Bill Stacy
25th December 2008, 01:24 PM
Hi, this is not just another Christmas message. Unplanned and motivated by receiving a myriad of Christmas emails to "Dear Username" I sat down and wrote this essay. I hope it adds something to your Christmas thoughts.
************************************************** **
Ah, the trusty Christmas email sent out to the mailing list. How many have you received so far?
I sat back yesterday (and the preceding days) and received a heap of mailing list Christmas emails. Dozens came flying in on wisps of Christmas cheer towed behind cyber reindeers which for all intents and purposes could have been called "Sender", "Receiver", "Server" and "Cloggen", "Username", "Servername", "Listname" and "Dryreachin".
I thought, "isn't this nice?". These guys don't really know me and yet here they are sending me Christmas greetings like we're old friends. Sending out an email is so easy these days and sending out an email to thousands of subscribers is just as easy (arguably easier). How fake, how superficial, how transparent, how impersonal and yet if they are not sent it could be construed as taking your mailing list, your client base and therefore (I presume) your business for granted but then I thought "maybe they do care".
Perhaps (I thought) they are reaching out through this vast (but tiny) cyberspace that we have all created to me and all the others who have helped them create a better life for themselves. Maybe they do care about me. Obviously not me personally but they do raise a good point. Where would we be without connection - even cyber connection? Would we know as many people? Would we have even a fleeting connection with as many people in our lives?
I've been resisting sending out a Christmas email this Christmas. Not because I'm a 'Scrooge' or because I couldn't be bothered but just because I wasn't sure what I could be sincere about. Then it hit me. It was obvious that I MUST send this out so I sat down and a choreography of keystrokes later I wrote this...
I want to honestly thank you for giving me hope. For offering me a way out of my previous job as a slave to a job. You may not have bought any of my products yet or maybe you are my biggest supporter but enough of you have supported me over the last 4 years for me to be truly grateful.
December 25th is a great day. It brings together people who sometimes don't see each other all year and yet for this one day they (in most cases) put aside all differences and come together for one reason. To connect and be grateful for the people in your life.
But for me December 21st is the real celebration. December 21st 2004 was the last day I ever went to work. This year December 21st was my 1440th day off in a row. That's 4 years of not having to go to a job, 4 years of not having to answer to a boss (though my last boss was a great guy - Hi Dale!) and my last co-worker was a top comedian and a terrific guy (Hi Steve!) but that was a fluke. Most of the 50 or so jobs I had before that were not very pleasant experiences. At least not once the novelty of starting a new job wore off. Invariably I found myself hunting for the joy of the job? Where was it? Why was I so miserable?
I'm only in my 40s and many people retire in their 40s so what makes me special and what makes it worth mentioning in this email. Special? You'll have to ask my Mum. Why am I mentioning it in this email? Because it is my mailing list that I am truly grateful for. Every time I run a special or bring out another product or announce a training session you all support me. Whenever I think "who will buy my latest offering?" I think of my mailing list. You have asked me to include you in my life, to share my ideas and words with you and for that I must be grateful...and I am. I truly am.
That may seem a bit crass to some of you but it's true and I never take you guys for granted. When I first discovered options and options trading I can honestly say (and I've said this many times before) I didn't think "Wow! I'm going to be rich!" I thought (and I can remember this clearly) "Far out! We're going to be rich!! We-are-going-to-be-rich! Finally a way out of having to work at a job for money. That to me was a revelation and I felt saved.
I wonder, do you feel trapped in your job? Do you feel that there MUST be more to life than getting up in the morning upset and angry that yet again you have to go and put yourself through the degrading dance of pretending that life is as good as it's ever going to get and that you are grateful to your boss or employer for the amazing opportunity to earn a few hundred dollars a week?
I can appreciate (or should I say hallucinate?) that some of you love your jobs and would do them happily and cheerfully for free with no pay but I'm going to guess that the overwhelming majority of you would rather have enough money to be able to spend your days doing what you want? Imagine that. Doing anything you want all day every day.
I laughed one day when I was putting forth this concept of total freedom and was greeted with the incredible sounds of "I reckon I'd be bored" floating across the room at me. If words had substance I would have dodged and weaved to avoid them but they hit my ears and I had to laugh out loud. That didn't go down very well but this poor guy was so entrenched in the inevitability of having to go to work that he had actually created a good reason for going. To avoid boredom. Can you imagine something that sad?
Imagine that you didn't have to go to work next week. Imagine not having to get up to the sickening sound of that horrid alarm clock ever again. Imagine waking up to a yawn and a stretch with the sun up and the birds chirping away off in the distance. Imagine lying there thinking "what am I going to do today?". Should I go shopping? Should I fire up my favourite Hotrod and take it for a spin up through the hills or out on the highway?
Should I reach for my jacket and helmet and fire up the old iron steed and find some sweeping corners to lean into? Or, should I just go for a swim in the ocean or my shimmering, inviting, crystal clear oddly shaped swimming pool?
Perhaps I could do a quick ring around and invite all my friends (no matter where they lived) around for a dusk BBQ with a view. I imagine myself living in a large house in California on a large spread of land with (of course) a 20 car garage surrounded by friends punctuated by laughter and the chinking of glass.
I imagine coming up with great travel ideas and crazy purchases or fun things that bring fleeting joy into my life but don't worry; I also imagine the lasting joy of helping those less fortunate. Can you imagine the look on your friend's face when you hand them a cheque to pay off their mortgage? Can you envisage the look on the face of the recipient family when you organise your own backyard blitz or amazing home makeover for a family that really deserves a break?
I imagine having enough money to not only lead the life I want but to have the power to change lives. To bring the unexpected into people's lives. If you had enough money would you not feed all the world's hungry? Wouldn't you want to buy joy on people's faces? Yes, you can buy joy by being generous and thoughtful and giving people a chance in life they would never have and so I ask you. How much money is enough money? Can you ever really have enough? Is it evil to have money? Is it bad to want more?
Isn't it natural to want to grow bigger and larger in every way (said Bill patting his belly). Seriously though let's think about nature. Does a tree grow small if it can grow tall? Given nourishment, the opportunity and resources would a tree not grow as large as it possibly could. Would not a blade of grass just keep growing as tall and strong as possible? Does not nature reach for the sun? So what's so different about us?
Have you ever had anyone try to make you feel guilty for wanting more from life? Have you ever tried to share with someone an amazing opportunity to make more money only to have them do their best to make you feel greedy or that making, having and sharing more money is an unnatural thing to have, want or desire? Imagine if everyone you wanted to share this opportunity we all have was supportive and inquisitive enough to make it work?
Imagine if we all lived the lives we wanted. Imagine if we all had enough money. Enough money to live in total comfort without fear. Do you think the crime rate would fall? How much crime is about money? How much hunger can be avoided with money? How much illness could be eliminated if the researchers had enough money to fully investigate all their imagined cures?
There is nothing wrong with money. There is nothing wrong with having more of it that you did yesterday. There is nothing wrong with sharing with people how they can make more money and there is nothing wrong with wanting as much of it as you can get your hands on and you know why? Because money is not the point. It's not about money.
I don't like money, I don't love money nor do I want more of it...just for the sake of having more of it. I want the freedom it can bring. I have often said, if bright yellow Hotrods with huge (slightly too loud) powerful engines with really fat rear tyres and a large comfortable home cost $10...I'd only need $10.
I want to wonder what tomorrow will bring. I don't want to know exactly what tomorrow will bring and be sad for it ahead of time the night before. I want to be sure that if I get a feeling or a thought of a way I can help someone or myself or even a stranger I can. I want to be able to travel anywhere on this planet and experience it all because I realise one thing...life is fleeting.
At any moment you can be struck down with illness. At any moment a friend of yours might be in need. At any time today or tomorrow a badness might befall you or someone you love and the absolute last thing you want to have to do is say "I wish I could help...but I have to go to work" or "I'd love to help but I'm broke". "how sad that I (or you) can't afford that treatment or joy or experience"...all because we don't have enough money.
So, while you are enjoying your Christmas break, while you are enjoying the company of the people you love, while your enjoying your new gift that you weren't expecting and while you enjoy giving the gift that wasn't expected just think to yourself...
Imagine if every day was like this.
Be all you can be. Have all you can have. Help all you can help and live life to the fullest. You deserve it, I deserve it, we all deserve it.
In 2009 I plan on bringing the opportunity to experience the joy of financial freedom into your life through my education and training but it's not only to enrich my life it is also to enrich your life and the life of others who you will have the opportunity to help. If you chose to take me up on it then we will have a great year but if you plan to follow your own dreams using any other method I will be just as happy.
Merry Christmas and may nature shower you with health, wealth and freedom.
To good health, good friends and good times. I believe in you and I believe in all of us. Together (if we truly believe we can) we can massively change our lives and those around us.
Make 2009 your year!
Sincerely.
************************************************** **
Ah, the trusty Christmas email sent out to the mailing list. How many have you received so far?
I sat back yesterday (and the preceding days) and received a heap of mailing list Christmas emails. Dozens came flying in on wisps of Christmas cheer towed behind cyber reindeers which for all intents and purposes could have been called "Sender", "Receiver", "Server" and "Cloggen", "Username", "Servername", "Listname" and "Dryreachin".
I thought, "isn't this nice?". These guys don't really know me and yet here they are sending me Christmas greetings like we're old friends. Sending out an email is so easy these days and sending out an email to thousands of subscribers is just as easy (arguably easier). How fake, how superficial, how transparent, how impersonal and yet if they are not sent it could be construed as taking your mailing list, your client base and therefore (I presume) your business for granted but then I thought "maybe they do care".
Perhaps (I thought) they are reaching out through this vast (but tiny) cyberspace that we have all created to me and all the others who have helped them create a better life for themselves. Maybe they do care about me. Obviously not me personally but they do raise a good point. Where would we be without connection - even cyber connection? Would we know as many people? Would we have even a fleeting connection with as many people in our lives?
I've been resisting sending out a Christmas email this Christmas. Not because I'm a 'Scrooge' or because I couldn't be bothered but just because I wasn't sure what I could be sincere about. Then it hit me. It was obvious that I MUST send this out so I sat down and a choreography of keystrokes later I wrote this...
I want to honestly thank you for giving me hope. For offering me a way out of my previous job as a slave to a job. You may not have bought any of my products yet or maybe you are my biggest supporter but enough of you have supported me over the last 4 years for me to be truly grateful.
December 25th is a great day. It brings together people who sometimes don't see each other all year and yet for this one day they (in most cases) put aside all differences and come together for one reason. To connect and be grateful for the people in your life.
But for me December 21st is the real celebration. December 21st 2004 was the last day I ever went to work. This year December 21st was my 1440th day off in a row. That's 4 years of not having to go to a job, 4 years of not having to answer to a boss (though my last boss was a great guy - Hi Dale!) and my last co-worker was a top comedian and a terrific guy (Hi Steve!) but that was a fluke. Most of the 50 or so jobs I had before that were not very pleasant experiences. At least not once the novelty of starting a new job wore off. Invariably I found myself hunting for the joy of the job? Where was it? Why was I so miserable?
I'm only in my 40s and many people retire in their 40s so what makes me special and what makes it worth mentioning in this email. Special? You'll have to ask my Mum. Why am I mentioning it in this email? Because it is my mailing list that I am truly grateful for. Every time I run a special or bring out another product or announce a training session you all support me. Whenever I think "who will buy my latest offering?" I think of my mailing list. You have asked me to include you in my life, to share my ideas and words with you and for that I must be grateful...and I am. I truly am.
That may seem a bit crass to some of you but it's true and I never take you guys for granted. When I first discovered options and options trading I can honestly say (and I've said this many times before) I didn't think "Wow! I'm going to be rich!" I thought (and I can remember this clearly) "Far out! We're going to be rich!! We-are-going-to-be-rich! Finally a way out of having to work at a job for money. That to me was a revelation and I felt saved.
I wonder, do you feel trapped in your job? Do you feel that there MUST be more to life than getting up in the morning upset and angry that yet again you have to go and put yourself through the degrading dance of pretending that life is as good as it's ever going to get and that you are grateful to your boss or employer for the amazing opportunity to earn a few hundred dollars a week?
I can appreciate (or should I say hallucinate?) that some of you love your jobs and would do them happily and cheerfully for free with no pay but I'm going to guess that the overwhelming majority of you would rather have enough money to be able to spend your days doing what you want? Imagine that. Doing anything you want all day every day.
I laughed one day when I was putting forth this concept of total freedom and was greeted with the incredible sounds of "I reckon I'd be bored" floating across the room at me. If words had substance I would have dodged and weaved to avoid them but they hit my ears and I had to laugh out loud. That didn't go down very well but this poor guy was so entrenched in the inevitability of having to go to work that he had actually created a good reason for going. To avoid boredom. Can you imagine something that sad?
Imagine that you didn't have to go to work next week. Imagine not having to get up to the sickening sound of that horrid alarm clock ever again. Imagine waking up to a yawn and a stretch with the sun up and the birds chirping away off in the distance. Imagine lying there thinking "what am I going to do today?". Should I go shopping? Should I fire up my favourite Hotrod and take it for a spin up through the hills or out on the highway?
Should I reach for my jacket and helmet and fire up the old iron steed and find some sweeping corners to lean into? Or, should I just go for a swim in the ocean or my shimmering, inviting, crystal clear oddly shaped swimming pool?
Perhaps I could do a quick ring around and invite all my friends (no matter where they lived) around for a dusk BBQ with a view. I imagine myself living in a large house in California on a large spread of land with (of course) a 20 car garage surrounded by friends punctuated by laughter and the chinking of glass.
I imagine coming up with great travel ideas and crazy purchases or fun things that bring fleeting joy into my life but don't worry; I also imagine the lasting joy of helping those less fortunate. Can you imagine the look on your friend's face when you hand them a cheque to pay off their mortgage? Can you envisage the look on the face of the recipient family when you organise your own backyard blitz or amazing home makeover for a family that really deserves a break?
I imagine having enough money to not only lead the life I want but to have the power to change lives. To bring the unexpected into people's lives. If you had enough money would you not feed all the world's hungry? Wouldn't you want to buy joy on people's faces? Yes, you can buy joy by being generous and thoughtful and giving people a chance in life they would never have and so I ask you. How much money is enough money? Can you ever really have enough? Is it evil to have money? Is it bad to want more?
Isn't it natural to want to grow bigger and larger in every way (said Bill patting his belly). Seriously though let's think about nature. Does a tree grow small if it can grow tall? Given nourishment, the opportunity and resources would a tree not grow as large as it possibly could. Would not a blade of grass just keep growing as tall and strong as possible? Does not nature reach for the sun? So what's so different about us?
Have you ever had anyone try to make you feel guilty for wanting more from life? Have you ever tried to share with someone an amazing opportunity to make more money only to have them do their best to make you feel greedy or that making, having and sharing more money is an unnatural thing to have, want or desire? Imagine if everyone you wanted to share this opportunity we all have was supportive and inquisitive enough to make it work?
Imagine if we all lived the lives we wanted. Imagine if we all had enough money. Enough money to live in total comfort without fear. Do you think the crime rate would fall? How much crime is about money? How much hunger can be avoided with money? How much illness could be eliminated if the researchers had enough money to fully investigate all their imagined cures?
There is nothing wrong with money. There is nothing wrong with having more of it that you did yesterday. There is nothing wrong with sharing with people how they can make more money and there is nothing wrong with wanting as much of it as you can get your hands on and you know why? Because money is not the point. It's not about money.
I don't like money, I don't love money nor do I want more of it...just for the sake of having more of it. I want the freedom it can bring. I have often said, if bright yellow Hotrods with huge (slightly too loud) powerful engines with really fat rear tyres and a large comfortable home cost $10...I'd only need $10.
I want to wonder what tomorrow will bring. I don't want to know exactly what tomorrow will bring and be sad for it ahead of time the night before. I want to be sure that if I get a feeling or a thought of a way I can help someone or myself or even a stranger I can. I want to be able to travel anywhere on this planet and experience it all because I realise one thing...life is fleeting.
At any moment you can be struck down with illness. At any moment a friend of yours might be in need. At any time today or tomorrow a badness might befall you or someone you love and the absolute last thing you want to have to do is say "I wish I could help...but I have to go to work" or "I'd love to help but I'm broke". "how sad that I (or you) can't afford that treatment or joy or experience"...all because we don't have enough money.
So, while you are enjoying your Christmas break, while you are enjoying the company of the people you love, while your enjoying your new gift that you weren't expecting and while you enjoy giving the gift that wasn't expected just think to yourself...
Imagine if every day was like this.
Be all you can be. Have all you can have. Help all you can help and live life to the fullest. You deserve it, I deserve it, we all deserve it.
In 2009 I plan on bringing the opportunity to experience the joy of financial freedom into your life through my education and training but it's not only to enrich my life it is also to enrich your life and the life of others who you will have the opportunity to help. If you chose to take me up on it then we will have a great year but if you plan to follow your own dreams using any other method I will be just as happy.
Merry Christmas and may nature shower you with health, wealth and freedom.
To good health, good friends and good times. I believe in you and I believe in all of us. Together (if we truly believe we can) we can massively change our lives and those around us.
Make 2009 your year!
Sincerely.