Hi,

I was wanting to introduce this after my post on Immortality, which you can read here: http://motivationselfesteem.com/talk/766/immortality.htm but a couple of things intervened, so I have had to delay it. Until now…

I think about these things a lot. Hence, much of my work here is focussed on helping others, like YOU, to become the very best that you can be while you still have the GIFT OF LIFE. And it is a gift. Your life or the lives of your friends or loved ones can be taken from you in an INSTANT in any one of a thousand ways. None of us are going to live much past 70 or 80 years, unless some massive breakthrough is made in medical science. Therefore, our time on this planet is so very short.

My question to YOU is this – are you using your GIFT wisely or are you doing what so many do, are you wasting it?

Are you using your God-given talents or are you afraid to for fear of ridicule or abuse or failure? Is your life a magnificent obsession or are you simply wanting to tip-toe through to the other side hoping not to be noticed by anybody?

When my wonderful friend Marina Gillett died unexpectedly at age 40 my life was thrown into turmoil for the second time because of the loss of somebody close to me who died far too young. I kept asking myself over and over again, how could somebody so beautiful and so wonderful and so incredibly talented and so loving be taken from her family and friends at such a young age? WHY? Marina died in her sleep of an undiagnosed and very rare heart condition.

Marina and I shared a special bond in that we were so alike in the things that we held precious and important. She had so much more to give but she was never given the chance. Her life was cut far too short. I won’t go on too much here but this lady was a very special person to me and I miss her deeply.

This started me thinking about life in general and the legacies that we leave behind.

What can I, and indeed others, do to make our marks in this world and be remembered for something good? Far too many people are remembered for bad deeds and heinous crimes but there really is overwhelming good in this world. [For isntance, there are many wonderful people who visit this blog of mine and I am very proud to have met them and been given the opportunity to interact with them.]

I kept thinking about this whole mortality/immortality issue and one day, in 2003, I was inspired to write a short story called, “The Power of Choice.” Here is the cover.

The Power of Choice - Gary Simpson

I believe it to be my very best piece of written expression (to date). I also believe that I had a power working through me when I penned this story. I am not religious but I have deep spiritual beliefs. So let me tell you just a little bit about it and how it came to be…

I have to say that when I wrote “The Power of Choice” it almost wrote itself. I often think that something divine coursed through me that day. I had no idea where the story was coming from. The words just assembled in my head and virtually demanded to be written. Within a couple of hours it was done, virtually as you will see it when you click on the link below. This story just kept coming and coming. And when I finished writing it (by hand) I was mentally exhausted. I put it down for a few hours and rested before I came back to read it. And when I did, I wondered, “WOW! Did I just write that?” I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t!

Yes, I know I can write. I have a talent for it and I have worked very hard to polish this talent for many, many years. But plain writing and story-telling are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT things. The Power of Choice is story-telling.

Over the years, this story has been downloaded hundreds and hundreds of times into over 40 countries. I stopped counting years ago. I have had dozens and dozens of wonderful emails telling me how what I have written has transformed lives. Can you believe that? Me! I have had a hand in doing that. Wow (again)!

So many people have emailed me telling me all sorts of very personal reactions they had after reading it. Some quotes are included in the e-book but I have so many more. In fact, they would almost fill an e-book themselves (or double the size of PoC). Most people have told me that they have cried their eyes out. Anyway…

… I would like to offer it to YOU. There is no opt-in or any messing around here. I think it is just too important. I simply want to get the message to you. It only takes about 15 minutes to read. It is very moving and you may want to print it out and read it in private. I also believe that if you take this story into your heart you will never look back.

For any students of the Alex Jeffreys Internet Marketing Course who are wavering, not sure whether they will push on and take ACTION or slip back into inertia and do nothing (or just keep looking for that elusive “Holy Grail” of success) then I URGE you to read the “Power of Choice.”

Just below is the direct download – my very precious gift to YOU…

I give you THE POWER OF CHOICE – [Link disabled on July 8th, 2010 – see side bar now]

PS: I would be most interested in your comments after you read it. Thank you.

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
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Hello,

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this post today. It is completely unintended as I had something else that I wanted to offer concerning a follow up to my post on the issue of mortality/immortality. But that can wait a bit longer.

Something immediately important has intervened. I must also admit that the subject of this matter has been weighing on my mind for quite some time. I have mentioned it via email to a few. Plus, I have just received an email from a friend who has been threatened with the sack for what that person (the friend who will NOT be identified) wrote on their website. The information that was posted by that person is now being used against them by somebody in the same employment – VERY unfairly, in my opinion. But this is happening nevertheless.

WARNING:

I IMPLORE you all to be VERY CAREFUL about what you say online both in posts and comments and ALSO in emails. These can be and are PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. I will have more to say about emails in the commentry of this post if people want to engage me in this important matter. (But I could understand why many will be reluctant to do that once they read this).

Before going on with this – coz I am in big time RANT mode over it and I can feel it brewing (just warning you if you want to bug out now – LOL) – I want to tell you what happened when I took my pupsters for their walk yesterday. I want to do this because something in my mind is telling me that the two issues are connected.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY PUPPIES YESTERDAY:

This really upset me yesterday…

My beautiful, innocent, defenceless, peace loving puppies were attacked by this big, vicious, unrestrained dog – a Rhodesian Ridgeback, I think. This vicious effen thing just bolted at my oldest girl with hackles up, fangs bared and saliva dribbling off its ugly mouth. It lunged hideously and snapped at her and I had to place myself in the way of this bloody ugly, vicious, mongrel bitch of a thing. I literally screamed at the owner (who was standing nearby) to control his beast and, fortunately, for ALL concerned, something really nasty was averted. At least he had the sense to call his dog off and drag it away.

That attack dog could have torn both my girls to pieces. I was so fearful and angry at what happened. You see I had visions of both my girls being ripped and torn and broken and bleeding and panting with their eyes bulging, frightened beyond belief. And if that had have happened then I would have exploded.

PROTECTING YOURSELF ONLINE:

And here is my segue. I have been thinking about that, a LOT. I am very guarded in walking past that house now. But my point is this – people are NO different. We have people who love peace, social interaction, sharing and being nice to others and we have people who madly want aggravation, victimisation, conflict and war.

Getting back to my opening comments…

PERFECT EXAMPLE OF ONLINE VICTIMISATION:

My friend has now decided to take his/her comments down. You see, my friend is now being threatened with the sack for putting a point of view. And here is the kicker – at NO stage did my friend name the company concerned. This proves to me that this friend of mine was being monitored. In other words, it was KNOWN that this person had a blog and that this particular blog was being monitored and watched like a hawk for information that could be used in a vindictive manner to cause trouble.

MY WARNING FOR YOU:

Folks, your blogs and comments can be monitored. They are public documents. As soon as you hit that publish button they are out there – for the entire WORLD to see. If you say that your job is boring, unchallenging, you hate it or anything else then be careful. Somebody may decide to use your comments against you.

The law (I am not a lawyer BTW but I have a pretty fair appreciation, from many years of business, of the way that things are viewed in a legal sense) does not make a distinction on the ephemeral nature of what is published – only that it HAS been published. Remember, even if you publish something for a short time there is still the cache and there is also a thing called the “Way Back Machine” that can store screen captures for months.

A PERSONAL EXAMPLE:

Recently, I had the occasion to warn a certain person who made completely false, misleading and defamatory remarks about a member of an Association that I am involved in. His public criticism of this person, who he named indirectly (but EVERYONE knew absolutely who it was), was ongoing and unrelenting and very hurtful to this guy – basically because it was a pack of lies.

What the “attacker” was doing, in this instance, was publishing a pile of SH*T, making a big joke of it then taking it down the next day to publish more SH*T. He thought he was so clever and entertaining. He also thought that by putting his comments there and then taking them down fairly quickly that he was pretty safe.

Eventually I got sick of seeing this very unprofessional jealousy so I stepped in on behalf of the victim who, incidentally, is a very nice 73 year old man.

I warned the aggressor that he faced damages for slander. He scoffed at that so I asked him for PROOF of what he was saying. His reply was that it was his opinion. To which I replied that his “opinion” was completely false, baseless and defamatory, not to mention VERY embarrasing and hurtful to his victim. I also said to him that the member was considering taking it to a lawyer. That was when he had a big “re-think” and promised to take down ALL remaining references quickly and discontinue his stupidity.

His “understanding” was that since it was ONLY a web document and that he could publish and remove material at his whim that it wasn’t actionable. I told him to think again (re the cache, plus the fact that several members were copying his rubbish into word documents as proof). I then mentioned to him that a slanderous newspaper article lasted only for a day but the fact was that it was published, could be seen by millions of people and could be tendered as proof. I also mentioned that many very heavy financial penalties have been inflicted against newspapers and magazines for this very sort of thing.

The penny finally dropped for this guy. He made an UNRESERVED apology on his website and we all let the matter go at that. BIG lesson for him. It could have gotten very nasty if indeed we had decided to pursue it in the same manner that he was publishing his daily garbage.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOU IF YOU ARE AN EMPLOYEE:

… if you are an employee and you are using a business computer to post or comment or do whatever in your work time then KNOW this:

– Your contract of employment may have a clause in it that addresses “private” computer use.

Now, I am not trying to scare anyone but I have grave fears that include the fact that there are teams of people set up by many businesses specifically to monitor IT use. IF your business has an IT team or a dedicated professional person then YOU need to be wary. PLEASE.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

Look, I can get away with all sorts of things on my blog (within reason) coz the only person I report to is me. My computers are mine and I do all this in MY time. But even I have to be careful concerning public comments.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE:

On this subject I might also add that a certain somebody published what I considered to be defamatory commentary about another certain person on my site and I promptly removed it. Folks, YOU CAN’T DO THAT. It is ACTIONABLE! If the person is named (which this person certainly was) or easily identified through position or reference or association then it is defamatory to make disparaging remarks (which these certainly were). I could go on and on about this… “Please Gary… DON’T! We get the message.” OK.

PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM POSSIBLE HARM:

PLEASE look after your personal and professional interests. PROTECT yourself. If you have something that you just need to say then do what I do sometimes and “code” it. Use innuendo. Keep people guessing. Does he/she mean that or not? You can get your message across.

Maybe it might be wise just to “scan” the posts on YOUR blog to see if there is anything there that says “too much” and/or could be used against you – for whatever reason. If so, it is easy to do just a simple edit.

CONSEQUENCES:

Now, specifically on the matter that my friend is facing – ie being sacked. I have no doubt that the political so-called “human resource” and “manager” types that enjoy taking other people down are trolling all the social media sites hunting their targets. They are the attack dogs who get their jollies and their reputations and often their rotten promotions by climbing and clawing over decent people who make simple errors of judgement.

As I keep saying – protect yourself. Also, on that score DO NOT publish sensitive personal information on your blog, your website or ANY of the social media sites. This includes names of parents, partners, pets, birthdays, addresses or anything else that trollers can used to “home” in on you. You will notice in the photos of my dogs that I will not even name them, and I state the reason why. Go and take a look.

IS THIS PARANOIA ON MY PART?

Yes, I will probably be accused by some of being paranoid. I have been accused of that many times and even by certain members of the F500, one of whom attempted to ridicule me in front of others. But get this… I don’t care!

IN CLOSING:

Before closing, let me leave you with this – what IF (and this is only IF) some “attack dog” was collecting information on you over a period of time to use against you at a time of their own choosing? Paranoid? Maybe. But YOU need to make your decision on all this. I am just throwing it out there because of what my friend is now being subjected to.

There is EVIL in the world folks. And there are indeed evil people and those who will do ANYTHING for personal gain. Keep your wits about you. That is my MAIN message here.

Please… just look after yourself.

PS1: I am thinking of each and every one of YOU here. Some of the F500 I am rather close to and some I am very close to and many I don’t even know at all. I would hate to see anything hurt any of the people who come here or who I know through interaction either via blog commentry or in private email. Hence, my strong CONCERN over all this. If you think that what I said is over-the-top or mis-placed then that’s OK. Just look after yourselves – that is all I ask. If you do that then my comments here will not have been in vain. Thank you.

PS2: Click on the banner below for some awesome information on how you can grab your lifestyle:

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
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Well, here it is – my Motivational Moment Video #2 [4 min 40 sec]. So, what is it about?

In short, I discuss a tremendous piece of wisdom from the world’s most successful investor – I figure he probably knows a thing or two or three…

I am sitting in my GAZZebo on the level just above my swimming pool. You can see and hear the water cascading into the pool from the two gargoyles that sit on top of a structure (to the left in the video). You can see the endless greenery of my tropical garden too – I mean, why the hell would I want to go to any tropical resort when I have built one of my very own. Huh?

The shade kinda darkens my face a bit but the audio is fine. There are other things to see in the video too. Can you see the bottle of plonk hanging up behind me? When I partake of a nice red wine I like to lynch it up and hang it from a prominent position as a trophy. That was a Pepperjack Shiraz, a nice little drop if I do say so myself.

You will also see “Lonely Street” – another little trophy that I brought back from Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee. That is just ONE of many dozens of trophies I brought back. Like I said before Lisa-Marie Presley probably loves dills like me – LOL! “Thank ya verra march Gazz-Man!” … as she walks down Rodeo Drive, Beverley Hills, looking for a pair of shoes costing more than my entire FN GAZZebo.

Also in the video is a little something for our friend the Purple Minxy Witch aka Her Royal Purpleness aka Nixster – aka Nix – aka the Purple Blog Queen – aka (as James Woodfield decreed) Her Royal Magentasty – unfortunately it is not of the desired colour but, hey, I was thinking of her.

What a day it was – sun shining, birds singing, a light breeze (with a gust of wind at the end) – ahh, so nice! The exact opposite of what my friends in the Northern Hemisphere have been experiencing – snow, rain, freezing temperatures – LOL! (*suffer* – the Gazz-Man is SO thinking of you…)

Finally, a little message at the end for Lizzie ‘the Lizzard” Dickinson, daughter of Hilary (Hils) Dickinson. Just wait little one – the Gazz-Man gets revenge!

Hope you like this.

PS: Now the obvious question that you might be thinking – IF you have seen Motivational Moment Video #1 is… “OMG, is he gonna do that flex thing again?” Well Paula Brett, what do you think? You seemed to be rather amused by it? And Paull Hamilton (thanks for your video tuition over at your video intructional website), you even referred to weasels or, was it, Hammo-sters? And Lizzie Dickinson – the LIZZARD – will the Gazz-Man perform those gymnastics or pretend to read a book again? There are two sections that you may like to watch rather closely. I can see Linda Caroll going *sigh*! But, what happens? Well Garry “Parkesy” Parkes gave the Gazz-Man a bit of “advice” on that. I am just SO good at taking advice – NOT! Watch and find out! LOL!

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************

Alex Jeffreys concluded his coaching programme today for the initial intake of some 500 students. How many are left still standing is unknown. Some never started, some fell by the wayside, some found it “too tough” and some just decided that Alex Jeffreys wasn’t the mentor or coach for them. I can’t say I feel particularly sorry for those who didn’t emerge into the sunshine from this Alex Jeffreys course. They made their decision – for whatever reason. They certainly had the same opportunity as those who finished did.

I guess it is like a University course, in some respects… some finish, some don’t. In life some people win while others lose. Anyway, I don’t want to focus on any of that too much longer. You can go to my thread on winners and losers if you are interested enough in the REASONS for this.

Some students were unable to make this last webinar for work reasons or family committments, so this summary is for them – and for any lurkers who come here wanting to avail themselves of free information.

OK. Get a cup of tea or that poison that some of you drink called coffee and settle in coz the Gazz-Man is gonna end this Alex Jeffrey’s coaching course with a BIG banging post. I haven’t done that for a while and now seems like an appropriate time. I might slap some people around a bit too coz I’m a bit frustrated with the attitude of some. So, click away now if you are a precious flower who only blooms at midnight when there is nobody around to see you.

Here we go…

Alex Jeffreys was asked before the session started (by Theresa Mayhew, I think) of what the MOST important thing was that HE had learned. Alex said, “The most important thing I have learned is to take action and step out of my comfort zone.” Then he also went on to say how he has also learned to sleep less. That was amusing. I think we have all had lessons in this. I know that there have been some days where I have had as little as 2 and 3 hours sleep just trying to get everything done as quickly as possible, and I work fast anyway. The massive size and complexity of this blog is proof of that.

Just on that point – realise this… you are gonna be dead for a bloody long time. Get all your “lost” sleep caught up with then. Seriously, only really lazy people with little ambition waste time getting too much sleep. It’s OVER-rated folks! Try doing with an hour less. It’s p155 easy when you try.

Most people seem to prefer my summaries in point form so here is a synopsis of the key points, in chronological order of presentation:

~ This is not the end but the very start.

OK. Time for me to digress… again… (I know, I know) This is SO important I am gonna tell you something personal that I don’t normally like to bung on about too much, especially on my blog. But I’m gonna do it today coz this is MAKE or BREAK for everybody on the course. You can certainly skim read this next bit or just pass over it if you want.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most of you are now aware that I have a black belt in karate. (It was an impossibility to keep shielding it anyway coz of those blasted aggregator sites that people have. So I came out and said it in point 5 of my “25 things about Gary” challenge that has been doing the rounds).

Please TRY to stick with me here coz I think it is very relevant…

When I attained that level I thought I was the “duck’s nuts.” Seriously. But I was wrong. It took me five years of beating myself to a pulp and being beaten to a pulp to get it. But what that really signified was one thing and one thing only – that I was teachable. Oh maybe it also proved that I could stick with something. But it showed that I could do the “basics” and pass a test on them. That is all.

Now, after almost 40 years of HARD and continuous training (incurring many injuries, some of them serious) I can see that so clearly now. I am on a much higher rung of the ladder now. A single black belt to me is such a rank beginner. They know so little. I don’t even like teaching at that level much. But it is a start. A foot on the rung of the ladder. That is where most of us are now in Internet Marketing, some are a little higher and some are a little lower.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[I hope you can appreciate how difficult that last part was for me to write. But for those who can relate to what I said, that was for YOU. If you didn’t relate to it then just move on. I’m not gonna make a big deal of it.]

So here are your choices…

[a] Are you gonna drop off the ladder and quit or “retire?”
or
[b] are you gonna hang where you are?
or
[c] are you gonna start climbing your way to the top?

I could probably go on and on with more of what Alex Jeffreys shared in his final webinar module but I think you get the idea.

So, what is the Big Darn Online Secret? Alex Jeffreys didn’t really say, did he? Is there a secret? Heh! You think there is? If you want to keep searching for it then good luck. You see, IMO, there are NO secrets on the Internet. Information moves at the speed of the fibre-optic cables which is, effectively, light speed. And if there ever is a secret then it doesn’t last too long.

The only secret is the one that you hold in your brain. What are you gonna do with the knowledge you now have?

These were the main points of the one hour and fifteen minute concluding Module in the Alex Jeffreys Internet Marketing Coaching Course. As usual, I hope this smorGAZZboard of information helps those who were unable to attend.

PS: Congratulations and thankyou Alex Jeffreys on a job well done often under very trying circumstances. I am sure that the vast majority of the 500 learned many worthwhile things. I know I have. Bring on Las Vegas!

“Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher
There’s a thousand pretty women waitin’ out there
And they’re all livin’ devil may care
And I’m just the devil with love to spare
Viva Las Vegas, viva Las Vegas”

[lyrics by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman]

NB: I haven’t had time to correct any spelling or grammatical errors in this post properly yet. I’ll do that after I get back from the gym this evening. I just wanted to get this summary up FAST!

************************************************************************************
Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************