Joe Vitale | Magic Boxing

I think a short answer to describe my childhood would be that I was unhappy. I was an unhappy child and looking for something that was dependable, something that was safe. And what I discovered were books. Books were always there. Books were always going to be my friends that were going to hold wisdom. They held interesting people and characters and amazing experiences. And they were always readily available. My home was near a very beautiful public library in Niles, Ohio and that’s where I turned to for safety and solitude in my early years. Though I did go through a period of wondering if I was going to be a magician, (Which I was interested in because magic presented itself as an escape and a way for transformation)? Or, if I was going to be a boxer, (which I was also interested in due to the influence of my father)?

I realized that I actually didn’t need to become either one. That I could write about characters who were in all those vocations if I was an author. So, at a very early age, when I discovered books and writing, I knew that becoming an author was what I wanted to do so I could create a powerful reality for my life with the pen.

And an extra perk for you to retreat to the library was that it was quiet, and it commands quiet. No one could be loud within those walls. Very different from when you were at home.
Exactly.

Can you share with me the day you decided to investigate spirituality, and what that looked like to you at the beginning of your adventure?

Well, on the spiritual side of it, I probably wouldn’t have used the word spiritual, but I would have used the word metaphysical. And that would have been when I was barely a teenager at thirteen years old. This was stemming from my reading. I was reading all kinds of books, I started to explore psychology, philosophy, metaphysics, the power of the mind, hypnosis, and anything in that genre. I was looking for a way to distract and submerge my thoughts somewhere else to escape the reality I was in at home because I didn’t feel safe. I looked for a way to tap into extra power outside of myself for protective reasons. What I discovered is that I alone wasn’t very powerful. But I am when joining forces, which today I would use the word ‘spiritual’ for those forces. Back when I first began my self-discovery as a teenager, I probably would have said metaphysical forces. Whatever it was, it was clear to me that I was connecting with something powerful, and it would make me feel almost invincible. So, I got interested.

How quickly or loudly did your life’s perceptions change once you began this new path?

I think because I was a child trying to understand very adult—actually beyond adult—concepts, I found myself struggling to make sense of those things. I remember moments reading that everything was energy. I was reading material like this between the ages of thirteen to fifteen years old. I toyed with the idea that if everything’s energy, then maybe I can walk through the wall. And I would try. I would walk up to the wall thinking, well, if it’s my mind power, and I’m energy and the wall is energy, there ought to be an opening in here someplace. And of course, I did not walk through the wall. So, I was looking deeper into the concepts of everything being energy

During this time, how did you perceive your interactions with others?

I had a best friend who was exploring the information in these books the same way I was. In fact, we took turns hypnotizing each other when we were probably fifteen to sixteen years old. He persisted in trying to hypnotize me, but we were not getting anywhere that way, but I could easily hypnotize him. He was a great subject, and I was able to dabble with the mind power aspect of it, even practicing regressing him to an earlier age.

During these years, I felt totally alone and that nobody understands me. Nobody is connecting with me, even the best friend that I was practicing hypnosis with. He wasn’t on the same playing field as me. We didn’t see the world the same way. I saw most of what people were talking about and doing as being trivial. It was unimportant. It was almost like being caught up with an illusion. It’s almost like everybody’s involved in a dramatic television series called their life. And I was on the outside watching it feeling the way that I did.

I would watch people and think to myself, “You don’t have to be this involved. You don’t have to be this upset. You don’t have to be this attached. You don’t have to play these different games and be engaged in petty arguments or childish desires or fights.” I felt very separate and very alone. I felt very misunderstood, or at least, not understood.

Feeling this way kept me from being socially involved with other people in any way, shape, or form, which is one reason why I think that I was choosing a loner lifestyle. Being an author would be me and my typewriter, (because that’s what I had at the time). So, nobody else would be involved. Nobody else needed to be involved. I was in my own world. Even when I toyed with being a boxer. It was me against one other person in the ring. You’re not on a team, it’s you with somebody that you’re battling. I always felt like there wasn’t a group that I would belong in. It was a solitary experience. I’m kind of chuckling inside because I’m thinking one of my favorite songs early on was Neil Diamond’s “Solitary Man.” Because however, he meant it, I viewed it as this is my life. This is how it is, that I’m a solitary man.

At what age did that shift? When did you really know yourself and start to let more people in?

I’m still working on that. I would say certainly a few decades ago, partly because I was pushed into it by career needs. I am connecting with more people now. Even before the movie, The Secret came out in 2006. I got more public awareness and public attention from that film.

During that time, I was making a name for myself as an internet marketer. I was one of the pioneers of selling online. People were approaching me wanting me at events and would want to hang around me. And I could do it, but usually for short periods of time and usually if I was drinking. Because the alcohol would numb the situation and would make me feel like I could get through it. It made it easier for me, but ultimately, I’m still working on it. I’m still the solitary man.

Did having a sense of humor play a part in your journey and open you up to an even more real part of yourself, deepening your experience?

Absolutely, yes. One of the reasons that I decided to be an author was when I looked around, I saw that people were unhappy. I didn’t know at the time that I was just seeing the mirror of what was in me. I decided that what I wanted to do was write humor. I wanted to write humorous novels, plays, and columns. I don’t even remember all the different things, but humor and writing comedy was of the most interest to me. When I finally did write a play, and this was an early success for me, I wrote a play in 1972. It was a one-act comedy. It got produced in 1979 and won an award.

During that time, I was in poverty, unknown, and struggling. I had a comedy play produced that I didn’t receive money for, but it was one of the proudest and most delicious moments and memories I have ever had. Being in the audience, as people were laughing at things I wrote made me feel alive.

My father, despite all the negative things I might say, was the most charming storyteller. He was very boisterous. He had the gift of gab. He told stories that were just remarkable. He repeated the really good stories over and over again, which meant I heard it over and over again whenever he told it to somebody else. Watching and listening to him also taught me about making people laugh, making people smile, and having that different view of life.

I realized I didn’t need to look at life and see it as nasty, dark, or a struggle. That there was light in life. There was actually humor in it. When you look for it, you can find it.

And then you started to add the view of light into your life to add the balance?

Right.

What will you be sharing with the world this year?

I just started my own online television show. And I’ve done thirteen episodes so far. It’s happening for 2022 and it’s called Zero Limits Living. It can be found at zerolimitsLivingtv.com. I also have a podcast at JoeVitalepodcast.com. To date, I have written 80 books which include the two books that just came out, Karmic Marketing and Abundance Paradigm which came out this month. I have another book called Hypnotic Selling Secrets that’ll be out soon.

Who gifted you with inspiration and positive influences in your life?

Oh, that’s a very long list. All the people I read about when I was growing up inspired me.
Definitely Bob Proctor. He was one of the people in the movie The Secret. He definitely inspired me through his writings, but he also made introductions for me. He went into the studio with me. We were on stage together in Peru, he inspired me and continues to inspire me.

What is the best way to see what you are up to?

On Instagram and Facebook, I’m Dr. Joe Vitale. I post brand-new original videos on there every day.