow forgetting you ever read this email and you life will remain DEADENED.

I’m not kidding!

I have a challenge for you today…

I challenge you to call the person you wronged and apologize to them and take responsibility for the impact of your actions.

I challenge you to own up to stealing, lying, cheating or whatever else you’ve done that you’re too scared to take responsibility for.

Start with just ONE thing. The BIGGEST thing. Clean that up first. You know exactly which one I’m talking about… It’s that BIG thing that you’re hiding, afraid someone might find out about.

Why would you want to do this?

Because it’s the only way to truly be FREE.

I fully expect that you won’t actually do what I suggest, because just the thought of it is going to scare the socks off you, BUT if you are up to the challenge then later on I will share a process you can use to clean up the mess seamlessly so you are free from all poisons in your life.

Here’s how I silenced my howling dog…

Somewhere in the middle of this, my heart managed to override my head and I turned the car around to go find the howling dog and take responsibility for hitting the poor little guy.

I was hoping that the dog would be dead by the time I arrived, because I had no idea what I’d do if it was still alive.

I had SO many thoughts, most of which were awful, wondering whether to leave it on the side of the road to die or not. I was so confused.

As I approached the place where I had hit the dog, I saw that the dog was still alive, panting with saliva running down its mouth and a trail of blood marking its agonizing journey dragging itself to the side of the road with its front paws only.

I jumped out of the car and slowly approached the now quiet dog, who looked at me with pleading eyes as if to say, “Please help me”. I could see it was probably a stray dog because it had no name tag.

I stroked its head to calm it down and then picked up the bloody dog in my arms and placed her gently in the back of the truck.

There was NO way in hell I was leaving her there and there was no turning back now.

This choice left me with two challenges:

1. I had no idea where to take a bleeding animal at 9pm on a tiny Caribbean Island and
2. my friends were still waiting outside the airport for me.

I had to act fast because the dog might not live much longer and I wanted to do everything I could to help it.

I was 3 minutes from the airport, so I decided to collect my friends first and figure out what to do with the dog as I drove… Along the way I, called around and found a number of a vet on the island.

Arriving at the airport, I hugged Michelle and Schalk hello and welcomed them to the island, and explained that they needed to sit with their luggage on their laps because there was an animal in the back which needed our help.

15 minutes later we were pulling into the drive of the vet’s surgery.

The vet pinched the dog’s paws and to my surprise, she stayed calm and didn’t make a noise. I thought of how brave she was, only to have my illusion shattered when the vet told me that she was probably paralyzed and that’s why she didn’t react.

He told me he would give the dog painkillers for the night and talk to me in the morning. We agreed that if an owner did not claim the dog by the end of the next day, we would put the dog down.

I was all shaken up and it took me a few hours to calm down and relax after all the adrenaline. I felt sad about the dog, but peaceful about doing the right thing.

The vet called me the next morning and told me nobody had claimed the dog. After much deliberation we agreed that the best thing for her was for her to die peacefully and to put her down. I felt sad for her but knew that it was the right thing for her.

A $500 vet bill (reduced to $250 by the kind receptionist) and a huge learning later, my conscience is now completely clear.

I took responsibility for my part in the accident and now I’m free to return to my life full of joy and free from guilt and remorse.

As I walked along the beach this morning, I thought of her and said a little prayer to thank her for the valuable beautiful lesson she taught me. I wished her well in “Doggie Heaven”, imagined her eating loads of big bones and running around freely on good legs and felt a sense of freedom again.

I’ll never forget the sound of that Howling Dog and it will always be reminding me to listen to my conscience, take responsibility for my actions and keep living the best life I can.

I hope you choose to take me up on my challenge and take responsibility for something in your life that is eating at you. Be FREE from your howling dogs and experience peace and joy in your life.

The Howling Dog Challenge

Here is a process you can use for cleaning up ANY of your Howling Dogs in your life:

1. Grab a pen and write a list of all the crap you’re avoiding dealing with in your life.
2. Next to each item, write down how what you did (or didn’t do) impacted the person you did it to. Don’t stop until you are truly present to how your actions impacted the other person. If no other person was impacted (this is rare), write down how it impacted you.
3. Have a conversation with the person(s) involved and apologize for what you did. You may want to ask them, “What can I do to make this right for you?”
4. Now here is the most important step. Do whatever needs to be done to make it right for the other person.
5. Now, notice how good you feel and how a weight has been lifted from your shoulders. You have taken responsibility for your actions and are free.

Taking responsibility takes courage and I fully expect that you WILL NOT take responsibility for your action you identified above.

I expect your mind is already talking to you telling you why I’m an idiot for suggesting this and why you are better off keeping quiet etc etc blah blah fish paste…

I dare you…

I dare you to take up the Howling Dog Challenge and then leave a comment below this article and let me know what you took responsibility for, what happened and how you feel afterward.

Your friends,

and  Sammy (the name I gave my brave Howling Dog)

P.S. I want to acknowledge Werner Erhard, Brad Blanton and my Howling Dog for inspiring this article.

P.P.S. Take the Howling Dog challenge. It will set you free and allow you to attract BIG things into your life again.

I’m excited…

For quite some time, I have dreamed of moving to a Caribbean island, kite surfing every day and remote controlling my business from the beach.

Well, I’m thrilled to be able to share with you that I’ve made my dream come true.

Watch the video below, because in it I’m going to share exactly how I did it and draw some distinctions that you can use immediately to manifest your dream life too…

In this video, you’re going to learn:

• A little known (and scary) manifesting technique for motivating yourself to take action every time. I’ve NEVER taught this technique publicly before…
• How to make sure you don’t make the BIGGEST mistake most people make with the Law Of Attraction…
• You’ll also get a sneak peek of my new front garden in paradise…

Once you’ve watched the video, please let me know what you thought by leaving me a comment down below…

To watch the SECOND PART of this series of Law Of Attraction videos, click here.

P.S. You can watch the Trim Tabbing video I spoke of here:

Most people struggle through life, repeating past mistakes over and over again and then they die… without having fulfilled their dreams.

In this video I teach you how to achieve virtually anything by using a tried and tested method for boosting your success at anything you do whether in money, sports, love – literally anything…

Once you’ve watched the video, be sure to complete the exercise below it, as the exercise will bring this important concept out of the realm of THEORY and make it PRACTICALLY applicable to your life.

If you can’t see YouTube videos, watch this video on Google Video.

Click here to download your exercise that accompanies this video.

P.S. After doing the exercise, please leave your comments below.

P.P.S. If you missed the tele-seminar I did with Roger Hamilton last week, you can listen to the replay here – “How To Make Your First Million, Even In Tough Economic Times”

A man stood in a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.

During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was going to be late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.

He collected $32.

When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

Joshua Bell

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston at an average seat of $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outline was: In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: if we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Sasha Xarrian

Last month, I had a problem.

I flew to Egypt for two weeks on a windsurfing trip, but I ended up in bed.

No, I wasn’t sick – I was addicted…

A friend asked me to review a book called “Outrageous Mastery” by Sasha Xarrian (who I introduced you to last week) and I literally could not put it down.

The book was so gripping that I actually sacrificed windsurfing to read this book. If you know me well, you’ll know that hardly ANYTHING can tear me away from windsurfing.

Anyway, I want to HIGHLY recommend that you buy and read this book in 2009.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

“Outrageous Mastery” is the TRUE story of how Sasha escaped the prison-like life of the Mormon church only to find herself on the street, without a job, abandoned by her husband and supporting her SIX children on her own.

Thought your life was tough? Think again…

One thing was in Sasha’s favour though – she is a true MASTER Manifestor, a real pro with the Law Of Attraction.

Using her powerful Law Of Attraction techniques, Sasha manifested OWNING and living in her own 9 bedroom house only one month later.

She used these same techniques to manifest $500,000, rebuild her family, and get her life on track.

If you want to know how she did it, make sure you read her new book, “Outrageous Mastery“.

Her story so fascinated and inspired me, that I called up Sasha’s office and asked one of her staff how I could help them promote the book.

During our call, they told me that they have over 100 pages of unsolicited testimonials on their website, so clearly, I’m not alone in loving this book.

I hope you enjoy the recommendation:

http://www.designer-life.com/mastery

Your partner in success,

P.S. Let me know what you think of the book by leaving a comment down below…

If you’re still dreaming of one day living the good life, you’ve possibly fallen prey to the single most common mistake I see people making when creating their designer life.

Before I dive in though, allow me to explain how I define a ‘designer life’.

In it’s simplest form, a designer life is a life that you customize to meet your ideal criteria in every area of life. As I define it, it includes having the freedom to do whatever you choose whenever you choose. There’s more to it, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s use this definition for the moment.

The Biggest Mistake People Make Is…

WAITING…

Waiting is the killer of all great ideas and probably the most common mistake that stops people taking action towards creating their dream life now and actually fulfilling their dreams.

“Waiting is only one measure above death” – Werner Erhard

Although its great to dream of one day owning a mansion overlooking the sea, a red Ferrari, sporting 6-pack abs and being married to Mr Right, you’re probably not going to get all of those things in the next 7 days.

So, here’s how you can you begin living your designer life today, without waiting for your dreams to arrive in the future?

Ask yourself this, “What is it about the things I want that make me feel good?”

Continuing the example above, you may answer:

• being able to see the sea from my bedroom
• having a car that turns heads and thrills me to drive
• having a healthy, fit body
• having a loving relationship

Now, take a moment and do the math. When you add up the monthly cost for you to actually do and have the things that make you feel good, I expect you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

You can have all of the things that make you feel good now, without having to own a mansion or a Ferrari. I’m not suggesting that you give up on your dreams. I am suggesting that you can afford your dream lifestyle right now in some shape or form and you don’t have to wait for it.

So, get busy living it now, rather that waiting for your dream life to arrive someday in the future.

Watch the video below.

I interviewed this man earlier this year. He’s 70 years old and decided to stop waiting and follow his dream of sailing around the world. He also happens to be my father…

Watch this video, it’s inspiring…

So remember, your dream lifestyle is closer than you think, if you quit waiting for it.

Till next week, keep Living (with a capital L)

Your partner in success,

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please leave your comments below and bookmark this page on your favorite social bookmark sites using the links below.

If you’re struggling with keeping positive amidst the turbulent times we live in, read this…

As a young man, Abraham Lincoln went to war a captain and returned a private. Later, he failed as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, he was too impractical and temperamental to find success.
He turned to politics and was defeated in his first try for the legislature, again defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for congress, defeated in his application to be commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the senatorial election of 1858.

He later became the 16th President of the United States of America.

Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up.”

Sigmund Freud was booed from the podium when he first presented his ideas to the scientific community of Europe. He returned to his office and kept on writing.

Robert Sternberg received a C in his first college introductory-psychology class. His teacher commented that “there was a famous Sternberg in psychology and it was obvious there would not be another.”
Three years later Sternberg graduated with honors from Stanford University with exceptional distinction in psychology, summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa.

In 2002, he became President of the American Psychological Association.

Charles Darwin gave up a medical career and was told by his father, “You care for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat catching.” In his autobiography, Darwin wrote, “I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect.”

Clearly, he evolved.

Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.”
He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.”
As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb.
When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied,
“I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4-years-old and did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was “sub-normal,” and one of his teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams.”
He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.

He did eventually learn to speak and read. Even to do a little math.

Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies and ranked 15th out of 22 students in chemistry.

Henry Ford could not read nor write, failed and went broke five times in business before he succeeded.

R. H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York City caught on.

F. W. Woolworth was not allowed to wait on customers when he worked in a dry goods store because, his boss said, “he didn’t have enough sense.”

When Bell telephone was struggling to get started, its owners offered all their rights to Western Union for $100,000. The offer was disdainfully rejected with the pronouncement, “What use could this company make of an electrical toy.” How many of you have a telephone today?

Rocket scientist Robert Goddard found his ideas bitterly rejected by his scientific peers on the grounds that rocket propulsion would not work in the rarefied atmosphere of outer space.

An expert said of Vince Lombardi: “He possesses minimal football knowledge and lacks motivation.” Lombardi would later write, “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get back up.”

Babe Ruth is famous for his past home run record, but for decades he also held the record for strikeouts. He hit 714 home runs and struck out 1,330 times in his career (about which he said, “Every strike out brings me closer to the next home run.”).

Hank Aaron went 0 for 5 his first time at bat with the Milwaukee Braves.

Stan Smith was rejected as a ball boy for a Davis Cup tennis match because he was “too awkward and clumsy.” He went on to clumsily win Wimbledon and the US Open…and eight Davis Cups.

Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, and Jimmy Johnson accounted for 11 of the 19 Super Bowl victories from 1974 to 1993. They also share the distinction of having the worst records of first-season head coaches in NFL history – they didn’t win a single game.

Johnny Unitas’s first pass in the NFL was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Joe Montana’s first pass was also intercepted. And while we’re on quarterbacks, during his first season Troy Aikman threw twice as many interceptions (18) as touchdowns (9) . . . oh, and he didn’t win a single game. You think there’s a lesson here?

After Carl Lewis won the gold medal for the long jump in the 1996 Olympic games, he was asked to what he attributed his longevity, having competed for almost 20 years. He said, “Remembering that you have both wins and losses along the way. I don’t take either one too seriously.”

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” He went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland. In fact, the proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim on the grounds that it would only attract riffraff.

Charles Schultz had every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high school yearbook staff. Oh, and Walt Disney wouldn’t hire him.

After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, read, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” He kept that memo over the fire place in his Beverly Hills home. Astaire once observed that “when you’re experimenting, you have to try so many things before you choose what you want, that you may go days getting nothing but exhaustion.” And here is the reward for perseverance: “The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it’s considered to be your style.”

After his first audition, Sidney Poitier was told by the casting director, “Why don’t you stop wasting people’s time and go out and become a dishwasher or something?” It was at that moment, recalls Poitier, that he decided to devote his life to acting.

When Lucille Ball began studying to be actress in 1927, she was told by the head instructor of the John Murray Anderson Drama School, “Try any other profession.”

The first time Jerry Seinfeld walked on-stage at a comedy club as a professional comic, he looked out at the audience, froze, and forgot the English language. He stumbled through “a minute-and a half” of material and was jeered offstage. He returned the following night and closed his set to wild applause.

After Harrison Ford’s first performance as a hotel bellhop in the film Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, the studio vice-president called him in to his office. “Sit down kid,” the studio head said, “I want to tell you a story. The first time Tony Curtis was ever in a movie he delivered a bag of groceries. We took one look at him and knew he was a movie star.” Ford replied, “I thought you were spossed to think that he was a grocery delivery boy.” The vice president dismissed Ford with “You ain’t got it kid , you ain’t got it … now get out of here.”

Michael Caine’s headmaster told him, “You will be a laborer all your life.”

Charlie Chaplin was initially rejected by Hollywood studio chiefs because his pantomime was considered “nonsense.”

Decca Records turned down a recording contract with The Beatles with the evaluation, “We don’t like their sound. Groups of guitars are on their way out.” After Decca rejected the Beatles, Columbia records followed suit.

In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired Elvis Presley after one performance. He told Presley, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.”

Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him “hopeless as a composer.” And, of course, you know that he wrote five of his greatest symphonies while completely deaf.

Van Gogh sold only one painting during his life. And this, to the sister of one of his friends, for 400 francs (approximately $50). This didn’t stop him from completing over 800 paintings.

Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, was encouraged to find work as a servant by her family.

Emily Dickinson had only seven poems published in her lifetime.

18 publishers turned down Richard Bach’s story about a “soaring eagle.” Macmillan finally published Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1970. By 1975 it had sold more than 7 million copies in the U.S. alone.

21 publishers rejected Richard Hooker’s humorous war novel, M*A*S*H. He had worked on it for seven years.

27 publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’s first book, To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

Jack London received six hundred rejection slips before he sold his first story.

Woody Allen: “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying. Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

Is there a message here? I think so…

Never give up…

Well, not so long ago, my new friend Matt Morris found himself living his worst nightmare – living out of his car, showering in the rain in a church parking lots and washing himself in gas station bathrooms. Now, just a few years later Matt used personal development to turn his life around and now runs Success University the largest personal development website in the world, owns a multi million dollar business and his company feeds almost 100000 children every month.
Matt has lived through the ultimate rags to riches story and if you want to know how he did it, what he attributes all his success to and how you can make your own success faster, make sure that you watch this fascinating interview to the end.

To find out more about Matt’s awesome company, Success University, and how you can educate yourself for personal and financial success, click here to go to Success University’s website (opens a new browser window).

Click here to download the mp3 audio of the interview. (Size: 28Mb)

P.S. I’m a member of Success University and I use it all the time. Its has everything from Business training to personal development training to Internet marketing training. I’m also on the teaching faculty, so Success University members get my “Mind Mastery 101″ CD free (normally $67). Check out Success University here.

I just found out that I have come in as one of two runners up in the XL 2008 Extraordinary Lives award!

The winner was Dr John DeMartini, so I am in good company…

XL Results Foundation is a organization that consists of Social Entrepreneurs committed to giving back. Each year, 100 members (out of 4000 or so) are nominated for the award. Nominees are extraordinary people who are making a difference in the world.

So, you can imagine what an honor it is not only to be nominated, but to also come in second place!

Read the XL press release.

Thanks to everyone who voted for me and helped me achieve this honor. Needless to say, I am blown away!