Live Your Life with Zero Limits with Dr Joe Vitale

Thank you for tuning in to the True Grit and Grace podcast. I'm Amberly Lago and I'll be sharing inspirational stories of resilience and empowering ideas to elevate your business and your life, ignite your passion, and fuel your purpose. Hey, it's Amberly Lago here. Thank you so much for tuning in to True Grit and Grace. Today I have one of the most interesting and inspirational people I have ever, ever met. Oh, my goodness, Y' all are in for such a treat. I have Dr. Joe Vitale with us. He was once homeless, but now mode a motivating inspirator known to his millions of fans as Mr. Fire. He is the world renowned author of numerous bestselling books. I actually happen to have a couple right here that I can't wait to dig into. He's a media personality. He's been seen all over tv, and he's become a household name because he was one of the stars in the hit movies the Secret. He's considered to be one of the top 50 most inspiring speakers in the world. He's got a phenomenal online show called Zero Limits, a top podcast. I don't really think there's anything that this man cannot do. He's even got his own movie coming out. So we're going to talk about all of this and especially his latest book, unexpected Kindness, that I could not put down. So, Dr. Joe, welcome to the show.

Well, thank you. I've been looking forward to this. You're one of my favorite people. I interviewed you for my own show. So now let's take turns.

Yeah. Oh, my goodness. This is a dream come true. And, you know, with Unexpected Kindness, we had a mutual friend connect us of, you know, he was just so kind to connect us. And I was like, oh, my goodness. I had done an online event with you, and I knew who you were, but I was so excited to be connected and get to be on your show was a true honor. And then to have you on mine, and I actually have to say it was Easter Sunday yesterday, and I got in trouble because I couldn't put your book down. And my family was like, do you ever stop working? I'm like, this isn't work. This is fun. This is amazing. And your book, I have to say, it's not just an autobiographical, like, stories of gratitude. I really think it is a book that will unlock it's like, secrets for anyone who wants to make the best out of life, who wants to go after big dreams, especially with all the things you've done with Writing books, being in movies, being, you know, in the media, having incredible contests and starting up things and doing your own movie. If you read between the lines and get the intention, it's like you get. You drop these nuggets, these secrets for people to follow so they can have the life of their dreams as well. I want to say, I love that you had, as a young kid, all these various roles that you wanted. You're like, I want to be a boxing champion, a preacher, a famous magician. You are a musician, an FBI agent, attorney, all these things. And you started asking for help. So my first question is, how did you know to ask for help? And what gave you the courage to do that? Because it's really what I think it takes a special kind of asking to get people to respond. And you had incredible legends respond with handwritten letters, phone calls that reached out to you. So how did you know to ask for help for these, and how did you have the courage to do so?

I didn't know that it was important. I didn't know that it was unusual. I didn't know that it needed courage. All I knew was I was curious and I had questions. And back then, there's no Internet, of course, so I had to write to people in care of their publisher, or if I went in the phone book or went to the library and look and looked at who's who, which was the directory where you can find people. I would get a mailing address and write to them, but I didn't think anything of it. It's like they got the answer. I'll just write and ask. So there was no courage involved. It was more like curiosity. And I didn't know it was unusual. I didn't know other people didn't do it or didn't know to do it. But some of my greatest memories were I wanted to be a heavyweight boxing champion at one point, and I was very sincere. I was in the greatest shape of my life as a teenager, and I fantasized being in the ring and holding my hand up when they said I was the champion of the world. And Jack Dempsey, who was one of the early heavyweight boxing champions, the 1910s, 1920s, he was still alive, and he had a restaurant in New York. I wrote to him in care of the restaurant, figured, you know, why not? And I still have the photo he sent me way back, I think, in 1970. It's on the wall right over there. Because I look at it and I think now, how amazing was it that this living legend icon, he's sitting in his own restaurant, busy, still a celebrity, still whining and dining people and seeing the media. And he takes the time to say, for Joe Vitale, lots of luck. Jack Dempsey, 19. I got chills going up my spine.

I do, too.

When it happened, though, I don't know that I thought it was spectacular. I just thought, you know, he wrote back, and how cool is that? When I wanted to be the. A famous magician, I wanted to be the next Harry Houdini. At one point, I even had a name, Harry Accelo. And Houdini was dead. But somebody who was a famous magician who wrote a lot of books on magic, who had a newspaper and a magazine about magic, and had known Houdini, and Houdini's wife was still alive. So I wrote him. I had questions about being a magician. And I was really going. It wasn't a dark night, but it was a confused period. But I'm thinking, well, do I want to be a boxer? Do I want to be an author? Do I want to be an attorney? Do I want to be an FBI agent? Do I want to be a magician? And I sincerely wanted to know. So I wrote this man, his name was John Mulholland, and I wrote to him. I found an address, and I guess I got it at the library. I don't even remember. And I wrote him a letter. He wrote back a two page typewritten letter answering every one of my questions, giving me the joys and the sorrows of being a professional magician. I still have that letter. It was published in Magic magazine years ago because it ended up being a collector's item and a treasure coming from that icon himself. But when it came to me, I just read it like he wrote to me. And I thought, you know, how cool that he was writing to me. I didn't know how impactful it would be or how unusual it was. When I wanted to be an FBI agent, I wrote to J. Edgar Hoover, which even today makes me go, what did I do? I wrote the J. Edgar Hoover.

Now, how old were you? How old were you?

Like, 16 years old. I was like 15. 16. Those early teenage years, I was reading a lot. Reading. And books were my escape. I wasn't particularly happy growing up, but I found with books, books, they were friends. They were dependable friends. They didn't hurt me, they didn't do anything to me. And I could put them on the shelf when I was done, pick them off the shelf when I was ready for more. Books became my. My freedom, my therapy, my allies, my escape. So I would Say, I was writing these people probably when I was 15 and 16, maybe 17 years old. And geez, I wanted to be a minister. At one point I wrote to Billy Graham, I'm laughing now. Now it seems bizarre and funny and daring. Back then it was like, I got a question. He probably knows the answer. Let me write to him. It was that simple. And Billy Graham did write back and so did J. Edgar Hoover. They all wrote back. The only one who never wrote back was Groucho Marx. And I found out later he was probably a grouchy man and he might not have said anything nice.

Yeah, that might have been a blessing.

It might have been a good thing.

I was into boxing, by the way, and I was into Krav Maga. And we tie. I loved it. But when I was younger, I had this big dream. I knew from the time I was eight that I wanted to move to Los Angeles. And I didn't know to be scared to pack up all my things and go and learn from these great teachers and ask questions. I was just same. I was curious, but I was also. I was like, I want more out of life. And I think that it's that curiosity is key and if we can approach life with that. And I loved reading all your different stories about all the people who wrote to you. And it seems like you had from a young age just you, a knowing in you that it was important to have mentors and masterminds. Because I read a lot and I hear a lot about how even you went back to your mastermind to get advice. How did you first learn about mentors and masterminds?

Well, again, I didn't know those words when I was a teenager. I didn't know about mentors, I didn't know about masterminds. I'm not sure I knew anything about coaching except literally coaching and the football coach at the high school. So all of those were just new terms that came later and are today more trendy. But back then, you're talking about the late 1960s and the early 1970s. I didn't know all of those different terms. So for me it was again reaching out to somebody who knew more than me. Like, there's teachers out there, there's people who have already been published, there's people who have already accomplished in their different fields. And so why not reach out? I think you mentioned the word curiosity. That is a secret to success. That has been my secret. I am profoundly curious. And the curiosity comes from whatever I'm interested in at the time. Like when it was Magic. I just deep dived into it because I was so curious. How do they do these things? How do you perform on stage? How do you become a magician? How do you get people to come to your audience? They were just question. I naturally wanted to know out of my curiosity. A few years ago I got into strongman training and that's when you bend horseshoes and nails and steal bars and drive a nail through a board with your hand. I was obsessed with it and I was so curious. It's like, how in the world is that possible? You feel like Superman or Super Women. Women do it too when you do these things. But at the beginning stages, curiosity was what was pushing me. The other thing you said was about ignorance, that when you go to Los Angeles, for example, or I was writing to different people, I didn't have what we'll call the knowledge that that was unusual. All I knew was I wanted to do it. Mark Twain said, ignorance plus confidence will equal success. And I heard Orson Welles, the great actor and director, at one point said, ignorance is a superpower because you end up doing things that you are ignorant of. What other people would say is impossible.

That's so true.

Yes, I would, I would say ignorance is actually a gift. If you get too much information, you end up thinking, well, maybe that's not doable, maybe that's not possible. Other people may not have done that, so maybe it won't work for me. But instead of, you just go for, you know, I really want that. I really want to go to la. I really want to be an author, I really want to be a boxer. And you just go in that direction. Ignorance doesn't stop you because you don't know you should be stopped or at least paused. So I think curiosity, ignorance, all of these are actually gifts. They're actually superpowers.

I love that. Well, I, I believe that too. That served me well. Along the way, I said, ignorance is bliss. I have wanted to do big things. I've done some amazing things. Just a regular girl who's been able to do some extraordinary things. And along the way I've had a of people tell me that's crazy or you're crazy, it's not possible. What are you thinking? You just need to stick to what you are used to doing and you're good at. You don't need to go over there, you don't need to do that. Have you, in your journey, have you had people that are kind of naysayers or negative or doggy downers, people telling you that's not possible. You should just stick to the book writing or you should just stick to the, the coaching or, or whatever it may be. And if so, how do you.

It's such a great question. You know, Napoleon Hill had said the number one reason people don't succeed is they listen to their family and friends. Their family and friends are the ones who say, stay with what you're doing. Don't venture out. Don't go and make a risk. Here you've got a payday, or you got a job, or you got something dependable. Don't go and do it. And Napoleon Hill's point was those are the naysayers. They're going to actually keep you down. They're going to keep you in your place. So I have that awareness. But the truth of the matter is, as I reflect on it, I have been such a loner and such an introvert that I typically don't share the dreams with other people, really. And even today, of course, now I have some sort of degree of fame or celebrity status. I don't know what you would call it. And so I do say things that I'm going to do, but I'm very careful about who I say it to and how I say it. My rule of thumb is do not share your dreams with anybody except the ones who can help you fulfill them. If you start talking, and I mean this is for anybody and myself included, if I just start blabbing to the next door neighbor or somebody at the grocery store line that this is what I'm planning to do, I'm going to hear all the reasons not to do it. They're going to talk me out of it. They're going to say that's not possible. I have seen it with other people and I have heard whispers of it in my own life, but I tend to guard against it. So even now I have some big dreams. And I had heard a while back that a billionaire, a billionaire had said if you go to a party and you tell people what your next project is and they don't think you're crazy, then you have not thought big enough. So that's kind of my rule of thumb is they're probably going to think I'm crazy if I tell them my big dream. So I won't tell them. I don't want to invite anybody to rain on my parade. So I pretty much keep it to my chest. And I really think the rule of thumb is only share your, your dreams, your goals, the big visions with the people who can help you achieve them. Which is why I wrote to Jack Dempsey and John Mulholland and Billy Graham and J. Edgar Hoover. They could help me in those particular areas. But I wasn't going to go and ask the next door neighbor or some family member, hey, I'm thinking about becoming a world famous magician like Houdini. Yeah. They don't know how I would do it, for one thing. And they would assume it's impossible for me because they're just seeing that current reality in the current person in front of them. They don't see the vision. They don't feel the vision.

Exactly.

So I tend not to share it.

That's such great advice. And yeah, I remember when I published my book and I got invited to go, the day it was publishing, I got invited to go do an interview on the Today show. And I was terrified. I mean, excited, but also like, oh, my gosh, what are they going to ask me? They wouldn't tell me what they would ask. They just told me, you need to show up and keep your ears open. And I remember my husband said, well, you need to post that. You need to tell everybody. I said, no, no, no, no, no. I am not telling anyone about this until I am maybe on the plane on my way to New York. And then I know it's a done deal because I didn't want to hear it from other people saying, aren't you scared? Oh, I heard Megyn Kelly's not nice. And they said some other horrible things. I thought, I don't want to hear that. I want to go and do the best job that I can do and believe it's possible and not deal with other people's emotions and let that kind of freak me out even more. I was already freaked out. So, you know, and so I was like, okay, I'm just gonna wait until I get there. And that's, that's what I did. And, and I think that is so smart to seek my friend Greg Reed. He always says, seek counsel, not opinion. And I think that describes kind of what you just shared as well. Like, you went to the greats, you went to the people who've already done the things that you want to do. Yes. And you're like, okay, how do I do this? Yeah.

And I've done that in every field. I think at this point, it was almost 20 years ago, I was going into bodybuilding contest and the body for life contest that Bill Phillips had, and I was looking at the old school bodybuilders, and the one that I just admired was Steve Reeves. I ended up becoming a collector of Steve Reeves stuff. And I had his entire gym at one point, and I wanted to train with Steve Reeves, but he was dead at that point. The other one that was a competitor and his peer who was still alive, was Frank Zane. So stop and think about this. Now. I want to go into a bodybuilding contest. Plenty of books on it, plenty of videos on it, plenty of trainers about them. But I wanted to go to the best and find out, what did they think? What did they do? I didn't want to go to a neighbor. I didn't want to go to a local gym. I wanted to go to somebody who was accomplished in the field. I wanted to be accomplished in. And I went and trained with Frank Zane at his house. Later I met Lou Ferrigno, and he came to my gym because I had one at that point. And my whole point is, whenever you go for something, whether it is the fitness contest or it is writing a book or magic or whatever, it's always wisest to go to somebody who's already excelled in that particular field. One more thing I want to say, Amberly, if you don't mind me saying this, because I think everybody needs to hear these little tidbits without them slipping by and them overlooking them. You said when you were going on that TV show, you were terrified, and I want people to hear that you were terrified and you went anyway. And the reason I want them to hear that is when I went on Larry King the first time and the second time, I was terrified. The first time I was so terrified, I thought, I'm not going to be able to speak. I'm not going to be able to talk to this man. This is Larry King. I don't have any idea how many people are watching it, but it'll look like him and I in a room. But when the little red light goes on in the camera, millions of people are watching live. Yeah, I was terrified. I was literally terrified. And here's the thing, I did it anyway, and so did you. I'm pointing it out for the people who go, I can't do that, or I'm afraid of doing that. We are more resourceful and more capable than we ever imagined. Once we get into these situations, and these are situations we wanted. You wanted to go on the talk show. I wanted to go on Larry King wasn't like anybody was making me do something I didn't really want to do.

Yeah.

The matter of when you're actually there and you're in the moment and you're breathing all's right with the world. And you do what you got to do in that moment.

Thank you for bringing that up. And it's nice to know that someone with such luminous success and all that you achieve and you do your show, and I admire how you come on and do your show and how you even go on Instagram and do reels. And you speak and you speak all over the world, and you make it look so easy, and you do it with such authority, but with ease and grace. You make it look effortless. So to know that you are also terrified, it makes me feel relieved. Like, okay, I'm not the only one. And I think a lot of times just knowing that we're not the only one to be scared to do something, it gives us hope that, okay, if he did it, then I can do it too.

And that's one of the reasons I read so many different books, especially biographies and autobiographies, is that you get to find out these are very human people who went through very challenging times and yet were able to transcend them and accomplish something in a big enough way that they're writing books about it. I remember I reread just recently, Jack Dempsey's autobiography, and there was a line in there. He had been a coal miner at one point, and there was a cave that collapsed and he was buried underneath the ground. I mean, I don't know how far down it was. And he talked about how terrified he was. And then the next line was, all fear leaves on its own within an hour or less. I never forgot. All fear leaves. Wow. All fear leaves. He's still stuck in the coal mine, but he's not afraid anymore because the fear naturally went through his system, got expelled, and he's now just in the coal mine trying to figure out how to get out of it. I appreciate your compliments about me doing my Instagram and my show and this, that and the other. I always want people to know I'm terrified virtually every time I go to do it. I was in Ireland in January. It was my first overseas trip since the COVID It was my first time on stage since COVID And I had two speaking events at this giant presentation, two of them, and I regretted agreeing to do two. I thought, man, it's hard enough for me to do one after this hiatus. And I now I'm overweight, now I'm out of practice. Now I'm going on stage. Now I'm traveling, and Covid still in the air out there. And so I'm scared. I'm scared and when we get to the event and it's an hour or two before I'm going to go on stage, and I'm like, I am not enthusiastic, not in the right mind frame for me to do this. It's like, how am I going to get my head around this? And I asked the people that were putting on the event. They wanted me to go do photos and this, that, and the other. I said, I can't do that right now. I gotta focus on me. I gotta get centered. I said, do you have what's called a green room? Do you have a little secure area I can go and sit and meditate? And they took me back to a green room. And I said, I just need water and I need a bathroom. And as I sat there, I'm wearing a T shirt that says mindset is everything. As I sat there, I worked on my mindset. I was doing the breathing. I was remembering things like from Jack Dempsey. All fear leaves on its own. Just kind of sit there and all the. The trembles are going to stop. All the inner nervousness is going to stop. It's going to go away. And after, I don't know, 15, 20 minutes, I was just kind of chilling. I was just hanging. And then when they called me to go on stage, there's a little tiny bit of butterflies there. But it certainly wasn't the panic attack that was growing inside of me. And then I went on stage, I did my thing, and I was so comfortable on stage. When my hour was up, I kept talking.

I love it.

I stayed on stage, and I even looked off to the side and I told the audience, I said, they don't look like they're coming to get me. So I'm going to keep talking to me. And the point is, I think it's the human natural experience to have concerns, to have fears. Usually it means you care about something. Like, I cared about looking good. I cared about helping the audience. I cared about getting my message across. If I didn't care about, I wouldn't have any of the nervousness. I wouldn't have had any of the fears. I would have just kind of shrugged it off and said, okay, I'll go up there and mumble a few things and then go home.

Actually, the next couple of months is the most eventful it's ever been for me for speaking events. I am traveling all over the place and scared because there's some. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I hope I don't miss my flight. If I miss my flight, my Talk is at 9 in the morning. And I'm just coming from this other talk and there's a lot of moving parts. And I'm glad you say that. It's normal to. To feel that way, but there are things that we can do to feel better. I too have to get grounded, and I get grounded with push ups and prayer. So I go, people laugh at me backstage because I'm backstage doing push ups. And I'll be in a dress, in a skirt back there cranking out the push ups. And they're like, oh, my gosh. They get their phones and they're like, she's actually doing push ups. And I'm like, yeah, this is how I get ready for stage and lots of prayer. But last night I had to pray and just say, you know, this is what I've prayed for. And now it's here and I'm just gonna step through the fear one step at a time, one day at a time, and get through each and every event. Preparation is key as well for me. Like, if I feel like I prepare, I don't ever feel like I'm 100% prepared, though. Never. I've never felt like I'm 100% prepared. Even when I did my TE talk, I didn't feel 100% prepared, but I did it anyway. I went out there and I did it anyway. And I'm so happy to hear that. You say, talk about mindset.

Yeah.

And how I believe mindset is everything. I feel like it starts with our mindset and that will determine whether we can or we can't do something.

Because if you try it or not try it is because of the mindset. If somebody says, I can't do it and they don't try, it's because they let their mindset decide they couldn't do it. Somebody says, looking at the same thing, I can do it, and I'm going to go ahead and move in that direction. They're doing it because of their mindset. They listen to the mindset. I mentioned Napoleon Hill and he wrote a book that wasn't published during his lifetime because it was considered too controversial. It was published after his death and it's one of, if not his greatest book. Everybody thinks of Think and Grow Rich, which is a great book and worth reading. But this other book. Book, I read it and my hands sweated. Really perspiring reading the book. The book is called Outwitting the Devil.

Oh, I think I have that book and I haven't read it yet.

Let me tell you something. Amberly. I got the book the first time years ago, and I started to read it. It made me so uncomfortable. I put it down and I didn't finish it. Then I kept hearing about the book and I thought, well, maybe I should go finish it. It's Napoleon Hill, for God's sake. So I went and read the book, and what I realized, outwitting the devil is so powerful because what he's illustrating is the devil is your own mind.

Wow.

The devil is your own mind. When I first started reading the book and I put it down, it's because I was thinking in terms of the religious devil that most of us think about. And I thought, well, that's what he's talking about, and he's making it too real for me. And I was getting uncomfortable. Then when I went back to the book and I kept reading it, it dawned on me. Know he's talking about this devil, but this devil is that voice of negativity, doom and gloom. It's the negative mindset. Yeah, that's what he's talking about. And so outwitting the devil for Napoleon Hill is outwitting the negative mindset that can hold you down, that can hold you back. For example, there's probably people watching this exhilarating interview because you're asking such great questions. I'm on a roll, really digging into this and wanting to share all these secrets and concepts of these experiences. But there's people watching, going, yeah, that's good for Amberly and it's good for Joe. It's not going to work for me. Who decided that that's the devil in your own mind trying to keep you back, trying to keep you down. And what you want to do is outwit the devil. I learned decades ago that, yeah, we do have this voice of doom and gloom until we realize it's not us, it's a voice. It's a sub personality. And what you can do instead is create a. A guardian angel voice, a positive voice, a cheerleader in your own mind. And now you've got two voices to listen to. The one that says you can do it, and the other one, it says you can't do it. And you're in the middle. And when you realize you're the Witness in spiritual terms, you're detached from those voices. Now you can choose. Now you can choose. You can say, oh, that's the devil voice. Thanks for sharing. I'm not going to listen to you. I'm going with my guardian angel voice that's saying, do this and you can do this. So mindset for me, the T shirt says mindset is everything. I really do believe that's it. We need to become aware of our mindset and then lock in on the. The bright light mindset, the positive mindset, the hopeful, faith filled mindset.

Yeah. And, you know, I think once you realize you have a choice.

Yes.

You take your power back.

Yes.

It's very empowering when you realize, oh, I have a choice here. I get to choose what I think about this situation, what I'm gonna do, what I'm gonna try, what I'm gonna go for. So that is powerful. You are. You are just dropping so many nuggets of gold. I want to ask you. One of my favorite stories in your book of all time is when you got to meet Bob Proctor.

Yes.

Can you share that? When you write about that? And because of your kindness and how you showed up, it just went down. This whole. It just escalated into something absolutely unbelievable. So can you share that story?

Thank you for the opportunity to do so. My book, Unexpected Kindness was written directly because of Bob Proctor. He had passed away, and I started remembering the deep impact he had on my life. And so I started writing the story about it. In short, I was making a bit of my. Of a name for myself back in the 1990s. I was in Houston, Texas, and the Internet was coming along and people were knowing me as an Internet marketer, as a hypnotic copywriter. I was getting a fan base. I was starting to make money for the first time after being homeless and in poverty and struggling for a decade or more. And Bob Proctor had heard about me and he wanted to meet me. And he said if I could fly to Denver. He was doing a weekend workshop called the Science of Getting Rich, and that he would allow me to be his guest and he would like to meet me there. And I thought, oh, my God, Bob Proctor. I already knew who he was. He was being public.

That's so cool. Were you like, oh, my gosh.

It was another one of those intimidating, terrifying moments. And this. I'm pointing it out because we're human beings. We go through these different experiences on the human level. And I went through intimidation. Oh, my God, Bob Proctor. Who does he think I am? He's impressed with me. I'm not impressive. You know, I went through all of that self doubt and the inner turmoil, but I also knew, you can't pass that up. This is the science of getting rich. He's letting me go to the seminar. He wants to meet me. You cannot pass that up.

That's huge.

So. And again, this is another one of those takeaway moments. You learn to say yes to what are obvious opportunities. Even when you don't know where it's got to go, you have to say yes. So I said yes. I flew to Denver, and on the way, I kept thinking, I need to give him a present. I need to give him something to say thank you. And I had a little booklet that I had written for my sister and only my sister. It was called Spiritual Marketing. It was Five Steps Toward Attracting Wealth. And my sister had struggled. She had health problems. She was on welfare. It was a horrible story. So I wrote Spiritual Marketing for her, dedicated to her, gave it to her. And she did use it. She did get off welfare. She did start to do better. But I never intended to share the book with anybody else. It was a private thing. But I thought, I'll give it to Bob Proctor. So I go to Denver. I'm at his event, I give him the book. And he looks at him. I still remember him standing there. He was a tall, trim fellow, very distinguished looking, glasses on, and he's looking at the book. Spiritual Marketing. That is such a great title. Five Steps to Attracting wealth and then short book. He read it, and I thought we were done. So we go in to the event, and he's on stage, and he says, we have a celebrity here. And I was not a celebrity, but he said, joe Vitale is in the audience. He's got new programs on marketing. And I think I had my first Nightingale Conant audio program, the Power of Outrageous Marketing. He mentioned that. And he says, and he has a new book. And everybody here is going to want this book. And everybody here is going to need this book. It's called Spiritual Marketing. Now, I was blushed. I was embarrassed, got goosebumps. I was like, I no, that book's not for the world. Shut up, Bob. And I'm. I'm scared. I'm trembling. I'm nervous. And it's like, even if they want to buy it, I don't have it. It's not for sale. And at the first break, there were 250 people there. 250 people mobbed me. They wanted the book. And so I was busy saying, don't have it, don't have it, don't have it. Until a publisher walks up and says, I'll publish your book. I said, you haven't even read it. He says, obviously, Bob likes it. Bob read it. And all these people want the book. I'll publish the book. Well, long Story short, that book did get published. We're not going to make that long story short. I'm going to continue because this is too good. Good.

It is good.

Bob Proctor endorses spiritual Marketing. Spiritual Marketing gets published. It becomes my first Amazon bestseller. So it's number one at Amazon. Spiritual Marketing by Joe Vitale. And it's like, this is a major thing. New York Times is writing stories and articles about books that come out of nowhere and get published and become bestsellers. They feature me in the New York Times. Well, it doesn't stop there. There then a major publisher in New York, Jay Wiley, who's been around since the 1800s.

Oh, Wiley. Oh, yeah.

They called me up. They called me up and they said, hey, we see your book Spiritual Marketing, we want to publish it. And I'm like, well, it's already published. It's already Spiritual Marketing. It's already a bestseller. No, we can take it to a new level. We are a bigger publisher. We don't like the name Spiritual marketing. We need to change that. But we'll publish the book for you and take it to a whole new world. So we negotiated, talked about it, and so I did. I went with them. They renamed the book the Attractor Factor. The Attractor Factor to this day is my number one most popular book. I've written over 80 books. The Attractor Factor is the one that stands out, doesn't stop there, because a woman in Australia is handed a copy of the Attractor Factor and she reads it and she calls me back. Then you can get me on the phone pretty easy. And she called me up and she says, I want to make a movie about the law of Attraction and I'd like you to be in it. And I'm like, oh, I hear from people all the time who have big dreams but don't follow through. So I said, sure, sure, call me up when you get money and you want to make the movie. She sent me the trailer to what was to be the Secret. And I called her back and said, if your movie is going to be anything like this trailer, I want in.

Yeah.

And obviously I was in the movie. The movie was the Secret. That led to a whole new world of experiences that led to me becoming known outside of the marketing and copywriting world and a direct domino effect. Going all the way back to Bob Proctor calling me and saying, I want to meet you. Come on up to Denver. And I gave him Spiritual Marketing. That's only one example. I mean, I got chills going up and down my spine because Bob Proctor Was always in my corner, always. When I spoke at, the largest live audience I had ever spoken to was 20,000 people in Lima, Peru. I mean, I had a bodyguard, I had a translator, I had an entourage, I had a police escort. This was huge. I was the law of attraction rock star. There was only one other speaker besides me, and that was Bob Proctor.

Wow.

He and I spoke on stage, taking turns at that 20,000 people Peru event. And he was in my corner all the time. I mean, I had emailed him questions and he would always write back when he passed, even though he was elderly. It was kind of sudden because he seemed like he's still alive, he's still writing books, he's still going around, he's still flying, he's still speaking, he's living his mission. And that's why I wrote. Unexpected kindness was as a way to say Bob Proctor was unexpectedly kind to me. Repeatedly, dramatically changed my life.

Oh, that as you were sharing. Well, I loved reading that story in the book. It was my favorite part of the book. But as you were sharing this, I. I just had goosebump. I mean, I'm just so grateful for the kindness that for you to even be on the show and share all the, all your wisdom and you talk about the, the domino effect you were asked to. To all your hard work paid off. I mean, I feel like your hard work and your kindness puts you where your blessings can find you. And so Bob Proctor found you, but you had the courage to say yes and the follow through. But not only that, you weren't just. You're not the kind of person that's like, I'm gonna go. What's in it for me? Your immediate thought was, well, I need to bring him a gift. This is like huge that I get to meet him. What can I give him? How can I show up and hand him something of value? And so you're constantly giving value, giving value, giving value. And there was one story, I think, I don't remember if it was in your book where I read it or interview, but it really hit. Hit me. And I think it may have been Bob Proctor that actually called you and got your answering machine.

Yes.

And on your answering machine it said something. I'm not here. I'm busy making people rich right now. And called you back. And he said, well, are you rich? And he said, was it him that called you to say yes, yes, any. And he asked you, are you rich? And you said, no. And I love, first of all that you had the honesty to say, nope, I'm not rich yet. And then he said, that's not really been, like, something of importance to you, has it? And then he taught you how to change that. Well, the story that you shared. Can you share the story about first class? Because I re. I think one of the reasons it hit me so hard as I'm doing a speaking event in Miami and they're reimbursing me for my airfare. Usually I. I go and they just pay a flat fee, but they're like, can we just reimburse you for your airfare? So I look online and I get the least, you know, the. The cheapest ticket seat I can find. I don't want to put them out. I'm not going to fly first class and send them. Send them that ticket. But will you share the story of how first sitting in first class really changed things for you? Because it really hit home, and I'm like, I need to buy a first class ticket soon.

Well, first of all, you do. And second of all, I also understand the delay in doing it, but I'm going to encourage you just to freaking do it and then give them the bill to reimburse you for it. So, yes, Bob Proctor and I started communicating, and he would call, and he called my answering machine at the time, said, hi, you've reached Joe Vitale. I'm busy helping somebody become rich and famous. You can be next. And Bob loved it. He called it two or three times. I think he played it for other people that were in his office. It became a funny little thing, and I was always proud of it because it did sound really upbeat and unusual. It's like, I'm busy. I'm helping somebody become rich and famous. So when Bob finally gets me on the phone, he says, are you rich? And I said, no, I'm working on it. And I had barely left poverty. I was crawling out. I didn't.

Hey, at least you weren't homeless anymore.

I was in a home finally, but I was still struggling, and I was climbing my way up. And I also did my best to hide it. I wasn't being very honest with the world. It was like, well, this is a bit of an illusion. Let's let them think I'm rich and famous. But I really wasn't. So Bob kind of called me out on it by saying, are you rich? And I said, no, I'm working on it. And he said, have you read Think and Grow Rich? And I said, yeah, I think I read it. And he said, no, you need to read it, and you study it. And then he said, and this was true, I carry the first edition with me everywhere I go. And I read it every day.

And he did.

Since 1967 to his death, he read it every day. That's how important he thought thinking grow rich was. And I have since read it two or three times. And there are nuggets and things you don't see because your, your consciousness isn't on the level to grasp it when you first read it. So reading think and grow rich was the next or the first big thing he said. The second one he said was, do you fly first class? And it was like a joke. It was like, hell no, I don't fly first class. Well, only a would fly first class. You spend all this money and you get up front and you get a little bit wider of a seat. I don't need that. Lose weight. You'll fit in the seat better. You know, you don't have to pay for first class. And he said, no, you need to fly first class because it does something to your prosperity mindset. It changes your consciousness. It says you're deserving of it. And I remember thinking, yeah, I, I guess I am deserving of it, but I can't, can't justify paying it. And most of the time I didn't have the money to pay for it anyway. Or that's what I told myself. Probably took me two years to finally try first class. Two years and it might have been three. I'm trying to think back and I kept thinking, oh, Bob says to fly first class. But I can't do that. I can't justify that, none of that. Finally I said, okay, I'm going to fly first class. And it was a scary moment because, you know, I'm making the purchase and going, oh my God, I can use that for so many different things. And then I started to have some insights. One of them is a lot of the times we don't buy things we know we really want is we don't think we have enough. What is that? That's a scarcity mindset. A lot of times we don't spend the money we have, which we can go and buy the first class ticket because we think we're not going to get any more. What is that? A scarcity mindset. A lot of times we don't buy the luxury item because we think, well, that's money that we can waste on something else or, or survival money or we need it for a rainy day. What is that? That is a scarcity mindset. And it started to dawn on me that I gotta go first class, if only to get my head into a first class mindset. Yeah. I have never not gone first class since ever. And just to give you an example, because I've gone to a couple places that were pretty far and pretty expensive. Like when I went to Kuwait, which I did not want to go there, but they dazzled a lot of money. And this, that, and the other. It was $20,000 for the first class ticket to go there.

Are you serious?

$20,000 first class to Kuwait from Texas. And I bought it, and then I handed the bill to the people putting on the event.

You did.

They reimbursed me. Now, these days, like when I went to Ireland, I say, you guys buy the ticket, but I'm only going first class so you can shop around if you like, if you can get a deal or, you know, an agent or, you know, an airline or whatever, do it. But I'm flying first class or I'm not coming. And that's really the bottom line for me at this point. I charge higher prices. You don't want to pay them? I'm fine to stay home. I'd fly first class. If you don't want to pay it, I'm fine to stay home. So I've drawn the line. But you can trace this all the way back to Bob Proctor. And I have heard from other people. Marie diamond was on my show. She's the feng shui expert. She same experience, she was flying coach everywhere from France, I think. And Bob Proctor said, nope, you got to fly first class. Wow.

You know, that really hit home for me. And you know what's so crazy is for this event that I'm doing in Miami, I was like, okay, so are you're getting my hotel and airfare, right? And they're like, oh, no, we don't usually do that. And I'm like, you don't cover. I've had my own events, and I've flown 22 speakers into my event and covered airfare, hotel, that sort of thing. Now, not necessarily for my mastermind people, but for all the speakers, like, covered their, you know, hotel room, airfare, and to look on Instagram, I'm like, you're flying in a private jet, but you don't want to cover my coach ticket from Texas to Florida, then I think I'm happy to stay home like you said. But yeah, that, that, you know, when I was getting my ticket, my husband was like, you know, you need to get a first class ticket because I have a leg that's sometimes bothers. Well, it bothers me all the time. I just don't like to admit it, but it's hard sometimes to fly. He's like, you need to fly first class. And I'm like, oh, no, I am not going to fly first class and give them a ticket and have them reimburse me for that. But then, then seriously, right after we had that conversation, I read that part in your book or heard you say it on an interview and I was like, okay, I hear the. I hear it loud and clear. I know what I got to do. So I'm gonna let you know when I get that ticket.

Well, please go and do it. But I want to illustrate a couple things. It's kind of like coaching for you, but the by example, it's for everybody. And you going first class, you insisting on hotel, and all of these is a vote of self confidence and self worth. That's the important thing.

It is self worth worth.

And the other thing is, this is a reflection on you. You said when you had people, your 22 speakers, whatever it was, that you flew in and you paid for their flights. Why? Because you care?

Because I care. And I, I really care. And I want to make it an incredible experience for them and I feel grateful that they're even coming to the event. It's an for them to come to the event and speak on my stage.

Yeah. And the people that don't want to pay for your hotel, what are they saying? They don't care. This is why. And this is the professional speaker talking to another professional speaker. I have a contract and that contract says here is his speaking fee, which is very elevated these days. First class travel non stop. If at all possible, I'll take one. One stop or one flight. Turnover. Five star accommodations. Two nights before the event, two nights after the event. And then I put in little things to make sure they read the contract. I got this from the music business. I'll say things like in a box of Cuban Maduro cigars. And when I was drinking, I would also say, and I also want a Macallan Scotch, 25 years old. I would put all these things in there, first of all, show that they read it. It's like, we got your cigars, we got your Scott touch. But the other thing is, if you don't do this, it shows you don't respect me and I can't go because if I sign it and you don't do all these different things, I'm not respecting myself.

Wow. Yeah. That's so good. I Have a contract too. And I'm gonna redo my contract.

Yes, that's the effect Bob Proctor is having on both of us now. And he's already gone on because he was telling us to do the first class and five star hotel and all these different things because we were worth it. And as we are worth it. This is the other thing that happens when we decide we're worth it and we act like we're worth it. The people on the outside reflect that respect now. They're more willing to pay the first class ticket, the five star hotel, the Cuban cigars, whatever it is that you've added to the, the list of requirements. You're going to go and do your part. You're going to go and speak and dazzle them and inspire them and inform them and do whatever they've hired you to do. But they need to do their part to respect you. And that respect begins with you and I respecting ourselves. And I'm saying this in a way that I hope everybody watching or listening grasp that self nurturing, that self appreciation is where the beginning is. That'll radiate out into the universe and call it the attractor field or the secret that'll come back to match, match your inner value.

Oh, it sure does. And I just have to share one thing really quick. I know we're running out of time. Recently I was asked to speak at an event and I said, sure, I'm available on that date and this is my speaking fee. And then they wrote back and said, well, can you come and stay for two days and do two keynotes and two workshops? And I said, I can for double the speaking fee because I get paid this much for one keynote. And I thought, well, I've blown it. I won't hear from them, you know, whatever they immediately like, well, we really want to talk with you. So we get on the phone or we get a zoom call and we have a conference call and they end up hiring me for the event. And it was just because I was like, nope, I will not do that. I will do this. They ended up booking me and I felt better and it was a boost in my confidence just because I stood for what I know I've worked so hard to do, because I know what I'm going to do. I know I'm going to show up and I'm going to deliver. But this is. These are all such great tips. When I said earlier, you know, that I don't. There's like, I look at what you have accomplished and what you continue to accomplish. And if y' all aren't watching on YouTube, if you're listening on, you know, one of your favorite podcast platforms, if you can see on YouTube, you see as his. His. He's a musician. He's got his instrument, the guitar back there. He's got so many books. I'm blown away that you've written 80 books. Is it 80 books?

That's the last I've been told. Other people count them. I'm too busy writing them. So I was told the other day, quit saying 80 because it's more like 90. That what it is.

That is unbelievable. That. I mean, one book for me was like, okay. I remember writing that in my publisher right after said, okay, you need to start on the second. I said, my book just published today. And they're like, yep, get working on the next one. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. But I really want to talk about, first of all, one exciting thing coming up. You're doing your own movie. Can you tell us a little. Can you give us a sneak peek about what that's about?

Yeah. Well, one of my books is called Zero Limits, and my online TV show that you were a guest on is called Zero Limits Live. So Zero Limits has become a bit of a brand for me. And I keep finding that I want people to consider, what would life be like if there were no limits? If you really played with the possibility that what you're thinking is not possible is actually possible because we live in a world with zero limits. So the movie is on that topic. What I'm doing is getting that concept and getting experts involved to explore zero limits limits, largely. The book that was called Zero Limits was about a Hawaiian healing methodology that has helped people heal, clean, clear, remove blocks, achieve what other people would consider to be impossible. And there's a pretty inspiring true story that's at the core of that book. So that story, those concepts, me and the other guests will be in this movie called Zero Limits. We just went into production. We just started interviewing some of the guests. We can take a few people as guests on a sponsorship basis. So if they're interested, There's a website, zero limits movie.com. and there's a little video there of me explaining it. But Zero Limits, movie.com and then my TV show is Zero Limits Living tv.com.

oh, that's amazing. So is there an application there that they can. Could.

Yes.

Okay.

Movie. Yes.

Okay. And then I saw on your website, if people want to work with you, they can even go and get, like, a consultation yes, because you offer all kinds of programs besides your books, your, you know, all the free content that you give away out there. So tell them the best place to go. Is that Mr. Fire.com or is that Joe?

They can go there. That's the main portal side. But for the coaching, go to miracles. Coaching.com miraclescoaching.com I started my own coaching program almost 20 years ago. It's been trademarked. It's. It works. It's a system that's been tested. And if people want to just check it out, go to miraclescoaching.com and they can get a free consultation just to feel it out and see if it's right for them.

Well, I mean, you guys heard on the show. I feel like I got a great coaching session just through this, this, this interview. I, like, got coached. I've got new ideas. I'm gonna get out my Think and Grow Rich book again and Outwitting the Devil book again, too. And y', all, I cannot tell you how many times unexpected kindness. What an incredible book that this is. You will not be able to put it down. It's so good. It. It's entertaining, it's insightful, it's inspiring, and I love. One of the things I love about it is all the quotes. I love this one from Abraham Lincoln. Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out. It will wear well and will be remembered long after the prism of politeness or the complexion of courtesy has faded away. Abraham Lincoln, I love that you have so many quotes in this book, too.

Like, like, I enjoyed looking for them because I knew that there were a lot of great people who had said lots of great things about kindness. And kindness goes all the way back centuries. Marcus Aurelius, the poster boy for stoicism, had said, kindness is invincible. Pretty powerful stuff.

It. It is. This book is powerful stuff. I can't tell you how many, like, underlined pages, any little I've bent pages that I love that are my favorites. So I just really enjoyed it. And I always enjoy when I get to talk with you. Y' all go check him out and follow him on Instagram. Take a screenshot of this and tag me at Amberly Lago motivation. And tag Dr. Joe Vitali and go share with him on Instagram, send him a DM and tell him how much you loved him on this show. I just appreciate you so much. It was just such an honor to have you here and get to share your wisdom. And I can't wait for your movie. I'm definitely going to go check out more about your movie as well.

Oh, good. Well, you would be great in it. And thank you. I've really enjoyed this. I've loved being with you, talking to you, interviewing you for my show, being interviewed here. You're doing some great stuff. You're inspiring a lot of people, and you've pulled out some great stuff from me, me. So thank you for the honor of being here.

Thank you, thank you. And thank you all for tuning in. I'll see you next week.