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Success For Life
 
 
Monday, January 18 2016
Did Martin Luther King Fail?
Last year I got sucked into watching some ridiculous reality show called Preachers of Detroit.  I think I started watching it because I missed visiting the city and hadn't been there in a little bit.
 
The show -- Preachers of Detroit -- was about 7 preachers in Detroit and all the drama that surrounded each of their lives.  Many of you may know that reality shows are a put-on.  Most of it isn't real. There are scripts and set-ups that don't reflect real life at all.  Needless to say, I watched the entire season of this stupid show.
 
The point? 
 
One of the preachers -- Pastor David Bullock -- had said in an earlier episode about how he thought Martin Luther King had failed in his dream for human rights.  And that comment really bothered me at the time.  In fact, it still does bother me.
 
For anything to change, awareness needs to take place.  And awareness can't take place until people are directed to their wrongful thinking in the first place.  And that NEVER happens unless somebody puts them on the path of understanding what is wrong with their thinking or why old values are outdated and inappropriate to carry on with.
 
Martin Luther King's role was to create that awareness or, as we call it now, "start the conversation" about what's wrong with the way things are.  And why things need to change.  In that regard, I believe he was successful.
 
Of course, what I think Pastor Bullock was suggesting is that, because we still experience prejudices today, maybe that's why he perceived Martin Luther King as having failed.  I'm just guessing.  I don't know.  But some things don't change overnight.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  And we still have a long way to go on a great many issues that we're dealing with in today's day and age.
 
My thoughts on it:  I have the utmost respect for anyone who takes a stand against the popular masses.  It takes a lot of balls to rage against the machine, especially back then when not many had your back and NOBODY in the "organization" was on your side.  There had to be many times when he wanted to give up or second-guessed what he was doing yet he forged ahead with the hopes that one day everyone would be equal.
 
In the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan is the Rosa Parks bus.  I sat on the bus in the very seat that Rosa Parks sat in when she started her part of the revolution that would begin to change history.  It was a powerful feeling to sit there in that seat and it was, quite possibly, the most amazing charge I felt go through my body; just to know that this woman made a decision on that bus that would cause so much strife toward change was amazing. She's amazing because I knew she was alone when she made that decision that day.  No one supported her at that moment.  It was just her. Her against the world.
 
I found myself in just a minuscule version of such a situation by standing up for something I knew to be true -- to be the voice for others who cannot speak -- and dealt with a lot of riff-raff because of it.  And this was nowhere near what the REAL warriors of revolution went through.  So, I can't imagine what it takes to be this type of hero and to know that you could lose it all when everything is said and done.  It's like pushing all your chips on the poker table because you believe so much in your cause that it becomes all or nothing.  You'd rather die than accept status quo. And that's a revolutionary warrior.
 
Anyone who stands up for what they believe in is someone who will always put me in a state of awe.  Because there are so few of these people anymore.  But what we do have is their accomplishments of yesterday and how they forced the hand of a revolution that would have never happened any other way.
 
And for that, they did NOT fail.  It's just still a work in progress, just like every other aspect of life.
 
See you at the top!
 
Your mentor,
 
Monica Main
 
 
Posted by: Monica Main AT 01:15 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
Tuesday, January 05 2016

I've been interviewing people to potentially hire at GSS.  And I absolutely HATE doing interviews.  But I've been putting it off for too long, watching one employee leave while firing everyone else over time, never replacing anyone. Now I'm beyond short-staffed and I'm forced to hire someone like yesterday.  Sometimes procrastination pays but, not in this case.

If you read my job posting, you'd laugh your ass off.  It's probably one of the harshest job postings you've ever seen.  I spell out what I expect from the new person I'm going to hire.  I also clearly outline what I won't tolerate including, but not limited to, frequenting Facebook, texting friends all day -- and even threatening them by stating that I watch people like a hawk and lazy asses squandering company time would be lucky to last a week.  The way I wrote the posting, I'm shocked that anyone applied at all.

Except I got quite a few applications.  Not as many as when we were in a "down and out" economy but a healthy batch for sure.

The problem is, it's pretty clear that most people didn't read what I wrote.  They just fire out applications without reading anything using their "buckshot" application process.

It's required that all applicants write me a short cover letter outlining their best requirements.  About 80% of the applications did not do this.  They were deleted.  The other requirement was that they were somewhat local and I specified cities that I would not interview people from.  This eliminated another 10% who also insisted that they not read the job posting.

Other people that were eliminated: Anyone writing in all lower case or, even worse, part of their name is in upper/lower case and the other part is in all lower case.  I'm a stickler for that.

So...I ended up with about 7 resumes when everything was said and done.

I have a little strategy that I use.  I post my job opening over the holidays or the summer because I figure that people who really want to work will apply.  This has worked well for me over the years.

Out of 7, only 2 called back.  The others apparently didn't need the job.  Or want it.  Good riddance to them.

One lady came in looking as pissed off as she could be and all she kept asking over and over again was, "What about the 'retirement package'?" and "What can I expect for 'retirement'?

How about nothing, lady, except the door hitting your big ass as you ideally exit my office right now?

She didn't ask a single thing about my company, what we do, what her expected job duties would be.  NOTHING.  She just kept talking about what I could give to her, like I owed her something.  "I want to be paid the same that Disney paid me before I was laid off."  And..."I want a retirement PACKAGE and medical and dental and I want sixty-thousand a year...and I want to work somewhere for at least the next 20 years."

Not here, you ain't!  How about you get nothing.  NOTHING from me, lady!

She should have stayed with Disney.  Oh, wait.  That's right.  They let her go.  She must've got too demanding with Mickey and he gave her ass the boot off the Disney Express.

It made me think about this: If only people realized that they can create their own "retirement package" by building their own wealth.  Then they wouldn't be in my office demanding/begging for a job to give them those benefits/retirement packages.  To me, it's much easier NOT to have to depend on someone else's hand to feed me.  As I'd prefer to feed myself and depend on ME for all of my success.

And I'm sure as hell not going to be asking someone else for my retirement package, as I already have my own that I've created and developed over the years.

Maybe you need to start building your own retirement -- or at least a means of financial freedom -- starting right now.

Recently my book agent told me that I should lose the word "retirement" out of any book title I'm considering.  He suggested that people -- mostly Americans -- hate the word "retirement" because it indicates something too many years away and only for old people.

So I stopped using the word "retirement" in most of my marketing and especially my book titles.  People respond better to "financial freedom" and "wealth-building."

Whatever you want to call it, the end result is the same.  You are building wealth for the purposes of replacing your current income so you don't have to work for anyone anymore (hopefully as quickly as possible) and you are building wealth for your long-term financial stability and security.

But you do this on your own for yourself without the aid of some employer assisting you in the process.  And if you're NOT doing this on your own, you need to start right now.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

 

Posted by: Monica Main AT 01:02 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
Sunday, January 03 2016
My ONE New Year's Resolution...
Well, Happy New Year!  Happy 2016!  I finally said it, even though I'm a couple of days late.
 
I get so sick of writing lists and that includes New Year's Resolutions.  Yes, I'm very list oriented by nature but I keep my goals very tight and project-specific.  I no longer see the value in writing a bunch of goals that, I've recently discovered, really don't service me anymore.  In fact, they're not really my goals at all!
 
What do I mean?
 
Let's take Oprah, for instance.  I notice that she's doing Weight Watcher's commercials now.
 
Except Oprah looks fantastic just as she is.  Yet somewhere along the line she's decided that she's not skinny enough, probably by being barraged by media and societal expectations of what the "right weight" should be.
 
So...she's still "struggling" with the weight, not taking into account that (a) she looks fabulous the way she is, (b) there's a good chance that her genetics won't allow for stuffing herself into a size 4 at any point in her life without taking drastic (and extremely unhealthy measures), and (c) maybe being happy in her own body will finally shake off this incessant need to look like everyone else.
 
I saw my doctor a couple of weeks ago.  She told me that I need to lose exactly 20.5 lbs.  I currently wear size 8 jeans and I feel great.  I've been more than 20 lbs. lighter and, during that time, I felt unhealthy and I could feel the bones in my lower back.  I felt sick, too skinny, and far from "healthy."
 
I looked at my recent New Year's Resolutions dating back the past 3 years. Like almost everyone else, weight loss has been on that list.  I finally asked myself:  Why?  Why do I "need" to lose weight?  To look like a skinny Cosmopolitan model?  To feel bad about myself because, according to my doctor, I'm considered "overweight"?
 
I decided that weight loss WOULD NOT be a New Year's Resolution this year.  Nor are any of my other typical goals including making more money, acquiring more stuff, buying more expensive things, and all the rest of the things we believe we need to fit into society.  To look and be "normal" to our peers...whoever the hell they are!
 
Bottom line in all this "stuff" we all want to have, acquire, attain, gain access to, and get is to BE HAPPY.  Right?  Isn't that what we're all seeking?  Yet somehow we equate happiness with getting all this stuff. Unfortunately, when we get it, it just makes us realize that we didn't become more happy so we up the ante with our goals and requirements for attainment.
 
We do this because society and the media says what we're supposed to have to be happy.  So, we are acquiring, attaining, and gaining these things because savvy marketing geniuses made us believe in the deepest depths of our psychological being depends on us getting [FILL IN THE BLANK] to be happy/accepted/loved/appreciated/awesome!
 
And this vicious cycle goes on and on and on...maybe forever.  Unless we put a stop to it.  STOP THE MADNESS!  Right now. TODAY!
 
So, as time ticked and we were moments off from ringing in the New Year, I scribbled down only ONE New Year's Resolution:
 
"To be happy to the deepest core of my being."
 
And that's it.  My only goal.  And I want nothing else.
 
But with this, I have a feeling that I'll get the rest of what I want "just 'cause" I'm happy and enjoying the journey.  This is usually how the universe works, how the universe responds to us...by what we SEND OUT. Like a boomerang, it comes back.
 
If happiness is exuding from my being and is being sent out into the universe, I'm pretty sure I'll get happiness back in all of its earthly forms.
 
Or I'll just be happy.
 
Either way, I win.
 
What is YOUR New Year's Resolution for 2016?
 
See you at the top!
 
Your mentor,
 
Monica Main
 
Posted by: Monica Main AT 06:22 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
Thursday, December 31 2015

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

Posted by: Monica Main AT 07:26 am   |  Permalink   |  Email
Sunday, December 27 2015
Sucky Suckfest Holiday #2...DOWN!

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

Posted by: Monica Main AT 07:12 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
Friday, December 25 2015
Merry Christmas!

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

Posted by: Monica Main AT 06:25 am   |  Permalink   |  Email
Monday, December 21 2015
Why Almost Every Self-Help Book is 100% Full of Sh**

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

Posted by: Monica Main AT 09:08 am   |  Permalink   |  Email
Saturday, December 19 2015
Milkshake Mania!
Earlier this year I wrote an email about a new business called Milkshake Mania.  I believe they opened up their shop in the spring and I knew they wouldn't last because...well, they mathematically couldn't.  So, here we are in December of the same year and they're already out of business.  Somehow I'm not surprised.
 
This goes back to my original point:  Why don't people THINK BASIC NUMBERS before they start some hair-brained business plan? Seems obvious yet so many new entrepreneurs seem to be allergic to a calculator or something.
 
Basic Mathematics, Folks...Does It Make Money on Paper Or Not??
 
It would take me less than 3 minutes to tell you that Milkshake Mania was a crappy business idea, destined to be an instant failure right out of the gates.  And this is WITHOUT access to a calculator.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I suck at math and had to have a tutor to get my business degree because I kept failing Finite Mathematics.)  If I actually had a calculator, I'd give you some VERY ACCURATE NUMBERS on most any business idea or investment.  Even more "alarming," these numbers would only be off by a maximum of 10% and, in most cases, much less than 5%.
 
So, if you were to come to me with this hair-brained Milkshake Mania idea, this is how I would have instantly broke the numbers down to you by asking you one thing:
 
"How much is your monthly rent on the unit?"
 
The answer:  $3.20 a square foot so...$3,200 a month for 1,000 square feet.
 
Then...
 
"Average sale?"
 
How much can you possibly charge for a milkshake?  Maybe $4?  Or $5 if you shake gold dust on top of the whipped cream?
 
This means that at $4 a pop, you'd have to sell 800 milkshakes just to cover your rent.  Forget about covering electricity, your phone bill, any employees, insurance, supplies, raw materials, etc.
 
And selling 800 milkshakes for rent money...that's just not viable, feasible or doable for that type of severely limited local business structure, especially without any type of marketing in place (since you wouldn't have the extra cash to advertise at this point).
 
Those very simplified numbers alone should be enough to talk you out of this hair-brained business plan in the first place.  If not then...you have much more deep-seated issues going on that has little to do with your lack of being able to operate a cheap calculator and you may just need that trip to the shrink to see WHY you need to make milkshakes all day to live out some type of sick illogical ice cream fantasy you may have.

Two Types of Businesses I'll NEVER Do:  Local and Retail
 
I almost fell for it: the lure of the sports bar business.  This would have violated my 2 rules of getting involved in a local retail business.  And the only reason I overlooked the rule was because of my ability to market and my ability to make the business gross anywhere from $7 to $10 million per year.  So, the cash flow alone made me want to overlook my own rule BECAUSE THE NUMBERS WERE THERE.
 
That's the key.  CASH FLOW.  The cash flow and the numbers were present, making it a possibility to overlook the rule.  (This is why they say "rules are meant to be broken" in instances like these.)
 
However, because of a series of events out of my control, the sports bar deal fell through TWICE reminding me of that old universal adage of "if it's not meant to be, it just won't happen."  So, why fight fate?  (Looking back, it really was the wrong time to start a sports bar.  My daughter was really young at the time, it was 2011 when the economy didn't even think about recovering yet, and...it just wasn't good timing.  Now?  Maybe.  But I'm "over" the sports bar thing now.  And yes, there were some deep-seated issues surrounding the deal too which I probably should have visited a shrink for...which I won't mention here.)
 
So...what ARE the best types of businesses to get into?
 
Easy.  Your business MUST fall into this category:
 
No Requirements to Be in a Specific City or Population Size, Can Be Operated Out of a Garage in ANY Place with a U.S. Post Office and Internet Service, and Can Allow for Maximum Leverage with Minimal Time, Effort, and Resources
 
Lots of requirements...but not really if you slice them down one by one.
 
1)  No requirements to be in a specific city which means that you aren't forced to depend on any fickle and limited local population for your business.  This, again, goes back to that pesky retail/local rule.  If you have to depend on the local economy for your business then it's NOT the business you want to be in.  You want your patrons to be nationwide and, even better, GLOBAL.  You should be able to operate your business out of a garage in the smallest of economically-desolate hick towns in the south and still make a minimum of 7-figures per year.  ALL IN PROFITS!
 
2)  Have access to a post office and Internet service means that...you have access to somewhere where you can receive and ship packages and other mail while having access to the Internet, which you should know about by now.  (After all, you're ON IT RIGHT NOW!)
 
3)  Have maximum leverage with minimal time, effort, and resources.  This happens when you find a business that doesn't require a local retail presence (requiring expensive retail space and "stuff" to operate).  Rather you have a business that can be run as a "one-man-band" (ideally just YOU raking in all the profits for yourself) in the most run-down of locations (even in a corner of your basement) without your customers knowing or caring, selling items that are cheap to produce and ship but have a HUGE value to people.
 
Now you can see that we're cutting out a lot of prospective businesses. Good.  This is called "narrowing the field."  Now we're getting somewhere.
 
And to think, many new entrepreneurs don't even run through this exercise.  People wonder why more than half of all new businesses fail, this is why.  The half that fail are started by people who don't put an ounce of thought into the numbers, the logistics of the business, or anything else that is fiscally important.  So they fail, almost right away.
 
But that won't be you, my friend.  You may not have figured it out yet but I'm lining you up for an Aggressive Business that will fall into all of the categories listed above (#1 through #3) that will knock your socks off.
 
Is It Still Possible to Make Money Online?  Yes...and No!
 
As of about -- earlier this year -- you can't make money on eBay anymore. Those days are over and if you're smart, you'll treat eBay like the red-headed step-child...or MySpace.com.  Whichever you prefer.  Pretend it no longer exists because its days are severely numbered.
 
Amazon...profitable but too cut-throat to make money on.  If you weren't building your Amazon business earlier this year or, preferably, much earlier than that then...you're probably S-O-L unless you're willing to bust some major ass to become a big Amazon player.  (There's ANOTHER way to make money on Amazon but...I'll reveal that later.  I will say this as a hint: it has nothing to do with selling on Amazon.  Read between the lines.  If you saw my video, you'd probably know what I'm talking about.)
 
The old days of whipping together a squeeze page, throwing up some ads on Google Adwords, and selling affiliate products are LONG GONE. You should know that by now.
 
But something else has replaced it.  The mechanics are much the same but the way it's done has been..."funnelized."  It's fairly easy to pull off IF you know what you're doing and IF you understand how it works.  (If you didn't see my video on how this works, CLICK HERE.) 
 
If you're smart, you'll be able to work this system.
 
Or you can just take my exact blueprint without being "smart" or doing much thinking and still make a ton of money that way.  (This would be the preferred course of action for you to take.)
 
Since I first introduced my Money Funnel, I've had tons of emails from students asking me exactly how this works.  While I'd love to be able to explain all of it in a 2-minute email, realistically I can't.  Anything worth learning has to be done in a training, which I'm doing in March.  You can't learn anything worthwhile by reading a short email about it or watching a short (yet thorough) video, although I did a kick-ass demonstration on what to do if you want to venture out and do it yourself without attending a training.
 
But...why not attend the training so that you can set up your funnel before you leave?  Sounds kind of like...a NO BRAINER!
 
Here's where I'd like to clarify some things:
 
What Exactly WILL Be Revealed in March During the 2-Day Money Funnel Event?
 
The step-by-step method of exactly how to set up your funnels will be revealed AFTER we change your mind-set and re-wire your brain for success, of course.  (That's on Day One.)
 
On the second day of the event, you'll be shown exactly how the funnels work and you can even swipe my exact funnels for your own financial benefit.  I'll tell you exactly which products are the hottest and you can select from a handful of these super hot products by getting my exact funnel.
 
And I'll even go one step further for those of you who are super lazy.
 
For those of you who attend, you'll be able to gain access to the exact funnel, the super successful product line...and you won't even have to ship any products either.  I have a way where you can have super profitability while not laying hands on shipping anything or stocking products in your basement.  (This is always a huge concern for students now that many companies are requiring much bigger minimum orders for new companies starting out.)
 
But I can only offer this option for the people who actually attend the event.  And I have reasons for this.  It's simple: there are only so many people who can realistically promote these products online before crowding the space.  Therefore, I cannot extend this opportunity for those who do not attend this event.  No exceptions.  (Sorry.)
 
If you didn't watch the video yet, do so now by CLICKING HERE.
 
Then, CLICK HERE to register for the event at a Holiday Blitz Blow Out Deal that will knock your socks off!
 
See you at the top!
 
Your mentor,
 
Monica Main
 
Posted by: Monica Main AT 01:27 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
Monday, December 14 2015

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!

Posted by: Monica Main AT 02:14 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
Saturday, December 12 2015

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

Posted by: Monica Main AT 01:30 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email

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