Our Spiritual Lives - Relate to God??

I have been working through a book of my wife's, actually. Going slowly. One of those books that you can only chew little pieces of at a time. Its title is Listening to Love, written by Jan Meyers. I read a passage today that just kind of summed up what I have been stewing over for the last quite a while and, with full acknowledgement of her work, her insight and her courage to share these thoughts, I would like to reproduce excerpts of one section of it here.

This grave [she is speaking of self-righteousness; I apply it to my spirituality in general - J] is often the hardest to break out of because it looks so, well, good, moral, and honest. It is a shell of great-looking appearances, even friend to friend. But thankfully, as Canon Barnett's billboard said of our spiritual life, "It is buried, but not dead. When it really hears God's voice it will rise. Men will live spiritual as well as honest lives. They will rest on Some One greater than themselves and have peace."¹

She goes on to relate a conversation with a couple who were having a struggle and she had just wondered out loud about how sad God must feel about that. One responded condescendingly, "how can you possibly think of God in that way?" The other echoed in disbelief, "How can a sovereign God possibly be moved by us?"

This couple sat with me, incredulous that I would suggest God might actually be impacted -- stirred, moved -- by them. Displeased, maybe, but not sad, not impacted. They were defending God and all they had come to know intellectually about his immovable attributes, and as they did so, it was clear they felt obedient. So why did they sound so smug?

Here is the dilemma of true listening: are we listening in order to respond with our hearts, or are we robotically rattling off what we "know" to be true? ...like George MacDonald...wrote to his niece, "The whole mischief has come of people setting themselves to understand rather than to do, to arrange God's business for him, and tell other people what the Father meant, instead of doing what the Father tells them, and then teaching others to do the same." ² Something dry happens when we stop listening and start to presumptuously instruct. For [them] [and us?? - J.], God had become so impersonal in his sovereign holiness that considering his heart for them was no longer relevant; all they had to do was salute him and defend him. Their hearts were not involved in listening to his voice, because they were preoccupied with defending a tightly held theological position about him. Always an irony, isn't it? God gets lost in the process of our trying to defend him. [emphasis added - J]

.....The sovereignty of God opens up greater depths of freedom and intimacy than we could ever imagine. But that was just it. [I/We are] not looking for intimacy; [I/we are] looking for a God [I/We can] defend and outline.

.....true listening obedience asks everything of us because it is responsible. Explaining God asks only that we be good students of facts.

.....It is hard to ask with the needy heart of a child -- to be loved, to be given to, to stay responisve to God's care. And it's humbling to admit all our talk and labor and work for God are worth [nothing]. Larry Crabb reminds us that infants don't just sit around sweetly longing. No, they fill their diapers and squawk and scream until they get what they cannot provide for themselves.³ Their middle-of-the-night bellowing is a picture of what Jesus...says must be true of us in order to receive the kingdom of heaven.

Think about it. How often in the past week have you known the freedom in your soul to pitch a fit -- a screaming desperation that says, "I don't know how you are going to do it, but I cannot do anything for myself here, and I am starving, so you had better come through for me!".....

The words of Scripture can be managed and manipulated and explained. The Word made Flesh must be encountered and responded to -- with desperate, middle-of-the-night cries.

---Excerpted from Jan Meyers, Listening to Love, (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2004, 59-61.

Pretty blunt. Pretty right on. Let's have the freedom to respond to God, to "pitch our fit" with needy and open hearts. And, I might add, let's have the freedom and the courage to be flesh for and respond to each other as well.


¹Barnett, quoted in Steve Brinn, The BootJack Ranch Devotional, 4
²George MacDonald, The Heart of George MacDonald: A One-Volume Collection of His Most Important Fiction, Essays, Sermons, Drama, Poetry, Letters, ed. Rolland Hein (Wheaton, IL: Shaw, 1994), 14.
³Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams: God's Unexpected Pathway to Joy (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2001, 17.

Who are you? A Marketer?

I have spent 4 or 5 years in the marketing world trying to run one or more home based businesses. Like most, I have been unsuccessful - that is, I have spent lots of money without earning any.

During this time I have been taught - and tried to learn, with some success - skills and techniques such as:

writing copy

writing attention-getting headlines

using, reading phone scripts that require little or no thought

setting goals

taking action, daily, to reach those goals

being persistent

finding a market

picking a product

acquiring and using tools and software to automate the process

developing a system

advertising hows and wheres, media, etc.

duplicating one's self

getting a coach and a mastermind team

etc.

All of these are helpful, important, and certainly generate income for the proponent and purveyor of each.

However, there is a fatal flaw. None of them address the key to all activity, and that is, "Who am I? How do I define myself? How does the 'I' relate to all of the tools? In doing any of these activities, do they enhance or detract from who I perceive myself to be?"

So the first question we must ask a potential marketer is: "Who are you? Do you know who you are? (And are you OK with that?)"

The second question then becomes: "Are you willing to change your definintion of yourself to become someone who can do what it takes (above?!) to become a marketer?" Or, perhaps better, "Are you willing to let go all of the lies and false perceptions about yourself that you allow to be your definition of yourself and discover who you really, truly are? And having done that, will you be willing to let yourself be open and seen and attractive to other people who need and want what you have to offer?"

So to become a marketer, first know who you are and embrace that. Acknowledge that. Love that.

Next, know that What you market is YOU! That will reflect as some product to which you are drawn: a nutritional product, or a service or whatever; something that resonates with you based on you, not because of the product itself.

At some point you well begin to measure results. Earning extra income is, after all, the purpose. Here again, though, keep the focus on the right place. Results are not best measured on reaching goals or counting the number of dollars brought to the bank account (my apologies to Dan Kennedy, a man I consider a mentor, who makes carts full more than I do). Rather, results should first be measured in terms of how much closer I (you) have moved today toward affirming, confirming, more deeply manifesting, who I am and am becoming.

Personally, these last "unsuccessful" years have reflected my confusion about who I truly am, confusion about my definite chief purpose in life (a "Napoleon Hillism"). In that mindset I could barely attract and could certainly not keep clients or dollars. I wanted not their money but their approval. Now, in accepting and approving myself, by living in and from the strength of who I am, I not only attract peole who want and need what I have to offer them, but they also leave dollars on the table on the way out. More than that. I can now easily accept those dollars as a reflection in their minds of my value to them.

As T. Harv Eker says, "my outer world reflects my inner world". We need to spend less time on technique and more time on the inner world.

The Healing Journey

Healing is not just something that "happens" and now you are well. It is very often, perhaps usually, a journey, a process. Just as Dis-ease is a process, a result, an effect of some cause, not usually just something that "happens." Both Healing and Dis-ease really reflect Life, which is also a process, a Journey, a Learning.

Of the two, Healing and Dis-ease, it seems that Dis-ease is the "default" mode, that which comes most easily and is most likely to occur. I am sure there are lots of reasons: sin, the Creation groaning until the Son of Man is revealed (Romans, in the Bible), selfishness, self-seeking of pleasure at multiple levels (another cookie, anyone?), genetics, toxins, trauma, etc.

Healing is, by definition, the "Recovery" Mode, usually arrived at via a reactionary process to the Dis-ease state when it is recognized.

Both Healing and Dis-ease have Acute (sudden, unexpected) phases, times when they do just seem to show up or "happen" without any obvious cause. On the Dis-ease side maybe it is the allergic response to the cat that you never knew about, or the broken arm from playing pickup football on an afternoon. On the Healing side we would call the sudden episode a "Miracle" or "spontaneous remission". When thinking about Healing, this latter is perhaps what is most often hoped for, aimed at, defined as "Healing."

However, it is the Chronic aspect of both Dis-ease and Healing that offer the most interesting points of discussion, and growth. Chronicity implies continued, regular activity or behavior over an extended time, producing a particular result. Again, we are familiar with the concept when it comes to Dis-ease. Things like Diabetes, Arthritis, Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Heart disease and a host of other dis-eases all fit into this category. Interestingly, the response is to learn to "deal with it" with various medications and supports, but not to attempt to really "fix" it.

Perhaps the reason for that is because this is where the concept of what I will call "Chronic Healing" comes in. It is not a concept that has entered our awareness as a people or as a culture, to my knowledge. Basically, it is the same idea, but applied to Healing, that we have just pointed out when applied to Dis-ease. That is, Chronic Healing is continued, regular activity or behavior over an extended time, producing a particular result.

The next question is to ask, "What kind of behavior(s)?"

Here are some, for starters:
Pray. Ask the Healer for His presence and Touch. Stories abound in Scripture, and since, of just exactly this.
Look for things, attitudes, thoughts in us that need to change, and change them.
Visualize ourselves (believe) as healed. "As a man thinketh so is he." The body is but the reflection of spirit and emotion.
Open ourselves up. Let go the pride, shame, guilt, fear, pain, and all the protective walls with which we cover ourselves and wtih which we hold bound so much toxic "stuff." Just as abscesses and boils need to be drained to heal, the dis-ease bound up in us needs also to be opened up and "drained" at every level, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
Find modalities that nurture and heal on some level in and of themselves. Examples include proper diet, exercise, regular therapeutic massage, meditation, effective supplements, etc. (This is where most of us do well, but is the point where we tend to get stuck along this Journey of Healing.)

It is in this process of praying, changing, visualizing and opening up that Chronic Healing takes form as the Journey, the process, that mirrors the rest of life. We will see this Journey itself constantly change, grow and expand. We will learn more and more of things in us that need to change, we will learn better how to pray and what to pray for, we will get to new levels of openness spiritually, emotionally, physically. Eventually we will get to the place where there is nothing more to hide; the "abscess" will be cleaned out.

The result of these continued, regular behaviors is that Healing WILL come!

Blessings,

Dr Jon

The Healing Journey

Healing is not just something that "happens" and now you are well. It is very often, perhaps usually, a journey, a process. Just as Dis-ease is a process, a result, an effect of some cause, not usually just something that "happens." Both Healing and Dis-ease really reflect Life, which is also a process, a Journey, a Learning.

Of the two, Healing and Dis-ease, it seems that Dis-ease is the "default" mode, that which comes most easily and is most likely to occur. I am sure there are lots of reasons: sin, the Creation groaning until the Son of Man is revealed (Romans, in the Bible), selfishness, self-seeking of pleasure at multiple levels (another cookie, anyone?), genetics, toxins, trauma, etc.

Healing is, by definition, the "Recovery" Mode, usually arrived at via a reactionary process to the Dis-ease state when it is recognized.

Both Healing and Dis-ease have Acute (sudden, unexpected) phases, times when they do just seem to show up or "happen" without any obvious cause. On the Dis-ease side maybe it is the allergic response to the cat that you never knew about, or the broken arm from playing pickup football on an afternoon. On the Healing side we would call the sudden episode a "Miracle" or "spontaneous remission". When thinking about Healing, this latter is perhaps what is most often hoped for, aimed at, defined as "Healing."

However, it is the Chronic aspect of both Dis-ease and Healing that offer the most interesting points of discussion, and growth. Chronicity implies continued, regular activity or behavior over an extended time, producing a particular result. Again, we are familiar with the concept when it comes to Dis-ease. Things like Diabetes, Arthritis, Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Heart disease and a host of other dis-eases all fit into this category. Interestingly, the response is to learn to "deal with it" with various medications and supports, but not to attempt to really "fix" it.

Perhaps the reason for that is because this is where the concept of what I will call "Chronic Healing" comes in. It is not a concept that has entered our awareness as a people or as a culture, to my knowledge. Basically, it is the same idea, but applied to Healing, that we have just pointed out when applied to Dis-ease. That is, Chronic Healing is continued, regular activity or behavior over an extended time, producing a particular result.

The next question is to ask, "What kind of behavior(s)?"

Here are some, for starters:
Pray. Ask the Healer for His presence and Touch. Stories abound in Scripture, and since, of just exactly this.
Look for things, attitudes, thoughts in us that need to change, and change them.
Visualize ourselves (believe) as healed. "As a man thinketh so is he." The body is but the reflection of spirit and emotion.
Open ourselves up. Let go the pride, shame, guilt, fear, pain, and all the protective walls with which we cover ourselves and wtih which we hold bound so much toxic "stuff." Just as abscesses and boils need to be drained to heal, the dis-ease bound up in us needs also to be opened up and "drained" at every level, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
Find modalities that nurture and heal on some level in and of themselves. Examples include proper diet, exercise, regular therapeutic massage, meditation, effective supplements, etc. (This is where most of us do well, but is the point where we tend to get stuck along this Journey of Healing.)

It is in this process of praying, changing, visualizing and opening up that Chronic Healing takes form as the Journey, the process, that mirrors the rest of life. We will see this Journey itself constantly change, grow and expand. We will learn more and more of things in us that need to change, we will learn better how to pray and what to pray for, we will get to new levels of openness spiritually, emotionally, physically. Eventually we will get to the place where there is nothing more to hide; the "abscess" will be cleaned out.

The result of these continued, regular behaviors is that Healing WILL come!

Blessings,

Dr Jon

TOO Good!

The common comment:

If it is too good to be true, it must be

got me thinking recently. Why do we as a culture take life so negatively? Is it negative to think this is a true statement?

I began to make a list of things

too good to be true - but ARE!

Number 1, right off the top, has to be:

Salvation. Redemption. Jesus coming to earth to find that which was lost. Immanuel.

When you think about this, it really is too good to be true, but it is true as many will attest. Thank God it is or we would have some really serious issues. Hopeless, Chaos, Despair, Unbridled violence. Oh, wait a minute. Sounds like the news. Maybe we need to start believing it is true.

But I digress.

What else goes on the list?

Number 2. How about the Beauty of Nature? Sunsets. Oceanscapes. Landscapes.

Awfully good. Awfully true.

Hmmm. The old saying is starting to lose some credibility for me.

Number 3. Loving, Encouraging, Edifying Relationships. Between spouses, between friends, among family. Granted it may not be true for us all, but if for only a few it still belies the original statement.

I suspect we could go on.

How about we get practical now and open our minds to the idea that

some things may be so good they are true!

How about a way to leverage your income to pay off your mortgage so early you can actually build a retirement - if you want or think you need one of those?

How about some natural products that are so potent, so "tuned in" to the needs of the human body that they actually markedly affect (dare I say "reverse"? and note that I would never dare to say "cure" because the FDA might jump all over me if I did) chronic dis-ease and a toughy like cancer?

Could these kind of practical issues that we are often faced with actually be impacted by something that is so good it could be true?

What might happen for us if we decided to believe it could be true????

I would love to hear YOUR story.

Blessings,

Dr Jon

Celebrate

I was driving home last night from a business meeting and driving my son's (see his Brilliant Sports Commentary Blog) truck. The radio was tuned to a national talk show. The host was making the point that every day he talked about all the things in this country that were a problem:

• The war in Iraq
• Political wrangling
• Environmental issues, controversies
• Etc.

His point last night, though, was that he wanted to take some time to talk about and point out, with comments from the listeners, things that make this country unique and special. Here are a few that he came up with:

• Improved longevity
• Improved health care, in general, even for animals
• The mindset of young people that anything can be done
• Remote control, not just of TV, but of lights, fans, cars
• Antibiotics, even though some of them are becoming ineffective
• The Internet

In listening, I had to add my own to the list:

• A natural formulation MORE effective than any antibiotic, proven, working against not only bacteria but also viruses and fungi
• A technology that will scan a body and tell how much arterial occlusion is present. Then, take a supplement that is exceptionally effective at reversing the occlusion.
• A fruit juice that is effective in causing positive effects on MANY dis-eases including
Fibromyalgia
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Diabetes
Cholesterol
Cardiac Disease
Arthritis
Crohn's
Alzheimer's
Gastric Reflux
Asthma/Allergies
ADD/ADHD
Herpes
Even Cancer

Since I was in a business meeting all day I also had to add some economic celebrations:

• Every American has the opportunity to own and operate a small business. This allows him to benefit from all the tax advantages given to the wealthy
• The number of businesses available to run are limitless, depending only on one's ambition and imagination
• A mortgage payoff program that allows one to be free of mortgage and debt in 1/2 to 1/3 the time without altering spending habits or lifestyle, allowing financial freedom and providing a means to build real wealth

These are things which are available to us, NOW, NEVER before available in the history of the world!

I know, some of them sound too good to be true. Our old thinking kicks in and says it must be not true. But, guess what? These are true!

Why then are many of still dis-eased, still in debt over our ears?

Only one reason I can think of:

our inability to believe any of this can work;

our inability to get over our fear of stepping out of the cultural

"norm" or status quo;

our inability to believe that we are better, more powerful,

more deserving than we see ourselves right now.

In short, Our Thinking.

Let's go think bigger, grander, freeing, outside-the-box thoughts.

Until next time,

Blessings.

Dr Jon

P.S. If interested in any of these topics listed, contact me. And please add your comments/disagreements/salutations/benedictions to whatever I say!

Transforming Grace

At our home we do a "movie night" monthly. First or second Saturday night, usually, depending on schedules. We learned from John Eldredge that kings of culture receive messages from God; prophets are required to interpret them. The kings of our culture are movie producers and directors. So we watch a movie, then discuss the real message behind it. Not just a film critique, we look at the grand themes like what does it tell us about God, about man, about woman, about an evil antagonist, etc. Very helpful, revealing!

Last Saturday we watched Les Miserables, the most recent version of Victor Hugo's novel with Liam Neeson playing Jean Valjean. If you have not seen this film, you absolutely MUST! There is SO MUCH in it of the power of Love and Grace, the destruction of unbridled law.

But what struck me occurred at the very beginning. Indeed, it was really on this that resulted in the events of the entire film and story. Valjean came to the Bishop's house looking for bread and something to steal. But he said:
"Give me a bed for the night and
IN THE MORNING I WILL BE A NEW MAN."

In the morning he stole the silver thinking that would give him the resources to become a new man. He was wrong. The Bishop, when queried, gave him forgiveness and even more silver, thus saving his life. Actually giving him new life. As a result, Valjean BECAME A NEW MAN!

While it is absolutely an example of a work of grace, our theology stops at that and makes that the theme. But let me take it one step further.

IT IS A WORK OF CHOOSING.

Grace was the means that worked out the transformation. Valjean's choice within himself, even though he had the completely wrong idea about how to do it and what it would look like, was the KEY that opened the door! How many other beggars had come by that same door asking for bread without expecting or thinking or believing that they could ever become a new man?

So, you see, though this is a fictional story, it makes the point:

It is our choosing that begins the change.

What will you choose to change today?
Your depression?
Your poverty?
Your selfishness?
Your thinking negatively about yourself?
Your ..............

Make the choice to change.

The grace will follow.

Talk to you soon.

Blessings,

Dr Jon

Living Abundantly??

First, I can't believe it has been nearly 6 weeks since the last post!! Time flies when you are having fun!

Been learning lots of new stuff recently and growing in many ways. Hardly know where to start.

Saw the movie "Facing the Giants" three times last weekend. Awesome. Go see it; buy it. Watch it once a week until you get it.
Coach was defeated, loser, failure, down and out. Began to change his thinking. Began to BELIEVE that Loving Father was FOR him. (I have come so that you might have life and have it ABUNDANTLY!!) Dare we think that could mean having enough money, winning football games, enjoying family relationships, reaching out to people in need and becoming influential in their lives?? Dare we say YES!!

BUT - as John Eldredge points out - there is an enemy focused on stealing, killing and destroying. We have to FIGHT to gain the victory and our abundance. Is fighting something you do? I haven't much till recently. Watch out. I'm a fighter now. Big time. Because my abundance, my dreams for what Father has for me, given me by him, are WAY TOO BIG and WAY TOO IMPORTANT for the rest of all of us not to be fulfilled. DO NOT tell me to sit down and shut up, that I can't do this or that. (You can tell me but I'm not listening!)

I CAN!

And YOU CAN, TOO!!!

Enter Psalm 2: Thou, O Lord are the shield about me...I will not be afraid.
There is the courage to do.

Enter Proverbs 2: I will
Listen with my ear (conscious mind)
Incline my heart (subsconscious mind)
Cry for discernment (add emotion) then
Wisdom in my heart (subconscious), Knowledge (conscious), Discretion (guided and guarded results) will
DELIVER ME FROM EVIL!
Where have you heard that before? Yeah, the Lord's Prayer.

So do we keep this in our head? NO

Let's speak our dreams, our abundance, so we know what it is.
Let's fight the enemy of doubt, discouragement, fear that kills us.
Let's act in the knowledge of Loving Father and for His Glory.

AND we WILL WIN the abundance promised!

Now that's what I'm talking about!!

Always CAN

Have been basking in the words and energy of Joe Schroeder. Awesome stuff. Stirring. Life changing. Challenging. In-Your-Face.

Practical.

Here's an example.

When Joe got tired of being down and out he took control of his life. Decided to bury the words "I Can't" and live in the truth of "CAN DO". So he made a tombstone and wrote on it

R. I. P.

Here lies the words

"I Can't"

[Date]

Changed his life. So he is now challenging us to do the same.

I did it.

Already changing my life. Different outlook. Not just head knowledge. Down in the gut; into the part of me that actually makes the rest of me tick. Powerful stuff.

Bigger than I thought.

Always assumed it meant now I Can DO.

Uh-Uh.

Yesterday I realized it means I Can BE as well.

I'm BEING

How about you?

Blessings,

Dr Jon

P.S. Get more from and about Joe here.

New Snow

It snowed last night here in St Louis.
White.
Bright.
Clear.
Crisp.

Went out early and just stood in it, enjoying the cleanness, the freshness.

Sort of like the New Year.
Fresh.
"New" which means a time to be done with the "Old".

Old thoughts.
Old habits.
Old ways of being and doing.

Was reading "hTe Alpha Code" yesterday by Joe Schroeder.
New thoughts.
New habits on the way.
New ways of being and doing!

Come join me and the others with me. We are going to new places, becoming new thinkers, breaking new ground.

Becoming the people "I" and "YOU" are meant to become!!

http://www.jonmoreshead.com

Blessings,

Dr Jon
CANDO man

Business is really business

Yesterday a friend spent some time with me, being concerned and caring for me, presenting another business opportunity. For that I am very thankful, especially that he cares about me. Incidentally, the biz op would probably be a good one, a money saver and a potential money maker.

However, the experience taught me something I think profound; something that my friends in the STAR-LINK community probably long ago figured out.

Let's go back to business being business. We spent a couple of days talking about business plans. Let's take it a step further.

Most "real" businesses have two separate departments that get new business. One is called "Sales". The other is called "Marketing". They really are very different parts of the process. Marketing brings people into the "funnel" to use Joe Schroeder's term; Sales makes the close somewhere along the line.

You all are laughing that the "newbie" thinks that is profound when you knew it all along. Me too. I'm laughing to realize it took this long for me to figure it out. Have to thank Joe, though, that it came at all.

Here's the really profound part: I am going to call the business MLS or MultiLevel Selling. Network Sales. The presentation, very good though it be, was all about selling. Wasn't about marketing at all. Honestly, I got pretty uncomfortable - people don't want to be sold, remember? Me neither. I was ready to join up right up front when my friend was being my friend and before he went into selling mode.

We could talk hours about this, though I don't have to. Joe has done it already. (http://www.jonmoreshead.com for info and how to get it). But here's what I take away from this, for me:

Don't sell. Be a Network Marketer.

Be a FRIEND!!!!!!

Blessings,

Dr Jon
MD - Doctor-in-training of Marketing
Star-Link University
Currently enrolling - welcome to the class
http://www.yourgrowthmatters.com

Business Plan Part 2 or 3 Easy Steps to Rethinking the Plan

We mentioned yesterday, rather pointedly perhaps, that you and I need a Business Plan to keep our business on focus, be it MLM or Internet Marketing or any "Brick and Mortar" business. Most of us, though, don't like doing the exercise of thinking (did I really say that??), or of thinking ahead, or of coming up with numbers and projections, or perhaps of "tooting our own horn" even.

Maybe I just gave you a full frontal picture of my brain and personality!

Regardless, here is what I did that made writing a plan a lot of fun.

I changed the name of it. As you know, words tell. I realized that the business plan really has three main sections:

1. What you want to do, the big picture (need, market, research, exit strategy)
2. How you are going to do it, pieces of the picture (tools, people specifics needed)
3. Steps along the way to get the pieces done (dollars, projections, balance sheet)

So, looking at that I realized those could be translated into:

1. Vision
2. Goals
3. Action Steps

Now I'm talking my language! I can think in terms of Vision:

• I am helping other entrepreneurs build their business, or
• I am helping other people to improve their health, physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially

All my mentors and the motivational speakers who speak into my life talk about goals and being specific:

• I am generating $XX per month in my MLM business by 31 Mar 07
• I am working through my Blackman leads each month
• I am setting up a retail leg for my MLM business and selling XX units per week by 31 Jan 07
• I am marketing to previous massage clients with new offers each month
• etc. (the list can get pretty long)

Now I'm cookin'! This is getting fun.

Finally, action steps. What do I do every day to advance me along the path I have just laid out?

• I am calling XX leads each and every day
• I am writing X pages per day in my book
• I am posting to my blog each day
• I am sending a postcard to XX leads each day as a means of follow up to continue the relationship I am building with them
• I am posting to safelists each day
• I am writing a new ad/headline each day to use in various postings
• I am talking to/writing to my mentor each day
• I am listening to the great Joe Schroeder and other mentors each day
• I am doing the necessary inner work, exercises, growing activities each day that help keep me on focus and committed
• I am reading Think and Grow Rich each day
• I am spending time in Scripture each day
• etc.
• etc. (again the list gets long)

May have to make some weekly or just focus on what can be done in the time available or.......
May have to allot more time to the business! (Less sleep, less TV - what? you're meddling again Doc)

Regardless, the action steps move me toward the goals previously written which in turn begin to complete the larger vision.

Will the bank give you money on this? Probably not. Wouldn't be too hard, though, to put some actual dollars into it. And you probably should. Know how much to spend on leads, on mailings, on copies, etc.

Will it keep you on your game? I think so.

Help me out.

Let me know.

Blessings,

Dr Jon
JUICEr
Join Us In Celebrating Excellence (a Schroederism)
http://www.jonmoreshead.com
http://www.beingwork.com

But Doc, I Can't Write a Business Plan!

My older brother, the businessman of the family, has been after me for a couple of years to write a business plan. You see, my son Philip and I operate a lawn/landscaping service which began as his high school job and escalated into the family business. Because of its history and evolution, it has never had a proper foundation: no funding, no marketing, no advertising, so consistent sales (GREAT service, though) and - no surprise! - no money! So my brother's advice was to get it on its proper footing. Write the business plan, make yourself presentable, go through the hoops, run the business like it is supposed to be run.

Know what? That is GREAT advice. Just one problem. I hate the thought of writing a "Business Plan". Sounds like too much work, too much financial stuff. How can I know what my income MIGHT be two years from now?

So I haven't written it (until now!! Yeah!!). Just floundered along, scraping by, uncomfortable but not uncomfortable enough to do something better, to grow myself, to get real with myself. Hurting my son and my family by not doing well. Looking for other ways to generate an income, like MLM or Internet Marketing.

Question: is it wrong to do MLM or Internet Marketing?
Answer: NO, NO, and NO!
Better Answer: If you are going to do any business, MLM or otherwise, do it right! Write the business plan.

Now some of you in MLM already are likely to be thinking, as I, that you don't need a business plan. Just follow the directions your company tells you. Use their plan.

Wrong.

Their plan is to get unfocused people like you and me to join. They are following their plan. They just made us employees without any benefits. Worse than Wal-Mart. Am I upset at them? Yes and No. Yes, because they could do a better job at telling us what we really are. No, because where else can I "own" a company for a few hundred dollars that has the potential to earn me thousands and millions of dollars? Talk about ROI!

BUT... It will only do that if I make my business my BUSINESS. How do I do that? First, write a plan. Second, stick to it.

Tomorrow I'll show you how I wrote my plan. But here's a little preview and a hint (maybe with this hint you can figure out what I am going to say): don't call it a "business plan".

Blessings,

Dr Jon
Stay Ahead of the Curve - www.jonmoreshead.com

Being "__________" (You Fill in the Blank)

Two events occurred yesterday that converged to NOW (early AM, Wed, 10 Jan 07) in my brain.

1) I received and started reading my copy of Warrior's Nest. This is the work of Joe Schroeder, a unique person who by the world's standards was going nowhere fast. He looked at life and began to think backwards and began to do everything backwards and has become the Teacher of Success to the success teachers. You MUST get a copy (here) and read it and DO what he recommends, begin to think the way he teaches you to think. He is the System Heretic. He is all about Community. Giving. Universal Law of Losing Your Life to Gain It. Providing Service. Awesome stuff.

He points out that he was blessed with a gift - ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) [thought to be "bad" in our world] - that actually allowed, conditioned, equipped him to see and do differently.

2) I got back into a chat room I like to join when possible. It had been nearly 4 months since last there since I teach massage school evenings in three month stretches on the same night. This is a "room", a community of regulars with lots of visitors, that prides themselves with caring and communicating, which they do. However, last night for some reason, after the initial "hi, Jon" upon checking in, my posting was completely ignored.

I realized that I also have a gift. It is the gift of a brain that can analyze (and over analyze and paralyze, too) and a parent/family that taught me to be different. Formerly this combination has been considered lethal to my successful existence. Now, upon the convergence of these two experiences, I realize that this gift is my Life Blood, my Direction, my Chief Purpose.

Joe's ADD, my Analytic Heretic, YOUR "________" (Fill in the unique gift that is YOU) is what makes us US. It is our USP (earlier post). It is what makes us special. It is what gives us a place in the grand Community where we help one another, give ourselves to one another, and grow one another in order to grow ourselves.

Most of us don't do it, don't become our unique US. As a result, we lack. We stay financially poor. Worse, we let others dictate our thoughts and behavior. We worry about what they might think. Stop it! Get real! Turn around. The Bible says to repent - same thing. Become who you ARE. Join the real community of beings who are Becoming Beings! Who are the Becomings. No more ignoring of yourself, or of others' uniqueness. Let's be, let's listen.

Two things converged in my Analytic Heretic brain. Two action steps diverge out of it:

1) As a massage therapist I have been looking for a term to describe what I do, what happens when you get on my table. "Massage" has too many connotations. "Therapy" is ok but sounds too sterile, like what doctors do. Here is my new label: Invitational Beingwork. Come get on my table and you are invited to work on your being, body-soul-spirit.

2) As a Community person I will start a new thread, a new chat room, actually a "listen room". Call it the Listening Post. A place* where we can listen to other people's comments, questions, desires, dreams, wisdom. Encourage each other as human beings to BECOME, to COME-BE.

BE today.

Blessings,

Dr Jon
http://www.jonmoreshead.com
http://www.goodheartgroupinc.com

*Such a place has begun. The Star-Link community. Directed towards business/marketing folk. Listen in, join in. Info here.

New Years Explosion

Today ushers in a new year - 2007! Wow! The old adage is true: Time Flies.

We stayed home last night; no late night partying for us. Rather, we finished the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings on DVD. The family is big fans of the work, and message. We had started to do a 12 hour marathon on Friday evening. Got through two of the three movies (eight hours) but my wife and I faded in and out of the second, winding up at nearly 3AM, so decided to complete the set later. Later was last night. Awesome movies, awesome story. See it again for yourself, to be reminded.

Anyway, we didn't time it this way, but just as the ring got to the mountain and deposited into the fire and melted causing the evil empire to literally implode (towers falling, mountain exploding, fire balls flying everywhere, lava flowing, heroes being snatched from the jaws of death - all great stuff) our clock showed 12 Midnight! New Year. New Beginning. Old Evil, Stuck, Negative, Dark Forces gone. Destroyed.

Symbolic.

Bring on the new!

And a line in the film that fits. Elven lord Elron to the exiled, reticent king yet to be crowned, "Let go of the rage and become what you were born to be."
Publish
I am going to take that to heart. You can too.

Dr Jon

Are You Looking for Answers or Freedom?

It's time for a quote - a long one. So bear with me, though I am positive you will enjoy this one. Well, maybe not "enjoy" until you realize the impact it will have, but certainly "appreciate" it. Be forewarned, though, it may upset your applecart to a point of no return.

This comes from a book of writings by John Eldredge called "the Ransomed Heart, a Collection of Devotional Readings." In this book there is an excerpt for each day of the year. This one comes from day/page 319 which is itself taken from John's book The Journey of Desire, pp. 38-40. Hold on, here goes:

You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you say you want. (John 5:39-40 The Message)

The promise of life and the invitation to desire has again been lost beneath a pile of religious teachings that put the focus on knowledge and performance.

History has brought us to the point where the Christian message is thought to be essentially concerned only with how to deal with sin: with wrongdoing or wrong-being and its effects. Life, our actual existence, is not included in what is now presented as the heart of the Christian message, or it is included only marginally. (The Divine Conspiracy)

Thus Willard describes the gospels we have today as "gospels of sin management." Sin is the bottom line, and we have the cure. Typically, it is a system of knowledge or performance, or a mixture of both. Those in the knowledge camp put the emphasis on getting our doctrine in line. Right belief is seen as the means to life. Desire is irrelevant; content is what matters. But notice this -- the Pharisees knew more about the Bible than most of us ever will, and it hardened their hearts. Knowledge just isn't all it's cracked up to be. If you are familiar with the biblical narrative, you will remember that there were two special trees in Eden --the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. We got the wrong tree. We got knowledge, and it hasn't done us much good.

(You can find John and his writings and ministry at http://www.ransomedheart.com)

So, what do you think? Puts a different perspective on things, no? A bit heretical, even. We'll talk more of this in days to come, but this gives a good foundation for why I am the (Medical) Heretic!

Won't you come be a heretic with me? We will go find our hearts, and life, together!?

Blessings,

Dr Jon
http://www.goodheartgroupinc.com

5 Requirements to Accomplish any Goal

To DO anything in life (assume the goal is already in place) there are certain things that must be in place. This is true whether you are "doing" (or attempting to do):

• network (MLM) marketing
• internet marketing
• a trade
• a job
• a "regular" business of your own
• climbing mountains
• athletics
• marriage
• parenting
• ANYTHING at all

First and foremost you must give yourself permission to do this thing. At the deepest level of your existence, in your personal belief system, it must be OK to do. Spiritually, morally, ethically, culturally, politically, financially, emotionally, physically, at EVERY level and in every aspect of who you are and what YOU believe, it must be an acceptable endeavor.
Unfortunately, most of us don't know clearly what we believe at most of these levels. Most of our beliefs came to us early and by default and we have never articulated them to ourselves. We start a project or business and soon run into some unknown block in one or more of these areas. Not realizing there is a deep-seated betrayal of our belief system, we wonder why the project gets derailed and sabotaged.

Second, having given yourself permission to do something, your must be absolutely convinced that you have the energy and the power within yourself to accomplish it. This must come from within, not from someone or somewhere outside yourself. It is fine and right to ask for and accept encouragement, but the basic driving force must be yours.

Third, you must receive proper and adequate training. It will take a minimum to get started and an ongoing learning process to keep the project on track.

Fourth, you must have a coach, a mentor, a teacher, a friend. While the energy comes from within, this person (or persons - more than one is usually even better) will provide encouragement, direction, critique, perspective, brainstorming. This person forces you to get outside of your own limitations.

Fifth, you must be open to change. At each and every step along the process of your chosen project, evaluate, test, "check in" to see how you are doing with each of these four requirements. Is it still OK to do? Do you have the energy, the drive? Are you getting more and adequate training? Do yo have a special (or enough) teacher/mentor/friend? Make the adjustments to properly answer the questions in the affirmative and you continue on your way.

What if there is a negative at any point or what if you look at your life as it is right now and see a negative at one or more of these points? Then, as you know and can feel, your train is at risk of derailing. Get it back on track or find another train and track. Just be sure that whatever choice you make these requirements are in place.

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and Holiday Season,

Dr Jon

What is a USP?

Been doing some training in the area of Marketing lately. If you would like to do the same, drop me a line; couple of guys out there really worth your time, energy and dollars. Anyway, the idea of a "USP" always comes up. First thing. Right off the bat. Before anything else.

USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition.

It is what makes you different. Answers the question: If someone were to ask me why they should purchase my product or service over my competition, what would I tell them? The marketers say that if we can not give a good answer we have no business being in business. Ouch.

But let's move out of the business realm for a minute and broaden it out. "Unique" means "one-of-a-kind", special, owned by no other.

That sounds like each one of us. We are all unique, special. No two of us has the same DNA. Maybe the occasional twin, but even they have a unique experience and perspective. NO ONE can look at life from inside your head! You are unique!

Do you believe that? Have you found out what makes you unique yet? Will you dare? Will you live in that? Flesh it out? Stand up and be somebody that lives outside the crowd?

Until next time, this is the Unique Heretic.

Blessings,

Dr Jon

Recovering One's Identity

In this day and age the term "Identity Theft" is all too common and avoidance of it takes up a lot of our time and attention. But many of our identities have been stolen long ago, many times before they really had a chance to become ours.

Have been reading a new book the last few days, the latest in the series of books from John Eldredge (Journey of Desire, Wild at Heart, Waking the Dead). This latest is called The Way of the Wild at Heart and it is a treatise on what John calls the "Masculine Journey." As he says, it is about fatherlessness, unfinished men, stolen identities, often before they were even formed. I can honestly say he is talking about me. Just turned 56 and finally beginning to get a handle on my own identity. Been hiding behind a lot of other people's wishes and thoughts for me, failures to step up and get real for myself, fear of success even.

Kind of scary, but feels really good to finally become some body.

John, of course, will tell us that God the Loving Father is the One to whom we need to go to get the fathering we so desperately need; and he is right. I've been doing that recently, apart from church or doctrine or other people's wishes for me. Reading through the Scripture, seeing it as other men's stories, like me and my story. Just God and myself; talking; listening to each other.

Neat.

Highly recommended.

Great Fun!

You have got to love the Internet, Computers, and "all that jazz!"

In the ongoing, never-ending search for streams of income, I recently downloaded a document that points one to the wonders of blogging, and generating some money from it. Now that is a marvelous combination. For blogging, as you well know, is perhaps the ultimate personal stage before the world. Where else can you bare your soul, share your thoughts, and let people know you are here, you have something to say, and here it is! It's safe; no one is sitting on your shoulder telling you how bad you write, how wrong your ideas are, how awful it is to be using those dangling participles. On the other hand, there is opportunity to get into major discussions with the comment feature and go back and forth to one's delight. Amazing stuff.

Now, imagine that you could actually earn an income from just being! That goes against the grain, is thought way outside the box! Earning money for doing nothing? Heresy. Talk about medical heretic, that is economic heretic as well! But here we are. Exactly there.

So this afternoon I spent the time (not really for nothing, but pretty minimal) redoing the blog. New colors, new template, added the picture, changed the profile, put on the ads top and along the side (the revenue generators). Really cool stuff. If you haven't already, you got to try it. Is very simple. Give me a buzz if you don't know how; the blog site has helps that walk you through it as well.

Blessings,

Dr Jon