Seems I’m ranting a lot these days, and a little more opinionated than the norm. Perhaps it’s my broken back, which is killing me, that’s making me more sensitive or irritable. I don’t know.

But something someone recently said in my copywriters forum irritated me. And it’s not what this person said specifically, but the mindset behind it that’s bothering me.

In a thread about an Internet marketer who was recently arrested (yes, it had something to do with forced continuity, but it had more to do with refusing refunds and avoiding customers than it had to do with forced continuity itself), one member said:

“There is NO such thing as an honest business man. (…) Ask any accountant.”

Now, I have no clue as to why this person said this. And my opinion here is not about this person specifically. Again, it’s about the thinking process that some people have when they make such assertions.

Personally, I believe this view of business people is skewed, off, and wrong. It’s destructive, too.

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Michel Fortin: No, I think if you want to look at optimism in the best way is to look at it as an educational process. Learning is part of it… sitting down with people, talking with them, spending time with them, reading books, spending your time on learning as much as you possibly can.

You will be able to go down the right road. Fast or slow doesn’t matter and that’s not optimism. That’s just being. That’s just following your conscience. That’s just being a realist. It’s not being a pessimist. It’s not being optimist. It’s probably an optimal point of looking at it, an optimal point or way to look at things, but it’s not necessarily optimistic.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you think it takes courage to pursue new ideas?

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“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I think what we’re really seeking is an experience of being alive, so our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so we can actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

“Follow your bliss.”
–Joseph Campbell

Over the years, I have read many books on mind power, self-empowerment, time management, success and achievement, philosophy, and spirituality. I’ve attended many seminars, listened to mountains of tapes, and took numerous classes. And the one common thread I have found in all that I have learned was that they all taught in some way that a person’s outer world is somehow connected to his inner dimension.

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In the autumn of 1996, I still remember that faithful week and a half when it all happened. My business went belly-up. They came to repossess my car. The landlord, eviction notice in hand, came knocking on my door. And my ex-wife packed up her things, saying, "I’m leaving."

But throughout this time, I had a flash of insight. One that changed the way I was thinking but didn’t realize it until later.

You see, Drop Your Goals And Manage Your Life is the result of years of writing in my journals, both prior to that event and following it. Why? Because…

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A fair warning: this post delves into something I’m passionate about, which is somewhat philosophical in nature. So if you’re of a certain religious persuasion and easily offended by others, then please skip over this blog post. If not, read on…

“The Secret” is taking the entire world by storm. It deals with the “Law of Attraction,” in that we attract to ourselves what we think and feel, and that our perceptions mold our reality.

As Earl Nightingale proclaimed in “The Strangest Secret,” one of the first self-help programs I’ve ever bought: “We become what we think about.”

You may have seen it talked about on Larry King, Oprah, and many other talk shows. It’s the most successful Internet launch of any product. It hit Alexa #1 soon after its launch, and propelled to the Amazon.com’s #1 best selling book and DVD within a few months.

It appeared in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Time Magazine, and even on the cover of Newsweek, which came shortly thereafter.

But is “The Secret” truly worth the buzz? Or is it just an old-world philosophy packaged in some newfangled marketing? The answer to the former is definitely “yes.” But for the latter, it’s “yes” and “no.” Let me explain…

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This book is pragmatical, not philosophical — a practical manual, not a treatise upon theories. It is intended for the men and women whose most pressing need is for money, who wish to get rich first, and philosophize afterward.

It is for those who want results and who are willing to take the conclusions of science as a basis for action, without going into all the processes by which those conclusions were reached.

It is expected that the reader will take the fundamental statements upon faith, just as he would take statements concerning a law of electrical action if they were promulgated by a Marconi or an Edison, and, taking the statements upon faith, that he will prove their truth by acting upon them without fear or hesitation.

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Now that I’m back from my honeymoon, my inbox and forum have been floodingly busy! In fact, one thread on my Copywriters Board garnered so much interest that it created close to 10 pages worth of posts.

It’s a member’s take on “Michel Fortin’s Success Secret.”

Dale King, the author in question, postulated that in every post and article I write, there’s a “secret” to my success. Although he hinted that the secret can be found in the book “Think and Grow Rich,” the reason why the thread became so popular was because Dale never revealed it until the very end.

It’s a great example of the Zeigarnik effect and keeping people interested in your copy. It was so powerful that some people became outright pissed off at Dale’s reluctance in revealing “the secret” and posted harsh comments as a result.

In order to assuage the disgruntled, here’s what I said. The secret is…

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