I was so excited to have the opportunity to interview inspirational speaker and best-selling author, Joe Vitale because I admire him so much. His writing and videos, including his appearance in the best-selling DVD, The Secret, have personally inspired me to take control of my life and use the power that’s in us all. Joe turned his life around being being a homeless person to very successful in many arenas! Speaking with Joe, his warmth and sincere caring about helping people have a better life permeated our conversation so it was a blessing to speak with him.

Joe’s new book THE AWAKENING COURSE: The Secret to Solving All Problems (Wiley) is based on his most recent breakthrough program that explains the four stages of awakening as a guide to take readers out of their traditional approach to life’s problems to where they want to be. I completely agree with using these stages as a guideline for making progress in your life. When I was a DoorMat, I had to learn the hard way how to find my way to an empowered life. In this book, Joe explains how each stage of awakening can change an individual’s outlook on life. They are:

•    Victimhood: How to take responsibility for life’s experiences – good or bad – and how to move past them
•    Empowerment: How to send a positive message into the world
•    Surrender: How to push aside the instinct to be controlling of every aspect of life and surrender to a higher power of direction
•    Awakening: The final stage is an awakening to what’s possible in life with a complete mind, body and spiritual transformation

I asked Joe Vitale about how people can use to tools in his book to improve their lives most effectively. Here’s what he had to say:

How does Albert Einstein’s quote, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it,” provide enlightenment about how to make one’s life better? That’s the foundation of my most recent book, The Awakening Course. It’s basically saying that we’re wrestling with the same mindset that created our problems. The only way out is to elevate our consciousness to go up a level above the mindset that attracted and created the problem. Then we can see a solution.

Why did you write THE AWAKENING COURSE? This has material not in any other books. I wanted to document all 4 stages of development in book form. Through the reading of the book people can transcend the lower states of consciousness and get to a state that others might call enlightenment. I wrote it out of my need to share my discovery and belief that this could help people out of their struggles

Why is it so important to take responsibility for one’s life? Until you take responsibility, you’re still in stage one—victimhood. You feel powerless, miserable and have problems till the day you die. Taking responsibility is the first step in taking back your power. At that point you have choice and see what your opportunities are, and take them. Until you take responsibility you’re reacting to life, not creating and transcending.

How does using more positive thoughts help? Using positive thoughts is one step to transcend the victimhood consciousness. The first is victimhood and most of us are stuck in that. Positive thinking is needed to get out of stage one and into stage two.

Why is surrendering to a higher power so powerful? We can’t do this alone. It’s an ego trip to think we are totally in charge. In the first stage we are victim and feel like we don’t have any power at all. In the second stage we are empowered and feel like we do have control. Then along comes life and at some point we feel knocked down with a challenge of some sort and  realize we are not in charge of the planet itself. There is a power that appears to be and we are more powerful when we align with it. So this third stage is surrendering to this force that gives you more power than when you try to do it all by yourself.

Explain what it means to be awakened? That is the experience of divinity living through you. You are experiencing the living, breathing, thinking life that is animating you totally. There’s no longer a separation. You have awakened to the reality of oneness.

How do people sabotage themselves from getting what they claim they want? The most common one I‘ve seen is making excuses for not taking action on ideas we know would be good for us. I’m an entrepreneur and always tell people when we get an idea that’s a gift from the Universe. It’s come to you and it’s up to you to take action. Most people will say, “I don’t have time or money or experience, or the connections” and other excuses. Those excuses are self-sabotage. That’s probably the most common one and the most accepted one because people receive those and say yep, I don’t have the time or money and don’t take the time to question if they need those to pull it off. Maybe you need creativity and determination.

What was your turning point in going from homeless to becoming the successful author (and more) you are today? The one thing I did to get me out of poverty and homeless was everything. I read all the books and listened to all the cassettes back then. I attended every free seminar I could get into about self-improvement.  I took all the action I could think of. I wanted to be an author so I wrote things and sent them out. When they were returned to me I took some time to recover and sent them back out. I did everything that came to mind.

Why do you consider love as the foundation of all relationships? Love is the foundation of the planet. It’s the foundation of everything. It’s what’s we’re seeking, what we’re made of, it’s directing everything in the Universe. Love is the driving force for life itself. I think our goal is to live it, to express it in each moment and in every relationship—with other people, with life, with nature, with the divine and with ourselves. The core of that is love. We want love in all of those relationships. Then we’ve transcended and will probably automatically go to that fourth stage of awakening.

Can you give a good tip for developing a better relationship with money in order to attract more? I wrote a book called Attract Money Now, which I give away for free. So the first tip got to attractmoneynow.com and read the book. The second tip is to look at your beliefs about money. The biggest one I see is the biblical state that people have incorrect—Money is the root of all evil. If that’s lodged in their brain as a belief because it’s a biblical reference, they won’t allow money in their life or get very much or for long because they don’t want anything evil in their life. So some of the first work that has to be done around money is the belief around money.  It’s just a tool, energy, not good bad or evil. Once you have money, not only can you take care of yourself and your family but you can direct it to where it can do the most good. Then you can make a difference on the planet.

How can people use fear in a positive way instead of succumbing to it? Understand fear doesn’t mean don’t take action. It means what you’re about to do is new, different, or maybe it’s out of your comfort zone. You need to be alert and sensitive to your action. So fear is a friend. It’s saying look both ways before you cross the street.. It doesn’t say stop and don’t cross. It’s a reframing of fear as your ally.

What’s your best advice for having a better life? My favorite saying is a sixteenth century Latin phrase that means, “Dare something worthy.” I’m always encouraging people to not just go for their dreams or goals but to elevate them and stretch. Make yourself really excited and maybe a little bit nervous by going for something that is bigger than you thought before. “Dare something worthy.” That’s my advice for you to put a little more spring in your step.
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I highly recommend you check out Joe Vitale ’s new book, THE AWAKENING COURSE: The Secret to Solving All Problems.

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Take the 31 Days of Self-Love challenge and get my book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways for free at http://howdoiloveme.com. And you can post your loving acts HERE to reinforce your intention to love yourself. Read my 31 Days of Self-Love Posts HERE.

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