I have met some remarkable people whilst doing the How To Be Rich and Happy giveaway. People that for the large part have little, and in some cases almost zero, money themselves, but can’t wait to help others.
One such person is Louise Yates and I’m grateful to Becky Blanton for introducing her to me and also for Becky in paying to ship a case of books to Louise for her to distribute amongst the less fortunate in her community.
Let me be honest and say things have been a tad slow around here recently. The books are selling steadily and we had the brilliant bonus of selling the rights into China this week, which now means the book will be published in Germany, France, Netherlands and China, which is very cool.
However we are still encountering charities that are somewhat resistant, especially when we ask for help with shipping costs.
As you almost certainly know we have never placed How To Be Rich and Happy on Amazon. The are several reasons for this, not least of which is Amazon take a whopping 55% of the cut and for a charitable project it is irritating to think they get more than the good causes do.
Also, there is the risk that like many books, How To Be Rich and Happy would get pirated and fake copies (as well as second hand ones) would flood the market making it difficult for us to sell new copies and thus hit our rather huge goal.
I have had two people ask me in the last week if we had given up on the project to giveaway 1,000,000 copies of How To Be Rich and Happy to good causes?
OK, so the first time it happened it was sort of funny. I posted a while back that as part of our goal of gifting a million copies of How to be Rich and Happy to people in need, we had donated some to a silent auction. And of all the items up for auction, including expensive golf clubs, artwork… the only thing stolen was copies of How to be Rich and Happy.
So here we are approaching the holidays, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s happened again! This time though it’s not as funny. We shipped a case of books up to North Kent Community Services, up in Rockford, Michigan. It’s a great charity involved with making a difference through things like seniors meals on wheels, providing food to families in need, emergency assistance to help people get back on their feet…
I have no idea why, but this past spring I was struck with the gardening urge.
I’m a big fan of fresh basil, so I went to the garden expert at the Lowes near my house and asked what it took to grow basil. He explained it was so simple to grow, that anyone could do it.
The other day I was getting ready to head out on a week long speaking tour. I had just finished the book I was reading and so I went to my bookshelf and started scanning for something to take with me.
I often pick up books at garage sales and in used book stores and throw them on the shelves, with the expectation that at some point, I’ll get to them.
A few months ago I ran an offer for free life coaching and had well in excess of 50 applications for the one place. I was so stunned by the response I agreed to work with 5 people for shorter periods of time because I found it so hard to decide who to chose.
Last week I decided that I would run the offer again, but this time I thought I’d make it a bit tougher. Reading the 50 or so e-mails the first time took me the best part of a morning so I wanted to limit the amount of applications I received.
For those of us with kids, when we hear our little one say “I’m thirsty” the solution is as simple as going to the tap and filling up their cup.
It’s not that simple for many parents in countries across the world. Something we take for granted is a serious issue for them.
Do you see your life as a story? Do you believe that you are the centerpiece of that story and that you can shape and craft it anyway you want to with a little bit of ingenuity and creativity?
If the answer is yes, then good for you because you’re well on the way to being Rich and Happy. Pat yourself on the back and give yourself the afternoon off to fine tune your script with an even happier ending than the one you were planning, you deserve it. Well done!
