The Millionaire Course

by Marc Allen

  The cause of our suffering and anxiety is within us. And the cure is within us as well. That simplifies things immeasurably. And it’s not impossible to change: There are all kinds of different ways to deal with our problems, different tools to help us do it. Many of them are in this Course.

  Here’s a key: We can learn to accept change, even to love change, by letting go of our expectations of how we think things should be. Once we learn to accept what is, we can learn to love it all — all of life, in all of its never-ending parade of changes.

  LOVE CHANGE

  A KEY I HEARD ON THE RADIO

  I heard a newscast, years ago, that reported on PepsiCo’s remarkable success and continued growth. It quoted the CEO of the giant company saying he had only three rules:

  Love change, learn to dance,

  and leave J. Edgar Hoover behind.

  It was to those three things he attributed the remarkable ongoing growth of his huge corporation.

  My first response was love change? Isn’t that a lot to ask? In fact, isn’t it nearly impossible at times? Even simply accepting change is a huge challenge. To love change you need to be enlightened.

  But as I reflected on those words a bit, I realized that loving change is a wonderful goal, a great ideal to shoot for. Accepting change is one thing, but if we can learn to love change, we can learn to fully, completely love life. We can find what there is to love in every moment.

  This is a great goal, a great challenge for all of us. One book helped me make a quantum leap in this area — a book I’ve mentioned repeatedly and highly recommend to everyone: Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now (and/or Practicing the Power of Now). It is the best book I have ever read: It is clear and powerful, giving us what we need to change our lives and even our world in this moment, now. It can teach us to love change and learn to dance with everyone and everything that comes our way in life.

  I have been reading The Power of Now every day for over two years. I pick it up nearly every morning and begin to read where I left off. For over eighteen months, I’ve been stuck on the bottom of page 155. Every day, I read the same sentence — the same great key to a life well lived — and I think, I’ve got to remember this, every moment of the day.

  Throughout the day, the words often come back to me. It is a key I’ve pondered for a year and a half — who knows how much longer I’ll have to keep reading the same page over and over, every day? It’s well worth it, though — repeating this phrase so often has had a major impact in my life.

  Here’s the key — we’ve seen the beginning of it before (a drum roll would be nice here):

  To offer no resistance to life

  is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness.

  This state is then no longer dependent on things

  being in a certain way, good or bad.

  Think about that for a while.

  In the past six months or so, I have on occasion read beyond those sentences — and what he says next is another remarkable key:

  It seems almost paradoxical,

  yet when your inner dependency on form is gone,

  the general conditions of your life,

  the outer forms, tend to improve greatly.

  Things, people, or conditions that you thought you

  needed for your happiness now come to you with no

  struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy

  and appreciate them — while they last.

  All those things, of course, will still pass away,

  cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone

  there is no fear of loss anymore.

  Life flows with ease.

  The happiness that is derived from

  some secondary source is never very deep.

  It is only a pale reflection of the joy of Being,

  the vibrant peace that you find within

  as you enter the state of nonresistance.

  — Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

  Everything we thought we needed to be happy is from a secondary source, and it is only a pale reflection of the happiness, ease, and peace that we can discover within us. The key to this discovery is to give up our resistance — to accept change and learn to dance.

  Isn’t that what we all want, underneath it all: a life that flows with ease?

  It is perfectly attainable, and we don’t even need to learn to love change in order to get there. All we need to do is fully accept what is; all we need to do is to let go of any resistance we have to what is going on in the moment.

  Nearly any child or animal or Zen master can show us how to do it. It doesn’t involve doing anything except letting go. Let go and trust in the universe. The intelligence that guides animals, plants, and galaxies guides you too. Let go and realize that you are part of an abundant world, and things will work things out for the best. As they say in many Christian churches and Twelve-Step programs,

  Let go and let God.

  Substitute any word or words you wish for “God.” Let go and let the universe do its work — use your own words to describe your understanding of the process.

  We don’t need to — and in fact can’t — control the circumstances of our lives. But we can accept those circumstances, and even embrace them, for they make each one of us completely unique, and give us the great challenges and opportunities we all have.

  LEARN TO DANCE

  A BEAUTIFUL IMAGE, A GREAT KEY

  Our work, our play, our lives in their wholeness can be a dance instead of a struggle. Learn to dance with whatever life gives you. Learn to dance with your co-workers, your customers, your intimate partners, with everyone you meet.

  Life can be a dance, not an ongoing parade of problems; business can be a dance, not a race or a struggle, when you apply some of the things you learn in this Course. Why not dance through life rather than battle through it? Dancing is a lot more fun than fighting — and it doesn’t cause pain or leave scars.

  The way we learn to dance with each other is by learning to live and work in partnership with each other.

  When we dance together, we find win-win solutions.

  This is a great key to lasting success.

  In order to learn to dance, the step that follows is essential.

  LEAVE J. EDGAR HOOVER BEHIND

  DOMINATOR MANAGEMENT

  J. Edgar Hoover was director of the FBI during World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam conflict. In these years, we reached the heights of the absurdity of the dominator model, and Hoover’s management style was a product of its time: the epitome of “dominator-style management.”

  He was infamous for completely controlling his employees’ actions. His management style was dictatorial; everything came from the top down; everyone was told exactly what to do and how to do it.

  That management style, of course, creates endless conflict and complexities — and, worse yet from a business point of view, endless inefficiencies. One person on top can never know what is going on throughout the entire organization, much less be able to clearly direct every element at every level of that organization. It’s an impossible, unwieldy structure.

  PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT

  Now there are options, thank God. We don’t have to continue old habits, old models of behavior that aren’t working anymore. The key is to move as far as possible toward the ideal of perfect partnership in our relations.

  Partnership-style management is not only far more enjoyable, it’s far more efficient. In our company, every employee is considered a manager — because every employee manages something. We work with all our managers to make sure their job and its goals are clear, and then we challenge them to do their job and reach those goals in their own way, with their own management style.

  It’s the kind of “hands-off” management policy that would drive J. Edgar Hoover into anxiety attacks, because it means letting go of control, and trusting that something bigger and better will emerge — which is exactly what happens.


  Hire people who are passionate about their job, clearly define their responsibility, and let them do it in their own way. They’re the ones in the trenches, after all, doing the work all day. They see what’s going on, far more than any manager in some remote office. Give them a share of the profits they generate and watch them shine. They’ll do their job far better than you could do it.

  Instead of management from the top down, make it management from the bottom up. Let the employees tell management how best to do the job the employees were hired to do — and employees and management alike will excel in their performance.

  Combine that level of freedom and responsibility with generous profit sharing, so employees get a significant share of the profits they generate, and you have a great key to success. Remember the great quote from H.S.M. Burns (in Lesson 5):

  Treat your employees well, and you’ll soar to greatness on their accomplishments.

  Best of all, in my opinion — and also worth repeating — with the partnership management that we’ve established, I don’t even have to be in the office for the business to run smoothly. Everyone is so empowered and responsible I can take all the time I want and need away from the workplace, and my company hums along.

  I’ve heard so many employers over the years moan about how hard it is to find good people — that to me says far more about those employers than it does about people in general.

  I’ve never had any problems finding good people, or keeping them. The world is full of good people — if they’re treated with respect, and treated as adults. If you assume they’re responsible, they act responsibly. If you challenge them, they rise to the challenge. There are a few exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of people you hire will do well in their work if you manage in partnership with them.

  I’ve seen this happen, over and over, and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

  Partnership management

  turns a mediocre employee into a good employee,

  a good employee into an excellent employee,

  and an excellent employee into a creative force

  who substantially contributes to the company’s growth

  and excellence.

  Add any notes or quotes from this lesson that you particularly want to remember into your folder. Review it regularly.

  SUMMARY

  • Keys to your success are everywhere. Once you have begun the work in this Course, once you create your ideal scene and take at least the first few steps toward it, you’ll notice you start to receive guidance from all kinds of sources.

  • You may need to learn only a small fraction of the material in this Course before you reach the goals you have set for yourself. Along the way, you will certainly discover your own keys, and apply them in your own way.

  • Here’s a great key to happiness: The world out there doesn’t cause our disappointments. We cause our own disappointment, because we have expectations of how our lives should be. If we didn’t have those expectations, we wouldn’t be disappointed.

  • It is possible to learn to accept change, even to love change, but the only way we can do it is by letting go of our expectations of how we think things should be. We have to learn to accept what is before we can learn to love all of life, in its never-ending parade of changes.

  • Our work, our play, our lives in their wholeness can be a dance instead of a struggle. Learn to dance with your co-workers, your customers, your intimate partners, with everyone you meet. Dancing in partnership is a lot more fun than fighting — and it doesn’t cause pain or leave scars.

  • Dancing together means letting go of all forms of domination and attempts to control others. The old dominator-style management creates endless conflict, complexities, and inefficiencies. Partnership is a far better alternative.

  • Our greatest challenge as managers and creators is to move as far as possible toward the ideal of partnership in our relations. Partnership-style management is not only far more enjoyable, it’s far more efficient.

  • Instead of management from the top down, make it management from the bottom up. Let the employees tell management how best to do their jobs — and they’ll excel in their performance. Combine that level of freedom and responsibility with generous profit sharing, so employees get a significant share of the profits they generate, and you have a great key to success.

  • Partnership management turns a mediocre employee into a good employee, a good employee into an excellent employee, and an excellent employee into a creative force who substantially contributes to the company’s growth and excellence.

  In an easy and relaxed manner,

  In a healthy and positive way,

  In its own perfect time,

  For the highest good of all....

  LESSON 8

  DISCOVER YOUR CORE BELIEFS, AND LEARN HOW TO CHANGE THEM

  WE ARE LIMITED ONLY BY OUR BELIEFS

  We know the universe is vast, beyond our abilities to conceive. We can see how abundant nature is. Yet many of us believe that resources are scarce, and there isn’t enough to go around.

  This belief, like all others, is not true in itself, but becomes true in our experience if we believe it. And like all other beliefs, it can be changed. This is not a theory; a great many people have proven it can be done. I have changed my beliefs from scarcity to prosperity, so have countless others — and so can you.

  We live in a limitless universe,

  limited only by our beliefs.

  This is the same as saying that, in an abundant world, we are limited only by our thoughts. Beliefs are thoughts. Thoughts can change — in fact they change all the time. Usually the process is subconscious, but we can learn to consciously change our thoughts — as well as our underlying beliefs. When we do, we change our entire life experience.

  THE CORE BELIEF PROCESS

  The process of changing your beliefs is not difficult: All you need to do is answer a few questions with as much honesty as you can and then craft a few effective affirmations. But don’t let the simplicity of the core belief process cause you to underestimate it. This is an extraordinary bit of knowledge that gives us a phenomenal power: the power to consciously change our beliefs and, as a result, change our world as well.

  I’ve written about it before, and so has Shakti Gawain,* but it’s one of those things we need to hear — and do — repeatedly before we get it on a deep, effective level. Once we get it, we have a powerful tool to help us create what we want in our lives.

  We can consciously choose to create

  a more satisfying life experience.

  The process works best when you’re upset about something, because then it’s very easy to identify all your thoughts about the problem, all the tapes running through your head. But the process works very effectively too when you’re not particularly upset yet have a problem you want to resolve.

  Here are the steps of the process. It’s good to sit down and take a deep breath and relax as much as you can before going through it.

  THE CORE BELIEF PROCESS

  1. THINK OF A PARTICULAR PROBLEM, SITUATION, OR AREA OF YOUR LIFE YOU WANT TO IMPROVE.

  Describe it — take two or three minutes to think about it or talk about it in general.

  2. WHAT EMOTIONS ARE YOU FEELING?

  Name the specific emotion, such as fear, anger, frustration, guilt, sadness.... (At the risk of making a broad generalization, I have found most women usually do this very quickly, and sometimes men stumble around in their heads before they can bring their attention down into their bodies and simply describe their feelings.) Don’t get into any particular thoughts you’re having about it at this point, just pinpoint the single word that describes the emotion.

  3. WHAT PHYSICAL SENSATIONS ARE YOU FEELING?

  Explore your body, from your toes to the top of your head. Is there tension somewhere? What’s going on in your stomach? What is your breathing like?

  4. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT?

  What tap
es are running in your head? What conditioning or programming can you identify? What negative thoughts, fears, or worries are you having? Take a few minutes to describe your thoughts.

  5. WHAT IS THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN IN THIS SITUATION?

  Ask yourself, What is my greatest fear in this situation? If your greatest fear came true, then what would be the worst thing that could happen? If that happened, what would be the very worst thing that could possibly happen?

  These questions bring your deepest fears to light.

  6. WHAT IS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

  What would you like to happen ideally? What is your ideal scene for this area of your life?

  You may find this harder to express than your worst fears. If so, your fears may have been dominating and overwhelming your vision of success. Maybe you have been focusing more on the half of the glass that is empty than the half that is full in your life. Keep the best things, the best possibilities, in mind.

  7. WHAT FEAR OR LIMITING BELIEF IS KEEPING YOU FROM CREATING WHAT YOU WANT IN THIS SITUATION?

  Once you’ve explored this, write your limiting or negative belief in one short sentence, as simply and precisely as you can. If you have more than one, write them all down. Put them in the form of a belief: I believe that I’m inadequate.... I believe it’s hard to make money.... I believe my life is stressful and unhealthy at times....