else goes on. This is why I'm honored to be writing this preface.
Joe's particular book The Awakened Millionaire serves an important purpose because it's a manifesto for the globe. It's about profiting; it's a wake up call to save people from going down a traditional path in life that is the path of working hard to get a job, to slave away from 9:00 to 5:00, to get some money so you can pay the bills, so you can survive. Most people are in survival mode when what we should be is in thriving mode. So this book could very well save you and shift you to a path where you are actually living a life of meaning.
See, the problem with the education system is that we ask people, “What do you want to be when you grown up?” And the nature of that question, and the nature of the idea itself, suggests that we grow up to take on a particular career, to earn money, to pay the bills, to survive.
But a better question might be, “What do you really enjoy doing that you might be able to turn into a gift for the world?” This is the question that this book has you answer. It's about spiritual wealth. It's about making peace with money. Not seeing money as something you have to slog to earn, but money as a reward for you doing good deeds for the world and fulfilling your mission.
And there's something amazing that happens when you work on something that you feel is a mission. It drives you. It inspires you. It motivates you. Life doesn't feel like an uphill climb. It almost feels as if you have the wind behind your back as you move towards this mission. When you do this, work dissolves. Work ceases to exist in your vocabulary because when you're working on your mission, nothing makes you happier. The money is just a beautiful side effect.
This book is the best of Joe's work so far – perhaps his greatest work out of 30 years and 50 books. It is designed to inspire people to stretch, to grow, to serve, to awaken. The first part of the book talks from a “we perspective” to help you realize that we are all one and because we are all one, what could be more important than creating a mission that serves a collective humanity?
The second part of the book is about you…it's from a “you perspective” to address your own personal call to action. It helps you identify your mission, how to make sure the mission is right, how to monetize your mission.
Just as few books in history have actually changed the course of history, this book, the manifesto, is designed to do the same for a new generation. Your generation. My generation. The time is now. The book is here.
Thank you.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Where do I begin? I have many people to thank. Without Mitch Van Dusen's enthusiasm, persistence, dedication, and passion, this book may have remained an idea that never hatched into being. He and his wife, Paloma Mele, were directly responsible for creating the foundation for this manifesto. Matt Holt and my friends at John Wiley & Sons, Elizabeth Gildea and Shannon Vargo, saw the value of this book and quickly offered to publish it. Dawn Kilgore at Wiley provided excellent editorial feedback. The Statbrook Group, consisting of Frank Mangano, Steve G. Jones, Paul Mascetta, and Glenn Cucurullo, always support my product ideas; together we have created an online product and a movement around this book at www.awakenedmillionaireacademy.com/begin. Suzanne Burns and Zion Chatelle have been with me a long time, as friends and assistants, without whom few of my projects would get done. Achieve Today, who run my Miracles Coaching® program, are all beautiful souls who help carry my work into the world. And of course, Nerissa, my love, is always there for me. I love you all and thank you all.
PROLOGUE
A bizarre, schizophrenic battle is raging in your head.
You are at the front lines, a gun in your blister-stained hands, as you fire fanatically and continuously into a blinding haze of fog.
You cannot see beyond it.
But the enemy is there, menacing, a rabid dog. Occasionally you see a shadow shimmering through the haze – a flash of movement without a shape to define it. You want to say you see faces, bodies, and trees, but nothing is clear except the battle. The battle is a behemoth impossible to miss. The enemy must be a behemoth as well.
But all you really know of the enemy is the fog that hides it. The fog that never flees. It is as persistent as you are.
To your left and right, you see long lines of others, men and women, engaged with the same compulsion and vigor. Some yell ferociously, spraying waves of bullets into the fog. Some simply keep firing on, stoically committed.
No one looks like a hardened soldier or a trained fighter. You are all just people. Everyone looks hardened by exhaustion.
You are tired, your bones weary and your soul sagging. Callouses stain your hands. Dirt has woven itself into the threads of your clothes. Your shoulders are tense and contorted, the look of someone permanently embracing a rifle.
Still, no one dares rest. The enemy is there. The war is real. The stakes are desperately high. That's all you must know.
You don't remember when this war started.
You don't remember the face of the enemy you fight.
You don't remember the last time you laid down.
Doubts have tugged at you, but your soulful conviction has never left you.
You do not indulge the doubts. You are fighting for good. You are fighting for what's right. You are fighting for your own survival.
That's all you must remember, so you never let it go.
You must stay true and press on. So you do.
You pause a moment and rest your eyes. And then you feel the warm hand rest on your shoulder.
You would've startled with shot nerves, but the soft touch is kind and disarming.
“Come with me. You must see something.” The woman's voice is soft.
She is dressed in plain clothes. No fatigues. No weapons. But you see the old callouses on her trigger hand. They are not like yours. They've softened.
There is something quietly compelling about her. She seems…good. A good person. Calm and collected. Her posture is sure, yet soft.
Why is she here?
You shake your head. You cannot abandon the cause. You cannot retreat from your post.
Yet you stand.
You lay your weapon down, step away from your bunker, and quietly follow. Your fellow fighters turn and stare with venom in their eyes.
Your body is still buzzing from the vibrations of your gun, your arms uncomfortable and awkward with no weapon to hold.
Guilt and rage flash to your face as the blood drains to your feet.
You feel traitorous and treacherous.
But she walks, and you follow.
Muscle spasms and weak knees…you are uncomfortable. You don't remember how long it's been since you've walked.
But she keeps walking, and you keep following.
As you
