P-Nut on the deck…

One day about a year ago Karin walked through the door and said, "Guess what…"

She told me the story about finding this sick kitten in the middle of the road, I quickly did the math and voila!, we added a second cat to our brood.

P-Nut is a mama's boy. He'll sleep on my lap or occupy the space between my feet on the bed at night, but he doesn't tolerate me picking him up or other such nonsense. He's not mean about it, he's just clear in his desire and his preferences. His mama can carry him around cradled like a little baby and he happily plays along.

While I'll probably never have the bond with P-Nut that Karin does, I appreciate having him in my life. In fact, I find him to be a sort of role model.

Quite simply, this cat knows how to live. While I think this is true of most animals we love, P-Nut strikes me as being especially good at expressing his sense of well-being. He's a pro at meeting his own needs for food, comfort, fun, and love.

Sometimes other people fit into this plan. Sometimes they do not. He does not strike me as the least bit concerned about what anyone else thinks… He just manages his own vibration.

And that's just cool (and clean) energy to be around.

I saw him perched on the deck the other evening, eyes closed and peaceful… he appeared to be completely content with the world and his place in it.

I looked at him and I thought… ah, yes.

That's the way…

UPDATE: Was outside shooting some baskets this evening. Had the camera, thought this reflected P-Nut (and Tasha in background)…

UPDATE #2 Thanks to Christina for coming up with a better title to this post…

Last night I paid my bills.

Nothing unusual about this, as I pay my bills two or three times a month. This might not be the most efficient way to do things, or even the most financially sound. So why do I do it?

Simple. It makes me feel good.

I'm never excited to sit down and open envelopes telling me how much money I need to send out. But I do love the feeling of walking out of my office knowing I do not owe any one a thing. (Yes, I have a mortgage and a bit remaining on a low interest student loan, but that's it. I bought my cars outright and pay off my credit cards in full).

Over the years, I've gotten myself in the habit of paying of bills within a day or three after they come in. As best as I can tell, this behavior has not been so much a conscious decision on my part, but just the natural progression of moving toward that which feels good to me.

For example, my bi-yearly auto insurance bill came in late December. Payment was not due for a month, yet I paid the bill right away. While I always carry cash (everyone takes cash!), I use my credit cards (one personal, one for my company) to purchase most things. This gives me a simple, organized paper trail and lets me accrue a few free flights each year (I use Capital One cards as their system allows you to fly any airline, no blackouts). On average, I pay whatever balances I've accrued on the cards every two weeks or so.

Let me be clear. I'm not writing checks here. If you still write checks, I suggest you get with program and upgrade your financial life. No, I use online banking to pay all my bills from my mortgage to my magazine subscriptions. By setting things up this way, I make all my payments in about two minutes. No checkbooks, no stamps, no post office, no envelope glue on my tongue. I don't even need to be in my office. (In December, I forgot to pay my mortgage before leaving for my honeymoon in Costa Rica. No problem. An internet cafe and 30 seconds later, a check was being mailed on my behalf.)

My friend points out that by paying things off immediatley, I am not taking advantage of the interest-free loans the companies are giving me. Certainly, my money could be earning at least a little interest in my account rather than paying off a bill 30 days before it's due. I get that.

But for me, nothing beats the feeling of telling myself that I'm ahead of the game. (When I'm done paying my bills, I often hear David Lee Roth in my head singing, "All my bills are paid, I got it made in the shade, all I neeeeeed… is a beautiful girl!")

Having my bills paid makes me feel free. When I feel free, guess what I attract into my life? 

Why, more freedom, of course. That's the way it works.

But here's the catch. If you want more freedom (or more money) in your life, guess where you need to put your awareness? Guess where you need to be clear? Guess where you need to have your sh*t together?

If this resonates with you on some level, I encourage you to organize your life in a manner that supports you feeling free around your money. It will take some effort on your part. You'll have to engage in some administriva and do some busy work. Maybe you'll have to make a visit to your bank. But in truth, on the physical effort  and temporal scales, the investment is a minor one.

But, of course, that's not really the issue here. The issue lies in the mental block most people have around changing their relationship with money (and freedom). Organizing your financial life requires you to take charge of the ship with the knowledge that you're never going to leave that wheel again. On the surface, it's easier to continue to have the autopilot continue to do the driving. After all, it's gotten you this far and you're doing okay. But know that the dominate vibration of that autopilot is not freedom, it's fear. And it won't leave your life until you put your full awareness on it. Simple. But not always easy.

Anyheeew, that's why I pay my bills several times a month.

 

P.S. I'll take the opportunity to plug my book, Piles of Money, here. In my book, I outline step-by-step how to set things so that you are in control of your money (and your freedom), rather than feeling like your money is in control of you.

 

Been having lots of conversations about money these last few days.

 

And I find myself saying the same things about the laws of money… stuff I've written about… stuff I feel good about sharing.

So, on a Saturday whim, I decided to offer my book/program, Piles of Money: The Practical Attraction Guide to Building Wealth for 19 bucks.

I won't bore you (or me) with lots of hype. If you're interested, you can read about the premise and access the first chapter by following the link below. The book comes with several other excellent books, hours of audio, and a video.

In this program I share what worked for me in terms of organizing my money and creating an easily replicable system to attract money.

To read more, go to Piles of Money Program.

When you go to the checkout, the price will read $19.

This is a special. Don't know how long I will keep it at this price. Just curious to see what happens at this price.

So if you are interested, get it now…

best,

 

d

 

I registered another domain name today. I registered my first domain a decade ago — evolutioncoaching.com — and that has served me well as a business name. Today's score puts me somewhere between 20-25 domains in total.

The last decade has seen many of my domains come and go.  There was saveyourhead.com, my now defunct site that pitched an ebook about the truth about hair replacement (I'll save you the 29 bucks, if you're thinking about a hair replacement, don't do it, man!) and more recently, nyyanktees.com, a site that makes funny t-shirts about the New York Yankees in a timely fashion.

Off the top of my head, today's new shirt would read "Don't blame Roger — Rockets need fuel!" or something to that effect. By the quality of that joke, perhaps you understand why I've not created the site or a single shirt yet.

For the record, my favorite domain — the one I believe with ultimately be the most valuable to me — is verycoollife.com. Currently this hosts my Very Cool Life Network website, and I have long felt that this was my true brand and that this domain captures my grandest visions. As my dad would say, we shall see what we shall see as to what that domain becomes in the future.

In the vein of Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton, I frequently find ideas popping into my head as to how I can create a business that will put dollars in my bank account without me having to do very much. In listening to my clients and entrepreneurial-minded friends, I know I am not alone in this regard. The success of Tim Ferriss' recent book, The 4 Hour Workweek, is another testament to the power of creating passive income using the the web instead of (or in addition to) clocking in at a more traditional job.

 

Like I said, I get lots of ideas. If these ideas linger, it leads me to my next step: the purchase of a domain name. Of course, the truth is that the majority of my domains remain mere parking spaces, reminders of what I once considered to be a cool idea. Currently domains like whatihavelearnedsofar.com and rockstarmind.com have powerful ideas behind them, but I do not know whether these ideas will ever manifest into a live site or product. But the potential excited me enough that it's a no-brainer to drop my 10 bucks into the fountain and keep my hope alive for another year.

In my experience, sometimes there's an incubation period for your idea. Just because you have a great idea, it doesn't mean that the timing for that idea to take from in the world is the present moment. For example, a decade ago, I became a distributor for DISC assessments (these are communication/team building tools). I made the investment to use the assessments with my clients and "someday" perhaps I would expand sales to companies outside my personal clients.

Upon investing in my distributorship, I went domain hunting. DISCReports.com was my second or third choice, but I snapped it up, surprised it was still available. I did not touch it for a couple of years. I simply did not have the energy or the interest.

Then — for whatever reason — the time arrived, and in a couple weeks, I had created the entire site (today, I would hire someone to do this for me). Over the years, this site has earned me around $100K of profit with very little work on my part. It's also gotten me some lucrative speaking gigs all across the country. While there's no raging passion burning in my heart to share DISC with the world, it's a solid product and it's been a wonderful way to bring dollars in without much effort.

In fact, I just came in from an afternoon of playing basketball and running errands. When I checked my messages, one of the calls was for an order worth over $1200 in profit. My total time investment on this order was less than an hour. This does not happen every day (yet), but by having this site out there, the potential to come home to this sort of message is always there, 24/7/365.  I have created a portal for my desire to express itself. And it does.

Of course, I am a big fan of having multiple (and yes, diverse) streams of income. There's nothing like getting one of those e-mails that says money has just been deposited into your account as you sit enjoying a hot cup of coffee (or tea, if you prefer). If you have not experienced this, then please let me encourage you. Allow yourself to experience what it would FEEL like for you to receive an e-mail saying $1000 has just been deposited in your account.

Maybe you'd dance around. Maybe you'd give it a little fist pump, yell "Cool!" and move on with your day (this tends to be my M.O.) Whatever your response, just allow yourself to tune into what that feeling would be like for you.

Seriously, please do not read on unless you've connected with that vibe.

If you connected, super.

If you skipped my little request, I'll assume you either (1) thought it was silly, or (2) perhaps you felt like this did not apply to you. After all, you do not have any ideas in this moment. Nothing comes to mind as to how you would create a passive stream of income. Perhaps you have never created a business. Or –omigod! — you don't even have a website or blog! But my friend, remember not to let your mind get in the way of your intentions. Like a hot air balloon, your intentions will raise you to great heights, but before you get off the ground, you'll need to drop the sandbags of your mind's limited perspective.

You do not need to sit down and burst a blood vessel trying to think of a great online business. I don't know about you, but that's not how any ideas come to me. It reminds me of people who come to me wanting to "find their passion." Frequently they are talking to me because they've been wandering in a vast field of stones, turning each one over, one stone at at a time. While flipping these stones, they ask themselves, "Is my passion under here? Is is here?" I tell these folks that if they want to find their passion, they just need to allow themselves to notice what's present inside themselves rather than looking for their desire somewhere on the outside. I believe the same is true with great ideas. They are not something you consciously try to find. Rather you are better served by setting your intention to raise your awareness. You simply allow yourself to notice your great ideas when they pop up. That way, instead of hunting for a great idea with your mind, you are constantly scanning with your knowing. Knowing always trumps thinking.

But if you're not open to finding an answer, chances are you will not. So the first step is to set that intention that you'd like to see cash show up in your inbox. You don't need to know how. Let me repeat that… You. Don't. Need. To. Know. HOW. You don't need to know anything about websites. Shopping carts. PayPal. Credit card accounts. At this point you need not know anything about any of that. If you're not interested in that kind of thing, don't be interested in it. It's unimportant. Irrelevant.

You just want to see that e-mail float in that informs you that dollars (or euros, etc) have made their way to your bank account. If it seems like magic, I assure you that it is a form of magic. Money appears because your intention was for money to appear. Thrilling at first, with time this becomes your expectation. And when you are clear and clean in your expectation, this is what you naturally create more of in your life.

So what was the domain name I registered today that inspired this post?

Fridgeworthycards.com.

What does that mean? Well, I'll wait to elaborate (and hopefully get some feedback on my idea) in a subsequent post. But I wanted to share my perspective and some experiences on intentions, passive income, and making a small investment on an idea that you allow to come to you.

Some people buy lottery tickets. A dollar and a dream. I buy domains names that make my heart flutter.

And while my ideas may ultimately prove to be of equal value as an expired lottery ticket, in the long run, just by thinking this way I feel like I've won something.

 

A few months ago I posted a video on YouTube to show people how I use dowsing wands. (You can see it here.) I made it for fun and to show people how I test for resonance and the presence of energy. From the comments I received, some people think this is cool, some think I am trying to hoax them, some people think that dowsing is the work of the devil.

Whatever. I'm just sharing, not trying to persuade anyone.

So I was taken aback by a comment that arrived in my inbox the other day:

You and I both know you are a scammer. Nothing will change the fact that you scam people out of money. And I know you don't sleep well at night. It eats at you. The inner voice… "I'm a crook." "I'm a cheat." Happy nightmares.

Huh? The "happy nightmares" was the topper for me. Best read with coffee to start your day.

Personally, I cannot fathom writing a stranger hate mail, but I think my training in psychology and coaching gives me an understanding of why people sent this stuff (but that's a different story).

In full disclosure, I do provide an affiliate link if someone wants to purchase these dowsing rods (they are the best I've found). I think I make like 3 bucks a sale. And just so you know, whenever I formulate a plan to cheat people, it's my policy to make sure my end is at least 10 bucks a sale. I mean, I'm not stoopid.

I did my best to dismiss the e-mail and move on with my day. But in the back of my mind, I cannot help but wonder where that came from. What am I putting out there to attract something like that? What is going on between me and money that this divine teacher disguised as a frothing YouTuber is trying to enlighten me on?

<<Fast forward two weeks.>>

Karin and I are in New York City for a wedding. My friend lives in NYC and we decide to meet up at the art gallery where she works. She's been called in to show a potential buyer a painting right before the ceremony and the gallery is two blocks away. Perfect.

As I enter the gallery and say hello, I notice the paintings on the walls. They are all about 5' x 5' or so, to give you some scale. The first one I see is below.

<Image removed by request>

 

My photo makes it look much better than it appeared on the wall in person. Without the flash, it was just a mass of blackish-brown with little definition. Even seen here with the more pronounced colors, I can't say it moves me in any particular way.

My friend sees me looking at it and informs me that the painting costs well over 30 million dollars (I was asked not to disclose the actual price).

My eyes became as large as glazed doughnuts.

THAT costs 30 mill? You've got to be kidding me. I have to take a picture of this. I mean, I think I could paint this, I really do…

My attitude went from amazement to indignation. While I had zero knowledge about the painting, its significance, its history, or its creator, I believed the price was ridiculous and the mocking tone of my voice reflected my belief.

Karin reminded me that I was being a bit of a touchhole in front of my friend and disrespectful of her passion for art, and so I shut my mouth. But I kept taking pictures as my friend described the significance of the piece. I still didn't get it.

A moment later the gentleman who was interested in buying the painting walked through the door. Who was this guy? What did he do? How'd he get all that scratch? What does he see in this art? Really? He already owns two similar works?

It was time for us to depart for the wedding. In the hours and days that passed, I retold the story of the painting many times. My emphasis in the retelling was always can you believe how much this costs?

I thought back to the prospective buyer in the gallery. I watched him as my friend told him the prices of the various pieces. His demeanor never changed. Why did I care so much?

I had asked my friend what the artist's cut was going to be on the sale. Yes, he was still alive and he would receive 97% of the sale price. Again, I had never heard of the artist, knew nothing about this cat, and yet a felt a wave of resentment toward him pass through me.

Certainly he didn't deserve such an enormous sum of money. For one painting? And such an "ugly" one at that? All these people are crazy… wasting money like this…???

Looking back, I suppose I just could not fathom having that kind of money in my life. Do I want that kind of wealth? Sure I do. Do I resonate with allowing that kind of money into my life? Certainly not.

And here's how we know that (without even having to use the previously mentioned dowsing rods). I REACTED. Your emotions, and yes, your reactions show you where your buttons are — where you're conditioning lives — and that which keeps you from allowing your truest desires into your life.

The more conscious you are in living your life, the more you will pay attention to your reactions and take full responsibility for them. The less conscious you are, the more you will blame others for your reactions.

It's much easier for me to judge everyone associated with a piece of art, the art itself, and the value placed on that  art as "insane and obscene" and self-righteously tell people the story to bolster my world view ("yes, don't you agree with me? Isn't that crazy?") than it is to see my reaction and judgement as a reflection of my own self imposed limitations.

This was one painting. In one gallery. In one building. On one corner of New York City. Someone determined that it was worth 30 million dollars. Someone seemed happy to pay that. There's as much money and wealth in the universe as we allow into our experience.

Just to show me I had not adequately addressed my unconscious money belief, the universe provided me with another message to make sure I got it.

I had just sent out an announcement about my new coaching program — The Very Cool Life Network. In many ways, this is the most ambitious project I've ever created. I believe it will transform lives — mine and the people who choose to join me on this adventure.

In addition, filling this group will also allow me to change my whole way of doing business and allow me even more freedom in my life. It feels huge to me.

Much like the painting, the value of the program is arbitrary and largely defined by the client. But it's still up to me to set the price and I set the value of a year of my work and personal attention for this program at $7500. While I could easily rationalize that in my head, my energy around changing that much was not totally clean. This became clear when another angel named John, whom I've never met or heard of sent me this message out of nowhere.

Drew — Good luck with your money making scheme and your insane rate.

Though I'd never met John, as soon as I read his e-mail, I wanted to meet him. And punch him. And then punch him again. At the very least I wanted to write him back. I wanted to make him feel like he made me feel. But I've been through this before and my higher-self dialed in. I know that nothing good would come from me feeding energy into this.

And most important, I remember that my reaction to this message was telling me something about ME. My buddy John was just an illusion — he was really the part of ME that still believed I didn't deserve to have a group of like-minded, cool people show up and pay me for sharing myself.

So I practiced what I preach and did the work to remove that conflicting intention about allowing my desire. (By the way, the VCLN is all about mastering how to do this in your own life).

And by the end of the next day I had my first two registrations and three (count 'em, 3) messages from people telling me what a great value my program offers.

Huge change.

And it comes from owing and noticing my reactions. Seeing them as something I need to clean up. And taking the appropriate action.

I hope the artist sells his painting. I hope the buyer loves buying it and seeing it on his wall. I am grateful to the people who sent me e-mails to show me where I was not allowing my intentions. I am conscious that every time I complain about money in any way, I am refusing to allow it in my own life.

And I move further into the space where my desires come to me. Just because I want them.