"Everybody has a billion dollar idea” says John Demartini “and its inline with their highest values.”
On April 23, I had the priviledge of listening to the Demartini message at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Brisbane, Australia. John Demartini is perhaps known to many because of his role in the movie The Secret, however he has walked his talk for 34 years teaching how to be the person you can be. A dyslexic told he would never amount to anything, he left school at 14 travelled across the USA to surf the waves of Hawaii where severely affected by strychnine poisoning he was inspired by health guru Paul Bragg with the mantra “I am a genius and apply my wisdom.” At the age of 18 John read his first book, the first of 28,000 volumes, went on to study chiropractic and leave an indelible mark in this field. He shortly will be acting as mediator in the middle East and Ireland.
Life was not all plain sailing for the young John Demartini. He guessed his way through a high school certificate and then a college entrance exam but came face to face with failure when he received 27% for his first assignment. It was his mothers certainty and love that reinvigorated his determination and belief that he could be somebody and every day he learned 30 words from the dictionary, tested by his mother. This led to his desiring to learn all he could, and an uncle, a professor from MIT, sent him to containers of books which he read 18 to 20 hours a day.
“There is no loss without gain” “There is no economic crisis but an economic transformation.”
Economies go through cycles and eventually come back to a mean. This is good, according to Demartini, as it brings down inflated prices, and just as new growth springs from the collapse of a huge tree in the forest, the opportunity arises for those who have managed their wealth well during the hard times and re prepared to take on challenges.
“It is challenges that make people great" says Demartini and for some the present uncertainty is a chance at magnificence. Innovators will develop new technologies to fill the niches formed by the new economy. The reality of the economy grounds us, and is forcing business people to again find out what the customer wants.
He predicts “not gloom and doom, but zoom and boom.”
The successful person learns to express his message in terms of the other person’s value system. The successful employer expresses his message in a way that matches his staff’s values thus inspiring them to work interdependently. In the same way, he must connect to the values of his customer if his service will be valued.
“Stress is the inability to adapt to a changing environment.” The giants of the future will focus on solutions and what can be done for the most people. Everyone feels satisfaction when they help others experience gratitude and love. By being grateful for everything we experience we are better able to help others experience their own joy.
“There is never a lack of money for any one who wants to serve” Think of a way to serve long term. However he adds the proviso: “If you don’t value yourself you won’t win.’
Two stories illustrate his point:
John Demartini travelled to give an interview at a radio station. He normally gives them on the telephone however, this interview promised an audience of 50 million people so he made an exception. He was surprised to find the interview was in a warehouse full of wall to wall recordings. For five decades Presidents, business people and entertainers had been interviewed. There was at least 11 interviews of Jimi Hendrix alone. Yet at the end of the interview he was asked by the embarrassed gentleman if he would make a $10 donation to keep the show running.
Here was atleast a billion dollars of marketable interviews rotting away. As John explained to the interviewer, the 11 Jimi Hendrix interviews would easily sell for a $100 copy.
The interviewers value was in information, not in making money.
A woman who was a gifted secretary developed a large network of business contacts and was often approached to help make connections. Once she realized her asset her income rose from $47,000 to over 1.5 million within a year.
We all have something within us, according to Demartini yet if money is not in our top 5 values we will always waste our assets on the other high priorities on our values list.
“The quality of our life is dependent on asking the right questions.”
It is questions that awaken us to opportunities. The word government comes from govern – control and ment – mind. Hence, government refers to controlling the mind. Do I control my own thoughts?
“When the voice and vision on the inside is greater than the forces on the outside, then you master your world."
“Its time for me to give myself permission to do something amazing."
Demartini quotes Foster Hibbard as saying that the number one thing that stops us is shame and guilt. That is pseudo-altruism.
True altruism is a medium of fair exchange. It is the offering of service and the combined belief that I am worthy being paid for it.
John Demartini believes there are no disasters, only opportunities. He believes that in every challenge in life there is something of equal or greater value. He offers as an example a woman who lost 2.5 million dollars. The woman was going to shortly retire and leave her husband. The event brought greater unity between the married couple and forced their children to become more independent. The collective emotional and spiritual gain added up in her mind as being far more value than the lost money. Once that realization hit home to her, the dreams she had pushed aside in life came to the surface and suddenly her new, even more profitable, career became a reality.
Life is a feedback mechanism to help us see the universe as it really is. For every negative search within to gain the insight to find the gain of equal or greater value than the loss. This requires honest experiential evaluation. A person blinded by infatuation sees the good only and a victim sees only the bad. With the right tools, john Demartini argues we can clarify our experience and see the blessing within the drama as we become truly authentic.
Life is a feedback mechanism to help us see the universe as it really is. For every negative search within to gain the insight to find the gain of equal or greater value than the loss. This requires honest experiential evaluation. A person blinded by infatuation sees the good only and a victim sees only the bad. With the right tools, john Demartini argues we can clarify our experience and see the blessing within the drama as we become truly authentic.
Man has both a spiritual and material quest. That is, knowing what is my service to the world and knowing that I deserve to be rewarded for that service. John Demartini encourages people to write a list of reasons why I deserve reward for my service. He even suggests writing out the negative ideas that come to mind so that these can be changed into positive affirmations.
He invites us to remember 3 basic social laws and take them to heart:
1. Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill the space and time available
In other words, iof I don’t fill my time with high value activities mt life will fill with low value distractions,
John Demartini recommends listing every single activity we do - everything – listing time spent and the reward obtained. Then evaluate your effectiveness.
2. Pareto's Principle: 20% of our activities get 80% of the results
3. Ricardo’s Law: Specialize in what you love and find people who love to do what you don’t.
Every single person can make a difference. Often it is by inspiring others to follow our own success. Although the media highlights polarized swings of opinion, the masters of the new economy remain focused and disciplined in pursuit of their vision.
To give ourselves permission to be extraordinary we must focus on high value, high priority activities. They find problems and solve them. People who run away attract “all kinds of crap” to their lives.
How Do I discover My Passion?
What is it that we will do even if it is painful for us? What is it that we want to do that is congruent with our higher values? If it is not consistent with our values it will die the death of intense infatuation.
“I can’t wait to get up in the morning to go to my lab to make one more discovery before I leave this body” said Linus Pauling to John Demartini on the phone.
At a major University Campus some lights were going out around 6:30 PM. It was explained that was the PHD’s. The professor Emeritus’ turn their lights off around nine, he was told. Then pointing over further “but those lights will be on way after midnight – there the Nobel laureates.”
People who have passion don’t work less, but they love the work they do. They focus on what is possible and not on what is not working. Rather than being held back by problems we need to walk through the fear and turn on the light.
If we feel stuck we need to ask a new set of questions.
Am I master of my own destiny?
John Demartini recommends writing 1000 reasons to serve, reasons to save money, invest money and build a fortune.
What is it that so inspires me that I could keep doing it and never retire?
If we develop the passion for our dreams then we can make a difference.
“You can make Piggy Banks into Biggy Banks if you just stick to it.”
By asking evaluative questions of all areas of our lives we can see the possibilities in ourselves and in others. We need to see reality and honestly appraise our situation, not exaggerate or minimize our self.
One useful tool is to examine the qualities of people whose success we would emulate. John Demartini points out that invariably we find that we already have these characteristics within us, yet we have not clearly seen that they are already a part of and available within us to use.
By consciously redefining our values we can tap into hidden reserves. If I set goals congruent with my values I will succeed.
“It takes no time or effort to be at the bottom,
but we need an inspiring vision to reach for the stars.”
“Serve more,
Save more,
Be methodical and consistent.
Build for an eternity”
Save more,
Be methodical and consistent.
Build for an eternity”
