Problems. We all have them. As many who listen to these Teleseminars know, we often even refer to goals as problems. Why? Because while the goal itself may not be a problem, the fact that we have to devise a way to attain that goal is.

Thus, goals are problems.

We can solve any problem, though, by using what is taught in The Master Key System. It’s all there.

To make it easy for you, I listed the “five simple steps” to solve any problem.

I did this for two reasons.

The first is that a majority of what I do is solving problems. I am very good at it. It’s part of my nature. I also love doing it. I sometimes go nuts if I don’t have a problem to solve. I enjoy “crunching the numbers” and thinking about the various possibilities and solutions.

I must admit that sometimes I do it to my detriment, as I can easily be either be distracted or overly involved in solving the problem. I’m getting better, though. (And often, isn’t that what all this stuff is about?)

The second reason I decided to list these five simple steps is because when you look at successful people, the number one thing they generally do is … You guessed it! … Solve problems! From good middle managers to politicians to titans of industry, successful people are known as “problem solvers.” We refer to them when we need help with something. We go to them when we encounter obstacles. We go to them because we know — or at the very least we hope — that they can solve or help us solve our problem.

So, let’s not tarry any further. Let’s get to solving our problems!

The 5 Simple Steps to Solve Any Problem

When I delivered these steps, I used as my running example a person getting a flat tire. That’s something everyone can relate to. It’s also very tangible. I should mention here, though, that these very same steps are to be used on any problem we encounter, from the tangible to the intangible, from the small to the large.

Here are the steps:

* Assess your current situation.

* Define your end result.

* Assess your resources.

* Act!

* Wash – Rinse – Repeat, if necessary.

1. Assess Your Current Situation

The very first step to solving any problem is to assess your current situation. That means to know exactly where you are and where you stand.

This can be quite difficult to do, especially when you start to go for your big (and perhaps not as tangible) goals.

It’s difficult because we sometimes run into two difficulties between which we vacillate.

The first is that we sometimes over-esteem our virtues, or “positives.” The second is that we sometimes underestimate our flaws, or “negatives.” To add to the difficulty, sometimes those are switched: we underestimate our positives and overestimate our negatives.

Using and knowing The Master Key System, though, we understand that to really do this properly — and perhaps easily? — we have to be most “dispassionate” and objective as we assess our situation.

We want a very balanced and true estimation of where we stand. We want to have a level head — not panic-y and all “end-of-the-world-y” but also not “rose-tinted-glasses.”

As we learned from the exercises in The Master Key System, it’s important to relax, remain clam, and to not let our emotions rule us.

Got it? Good. Let’s go to step 2.

2. Define the End Result

This step utilizes two very important things we learned in The Master Key System: using visualization and using our creative imagination.

Here,

I am going to be brief in this article for the 34th Master Key Coaching Teleseminar. There is much adventure afoot!

This week, I recapped my interview with Guy Kawasaki. It is truly amazing to hear someone so successful speak about the principles of success that we already know because of Haanel and The Master Key System — even though during our interview we never once mentioned him!

I will be conducting more interviews throughout the year. I will keep you updated.

Instead of continuing from where we left off in Master Key Arcana, I instead jumped to the last item in the book: “If” by Rudyard Kipling.

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream — and not make dreams your master;

If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same.

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breathe a word about your loss:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!

Enjoy this week’s episode. There’s a lot of illuminating information there.

Until next week, I wish you and yours the best of everything!

Please See This!

As an individual who has been “disabled” for over five years as a result of having two brain tumors, an acoustic neuroma, and a meningioma, Harold Cameron has devoted his life — his energy, time, and resources — to being an advocate for others.

Harold says, “I am just an ordinary man with faith in the extraordinary God and by His power working in me and through me, extraordinary things are accomplished!”

In 2004, Harold Cameron was diagnosed with two brain tumors. In an instant, his life changed drastically.

Rather than wallow in depression and self-pity, Harold mustered every ounce of hope and faith and love that was within him.

The result is a plan. Despite all the odds,

Guy Kawasaki, the legendary Apple evangelist and author of far too many books to name, just released a new book — Enchantment – The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Kawasaki about Enchantment, his world-view, his philosophy, and a few other topics.

I have to admit that I was very nervous going into this interview. Here’s someone who literally changed the world! From being one of the original Apple evangelists to being a venture capitalist to founding sundry companies such as AllTop.com, Guy Kawasaki is the real deal.

Some people write books in order to make a name for themselves. I know this for a fact because I’m a publisher. I’ve received countless manuscripts over the years from people who want to publish their “How to Get Rich” book even though they don’t have two nickels to rub together. They believe that publishing said book will get them the two nickels! (Mr. Kawasaki and I hit on this topic in the interview. Guy’s commentary is hilarious!)

Guy Kawasaki isn’t that person. Not even close. He did it. He lived it. Then he wrote about it. To date, he has about ten books under his belt — from The Macintosh Way to Reality Check and now, Enchantment.

Enchantment is the culmination of Mr. Kawasaki’s life’s work. It’s a collection of the ideas and methods he used to not only market, not only persuade, but to enchant.

Enchanting is different than both marketing and persuading, although there are similarities. The difference can best be shown with an example. Let’s look at Mr. Kawasaki’s first use of enchantment — the Apple Macintosh.

Most people look at computers as a thing — a commodity of sorts. Have you ever known a person who had a Mac, though? They’re passionate about them! Sometimes to the point of annoyance! (I know I have been at times…) People aren’t like that about Dell or Hewlett-Packard or IBM. Only Apple.

While a person may need to be persuaded to try a Mac, once that first bite is taken, it’s practically guaranteed to become a love affair. Perhaps a love affair that will last a lifetime.

That’s enchantment.

In Guy’s book, you will learn the ideas and methods that will enable you to do that.

You’ll even learn them in this interview, so have a listen!

Guy Kawasaki is interesting in more ways than what he’s done and his new book. His world-view — as well as his reason for doing things — should be models for all of us to follow. While this interview, nor this article, are about Charles F. Haanel or The Master Key System philosophy, you’ll find many similarities.

What’s so powerful about that is that Guy is a person who made it all work — massively!

Enjoy the interview. Additionally, enjoy the following links that will introduce you to the world of Guy Kawasaki and Enchantment.

My awesome review of

Charles Umphred is a man who has lead an amazing life. From being a “blue collar” guy to almost getting killed in a head-on collision to owning his own incredibly successful company, Charlie — as he likes to be called — has seen and probably done it all.

He has a lot of wisdom and insight to share.

We are thankful that he agreed to do an interview with us for the Master Key Coaching Teleseminars.

Folks, what you are going to hear during this interview is going to blow your mind.

Some of you may have heard of Charlie. He is a Network Marketing legend. As a distributor, he helped to build two huge companies. His methods of recruiting and teaching the ways of MLM are much discussed online — and copied by every person who wants to succeed in the MLM industry.

Currently, he is partners with Bob Scocozzo and Carmen Milazzo and together they produce and market Mia Bella Soy Candles. The growth of the company is nothing short of amazing.

I am not going to write too much about this interview. I am going to let the interview “speak” for itself. I will let you know a few things that are in store for you as you listen to Charlie’s incredible life adventures and sage advice and the methods he discusses.

Charlie has been a student of the Philosophy of Success for quite a long time. He credits much of what he has accomplished because of the books he studied — books like Napoleon Hill’s Think & Grow Rich, Charles F. Haanel‘s The Master Key System (of course!), and Bob Proctor’s You Were Born Rich.

He also credits much of what he’s accomplished to his will to succeed and his focus. He illustrates that in the interview with his story of his parachuting experiences. (You simply must listen to this story. Not only is it inspiring, but it is a life-lesson for all of us.)

Charlie was born in Northeastern Pennsylvania and was a printer for a local newspaper. That was going to be his life, pretty much, until…

On May 1, 1987, Charlie was driving home from a friend’s house when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver. Practically every bone in his body was broken. He was told he would never walk again. He was told he’d never speak normally again. Everyone from doctors to loved ones were preparing him for a life of managed care.

One year later, Charlie was not only walking and talking, he had “re-built” himself better than he was before the accident.

How did he do it?

In the interview, Charlie will tell you about Frank Zane and the auto-suggestion methods they used — methods similar to what is in The Master Key System.

While most would have given up after such a traumatic experience, Charlie didn’t.

He set new goals. He made new plans.

He exceeded his boundaries and became massively successful.

I first met Charlie circa 1995.

Master Key Arcana. The “lost” parts of The Master Key System. “The Hidden Manna.”

That’s what we began this week on the 31st episode of the Master Key Coaching Teleseminars.

I think that this episode may be the most misunderstood episode that I’ve done to date.

There’s a good reason for that.

What we discussed was very tricky subject matter.

Once again we returned to the question whether we can heal ourselves with our minds — whether we can achieve perfect health. While discussing that, I asked more questions than I answered.

Yes, the obvious question was raised: Can we heal (or cure or just plain ol’ achieve perfect health) by having the correct mindset?

There were others, though.

Let’s take what Haanel wrote in point #10 of “The Hidden Manna” in Master Key Arcana (which is Week 25, one of the “lost” parts of The Master Key System).

10. When man’s mind is made perfect, then — and then only — will the body be able perfectly to express itself.

The first question that comes to my mind is, Do we have to achieve perfection or is close enough good enough?

After that, the questions just flow.

What is a mind “made perfect”?

Is that “perfection” unique to each individual or is there an actual state of perfection?

In other words, what does “perfection” — in this specific case — mean?

If there is a state of a mind “made perfect,” can we even achieve it? In other words, can we ever achieve this perfection when perfection rarely — if ever — exists?

Even though we are going to leave these questions unanswered, we are compelled to move on to new ones.

How long does it take for one to achieve this perfection? If we use The Master Key System as the plan for achieving a perfect mind, then we can assume it would be quite a while. Yes, it does take a person twenty-four weeks to go through the method, but it takes longer — much longer — to perfect many of the exercises. (As you know, those of you who have been listening regularly, one doesn’t need to perfect them to gain great value from them!)

That being the case, is it even worth it to get a perfect mind in order to get perfect health because it just might be too late? It might takes years — decades? — to achieve the perfect mind. What if one only has a few years left to live?

Additionally, if a person is being ravaged by a disease, would he or she be able to undertake the rigorous mental work necessary to achieve the perfect mind that would then allow the body to “express perfectly”?

You see, tough questions.

There aren’t many — if any — answers.

I don’t have them. That’s why I posed them during this teleseminar.

They are there for you to answer.

For yourself.

A caller made an excellent point during the Questions & Answers session regarding point #1.

1. We live in a fathomless sea of plastic mind substance. This substance is ever alive and active. It is sensitive to the highest degree. It takes form according to mental demand. Thought forms the mould or matrix from which the substance expresses. Our ideal is the mould from which our future will emerge.

“We live in a fathomless sea of plastic mind substance.”

The caller,

[Added February 21, 2011]

What is Love?

That question — What is love? — has captured the human imagination since … Well, it’s been a long time.

It’s been said that all great literature is about two topics: love and death. One can easily fathom why. They are the two great mysteries of life.

The greatest minds of all the past ages have taken a stab at defining love — from the Biblical prophets to Shakespeare to the comics we see in newspapers across the country every day. What have they discovered?

They’ve found that we really don’t know.

The best that can be said about the definition of love is strangely similar to what Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography in 1962.

I shall not attempt further to define the kinds of materials I understand to be embraced … but I know it when I see it.

In other words, while we can’t define love exactly, we know it when it happens to us. And even if we say to someone that we’re in love (or that we love something), we all understand.

We just can’t define it exactly, like we can with the tangible things in our lives or even other emotions that we have.

So where does that leave us?

Well, we “know” what love is to one degree or another. We’ve felt it (hopefully!) and we fell it for others (once again, hopefully!). We even understand the “shades” of love that we experience — our love for something like ice cream as opposed to the love we feel for our children. We understand the difference between romantic love and love in a friendship.

We got those things.

Now, what does Mr. Haanel say about love?

Charles F. Haanel and Love

Love plays an important part in Haanel’s philosophy, The Master Key System. According to him, it is essential that we feel it because it is, in one sense, the be-all-end-all. In Week Fifteen, Haanel wrote

11. It is love which imparts vitality to thought and thus enables it to germinate. The law of attraction, or the law of love — for they are one and the same — will bring to it the necessary material for its growth and maturity.

In those two sentences, we discover two very important things.

First, we see that love is what makes our thoughts grow. Without love, our thoughts would stagnate. They would have no “push.”

The second thing we find is that the law of attraction is the law of love. They are one and the same!

That’s huge!

Think about it for the moment. What Haanel is saying is that as we feel for something and thirst for its attainment, we will “attract” what we need to make it happen.

Love equals attraction.

In Week Twelve, Haanel wrote this.

19. We find this truth emphasized wherever the power of thought is understood. The Universal Mind is not only Intelligence, but it is substance, and this substance is the attractive force which brings electrons together by the law of attraction so that they form atoms; the atoms in turn are brought together by the same law and form molecules; molecules take objective forms; and so we find that the law of love is the creative force behind every manifestation, not only of atoms, but of worlds, of the Universe, of everything of which the imagination can form any conception.

Yes, love makes the world — and perhaps even the Universe! — go ’round.

Let’s Be Clear About This Love

I think I should make absolutely clear that this love is not the warm, fuzzy, gushing, saccharin love that some think it is.

The Questions & Answers.

This is truly the last section of The Master Key System.

This was the section in the original book in which Haanel answered questions from students of his correspondence course. There is a wealth of information here and it should not be overlooked.

So, we didn’t overlook it.

We made this episode of the Master Key Coaching Teleseminars the big Questions & Answers session.

Please enjoy what we reviewed.

Ready to jump into the Questions & Answers?

Let’s get it on!

“Hewers of Wood”

During our big Questions & Answers session, I reviewed questions from four sources.

* Haanel’s Questions & Answers

* Questions I received from the survey I did before I began these Teleseminars

* Questions I received via email

* Questions during the call

All of those made for a busy evening.

The first questions I reviewed was from Haanel’s Questions & Answers.

“Unless we are willing to think we shall have to work, and the less we think the more we shall work, and the less we shall get for our work.” Is it possible to conceive of a world in which there are no “hewers of wood?”

This question is asking what many of us ask today: Can there ever be a world without people who dig ditches or work the counter at McDonald’s?

In other words, what if everyone succeeded at doing what they wanted to do? Who would do the “grunt work”?

Haanel addresses the question thusly:

Thought has taken much drudgery out of work, but much so-called “scientific management” and “efficiency and engineering systems” look upon millions of human beings as mere machines capable of making so many motions less or more per hour.

To labor is to serve and all service is honorable. But a “hewer of wood” contemplates blind service instead of intelligent service. Labor is the creative instinct in manifestation. Owing to the changes which have taken place in the industrial world, the creative instinct no longer finds expression. A man cannot build his own house, he cannot even make his own garden, he can by no means direct his own labor. He is therefore deprived of the greatest joy which can come to man, the joy of achieving, of creating, of accomplishing, and so this great power is perverted and turned into destructive channels. He can construct nothing for himself so he begins to destroy the works of his more fortunate fellows. Labor is however, finding that the Universe is not a chaos but a cosmos, that it is governed by immutable laws, that every condition is the result of a cause and that the same cause invariably produces the same effect. It is finding that these causes are mental, that thought predetermines action. It is finding that constructive thought brings about constructive conditions and destructive thought brings about destructive conditions.

The “key” here is “blind service instead of intelligent service.” Now, this goes beyond the old — and tired — adage “Don’t work harder, work smarter.” Haanel is referring here to thinking. Plain and simple thinking instead of following.

Thinking is, as you know, one of the main skills you should acquire from studying The Master Key System. Here, Haanel is once again imploring us to think; to not just follow a recipe or dictums, but to really and truly think.

That being said, Haanel defines labor as the “creative instinct in manifestation.”

Instinct. That’s something at the root of it. At the core. It’s what drives us. It’s what produces the things around us.

Week 24 of The Master Key System.

It’s the end. After twenty-three weeks of study and exercises, after twenty-seven weeks of these Master Key Coaching Teleseminars, we come to an end.

That end is just the beginning, though.

The point is to use this knowledge and these methods to attain what you want from life.

You do that by thinking, by concentrating, by seeing the world as it truly is, by planning, and then by taking action.

You now know how to do all of those things. You know how to think. You know how to solve problems. You know how to see a plan in it entirety.

It’s up to you, now, to take action.

That’s when the alchemy begins.

The Letter of Transmittal

Week 24 is a very metaphysical lesson. It’s meant by Haanel to tie things together in a neat bundle. It’s meant to be a send-off of sorts. It’s meant to be the final word.

It’s all of those.

If you have practiced each of the exercises a few minutes every day, as suggested, you will have found that you can get out of life exactly what you wish by first putting into life that which you wish, and you will probably agree with the student who said: “The thought is almost overwhelming, so vast, so available, so definite, so reasonable, and so usable.”

“You can get out of life exactly what you wish by first putting into life that which you wish.”

Those are some powerful words.

As we now know, we have to “give to get.” We have to engage in life, grab the proverbial bull by the proverbial horns. We do that by thinking — truly thinking — and taking opportunities as we become aware of them.

An understanding of this principle, I believe, is the secret for which the ancient Alchemists vainly sought, because it explains how gold in the mind may be transmuted into gold in the heart and in the hand.

We all have something to offer. We’re all in possession of the “greatest treasure in the Universe.”

We only need to unlock it and allow it to grow.

When you do so, “you may reach degrees of power to which it is impossible to assign any limit.”

Go into the Silence

For every exercise, Haanel always instructed that we take our usual position and go into the Silence.

The Silence.

It’s the place where we “hear” our thoughts. It’s the place where problems are solved and ideas are hatched.

8. As all conditions are thought creations and therefore entirely mental, disease and lack are simply mental conditions in which the person fails to perceive the truth. As soon as the error is removed, the condition is removed.

9. The method for removing this error is to go into the Silence and know the Truth. As all mind is one mind, you can do this for yourself or anyone else. If you have learned to form mental images of the conditions desired, this will be the easiest and quickest way to secure results; if not, results can be accomplished by argument, by the process of convincing yourself absolutely of the truth of your statement.

We also use the Silence to “know the Truth.”

We use the Silence to clear our thoughts (as we’ve been taught and as we’ve exercised) and escape from the world of shadows and shibboleths. We then see things as they are — as they truly are.

We begin to perceive the Truth.

The Truth

“The Truth shall set you free” is the saying.

It also works.

19. Truth is not the result of logical training or of experimentation, or even of observation; it is the product of a developed Consciousness. Truth within a Caesar manifests in a Caesar’s deportment, in his life,

Week 23 of The Master Key System is a biggie. It’s the chapter that discusses what everybody really wants to know: How does one make money and get rich?

For the past twenty-two weeks, we’ve been learning quite a few things and doing quite a few different exercises. We’ve learned how our mind works, how the world works, even, to one extent or another, how the Universe works.

That’s all fine and good.

I’ve been publishing the books of Charles F. Haanel for over ten years. I’ve written numerous articles about Haanel’s philosophy. I’ve been quoted, written about, interviewed, and referred to. Heck! I’ve even been deferred to a few times. I’ve been coaching people in this philosophy for more than a few years — and I’ve yielded some awesome results for my coaching clients.

Through all that time and through all those experiences, above all else, what people ask me the most — “most” being about 99.99% of the time — is …

How do we use this “stuff” to get rich?

Of course, those aren’t the words that are used. Some people want to “share in the abundance” or “receive the gifts from the Universe.”

I call a spade a spade. We want to know how we can get rich. Plain and simple.

It’s why we read these books. It’s why we want to improve ourselves.

And it’s OK. Money plays a big part of our lives. We should want more. We should get more. We should attain more.

Luckily, Week 23 explains how all of that is possible.

The Letter of Transmittal

The “Letter of Transmittal” for Week 23 is awesome. There’s so much in just this one page of text that a person could spend a week just studying it alone.

That being the case, here is the “Letter” in its entirety.

In the part which I have the honor to transmit herewith, you will find that money weaves itself into the entire fabric of our very existence; that the law of success is service; that we get what we give and for this reason we should consider it a great privilege to be able to give.

We have found that thought is the creative activity behind every constructive enterprise. We can therefore give nothing of more practical value than our thought.

Creative thought requires attention, and the power of attention is, as we have found, the weapon of the Super-man. Attention develops concentration, and concentration develops Spiritual Power, and Spiritual Power is the mightiest force in existence.

This is the science which embraces all sciences. It is the art which, above all arts, is relevant to human life. In the mastery of this science and this art there is opportunity for unending progression. Perfection in this is not acquired in six days, or in six weeks, or in six months. It is the labor of a life. Not to go forward is to go backward.

It is inevitable that the entertainment of positive, constructive, and unselfish thoughts should have a far-reaching effect for good. Compensation is the key-note of the universe. Nature is constantly seeking to strike an equilibrium. Where something is sent out, something must be received, else there should be a vacuum formed. By observance of this rule you cannot fail to profit in such measure as to amply justify your effort along this line.

What’s in there is everything that we have learned ...

We’re at Week 22 of The Master Key System — and many people cannot believe it! Through the past twenty-six weeks, we’ve discussed what Haanel wrote and how we can apply it to our lives. As many discovered, it’s not that difficult. It just takes some practice, a dash or perseverance, and just a tad of honing the ideas.

The practice part is obvious. Not only did Haanel provide us with exercises, but we have to practice applying them properly. Review all the articles I wrote. Listen again to the recordings of the Teleseminars. Many of the answers are there. If not, there’s always Master Key Coaching.

Perseverance is something that gets down-played. It shouldn’t. It’s the glue that ties all this “stuff” together.

Please realize that changes will not happen over-night. Quite frankly, they might not happen in a week or a month or even a year. It takes persistent effort — “persistent” being the key word there — to make positive changes.

They will come, though. Sometimes suddenly. Sometimes gradually. It doesn’t matter. The fact that they comes does matter.

Finally, we have to hone the ideas to fit our problems and to fit our situations. As I probably have said too many times to count, this stuff — this Master Key System and any personal development in general — is philosophy, not dogma. It’s meant to be shaped and molded, to be discussed and argued.

Along with that, it’s meant to be picked for nuance. Instead of blanket statements and over-generalized bromides, we’re supposed to take this philosophy and apply it properly to different aspects of our lives. Just as we wouldn’t use a sledgehammer to drive a carpenter’s nail into a delicate piece of wood, so we shouldn’t take a general statement from The Master Key System and apply it to every aspect of our lives.

The right tool for the right job.

That brings me to a little bit of a flashback. I want to return to something we discussed way back in Episode #2 of these Teleseminars in order to hone it and help to make better sense of it.

All set? Let’s go…

I Don’t Want to Be All Negative Again, But…

In the second episode of these Teleseminars, someone asked a question about negative people and how we should distance ourselves from them, especially if they are family or close friends.

I answered that pushing away those close to us is generally a bad idea. Not only is it not nice, but it can cause some real damage. I suggested that we should work in silence and let the results speak for themselves rather than looking for encouragement from anyone except those who can really help us or move us toward our goals.

A few people emailed me questions about this topic and one person left a very intelligent comment about it. I hope what I write here will answer those questions and those questions that are unasked about negative people.

First, let’s talk about family members or close friends whom we might consider to be negative. Should we just chuck them from our lives?

The answer to that is a resounding no.

There are far too many stories of families becoming broken when one of the members takes the “get rid of negative people” mantra to far or too literally. Steve Salerno, the author of