A Personal Aristocracy is a manual for living a virtuous and elegant life based on classical Renaissance and New Consciousness principles. According to the author, True Blue Indigo, the greatest challenges we face in our lives lie not outside ourselves, but inside. Our doubts, insecurities, desire for acceptance, lack of imagination, and the powerful social pressure to conform remain barriers between who we are and what we may attain. To pursue a personal aristocracy is a conscious decision to break out of self-imposed strictures and give full expression to the voice of our spirit.

The book contains short chapters on virtues such as dignity, honor, reverence, truth, and forbearance and show you how to integrate them into daily life. For example, the chapter on Dignity bluntly explains,

“Dignity is the price we set for our lives in the marketplace of humanity. In this place of exchange we are either price-setters or price-takers. We either get our asking price or cheapen ourselves by selling below our own value. Only we can determine our price; only we can decide if we are valuable, rare, and costly things, or if we are cheap, common, and of little worth to ourselves…If all we ever do is assess our value on the most obvious level of life, of how much we can earn in dollars…or of how much others can utilize our skills or knowledge in the creation of material wealth, then the greater part of us is left unexamined, and if this is all there is to us, then we deserve whatever price is paid to rent our lives cheaply. But, if there is more to us, if there are treasures inside that cannot be bought, or if the price we ask is stunning to others in the dignity we exhibit, then our true worth begins to be more accurately measured.”

A Personal Aristocracy is unique because it asks us to consider just how important it is for us to honor and live by the values and virtues that we hold so close to our heart without being preachy or condescending. For more information on the book, please click here.

New York Times bestselling author, don Miguel Ruiz has collaborated with his son, don Jose Ruiz to write The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery. This book expands upon The Four Agreements and empowers us to recover faith and authenticity with a powerful new agreement: Be skeptical, but learn to listen.

The Fifth Agreement uses doubt as a tool to discern the truth. Doubt takes us behind the words we hear to the underlying real message or intent. By being skeptical, we don’t believe every message we hear, and when we don’t put our faith in lies, we quickly move beyond emotional drama and the feeling of victimization.

The Fifth Agreement works on an internal level and takes a high degree of integrity to put into practice. The Ruizes are asking us to take an honest look at our beliefs and what we tell ourselves about what’s possible in life. Some of what we tell ourselves and what other people have told us about life are lies or made up stories. It is not always easy to distinguish truth from falsehoods, but the result is personal freedom. According to the Ruizes,

“You’ll know that you are totally free when you no longer have to be that you that you pretend to be. This freedom is profound. It’s the freedom to be the real you, and it’s the greatest gift that you can give yourself.”

The Fifth Agreement is available at amazon.com by Clicking Here

Paul and Patty Richards, authors of Wild Attraction, a Ruthlessly Practical Guide to Extraordinary Relationship offer a revolutionary approach to the age-old questions of love, sex and attracting a mate.

I recently had the privilege of interviewing them. In our candid conversation, Paul and Patty go into detail about what they mean when they use the word ‘energy’ and give advice for how we can use energy to find and keep life-long love. They also share some personal examples from their own life about how they have created a healthy and strong relationship. You can listen to our interview by clicking the play button below.

For more information about Paul and Patty Richards and their book, Wild Attraction, you can purchase their book on Amazon by Clicking Here. Paul and Patty will also be conducting a free Wild Attraction Tele-Seminar November 12 at 5:00 PM PST. You can sign up for that at www.wildattraction.net

Soulshaping: A Journey of Self-Creationis the inspiring memoir of an archetypal “male warrior” — a trial lawyer who struggled to find his heart and a more authentic, soulful path.  Rivetingly personal and profoundly universal, this book is for anyone who has heard a whisper of something truer calling out to them amid the distractions of modern life.

Jeff Brown’s dramatic and often funny story takes readers through remarkably human experiences –emotional, physical, and economic – as he vividly recounts his troubled childhood, his success in apprenticing with Canada’s top criminal lawyer, and his ultimate decision to leave the law and begin an inner journey to discover his soul’s purpose.

Soulshaping is for anyone who is looking for the courage to follow their calling – even though resistance might be tempting you away.  Those who are committed to living their purpose in life have not chosen an easy path.  Society’s false promises of job security, a stable career and a practical way of life have provided enough temptation to lead many people away from their true path in life.  Or as Brown puts it,

“Everywhere I look I see people who are walking a false path.  Their obsession with “security” at the expense of their callings compels them to do jobs they hate.  Grin and bear it, until I turn sixty-five, and then my real life will begin.  What if our soul-scriptures only give us fifty years to actualize them.”

His advice for how to overcome this mentality is to, ”Push on through with your call even when the resistance tempts you away.”

Brown practices what he preaches because he walked away from a stable and successful career as a trial lawyer to pursue his calling to write.  This was not an easy choice for him as he was faced with emotional, spiritual, and financial obstacles as soon as he committed to his call to write — including running out of money after three months of writing his book and going into debt.  Brown also went through many relationship and spiritual emergencies that tested him.  However, although it was not easy or painless for him, he kept on pushing through and remained committed to his calling.

Soulshaping is not a self-help book.  It is a gut check and a call to action for those who are committed to living their soul’s purpose.

I was also able to interview Jeff about how he was able to follow his calling to write in spite of facing intense economic, spiritual and personal obstacles. He also gives advice on how you can follow your calling even if you have practical concerns such as not being able to make enough money. Throughout our conversation, Jeff reveals some of the lessons he learned along the way and goes into great detail about the inner work he did throughout his journey.

You can listen to our interview by pressing the play button below.

You can purchase Soulshaping on Amazon by Clicking Here

Paulo Coelho is celebrating a major milestone for The Alchemist. This fall, the beloved fable remained on the New York Times bestseller list for two years. Celebrities ranging from Russell Crowe to Jon Jonas cite The Alchemist as their favorite book. It has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

The Alchemist is a classic tale about the importance of following your dreams. One of my favorite quotes from Coelho that summarizes his message is:

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and eternity.”

This hits the nail on the head about why it is so important that we follow our dreams: because of the meaning, joy and sense of purpose that the journey brings us. Reaching our dreams is a lot of fun. But, the real reward of following our dreams is the satisfaction and peace of mind in knowing that we had the courage to believe in our dreams and stay true to ourself.

Dr. Judith Orloth (www.DrJudithOrloff.com) interviewed Quincy Jones about intuition for her new book, Positive Energy. He bluntly answered by saying,

“I’ve counted on my intuition for 50 years. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust it. To me, intuition is paying close attention to God’s whispers. It’s the most natural part of us. Listening gives us energy and inner power. What you feel, not what you think. That’s what it’s all about. I live by goosebumps. I get them every time something really touches me…music, movies, poetry and emotion…Nothing to talk about unless I get the goosebumps. I believe all the answers to our questions are out there if we just slow down enough to hear….Jazz people really trust intuition. They have to. They live off of it. They exist because of it.”

It kind of makes you wonder:

What would have happened if Quincy Jones had ignored his intuition? Would he still have earned a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, won 27 Grammys or had the creative juice to produce Michael Jackson’s album Thriller? What would have happened to his lifework if he did not trust his intuition.

God: A Relationship Guide is a down-to-earth book about building an authentic lifelong relationship with one’s Higher Power. Spiritual Director and clinical psychologist, Judith E. Turian, Ph.D. uses personal anecdotes, professional training and deep faith to show us how to take a risk and let God in even though we may have inevitable second thoughts about sustaining the relationship. Each stage is illustrated by personal, heartfelt and often humorous stories from the author’s life and spiritual training–including some fascinating examples from when her faith was tested during her early career in the U.S. Navy.

The book is useful because it spells out in thoughtful detail how to know God’s will for us. One prayer that she mentions that is particularly helpful in discerning God’s will is:

“Take all of me. Take my liberty, my memory, and my understanding. All that I am and that I have has been given to me by You, God. I give it all back to You knowing that Your love and Your grace are enough for me.”

She follows that prayer with a bit of humor asking: “How’s that for courage? Or was it total stupidity?”

She reveals details of her own spiritual journey, tests of faith and how she learned to know God’s will. For example, she writes:

” ‘Let your will, not mine, be done.’ I believed with all my heart that I meant it. But when it turned out that God’s will was not the same as mine, I was angry and devastated.”

Throughout the book, she uses examples from her real life to show how she eventually learns how to distinguish God’s will from her own. These stories are illuminating, insightful and provide hope that we too can know God’s will for us and find the strength and ultimately peace in living It.

You can purchase God: A Relationship Guide on Amazon by Clicking Here

With myriad of crisis facing our planet from our monetary systems collapsing, to environmental depletion, nuclear proliferation, rise in fundamentalism and the hurried, disconnected pace of life, the future can seem bleak.

The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism, a new book by acclaimed author Andrew Harvey, offers sage advice and practical tools for overcoming these seeming insurmountable global catastrophes and shares an urgent yet passionately inspiring message for those seeking personal and planetary transformation.

The Hope is a long-awaited, compelling guide that helps people respond to current global challenges yet also serves as a much needed wake-up call to inspire action through Sacred Activism — what Harvey defines as the transforming force of love and compassion-in-action to affect meaningful and radical change in the world.

“When joy of compassionate service is combined with pragmatic and practical drive to transform all existing economic, social and political institutions, a radical divine force is born that is the vision or movement I call Sacred Activism,” states Harvey. He adds, “We need to not only fix the existing system but radically transform it so we no longer, by our choices, threaten our lives or the lives of millions of species.”

Harvey’s vision has drawn the attention of the United Nations where he will present his vision to the UN CONGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns representing the world’s leading NGOs this September.

Harvey believes the current crisis at hand drives us towards the positive practice of justice, equality and harmony with nature such as new movements towards ecological sustainability, social justice and non-violence, the advent of new alternative forms of technology and energy, a mystical renaissance and return of the divine feminine.

You can purchase The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism by Clicking Here

Ronda LaRue, M.S., is the author of Remembering Who You Really Are: The Journey of Awakening to Soul. In our interview below, she discusses why she wrote the book and her work as the host of Ojai Soul Arts spiritual retreats.She also reveals provocative details about the nature of the Dark Night of the Soul, why so many great mystics, Saints and spiritual seekers have to go through it and what to do if you think you might be in the middle of your own Dark Night of the Soul. Please click the link below to listen to the interview. For more information about Ronda, please visit www.RondaLaRue.com or http://www.ojaisoularts.com/

Drew Heriot, director of The Secret movie, is suing Rhonda Byrne, creator of The Secret, and her company for $340 million dollars. Heriot claims that Rhonda cheated him out of millions of profits that he is legally entitled to. The lawsuit includes a breach of contract claim, fraudulent inducement, unjust enrichment and unfair competition under California and Business Provisions Code. It should be noted that these are just allegations against Rhonda Byrne and not necessarily true. You can read excerpts from the lawsuit which includes actual emails between Rhonda and Drew at:

www.backgroundnow.com/background-check/what-is-dan-hollings-complaint-with-rhonda-byrne-and-the-secret-llc/.

Additionally, there is fascinating article written by Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks about the importance of using integrity with the law of attraction and the irony of how a leading proponent of the law of attraction managed to attract a multi-million dollar lawsuit and disgruntled team members. You can read that article at www.huffingtonpost.com/kathlyn-and-gay-hendricks/what-can-we-learn-from-th_b_198995.html

This is not the first disagreement Rhonda Byrne has had with ex team members of The Secret. Jerry and Esther Hicks and also Gay Hendricks provided footage for The Secret that did not end up in the final cut for reasons that are still a little unclear.