During the media tour launching The Compound Effect, CNN asked me to submit an article for their website. So, what do I have to say to CNN? Below is the article I submitted to my PR team. Even after they begged me to neuter it, to refocus it on 24/7 news (not just CNN and not just the Wolf man), CNN still didn’t have the backbone to publish the critical commentary. So I publish it here.

(CNN-) Disaster. Crisis. Failure. Scandal. Tragic. Devastation. Danger. Emergency. Threat. Crash… just a few words spoken by Wolf Blitzer in “The Situation Room” within only a five-minute span. If you listen to The Wolf, the world is coming to an end… every five minutes. And we wonder why people feel hopeless (giving up the belief that a job even exists), fearful (pessimistic about the future) and lack confidence (market and otherwise) when you have The Wolf & Friends spreading the gospel of fear, worry, danger and anxiety in our family rooms, offices, cars and airports 24/7.

The damage these constant and repeated messages have on our consciousness and creative potential is “devastating.” (see Media Madness video)

What controls your attention controls your life.

Where your attention goes, energy flows and so goes your life. When I interviewed racecar-driving legend Mario Andretti, I asked him for the No. 1 success tip to racecar driving. His answer, “Don’t look at the wall.” He explained, “Your car goes where your eyes go.” If you are a tightrope walker, what’s the one thing you never do? Right, look down. Why? Your body will follow your eyes. Your body (your life) also follows your eyes (your attention). If you point your eyes at Constant Negative News (there’s an acronym for that), your life will also go in that direction.

Your mind is like an empty glass. It will hold anything you put into it. You put in sensational news, salacious headlines and talk show rants and you are pouring dirty water into your glass. If you’ve got dark, dismal, worrisome water in your glass, everything you create will be filtered through that muddy mess, because that’s what you’ll be thinking about. Garbage in, garbage out.

You can flush your dirty glass with clean, clear, pure water. What is clear water? Positive, inspirational and supportive input and ideas. Stories of aspiration, people who, despite challenges, are overcoming obstacles and achieving great things. Strategies of success, prosperity, health, love and joy. Ideas to create more abundance, to grow, expand and become more. But it’s a constant battle as we are surrounded by those who want to spew dirty water into our glass constantly.

Why does The Wolf do it?

The fight for your attention has never been bloodier. Once upon a time there were only a few TV channels, a few radio stations (that came in), a few major newspapers and a handful of magazines. Now there are thousands of each, plus blogs, RSS feeds, text alerts, iPad apps, satellite radio, Pandora, tweets, Facebook posts and LinkedIn notifications, ad nauseam. So to compete in this bare-knuckled blood sport The Wolf has to shock you into paying attention to him (and his advertisers) and nothing gets your attention like good old-fashioned fear.

Your mind is not designed to make you happy. Did you know that? Happiness is not its job. Its main and sole concern is survival, to keep you alive, thus it is on constant watch looking out for any danger or impending threat. The Wolf knows this. The Wolf knows your mind better than you. He can’t get your attention (or the needed Nielsen audience measurement metrics) with happy feel-good stories and reports. Positive potential, abundance and optimism don’t grab your mind by the shirt collar like danger, disaster and tragedy does.

The media is crippling our creative potential.

You get in life what you create. Expectation drives the creative process. What do you expect? You expect what you are thinking about. Your thought process, the conversation in your head, is the foundation of the results you create in life. What are you thinking about? What is influencing and directing your thoughts? The answer: whatever you’re allowing yourself to hear and see. The input you are feeding your mind is what it is processing and thinking about.

If you listen to The Wolf you will be constantly reminded of, and thinking about, the tragic unemployment rate, the volatile and uncertain stock market, the gloomy state of the economy, scandals on Wall Street, gossip and shenanigans in Washington… after the relentless coverage of the latest tsunami, hurricane, car bombing, heinous murder and other calamities. Feed your mind repeated meals of that junk food and then wonder why you don’t feel very motivated to find a job or start a new business.

You can change the world—your world.

You can rid your world of all wars, murders, crimes, scandals, gossip, corruption and international disasters. You have that much power… in the palm of your hand.

How? Hit the OFF button. Turn off your TV. Turn off your radio. Cancel your newspaper subscription.

I learned an important life philosophy long ago. Control what’s controllable. What you can’t control is the national economy. What you can control is your economy. What you can’t control is what Washington does about healthcare. What you can control is the care of your own health. What you can’t control is how the president is running the country. What you can control is how you are running your business, household and life. What you can’t control is the war in Afghanistan. What you can control is the peace and harmony in your own home. Stop paying attention to what you can’t control, or it will control you and your life.

It’s time to take back control of your mind so you can take back your life. Stop letting other people influence your attitude, your hope for the future and your potential to do something great. Focus your mind and attention on what is right with the world and what’s possible for you. At the same time The Wolf is pointing out the 12 ugly, heinous, murderous and disastrous things that happened in the world today, millions of wonderful, miraculous and beautiful things happened as well. Step out of the perverted view of the world from “The Situation Room” and into the world of abundance, splendor and the unlimited positive potential that surrounds you every day. Focus your attention on ideas, information and knowledge that can help you grow, prosper, create and contribute to making a positive difference in your world… and you might just do something to change the world.

Bio: Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect—Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success, is an accomplished entrepreneur, publisher and editorial director of SUCCESS magazine. He’s a peak performance expert and popular keynote speaker.

Other interesting viewpoints (not saying I agree with all that is depicted):
How news media works: video
Why America is dumbed down (some great scenes from “Network” 1976): video
Television-the drug of a nation: video 

 Share your viewpoint and thoughts in the comments below.

… anyway, so you might as well do some good and help people while you’re here.

How? 

Today we kickoff our pre-release for The Compound Effect in hardcover (so excited!).

Thousands of testimonials suggest that getting a copy of The Compound Effect into the hands of someone who might not otherwise have found it can be life-changing. Let me explain.

“In the last three months, I have successfully lost 55 pounds, taken control of my health and now I’m helping others do this as well.” —Sarah Menendez

“60% of our sales force is on track to have their best year ever.” —Jim Black

“I’ve doubled my sales income since using the Weekly Rhythm Register.” —David Weiss

“My business has taken off since reading and applying just a few small ideas from The Compound Effect.” —John Hayes

“The Compound Effect helped me achieve a lifelong goal. I just finished my first marathon and am now qualified to run the prestigious Boston marathon.” —Annette Dowdle

YOU can do that! You can change someone’s life… by sharing The Compound Effect with them.  Send them a link, or better yet, buy them one as a gift and inscribe that you believe in them and their greater success.

Here’s just a glimpse of what your gift will give:

• How to (finally) uproot the bad habits that cause failure and the foolproof ways to install the success habits you need to excel in any area of your life

• How to make yourself do what you don’t want to do, but know you need to; the key to real (and lasting!) motivation, discipline and consistency

• The three-step MTS—Massive Transformation System—to dramatically improve your income, your health, your marriage or any area of your life

• Plus the exclusive success acceleration secrets of these superachievers: Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, Lance Armstrong, Tony Robbins, Oprah, John Wooden, Jack Nicklaus, John Maxwell, Brian Tracy, Harvey Mackay, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Muhammad Ali, Michael Phelps, Jim Rohn and several others

Order copies for yourself or those you want to help succeed.

Buy during the pre-release period and we’ve added these free gifts for buying a single book (more than $80!):

• The Compound Effect complete audio program (MP3)—$35 value
• Darren Hardy interview with Jim Rohn (MP3)—$9.95 value
• Jim Rohn’s Living an Exceptional Life seminar (MP3)—$39.95 value

Will you please help me?

I don’t ask for help often, but I need yours now!
You can help make The Compound Effect a NY Times Bestseller by helping us spread the word.

Here are: 10 Ways to Spread the Word

Ideas for tweets and facebook posts:

This is the book that changed my life. New version, pre-release comes with free gifts. Check it out! http://bit.ly/buytcebook

Pre-release of the new hardback edition of The Compound Effect is now available. Awesome gifts. I recommend it. See here: http://bit.ly/buytcebook

Publisher @DarrenHardyFan of @SUCCESSMagazine reveals what separates superachievers from everyone else in this new book: http://bit.ly/buytcebook

Success strategies of Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Howard Schultz and more in this awesome book: http://bit.ly/buytcebook

More money, less weight, better marriage, fewer bad habits, bigger business, … it’s all in this great book: http://bit.ly/buytcebook

Whoever told you the process of success was quick, easy or even fun, lied to you. Here’s the truth: http://bit.ly/buytcebook

We are all going to die… here’s what to do before it happens: http://bit.ly/buytcebook

Thank you for helping me help others! I appreciate you! -Darren Hardy

In The Compound Effect I explain how the results in your life are rooted in one single factor—your choices.

Like it or not, good or bad, your accumulated choices have added up to your current waistline, business success, relationship strength and bank balance.

Your choices created your problems and the only way out of them is to start, and stick to, making new choices.

But then you ask, How do I know what the right choices are?

Here’s a simple formula:
When in doubt, choose the harder task or what you don’t want to do—that’s usually exactly what you should do. Take the path of MOST resistance.

Put it this way: If you are disappointed in any area of your life, whatever choices you have been making aren’t working.

Definition of insanity:
Doing the same things you’ve always done and expecting different results.

Here is the force you are fighting: You and your brain are creatures of habit. You simply talk yourself into taking the easy, low resistance and comfortable route. Like the pull of a rushing river, your unconscious habits continue to take you downstream in the wrong direction. To change your direction you will need to read more »

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I’ve been agonizing over what would be the perfect gift to give YOU to show my appreciation for all your support of this blog and all the experiences we have shared together.

I thought, instead of giving you a tree, how about giving you some seeds you can plant in the hearts and minds of other people.

As my mentor Jim Rohn taught me, “The best gift you can give is the gift of personal development.”

I’d like to encourage you to give the gift of personal development to others by making it really attractive for you to do so.

Much to the panic of my colleagues at SUCCESS Media and SUCCESS Books, here is what I wrangled to help you do this…

The testimonials of those whose lives have been transformed after reading and listening to The Compound Effect book and audio have been stunning. I want you to feel the impact of being responsible for touching someone’s life that profoundly.

So here is what I organized for you…

The book and audio combo is $60 retail. Buy 5 combos to give to people you care about and what to help succeed, for only $120 (instead of $300).

That way you experience the benefit of giving to others.

I can hear you asking, “That’s great and all, but besides the good vibes for making a difference for someone else, what do I get?”

Okay, here is where it gets really good—for you!

I want to GIVE you (as in FREE) a few special items—never-before-released-individually, my private interviews with four very special people:

Jim Rohn—my mentor and whom the book is dedicate to.

Tony Robbins—who wrote the Foreword to the book.

Brian Tracy—whose endorsement is on the cover.

Paul J. Meyer—another mentor mentioned several times in the book. read more »

Did you know your brain is NOT designed to make you happy? I know this might be alarming to you, but your brain has only one primary responsibility—to keep you alive. Thus your brain is constantly on the lookout for danger and attack warnings. Your brain is programmed specifically to seek out the negative.

This is a problem if you desire love, prosperity and happiness—those things beyond simply safety.

Left unguided (as most do), your brain will stew in the negative all day, every day of your life. The conundrum is—what you think about comes about. Where your attention goes, energy flows, thus the direction your life takes.

This is where the power of gratitude comes in. If you want to direct your life in a positive direction, you have to redirect your mind towards abundance and what’s positive by forcing it to focus it on what you are grateful for.

If you want to become great, you have to focus on being grateful. You can change any situation in your life by simply redirecting your mind to focus on what’s right about it versus what is wrong.

I have a Thanksgiving Challenge for you. Of the many insights shared in The Compound Effect, one repeatedly I am told has made a profound difference is the story of the Thanksgiving Journal (read the excerpt below). My challenge to you is to think of an area of your life you are having difficulty in and want to improve. For the next 21 days, take three minutes at the end of the day and write down what about that problematic situation you appreciate, what’s good and what you’re grateful for. This could be a confrontational co-worker at the office, your job as a whole or your troubled marriage… anything or anyone that frustrates or negatively affects you.

I promise you, when you change how you look at a situation, the situation changes.

Who is up for this simple challenge? Come on, reading this blog won’t help you. As Johann Von Goethe said, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply.” Ideas without implementation are useless. Ideas executed have the power to change the world—particularly your world.

Take the challenge. Not for me, for you. Will you? 3 minutes a day for 21 days. Who’s in? Declare that you will and what you are committed to being grateful for during the next 21 days in the comments below. Don’t be a silent “lurker”, encourage others by sharing your declaration in the comments section.

Excerpt from:
The Compound Effect—Multiplying your Results. One Simple Step at a Time.

Thanksgiving Year-Round
We’re particularly gifted in the finger-pointing department when it comes to our romantic relationships—you know, where the other person is the one who needs to change. Let me explain how something extremely simple, taking less than 5-minutes a day, can literally change your life.

A few years back, a friend of mine was complaining about his wife. From my observation, she was a terrific lady, and he was lucky to have her. I told him as much, but he continued to point out all the ways she was responsible for his unhappiness. That’s when I shared an experience that had literally changed my marriage… and me.

One Thanksgiving, I decided to keep a Thanks Giving journal for my wife. Every day for an entire year I logged at least one thing I appreciated about her—the way she interacted with her friends, how she cared for our dogs, the fresh bed she prepared, a succulent meal she whipped up, or the beautiful way she styled her hair that day—whatever. I looked for the things my wife was doing that touched me, or revealed attributes, characteristics, or qualities I appreciated. I wrote them all down secretly for the entire year. By the end of that year, I’d filled an entire journal.

When I gave it to her the following Thanksgiving, she cried, calling it the best gift she’d ever received. (Even better than the BMW I’d given her for her birthday!) The funny thing was that the person most affected by this gift was me. All that journaling forced me to focus on my wife’s positive aspects. I was consciously looking for all the things she was doing “right.” That heartfelt focus overwhelmed anything I might have otherwise complained about. I fell deeply in love with her all over again (maybe even more than ever, as I was seeing subtleties in her nature and behavior instead of her more obvious qualities). My appreciation, gratitude, and intention to find the best in her was something I held in my heart and eyes each day. This caused me to show up differently in my marriage, which, of course, made her respond differently to me. Soon, I had even more things to write in my Thanks Giving journal! As a result of choosing to take a mere five minutes every day or so to document all the reasons why I was grateful for her, we experienced one of the best years of our marriage, and it’s only gotten better.

After I shared my experience, my friend decided to keep a Thanks Giving journal about his wife. Within the first few months, he completely turned around his marriage. Choosing to look for and focus on his wife’s positive qualities changed his view of her, which changed how he interacted with her. As a result, she made different choices about the way she responded to him. The cycle perpetuated. Or, shall we say, compounded.