There’s a saying floating around cyberspace that people will respond to a unique idea emotionally rather than logically and possibly cause a firestorm of media attention. (Photo image: oneredpaperclip)
If I told you on one muggy summer’s night in late August 2005, a young lad from a university in London was lying on his bed with a notepad, brainstorming ideas on how to pay for his education and came up with an idea that eventually brought him over $1 million from people around the world, would you believe me?
What if I told you a guy traded one very red paperclip for a nice house, would you call me crazy? After an hour or two of scribbling ideas on paper, Alex Tew of London would create internet history by becoming the first person in the world to sell a million pixels on his website as advertising space. Lo and behold, he became an internet sensation and attracted attention all over the world, garnering well over a million dollars because he acted on his intuition! Check out his website by going to the million dollar homepage. It’s a fascinating and inspiring story.
Meanwhile, a guy named Kyle MacDonald of Canada got this idea of making a series of trades, starting with a red paper clip and ended up getting himself a nice house. Go to his blog.
What inspires me is if Alex and Kyle can come up with ingenious ideas and get themselves a million dollars and a house, well the sky’s the limit, wouldn’t you agree?
Food for thought: Entertaining the possibilities and acting on your intuition is the most valuable asset you’ll ever have. Ever.
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5:15 pm on February 25th, 2008 1
Yes I read about the college student who was able to raise / make a million dollars with his pixle idea. His story is very inspiring and I keep telling my blog readers that almost anything is possible - especially when it has to do with money!
6:02 pm on February 25th, 2008 2
Rose:
You bet! When you put your mind to anything and you follow your heart, you’re bound to be led to unexpected ideas and surprises that could lead to bigger and better things.
7:39 pm on July 4th, 2008 3
Fascinating story, indeed! I do want to add that continuous studying will spark creativity. Most are too lazy to do this, which gives me the upper hand and “unfair advantage” as I am quite fierce in studying success systems. (smile)
I was supposed to have breakfast with the red paper clip guy when he was to appear on tv show here in NYC but at the last minute it got canceled due to exhaustion. I found him on craigslist bartering section - he was bartering his book for the best offer.
I responded by letting him know that I’d buy him (total stranger to me, mind you!) a waffle breakfast for the book. I could’ve picked up the book at barnes and nobles. I simply wanted to meet him so that I could pick his brains while he ate them waffles. A few email exchanges but no breakfast.
Nice guy, though.
Cheers,
Yves Marie Danie Baptiste
Yves Marie Danie Baptistes last blog post..Make Money Blogging.
6:26 am on July 6th, 2008 4
Yves:
What a delightful comment! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience in attempting to connect with the “red paper clip guy.” Glad to hear that even though the barter you wanted never took place, at least you had a nice email exchange with him.
When I first learned of the red paper clip guy, I was fascinated b/c of the possibilities of the imagination. Who would ever have thought that you could exchange (eventually) a red paper clip for a house without any money changing hands? A most amazing thing happened when this guy first conceived of the idea.
It goes to show that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. He could have easily given up along the way but I think he was having too much fun to stop. That’s probably one lesson I took away from reading about his experiences - he was having FUN. When you have fun, you’re not rigidly attached to anything - you “go with the flow.”
When that happens, the universe conspires to gather forces to help you make that happen.
Best wishes to your continued success as a result of your dedication to the study of different “success systems.”
3:28 pm on July 23rd, 2008 5
Hi Stephen,
As you can see…I’m an avid reader of you site. I see that you are a believer in visualizing your success or whatever it is that one wishes to accomplish in their lives.
I can tell that I’ve practiced this for some time (still do!) and I realized every single mental picture I locked into my mind. This is quite a discipline, whew!
And I can fully understand why so very few people practice it. But as you can read from my previous, I work so very hard to not be in the “masses” group. Geesh. That sounds like the most pompous thing, eh? I don’t think I mean it in that way.
Reading your website gives me so much inspiration to keep pushing myself to even greater heights in both my personal life dreams and career move.
Cut and paste my name: Yves Marie Danie Baptiste into Google to have a feel for how I am putting into practice the things you and the rest of those I admire strive to live by as well as teach to others.
Oh, about the visualization thingie….that kinda scares me sometimes because things happen JUST as I see it in my mind from my continuous practice of this discipline. If I were to tell you of all my achievements being tied to this practice, it may give you the chills.
The other day, I “saw” money raining from the sky and smacking me behind the head - that was the most welcomed
“sucker-punch” (as we say here in New York) I’ve ever received.
Go ahead…google me..cut and paste it:
Yves Marie Danie Baptiste.
Until next time,
Danie
11:56 am on July 24th, 2008 6
Hi there Danie!
Yes, I can tell from your enthusiastic comment that you are a new fan and supporter of mine. Thanks! I love bringing in new people and creating a fun community. Your energy is infectious and I’m glad you’re here.
I’m even more glad you wrote about this article because it reminded me to find a red paper clip via Flicker and put it up in the article to make it more interesting.
You are right - I’m a huge believer in visualizing my success and have used the power of visualization to my advantage. It’s an amazing energy tool available to everyone. In fact, I just gave a testimonial for a book that’s being written by an author who is releasing a book through Harper Collins on the power of using a vision board (to help with the visualizations).
Yes, I know how scary the power of visualization can be. Meaning, how things can unfold almost exactly the way you saw them in your mind. It’s mind blowing, really. Isn’t that way they say, “Be careful for what you wish for?”
Of course, we are not “wishing” for anything b/c we’re actively pursuing the dreams via visualization, etc. But you know what I mean.
Thanks! I am grateful you stopped by and shared with us today. (BTW, I will google your name and see what I come up with - you do the same with mine.)