I was thisclose to telling this lady where to shove it…

Jun 27

I had a GREAT learning lesson today.

I had to go to Western Union earlier this afternoon. I just found out a friend had been robbed and I wanted to transfer some money to him.

When I got there, the lady running the counter didn’t know exactly what she was doing. She was flipping around her screen and asking ME what she should type in for different things that I had no idea about.

I gave her my best guesses, and it seemed to work…. but when I went to pay with my PayPal card, it came up declined.

I KNEW I had money in there, and even double checked my balance on my cell phone to make sure.

The lady told me my PayPal card was a “pay as you go” card, so it wouldn’t work.

I told her (in a VERY nice way) that the card works as a debit all the time, and asked if she could please try again.

She became very agitated and told me, “Ugh, fine”.

When she did it, it came up denied again.

At this point she became VERY hostile with me and rude. I told her I was concerned because I had no other debit card, reminded her that my friend was robbed, and told her I was just trying to think of something because he had no money. I was still VERY nice about it.

Maybe she wrote me off because she thought I didn’t have funds or something, but she was so rude. She basically told me I was out of luck, reiterated that PayPal will never work because it’s “pay as you go”, walked away from me, and was really unfriendly.

When I left, I was pretty mad. I don’t know if I’m explaining well enough how rude she was, but she was extremely nasty for no reason.

I left the building seething, thinking about how I would go to another store, have it work, and then have my assistant call Western Union and the Safeway she worked at to tell them how rude and unhelpful she was.

(I NEVER complain about people, especially since people have bad days and I’ve worked retail, but she was so mean!)

I went to Fred Meyer, another grocery store, and as I figured, the PayPal card worked fine. The cashier at Safeway did something wrong.

Something in me decided to call the first cashier and tell her what happened.

When I called her, I was very nice about it. I said, “Hey, this is Rachel. You were just helping me with my Western Union. I went to Fred Meyer and it worked. I think what happened was that the other cashier put in my friend’s middle name, just so you know for next time!”

She was VERY nice and sincerely thanked me for helping her.

What did I learn out of this?

1. After I called her, I felt like the situation was resolved. Any residue of anger I had just dissipated. It was magical.

2. I stood up for myself in a “confrontational” yet kind way, which felt nice. (Normally I’d probably do nothing and just “eat” the anger, which would never REALLY go away….)

3. I actually got to help that cashier! She seemed very grateful for me telling her what happened.

All in all, it was a great learning lesson. I’m really proud to have stood up for myself and to lift the situation to something where we both left much happier.

Some of what I’ve learned so far (face reading)…

Apr 30

So far I’ve learned a bit from the face reading workshop.

This is a 3,000-year old science that has been REALLY cool to learn.

And it’s amazing that even though it may seem “out there”, we subconsciously use this ALL THE TIME. For example:

  • There have been studies where people were given 7 seconds to look at political candidates’ faces from po’dunk towns. They had to guess which person won the election, and they did it with 70% accuracy. That’s because we’re subconsciously looking for certain things (strong jaw = unwavering integrity, wider faces = more of them to look at so they come across as more “trustable”).
  • Fuller lips signifiy fertility, and it’s one of the things men LOVE in women…
  • Bigger eyes are also something that people gravitate to – and big eyes signify emotional availability…

This stuff is REALLY good to use in every day life too. You can use it to know which supermarket line to go down on, how to communicate with people, how to make a strong first impression, and so forth.

Someone asked me what my GOAL for this workshop is. I don’t really have one… I just like learning all the different psychological and communication meta systems I possibly can. And it’s fascinating how much this stuff works.

There’s a guy here who was the #1 financial banker in the world a few years ago, before he left banking. He’s only coming to ONE day of the workshop out of curiousity and never read Jean’s book before. But when we were talking about how each area of the face talks about a different age, he was surprised. He said when he was 3 years old he got a huge scar on the area of the face that signifies age 27. At age 27, he got in a near-death car accident.

Many people had interesting stories like that.

Of course, one disclaimer – each area of the face can mean 3 things – the time in one’s life (each area of the face signifies a different age), the personality features, and physical issues (that’s why acupuncturists who take this course get accreditation).

So – here’s just some of what I learned yesterday. I am LOVING this!!!

Guess Where I’ll Be This Weekend??? (I can’t WAIT!)

Apr 29

Just made a video to explain where I’m going this weekend and why I’m so excited!

And after you finish watching… I just want to be clear that there are MANY meta systems, and I don’t think any is “one size fits all”. The more meta systems you know, the more you can understand people, I think… so this is just another tool to add to my arsenal. :)

My Top 10 Favorite Books Of All Time (Or Something Like That)

Apr 23

A few days ago someone asked me, “What are your all time Top 10 (or more) favourite books for life and business? I have heard or read you mention the odd one here and there but thought a list would be so great. Probably doesn’t warrant a vlog but would be a really interesting and wonderful blog post?”

I set out to make a list and realized it’s MUCH harder than I thought it would be.

That’s because some books had a HUGE influence on me at one point in my life… but would no longer be that useful. At the time though, I really needed them for my evolution!

So with that said, here’s a list of lifelong list of the most influential books for me… and why:

Business

Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind – This book led me to go to a Millionaire Mind Intensive, which led me to Warrior Camp. Warrior Camp was amongst one of the top 2 or 3 life experiences I’ve ever had. The book also helped start me on my journey to spirituality.

Influence – Everyone cites this book, I know, but it is a marketer’s DREAM. It tells you all the emotional points on how people act the way that they do. It’s amazing.

Predictably Irrational – This book gives more amazing insight into why people act the way they do with absolutely brilliant examples.

4 Hour Workweek – This is the only book that I’ve ever finished reading and then opened right back up to read again (even with my waiting list of books to read). It’s UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING and totally transformed my life.  I’ve gotten to live the 4HWW lifestyle for so long thanks to the principles I got here.

Psycho Cybernetics – Awesome book about the power of visualization. The regular book is beyond boring to read but the audiobook is actually REALLY good.

Anything by Dan Kennedy – He is BRILLIANT. The first book I read of his was “The Ultimate Sales Letter” but I really glean out so much from everything he writes.

Rhinoceros SuccessPhilip Cordova sent this book to me a while ago. He said it’s his #1 business book and really helps motivate him. For a while I had index cards with the “Rhinoceros” sayings around my bed. It was very motivational and brilliant in its simplicity.

Crush It – This book is SO MOTIVATIONAL and really gives an awesome step-by-step plan outline on how to prosper with your passions online.

Inspiration/Personal Development/Spirituality

Three Cups Of Tea – The story in this is not only amazing to hear, but it inspired me to be a better person. It’s the reason I am so passionate about building a school and why I’m working with someone now to deliver backpacks to underprivileged children in Brazil.

Mother Teresa Autobiography – I lent my book out and haven’t gotten it back, and Ican’t remember the title. All I know is reading the biography I read (there are a few) was so impactful and life-changing for me. It was so amazing to see how Mother Teresa got so much done with just sheer willpower and faith. She inspired me beyond words.

Attractor Factor – This is a book that seems so elementary spiritual-wise, but it really helped me. I don’t know what it is about the book, but good things seem to happen whenever I read it. In my opinion Joe Vitale doesn’t always come across the best online… but his books are REALLY good. Hypnotic Writing is also a phenomenal book of his.

The Big Leap – This is a GREAT book on getting out of your self imposed limitations and really shining your greatest gifts to the world.

Trust Your Vibes (or any book by Sonia Choquette) – When I first got into the whole world of spirituality I read Sonia’s books nonstop. They helped me out a lot.

Celestine Prophecy – This is a book I don’t know if I’d vibe with now, but at the time it was really huge for me. I found it randomly, in an all-Portuguese bookstore when I was living in Brazil, and it seemed to pop out at me.

Conversations With God – My mentor at the time recommended this book to me and it was so nourishing for me. I often think about things I read in there.

The Shack – This is actually a more religious book (I am NOT religious), but at the time, I really needed the message. I haven’t read it in years but still think about it fondly.

Like The Flowing River – After reading Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, I was in love with him. This book just makes me love him more and more. He writes so beautifully, he is so eloquent, and the stories that he shares are like food for my soul. I absolutely LOVE this book and refer to it often.

The Psychology Of Self Esteem – This is a GREAT book that has been really helping me boost up my self esteem.

Relationships

Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes? – I LOVED this book. It read almost like a “Cosmo”, and I think it’s underrated because of that, but I learned so much about male psychology from it.

Using The Power Of Pleasure To Have Your Way With The WorldJena LaFlamme sent this book to me and I absolutely love it. It’s so great in coming to terms with my greatest desires, and being such a better woman because of it.

Keys To The Kingdom – I learned SO MUCH about men and how to relate to men because of this book. It seriously changed my relationships in a very profound way.

How To Make Anyone Fall In Love With You – I got brilliant psychological insights from this book.

Wisdom Of Your Face – People underestimate face reading, but it’s really quite remarkable how much you can tell from what someone looks like. Just by looking at someone, you can change how you convey your message to make sure it gets delivered. The author of this book started using face reading to be able to better communicate with her clients but the uses for this run rampant. I’m going to a face reading workshop of Jean’s later this month and cannot wait!

Health

Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think – This had really fascinating insights into why we eat the way we do and how we can stop acting out of subconscious autopilot so often. The stories and case studies in here were REALLY thought provoking.

12 Steps To Raw Foods – This book is REALLY simple, but it helped me a lot. It helped me understand why raw food is so important and exactly how much wisdom there is in our bodies.

Prakriti – I’m learning a ton about ayurveda through this book. The messages in here are super-interesting and I love that it does NOT offer a “one size fits all” approach to health.

The Hidden Messages In Water – I learned so much about how water is affected by different things here. The book shows how water molecules actually change when exposed to negative words, different types of music, etc… it’s SO fascinating and totally scientifically backed.

——-

Wow… making this list was really interesting. There are SO MANY more books I could add!!! I have a feeling I might be forgetting some of my favorites, too, and will have to come back and edit when I think of them.

It’s also really interesting that two of the authors here (Neale Donald Walsch and Victoria Boutenko) live in Ashland, where I live. I should go see them before we move. :)

My favorite VA service (they do everything!) + my new self esteem practice :)

Apr 9

Hope you’re having a SPECTACULAR DAY!!! I sure am!

My internet was down when I made today’s video so I couldn’t answer IM questions (I like to show you what I’m talking about), so I will answer those ASAP. Please keep shooting questions in — I LOVE them and other people are telling me they’re getting a lot of benefit from them!

Today’s video is on 2 things:

1. The virtual assistant service I use – FancyHands – to do all my personal tasks (watch the video for examples if you’d like!) I make no commission off of them, they’re just awesome native English speaking people who make life very stellar.

2. My new self esteem practice, and how Otto made it even better. If you want the mp3 I mention in the video just leave a comment with your receipt or a picture of you with the book or just something and I’ll shoot the mp3 to whatever email you comment with. You can buy the book right here if you don’t have it already.

(I get a few cents if you buy through that link, you can feel free to bypass that if it makes you feel better :D )

Here’s the video!

…and I hope you have as great of a day as I’m having!!!

Your “Type” Tells You Everything – Want To Know What It Is?

Aug 10

About a month ago I went to an awesome seminar by Eben Pagan and Wyatt Woodsmall. It was all about Personality Patterns, and I learned a TON – both about myself and how to relate with people.

One of the things we learned was the “Enneagram”.

This is a personality system that was actually started in Bolivia as a spiritual practice. The guy who created it said that we all have certain energy fixations in our body, and knowing what they are can help us move them.

Some psychotherapists got a hold of his teachings and started mass-marketing it to everyone.

The reason I really like this is because it’s so thorough. The Enneagram states that whenever you get in a relationship with someone, you’re really getting in a relationship with 3 people. It talks about how people act differently under normal situations and then under intimacy and stress.

The reason the Enneagram is so powerful is because once you know your patterns, you can change them. Thing is, our subconscious dictates about 95% of what we do every single day. We just automatically make comments, say things, etc… without even thinking about it.

When you’re aware of what your subconscious is doing, you can observe it (without shame) and then double-think if that’s how you really want to respond.

The ultimate goal of the Enneagram is to break free of all the fixations (NOT to move to another fixation) and choose your reactions in each moment – not subconsciously.

I got approval from Wyatt to post all my notes here, so I’m going to give a brief description of each one and then you can read further to see which one resonates with you.

Tip: If you’re feeling unsure, look at how each type acts under Stress and Intimacy and that will usually tell you which one you are.

Tip 2: Wyatt says if you don’t like one, it’s probably yours ;) – though that wasn’t the case with me.

I should warn you that they gave mostly the NEGATIVE aspects of all of these, but obviously nothing is all good or bad.

Anyway, here are the types:

Type 1: The Perfectionists – These are people that want everything to be perfect. They often speak in terms of, “You should do this” or “You should do that”. They’re often very angry, but because it’s not perfect to be angry, they stuff their anger. You can read more here.

Type 2: The Nurturers – These are your typical Jewish mothers. They give, give, give, all the time. They think of themselves as the “ideal person”, but deep underneath they’re doing everything for love. They need almost constant words of affirmation. You can read more here.

Type 3: The Workaholics – These people have the most energy from any other group and are always go, go, go. They often want everyone to think of them as amazing and put up a mask to protect themselves from being vulnerable. You can read more here.

Type 4: The Melancholies – These are people who wear a lot of black, are usually highly psychic, and have an underlying depression about them often. They see the world as one way in their heads and get depressed that the world is actually NOT like that. You can read more here.

Type 5: The Over-Observers – These are people who like to sit back and watch but don’t like to participate. They’re often brilliant people and can tell you anything you want about the mechanics of a situation – they just won’t because they’re not super-social. You can read more here.

Type 6: The Paranoid’s – These are people who want security, security, security. They’re the type of people who want the best water filtration systems, get freaked out if a car is too close to them, and are the perfect Boy Scouts. They were either in trouble with the law at one point and did a complete reversal, or they’ve always been that way. They also love adventure. You can read more here.

Type 7: The Idealists – These are people who only want to see the good in life and refuse to acknowledge anything negative. They believe life is good, people are good, and everything’s just… good. They’re often very gluttonous. They’re also usually the life of the party and great at entertaining (although if they’re introverts that might not be as obvious). You can read more here.

Type 8: The Justice Makers – These are people who are vigilant about making sure there’s justice for all. They often go VERY far with their beliefs and are the types of people who want pain amplifiers for people in jail. They often have a very “tough” look to them. You can read more here.

Type 9: The Indolents – These are people who see all sides to every situation. Because they see all sides, they often do nothing (think of a donkey standing in between 2 bales of hay and not knowing which one to go to, so he goes nowhere). They’re perceived as lazy, are often monotone, and ramble a lot. You can read more here.

Any guesses on what I am? I think lots of people are gonna pick the wrong one. :)

Hope you get a ton out of this!

I’ve Been Emotionally Abusing The Internet?

Jul 9

The following post may seem “airy fairy” to you, but I think there’s a really important point in it so I’m going to make it anyway.

Before I get into it though, let’s get one thing out of the way. I’m pretty positive you feel energy to one degree or another. You might not say it in those words, but I’m sure you do. Have you ever seen a couple and known something was wrong even though they weren’t talking? Or maybe knew your significant other had a bad day before they said anything? Or maybe you just didn’t want to be around a certain someone because they gave you a “bad feeling”? Or looked at a picture and knew 2 people were in love even though you obviously couldn’t hear anything? Or maybe you’ve been happy just by being near someone (with or without them saying anything)?

I hope you’re remembering at least one example. ;)

OK, so with that out of the way, I’m going to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about recently. I realize some of these things might be too “out there” for some of you, but I’m going to post anyway because for the people who DO know what I’m talking about, I think there’s a stellar message. :)

See, I recently learned some awesome lessons about energy on ALL levels (not just with living things).

One of my first experiences with this was at a psychic meetup group. This particular session was on psychometry, the act of holding things and then feeling the energy from them.

There were all types of people at this meetup group – teenagers, men, women, people of varying ages, etc.

We had each been asked to bring in 2-3 different objects and then we held onto each others’ stuff. We had 3-5 minutes of silence while holding each object and we’d use the time to write down all the feelings and thoughts we got from the objects.

Despite the differences of the people who came to the group, many of us kept getting the same feelings from the same objects. It was pretty fascinating. For example, some of us touched an accordion. We all felt a male energy owning the accordion, and all on our own instinctively knew that the guy who owned it was normally shy but was completely at home playing this accordion in front of lots of people. We saw he had inherited it somehow and that it meant the world to him. The accordion had a “proud” energy to it and we all really liked it.

There was a ring that we all felt lots of laughter and joy around. The ring felt so good to me that I didn’t want to put it down.

Another item we touched was a watch. I got such a stern and unwelcoming energy from it that I put it down immediately.

Although I already suspected it, this experience really made me understand that every physical thing has some kind of energy to it.

The group also made me think of when I was talking with Mona. She mentioned that she mentally “talks” to the stuff in her house, asking where it wants to be, what it wants, etc. I know it’s crazy, but it does work. Try it – if you’re open-minded enough you’ll almost always instinctively get answers.

After those experiences I was fully on board with the idea that both people and physical things have an energy to them. There was no need to convince me.

I had a coaching call the other day that made me realize that it goes beyond even that.

It all started when I got an email about one of my businesses. It looked like there was yet again another problem with it. As soon as I read about the email I instantly felt deflated, exhausted, and irritated. The business seemed to be awful to me from the start.

(Now that I have the gift of hindsight I realize the first time a problem ever came up I got irritated instead of looking at it as a fun challenge. I guess I’m used to things coming easy to me. As more problems accrued, instead of a little irritation, I became angry, resentful, and annoyed with it.)

In turn, the business wasn’t the best to me. Random problems I never even knew could exist would pop up. Opening my email up every day was like opening a Pandora’s Box into hell. I had no idea what new crap was going to show up.

I started talking to Steph, my friend/coach about all the problems with the business. She asked me to tell her everything I didn’t like about it, and I just went OFF. I kept going and going for several minutes without even stopping to think. The reasons I hated this business effortlessly oozed out of me.

Steph asked me what would happen if I were to love the site and use loving actions with it. As much as I respect her, the idea felt ridiculously farfetched. I couldn’t fathom even not hating it, much less using loving actions with it. I hated everything about it. Even the customers, which are normally my favorite part of any site I have, seemed to find endless ways to upset me.

Because I’m usually the most loving person you could meet, I felt the fact that this was taking such a toll on me seemed to speak volumes on IT. Obviously IT was the problem – it’s not like it’s in MY nature to get angry for no reason.

After I vented, Steph reminded me of something I never thought of. She mentioned that EVERYTHING has energy to it – even digital, and even if I created it.

She acknowledged I’d been pretty awful to the business. And really – what does anyone (or anything) do if you hate them? They hate you back!

It only makes sense.

Steph told me to “talk” to the business. She had me write a letter to it and tell it what I hated about it, what I loved about it, and what my goals were with it.

When I was done, she told me to have IT write a letter to ME – what it hated about me, loved about me, and what its goals were.

She told me I’d probably see that we both wanted the same outcome but were going about it differently.

Turns out she was right.

That exercise turned out to be really eye-opening for me. I’ve been much more nurturing with the business since then (not immediately getting annoyed at customers, not immediately going on the defensive if I read incorrect/uninformed reviews, etc.), and my happiness levels have definitely increased. I’m realizing the business is trying hard (and no longer punishing me), and when there are issues, I’m looking at them as “How can I help this?” versus “I loathe you!”.

Things had the potential to go a lot worse but now that I’ve done the exercise things are  seeming to “magically” work out right now.

And heck, even if it doesn’t yet feel comfortable to you to consider that digital (or physical) stuff has energy, look at in a different way. If you did the same exercise solely to put yourself in another perspective, I bet it would help a lot. Ignorance is often the cause of annoyance. Getting a better view on something has got to almost undoubtedly at least improve whatever you’re struggling with in life.

Anyway, I just wanted to make this post in case there’s some kind of situation frustrating you and this type of perspective could help.

I sure hope so. :)


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