I Scoop (from The Waters of Life)

The below chapter is from The Waters of Life. It’s about my choice to join Reignite Your Life with Jack Canfield and Patty Aubery. The course started a year ago, and it was worth it. This chapter is from the night I signed up.

I Scoop

It’s not always fantastic to scoop (a Magic: The Gathering term to quit or concede), yet there are a few things I want to stop and break from.

I started this chapter at 3:04 AM on June 29th, 2020 and was waiting on a transaction to resolve. I woke up at 2 AM and hopped on my laptop with my Nano S, a cryptocurrency wallet, and then transferred all the cryptocurrencies I owned to Coinbase to sell them for two things. I didn’t have much crypto, though.

I sold my Ether for $309, and I transferred $305 to my bank account to cover bills. The transaction I was waiting on, though, was processing Bitcoin (about $380 Canadian on the day) to attend a Jack Canfield and Patty Aubery course called Reignite Your Life that began the following Wednesday.

I was to work at 7:45 AM, so that meant I could process the transaction, have a coffee, and stay awake until it was time to head out to work. I was inclined to do so, and I felt alive and energized at the notion of working on this book.

Although I was selling all of my cryptocurrency assets as I typed this, I was okay with it as I had other investments and not only crypto. For Bitcoin, the market cap was at $228.9 billion, and I rationalized that if suddenly $20 billion is put into the market, that would only minutely adjust the tiny fractions I held. I also asked myself if I thought Bitcoin specifically would be one trillion-dollar industry and wasn’t sure that it would be. It seems I was wrong. At the time of the final edit, the market cap was $1.3 trillion.

And yet, over the previous four months, I invested a bit in Bitcoin and Ether. I put in about two thousand in and took about two thousand out. I may not have made significant profits, though having an asset I could easily access for emergency or reserve money was helpful.

With Zeus going to the vet four times in the previous two months, I used about .03 Bitcoin and about 2.5 Ether to cover the costs of Zeus’ visits. A significant upside about cryptocurrencies is their liquidity, though they’re affected by price fluctuations.

If you’re going to invest in cryptocurrencies, watch out for price drops and volatility. I thought I made a mistake in buying Bitcoin when it was peaking at CAD$13,500 a coin for two $150 transactions because I thought its trajectory was to breach higher. When I typed this line, Bitcoin was worth $12,445/coin, and on the edit of this individual book, it was $24,203/coin. By May 9th, 2021, the price was $71,497.

From my crypto interest and purchasing, I have a Nano S. A Nano S is a cold storage device that keeps one’s cryptocurrencies secure and offline to prevent theft or fraud. I think each person should have one, and I also believe that each person should have investments that interest them and matter to them.

Having money set aside in crypto allowed me to take Jack and Patty’s course and, later, Grant Cardone’s 10X Bootcamp. The limiting factor, though, went back to my landscaping job. I promised to keep the job full through 2020, and I maintained that commitment. No matter if I wished I didn’t have to keep the job, and technically, I didn’t have to, I used income from landscaping to pay for the remaining three payments of the four-month course.

Because I care for my boss and didn’t want to leave him high and dry, I didn’t quit in mid-2020. I know my boss has depended on me at times, and I cared enough not just to resign on him mid-season and mess up the plans he has for his company.

What I could do, though, was work the next four months to earn money to pay for the Canfield/Aubery program. Using financial motivation to continue landscaping might not be the best reason not to quit, though I hope it’s the right choice for him, myself, and our future.

Jack and Patty’s course assisted me with my authorship and giving paths, and attending the group introduced me to new people, contacts, and friends. The program also helped with my purpose and vision and hopefully worked on my limiting beliefs. I need more positivity still, though I improve further.

I find myself continuously committing and recommitting myself to things, activities, and actions, yet the one central part of my core genius is these books. Writing allows me to clarify, craft, and hone my intents and ideals, and even if I wish for fantastic things, writing them out and sharing them with the world helps keep me accountable.

I may not yet have sold thousands of books, yet a semi-lucid faith tells me that I shall earn considerable amounts from writing. In Grant Cardone’s book The Millionaire Booklet, Grant recommends creating parallel or symbiotic cash flows. Creatively, for me, that is my books, Providing Point and Chilliwack Housing Providers, and how they’re all closely linked to each other. Yet, because most of those three cash flows are for sharing with others and not me, I need to find more of what I can earn for myself.

Landscaping had been a commitment to my boss and his life, yet I need to work for myself. Buying and selling Magic cards is an avenue I pursue, and since I understand and know how to sell on eBay, I can use the money earned from landscaping to buy cards to sell on eBay. That’s buying and selling and not long-term holding, though, yet I want to purchase investment cards too.

In the second half of 2020, I earned a bit by landscaping two days a week, paid for the courses, and wanted to gather Magic cards to sell. If I purchase cards at 50% of the list price and then sell on eBay, I can make about 15%-20% of the list price after paying for the eBay fees plus shipping costs. That means if I spend $500 on cards, I can earn near $170 profit!? I’m good with that.

One essential part about Magic sales, though, is to buy the cards outright when I get them instead of having money owed to the people for whom I sell. One neat thing about my eBay account is that I’m allowed to list 1,400 items worth $12,500 a month. I can sell cards on consignment too, and that can increase my monthly earnings a bit.

By writing, I can see pathways out of my situation. As I learn how to work better at home after keeping my landscaping job, I wish to ease into selling five thousand or more books a month, and I know it’s not going to be an overnight thing. In Fountain ten or eleven, I wrote that my goal is 50 units sold a day. What if I level it up to 500 copies? That would be 182,500 units per year, which is far less than one million book sales, though what if I sell a million?

We sometimes need to open up our minds to potential realities, and though I can’t bank or forecast future sales yet, opening my mind to possibilities gives me hope and a nudge of confidence. I go after my desires and dreams. By writing my ideas into life, I gain clarity and focus and plan to achieve my dreams and goals.

I’ve learned a lot in the past year, and with dedication and effort, I understand even more and move forward into a beautiful and fantastic future. It was 4:06 AM, and I was getting picked up for landscaping at 7:45. I didn’t want to go back to bed because even if I could get another two and a half hours of sleep. I knew I didn’t work on Tuesday (it was Monday morning), so I dared to get a coffee and put in a couple of hours of work.

The Bitcoin transaction mentioned earlier hadn’t resolved yet, and I was wondering what to do. I want to dedicate more of my life to my books and open alternative income sources and as I keep my giving programs free for expansion, writing these books is my central love. I can’t predict or claim that I know what the future holds, though I feel optimistic at times.

I intended to stay awake until the Bitcoin transaction resolved, yet it had been an hour and a half already. Perhaps the delay was a pull in the right direction for me to write more for this book, and I’m feeling confident I form good text. I’m thankful for these books.

Fountain twelve needed more revision, though the book Mosaic of Miracles holds the keys to other parts of my future. The chapter Quality is Our Recipe in Fountain ten needs to be seen and processed by the gal I inevitably live with, yet I also want her input and choice to guide my future.

I feel alive at night, or in this case, the early morning, and I needed to bring forth my voice and desires more frequently. It may take a couple of months before people read what I write in these books, yet I’ve also done a lot of the work. I have five trinal (three-part) books available with this one on Amazon, and I sold a copy of the first one, Fragments of Intent, this week.

To let you know, I earn about $4-$5 per three-part book (51% of the three-part royalties go to various non-profits), and as I start to sell more, my income increases. In October 2020, we gained our first provider for CHP, and the Patreon page, email, bank account, and linked PayPal account were all ready for more.

With three hours before I headed out to work, I felt a chance to breathe and slow down. I often get wound up and riled about my life. I’ve often had moments where I want to do something productive for the future, yet I don’t know what to do or where to go. When I find myself writing these books, I feel inspired and motivated to continue, and it feels good to know I’m doing something positive and productive. It encourages me to create by seeing the lines form into paragraphs to pages to chapters to printed copies.

As the books come to completion and release, though, I want to take in more of the feeling of accomplishment. I also don’t want to rest on my laurels. When I completed the first book, it was a significant milestone and the start of something grander, though it also was a baby step forward into doing something I wanted to do. I wanted to write a book, and I did so. Now I want to become prolific and continue the written journey while also activating miracles for our worlds.

When doubt or fear creep in, we can learn to take a breath and recentre. It may have been a challenge to keep my job landscaping, though challenges also expand our abilities. We can adjust our attitudes and mindsets about things, and that’s how I overcome the limiting beliefs and ideas I’ve had.

Keeping my job was a choice, and as I used the goal of attending the course as the reason to keep my job in 2020. I wondered if it was me making an excuse or working diligently for my success, yet I’m inclined to think it was me paying the price to do more of what I want to do.

With all the part-time jobs out there, landscaping is probably the best one for me to have, and with the grace and forgiveness my boss has had for me, I also believe in reciprocation. Perhaps I’ve not valued money as much as I’d like to, and as I learn to appreciate it more, it becomes something I gain more of.

Making money as the primary motivation, for me, though, isn’t always enough. I understand setting gathering goals for the programs via Patreon is a cash thing, yet the purpose is to provide food and shelter. Money is a way to do that, and I wanted to keep the job to love and support my boss as he’s been fantastic to me. I felt a bit out because I’ve had some bad days at work, which affects him and his company, yet endurance is a valuable asset.

On the topic of money, I’m glad I tucked the cryptocurrencies away. If I hadn’t put money aside in the past, I’d be playing the poor me card and not taking the course. I’d work my job because I needed it and not because I wanted to, and I’m not sure how and if my dearly loved cat, Zeus, would be alive, okay, and well at home. I adore Zeus, and I feel relieved that he’s here now and that we both have a home to live in and have food.

I’ve pushed back against some people’s recommendations and upheld beliefs. I dislike hearing people say, “you need to because everyone else has to also,” and people normalizing shitty situations because “everyone else has to do that too.” My responsibility and choice are succeeding at getting myself out of the rat race and hamster wheel and abundantly thriving.

I’m not okay with people blaming or complaining about life because they don’t have what they want. If you don’t have what you want, find a legitimate and ethical way to attain it. I want my Freedom Solution (to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, with whom I want to do so, where I want to do so, and with full financial support), and I know it’s not going to happen magically.

It’s my life and responsibility to build, shape, gather, and form the life I want. Due to my past choices, this is where I am now, and that’s entirely okay. I move forward, though held up a bit here. The Bitcoin transaction hadn’t resolved yet, and it was two hours and 37 minutes since I posted the transfer.

The transfer showed on Coinbase as pending, and though I know the transaction wouldn’t show on Coinbase unless my Nano transaction were successful, I feared the money wasn’t going to go through. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to take the Reignite Your Life course. Rational fear is something, and it also cued me to think about how much I desired to take the course.

My boss hired a new person the day before and was supposed to use them on Wednesday since I asked about the day off to attend the training. I offered my services for Wednesday anyhow to give and show support to my boss, and he let me garden that day. On a six-hour day, one day of work was about $90, though the course costs $380/month for four months. It meant about four days of work a month could cover the cost.

Remember to breathe, Rob! Okay. The Bitcoin transaction resolved. $378.96 arrived in my PayPal account, which I could then use for the first month’s payment of the course. It felt a bit nerve-wracking and exciting to think about the next sixteen weeks. By the close of them, it was right near the start of November 2020, and I graduated from the Reignite Your Life Coaching Club course.

A quick prayer. Thank You, God, forces of life and love, and those who allow us to do what we do. I thank You for grace, forgiveness, and compassion for allowing me to stumble, folly, and fail forward into creating a bright and beautiful future. Thank you for my cat, job, family, and friends, and thank you for allowing me the nerve to reach and surpass all of my goals and dreams.

For the futures of faith, hope, and trust, thank You for allowing us to thrive.

Love, light, luck, and life.

Amen