Author Rhonda Byrne shares tips and suggestions for changing your thoughts and your life. What’s floating around in your head? Are your thoughts positive and supportive affirmations of your best life? Or are they a relentless litany of what sucks about you?

Listen to the voice in your head. If those words were spoken aloud to you by someone else, would you stand for it? Does that voice use words your momma used? Your daddy? Your first boss? Sr. Mary Elizabeth? Part of “The Secret” is changing the way you think about things.

Now if you really don’t want something to happen, your thought on it will cause it to manifest. “I better not catch the cold that’s going around the office.” Sure enough, you’ll catch that cold. It takes discipline to catch a negative thought and replace it with a positive one. “I enjoy good health.”

Another part of “The Secret” is the transformative power of gratitude. Byrne suggests that you make your first thoughts and spoken words of each day “Thank you.”

Gratitude is attractive. Wake up and give thanks for your home, enough to eat, family, pets, a gorgeous summer day, peace on earth, funny movies, beautiful music. You’ll feel better and be attractive to more good things.

Wisdom In Words

I read a lot of books. I have read most of what is in “The Secret” in other books. The message of “The Secret” has been around for thousands of years. Those who “get” it, appreciate this beautiful, affirmative presentation of universal truths.

Here’s the kicker - even folks who think positive thinking is a bunch of woo-hoo nonsense are embracing “The Secret.” Millions of copies of the book have been sold; “The Secret” video has been downloaded from www.thesecret.tv more than 5 million times. What makes “The Secret” such a blockbuster hit?

Marketing.

It’s not hype. Hype is the sizzle without the steak. Marketing is presenting a really great steak to a hungry person.

Byrne is marketing this powerful information in such a way that it is resonating with people. She gave it a powerful name - “The Secret.” The name intrigues you; you want to want to know what it is, and how you can get in on it. The logo is a wax stamp with old-world script, like the seal on a rare, ancient document. The promise is a healthy, wealthy, wonderful life. Very attractive! And happy readers are telling others about the book.

Imagine if you approached your life and your business this way.

You can choose differently. You can change your thoughts. If you want to improve your life and your business, choose different thoughts and engage in different behaviors.

I found this message on my voice mail the other day …

“Ellen, I don’t know if you remember me but we met a few years ago. Just wanted to get caught up.”

She left her name, and you better believe I remembered her. She and her husband own a plumbing company in the Midwest. When we met, they were struggling in every area of their business - and they weren’t making any money.

I called her back. She filled me in on what they have been up to. I was delighted to hear her say, “I just snapped one day. We were working for a builder who just abused us. Why was I putting up with it? I talked to my husband and we agreed: no more. We were going to work for people who would appreciate the kind of great work that we do and not work for the jerks. Since then, we have made more money and grown the company.

“I am calling because we just added our fourth truck. I have been focused on that since you told me most plumbing companies never add the fourth truck. I thought you’d like to know. And, Ellen, this is a depressed area. Businesses all over town are closing. People are singing the blues, but not us. We are busy, making money and loving life!”

I share lots of meat-and-potatoes, bare-bones advice with folks so that they can make more money. Most people choose not to change their thoughts, beliefs and actions. Those who do change create better results. That’s the secret and the secret is out.

A few minutes later I got another call, from a fellow about 250 miles away from this woman. “I’d like to make more money. But in my town, all people care about is the lowest price. My cheapskate customers aren’t going to pay more no matter how much sales stuff I lay on ’em.”

I replied, “You could charge more and make more money. If you charge more, you have to provide more value. And, you would benefit from learning to communicate that value to your customers. That’s marketing. Interested in developing your marketing skills? Or are you committed to attracting more cheapskate customers?”

We’ll see if he calls back.

How About You?

What if you were to change how you think about marketing? You know how to make babies and old people and everyone in between warm and comfortable. You know how to keep the good water from the wastewater so that people stay healthy. You know how to turn wastewater back into good water again so we don’t destroy our life-sustaining water table. You know how to capture the warm power of the sun and turn it into heat and light.

You know how to perform these wondrous miracles in such a way that we relieve the burden on mother earth. You can help us recover from our fossil fuel addictions, without giving up anything in terms of comfort and safety.

What if you thought differently about what you do? What if you used different words to describe it?

I’m a plumber. I do some pretty cool things with water and energy. The name of my company is The Green Team.

Hold on to this faucet. Feels nice and solid. Move the on/off hot lever back and forth. It comes from Italy where folks are passionate about racecars and faucets. You won’t have to tighten this faucet to turn it all the way off. It just shuts off. Try it.

And, it won’t drip because it’s engineered properly and I know how to put it in the right way. It will look nice even under the counter. It turns on without touching it; just pass your hands underneath the spout. Look, Ma, no germs! And it shuts off automatically so you save water.

Interested in a dry, warm, clean place to hang out with your little kids? I can help. We can send water warmed by the sun, flowing through the concrete floor of your heretofore nasty basement and create a no-dust, quiet, warm space for you to play with your LEGOS. And with your kids.

Interested in saving money and the planet? Did you know that 20 percent of the world’s energy is used by pumps, the equipment that circulates water or air? There are really hip pumps that save lots of energy because they ramp up and down as needed. That means that they work less and use less energy. That’s good for you and the environment.

And it gets better. Because these pumps adjust to the conditions in your home, you enjoy even, comfortable indoor weather. AND, they are quieter. You can reduce energy consumption, save money and be even more comfortable.

Interested in learning more about using solar power to heat your home or the water in your whirlpool tub? I can help. We can create a system that taps the sun for energy on sunny days, and skips over to the pellet boiler on cloudy days. You get hot water when you need it and the fuel is free on sunny days. Bonus! Our state has a very friendly tax credit program for solar system installations.

Now, my prices reflect the premium services I provide. My prices include a “forever warranty.” No small print. If there is a problem with this system, call me and I’ll make it all better.

Thank you for joining The Green Team! You are welcome to brag about us to your friends and family.

What if you invited them to watch or hold the flashlight or tell you about their summer vacation?

What if you woke up every morning and gave thanks for all the good things in your life, including your customers? What if you used the Law of Attraction to bring wonderful customers into your life?

You just might sell your amazing work to people who really, really want it and are willing to pay the right price.

The best-kept secret is you and what you do. Let people in on it.

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