Overcoming Obstacle Illusions

Three Phases of My Awakening

Stephen Hopson — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:17:30 +0000

It’s been over 50 years since I came screaming into the world and let me tell you, it’s been one hellva journey! And I’m still not done. I sense that I have much more work to do.

Meanwhile, I’ve noticed that on the way to wherever God has planned for me, I’ve had to go through at least 3 different stages to arrive at a point where I realize I am NOT really in CONTROL.

And neither are you.

Were you taken aback for a moment? That’s good! Continue on and see for yourself how I’ve arrived at that conclusion. The following are three phases I’ve personally experienced in my life. Perhaps you’ll recognize yourself in one of them or somewhere in between.

Phase One – “I’m a victim”

I know this might be hard to believe but there was a time when I cried out to God, “Why me?”

I felt that he was punishing me by bringing me into this world as a deaf boy. Even though on the outside I appeared happy- lucky-go (is that how you say it?), inside I was really angry with God, my parents and the world. I actually hated myself because who in their right mind would want to be deaf? Would you?

I went through periods when I hated the hearing aids and how they looked on me. Kids teased me mercilessly. Back in the day when I was in elementary school, I wore a monstrous hearing aid with two cords that ran up to both ears, not to mention I had yellow buck teeth! Not exactly American Idol material.

There are a lot of people who stay in this victim mentality. They think the world is out to get them whether it be the government, God, their parents, society, their boss, co-workers, you name it. This is the stage where we don’t feel we’re making a difference so we find it easier to complain, gripe, protest, judge others and much more. In other words, we abdicate responsibility and sit on the sidelines while life passes us by.

Phase Two – “Hey, I’m in control of everything!”

The Day I Became an Instrument Rated Pilot

Somewhere along the line I had a life-changing epiphany (had a few of them actually). Among the first is when my fifth grade teacher uttered three words that forever changed my life. I wrote a story about that in my first book “Obstacle Illusions.”

Along the way I picked up “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale and not long after that Tony Robbin’s book, “Awaken the Giant Within.” These and many other motivational books plus the fifth grade teacher incident helped me wake up to my own power. I took to heart what countless self-help authors were advocating and earnestly put them into practice like affirmations, visualizations, writing goals and creating vision boards, to name a few.

This gave me the idea that I had the power to visualize what I wanted, take action and actually achieve them. Pretty soon I started to experience miracles. Things were happening and I was really pumped!

As a teen, I used to visualize myself as a pilot in my mother’s car, driving down the middle of the highway, pretending to take off and land. When I turned 40, I accidentally stumbled upon a website by deaf pilots and immediately began to learn how to fly. Right around that time, I set a goal to become the world’s first deaf instrument pilot and then 6 years later defied naysayers by doing exactly that in 2006. While on Wall Street, I won three major sales trips because I wrote down my goals and visualized myself having fun at the beach in Bermuda (one of three destinations I had won trips to).

Finally, I thought, I’m in control! YES! All I have to do is have a desire, write it down and visualize it!

Based on the things I’ve done with my life, you’d think I have found the secret to success, right?

NOT!

Phase Three – “I’m Waking Up!”

My spiritual journey began in 2005 when I hit rock bottom from partying too much while living in New York City. I was still a stockbroker at the time. That’s when I began to devour anything relating to spirituality and began the journey to re-discover the divinity within me.

After over ten years of professional speaking, I decided to go back to school in 2009 and get a Masters degree in Vedic Science at Maharishi University of Management. I studied consciousness, learned how to meditate (Transcendential Mediation) and went deeper within myself.

The deeper I go, the more I understand that setting intentions, putting up a vision board and writing down goals, while not a harmful thing, is actually limiting because God’s plans for me is so much better what I’ve envisioned for myself. God knows what I’m here to do. And He knows how I can get there!

Despite all my “newfound power” from the second phase, I’ve discovered I still don’t have control over everything. It’s an ego trip to think that my ego knows what I’m here to do or even what’s best for me. It wants to try to figure things out but how can it when it can’t see much of what’s going on beyond the normal senses?

Not only does the ego not know what’s best for me but it also tries to control other people’s behaviors. Have you ever wished you could change people so that you could be happier around them? Did it work? Did you do it through a show of force like manipulating the situation or plying them with threats (“If you don’t stop snoring, I’ll leave you!”). I’ve done that.

Did you know anyone who appeared to be healthy but suddenly died of a heart attack or got hit by a truck? I did. What a shock it was. I knew a healthy, well built man from France who looked like he was on top of the world only to die of a heart attack at the young age of 23. I was like, “What just happened?”

You were at the airport and they suddenly announced your flight was delayed due to severe thunderstorms. How did you respond to that? I’ve seen people scream at the poor airline representative probably thinking that they had control over the flights or even the weather.

Can you think of a time when you received a feeling in your gut about a situation that turned out to be correct? When asked about how you knew, you probably responded with “I don’t know, I just knew.” Where did that come from? Did you dismiss it as a fluke or did you know that a higher power was at work here?

One time I was in a bookstore not looking for anything in particular but a flaming red book somehow fell off the shelf and landed on my feet. It was called “The Purpose of Your Life” by Carol Adrienne which was exactly what I needed at the time. Coincidence? Or did my guardian angel do that?

Another time I was speeding down 8th Avenue on my bike (NYC) and suddenly pulled on the brakes even though the light ahead of me was clearly green. Seconds later, a car pulled out from the intersection and ran a red light. I shudder to think what would have happened had I ignored that urge.

On the upper East side (again in NYC) I was about to step off the curb to cross the street when suddenly I felt something pull me back. A moment later, a speeding cab whisked by within a hair’s length. I remember thinking, “OMG!”

One day a cab actually hit me and the force of the impact sent me tumbling over the hood and onto the windshield. I slid back down and hit the pavement with a heavy thunk. I was more embarrassed than hurt and reassured the cab driver I was okay. I suffered no bruises, cuts or anything and hurried away to wherever I was going. Was that divine intervention? Or sheer luck?

I could regale you with many more “near misses” but you get the picture. Makes you kind of wonder who’s in control, right?

Are you one of those people who has had an opportunity of a lifetime (that was just perfect for you) fall into your lap when you thought you were heading on a different path? I’ve heard countless stories of executives who had their eyes on climbing the corporate ladder only to be mysteriously pulled elsewhere. How in the world does that happen? Who did that?

Hard Cover

Since 1995, I’ve been practicing the art of surrendering to a higher power (be it the universe, God, nature, etc). When I let go and trust, I receive divine inspiration that leads me to the right people, places or circumstances. When I am that mode of operation, everything falls into place easily and effortlessly – every single time.

For example, at the end of the school year in 2010, I had a strong urge from within to finally give birth to “Obstacle Illusions.” For over 10 years I had worked on the manuscript and despite attempts to get the book published, it never happened. The powerful urge from within grew so strong that it reached a crescendo. It became impossible to ignore it. When I made the firm decision to follow through, all of a sudden I was led to the right people to design the book cover and give the manuscript a final polish. Not only that, but the money was right there to pay for their top-notch services!

Here’s the funny thing – why didn’t this happen sooner? No matter how hard I tried, nothing worked. I even had an agent in 2000 who once represented Mother Teresa. He had helped me with my book proposal and then went shopping among the nation’s top publishers but every single one of them turned us down. Why?

Because apparently the forces of nature had other plans. Whatever your destiny is, it will unfold at exactly the right time according to the Divine.

None of us know what is going to happen so why try and control it? The best I can tell you is to rediscover who you are by going within and communicate with your inner Self, which is where God is. You do that by listening to your feelings, intuition. Take up meditation. Spend more time in nature. Learn to listen with your heart. The more you go within and take your attention away from the noisy world, stop worrying and really listen, the more you’ll hear God speaking to you.

Even while in Phase Two, I can remember pockets of times when I somehow knew enough to take inspired action to that voice inside me. It happened during the interview I had with Merrill Lynch when I felt God prompting me to forever change the course of my destiny when I bravely said during a very pregnant moment and said, “Sir, if you never hire me, you’ll never know what I can do for this company.” As soon as I uttered those words, it was as if something clicked into place and my entire future magically shifted in the right direction.

A few years after that interview, all of a sudden the clouds finally parted ways and all this money rained down on me. For years I struggled financially, never making more than $35,000 a year in a city where closet-sized apartments were renting for more than half my income! Looking back, I can honestly tell you I have absolutely NO IDEA how that happened! After all, I wasn’t taking any special abundance courses nor did I push very hard. Yes, I did have excellent work ethic and was also very focused. But I didn’t try to force anything. Thus the mystery.

What about the time when the bully in elementary school approached me in the playground? After the fifth grade teacher uttered those famous three words the week before, I somehow had the courage to stop the bully in his tracks because I was unknowingly in the moment and took inspired action. It was a moment that helped strengthen my inner resolve and stand up on my own two feet. If my ego had its way, do you think I would have chosen to confront the school bully that day?

As I continue with my spiritual evolution, I’m recognizing divine inspiration when it comes and then taking “inspired action.” What that means is I don’t really need to figure anything out because the right ideas will come naturally. The best thing I can do is live in the present moment, become totally aware of my intuition and continue to raise my consciousness. From there I trust and go with the flow like the river.

If an opportunity comes my way and it genuinely feels “right,” then I know I need to take action on it. On the other hand, if I feel a clutching in my stomach, it’s usually a sign that whatever it is, it isn’t the right thing and I pass on it. I haven’t yet perfected this technique but I’m getting better at it.

The third phase is where you learn to to release negative emotions, attachments and the tendency to control what happens outside you. The heart begins to take on a larger role while the ego becomes less important. In the process of becoming more centered, you become less judgmental and accept things as they are without the need to attach a meaning to them. And connecting nature becomes…..well, second nature! I often go for nature walks – barefooted and always come away refreshed.

There’s nothing like remembering who you are as a spiritual being living the life of a human being!

So there you have it. What do you think?

The Power of Social Media

Stephen Hopson — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:20:00 +0000

I don’t proclaim to be an expert in Social Media but I’m smart enough to recognize the power of branding yourself through this platform.

Now think about this for a minute.

Even kids in Kindergarten are using IPads!

Fifty percent of the world’s population is under 30 years old and they know more about technology than any other generation!

Social Media is about people – like it or not, it’s a new way of building relationships.

There are 700 million members on Facebook. Almost 1 billion! How many of you can honesty say you can’t start the day without checking Facebook? It used to be that I couldn’t wait to check my email but nowadays the first thing I do is check my FB page BEFORE I check emails. Imagine that!

Take a look at this powerful video:

So after having a conversation with my business manager and watching this video, I finally put up my very first professional speaking/author page on Facebook and ask that you take a look around, see never before seen photos and videos. Then if you like it, there’s that famous “LIKE” button.

Hope you found this very short article to be of value to you. It’s a reminder that if you have a business or want to start one, social media is the new “advertising.” I predict print advertisements will disappear because social media is much more powerful and eye-catching. It’s continually evolving and is here to stay. Therefore, if you haven’t already done so, I suggest you create yourself a page on Facebook – actually two. One personal and one for business. And let me know if you want me to “Like” it!

In closing, I think you’ll get a kick out of this humorous video. For the first time in my life, I got dunked in a tank of water in the name of charity at a local Art Walk in Fairfield, Iowa.

Let me tell you, I was SORE for a few days!!

Getting Ready for Summer – Cleansing/Detoxing

Stephen Hopson — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:00:44 +0000

I’m Too Sexy for a Cleanse System! Just kidding!

Seriously though, what a long winter! I find it amazing to think that summer is only 35+/- days away.

Time to take a look at those surf shorts and bikinis collecting dust and make sure YOU are looking and feeling your best for the warmer weather. If YOU or SOMEONE you know wants to order more product or wants information on Isagenix, please connect with me as soon as possible.

I am digging all the recent success stories of people on my team and want to be sure that WE ALL look and feel our best for the summer of 2011.

30-Day Program - Look Hot to Trot anywhere you go this summer! I lost 16 lbs and trimmed off 4 inches in my first 30 days. Then I went on a 9 day cleanse as a follow up and lost an additional 2 lbs and another inch off my waist. It’s unbelievably powerful! http://stephenhopson.isagenix.com/us/en/thirtyday.dhtml

Our NEW Green Tea Chocolate – Add to the 30 Day! - Cleansing with Chocolate? What? Really? Tasty delightful and healthy chocolate to share with my friends and treat my family. This is one of my favorite snacks during the “deep cleanse” days. YES! I eat chocolate on the days I’m cleansing. Amazing, I know. http://stephenhopson.isagenix.com/us/en/isadelightplus.dhtml

I’m too Sexy For My Cleanse Pak – http://stephenhopson.isagenix.com/us/en/athletespak.dhtml - Rock the Pak that some of the top NFL, NHL and NBA players are using. If you’re a hard charging athlete this is for you.

For those of you who are already on my fast growing Isagenix team, go ahead and cut and paste this information to Facebook, your blog, your website or send out a mass email to your friends and family. Just change the links so that they are directed to your Isagenix website.

For those of you who are not yet on my team, this is for you to consider in preparation for the forthcoming summer. Note: If you do a cleanse with 2 people on your “buddy team,” you’ll get $100 immediately! That’s literally like being paid to do a cleanse! Where else can you do that?!

The rest of you who are already on my team, if you are not yet coaching 2 people on your team, you’ll also get $100!

On the other hand, if you already have 2 people on your team, then you can tell THEM they can get $100 and become a consultant just like you did. It’s a win-win-win situation all around.

You can contact me in any of the following ways:

Email: sjhopson@yahoo.com

Cell: 330-338-4479 (text only)

Facebook

Join me and 8 others who are going to start an Isagenix Cleanse on May 9th. Last year my coach had more than 30 people take part in the pre-summer cleanse and the results were mind blowing!

Make that commitment for a hot summer body and join me on this group thing!!

2nd Media Opportunity to Interview Bestselling Author Stephen Hopson in Wheeling, IL

Stephen Hopson — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:47:07 +0000

I needed a place to write a press release prior to arriving in Chicago this weekend (April 29-30-31) for anyone who might have media contacts out here. If you have any media connections there, please send them to this page so that they can read the press release and contact me or Diana Makeig, Executive VP of YTS. If they are unable to reach us for some reason, they can just show up and will be allowed admission on the night I am speaking.

One other thing – there will be an interpreter for the deaf if they want to come to the YTS seminar on Friday night, April 29th. The cost of admission for that evening is only $25. Go and tell!

INTERVIEW BEST-SELLING AUTHOR STEPHEN J. HOPSON

Mr. Hopson will be speaking at Deborah Poneman’s Yes to Success Seminar at the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel, 601 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Wheeling, IL on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 7 pm. On March 17, 2011 Obstacle Illusions was officially released nationally on Amazon and quickly rose through the ranks debuting at #4 in Happiness, #13 in Self Help and #355 overall (out of 8 million titles).

To contact Stephen for an in-person interview:

Email: sjhopson@yahoo.com

Cell Phone: 330-338-4479 (text messages only)

Born profoundly deaf, Stephen J. Hopson didn’t let that stand in the way of fulfilling his dreams. His mother taught him to speak at home and sent him to public school. He attended college and landed his first job on Wall Street at a major New York bank. Ten years later, he left this secure position to further his career as an award-winning stockbroker.

When he was five, Stephen told his parents he would become a pilot and was dismissed as being foolish, but as an adult made aviation history by becoming the world’s first deaf instrument-rated pilot in 2006.

Stephen credits his fifth grade teacher for transforming his young life, which gave him the confidence to do anything he set his mind to. One of the stories in his bestselling book Obstacle Illusions includes the three words uttered by this teacher that forever changed his life as a skinny, bucktoothed kid who wore monstrous hearing aids, and although appeared happy-go-lucky on the outside, had low self-esteem because he was having a very difficult time in school.

Stephen is a risk-taker. A spiritual revelation one day made him realize that his real purpose and passion was to become a global transformational speaker and author. In the late 1990′s, he left his six-figure Wall Street career, learned how to fly and began a new journey as a speaker and author. His stories began making their appearance in bestselling books including Chicken Soup for the College Soul and others. In 2009 he decided to go back to school and graduated from Maharishi University of Management with honors with a Masters in Vedic Science (study of consciousness). Throughout all of this, he continued writing his life story.

Because he wanted to inspire others to overcome their shortcomings, usually imaginary, the way Stephen had experienced his life; he turned his life’s journey into a national bestselling book Obstacle Illusions: Transforming Adversity into Success. Through his writings and keynote speeches, Stephen is inspiring thousands of people worldwide to believe in themselves and achieve the impossible.

Obstacle Illusions contains 25 stories – the highs, the lows and the most embarrassing moments – from his life and the lessons he learned from them. Each chapter ends with exercises that ask readers to reflect on their own lives and see beyond their so-called obstacles. His publisher says this is the greatest self-help book ever. “I absolutely recommend it to anyone needing inspiration to get back in the game and win big time!” Click here to read a sample chapter: Harry the Arrogant Bank Boss.

On the national release day of March 17, 2011 Obstacle Illusions shot through the ranks and became #4 in the Happiness and #13 in the Self-Help categories. On that day, Stephen was featured in the Huffington Post, which was reported to have had one of the highest volume of traffic: http://is.gd/LLUCuq

To see a short video trailer for the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfeVDZrZyzY

Stephen has been featured in a cover story for Careers and the Disabled, and interviewed on CNN, Detroit Fox 2 News and Buffalo News 4, to name a few. He has been profiled in numerous newspapers including The New York Times, The Detroit Free Press and has appeared on the national Leeza talk show (Paramount), several cable television programs and countless radio shows including The Mitch Albom Show (author of best-selling “Tuesdays with Morrie”).

Obstacle Illusions is available from 1st World Publishing, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and can also be ordered from Stephen’s website.

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TALKING POINTS TO INTERVIEW STEPHEN HOPSON ON OBSTACLE ILLUSIONS

1. How did you come to write this book, Obstacle Illusions, and what do you mean by obstacles being illusions?

2. You were born profoundly deaf – how did you learn to speak so well?

3. Early in the book you talk about how difficult it was being deaf and that you had a hard time dealing with it. Who or what helped you overcome this challenge?

4. In your book you write about an experience that happened after you were transferred into a department at major Wall Street bank that was run by an arrogant boss who ruled with an iron fist. You say he not only didn’t know what to make of you, but also didn’t treat you very well. Yet a year later, he did the unimaginable that sent heavy shock waves throughout the entire division where you worked. What happened?

5. You were an award-winning stockbroker in the early 90’s. Tell us how you got hired and how you managed to succeed in the rough and tumble world of Wall Street.

6. What made you decide to leave your six-figure career as a stockbroker? At that time you had no other job prospects. What where you thinking?

7. It says on the back cover of the book that you became the world’s first deaf instrument-rated pilot in 2006. First of all, how can deaf pilots fly? And what is an instrument rating?

8. Your book also has exercises at the end of each chapter to help readers reflect in incidents in their own lives and help them look at them from another perspective. Can you give us another example of a lesson you learned?

9. What do you hope people will gain from reading your book?

I’m going to the YES to Success Seminar and Invite You to Join Me!

Stephen Hopson — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:49:38 +0000

Debra Poneman, co-author of "Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul" and creator of "Yes to Success!"

Several of you have seen my updates on Facebook about Debra Poneman’s Yes to Success (YTS) seminars that I’ve attended this year. In January 2011, I went to YTS in Chicago and then again in LA last month. I guess you can say I’ve become addicted to YTS and for a very good reason!

Some of you may have taken the seminar back in the 1980′s and I want you to know that as a result of taking her seminar twice (and going for the 3rd time at the end of April!!), I am completely and utterly transformed! Not only is it so relevant to my (and your) life but Debra has added so many powerful components and guest speakers. Let me specifically tell you how it transformed my life.

Attending the one in Chicago in January helped me get more clear about the things I want to be, do and have. One of them was to become a NYT and Amazon bestselling author. While I’ve envisioned the bestselling status for many years (on my vision board is a cut-out of the NYT bestselling list dated August 1996), I added to the list that I wanted to become a bestselling author on Amazon on the day it was nationally launched (March 17, 2011).

After applying her techniques and doing what I needed to do, Obstacle Illusions skyrocketed to national bestselling status by becoming #3 in Happiness and #13 in Self Help categories! It far exceeded even my own expectations!!

Now you may not be an author or an author wanna-be but that doesn’t matter. What matters is YTS can give you the tools that you need to be, do or have what you want.

Not only is her seminar incredibly powerful but she’s the most heartfelt genuine seminar leader I’ve ever met. It’s obvious that she truly cares about your success. Even before the seminar is over, you’ll be saying YES to Success!

In fact, I guarantee you’ll like it so much that you’ll want to sign up for the next seminar and the next. It’s like what Maharishi talks about when dying a piece of cloth in a certain color. It has to be dipped in the vat over and over again until the color takes root. Similarly, the more you take her seminars, the more you’ll be able to incorporate her techniques, discover your dharma and achieve your dreams.

Me with Debra Poneman - YTS Jan 2011

It’s an ABSOLUTE MUST for all of my fans, friends and associates!

And guess what?

Debra is offering a special price $100.00 DISCOUNT!! Normally $497.00, for YOU only $397.00!

In the coupon box at the following webpage, type in Hopson to get the discount:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1276564

However, this discount in only good for one week – though midnight on April 15th!!!

See you in Chicago (or San Diego)!

Media Opportunity to Interview Best-Selling Author Stephen Hopson

Stephen Hopson — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:09:15 +0000

I needed a place to write a press release while I am out in Los Angeles for anyone who might have media contacts out here. If you have any media connections in LA, please send them to this page so that they can read the press release and contact me. If they are unable to reach me for some reason, they can just show up and will be allowed admission.

INTERVIEW BEST-SELLING AUTHOR STEPHEN J. HOPSON

Mr. Hopson will be speaking at Deborah Poneman’s Yes to Success Seminar at the Radisson LA Airport Hotel, 6225 W. Century Blvd., Los Angeles, CA on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 7 pm in the Century Room. On March 17, 2011 Obstacle Illusions was officially released nationally on Amazon and quickly rose through the ranks debuting at #4 in Happiness, #13 in Self Help and #355 overall (out of 8 million titles).