MUKU OWNERS

DANGER WORD AND THE SECRET FORMULA PART TWO

Back to DANGER WORD and the “Secret Formula.”    We had reached a point where only 20% of the money had been raised, with 21 days to go.   Panic time.  “Dark Night of the Soul” time.    “Encounter Evil and meet defeat” time.
The “evil”, of course, was just our own fear and lack of clarity.  The obstacle was predictable.  There is ALWAYS a glitch as you seek to rise to the next level.  There is always a point where logic and knowledge fail, and you have to simply…trust.
But trust what?  The Hero’s journey suggests that the “Leap of Faith”, the way across this gap, is “faith” in one of three things: faith in your companions (the Mastermind) faith in yourself (“I have the ability to do this.  I may not see how yet, I’m in a fog, but if I keep going, I’ll get there.”) Or faith in a higher power (“I believe that any goal I can hold in my heart continuously is something I have the ability to achieve.  I don’t believe God/The Universe/My deep consciousness would allow me to hold such a goal without the ability to bring it into the world.  That would be capricious and cruel, and I don’t believe the world works that way.”)
Everyone who achieves on any level that I have EVER met has at least one of these three things.  The happiest seem to have two or three of them.
In the partnership with Tananarive and Luchina, we each have specialized skills that make us effective, and my philosophy is not to leave ANY of your skills in the locker room.  Put them all on the field.  And I thought that my skills as a life coach might be applicable here.   To be a bit of a Spiritual Guide, working backwards from our positive intent, and believing that the body supports cells, organs, and tissues that contribute healthfully to the whole.  Our intents were positive for the community as well as our families and personal goals.  There was no malice, no asking people to hurt themselves, a clear mission statement, and a sense of mischievous fun about the entire venture.   It seemed solid.
So…knowing the Hero’s Journey…and the Mastermind principle (two or more people aligned in a spirit of harmony for a common goal, meeting at least once a week)…I decided to apply the “Success Formula” I’d extracted from “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D. Wattles.
Note that this is the same source material that had inspired “The Secret.” But when I talk to people who follow “The Secret” I catch a strange disconnect, a sense that “If I just believe it, the universe will give it to me.”
Really?   Has that been their observation about the way the universe works?   I promise it hasn’t been mine.   I HAVE noticed that, as I mentioned at the beginning, the very most “effortlessly successful” people certainly seem to accomplish miracles with little “work.”  Like a martial arts master can throw someone with one finger…after a life-time of study.
Like someone like Oprah Winfrey can just focus her attention on something and it happens…because she has a massive machine with hudreds of people waiting to jump at her slightest inclination.  It’s like driving a Rolls Royce down the street with one finger.  If you didn’t understand all the manufacturing technology necessary to create the machine, and all the years of driving practice with hands at “ten and two” necessary to develop the sensitivity to the vehicle and environment, it looks like magic.
Just imagine how many people get lost in “feel the chi” when they are looking at a near-magical level of focus, skill, and sensitivity in martial arts.   Or “just visualize it” when they are listening to someone who has integrated their minds, emotions, and bodies enough that visualizing something changes their feelings and BEHAVIORS.
In other words, if your emotional/mental focus isn’t enough to change your behaviors, why in the world do you think it will change the world outside you?  You have to change your behaviors, notice the results, keep re-adjusting until those behaviors are in synch with the way the world works, at which point your natural inclinations have been “trained” by feedback from the environment. They feel natural.  Effortless.  Swimming “with the tide.”   And looks like magic to those who are ignorant, insensitive, or fearful.
It’s like using a voice dictation program like Dragon Dictate.  They talk about “training the program” but you’re just as much training YOURSELF to speak in a way the program can interpret.
GOALS X FAITH X CONSTANT ACTION X GRATITUDE = RESULTS
There is “magic” here in the sense Arthur C. Clarke meant.   Maybe more…but that’s an esoteric conversation, and I want this to be practical. 

GOALS, then, are critical both for accomplishing and because even “failure” teaches you  what is and is not true in the world.  Feedback.  Don’t set goals, don’t measure the results, and you can’t build your map of reality.
FAITH is critical because it is all that keeps you going when you have emptied yourself out, and you MUST empty yourself in the pursuit of an emotionalized goal to send a message to your mind or muscle that it is time to grow.
CONSTANT ACTION is the step too many people miss.  You must do all you can, where you can, this day, and then tomorrow, and again the tomorrow after that.   “A watched pot never boils.”  “Magic” happens when you have given up waiting for magic.  Isn’t this true?  When you don’t have a job, you can’t get a job.  But as soon as you’ve got one, people want to offer you employment.   When you don’t have a lover, you can’t get one…until you’ve got one, and then everyone else is interested.  When you are broke you can’t get credit….
See the pattern.    Sitting and waiting doesn’t do it.  The lilies of the field are actually quite active, and perfectly integrated into their ecological niche. They just seem passive to the ignorant.
GRATITUDE.    You have to start with the emotion you want to end with.   There are multiple reasons.  First, why not enjoy life TODAY?  Why wait?  Second, almost anything you want to accomplish will require a team of people, allies.   Customers.   Teachers.  The “Mastermind” is the only way I know to compensate for lack of ability.  If you can bond yourself to people with knowledge, resources, abilities different from yours, you can build a team to accomplish things beyond you as an individual. 
How to do this with integrity?   Offer what you DO have.   Friendship.   Skills.   Passion for life.   Genuine love and caring.  Be the kind of person others WANT to be around.   The kind of person people feel better after they’ve spent time with you.    And the way to have that genuine (and you should never, ever fake it!) sense of connection is to be so full of love and GRATITUDE for life, right here, right now, that it overflows.
And…fear and stress create “tunnel vision.”  You literally can’t see the opportunities that are right in front of you.  Gratitude, love, is the perfect antidote.  You relax.  You enjoy.  The little kid inside you starts dancing.  And you see potentials again.
So these were the things I wanted to bring to our meeting.  That was my challenge.  This is what I was committed to doing that Friday.   More on the precise way we did it, and what happened, tomorrow!
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I discussed this process, the sanest approach to “magic” I know of, on the Diamond Hour show.   The audio is part of our “Seven Dollars or FREE” program available at
http://www.diamondhour.com/SecretFormula.en.html
And if this is resonating with you, please get your copy today.   NO ONE is turned away for lack of resources in this program.  Ever.  No joke, no catch.   I am so blessed, and want to pass that blessing on…to you, and yours.

More tomorrow
Namaste,
Steve

Available link for download

Danger Word Step 1 Confronted with Challenge

 We’re doing this in plain sight, so that people can see just how far we get, and the attitudes, actions and strategies we used. Then they can either follow, or learn from our mistakes as they navigate their own paths.  The truth is that the process looked one way BEFORE we began.   It looks a different way now.  And after this process is complete, and whatever DANGER WORD is, and if it does or does not morph into the DEVIL’S WAKE feature we would like to do next year…after this is done, the process will have yet another complexion.  I swore that if you guys supported this, we would share EVERYTHING, without reservation.  In this way you can not only see the mistakes and solutions we create or encounter, but you will be able to see in real-time how the “Hero’s Journey” pattern I’ve taught for over 20 years applies to real-world situations.

No b.s.  No hiding.  When we finish the 15 minute film WHICH IS CERTAIN AT THIS POINT we will be able to finalize this portion of the process, and formalize a teaching.  Then, of course, we’ll be maneuvering to use that as a stepping stone to making a feature—either ourselves, or in partnership with investors and/or a studio.    But it is worthwhile to begin the documentation process now, only a few days before our first Trailer is complete (and you’re going to LOVE IT!)  So let’s take a look at the 10-step “Hero’s Journey” as applied to this particular situation.

1) Confronted with Challenge.   During the Octavia Butler symposium, we were faced with talented young artists who had made short films.   I watched a bunch of them.  Some were VERY impressive, some…not so much.  Some seemed expensive (at least in terms of skills and talent) others very budget-conscious.  And what occurred to me was: wait a #$% minute.  “We could do this. In our circle are all the skills and resources we need.  Do I want to do this?”

And yes, I did.  And do.  Since childhood, I’ve wanted a feature film with my name on it.  Watched movies with the kind of simple joy one rarely finds in life, and has never ever left me.  I wanted it.   What has the result been?   Twenty-eight novels, about twenty hours of produced television scripts.   A handful of films in development, but never produced.  A credit as “creative consultant” on “The Secret of NIMH.”   Creating the bible for a series of Swedish ninja movies (!) starring Chuck Conners (!!).  In many ways, I accomplished more than I’d dreamed of as a child…but one dream remained.  And remains.  We watched movies in development at different studios, getting paid but without positive result.

I ran into executive after executive politely asking “if we could change the race of the lead character.”  Not HIS preference, you know.  It’s the audience…

When supporting T’s projects, I had the humiliation of a production executive basically asking who the hell I was, and would I please shut up during the brainstorming sessions.  And I shut up.  Because I wanted my baby to get her dream onscreen.  But God, it hurt so badly.  I just had to sit on it.

Could I accept this challenge?  Was there more potential pleasure than pain here?  Yes.   But the conflict remained…

More tomorrow.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/olympia-duhart/much-more-than-a-zombie-f_b_3383627.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices

Available link for download

Danger Word!

Weve been busy with multiple projects, but the biggest news today  is that my  short film DANGER WORD has finally gone public!  There are so many different ways to look at this, from the stress-relief of working on a dream while living in a non-optimal situation (no, that wasnt the first term that came to mind) from the planning and organization and writing, to the family dynamic of working with Tananrive in a way I never had, to providing my darling daughter Nicki with her first IMDB acting credit (Jason is in there too, but blink and youll miss him), to time-organization, to money-raising, to a blazingly  powerful use of the "SECRET FORMULA", to the deliberate creation of a cultural meme directed at young girls...to the sheer fun of making a little horror film...from the "kid" part of me to the "adult" part, DANGER WORD was also the completion of a lifes dream.  My last remaining childhood goal was to sit in a movie audience and see and feel them react as a movie "written by" me went on the screen.  And because I never said "how long?" or "how big?" I realized I got to consider this a major win, freeing me to do whatever comes next in my  life.

And now I get to share it with you.   So...if you like horror film, this little tale of a grandfather trying to protect his granddaughter after the Zombie Apocalypse might be right up your alley.   Or the alley  of a friend.   Please forward this link wherever you wish, to anyone you think would find it of interest.

Ladies and gentlemen...WWW.DANwww.dangerword.comGERWORD.COM.


Namaste,
Steve

Available link for download

DANGER WORD is fully funded! Learn How!

You now know that at the last minute, we created a miracle and our DANGER WORD film is fully funded.   Now that we’re certain this is 100% real, I’m prepared to “break down” what happened and share it with you.  This will take a few days, so please bear with me. 

Two most important things: the overview of the Hero’s Journey and

The “Secret Formula” from “The Science of Getting Rich” : Goals X Faith X Constant Action X Gratitude = Results.   I added one more piece: a commitment to “Mutual Benefit and Welfare.”
I think that this covers what happened.  Note that “Faith” can be faith in a higher power, your companions, OR simple faith in your own potential.   We need not go to a supernatural or metaphysical level, not at all.    Nor do you need to depend on luck.   Or outside agency.

On Friday July 12th our production team: Tananarive Due, Zainab Ali, Luchina Fisher and I had a critical telephone conversation.    While fund-raising for pre-production (planning and organization) and production (filming itself: equipment, actors, crew, location expenses, travel, etc.) had gone very well indeed using a combination of Facebook and Paypal, when we shifted to Indiegogo we got LARGER average donations, but less overall.   Attributing this to “donor fatigue” we realized that, with three weeks left to go on the campaign and less than 2000.00 raised out of a total of 12,500.00 budgeted for post production (sound, color correction, editing, pick-up shots, titles, general polish) there was a real potential problem.

My position was that the most important thing I could do is take the long view.   And that required the Hero’s Journey, which details not only the general path but specific steps.

1) We had a specific goal

2) Had accepted the presence of fear and uncertainty

3) Had committed to act

4) Had broken down the tasks into individual components and begun performing them on schedule.

5) Had defined the skills and resources necessary to accomplish this, and gathered together the allies necessary to “fill in the gaps” in our individual skills and interests.  For instance, I’m sure I COULD direct, but have little experience or interest in doing so.  Better by far to find someone with the experience and enthusiasm for that critical aspect of our project.  Luchina fit that bill beautifully.

6) We had charged forward, until we met an apparently unmovable obstacle.   The fund-raising seemed to be THE THING.

7) We were dealing with the greatest moment of fear and doubt—what the @#$$ were we going to do?   THIS IS WHERE WE WERE.  “The Dark Night of the Soul.”

8) I knew that the way across this gap is “The Leap of Faith.”

9) I knew that if we took it, and had taken all the other steps properly, we optimized our chance to Confront the challenge and succeed.

10) And the last step would be “the student becomes the teacher”—in other words, I am committed to sharing everything that we learn along the way.   If I failed, I would fail PUBLICLY.   If I succeeded, I would succeed PUBLICLY.     The goal was to leave a trail of bread crumbs so that others could see what we did, how we did it, and share it all openly and honestly.  Therefore, I had a basis to believe that MY success was also a victory for the community.  And if my project was worthy, and positive, then I am trying to bring greater order, greater light into the world…and again, the idea is that when you commit to adding value to the world, the world will respond. That’s the theory.  Now it was time to put it into practice.
But…exactly how?  This phone call could be make or break for our project.   Good things “fall apart” all the time.
What to do?  How to do it?
Stay tuned!

Steve

I will be going into this whole process over the next week or so, but the  “Diamond Hour” radio show on which this entire process was first discussed, while I was still “gobsmacked” with the miracle of this is now part of our “Seven Dollars or FREE” program, and available at:
http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=1778527

Available link for download