Footloose (2011)

Just saw the new "Footloose," and loved it. Actually had a more powerful emotional reaction than I did to the original. Kevin Bacon was a better actor than Kenny Wormald. Wormald is a better dancer, so their physical expression is comparable. But where "Footloose" shines is in reminding us WHY we dance, and by actually showing us the tragedy that motivates the city ban against (unsupervised) dancing, they sharpen the theme. Neither the original nor this new one are classics. But both are terrific.

The core story deals with a town which, due to a heartbreaking tragedy, responds by making unsupervised dances illegal. An teenaged outsider (Wormald) challenges the status quo. Dancing ensues. Very simple. But I noticed that once the basic thread of that plot was resolved, there was still ten minutes of screen time left. This was handled by use of a secondary plot--Wormald has romanced the preacher's daughter, and her ex-boyfriend has been hovering around as a potential threat. As a metaphorical representative of the "old" way of thinking and behaving, the conflict allows us to focus and release our emotions as Wormald and his friends are threatened by this, the last beat in the romantic subplot, leading to an explosion of joy and dance.

Beautifully done! B+

###

The Lifewriting Year-Long program connects you with your craft on the deepest level imaginable. Join the thousands of students worldwide who have already transformed their writing...and their lives!

"I cannot think of a more useful tool. Thorough, folksy, immaculately reasoned, eminently listenable, the course fortunately mirror Barnes' personality: intelligent, dedicated and extraordinarily witty."
-- 1982 PULITZER PRIZE nominee Chris Bunch

All it takes to get everything you want...

So we're trying to crack this mysterious thing called "inspiring and motivating" a group of like-minded people, with an intent to motivate them to take action. For some of you, that action will include purchasing products and services from you. The steps so far:

1) Start with passion
2) Find a "starving hive"
3) Create a squeeze page "Irresistable offer"

Here's step four: link your offer to an "autoresponder." These are commercial companies that gather email addresses for you, and send out emails. Google the term and find a company with a free trial...there are several. 1ShoppingCart is mine. Others like Aweber are highly thought of. Shop around to find that free trial--they're out there.

So the steps, again: find a personal passion. Decide to educate and share based on this deep passion. Locate people who are also crazy about your area. Create something FREE you can offer them: a sample chapter, an MP3, a special report. Something of genuine value to demonstrate your sincerity and expertise in your chosen arena.

The trick is to create a web-form that gathers email addresses in exchange for a download, product, or service. People come to your blog, get to know you, see your offer, and decide to make the minimal investment of exchanging their email for your "freebie." The relationship has begun.

The most important skills for you to develop are:
1) a belief that you have value to offer
2) The clarity to make goals and set plans
3) The personal power to take action
4) The ability to keep going, maintain flexible behavior, and never ever quit!

The 101 PROGRAM is designed to give you EVERYTHING you need to be the best, strongest, smartest "you" you can be.

Remember: all it takes to get everything you need...is everything you've got.

Game on!
Steve

Diamond Hour show!
Sat Oct 15 1:00 PM PDS (4:00 PM Eastern)
http://ping.fm/3OsLA
(724) 444-7444
Turning dreams into a career

Love to play games?

We do, too...

especially when it comes to improving
our personal balance!

As a matter of fact, the only thing
we think is better than being able to

play with these techniques is...

experimenting with ways to share them with other
people, and know that they're going to get HUGE
results.

"Results" in this instance meaning,
losing weight, cutting stress, finding
love and pumping up their bank account.

What is the third step to sharing YOUR
passion with the world?

1) Start with passion.
2) Find a "Starving Hive" of like-minded
folks.
3) Create an irresistible offer.

This means that you create an absolutely
FREE gift that you yourself would love to
receive, connected with your passion and
of value to your chosen "hive." Make this
a downloadable product, something you can
give for free. And really put your heart into
it. Give real value...and you earn trust!

There is no better way to understand
what other people want and need than
to understand yourself. To constantly
"grow" in self-perception and balance.

The 101 Program was designed to
test you to your limits...but also
gently guide you toward your very best
self.

You can get one too, at a special
low price...

That is, if there's any left.

==> http://tiny.cc/wj3bf

sincerely,

--Steve

"Wisdom is the ability to combine the heart of a child with the mind of an adult"--Steven Barnes
http://ow.ly/6Wa9W

"Fear paralyzes you. But...fear also keeps you alert. Once you balance those two out, you are a hell of a fighter."--Sugar Ray Leonard

Seeking the "Sons of Bees"

Look for the "sons of bees"

So we're talking about self-publication, or setting up an internet sales module, sometimes called an "N-POD" (Net Profits On Demand.) All I can give you here is an outline of the steps that have earned millions for people selling simple products. If you aren't aware of EACH of these ten steps, your efforts to get your ideas out...or make money...will be seriously curtailed.

Yesterday we talked Step #1--finding your passion. It is critical that you begin NOT with the desire to "make money" but the driving NEED to express yourself, to help the world, to share your enthusiasm.

Today, Step #2 is: Find a Starving Hive. (bet you wondered how I'd justify that headline!)

In other words, in the land of the Internet, if you find something you are passionate about...say midget mud wrestling...there are ALWAYS other people who care about midget mud wrestling too. So your plan to sell a book on training midget mud wrestlers is dependent on finding other mmw lovers. Don't bother trying to sell your book, lesson, or mmw products to opera lovers or comic book collectors. Find the people who are DYING to learn more about mmw.

How? Use Google. Type in your term. I just Googled Midget Mud Wrestling, and got 336,000 "hits." Yowzers! That means ezines, blogs, discussion groups, etc.--all packed with fanatical mmw fans!

What you're going to do is haunt these sites. Become a member of several mmw discussion groups. Post DAILY, making intelligent, useful comments, and in every post, you're going to put...

But that's tomorrow!

###

I'm loving the testimonials you guys have been sending over the last week. It is important to know that you, my friends and family, are all engaged in the same process...the refinement of our lives.

"You deliver what we call in my community an "exchange of abundance" - meaning I have gotten FAR more from you than the minimal contribution I made to purchase...Tacfit Warrior last year!"

--John J. Panella

That's wonderful. Scott Sonnon and I worked so hard to bring this program to life...delighted that others are seeing and appreciating what we accomplished!

Self-Publishing and Online business

I've had a number of requests for more information on career--specifically, creating an on-line business. Writers often want to self-publish, and others are interested in making a little extra money.

I've decided to actually go ahead and talk about this, because the 101 Program is about re-creating your life, in your terms, in your time...and this can best be done, frankly, with money. There are a ton of ways to fail on the Internet, and a few ways to actually make money. An understanding of how to take control of this aspect of your life can be enormously liberating. And we're going to put this into the 10-Step structure of the LIFEWRITING program

STEP #1 (Hero Confronted With a Challenge): Your first step is to admit that you want to take control--to self-publish, create a product, or simply add another pillar under your financial foundation.

What is critical to remember here is that you must NOT choose an area because it looks like there's a lot of money being made there. No, you first choose an arena that you genuinely love, where you have a real personal interest. Something you are obsessive about.

1) Write out a list of things you are fanatical about, care about deeply. Think about spontaneously.

2) Google the main search terms, and see how many "hits" you get. It is reasonable to assume that if you are interested, others will be as well.

###

This is the first step in creating an income stream, second career, or self-publishing your work. The 101 PROGRAM will give you all the support, focus and self-understanding you will ever need to accomplish anything...but over the next few days, let's play with some specifics for actually making money. Cool?

Steve

http://tiny.cc/wj3bf

Inner Space

I asked a student to describe the nature of her internal meditation space in heart or head, weighing for clarity. Her reply:

"It is a small space. Three months ago, I wouldn't have been able to understand what you mean. I can tel a difference now, though. Before it was like an internal . . . cloud. Very obscure and messy, full of racing thoughts and wild emotions.

Now, I have this tiny clearing in the midst of the messy cloud - and it's slowly growing. It's easier to let 'the voices' (positive & negative) wash over and around me, but still a challenge!
Two days ago, I sat down to meditate & a loud, powerful, unyeilding force seemed to propel me up off my mat and into a frenzy of laundry and cleaning.
Not that it didn't need to be done - it desperately did. Just, I think I should have held firm to finishing 'me time'.

Is that the direction you were aiming for, Steve? & Thank you."

##

This is EXACTLY what I am aiming at. Three months of work to create a tiny clear internal space is exceptional, no matter how it "sounds." Most people won't go deep enough to really find the chaos, nor stay with their meditation long enough to find the empty spaces within it. To notice the ego's mad drive to get you up and "doing something" is another important step. So...just from this note, what can be extracted?

1) Three months of practice

2) Noting the chaos

3) Finding the quiet within it, even for a moment!

4) The "everyday" distractions from the process.

5) The ability to "hear the noise" without being controlled by it.

On DAY FORTY-SIX of the 101 Program, you'll learn an incredible technique to help you align your "internal voices" so that they become powerful allies in your journey.

Remember...all it takes to get everything you need, is everything you've got.

Steve

Dark Nights

On Day Thirty-Four of the 101 Program, I talk about the moment in our lives when it seems that all is lost. These "Dark Nights of the Soul" define us. It is when we hit absolute bottom that we discover who and what we are as beings.

These moment pop up in fiction so often because stories are about either change or revelation of a character, and nothing forces us to modify our behaviors like despair, hitting the wall, running out of options. And nothing forces us to shed our masks like stress so extreme that we are no longer thinking of what other people think about us. At such moments, our real nature is revealed.

There are reasons why filmmakers and writers follow the well-worn "Hero's Journey" pattern--it works. It is virtually impossible to tell a story, or to write something that will even be RECOGNIZED as a story, without including the elements. There are indeed experimental films and stories that attempt to minimalize or deconstruct this pattern--but in general they appeal to highly educated readers or filmgoers, who recognize the game that is being played, and in essence provide the pattern themselves.

It is valuable to remember times when you felt all was lost, but came out the other side to something positive. Think back over your life: when did you hit the wall, and what got you through it, and what was on the other side?

I actually go through this moment EVERY SINGLE TIME I write a book. A point is reached where it feels as if the whole thing is falling apart, the idea sucked, and the only reason I have a career is Affirmative Action. And what I usually do is what I did for twenty years--I call up my first wife, Toni, and ask her if I go through this pattern repeatedly. Bless her heart, she patiently says: "yes, Steve. Every time."

And I soldier on, and eventually emerge from the Valley of the Shadow, back into the light, where I can see the overall pattern I've been following. After all these years, it's a little easier now...but remembering past travail is a critical tool in my box.

What's your story?

Note from a 101 Student...

October 8, 2011

A 101 Student's note:

Ok....so I had been fasting intermittently for like a week....This is like day 7 for me...at day 4, I was having some really uncomfortable stress and by the time a major deadline arrived at day 7 I was ready to quit the program...I was thinking..."why bother, nothing is going to work for me, maybe this is just like another one of those self help schemes that I'll toss away"...well I prayed and something told me to just keep going...I used the breathing technique/meditation...I opened my eyes, wrote down a goal and I visualized it while breathing...Well WOW....WOW....WWWOWWW, it friggin worked! I was able to actually CHANGE my emotional state from one of panic and despair, to acceptance, focus, self love and determination. I accomplished that goal, and acquired some unexpected extra help along the way all because I was able to have faith and keep going....THANK you...so much...this program works...and it's wonderful...Originally, I was a fan of your writing, but now I realize the breadth and awesomeness of your practice. I'm so glad to have this opportunity! ...Day 8 and still going........

All the Best,

M.

###

Steve here. I wondered how the 101 Program would be received. I'm now getting notes like this every single day. Many thanks to all of my teachers, through all of my life, for helping me birth this lovely child. Namaste.

Principle # 10) A grounding in the physical body

Principle # 10) A grounding in the physical body sufficient to provide accurate feedback about the material world.

I've received numerous requests for the origin of these principles, and I have to tell you the honest truth: they came to me in a high-energy state at some point several years ago. I don't even remember the writing or brainstorming session when they came, and I make no claim about "channeling," "synthesizing" or whatever. Make of that what you will. The conclusion I come to is that when you are centered, and focused on a result in alignment with your deeper values, you will produce ideas and actions that others consider to be of value. I am grateful, but can take no credit.

The tenth and final principle suggests that the physical body is our guide for evaluating the world and measuring our actions and effects within it. This would have to mean results in all three major arenas: fitness, personal relationships, and career, all of which involve the actions of the physical body. This relates to our habits, sensations and perceptions. Our bodies are not only vehicles, but storage units for emotions. The blocked emotions affect our perceptual filters, and that influences the way we see the world, the maps we create, and the theories and philosophies that carry us through our lives.

It is critical to move in the direction of our sensations, actions, emotions, values, and beliefs all aligning to the same end. Our physical senses: touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing--tell us most of what we know of the world. The rest, the "reading between the lines" and imagining what lies beyond the "horizon" of conscious perception, is prone to distortion and hallucination. The best guess is: if the basic qualities of fitness, relationship, and career are NOT in alignment with your highest good, it is VERY likely that your beliefs about the invisible world, the motivations of others, and the deeper meaning of your own actions is warped by pain, fear and guilt operating at unconscious levels.

Use the visible to guide you to the invisible. The known to reveal the unknown. The wind cannot be seen--but we can observe the bending of the grass.

##

On Day Twenty-Two of the 101 Program, I touch upon the success principles of one of the greatest Samurai who ever lived, Musashi Miyamoto. His sixth principle, "Perceive Those Things that cannot be seen" is preceded by principles dealing with daily training, learning the arts and professional pathways, seeking to know truth. This is all about using the conscious mind to point us toward the mysteries of the unconscious...the known revealing the unknown.

You can walk this road simply by taking responsibility for body, mind, spirit, and finances. Own it. Admit that you want abundance. Then look at the "gap" in your realities and actions...and you have revealed a critical mirror for your hidden self, and defined the direction of the work to come.

Own your life!

Steve

RIP Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs died yesterday. I type this on a Macintosh, while listening to MP3's on Itunes. My Iphone goes to bed with me, sending music or the spoken word into my pillow speakers. I have a laptop Mac, and an Ipad has become my favorite portable device. Pixar has had the longest, unbroken string of lovely wonders in Hollywood history.

Apple popularized the idea that technology should be "warm" and easy to use. Should appeal to our visual and tactile aesthetics, at a time when many computer programmers I knew had the attitude "it was hard to write...it should be hard to use."

No. These tools aren't just for the few who understand the math. They are also for the rest of us. I'm one of those people who has the sense that Apple products feel different, and that that difference is almost like sitting down with an old friend, rather than a stranger, every time I relate to a new device.

You can see Apple's influence everywhere, and I think it is for the better. Jobs had a powerful hand in that. And fingers in many other pies. He died at fifty-six, a reminder that we haven't an eternity to finish our work in this world, to implement a dream and plant new crops for the next generation to harvest.

He will be sorely missed.

What Do I Say If My Child Has ADHD?

Personally­, I say that he's a hunter in a world increasing­ly dominated by farmers.



www.diamon­dhour.com
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

How To Reset Your Taste Buds -- Using Chocolate

N-acyletha­nolamines, found in chocolate, are very similar to the chemicals responsibl­e for euphoria from cannabis. It is perfectly possible to take pure cocoa powder in gelatin capsules and get a very pleasant "lift" without the calories that come from the sugar and milk solids.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Principle #9: The ability to raise and focus energy

Let's recap principles 1-8:

1) The ability to be blisteringly honest, but courageously compassionate.

2) The ability to set clear goals in alignment with the deepest values and beliefs.

3) The capacity to believe in Self deeply.

4) A knowledge of past actions (positive and negative) without that knowledge limiting future options.

5) The ability to take action despite the “noise” of internal voices, if those actions are in alignment with deeply held values and beliefs.

6) The ability to postpone gratification, to move toward a worthy goal in an incremental fashion.

7) The ability to create healthy bonded teams of allies to reach those goals unreachable by an individual. The ability to create a primary bond with another adult, equal human being.

8) The ability to shift fluidly from “Yin” to “Yang”—from female to male modes of thought and action—depending on the circumstance.

Get it? And now #9:

9) The ability to raise and focus the physical and emotional energies on command.

All champions, all peak-performers, know how to do this. They can get themselves "up" whenever they need to. When they step up to the plate, take the position at the podium, step into the ring, show up for the job or step across the threshold of the boudoir...they are READY.

This morning, I worked with Jason on his breathing, visualization, body movement, and emotional balance. God knows, I'm working with everything I know how to do to help my baby boy learn to control himself, to move his energy on HIS command, rather than simply reacting to the external world. I don't know what is going to work. I do know that his success in life will be based on his capacity to guide the flow of his life energy. "Getting it up" (energetically, of course) is just part of it. Guiding his energy to appropriately match the challenges of his life, in other words, MODIFYING that energy appropriately---that will be the full challenge.

Day Fifty of the 101 Program(tm) introduces the concept of I.D.E.A.--Instinctive Designation of Energy and Attention. One of the doorways to Mastery, and critical in every arena of life. Too much or too little energy, applied one second too soon or too late...and a lifetime of skill is nullified.

So...learn to raise your energy. Find a discipline to teach you to focus any aspect of it, and then apply those rules to every other arena.

Love the work!

Steve

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.

~William Faulkner

Principle #8: Shifting from Yin to Yang

Principle #8: The ability to shift fluidly from “Yin” to “Yang”—from female to male modes of thought and action—depending on the circumstance.

Sorry it's taking so long to work through these principles, but there's really been so much going on. The eighth principle relates to conceptual and perceptual flexibility hugely. In any issue where there are sane people on either side--even if you disagree, it is critical to be able to see how the world works from the other point of view.

If you have to believe that anyone with an opposing position is either a knave or a fool, you are in danger of slipping into those categories yourself. That doesn't mean that you and your perspective are not right, or that you cannot or should not proceed with confidence. It is critical to do this, every day of your life.

But remember that the world really does look different when you slip on different philosophical or value-weighted glasses. "Male" and "Female" energies, for the sake of clarity (and not categorization) might be considered Direct and Indirect, Active and Passive, Destructive and Constructive, Thought and Emotion...any number of "Yang" and "Yin" pairs. The trick, of course, is that actual male and female human beings are blends of these qualities, averaging perhaps 55% of one and 45% of the other. It would be dangerous to ascribe "positive" and "negative" characteristics to any of these pairs. Even "destruction" is necessary to the creation of new growth--the pairs cannot be separated without crippling the process of life and growth.

On Day Twenty-Four of the 101 Program, I touch on a complex concept called the "Kundalini" energy, which is said to have male and female aspects.

In your next few meditations, try visualizing yourself in each of these arenas...and then visualize flowing back and forth between male and female aspects.

1)What would you have been if you'd been born the opposite gender? 2) What does your take on this reveal about your opinions of the opposite sex?

######

"Steven Barnes helped me learn the balance of body, spirit, and soul that helps me lead a truly wonderful life. I have a successful career as a CIO, I have reached my personal dreams of being a published author, and have a wonderful partner."

Brenda Cooper, award-winning author of THE SILVER SHIP AND THE SEA and READING THE WIND
brenda-cooper@sff.net

The 101 Program is a three-month journey into the heart of your existence. Lose weight, slaughter stress, increase success, double your energy!

Start your new life today!

Steve

Another student letter

Ironic that as I log in to tell you about my NEW JOB at a (film industry technical) house, your email (Lion King) talks about Disney- a previous client of ours!!!!!! Also ironic that it came on my birthday, a very stressful 3 day weekend event I successfully navigated - despite some big problems and delays - by telling myself & everyone else 'dont worry about it', 'it'l all work out fine', BREATHE, & a lil 'lite chanting' lol.

Life is amazing. I never thought in one year I'd be sharing these kinds of results with you. I thought it would be two or three!!!!

Now more than ever I need my anonymity, which makes me hesitate to share quite so openly on the boards. I DO want to show off to YOU though, just a little!

Based on my prior experience & my passion for the company, I was hired three weeks ago as (executive) at (XXX)

Mom and I were marveling at how far I've come, and how quickly. How so many things in our life changed and shifted so that I was able to accept the position when it was offered.
Able on so many levels!!!! Mentally, physically, spiritually. And emotionally.

Steve, it's incredible.

C., founder of XXX, and I were children together, the usual moves of life drew us apart for many years- touching bases now and then, but not really knowing the kind of person the other had become. We are like mirror images, long lost twins.... It's like getting to know myself. C. & Z., our VP, have been BFF's since childhood, while Z.'s sister M. and I have been the same- our friendship turned 21 this year.

It's amazing to work with people I've known all my life, who care about me and help me use my gifts, while understanding and supporting my weaknesses.

I had to stop and tell you thanks. Give thanks to the Universe.

Thank you for guiding and supporting all of us on this road. For being accessible and caring. Steve you are a miracle worker! I hope to get down to Atlanta again soon and take you out to lunch (because I have a job now)!!!!!

I've been sharing the magic of TFW: mom had severely limited range of motion in her right rotator cuff. Very little shoulder movement. She can now lift her arm to her ear, and hug herself - reaching her shoulder blades. I left my DVD for C. & his wife to check out yesterday. I know he can benefit from it as much as I did, and will!!!

Much more to tell you about this summer, but I'll wrap up for now.

We have come so far!!! I am thrilled about where we are going. Please look at our a website, check out what we do . . . And yes, that IS an Emmy on our video page--(the company) has in fact won a second since that photo was taken!

In grateful loving kindness,

J.

###

Fabulous. I'd love to know more about the specific aspects of our programs that have helped you the most. But know how proud I am, and humbled to have smoothed your path in any way whatsoever.

Steve

####

Do you see what happens when you know what you want, take daily action, raise your energy, and remove the physical and mental blocks? We were born to evolve. The 101 Program and its allied products are unique. I don't really think I created them. In a much more profound sense, they created me.

You're next!

Steve

October Diamond Hour show!
Sat Oct 1, 1:00 PM PDS (4:00 PM Eastern)
http://ping.fm/CDc1w

(724) 444-7444
Subject: Creativity

One Breath at a time...

OCTOBER 1, 2011

When something like this is the first thing I read in the morning, I hope I can be forgiven for a sense of pride.
##

Greetings BabaGuru Steven!

I've been meaning to message you for many days... I just wanted to thank you again for the many years of guidance, support, wisdom, and insight you have provided. I was in a near-fatal (that's what folk are calling it) accident last weekend. It was pretty dramatic- took 6 emergency workers to get me from the car. I amazed myself (and the workers) because even though I though I wasn't going to make it- I stayed calm- focused- and BREATHED. In fact, I think it was the BREATH that kept me from panicking, even while trapped in the car, unable to move, wondering if I was on the verge of death. I kept my breathing low- moving it from my chest- it was steady- I focused on every inhale and exhale. Even in the emergency room, being poked, prodded, and in excruciating pain, I focused on the breath. My blood pressure was low- so much that the ER nurse commented- asking me if I "did yoga"...lol. So thank you, for teaching me (and so many others) about the importance of BREATH. And even now- after the fact, I've stayed present, being grateful to have survived, and having faith that all is STILL well.

You have been and remain one of my primary influences, teachers, and inspirations ...

Eternal love and light!

salina (sarafina connor) gray

###
I trust that when you said "moving it from my chest" you mean low abdominal breathing. But whatever you mean, I am terribly proud of you, Salina. Blessings.

Principle #007: The ability to Bond

Well, actually principle seven was stated as:

"The ability to create healthy bonded teams of allies to reach those goals unreachable by an individual. The ability to create a primary bond with another adult, equal human being."

This relates to the Lifewriting process in so many different ways. In business, you simply cannot achieve success of any magnitude without strategic partnerships with others. In fitness, we need coaches, teammates and sources of inspiration and information. In our personal lives...well, a loving relationships demands the cooperation of at least one other person.

One of the toughest things for people to grasp is that there is a connection between who you are and who you associate with. If you want to know how far you will go in life, add up the quality of your top 5 associates: you'll be right in the middle of the pack.

In relationships: look at what you are attracting, and you'll see a mirror of your perceived value in the world. If you LOVE the way these two measures reflect, give yourself a pat on the back. If you don't like it, there is work to do.

Principle #6: Postponing Gratification

Principle #6: Postponing gratification

Specifically, the ability to postpone gratification, to move toward a worthy goal in an incremental fashion.

Human beings and insects are both programmed to move away from pain and toward pleasure. This is great for children, who have to learn not to play with knives, and to seek the source of food. But as we get older, the same pleasure-pain principle can motivate us to eat too many sweets, avoid homework, or neglect exercise.

The ability to understand that short-term pain (balancing the checkbook) or denial (controlling food intake) leads to long-term pleasure, and that short-term pleasure (smoking) can learn to long-term agony (lung cancer) is critical to the process of maturation.

The level beyond that is rather fascinating: real masters in any discipline actually find a way to take pleasure in things that most of us avoid like the plague: endless repetition, grueling work schedules, unyielding discipline. They take pleasure in accepting strain that others reject. They visualize their rivals getting up at 6am, so they get up at 5:30. They write every day, and glory in being the kind of person who can "gut it out" when the discipline is brain-twisting. They give to their families, and in their relationships, even when it hurts, taking pleasure in the fact that they can go further, and deeper, for their loved ones than anyone they know.

These people are frightening, and inspiring, to watch. I can promise you that almost every human being you have ever admired has this capacity...and you can have it as well.

October Diamond Hour show!
Sat. Oct 1, 2011 1:00 PM Pacific Daylight Savings time (4:00 PM Eastern)
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/77111
Connect via phone or VoIP (Skype, etc.)
(724) 444-7444

Subject: Creativity

Miss the most recent Diamond Hour talk?
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Do The Work!
Steve


PS Be sure to check out my
saying of the day, one line
of wisdom, sarcasm and entertainment
on my new blog at
www.stevenbarnesblog.com

It's so cool you'll want to pass
it around and leave your own
saying--see if you can top mine!

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"If you start something today, finish it today. Tomorrow is another world."--
Sakai Yusai

"If I had more (your goal here)..."

Reading over Day Nine of the NEW 101 Program, dealing with tripling your energy, I remembered one of the greatest barriers to increasing the "juice" in your life--fear.

John, one of my clients had been complaining about lack of time to accomplish his goals. After fifteen minutes of careful investigation, he admitted that he didn't want more money, because if he had more, his family would just demand more from him. Trish, a female client, had once admitted that she didn't want to lose weight, because the wrong men would just be attracted to her. And after weeks of insisting that he "didn't have time" for relationships, Mark, a third client, confessed that he'd had his heart broken repeatedly, and was afraid to try again.

While I've changed the named, the stories, as they say, are absolutely true. On the surface, excuses about "I can't" "they won't" and "there aren't." Underneath, destructive as a river of lava, is "I'm afraid." Mark is afraid that he can't protect himself from unreasonable demands. Mark and Trish that they haven't the judgement to choose honest and sincere relationships. These people have given their power away to the world.

There has to be a part of you that is a savage, unyielding protector of your right to be happy and healthy. A "Guardian at the gate" that will admit NO ONE to your heart who does not wish you well. If you don't have that backbone, find someone who does and model HER beliefs, values, and actions.

You have the right to be happy, healthy, and successful. You have the right to love. Anyone who tells you different is lying to you. And if that's a voice in your own head...whose voice is it? I promise you, it isn't you.

You're the one LISTENING to the voices. Get the joke. Claim your power!

The Cell Phone Diet

I'm having great fun with the 101 Program--I'm just going over five pages every day, choosing a paragraph at random, and expanding for the notes I send you guys.

On DAY TWO I briefly discuss the simplest, easiest "diet" you can imagine: to use your cell phone's camera to take a picture of everything you eat. EVERYTHING. Can't handle that? Then do it "intermittent" fashion--do this every other day.

Here's the trick: you will run right smack dab into your death drive, the part of you that WANTS you to neglect your health, to deteriorate, to "get out of the way" and make room for the next generation. Frightening how powerful it is.

You see, this is a mindfulness exercise, forcing you to align your conscious and unconscious minds. Eating can be as automatic as walking or breathing, and unless your habits are 100% aligned with your values and goals (and who the heck can say THAT?) It is critical to consciously examine a sufficient sample of your dietary intake, and be certain that it is working for you: eat to REPAIR from yesterday's work, and PREPARE for tomorrow's.

Do this, and you'll hop onto an endless spiral of growth. Understand that "nutrition" also applies to good reading and good company...and you've glimpsed a larger, better world.

What is fitness? Feel good, look good, and have enough energy to work hard all week and party on the weekend!

Success is not measured by where you are but the distance you've traveled.

~Rita Davenport

What Men and Women Want

Some years ago, an old college friend complained to me that he couldn't get a girlfriend. "What's wrong?" He asked. I asked him what he felt he had to offer a woman. 'I'm kind," he said. "Loyal. A good listener. I care."

I felt bad for having to say this, but I did: "She can get all of that from one of her girlfriends,"
I said. "What do you offer her she can't get there?"

This was a hard one, and it was hard for me to grasp when I first became interested in girls: the rules for boy-girl relationships were different from the rules for friendships. Further, the rules for girls were different from the rules for boys. What men want from women is critically different from what women want from men, typically, and throughout history and around the world.

Understand this, and relationships are easy. Miss this, and you can flounder endlessly. I was reminded of this as I looked at Day Sixty-Three of the 101 PROGRAM, discussing the secret I call the Beauty-Power Axis. So simple, so powerful, so politically incorrect. And so damned accurate!

##

Now, I'm not necessarily suggesting that you accept MY point of view on what makes relationships work. But it is critical that you have YOUR point of view. What are we as a species? As men and women? What do we want from each other? What are the common elements that make relationships work?

Once you have a theory, look at the relationships around you. If you can't find a good one to observe, that says something about YOU, not the world. There are plenty of happy relationships that have lasted a lifetime. Study them. Find the common rules, principles and values underlying them.

And then...apply those understandings to your own life!

###

"(The 101 program) has had an amazing impact on my work life. Simply, I laugh a lot more, good laughter, seeing the humor in the often frantic, Dilbert-esque world."--Pete Shult

Submission agreements

A note from a reader yesterday...

###

Dear Steve,

I've written you before though you may not recall! :) Well, after a crazed year's worth of commitment to my novel I'm finally ready to take the agent plunge--but find myself drowning in my own sea of research.

I'm concerned as the agent I have targeted works for XXX, which state on their website that queries from unpublished authors will be disregarded if failing to sign a submission terms agreement. I've never heard the agent herself indicate this, her guidelines ask simply for synopsis & the first five. She does link to her personal page on the site, though. Hmm.

This "terms agreement" states "I understand that XXX has access to materials and ideas that may be similar to my Material in theme, idea, plot or format. I understand that I will not be entitled to compensation because of the use of any such similar or identical material if such material is created independently by XXX or its clients."

So, should I sign or not? My worry is likely unwarranted, but just to be sure!

Might you have any recommendations for me yourself? My work is a lyric teen fairytale fantasy with a commercial vibe. If you have any reliable, generative suggestions God bless you!

Regards,
A
##

Well, that submission agreement sounds reasonable--they're trying to protect themselves. However, I ALWAYS recommend that new writers start with short stories, for a variety of reasons. Until you've published, and been PAID, for at least five short stories, you aren't ready to tackle a novel. And yes, whatever reasons you have for not doing so, I've heard 'em before!

Steve

www.diamondhour.com

Simple Things

My daughter Nicki will be arriving at Atlanta airport in 2 1/2 hours. It is absurd how important this is, how happy I am that she'll be here even for a few days. My family is the highest value in my life, and when I can't connect with them, I go a little crazy.

I wouldn't change that, because that clarity has prevented me from making some pretty serious mistakes in judgement. Looking forward, there were times in my past when it seemed that my obligations limited me. But looking back...they were the precisely right decisions, if I wanted to live an honorable life.

Nicki and I love each other. It couldn't be simpler. And sometimes, simple things are the very very best.

Principle #5: Ignoring the voices in your head

Principle #5) The ability to take action despite the “noise” of internal voices, if those actions are in alignment with deeply held values and beliefs.

Excellent. Important. On DAY FORTY-EIGHT of the 101 Program, I discuss the "Piering Principles," wisdom gained from a remarkable man named Tim Piering--teacher, martial artist, family man, entrepreneur and an awake, adult human being (such a rarity). A font of wisdom who has trained deeply in dozens of different transformative technologies, he boils success down to two factors:

1) Well defined, written goals and plans for their accomplishment.

2) The ability to take action despite the voices in your head.

These voices, what author Lonnie Athens calls our "internal community" represent every teacher and authority figure we have ever known. When their voices support us in feeling powerful and acting righteously...great. When they drain our energy and trigger fear, guilt, blame, or shame...we must learn to function despite their howls.

The voices are there, whether you notice them or not. Unless you are "perfection" (unattainable!) in both physical fitness, personal relationships AND your career and financial choices, I can promise that those voices are alive and well.

What do YOU do to repress yours?

Family Around The World

We had a huge day yesterday launching the new ROUTE 101 program. Whether you purchased it yesterday, or are waiting a while, be sure to sign up for the community board, where I brainstorm with you, and answer questions about body, mind, spirit, and writing:

http://route101.proboards.com

"They say that you can't deeply look at something without changing it. Once I began investigating and organizing myself using the 101, I began to sort-out and reintegrate my body, soul, and connections to the world.
"The new-er me sees the world in a bright way, as I've learned to see some of the great ideas that dwell in us all.
"101 was a sort of spackle for my whole being, letting me repair and fill in the cracks in myself. Since almost everyone has similar cracks, I now feel a deeper connection to everyone around me."--Adam Crafter

###

One of the things I love about creating this program are the people I've been able to help. It feels like I have family spread all over the world. Just sent a FREE copy of the program to a student in South Africa who is mired in poverty:

"I'm a 22 yr old guy living in a rural area in South Africa. I'm staying in a single parent family of 9 people that depends on a meagre childsupport grant...We're really struggling 2 make ends meet as there's no 1 having a paid employment in the family."

Can't wait to see what he does with the program!

1) The first thing he needs to do is get clear on what he wants--probably to escape that poverty and provide a good, stable home to his family (Day One)

He'll learn all about that on Day One. Then I'd suggest that he will be best served by creating a daily ritual to maximize the quality and quantity of his actions (Day 21) and identifying someone who has overcome the same types of obstacles he himself faces (Day 32).

There's so much more in this 300+ page monster, can't even begin to scratch the surface!

###

But let's take a look at that third aspect: IDENTIFY SOMEONE WHO HAS OVERCOME OBSTACLES SIMILAR TO YOUR OWN. Someone who ethically, legally and (if possible) joyously evolved, changed, innovated: created a new life. You'll need to identify this person's beliefs, strategies, and physical actions, and then model them to the best of your ability.

If you cannot find such a person, then you simply need to start with the goal of doubling your energy, creativity, problem-solving and personal efficiency, and then doubling it again, and yet again...trying a new strategy every week, until you have solved your problem. "The only thing we cannot overcome is death itself"--Sijo Steve Muhammad.

101 Program

http://tiny.cc/wj3bf

Brainstorm, support and be supported: body, mind, spirit, and writing:
The 101 Board! Totally free: Sign up!
ROUTE101.PROBOARDS.COM

Principle #4: A knowledge of past actions (positive and negative) without that knowledge limiting future options.

The discipline of Hawaiian Huna suggests that we cling to negative emotions until we've learned the important lessons...and realize that we have. In other words, if you were bitten by a dog as a child, it is reasonable to feel fear until a deeper understanding of animal behavior, or evaluating the length of collar chains, is attained.

So fear, guilt, grief, anger...all of these emotions exist to force us to PAY ATTENTION to something that has occurred, or something in danger of occurring in the future. As long as we are asleep to our actions, thoughts and values, it is appropriate for these emotions to remain. One of the keys to releasing negativity, in other words, is to LEARN THE LESSONS.

In bad relationships, shattered economic "opportunities", injurious sports events...if you can extract the critical lessons, you can release the negative emotions, which are there only to protect you.

How can you (or any character you are writing about) re-interpret past or current events, their own capacities or those of others, to release fear, blame, guilt, or shame? What would you or a loved one have to learn, how would you have to grow to leave the pain behind and embrace both present and future?

###

TODAY'S THE DAY!!

"I've learned more from Steve Barnes, in the more than twenty years I've known him, than from any other man besides my own father. The clarity of his thinking and teaching is unparalleled in my experience, his honesty is unusual, and what he teaches, he lives. This is a man who walks the walk. I've never met, and doubt I ever will meet, another teacher whose judgment makes me rethink my own on such a regular basis." Dan Moran, Author The Long Run

TODAY is the day I've been building toward for three years...hundreds of test students...thousands of questions and answers.

The 101 Program is now available at a special price. One hundred and One days of the most intense, balanced, amazing personal work ever compiled. Body, Mind, Spirit, and Success...all in one package. Go to http://www.therapysites.com/sites/diamondhour.com/NewThe101Program.en.html

(right now and order your copy...get on the road to your perfect life...get on ROUTE 101!

Steve

"The great tragedy of the average man is that he goes to his grave with his music still in him"--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Law of Requisite Variety

Tananarive came home from a trip to New York, with the news that our editor Malaika Adero, wants to split "Devil's Wake" into two books. I've never had to do that. Keep you posted on what that actually means in terms of structure and work.

When T. told me about this, she was apprehensive about how I'd react. Well, there are automatic difficulties, trying to make sure that each chunk of book stands sufficiently on its own to satisfy readers, for instance. Will we replace deleted material? Create new? Expand current scenes? Create new ones?

So many decisions. And each of them will be dependent upon underlying values and beliefs concerning writing and career, art and commerce. Once again, it's bob and weave time.

There is a principle called the Law of Requisite Variety, which states that '...the greater the variety within a system, the greater its ability to reduce variety in its environment through regulation.'

In layman's terms: in a system of interaction (i.e. between individual human beings) the part of the system with the greatest flexibility in it's behaviours will control the system.

In other words, rigidity is death. If I can be creative enough, flexible enough, relaxed enough about this entire process, we can make the book not only better and more satisfying, but better for our publisher, which creates a positive spiral of trust and mutual support.

How often does a character in your writing need to develop greater perceptual, emotional or even physical flexibility? How often does lack of flexibility in your own life diminish your results? Yogis like to say that the flexibility of your spine mirrors other aspects of your personality--that we store tensions in our muscles, especially our backs. To what degree is this true in your observations?

Just some things to think about.

Steve

Principle #3: The capacity to believe in Self deeply

Principle #3: The capacity to believe in Self deeply

Whew! New week, and new opportunity to move forward. And in two days, I'm going to be launching something I've been preparing for for three years.

I can't believe I waited so long to do it, but the reason relates to Principle #3. We all have damage in our hearts, and we all have strengths. I've spent a lifetime seeking to understand both.

Over the last twenty years, I've taught aspects of this material as "Lifewriting", "The Hero's Journey" and other forms, but three years ago I created the "101 Program"--a 101 day program to totally transform people's lives. My Sufi master co-conspirator and I tested it on literally HUNDREDS of people. The risk was in allowing a special test group to have access for free. But despite the fact that business "experts" advised me against it, and told me I could charge over a THOUSAND DOLLARS for this material, I wanted to be absolutely certain that the approach would work. No one had ever created a virtual "encyclopedia" of personal development. It was a risk, but one we were willing to take.

Did it work?
Here's just one comment: "It changed my life. It SAVED my life"--LaVeda Mason

Wow! When you get comments like that (and I've got a huge file of them) you know you're heading in the right direction. I had to trust myself. Had to believe in myself. My SELF. Regardless of my flaws and frailties, my doubts and fears, I had to believe that the basic person I am, the basic path I've walked, is one I can trust.

Do YOU have that kind of faith in yourself? If not, you don't have the bed-rock to stand on.

"Give me a fulcrum and a lever long enough, and I will move the world"--Archimedes. What does this mean to you? The lever is your clear goals and sustained efforts, focused over time. But the fulcrum is your belief in yourself, clear and bright and hard.

Concentrate on these two things: clarity and Self-confidence. Constant action. If you can sustain these, you, like Archimedes, can move the world.

How long? Well, how about...101 days, for instance..?

In two days, your life is going to change.

Steve

Diamond Hour show!
Sat. Sept 17 1:00 PM Pacific
(4:00 PM Eastern)
http://ping.fm/pzCzz
(724) 444-7444
#77111
Subject: healing emotions

Diamond Hour show!
Sat. Sept 17 1:00 PM Pacific (4:00 PM Eastern)
http://ping.fm/pzCzz
(724) 444-7444

The most difficult things are:
1) Returning love for hate
2) Including the excluded
3)Admitting that you were wrong
---Sidney Harris

"Loneliness is not cured by human company. Loneliness is cured by contact with reality."--Anthony Demello.

Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.

~Stephen R. Covey

"You will become as small as your controlling desire, as great as your dominant aspiration"--James Allan "As A Man Thinketh."

To accept responsibility without falling into guilt, blame, or shame is a tightrope most cannot navigate...but which leads to Mastery.

"The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set"--James Allan

"The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors. That which it loves and also that which it fears."--James Allan, "As A Man Thinketh."

"I do not fear the man who practices 10,000 kicks one time. I fear the man who practices one kick 10,000 times"--Bruce Lee

People who say "just get over it" are usually lying to themselves. Wounds take longer to heal than they took to inflict.

Diamond Hour!
Sexual dynamics, rape and
abuse
Sat 27, 1:00 PM
PDT (4:00 PM Eastern)
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Pay more attention to "what is right" than "who is right." The best thing you can often do is admit you are wrong, and find a solution.

“The Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least”--

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"You will become as small as your controlling desire. As great as your dominant aspiration."--James Allan, "As A Man Thinketh"

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but unwilling to improve themselves"--James Allen

"The fault, Dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in our selves, if we be underlings"--Shakespeare.
Don't be a slave to your stars.

The DIAMOND HOUR audio archive:
http://tiny.cc/7u872
Body, Mind, Spirit, and Money...one hour at a time

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.

~Bill Cosby

Tools with heart

Tools have heart!

Today I'm working on the sequel to my NY Times bestselling novel, "The Legacy of Heorot," written with Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Thank technology! Let's look at the technological innovations that have occurred in the 20+ years since the original book came out that make this possible:

1) The Internet. Although word processing existed when we originally collaborated, I had to hand Larry and/or Jerry a 5 1/4 inch disk. Now, I can send a file via gmail, to all concerned people. It circulates, everyone adds their notes, and it comes back to me for revision.

2) Online word processing. In addition, I use Adobe's "Buzzword", an online word processor that allows real-time collaboration, as well as infinite back-up of previous versions. Larry likes this more than Jerry. I generally work on Buzzword because it is available from any computer to which I currently have access (not my Ipad, however. "Buzzword" is Flash-driven. The only real downside to Ipadja I've yet discovered)

3) Skype. God bless Skype. We were able to video conference with Jack Cohen, my very favorite mad scientist, one of the world's great reproductive biologists and arguably the greatest living expert on Xenobiology. For the last book we flew him to the U.S. Since "The Secret of Black Ship Island" is a novella, this is impractical financially, but to sit in a room with my old friend once again, and bat ideas around, was just incredibly satisfying. Larry, Jerry, Jack, and me, one more time. Wow. Life is good. Damned good.

4) E-Publishing. Originally, my wonderful agent Eleanor Wood, discouraged me from writing a sequel to LEGACY and BEOWULF'S CHILDREN. The reason? Well, 1/3 of the advance just wouldn't be enough money to finance the project. But if you e-publish through Amazon, with a price over (I think) 10.00, you get 70% of the GROSS. And that is a very different equation, profit-wise. That is doable, if you have access to promotion. With Niven and Pournelle involved, the promotion is built-in. All we have to do is deliver the quality, and everything else falls into place.

So...due to technology, I get to revisit an early phase of my career. Close a circle. Have good evil fun putting a group of helpless humans through absolute hell (one of my favorite things to do). Work with old friends. Make money. Stretch my SF muscles (I've wandered a bit afield from there in recent years). It's all to the good. Tools are just tools. It's the way you use them that gives them heart.

WORLD'S BEST FICTION WRITING COURSE

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The first hour of your day must be positive input: books, tapes, meditation, goal setting. The first 60 minutes sets the tone for the day.

Stressed out? Check your breathing 5X a day. Ninja Stress sneakily motivates you to neglect the very practices that minimize its damage.

"You are only as free as your well-developed alternatives"--Brian Tracy

(Said in challenging circumstances): "Thank you, God, for giving me another opportunity to find out who I really am"--Patrick Young

"Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him to himself"--James Allen

First August Diamond Hour!
Sat. August 6, 1:00 PM Pacific (4:00 PM Eastern)
http://ping.fm/QxG44
(724) 444-7444

Excellence is contagious in your own life. Learn to be excellent at anything: the same meta-principles apply to anything else.

Resolve to enter the top 10% of people in your field. There is absolutely no excuse for not being excellent at something.