This weekend Dr. Wayne Dyer passed away.

James wants to recognize the influence Wayne Dyer has had on his life. We're very sad about his passing.

Here is one of the last interviews Wayne Dyer has done and it is with James... 

During that interview James asked Dr. Dyer what he saw as the arc of his career. "What has your message been and how have you seen it evolve?"

Without hesitating, Dr. Dyer responded...

"Well, it's really been always about self-reliance, in one form or another. I've often said that I really feel that I had a conversation with God just before I showed up here on this planet in 1940 and I was asked, 'What would you like to do on this trip?' And I said, 'Well, I think I'd like to teach self-reliance.' And God said, 'You want to do that for an entire lifetime? Just teach self-reliance?'

"I said, 'Yes, that would be a great lifetime.' And he said, 'Well, then, we'd better get your little ass into an orphanage and we'd better let you have all of these different experiences, so that once people start to question that, you will never be dissuaded because you'll have the experience of it.' So everything in my life has been directed towards teaching people how to have self-reliance. It has shifted from psychology and an emphasis on psychological principles, to spiritual principles, and that's something that I really had nothing to do with personally; that was just the direction that I was destined to go."

They concluded their conversation with the following exchange...

Dr. Wayne Dyer:Think about your body, the body that you're in. You're in a male body, I'm in a male body. And I'm in a body that's about 6'2", it has blue eyes, it has no hair on its head, it has certain characteristics and so on, and inessence, that's why, for this incarnation, I'm doomed.

I'm doomed to live – I'm not gonna be in a female, 4'10" body. I'm not gonna be in any other – this is the body that I get, okay? Now, what kind of choices do I have to make within that context? Well, I can decide how healthy it's gonna be. I can decide whether I'm gonna exercise it or not.

I can decide actually how long it's gonna live.

There's many, many choices that I make about this body within the context of being doomed to live in this body and not any other body. Now, if you take this metaphor and you extend it to not just the physical body but to the rest of your life and all that you are, you are, in essence – you are given a dharma. You showed up here with a purpose. You showed up here with an energy that propels – and there's something that excites you, and it's like whether you want to be a falconer or whether you want to be a musician or whether you want to be a writer or whether you want to raise horses in Montana.

Whatever it might be, there's something that excites you. Now, you have been doomed; in other words, this is your dharma. This is what you're here for. But you're making choices.

And the choices that you make all along, all the course corrections that you make, involve,

"Am I willing? Am I willing to do whatever it takes to make this come true?" I've always been willing.

"Are you determined?" That is, are you gonna not let anything interfere with it? Yes. You have to have that determination.

"Am I fearless?" In other words, am I gonna get the fear out of me and come from a place of love, from divine love?

"Am I using compassion?" Compassion for myself and compassion for others, and ultimately,

"Do I reach that state? " The highest rung on the ladder, if you will, when Rumi said, "When you are born, a ladder is placed before you to help you to escape from this world.' And so to understand that you're in this world but you're not of this world, and when you reach the top of the ladder, the top rung on that ladder of divine love, you realize that, yes, you are doomed. You have been. You're to be a writer, you're to do all these things, but you also make choices and course corrections along the way, just like the choice you make about how your body is going to be.

When you understand that, when you understand that you showed up here for a reason and a purpose and, "Now I'm gonna be willing, I'm gonna be fearless, I'm gonna be determined, I'm gonna be passionate," then you can live your life without regrets. I just read a book called The Five Regrets of the Dying, by a woman in Australia who is a hospice nurse, and she interviewed people every day who were dying, and asked them what were their regrets. 

She wrote a book about it, and the number one regret of people who were under her hospice care, the number one regret of the people dying was, "I wish I'd had the courage to live my life the way I knew I should, rather than listening to other people tell me what to do." That's the essence of it all.

James Altucher:   That's really important, because as you said, you're doomed to make your choices, but if you don't make your choices, you're even more doomed.

Dr. Wayne Dyer:   Absolutely, absolutely.

James Altucher:   'Cause someone else is making the choices for you. And on that note, Wayne, I really appreciate you spending the time and on this interview. I really want recommend I Can See Clearly Now. It's a great book, it's inspirational. I also recommend all of the books that you referenced in the book and in this interview, because I think they're all transformational books, and again, once again, thank you for coming on this show and being interviewed.

Dr. Wayne Dyer:   It's my pleasure. God bless you. Good luck to you, my friend.

James Altucher:   Thanks, Wayne.

Dr. Wayne Dyer:   Namaste.

A few months ago Frank Curzio interviewed James on his Top 10 iTunes podcast Wall Street Unplugged.

We thought a lot of our new listeners might have never heard this interview and so I decided to publish it today.

I really think you’ll enjoy this interview

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. James is hard at work on his next new project. Stay tuned right here as we’ll be announcing it first on this podcast.

Most small businesses fail. In fact, about 85% of them do.

Is it the business, or is it the people behind the business that fail?

Listen here today as James talks about how not to fail as a small startup business.

Why do anything if you're going to die anyway?

It's an evolutionary thing. Our brains have been setup to reward us for those things that trigger well-being.

When the chemical dopamine is triggered in your brain,  it makes you feel great.

Listen here today and go do something.

China is having problems...

The Fed may raise interest rates next month.

And the market is down about 10%.

But this is not 2009. The world is not falling apart.

Today James gives you some companies you may want to think about.

Listen here today and I hope you profit from it.

Before you start your podcast, should you have a specific niche in mind?

James says no – you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. If it works, great. If not, then you can close it down and start another.

Just do it for fun.

Listen here today. I hope you enjoy it.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. For a very limited time, I want to send you a brand-new, hardback copy of my new book.  All I ask is that you cover the shipping costs (just $5).

I've been saving this recording for the day when James' schedule became so crazy he just couldn't record your daily dose of Ask Altucher.

Today is that day...

This is a presentation that James gave recently at the NJ Tech Meetup.

WARNING: This recording does have a bit of explicit language, so listen at your own risk.

Listen here today and I hope you enjoy it.

Regards,

David Newman

Are you willing to disobey your parents?

Cassey Ho came from a typical Asian family. They gave her three choices for her career... doctor, lawyer or engineer.

She had to bring honor to her family.

But that wasn't Cassey's calling. She had the entrepreneurial spirit, and she just had to follow her dream.

Fast-forward to today, and Cassey has almost 2.5 million subscribers to her YouTube channel Blogilates TV, with one of her videos now approaching 7.5 million views.

And that was just the beginning. She has created a whole line of products that's growing quickly.

Listen here today as she shares with James how she advertises her "brand."

Regards

David Newman

Do you fear the nothingness of death?

That last thought, that last breath...

James doesn't.

Pain scares him, but not death.

Listen here today as he and Claudia discuss the unknown.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. This Thursday, August 20^th, James will be the featured guest on Product Hunt LIVE, a place to chat with the world's most interesting authors, artists, founders, investors, game creators, entertainers, and makers. For more information click here.

What if the consequences of saying "no" are so strong, you feel like you just have to agree?

James gives an example: Your boss demands that you change your plans at the last second and spend the weekend traveling for business, instead of doing what you had planned.

Can you say "no" to him?

Sure, but you'll probably lose your job, and that may not be an option. "No's" do have consequences.

So what else can you do?

Be prepared...

Listen here today as James gives us a few hacks so this doesn't happen to you again and again.

Hint... Choose yourself.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. For a very limited time, I want to send you a brand-new, hardback copy of my new book for FREE! All I ask is that you cover the shipping costs (just $5).

P.P.S. This Thursday, August 20^th James will be the featured guest on Product Hunt LIVE a place to chat with the world's most interesting authors, artists, founders, investors, game creators, entertainers, and makers. For more information click here.