Last week I finally heard from my "star" Internet student, Gregg.  (He kind of disappeared for awhile.)

He sent me an email and was kind of frantic.  Apparently there has been quite a few changes in eBay and Amazon (which I've been aware of) that have drastically affected his income.  He went from making an average of $85,000 a month from both eBay and Amazon to...fluctuating between $15,000 and $18,000 a month.  While that's not bad, here's the ALARMING part:  It's DROPPING like a lead balloon with each passing month.  Pretty soon (and I'm guessing around late spring), he'll be hitting the big fat $0 mark.

So, what happened?  What's going on with eBay and Amazon?

With eBay, it's been difficult to make money on that site for awhile now without selling things for dirt cheap.  Which is what Gregg has been doing.  But competition became too fierce (probably since I introduced too many students to the same money-making strategies in the past couple of years).  In the herbal supplement space, there is just too many sellers selling the same types of products.

With Amazon, things have changed a lot just in the past 6 months.  Certain sellers have taken the reigns as the "big boys" while smothering everyone in the "little guy" category completely out.  Gregg got lazy in his business and decided to "coast" on his success.  Yes, he was a "big boy" on eBay but never really took Amazon on as a big seller.  (Huge mistake!)  When Amazon quickly became about 50% of his business, this is when the economic shift took place at the exact same time.  And it happened pretty quickly, too quick for Gregg to be able to ramp up to get into that top 3% category.  He missed the boat. Probably by a mere weeks at that.

Now that eBay is the "MySpace" of the online selling universe and Amazon is the "Facebook," if you're not on Amazon as an Internet seller and didn't stake your claim as a "big boy" then...you're screwed.  Start packing your bags now because it's only a matter of time before your income becomes $0 too if you are selling on Amazon.

Back to Gregg, his email was two-fold:  (1) Blaming me for being the one to take away his most awesome opportunity by sharing it with everyone and, (2) what can he do now?  And fast?!

In my defense, remember that I was the one who got Gregg on track to his $85,000 monthly income from nothing.  How soon he forgets that he learned everything he implemented from one of my 2 very rare New Wealth Ninja trainings I had done in the summer of 2012.  So, why he blames me for teaching MORE people past him is just a stupid excuse for him to be able to live with the fact that he got lazy.  At least he bought a few properties with the money he made but certainly not enough in property to give him a retirement cash flow.  (That's probably my fault, too.  Somehow.)

But...to what he can do now.  He needs to CHANGE HIS STRATEGY.  Quickly.  With focus.  And speed.  Like RIGHT NOW!!

I told him about my upcoming trainings.  I have an in-office training in January where I had a couple of students transfer to another training session so I have 2 seats for that.  He said, "I'll think about it." Hmmm...securing a new income must not be THAT important to him, I guess.  Then I told him about Beverly Hills.  He said he'd probably come to that.  Fine.  At least we're getting somewhere.  But still.  That seminar is in MARCH.  Gregg claims he wants to do something NOW.

And I can't realistically explain how all my Money Funnels work in an email exchange back and forth with this guy.  I can't explain how it all works that way.

There is only ONE reason you'd ever use Amazon as a money-making device and it's NOT by selling things ON Amazon.  (I recommend you watch my video by CLICKING HERE.)  And I'll be covering this method in Beverly Hills (and at my January in-office training which, I just found out, I have 1 seat left in because a student moved to another training session later in the year; call if you're interested).  Again, this has nothing to do with actually selling on Amazon.  Those days are OVER!

(As a side note, I'll be doing a major course upgrade/update for my Internet Cash Flow System.  I'll be combining New Wealth Ninja and ICF together with a brand new course that will show you exactly what to do in TODAY'S Internet market.  Kiss eBay and Amazon selling good-bye.  This new course will be available sometime around Valentine's Day.)

Back to Gregg again...I was getting a little irritated with his lack of interest in wanting to be trained in doing something new online while wanting all of the answers instantly injected into his brain, possibly while he slept or watched television.  And I simply have NO patience for that.  I think everyone knows that about me by now.  (Seems to be a reality that Gregg got a little lazy!)

Most of you know about the Money Funnel.  If you haven't considered it for an amazing Aggressive Income Business, you still can since there's nothing better out there right now.  But you only have a few hours left before the general admission deal ends.  It ends at NOON Pacific Time today.  Here's the link:  http://www.monicamain.com/money_funnel_event_in_beverly_hills

Again, the deal ends in a couple of hours.  DO NOT MISS OUT!

So, what did I tell Gregg to do?  Either show up to Beverly Hills or pound sand.  I don't have time to specially lay things out for him or anyone else by doing back-and-forth emails that cannot possibly get close to illustrating everything that needs to happen to set up a highly lucrative Money Funnel.

Oh, and one more thing...I'm not sure how long I'll be showing my students about this Money Funnel opportunity.  I committed to doing trainings and events through the middle of May on this subject.  And that's it.  That's where the road will end on these specialized trainings.  Don't be kicking yourself in the ass for being left out.

And Happy New Year!!  (See you on the other side of 2015...in 2016!)  Trust me when I say that this New Year will be MUCH BETTER than the one we're now leaving behind!

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

YYEEEEESSSSSSS!!!

Time-wasting, soul-sucking Christmas is OVER!!  Yeah!

Sorry if I seem crass.  This hasn't been a good holiday for me so far.

But hopefully you got everything you wanted for Christmas.  And more.  If not, you can buy it yourself in a few months when you start balling with your new business endeavors in 2016.

I got coal this year again.  I know, I know.  Last year I told everyone to stop (metaphorically) stuffing coal into their own stockings.  But this year I didn't have the energy or interest in buying myself a gift, wrapping it, putting a "From Santa" tag on it, and opening it for the benefit of my daughter.  Too much work.  So instead I told her that I talked to Santa on the phone and he asked me if I'd take coal so that he can give toys and food to unfortunate kids instead of using the resources on me, someone who can have whatever I want.  I said I'd make the coal sacrifice so less fortunate kids could have the things they needed.  My daughter thought that was sweet.  And I made a donation to Feed the Children as well as donating to Toys for Tots in lieu of me receiving a gift.  Somehow that all seemed much better than me getting something.

I just don't understand something.  This Christmas seemed...different.  And not in a good way either.  Something weird seems to be brewing in the universe and I haven't been able to put my finger on it yet.  I think it may be connected with all of the violence going on these days or maybe a lack of feeling secure in our own country where, suddenly, it seems that there could be a terrorist on every street corner.  It's definitely sending a wave of fear through everyone and, even worse, we're starting to build up a tolerance and almost an "immunity" toward reacting to some of the violent things that are happening in our world.  Pretty sad if you think about it.  The innocence of what we once used to be and how we felt...all gone now.

Maybe you've been feeling "off" this Christmas, too.  Like something's not right or it's not the same.  I have a theory as to why there suddenly is so much violence and weird sh** happening all of a sudden.  I think people are angry and frustrated.  Maybe it's because of being mistreated or feeling like they can't get out of the hole they are in.  Information bombards us 24/7 now and it's hard to shut it off.  It's hard to decipher what's real and what's not. And most of our brains have not been created to handle so much "stuff" going on all at once.  I think people are starting to short out.  Add pollution, problems with the environment, bad food with GMOs and other crap in it, not enough nutrients, not enough quiet time, too many distractions, no focus, broken dreams, political strife, sucky government, all these "rays" from our gadgets interfering with the cells in our body, and on and on...and there you have a recipe for disaster, especially with anyone who may be a tiny bit off kilter.

There's good news and bad news in all this.

Bad news:  More troubled people to watch out for.  They may even be living next door to you.  Or down the street.  Or everywhere in your neighborhood let alone your city or county.  They're just everywhere now like ticking time bombs waiting to explode over anything or everything.  Your job will to remain balanced for BOTH yourself and everyone else you cross paths with.  And this takes a lot of energy, focus, and work.

Good news:  Since everyone is so distracted, pissed off, unfocused, insecure, depressed, and unhappy...this makes the "warriors" of the world have to work much less to get what they want.  You only have to work a smidgen harder to do exceptionally well in our current social and economic conditions.  All YOU have to do is focus, stay your course, and don't let people or things waver you away from keeping your eye on the ball and you'll be massively successful in a relatively short period of time.  This means actually having an attention span larger than that of a goldfish which sometimes isn't as easy as it may seem.

Even better news...

For the first time ever, I'm doing a very special, incredibly unique, and extremely rare seminar event coming up before you know it because it's a two-fold event:

The first day is all about becoming that success warrior that you've always wanted to be by stripping away everything that's holding you back and installing the things you need to rapidly propel yourself forward.  This is VERY important, more so than you think.  I've been working with some of my students who know every course I have like the back of their hand, have attended numerous events, can probably teach many of my workshops FOR me because they know the material so well yet DO NOTHING with the knowledge they have.  This is because they have obstacles and barriers to their success that they MUST remove before they'll ever be successful in this lifetime. If these aren't removed, success can never be possible.

For the first time, I'll be sharing IN-DEPTH strategies that you'll be doing right in the event to zap those obstacles.  All of your obstacles and barriers to success WILL be completely gone by the time you leave the event. Guaranteed.  You'll be given a simple exercise to do at least 3 times a week that takes about 10 minutes or less per session to keep up on the brain re-wiring that you've done during the first day of the event.  As long as you keep up on the this success maintenance, you'll find yourself automatically catapulting forward into success without any resistance at all.  And this is what you've been needing all this time if you haven't been successful as an investor or in business so far.

The second day is all about The Money Funnel and how you can use it to make $20,000 a month with a simple-to-do online business.  You'll be shown some of the top products to sell and EXACTLY how to set up your funnel. Most importantly, though, will be getting leads into the funnel and this is what we'll be spending A LOT of time on.  There's nothing worse than having a funnel set up yet no traffic coming in.  I'll go into great detail about how to get as much affordable cost-effective traffic as possible.

I think the most important part of this event will be the funnels that are already pre-set-up for you that you can "bum" off of me.  These will be available to those of you who would prefer the "easy" way to set up funnels rather than the long, drawn-out, "hard" way of setting up funnels.  Everyone coming to this event will get access to these funnels IF they want them.  PLUS you'll be able to tap into an opportunity where you can choose from a handful of the most profitable products that we already have funnels for and you can do a complete "hands-off" campaign where we can drop-ship products for you!  (I've NEVER offered this opportunity before.)  Imagine getting extremely wealthy just by working your funnel and having us do all the inventory and shipping work FOR you!  This option will ONLY be offered to those who show up at the event and will only be offered on a handful of highly profitable products that we handle.  This way you won't have to pay for a minimum order by getting the stock yourself.  (Many minimum orders are 500 or more these days, requiring a lot of out-of-pocket to get your initial inventory.  And that sucks!)

And for those of you coming as a Platinum VIP, you'll get the 3rd day as a training workshop bonus day.  It's from 9am to 1pm (only a half day) but it's set up as a workshop to where we'll be setting up your funnel hands on. You MUST have your laptop if coming to the bonus day.  This will allow you to have your funnels COMPLETELY SET UP by the time you leave the event, ready for you to start sending traffic in the second you get home. You'll also have your entire step-by-step funnel traffic plan (from the second day of the event) so you'll already know everything required to hit the ground running on Monday morning.

For my Holiday Blitz II deal (which is ending this week), I'm opening up an amazing pricing deal for those who want to attend as general admission.  This will include Day 1 and Day 2 of the event for a SPECIAL SUPER LOW PRICE.  CLICK HERE for the deal!  I also offer some incredible payment plans too.  I'm trying to make this as affordable as possible for those of you who REALLY want to do this.

Of course, if you want the bonus day, you have to be a Platinum Viper Wealth member which you can register for by CLICKING HERE.  Otherwise, signing up for general admission is still a powerful way to learn everything and gain access to everything.  The only thing you'll have to do is set up your funnel yourself when you get home OR choose to "borrow" one of my pre-set-up funnels which will be given to you on the second day of the event.

If you have any questions, call my office at (661) 295-5050.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

Merry Christmas!

Sorry if I'm not being "politically correct."  (Am I ever?)  Today is a federally recognized holiday called Christmas and I'm hoping that it's "happy" or "merry" for you so...Merry Christmas!  I get so tired of people saying that you can't say "Merry Christmas" anymore because...not everyone celebrates Christmas.  Who cares?  Not everyone celebrates Easter either yet, again, it's a nationally recognized holiday and I tell people "Happy Easter" too.  So, I'm not replacing the word "Christmas" with "holiday" and I'm not calling my freaking Christmas tree a "holiday" tree.  And I'm not calling my daughter's Christmas break a "winter" break.  It's a freaking Christmas break where we celebrate Christmas with a Christmas tree and Christmas gifts.  Christmas, Christmas, CHRISTMAS!

There!  I said it.  Be offended, or not.  

Many of you know that I'm not particularly religious but Christmas really isn't about "religion" but rather it's more about our American culture.  Since when did a national "culture" become offensive?  I get so tired of thinking I'm saying the wrong things or thinking I'll piss somebody off.  It gets old.  Fast!  And if someone is "offended" because I use the word "Christmas," maybe they need to toughen up a bit, grow some balls, and find something to REALLY be offended about.

Bah!

I think everybody knows by now that I'm not a fan of Christmas.  At all.  I'm not sure there's a holiday I hate more than Christmas.  And it seems to be getting worse for me each year.

I had to think about it yesterday.  Just what IS the problem with Christmas for me?  Why exactly DO I feel this way?

Assessed answer:  I think it's because the holiday has become so highly commercialized, actually starting sometime in the arena of Halloween now (and seems to be "backing up" further and further into the year) that I feel like throwing up at the sight of another ornament, candy cane, or a moving/singing Santa Claus doll by the time Christmas actually happens.  Pretty soon stores will start selling Christmas cards and holiday wares around the 4th of July, really screwing up the holiday for everybody by that point.

And no matter how hard I try to get into the spirit...I fail.  Miserably.  Because I don't get into the spirit.  I just wait it out...waiting for it to end like some awkward doctor's visit for an annual exam.  Just throw on the rubber glove while I bend over and look at the wall, trying to think about something else until it's over.  Which is what I'm doing right now.  Hopefully you're having a better day or season than I am.

I have huge plans this weekend.  You see, tomorrow morning I'll be ripping down every Christmas "thing" that's inside and outside my house.  Yep, it's all coming down.  Nope, I'm not waiting for the New Year.  Screw it.  I've had enough of all this Christmas crap already.  Bah-humbug.

What's weird about this season in particular is that I'm not taking any time off.  I've been doing a lot of writing, mostly for Viper Wealth.  I've also been setting up more money funnels so that I can really offer my students the most kick-ass killer money-making funnels in Beverly Hills.  Yes, attendees are getting my exact funnels to use for their own businesses.  So, I've barely noticed this "inconvenience" we call "the holidays" that seems to get longer and longer each year, starting a solid week BEFORE Thanksgiving and lasting clear through the first solid week of the year.  Because I'm BUSY.  Pretty soon you will be too and if you're been wasting nearly 2 months pissing it away on eating pie and wrapping gifts and nearly committing homicide in the mall parking lot over a parking space then...you're going to be screwed in the next couple of weeks.  Especially when the rest of us will be hitting the ground running on VIPER SPEED!  You'll barely be aroused out of your turkey-induced coma to even know what the date is, let alone making money.

I'm not sure if you've noticed yet (and if you haven't, there's definitely something wrong) but we're out of the recession now.  So, if you're not seeing it, get out more.  Wealth is out there.  It's more abundant than it's been in many, many years.  But you have to get out there and get it by offering some type of product or service to people that they'll want to buy.  Otherwise the alternatives are (a) staying broke or (b) robbing a bank for the cash. Neither is that palatable as far as I'm concerned.  Or recommended.  Because it's simply NOT necessary to be broke or steal when getting money with a simple business is easy to pull off.

But you already know all this.  At least you should.  So...I'll let you get back to this pesky holiday.  I'll let you keep plugging on that stuffing and pie.  But hopefully in the back of your mind, while you're doing all that, you listen to that Monica Main little birdie yapping in the back of your head about how you're wasting valuable time.  And you'll see EXACTLY what I'm talking about in the weeks to come.

Merry Christmas!

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

It's come to my attention that I've been under a lot of unnecessary stress lately.  I think it may be the holidays or having another kid in my household.  (My teenage step-son just moved in.)  But I seriously feel like I need a massage...for about 6 solid hours straight!  Maybe for 2 or 3 days in a row at that!

I'm sure you're feeling the same way too.

But recently I've been pondering on a lot of things including why I'm the "scary" person people make me out to be.  My friend Aran once described me as being "terrifying."  Truth be told, sometimes I actually scare myself.  When I get over-stressed and overwhelmed, I find myself lashing out a lot, getting way too angry for it to be safe for other people, and finding myself in a semi-permanent state of being cynical, jaded, and generally miserable.

Many of you know that I recently adopted a 4-month-old puppy from a rescue organization.  Her name is Sally and I've had her for a month now. I've learned a couple things from Sally.  She had been abused.  Probably by a man or several men.  She will allow girls and women to pet her but it takes her awhile to get used to men.  She barks and growls a lot around them. Sometimes viciously.  And it can be quite scary at times.

When people are hurt, they lash out.  Same with animals.  The more pain there is buried deep, the more resentment, hatred, anger, and distrust will bubble to the surface.  This is a means of protection.  A method to create a layer of protection around us so that nobody else can hurt us, either physically or emotionally.

And this is applicable to me.  It may describe you as well.  There are only so many times an animal or human being can be kicked, mistreated, taken advantage of or abused before a permanent scowl and sense of distrust takes a predominant role front row and center.  All the time.

This is dangerous.  Very dangerous.  Because we begin to see the world differently.  We focus on the things that support our "truth" of everyone being a jerk-off while ignoring other "truths" such as people being nice, kind, and generous.  I've chosen to ignore the latter, probably for a bit too long.  Maybe you have, too.

So, what do you do about it?  After all, it isn't really good for your health to stay in a perpetual state of anger while spewing piss and vinegar all the time, right?  (This is when "stress" can kill you; medical studies have shown that our body creates a "poison substance" when we are angry, stressed, or upset.  Therefore, by being in this state of mind, we literally begin poisoning ourselves.)

But "changing your mind" from sad to happy or angry to peaceful takes a lot more than reciting positive self-help affirmations, meditating, or chanting.  Yes, some of this helps.  No, it's not all it takes.  Not by a long shot!

I've discovered a couple of tools required to make these mental "shifts" from being unhappy to happy.  Yes, it takes work.  All the time.  And you can't stop doing it.  When I stop, even for a couple of days, my mind and body shifts back to the spit-and-vinegar version of Monica which is the version of myself that I hate.

So, what are these "secrets"?

First of all, I need to mention one thing in why I believe that almost 100% of the self-help books out there -- especially those on the topic of healing -- are completely WRONG!  (This part is important.)  You see, I've been reading books on healing, particularly books on grieving and healing the heart.  Many don't really adequately address the stages of grieving and why each one is so important to thoroughly get through.  They tell you to open your heart and everything will work out.

Please.  Pretty lame if you actually analyze what they're telling you to do.

Let's take a PHYSICAL injury, for instance.  If you break your leg, you go to the hospital where they place a cast on it and tell you that your ability to walk on it will be relatively non-existent for the next several weeks.

Let's break this down: Injury = the encapsulation of the wound...UNTIL IT HEALS!  This means building a hard apparatus around it as a form of protection to ensure no additional damage can be done while it "sets" into place for quicker healing.

This goes for any type of physical injury.

Let's take a psychological/mental injury such as an event that creates PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).  If you're in the midst of a war with bombs going off everywhere, there's no way any healing can even begin to occur until you're completely removed from the environment.  The trauma must stop FIRST.  You must then be removed from the environment and placed in a calm, protective, healing place.  THEN healing can begin sometime thereafter.  Sometimes it can take minutes (unlikely) but in many cases it will take years, decades, or the rest of your life.

But...in all these ridiculous books out there on matters of healing the heart, none of them (that I've read) tell the reader that it's OKAY to encapsulate the heart (metaphorically) for healing to take place.  In fact, it's quite the opposite.  They irresponsibly tell their readers to "get over the pain" and "open your heart" right away!

Open your heart?  Just like you'd open your cast on your broken leg 10 seconds after the doctor sets it?  Or run back out onto the battlefield 60 seconds after taking a "water break" after you just saw your best friend get blown to bits by an exploding bomb?  You mean...NO TIME TO HEAL AT ALL??

And THIS is the problem that I have with New Age "healing" books.  There is no respect for the pain, damage, or injury and it's almost treated as being insignificant.  "Suck it up and open your heart to love."  Love?  From who?  From where?

This is when I discovered something CRITICAL when it comes from healing your heart from any heart break or grief you might be dealing with right now.  First, don't let anyone tell you that it's not okay for you to shut down.  Close your heart.  Take a step back.  Become numb if you have to.  Stop "thinking" about how it is probably "wrong" or not the correct response to numb-out, close up, and assess the situation.  Or take a break.  Hit the pause button.  Stop feeling.  Yes, this part is OKAY.  And no, nobody will ever tell you (in those books) that it is okay (for some reason).

Think about it: why is healing heart-break different than healing a broken leg?  If a broken leg has to be encapulated and taken out of service to heal, why can't your heart be treated the same way?  Oh, because it's a singular simple external body part instead of an entire complex internal emotional system?  Okay, fine.  

So, what about healing PTSD then?  That's emotional.  And people experiencing that MUST be removed from the situation, encapulated from further damaging experiences, closed away in a peaceful environment, and are basically "pausing" everything until the situation can be assessed then healed.

I felt pretty balanced all up until about mid-November when I lost a friend of mine to cancer.  Then I got all screwy and out of whack, realizing that (like most people) I have almost no internal capacity in dealing with loss.  It brought up the loss of my mom 10 years ago and the empty space in dealing with my estranged dad and brother who I never see anymore.

Pain and hurt is always the core to anger and hatred.

You know as well as I do that 90% of the battle in anything is becoming AWARE that something is wrong and needs to be adjusted in some way, as I just discovered this past weekend.  I was getting severely off-balance and it was time to start reeling my emotions back in.  And yes, that means closing down for a time to being the healing process.

Remember, when you're "open" you're exuding energy to others.  To heal, you need your energy and strength.  You can't be giving it away like that otherwise healing will be very difficult if not impossible to do.  To heal, you have to encapsulate, pull back, close down, and press pause.  And that's okay!

So, once you do all that, how do you begin to heal?

Here are some tried-and-true suggestions on what to do:

1) Remove yourself from the situation/environment your in and visit nature, even for a few hours.  Going to the beach or a forest by yourself will help you start to rebalance again.

2) Do some yoga or other peaceful meditative exercise.  When using your body while doing slow and methodical movements, this will help you push out any stress in your life to start to heal.

3) Meditate.  Find a quiet corner, sit by yourself, and meditate while doing deep breathing exercises.  This works wonders with helping to rebalance while beginning the healing process within.

4) Do tapping exercises.  This, my friend, has been the critical element between feeling great and feeling crappy...when I don't do the tapping, I feel like sh**.  When I do the tapping, I'm essentially "re-wiring my brain" and this alone allows for some relatively fast and phenomenal changes in every area of your life from healing to wealth attraction to...anything positive you want for yourself.  CLICK HERE for an amazing tapping video.

5) Supplement your diet.  I've been taking a myriad of different dietary supplements to balance the brain chemistry for the different mood disorders I've experienced over the years.  I've had a lot of luck with St. John's Wort, Omega-3, SAMe, B-12, liquid Vitamin D, proteins, and amino acids.  Severe cases of screwed up brain chemistry may require hormonal rebalancing.

6) Sunshine for 30 minutes a day.  This is another blessing.  Sunshine, liquid happiness.  I've noticed a huge difference in my moods by sitting in the sun for 20 to 30 minutes per day.  This is why we get the winter blues, because we're not getting enough sun.  This is called SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and it causes real depression in millions of people each year.  There are different energy lights that can help in the winter when you can't get enough sun.  Amazon has some.  I got the Lightphoria (Sphere Gadget Technologies) which helps right away.  I use it at my desk in the morning to get my fake sun rays.

Doing all of the above things is certainly not an instant healing miracle but doing all of them consistently will make a huge difference in the next couple of weeks to come.  After all, nothing matters more than your emotional and mental health because it keeps you balanced and reality in perspective.​In the meantime, don't be afraid to disconnect from people, especially those who are hurting you or who are part of the source of your pain and stress.  Don't be afraid to close down and pull away to heal.  Staying open and giving all of your energy away all the time will definitely become your downfall over time which makes this "healing model" unsustainable, unsuccessful, and nothing short of ridiculous.

And the good news...the holidays are almost over.  (Yaahhhh!!)  So, just hang in there.  It's not just depressing for you.  It's depressing for me as well.  Just know that there's a positive and prosperous New Year right around the corner!  It's just DAYS away!!

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

My investor partner told me to wait until after Christmas to give an answer about whether I want to do the infomercial project. But I just sent him an email a few minutes ago which basically said this:

"While I really am appreciative and honored that you would have thought of me to do this infomercial project with, I regretfully have to turn it down for the following reasons:

1) I love the idea of being able to help people on a larger scale.  However, when getting "larger" by name and brand -- until they have a cloning machine that can duplicate me -- I won't realistically be able to stay in touch with my students on the level that I am now by becoming that visible to many more people.  Becoming "bigger" as in a household name means shrinking in my capability in offering one-on-one consulting while spreading myself too thin. And I simply don't like the idea of having to be disconnected which is the single reason I stay in the business of training and teaching: to be connected and to help people directly and personally; as you know, this is simply impossible to do when scaling one individual among hundreds of thousands if not millions of people.

2) The possible legal implications of doing any type of long-form (28.5 minute) medium in the financial/investing world may weigh heavily on the possible (profit) upside and I don't think either one of us has properly thought all of this out.  While my view would be doing it the "legally responsible" way by showing real testimonials from real students who have bought properties, somehow when dealing with "bigger money people" I've found in my long-term experience that some of these black/white lines tend to get blurred into the legal gray areas for the benefit of profits.  Sometimes this means making outrageous promises and guarantees that are not sustainable or realistic for the purposes of ensuring that the project is profitable (instead of a dismal failure).  And I'm not saying that you'd be the type to do this but I've never worked on any other project other than real estate with you so I don't know how this would go.  You suggested having an infomercial consultant come in and by the listing of projects you stated he's done in the financial world, having seen these infomercial myself, I find myself less than impressed with his abilities to keep things legally above board.

3) The image of some of these infomercial "gurus" has never been appealing to me.  The last thing I want to become is someone viewed as a "snake oil salesman" selling a product that so few (in any) succeed in doing because you suggested selling a "stripped down" version of the Apartment Building Cash Flow System and this CANNOT be "stripped down" without losing it's effectiveness.  So, essentially, I visualized that we'd be selling a series of thin stapled "books" with a couple of audios and a video, much like what Don Lapre offered many years ago (as you described).  And if you know anything about Don Lapre, he ended up killing himself over some legal disputes/problems he was having over INFOMERCIALS.  So...maybe that was a red flag (for me) by your bringing up the course looking like something he offered in the 1990s but...I could only think of the guy killing himself.  Not over the guy making millions selling some "stripped down" scam-like "course" that really didn't do anything for anybody.

4) The "forced continuity" sales model you suggested has too many holes in it.  We're supposed to auto-bill people $29.95 per month for...what exactly?  I don't like "forced continuity" where people can't buy the product without becoming automatically part of some deal where their credit card is billed monthly.  You weren't really clear on exactly WHAT they would be getting for $29.95 per month.  I know you suggested some type of wholesale list but that just doesn't seem sustainable or worth $29.95 per month to me.  I'm not in the business of offering people things that don't have a huge upside value to them so whatever I do offer for $29.95 would, in my mind, have to be worth over $100 a month in reality for ME to be happy with the continuity product.  Further, I wouldn't want to force the continuity on them but rather it would be something they could ELECT to get/have based on whether they see the same type of value in it (for a discount, of course) that I do which...we're just talking loose semantics because we really don't have a clue at the moment as to EXACTLY what that continuity would be.

5)  You indicated to me that you just wanted to inject the money into the project and let me "run with it."  However, I have no interest in product fulfillment, monitoring the call center, processing credit cards and refunds, and doing all the "admin" for the business, as I was hoping this is something you would have set up.  I offered you nearly ALL of the profits from this project with only one requirement: I get all the back-end leads and sales to keep without sharing or giving them up.  You would get the proceeds/profits on the front.  I get all the leads/customers/sales on the back.  Very simple.  Then...I started to think about it.  This would lead into too many possible malfunctions of the business model by essentially "lending" you my name and therefore (and not to your intention) possibly destroying it in the interim because of the many product fulfillment and refund "issues" that many infomercial companies have faced and gotten in trouble for.  Of course, this all falls back on my shoulders being the face/name on the product where customers wouldn't understand that it's "another company" selling THIS product and "Monica Main's company" selling THAT product, as it all becomes one and the same in the eyes of the customer.  And this scares me.  A lot.  As you know, reputation means a lot to me having been in the position of taking "reputation hits" online in years past so I do what I can to avoid those tragedies as much as I can.  I know you can't have complete reputation-damage avoidance, as there is always someone malicious who wants to spread rumors, hate, and misinformation but I do believe I can control it as much as possible.  When you muddy the waters in the way I described above, it's impossible to control this element of the equation.

While I see the value in doing short-form (1-minute) commercials/infomercials on financial networks for the purposes of lead-generation, I don't feel the need of having an investor partner for this simple easy-to-implement expansion to my current marketing strategies.

Again, I do appreciate this amazing and incredible opportunity that you've offered but, at this time, I have to decline based on the comprehensive listing of reasons as stated above.  But, as always, I'm always open and willing to do new projects as they relate to real estate including acquisitions, rehabbing, and new construction as we've been doing for too many years to count.

Yours truly, Monica Main."

This is probably one of the only times you'll ever get to see an "inside memo" that I've written to my investor partner on any project or opportunity.  I hate telling an investor partner no but sometimes it's necessary, as clearly in this case.

I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions about whether I should do the infomercial or not.  I don't think ONE of you sent me an email saying, "Yeah, do it!  Great idea!"  Instead I was barraged with hundreds of "DON'T DO IT" emails so...I'm not doing it.  Again, thank you SOOOOO MUCH for all of your input because I could have very easily fell into...THE DARK SIDE.  [Insert evil laugh here.]  ;-)

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

P.S.  The Holiday Blitz Deal is about to end.  VERY SOON.  If you haven't checked it out yet, CLICK HERE RIGHT NOW!

Many of you know that I'm in a creative writing (screenwriting) MFA program which -- truth be told -- I've been quite miserable doing since I started in the fall 2014.  I've always felt that I should be in something more "business-ey" like an MBA program but, for some odd reason, I signed up for this instead.  However, since I'm in the last turn on the racetrack, it's too late to give up now.  I have to finish what I started, even though it is robbing me of every thought of possibility that I had that I could actually do well in this business of screenwriting.  However, all it's been doing is dream-stealing every moment I've been in this program.

I remember last year around this time having a "discussion" with a professor about outlining a script and asking about structure -- THEN bringing in my thoughts on Joe Eszterhas who wrote Basic Instinct in 13 days among several other kick-ass blockbuster hits and how he just...writes (without a strict outline) -- my professor stated: "Joe Eszterhas wouldn't be in a creative writing master's degree program."  In which I thought (but didn't verbally express): Yes, because he's too f****** talented to be in one and if he WAS in one, he wouldn't have written so many hits.  Instead his dreams would have been squashed like a water balloon before he got started.

Then yesterday I had a meeting with my professor (different than the one above).  It's basically just a loose topic-free "sit down" where you can talk about anything you want.  Or nothing at all.  Completely up to you...or me in this case.  I didn't even talk about myself through most of it.  I have a young lady who is from the Midwest and she wants to try tackling the big bad world of Hollywood as -- strangely enough as the twist of fate goes -- a screenwriter.  I asked how I can best support her dreams (since I'm quite jaded and cynical about the movie biz) while keeping her grounded in the "reality" of the business.  All while, ideally, detouring her from ending up on a casting couch in the office of the latest Hollywood "producer."  Yes, that stuff still happens!!

He gave me some decent advice.  Nothing I couldn't have figured out on my own.  Nothing I haven't told her already.  All adult "logic" if you're over 40 and have been functioning on this planet without being holed up in a basement for long.

But this part is the kicker.

I asked him to write me a letter of recommendation.

"For what?"  And before I answered...he went on to say..."Because your writing isn't --"

I cut him off there.  I don't want to know how the (my) writing IS or ISN'T because another thing being over 40 has talk me is that when somebody starts a sentence with "because" it means they are trying to defend a polar OPPOSITE position than what you're asking about.  And the sentence didn't sound like it was going down a path I wanted to venture down.

"A writing contest...or maybe for the Warner Brothers writing workshop.  Forget about the writing then.  Write the letter on my personality," I said.

"In that case, I can say that you're fierce, strong..." and on and on he went.  All the while I'm thinking...what ISN'T right with "the writing" or, rather, MY writing?  But I didn't want to know.  I really didn't.  This is where DREAM STEALING comes in.  And it happens at every corner and juncture of the road.  You must ALWAYS be on the lookout because it happens everywhere.  Dream stealers are huddling in every crevice of your life.  They exist at every turn.  By people you know, people you look up to, family and friends...and, perhaps the worst kind, even yourself!

So, this is the time when a little adult perspective has to come into play.  You see, before I asked him for the letter of recommendation, I asked him about why he's not a show-runner for a television show anymore.  As far as I know, he used to be.  But he's not anymore...and hasn't been for (gulp) decades?  He's a teacher at 2 universities.  And that's about it.  As far as I can tell, a lot has changed in television writing since Love Boat or Gilligan's Island or whatever old-ass irrelevant show he used to write for.  (I could easily check out his lengthy list of credits on IMDB.com but don't really have the interest in doing so.)  When asking why he didn't climb back up the TV ladder to do it again he basically said that he was too tired, it was too much work, and it wasn't really worth it at this stage in his life at his age.

Hence, he created his own roadblock because he could easily run a show, making millions a year.  Instead, he's resigned to "I'm too old" and "it's just too hard."  Thus, he toggles between 2 jobs at 2 universities to scrape together his rent in his new New York apartment.  Pittance because he has every credential and bit of experience to be a shoo-in for that type of job even though he's resigned to believing that he's simply "too old."  So, why try?  He basically admitted that he just gave up.

At what "age" are we supposed to just give up?  And is this the age where we start holding people down to our level because we consciously decided that our dreams are over?  And why isn't that considered criminal behavior when we tear apart the fragile and hopeful dreams of another because we've simply given up on ourselves?

And here's another thought for you?  Define "talent" and good writing.  You don't have to be an Eminem fan here but go with me on this one.  If you ever sat and listened to one of his rap songs -- even going so far as to write down the lyrics -- they're pretty lame but they're heavily personal which make them work.  They also work with the beat, the music, the delivery, and the whole package.  But what's most notable about Eminem is that he fought his way to the top and fought his way to stay there.  It's all about the fight.  Fighting for what you want with intense burning desire.  And never giving up when some schlep-rock tells you that you have no talent.  Or that you can't do it.  Or that you're no good.  And you keep going with confidence, knowing that you ARE good.  That you ARE great.  And that makes all the difference!

And as they ALWAYS say...CONSIDER THE SOURCE.

I remember reading something years ago about how this young talented ballerina had met with a well-respected, well-known ballet choreographer in a hallway.  She asked him if she had talent and began to dance.  He basically told her to not bother because she had no talent.  So she quit!  Two decades later she ran into the same guy with spit and venom, asking if he remembered her (which he didn't), then blaming him for destroying her dream twenty years before.  He said something to the effect of, "If you'd let anyone tell you that you couldn't be successful and you gave up on that account then you weren't cut out to be successful in this business to begin with.  Because great artists don't give up on the count of what somebody tells them, no matter who they are, no matter what they say.  They keep going no matter what.  And that's what makes them great.  And that's what makes them successful.  They never give up!"  And he walked away, leaving her stunned, and thinking about the senseless decision she made as a very young woman so many years before.  A decision she can never take back, as it's much too late now.

Dream stealing happens in many forms, really.  It can be as obvious as "that's the stupidest business idea I've ever heard" to not as obvious like a sideways glance of slight disapproval as your spouse says, "yeah, that' sounds...great, honey..." with no emotion or enthusiasm whatsoever.

But let's be real.  You're your own biggest dream stealer.  Yes you.  YOURSELF.  Because you are the direct (and only) filter between you and the exterior dream-stealers.  You get to allow the negative comments sink in and control your destiny.  Or not.  Ideally, you'll STOP getting these people's opinions UNLESS they're much more successful than you.

Because here's a secret...

Most (and when I say "most" I mean about 99%) of successful people will offer HUGE WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT on whatever idea, plan, or dream you have...no matter the idea, plan or dream you tell them about. You could tell any of them that you want to be the "River Rafting King of the World" and they would quickly and almost instantly grin while saying, "Yeah, that sounds freaking fantastic.  You can do it.  Go out there and conquer the world!"  And that alone could push you over that "edge" you need to be pushed over to finally start taking some action to do it.  And ACTION, my friends, is the single most important recipe for success.

On the flip-side, my "minor" in my graduate program is non-fiction writing.  And it's run by a New York Times Bestselling author who stays relevant in the game of writing, constantly turning out new books.  She is one of the most positive people I've met despite some of the major trials and tribulations she's face including losing a child to a rare disease.  I could write the biggest pile of crap and turn it in and she'll give me A LOT of words of encouragement.  Anytime I leave a meeting after seeing her, I feel like I'm a WRITING GOD and that I truly CAN conquer the world of printing, press, and publishing.

She is not a dream stealer.  She is a VERY RARE dream promoter.

You need a dream promoter like that, too.  You need to feel like you're not alone, that you can do this, that you're on track, and that you're making progress.  Otherwise, you're just "out there" swimming around randomly with the "hopes" that you'll be successful one day.  All the while, fending off the daily dream-stealers with a club until (and unfortunately) one day you cave into their verbal dream bashing and say, "You're right.  I'm never going to amount to anything."

And that will be the saddest moment in your life because that will be the day you die, even if it takes many years thereafter to physically pass away.  When your dreams die, you die along with it at that very moment.  Even if you remain a walking zombie until your real funeral takes place.  What difference does it make then if you live another year or 20 years if you feel that you have nothing more to live for anymore?

I have a mastermind group where you can watch your dreams of entrepreneurship and investing massively flourish, not because you're finally getting the positive support that you've been internally craving all these years but because you'll be given actionable step-by-step blueprints of the newest and most cutting-edge strategies on both Aggressive and Passive Income Strategies.  And this will be happening EVERY MONTH to keep you committed, engaged, and accountable until you become successful and beyond.

Here's the link to check out a video I put together for you:  www.ViperWealth.com

On the second page, there's another video which outlines the program and how it works.

Why this?  Why now?

I feel that it's time to start bringing my students together once and for all and to cut the wheat from the chaff with my students.  I've had students that have been with me for...forever, some of them.  And then know everything I've taught yet then need MORE.  More as in more access, more trainings, more workshops, more partnership opportunities, more cutting-edge strategies...MORE.  And I finally have MORE for you.

And if for a second you DON'T think you need this, think about this: Are you happy with where you are now?  Has anything significant happened to you in the past year on the financial side?  If you've said NO to either question then it means that there is a DISCONNECT between you actually getting the information but not APPLYING the information.  And that needs to change.  Like NOW, today!  Right at this moment.

Check out this link now:  www.ViperWealth.com

Don't keep being your own dream-stealer.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

Yesterday was just one of those days...maybe it's the new moon.  I don't know.

I had to work through a variety of issues at the office that I wasn't particularly happy with.  Plus I'm tired as hell because of a series of business trips so I feel like I'm about to drop dead.  But that's just in the course of being an entrepreneur, I guess.

But I think what really set me off was getting home to realize that a customer (or prospect) called my home phone number and left 2 messages.  He apparently had gotten a postcard on the Apartment Building Cash Flow System and wanted to know how much the course was and how to buy it.

Hmmm...

Except that my home phone number isn't on the postcard he was calling about and I'm unlisted.  Or at least I thought it was unlisted.

All that's on the postcard is a website.  On the website is information about my office address and a phone number for my office.  Not my house.

And the website that all my prospects end up going to clearly has the price of the course and how to purchase it.  And why any moron would think it's okay to call my house...or why they think they'd get a welcoming response from me if I actually picked up the phone is beyond me!

So...here I am thinking that the stupid phone company doesn't have me as unlisted as I thought I was all this time.  As you can imagine, my blood pressure was at peak levels and I was bumbling to locate the customer service phone number for AT&T so that I could call them and start yelling at them.

After dialing the number and waiting on hold for...oh, 20+ minutes with the cheesiest music ever, making elevator music a welcome alternative, FINALLY I end up talking to someone...

In freaking India, of course.

I could barely understanding this woman.  At first, she insisted I had no account with AT&T.  So, when I told her to bust out her checkbook to pay back all the monthly bills I had been paying on for the past several years, all of a sudden she finds my account.  Then she told me that I did not have an unlisted number and that I'd have to pay $10 a month to add that to my account.

Snap, crackle and pop!!  This is when I exploded, quickly realizing that I hadn't been this freaking upset in a very long time.  I thought the massively protruding vein in my head was going to explode once and for all.

I demanded to speak with someone in the United States so she told me to call the same freaking number I had JUST called to...magically get someone in America this time?  I asked her to tell me how the hell I was supposed to get someone in the United States the second time I sat on hold for another 20 minutes when, I had a feeling, that the ONLY call center their number was pointed to was an offshore call center.

(This is when that commercial -- "This is Peggy" -- was replaying in my head over and over again.)

She had no answer.  I hung up, pissed off.  Called back, demanding to speak to the cancellation department.  (If you want to speak with an American in ANY company, just call and tell them that you want to cancel your service.)

Interesting because when I talked to an American, they not only found my account immediately but told me that I was, in fact, unlisted and had been since the beginning of my service with them.  So I asked..."How does one get someone's unlisted phone number?"

Apparently 411 is available to medical service personnel and law enforcement.

Basically, this customer (or prospect) will go through all of this work to get my home phone number, call it to leave several messages, but is too dim-witted to easily and effortlessly scroll to the bottom of the screen on the website he was sent to for my office phone number for further assistance.

Even worse, and perhaps MORE dim-witted is that he was sent to another part of the site where the cost for the course and instructions on how to get it were clearly provided.

This is, perhaps, one of the most frustrating things I have to routinely deal with.  No matter how step-by-step my strategies can be that I provide, there is always a moron who can't or won't follow the easy provided instructions.

Speaking of instructions, have you followed the 4 steps I've laid out yet?  If not, go to this link now:  www.monicamain.com/funnel

If you have any questions, call my office at 661-295-5050.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main
 

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in," Michael Corleone from the Godfather III in 1990.  (One of my favorite movie trilogies of all time.)

Okay, so I was never really "out."  Not officially, anyway.  But I was getting out.  Of the real estate training side, that is.  With the exception of a couple of hands-on workshops I'm doing for the first half of 2016, I seriously had no plans on doing any larger real estate training venues for all of next year...or even the year after that.  Or ever again, actually.  (Surprised?)

But then there's always that odd twist of fate that happens when you least expect it and, in some cases, when you don't want it at all.

You see, in the midst of going back and forth with my investor partners on these deals that came in from the last event in Detroit that are exclusively bird-dog deals (only), I got an email over this past weekend that said, in not so many words, "I can bankroll an infomercial for you.  What do you think about going nationwide with this?"

Silence.

Then, flippantly, I told him that we're talking well over a million dollars just to get it up and out on the air before we'll see a single cent and...maybe we won't see a single cent.  In fact, we probably won't make any money; we'll probably lose money, as the chances of doing well with an infomercial is...very small.  You'd have a better chance at making it in the restaurant biz with your 50/50 success/failure ratio than in the infomercial biz.  I was actually hoping that he'd tell me to forget about it then.  Except he didn't.  And that kind of sucked.  I hate not being able to predict or control what's happening based on pulling my psychological puppet strings with people.

But he said, "Fine.  How about $1.85 million?  But it's for real estate."

"I'll think about it," was my final email back to him.

Real estate?  WTF??  So...I'll be another Carleton Sheets, Ron LeGrand, Tommy Vu, Dave del Dotto...you remember all those guys, right?  Furthermore, I don't think a woman has ever ventured into the works of real estate course gurus/hucksters before.  Loral Langemeier got close but that's about it.

And I thought about it, even decidedly would take 0% of the proceeds of it if he would pay for everything, provide full order fulfillment, a telemarketing center, and deal with all the admin crap including refunds.  I'd just get 100% of all the back-end proceeds.  To me, that would be a really sweet deal.

Then I stopped myself.  Wait a minute!  Is this what I really want to do?  (Answer:  NO!)  Remember, I'm working on Aggressive Income stuff for 2016 so there's no room for tacking more "stuff" on my schedule with real estate investing.  Aggressive Income is where it's at for 2016 and the next handful of years.  Yes, you should always take your proceeds/profits from your Aggressive Income and funnel it directly into Passive Income real estate but...you already know that.  The mechanics of this ever-changing Aggressive Income Business stuff -- especially in relation online marketing -- changes drastically almost every 6 to 8 months.  So, what you thought you knew last year is already obsolete right now.

Then there's that other pesky problem: the more people I funnel into my system outside of my small inner circle that I have right now will know all my secrets.  Most of you know that I'm a real entrepreneur and not some course and seminar peddler so what I really do in business is what I teach.  And everybody knowing my exact blueprints...well, that's a problem, folks!  That creates competition for you (my loyal followers) and it creates competition for me, too!  So, other than more money for me...there's really no benefit outside of that.

But here's the real reason I'm not really interested in "all that glory" being a real estate infomercial "guru."

Many of you remember when I sent out a pic of me and Ron LeGrand taken only last month at a marketing expo in Denver.  I saw a portion of Ron's speech and realized...he's still using the same slick used car salesman pitch to sell his outdated course that you can get on eBay on CD-ROM for less than $50...and his price was far from $50, as you can imagine.  But, here I'm thinking, is that going to be me in 20 years from now?  Standing in a hotel looking old, white and pasty-looking peddling the same old products to people?  Is that where I see my future?

HELL NO!!  I don't want that for myself.

But, truth be told, I have other plans for 2016 that I only partially revealed at my last event in Detroit.  I'm working on a surf wear/beach wear company.  I plan on submitting for the highly coveted television writing workshops through Warner Bros., NBC, ABC/Disney, and CBS.  Those submissions are due in the spring of 2016.  And right now?  All I'm about is my Money Funnel stuff because it's not going to last forever.  It's best to rake in as much as possible before the online marketing environment drastically shifts again.

I like moving with the tides.  And that's the only way you'll stay a profitable and relevant entrepreneur.  Changing with the tides.  Doing new sh** all the time.  Reinventing yourself annually, sometimes more often than that!

But what do YOU think about the informercial thing?  Do you have an opinion either way?  I'd be interested to hear about what you think.  Here's my direct email:  mm@monicamain.com

Back to the changes and why I do so well in our current economic environment: I keep changing, doing new things, and I'm flexible.  That's what YOU will have to be if you plan on staying in the game now and in the future. You have to understand that entrepreneurship isn't about doing one thing or having one type of business or doing one type of investing.  In many cases, if you're smart, you'll have -- in the VERY LEAST -- something that looks like a 3-legged stool.  Each leg represents a solid stream of income.  You can't have a 2-legged or 1-legged stool.  Never works.  It's unstable and almost crashes to the ground after a relatively short period of time.

Since I'm so active in so many types of businesses and I have endless energy, excitement, and enthusiasm for what I do, I'm all about sharing this treasure-trove of information for those of you who also want to stay relevant and profitable in the game.  How powerful would it be to know exactly what I'm thinking, doing, planning, plotting, and profiting from at all times?  As it stands now, you don't know even a quarter of what I do.  Realistically I don't and can't create courses, seminars, materials, and other training tools for everything I do.  I just can't.  I have time to do the stuff.  I don't have to teach people some of this stuff.

I have something new that will keep you in the loop, if you so wish to be there.  And if you hesitate then I question whether you're truly cut out to be a profitable entrepreneur and investor to begin with.  Nobody else out there is ever going to give you every type of map, blueprint, and piece of knowledge on what they're doing in business, marketing, online opportunities, real estate investing, and other things that come up as money truckloads.  Nobody. Why?  Because the Big Boys are too busy doing it and the blow hards who claim they're doing it aren't really doing it.  And you can't learn anything usable from a hack who isn't doing what he's teaching you.

So...what am I talking about here?  What's the point?

Time for you to enter the World of Monica: CLICK HERE!

Watch the video, then click on the button under the video for another video.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

P.S.  If you still haven't followed those 4 instructions including watching The Money Funnel, you're a damn fool.  But it's not too late.  CLICK HERE, get ON your ass, watch the video.  Stop making excuses.

Yesterday I drove out to Palm Springs where, en route, I have to drive on the  I-10 freeway through the Loma Linda/Redlands area where the shooting took place only a handful of days before.  I had missed my time when I should have left the L.A. area by about 30 minutes which made a normally 2.5-hour trip into a 4.5-hour trip.  So, by the time I passed through the area, it was dark.  And I noticed a lone man waving a large American flag from an overpass that was near the shooting, standing in the cold to honor wearing a coat and gloves to honor those who had fallen to senseless violence only a short time ago.

What a sad state our nation and our entire world is going through right now.  It makes me wonder: "What the f*** is going on?  Where have we lost our innocence??"

When I listen to Trump speak about blowing people up and ending this madness, I can't help but to be on his side for a change.  Usually counteracting violence with more violence isn't part of my overall psyche but, unfortunately, with these ISIS characters we're dealing with, as my dad used to say when we were kids, "Some people need to be dealt with using the pain method."  Sometimes there's no other way.  As in this case, clearly.

I used to watch the Andy Griffith Show, believe it or not.  I was fascinated with these black and white shows including the Twilight Zone, I Love Lucy and others.  One Andy Griffith episode was about Barney Fife getting all riled up about something or another and saying, "You fight fire with fire, right Andy?"  And Andy would say, "No, you fight fire with a hose."

Sorry, Andy.  With this, you fight fire with bigger fire ultimately to put it all out...maybe like you would if you had a super large hose.

I don't know.  I wish I had the answers to everything but I don't.  I just have a feeling that this all means it's about to get worse.  Changing who we have in office may or may not make things better.  Blowing people up in faraway lands may help.  I don't know what will work.  Maybe the answer is in the book The Art of War...except I never read it.  Never had the need to.  Maybe I do now.

I had this really heavy emotional episode the night of the shooting in San Bernardino.  It wasn't a normal "depressive episode" or PMS or anything I had ever felt before.  It was like this heavy global sadness...like the whole world is uneasy, insecure, fearful and sad in this mass conscious feeling.  I tend to be sensitive to these types of feelings and I was out of control with emotion for a couple of hours.

I remember watching a Bill Maher (Real Time on HBO) episode where he was joking about how ridiculous Americans were getting about this ISIS terror thing..."As if they'll be standing in line to buy the next iPhone and ISIS will take their heads off with a knife."  Or something to that effect.  Haha.  Not so funny anymore, is it?  Seems like the joke is becoming a reality.  Even worse, we're actually getting used this new reality which started with our shock and grief over 9/11 when our country officially lost its innocence to terrorism and terrorist attacks.

So...what does all this mean for YOU, my dear friend?

It means to be aware, just like you'd look over your shoulder as you walk to your parked car in a dark parking garage at midnight...be aware.  After all, to you and your well-being, it doesn't matter much who is targeting you -- whether it's the weirdo creep-oid, the guy who wants to rip off your wallet and take all your money at knife-point, or if it's now the new threat of the psychopath with a bomb strapped to his torso -- the end result for you could all be the same.  There's just a new safety threat is all.  A new type of psycho to add to the long list that we have to be aware of.

Does this mean that you should live in a perpetual state of panic?  Should you be expecting the worst?  Should you assume that the next time you walk into your grocery store for your weekly shopping trip that some gun-happy/trigger-happy Middle Eastern religious fanatic will come in with an AK-47 to blow your head off?  I'd hope not, as the chances are pretty low.  I'd say dying in a car crash, mathematically, would probably be higher odds, and that's even if you only travel once every other day by car.

Don't live in fear.  Just be aware.  Exercise risk/reward ratios at all times.  Staying home for the holidays instead of flying to Turkey?  Probably a better idea.  Deciding to become a "sandwich artist" at Subway instead of becoming an overseas war photojournalist as a career change?  Probably better if you want to live longer, even though the pay sucks.  And also take this into consideration: when you're time's up, it's up.  And you'll be taken off this earth anyway when it's your time regardless of the "delivery" of your type of "extermination" here on earth.  Because living in fear, well...sucks.  Immensely.  And there's no real reason for it aside from the replay on the news over and over again to give you reasons as to why you need to stay afraid.  

Staying in fear means that "they" have control over you now.  It gives those who have the power over us more leverage.  Guns for everyone...and I mean absolutely everyone?  Sure, we'd say!  Closer scrutiny of phone calls, emails, wire transfers, and even tracking where you go -- and I mean everywhere you go -- through your cell phone?  Absolutely, we'd agree!  Computer chip "scanning devices" for your eyeballs to make sure you're not "one of them"?  Absolutely, where do I sign up?!  After all, it's all in the best safety for "us," right?  (Yeah...right.)

As a marketer and entrepreneur, the best copywriting teachers will tell you that the most powerful motivating factor in advertising is using FEAR.  It's not greed or vanity or exclusivity (which are the other motivators, in that particular order).  It's fear.  Fear is what makes us buy things or buy into things.  Fear is what controls us.  Just be aware of what's happening as an outsider looking in so you have better control over your life and the decisions that you make for yourself and your loved ones.

As terrible and bad as things seem to be getting, grieving right after something traumatic just happens is always the worst period of time.  With time, healing can occur.  The problem these days is that we are exposed to more evil that's happening more often due to the media and global access to information that we didn't have 100 years ago.  Then more exposure gives people who aren't mentally all there or who want to create harm for others (or both) ideas in what they can do to cause more damage by the media information they are given.

With this...it's only going to get worse.  Much worse.

What does this means for you?  Watch less television.  Become less connected to news outlets.  Focus more on yourself, your family, and how you can do better as a person, especially when it comes to the society that you are in contact with.  Be nice to people, hold doors open, say kind things.  Do what you can do, even on a small scale.  Believe it or not, it all makes a difference because if everybody who isn't a crack-pot psychopath acts with kindness, it can change the world since there are a whole hell of a lot more of US than there is of THEM.

One more thing; even if you aren't big into prayer or aren't a religious person, just send out a silent prayer to everyone who is part of the "struggle" in today's world (which is many of us; and no, the "struggle" doesn't have to be about economics or being in a war-torn country but it can just simply be having a very heavy heart with no hope).  Send out blessings, peace, and harmony.  The universe does respond to these bits of energy and even more so when more people do it.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

P.S.  Click here to watch that Money Funnel video if you haven't already.  This is definitely on your "things to do" list for this weekend.  Why?  Especially in all this mess of misery, pain, and grief?  Because it proves to you that you have more control over your future than you think, even if you think you don't right now.  This video will prove it to you.  Besides, life is too short to be sad for too long, even when you think it's justified.  ;-)