Concepts such as visualization and affirmations were popular long before the term "law of attraction" became mainstream, and long before the success of movies like The Secret. The reason for that is because those methods work. However, like any success method, you have to do it right in order to get the results. Link to Full Story
If you are confused about why the Law of Attraction isn't working, there are some real - and down to earth - answers about how the whole thing works. Link to Full Story
This week's edition of the Self Improvement and Law of Attraction Link Love series features loads of great stuff including humor, spawning creativity, odes to happiness, parenting, and more! Link to Full Story
Insert Your Mental Reprogramming System of Choice Here: Affirmations, Visualization, Hypnosis, Meditation, Self-talk, Brain-wave Synchronization, and on and on the list goes…
There are so many ways to reprogram your mind these days that I'm beginning to wonder if we're all just running around in a brain-wash induced state of self-imposed denial.
OUCH! That came out a bit more harshly than I had intended! However, in truth, there is a slight grain of irritation here, because, much like the Law of Attraction, there is so much confusion about how to use some of these tools that their meaning is starting to get lost in the shuffle. This post is my attempt at setting the record straight on one of the most popular systems: Affirmations.
To cut right to the heart of the matter, the question on the table is "Do affirmations work"? The answer to the question is "Yes, if your affirmations really work". Confused yet? Allow me to clear the fog a bit.
As Karen Lynch points out in her post "Words," the end result that you are after with an affirmation is a feeling. That's it. That's all you get.
You can't manifest a new house or a new car with affirmations. You can't bring forth a huge pile of money with affirmations. You can't conjure up a rewarding career, nor magically create a loving and loyal romantic interest.
Affirmations, do not do any of those things. In fact, affirmations don't "do" anything - not in the 3-dimensional world anyway. The job of an affirmation is not to conjure up the things that we want to have in our lives, but rather to conjure up the feeling that having those things will create in our lives.
Then, once you have that feeling, you Law of Attraction junkies will recognize that the feeling will then create the vibrations which will speed the house, the car, the job, the money, the mate - whatever - directly to you at a rate that is proportionate to your level of allowing and belief.
However, for those of you who aren't so sure about the whole LOA thing, don't despair! You can use affirmations just as effectively to generate feelings of happiness and success.
You see, by feeling what it will be like to attain your goal, what you are doing is building something.
Oh yes, Grasshopper, you are building something truly wonderful. You are building something as large as the tallest building, as far-reaching as the infinite dreamscape, and as real to you as anything ever possibly could be.
You are building Belief.
By constantly creating the feeling of having something that is not (yet) physically in your life, you are creating a new belief system from scratch. This belief system will allow you to "know" what it is like to have the things that you desire because - in your mind - you already have them.
By continually reaffirming the feeling of having the things that you want, you will find ways to bring those things into your 3-dimensional existence. This may be through a burst of inspiration, a sustained motivation to take action, or it may happen by you actually coming across the method needed to bring you what you want.
So, the question of whether or not affirmations actually work, and if so, how to create affirmations that really work for you, is answered simply by asking yourself the following question:
"What can I tell myself that will create the feeling of having {insert the thing that you are affirming for here}?"
Here are a few examples from my own life, and I use them to reaffirm whenever something actually happens, so that the feeling that the thing generates is clear and present in that moment in time:
"Money comes to me easily and frequently." - Stolen from 'The Secret', I say this every single time I get money in any amount. Since I "work" on the Internet, I receive revenue from many different sources, and every time I get a check or a deposit into my PayPal account, I say this affirmation - no matter what the sum of money is.
"I am so grateful for…" - Gratitude is one the keys to success, and I practice it all day, everyday. From saying "I am so grateful that I don't have to get out of bed yet" to saying "I am so grateful that today was a good day with my family," not a day goes by that I don't actually say some rendition of a gratitude affirmation several times throughout the day.
"Since I live …" - One of my primary life goals is to own a house on the beach in St. Augustine, FL. I live in northeast Florida already, so anytime anything "beach-like" crosses my mind - even in a visualization - I reaffirm it. "Since I live on the beach, I can spend my upcoming day off there." "Since I live on the beach, I can run along the shore as the sun is rising." "Since I live on the beach, I can hear the surf from my window as I am working in my home office".
These are just examples, and are obviously specific to my lifestyle, but that is also why they work! If I ran around all day affirming things that had nothing to do with me, or that were so far out of my belief system that it would not be possible for me to take my affirmations seriously, then those affirmations wouldn't do me much good.
If you try to affirm "wild and crazy" success into your life with off the wall affirmations, the only feeling that you will be creating is one of disbelief, and that will get you nowhere.
So, if you want affirmations that really work, think of affirmations that work for you. Once you have done that, it is just a matter of repeating them as often as you want to feel that feeling of success!
Random great posts from the past:
Have you ever had to sit by and watch a wonderful thing die a slow, humiliating death?
That's pretty much how I feel right now as I watch from the sidelines as the glorious Law of Attraction is being both misunderstood by non-believers, and perverted into some grand money-making scheme by supposed followers.
The whole thing makes me ill, yet being a true believer and a true follower of the proper ways to utilize conscious creation in my life, I neither dwell upon nor give consistent thought to these negative circumstances.
Why, then, am I writing a blog post that calls attention to these things? After all, the LOA teaches only to notice - not to dwell upon - things that do not resonate with our desires.
I am writing - dear reader - so that you can see the difference between hype and hope, and so that an actual objective account of this situation can be given in order to avoid seeing a headstone like this one on display in public record.
There are two very basic reasons why the movie The Secret and subsequent teachings about the Law of Attraction have caused so much potential negativity in the world, and it boils down to nothing more exotic than human nature.
The need for Security
As a race, we have always had an instinctive need to know that "everything was going to be alright". This need goes back as far as the days of prehistoric man seeking shelter in rock-solid caves, and continues as an integral part of society all over the world.
This quest for security has led us to scientific discoveries, philosophical understandings, and religious belief systems. Science, philosophy, and religion have been part of the human condition since time immemorial, yet suddenly an idea has come into the mainstream that challenges all three.
According to the Law of Attraction, science as we know it may not be as we know it anymore. Need proof? Go find me a quantum physicist who says he has all of the answers.
Philosophy itself has also been challenged by people who now say that humans have always had the ability to consciously create their lives. This throws historical record itself into chaos when you consider that this belief would have changed the very face of history had it been widely practiced centuries ago.
And what about religion? By using the LOA, are you denouncing your deity? Are you saying that there is no God? Are you saying that each of us IS God???
Whoa! This whole thing is starting to get a little bit out of control, isn't it? Challenging science? Challenging philosophy? Challenging RELIGION??
I'm sorry, but this is just bringing up way too many questions that humans just don't have answers for. Better to go bury that whole "attraction" business under a rock somewhere. We'll all feel a lot better - a lot more secure - when things are back to the way they used to be and we had answers for all of this stuff.
Greed
I'm sorry to have to be the messenger for this less than savory bit of news, but it's true. Greed is running rampant and everyone wants to cash in on the deliberate creation money train!
Ya know, it's really funny that this is the case, because true believers know that abundance is everywhere and that greed itself is not only unnecessary, but that it will actually retard the power of the LOA, leaving the greedy person without the pot of gold they were hoping for
This greed has come up in every way imaginable, including teaching and coaching programs, books, seminars, audio programs, teleclasses, eBooks, and last, but not least, let us not forget the SPECIAL REPORT!
Whatever is in the SPECIAL REPORT must be really special, because this blog alone gets at least half a dozen spam comments every single day from alleged LOA practitioners who are offering the SPECIAL REPORT, and it's FREE!
Okay, here's a clue from me to you, SPECIAL REPORT PROVIDERS: I already know how to consciously create my life. If you had read through this blog you would know that I teach my readers how to create their lives, and your SPECIAL REPORT is of no interest to me or to my readers, which is why your daily spam comments keep getting deleted.
What about the rest of these product and service providers, though? There must be someone who really knows how to teach people to take control of their lives by using these principles.
You are absolutely right! Please don't mistake my previous comments to mean that you shouldn't listen to - and even pay for - the teachings of people who truly understand these concepts.
However, on that same token, do your homework. Any products or services that are being offered to you should at a bare minimum come with a money-back guarantee, and the seller or coach should have plenty of data to back up his/her expertise.
A blog that teaches about the Law of Attraction, a list of articles that teach about conscious creation, or a decent track record are all positive indicators. If someone has none of those, yet they are claiming to be an expert, what exactly are they an expert in, I wonder?
After reading all of this, is this really the end?
No, of course not! The principles of deliberate creation have been around literally since the dawn of time, and no present day insecurities or levels of greed are going to change that.
However, greed and insecurity are at the moment still an integral part of human nature. For that reason you will continue to see plenty of negativity surrounding these concepts, and you will continue to see a lot of people exercising their greed in order to take advantage of those insecurities.
Draw your own conclusions! Don't believe me, and don't believe your friends, co-workers, or family members.
Do your own research and decide whether or not you want to believe in and practice the many wonderful concepts that make up the Law of Attraction.
At a bare minimum, these concepts will make your life a happier and more positive place to be, and that is a fact that I am willing to share with you free of charge, no security blanket needed. 
Well, if we were in the movie “Wayne’s World” I guess the appropriate phrase at this point would be…
Now that the Law of Attraction concepts have hit the mainstream, both the believers as well as the non-believers are coming out of the wood work.
A search on Google for the term “law of attraction” brought back well over 2 million websites, although it also won’t take you long to find plenty of people who who think it’s all a bunch of nonsense. Check here, here, and here if you would like some examples.
Now, any regular readers of this blog know my views on this whole concept, and this post is not meant to discuss my personal ideals, but rather to plug some of these concepts into a typical life scenario to see if they actually hold water.
To that end, I picked 3 specific practices that are commonly used by the LOA believers, who also call themselves “deliberate creators” since they believe that via these practices they can literally create their existence here on planet Earth.
So, whether you are a believer or a skeptic, if you truly feel that your point of view is the correct one, then you shouldn’t mind a little bit of close scrutiny to see if these concepts are worth considering.
If they are, then here are 3 possible ways to use them. If they are not worth considering, then you now have 3 great examples of the uselessness of these tools that you can use in your on-going crusade to debunk this whole affair. Here we go…
One of the primary weapons of mass abundance that the teachers from the movie ‘The Secret’ endorse using in order to invoke the law of attraction is visualization. In fact, Joe Vitale goes even further to say that you should use “holographic visualization” which is basically the art of both mentally and emotionally putting yourself inside your vision of success. You experience those moments so precisely in your mind that it seems that you are actually there.
Proponents - From a believer’s standpoint, this type of visualization will send actual vibrations out from the visualizer into the Universe, and will in turn attract similar vibrations. Done consistently over the course of time with a high level of emotion and belief, and the vibrations will all coalesce into a series of circumstances, people, events, or inspired actions that will eventually lead to the visualizer actually being in the situation that they visualized.
Opponents - People who do not believe in this concept simply say that there is no scientific basis for this idea, and that there is no way to prove that doing this will be anything other than a complete waste of time. They believe that if you want to have an experience in your life, you need to take whatever action is needed in order to marshal the resources that will allow you to have that experience.
The Benefit for Non-Believers - Believers in the LOA do not need any further convincing of the validity of this practice. However, for non-believers, the act of visualizing has one very, very important side effect that has nothing to do with the Law of Attraction, and that benefit is FOCUS.
Even if you do not believe that some magic genie is ripping around town on a magic carpet finding ways to turn your daydreams into reality, any reasonable and logical person will agree that staying focused intensely and consistently over the course of time on any particular goal will bring about positive steps toward that goal.
Those steps may come in the form of financial or career maneuvers that will lead to the goal, or they may come in the form of the simple ability to keep from getting distracted by things that would normally take the person off track. Taking your eyes off the prize runs the risk of delaying or preventing the attainment of whatever it is that is being focused on.
A simple example of this is weight loss. It is a common belief that if you eat a lot of junk food, you will not have a body like a super model. If your goal is to have a body like that, and you consistently visualize yourself having that body, it is going to be very difficult for you to believe that scarfing down an entire pepperoni pizza all by yourself is a good idea.
Will your weight loss be “magic” or will it be a result of you continually taking part in healthy exercise and eating habits as a result of having a super model picture of yourself that is playing over and over again in your head? Well, once you have that super model body, who cares HOW it actually happened?
Affirmations come in many shapes and sizes, but in a nutshell, it is the act of writing down what you want to have in your life, and then repeatedly saying it either out loud or in your head for the purpose of changing your mental point of view regarding those desires.
Proponents - Believers in the power of affirmation basically think that by continually repeating something to oneself, that thing will eventually become a reality. Where the LOA comes into this part of the equation is that the common belief behind conscious creation is that the vibrations that are sent out into the Universe are acted upon in order to bring our goals into existence. However, as most people carry around years worth of self-limiting beliefs, the only vibrations they are sending out are those of NOT having whatever it is that they want. By consistently practicing affirmations, the vibration is changed to one of confidence and belief, thus attracting the object of desire.
Opponents - Non-believers in affirmations once again cite the fact that there is no evidence to support the belief that anything less than taking action will bring about goal attainment. They may even go so far as to say that by repeatedly talking about something that you don’t have will actually only serve to make you even more convinced that you’ll never have it.
The Benefit for Non-Believers - By repeatedly affirming that you want something, you assign the task of finding a way to bring that thing into your existence to your brain and your subconscious mind. In order to do this, though, you must ask for solutions, not affirm non-existent realities. For example:
“I am independently wealthy and I never have to work another day in my life.”
vs.
“How can I create a situation that makes me independently wealthy so that I never have to work another day in my life?”
The first example stated something that wasn’t true, and by continually saying that statement over and over again, you may not activate the amazing power of your subconscious mind in order to help find a solution.
However, by continually asking yourself that question over and over again, your mind will be constantly looking for a solution as you go about your day to day business. Eventually - maybe sooner or maybe later - you will get slapped in the face with a great idea or the beginnings of a plan of action that will lead you to that life of riches and relaxation.
This is probably the oldest and most well-known tool that is in the bag of tricks that believers in the LOA carry around with them. Long before today’s gurus were touting the power of positive thought, yesterdays authors and visionaries were extolling the benefits of this practice.
Proponents - People who believe they can activate the Law of Attraction by living in a constantly positive state of mind will once again point to the power of their vibrations as the catalyst for attaining their desires. By staying in a constant positively-charged state of mind, they also maintain a constant positively-charged emotional state. In so doing, they will only attract vibrations that are in resonance with theirs, thus attracting “fuel” that will drive their machines of success. That fuel may come in the form of intense coincidences that are in line with their desires, or they may take the form of opportunities or circumstances that will eventually bring forth their dreams.
Opponents - Non-believers in the power of positive thinking will say that just thinking about good things will do absolutely nothing to bring those things into your existence. They will point out the fact that everyone wants health, wealth, and happiness, so if just thinking good thoughts about those things was the key to having them, everyone would already be living happily ever after.
The Benefit for Non-Believers - Having a positive mental attitude is something that can - and does - benefit everyone. Even if you don’t believe that your positive state of mind will help you to actually attract good things into your life, at a bare minimum, keeping a good attitude will help you to enjoy life more.
This could fall under the umbrella of what people call “managing their expectations” or it could simply be called being “mentally prepared” for any given situation.
For example, if your job is lame, and you know that it is lame, you can’t simply “think” yourself out of having to go there. However, by setting your mental set point to one of being prepared for the experience, you will help yourself to not be as miserable as you otherwise would be. On the other hand, if you just sit around thinking about how bad your job is, there is no way that you are going to see anything but how bad your job is when you get there.
Another example is finances. You could sit around thinking about how much you don’t enjoy watching prime time on your 19″ television with bad reception because you can’t afford cable and a big flat-screen TV, or you could turn the situation around to actually be glad that you have that opportunity. In order to do so, just consider how bad it would be if you couldn’t even afford your own home or apartment, or if your electricity had been turned off because you couldn’t pay the bill.
You can apply that same formula to any situation in your life in order to receive the benefit of positive thinking. By simply taking on the habits of mentally preparing yourself for a potentially negative situation, or by showing gratitude for the fact that things aren’t worse (and they always could be), you will slowly but surely pick up the habit of being happy about situations that in the past made you miserable.
Now that you have seen some common ways that the LOA is used by people to “magically” manifest the lives that they want, you should also see that there is really no magic to it. The same practices that the believers are using to bring success into their lives will help non-believers to improve their quality of life as well.
Also, there are 3 potential benefits that a non-believer gets from this whole process:
After all, not only are these techniques free, but no one even has to know that you are doing them. How cool would it be to achieve some amazing success in your life without having to admit to anyone - even yourself - that you ever considered whether or not the magic actually works?
Something to think about…..
Well, it seems that ‘The Secret’ is no longer a secret. For those people who believe in or have seen the power of the Law of Attraction, this comes as no surprise. What about everyone else, though? What about the “naysayers”?
As with all concepts, products, or services that become known in the mainstream circles of society, there are always going to be believers as well as non-believers.
I don’t personally agree with the naysayers, since I know for a fact that the Law of Attraction works, and that it has been a part of the human experience since the dawn of time - long before today’s teachers ever came on the scene. However, my confidence in the truth of existence allows me to freely consider the point of view of others, as well as to share that point of view in order to better educate my readers.
To that end, here are two wonderfully positive (said with tongue firmly planted in cheek) posts that you can check out to read from a few of the people on the opposite side of the Law of Attraction coin. In fact, I have put a trackback from this blog post to their sites in the hopes that they will allow their readers to see both points of view as well:
Andrew Johnson’s Web Publishing Blog - The Secret/The Law of Attraction Scam
KevinHogan.com - The Secret…The Truth Behind the Lie
Now, I will not debate the content of either one of those posts, simply because I don’t need to. People who truly understand the Law of Attraction and conscious creation know that they create their own realities, and they know that it is not “magic”.
If I were to start a “flame war” with every person who disagreed with the LOA or even with just my personal take on it, this blog would become a war zone.
So, conscious creators, what do we get when we focus on war?
Yes, more war.
On the other hand, what do we get when we focus on more open-mindedness, understanding of other people’s points of view, and a willingness to accept others for who they are?
Yes, more of the same.
All of that being said, I do want to address one issue that has come up repeatedly about the “new” interest in the Law of Attraction, and that is the fact that people are making money from teaching others about it.
I will answer that issue by saying, yes, that is absolutely correct! Why wouldn’t people make money helping other people to live better lives?
People pay personal trainers, nutritionists, therapists, counselors, teachers, coaches, doctors, and pretty much any other profession that you can imagine. People are willing to pay to learn about things that they want to understand.
Ummm… that’s not a crime. To say that people should not make money by teaching other people to create better lives for themselves is the same thing as saying that your doctor should not collect a paycheck, or that your physical therapist should not get any money, or that your marriage counselor, financial coach, or school guidance counselor should do what they do for free.
Everyone deserves to get paid for the things that they offer as a way to help others. If you take a concept like the LOA and teach people how to LIVE THEIR LIVES instead of just doing a one-time service for them, in my opinion, that is far more valuable than any other kind of product or service.
“If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. However, if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
So yes, people get paid to teach others how to improve their lives, and I am one of those people. I am as transparent as they come. I don’t try to hide the fact that this blog is a source of income for me and my family. I don’t pretend that I don’t want people to buy my products. Sure I do!
It costs me loads of time, effort, and continuing education in order to maintain this blog, produce new products, and come up with new services. However, my goal is to give people FAR more value with my products and with this blog than they actually pay for, and I succeed in doing that every single day.
So, for any alleged non-capitalists who are reading this post, I want you to know that - just like you - LOA and conscious creation teachers get paid to provide a product or a service.
Personally, I am ecstatic about the fact that my products and services related to teaching Self Improvement and the Law of Attraction are helping people to enrich their lives, and empowering them to become whoever they want to be!
In fact, here, I will make it easy for you:
Be sure to NOT save $5 off of already inexpensive products by joining the Today is that Day Newsletter.
You see, teaching people about concepts that help them to enrich their lives should be done with one goal in mind:
To help people enrich their lives!
Whew! That was a tough one…
Are there people out there who take advantage of the fact that “the secret” is out and that the concepts surrounding the LOA are now in the mainstream media?
Yes, there are. Just like there were people who took advantage of the Atkin’s craze, satellite TV over your computer, and people who peddle Hoodia as a miracle weight loss product.
There will always be people who take advantage of the latest social buzz and use it for the sole purpose of making money - at least during this stage of our evolution.
However, there will also be people who can actually help others by teaching them the TRUTH. Whether that truth is thousands of years old, whether it just got discovered yesterday, or even if that truth does nothing but inspire people to believe in themselves, there will always be true Teachers who are willing to share that information.
So, if you personally don’t believe in the Law of Attraction, does that mean that you should look down your nose at it, and bash it publicly? That is totally up to you.
You choose to live your life however you please, and you take the rewards and the punishments that are a result of the choices that you make. Whether you believe in the LOA or not, you ARE a conscious creator of your existence, and that fact will play itself out in whatever positive or negative manifestations that you bring about.
If you saw some of the teachers from the movie ‘The Secret’ on the Oprah Winfrey show, or if you’ve seen the movie, then you will be familiar with terms like “visualization” and “affirmation”.
The question is: “Do they really work?”
Let’s start with defining just what these two terms mean, and then we’ll delve into whether or not they are worth your time.
When you visualize, you are going through the mental process of seeing in your mind whatever it is that you want to achieve.
For some people that will be successful weight loss, for others it will be massive financial success, some people want fulfilling relationships, others are after career satisfaction. Everyone has their own agenda when it comes to attaining their goals, and the key to visualizing that success is to create the success in your head first, and then the “real world” will follow.
There are different schools of thinking about the proper way to visualize. Some people think that visualization should include every possible detail, while others believe that it is the feeling that you will have once you have attained success that you should focus on.
However, in both cases, having a clear mental picture of the “scene” that you are visualizing is paramount to your success, because one thing is certain:
If you can’t see it in your head, you definitely will never see it in your life!
Affirmations work along the same lines as visualization, only with affirmations, you are giving yourself words rather than pictures.
For example, if you were going to visualize owning a brand new car, you would visualize the actual car that you want. If you were going to practice affirmation in order to attain that new car, you could use the following time-tested affirmation formula:
In an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way, it is my intention to own a black 2007 Mercedes, or something even better.”
What’s with all of the extra words, you ask? The short version of the explanation is that you need to affirm getting what you want, but not getting it in such a way that it causes negativity in your life.
If getting a black 2007 Mercedes happens, but in return you have to work 18-hour days for 2 years straight, your spouse leaves you, and the dealer runs over your dog when they deliver the car, then it probably wouldn’t be worth the price, right?
Also, a big tip of the hat to Dr. Joe Vitale for the addition of the phrase “or something even better.” That part of the affirmation is critical because the Universe will always deliver the things that you want. However, by adding “or something even better,” you leave the door open for the powers that be to bring you something that would make you even happier than what you originally asked for.
Sounds great, but does it all work?
Here is where you come into the equation, dear reader. In response to the question of if it all works, I ask:
“Do you THINK it works?”
Because that is the ONLY thing that matters when it comes to visualizations and affirmations - your level of belief. You can visualize success and read or say your affirmations all day, every day, but if you don’t believe that you are actually going to get what you are visualizing and affirming for, then you won’t get it!
The Universe (God, Holy Guardian Angel, Buddha, whatever YOU call it) does not actually “see” your visualizations, or “hear” your affirmations. The thing that will always and only be acted upon is the feeling that you express whenever you visualize and affirm.
If your feeling is one of doubt, fear, or uncertainty, then you will promptly be delivered more things to be doubtful, fearful, and uncertain about.
However if your feeling is one of success, confidence, and happiness as a result of believing that you are going to get what you are visualizing or affirming for, then the Universe will bring that thing to you in order to ensure your continued feelings of success, confidence and happiness.
Does it sound like a bunch of mystical mojo that has no basis in scientific fact, and therefore cannot possibly work? If that’s what it sounds like to you, then don’t bother making the attempt.
However, for those of you who are ready to truly embrace the fact that you are are a universally powerful being who can literally have anything that you want in life by attracting your desires to you, then I invite you to visualize and affirm to your heart’s content!
p.s. - For those of you ready to believe in your universal power, be sure to get your “princess wave” ready. We’ll need to use it as we drive our brand new cars past the group of people who think it’s mystical mojo!
If someone were to ask you if it was possible for you to make a million dollars in just over 3 months, would you believe it could be done?
Check out the following story swiped from an email I received from my friend Namaste:
“Michelle Goering of Vancouver, British Columbia, read the book THE ONE MINUTE MILLIONAIRE in December of 2005. The book is co-authored by Mark Victor Hansen who co-created the Chicken Soup For The Soul series. She was excited about the idea of making an enlightened million and a few weeks later, on January 12, she formed a team that met together for the first time. They called themselves (ok this is cheesy but it worked) the MillionHares. It took four weeks of incubation for them to come up with a GREAT IDEA. By February 16 they were testing and marketing the idea. By March 11 they had found a buyer for their idea and negotiated a seven-figure contract. Michelle went from idea to payday in 99 days!”
Michelle certainly made it possible to make a cool million in a very short period of time. Is Michelle’s story a rare occasion?
Sure it is. Bob Proctor - a man who has been studying and creating wealth for more than 40 years - says that only about 1% of the population of this planet control around 96% of the wealth.
So, yes, Michelle’s story is rare, but that is actually the entire point that I want to make. Michelle is one of the rare people who will ultimately fit into that very small 1%.
Her success story is rare, but only because we believe those type of stories to be rare!
If I had started out this post by asking if it was possible to make a million dollars, most people would have said Yes. The world has plenty of people who have made a million dollars or more in their lifetime.
It was the question of whether or not that million dollars could be made in 3 months that threw you for a loop and kicked your “I don’t believe it” engine into overdrive.
If I may quote the sage wisdom of the mighty Yoda:
“THAT is why you fail.”
You see, our beliefs power our very existence, and it does not matter if your beliefs are steeped in poverty, or abundance. Whatever you believe is the truth IS the truth, simply because you believe it.
The question of whether or not it is possible to make a million dollars elicits a completely different instinctive response than the question of whether or not it is possible to make a million dollars in only 3 months.
As long as you continue to allow your beliefs about health, wealth, and happiness to be limited, your results will directly correspond to those belief limitations.
If I may once again quote a great teacher, this time a living, breathing human, Dr. Michael Beckwith from the movie ‘The Secret’:
“We are Unlimited beings!”
So, the only question that you have to ask yourself is if you are going to continue to be shocked when confronted with something as staggering as making a million dollars in 3 months, or if your gut reaction will be something more along the lines of “I don’t need 3 months. I’ll do it in 2!”
If you are not achieving maximum success in your self improvement efforts, you may be an unknowing victim of your own antiquated belief systems.
Each of us has beliefs that we perceive to be the way that things are done in the world. These beliefs power our lifestyle, and if those beliefs are incorrect, then no amount of action that we take will ensure our success.
Each of those antiquated reasoning processes, and any similar lines of thinking, are so far off base that it is no wonder that so many people are not finding the success that they want in their lives!
The key to success in any area of your life has always started inside of yourself, and the key to maintaining that success will continue to be your internal responsibility, regardless of the external circumstances.
Will things like diet and exercise be a part of your health and weight loss goals? Absolutely. However, you can starve yourself and workout around the clock, but if you don’t fix the REASON why you are overweight to begin with, no amount of the standard fitness fare is going to help you.
Will financial or business success depend upon you taking action in order to create wealth? Sure it will. If you don’t fix the inside issues first, however, you could win the lottery and your internal poverty meter will eventually drag you back down again.
Would finding a fulfilling relationship be easier if there were a lot of quality relationship prospects available? Most definitely. However, you need to believe that you are worthy of a great relationship first, or no amount of prospective suitors is going to change your relationship status over the long-term.
One of my most popular recent posts was entitled ‘How to Help Yourself and Everyone Else at the Same Time’. It discusses how you can manage your own beliefs in such a way as to affect your surroundings and positively charge your circumstances for your own benefit.
That post was recently featured in Edition 72 of the Carnival of Healing. Swing by there to check it out and read over some of the other empowering content while you are there.
In addition, I have personally gained a large amount of my present perspective on how to attain success by following the wisdom of many of the teachers who were featured in the movie ‘The Secret’.
One of them, James Arthur Ray, was recently interviewed by Steve Pavlina, and you can check out a transcript of that interview over at Steve’s site.
Bob Proctor is another teacher whose wisdom is immeasurable by any standards that I have ever been exposed to. Even though he is successful beyond what most people can even imagine, he is still out there in the trenches every single day helping other people. Any of his teachings are highly recommended.
If business success is your goal, then you would do well to start listening to an on-going series of free teleseminars that are hosted by John Assaraf and his partner.
John, Bob, and James were all in ‘The Secret’, they were all on Larry King Live, and James was also recently on the very empowering edition of the Oprah Winfrey show that discussed ‘The Secret’ and the Law of Attraction.
I highly recommend the works of any of those teachers, but I want to finish out this post by putting forth the disclaimer that you do not NEED anyone’s products or services.
The power to change your life is inside of you right now at this very moment. If you want positive change, then activate the power within yourself by focusing constantly on the things that you want, and taking action to achieve your dreams when you are inspired to do so.
That is the Law of Attraction in action, but YOU are the catalyst for everything. Your success has always started with - and will end with - yourself.
Rhonda Byrne, the creator of the life-changing movie ‘The Secret’ will be on the Oprah Winfrey show on Thursday, February 8th. Check your local listings for the show time in your area.
Rhonda will have 4 of the very empowering teachers from the movie with her on Oprah, and I highly recommend that you check out the show to see all of them:
Jack Canfield
Michael Beckwith
Lisa Nichols
Whether you have seen ‘The Secret’ or not, you want to catch some of the positive and empowering energy that is given off by these amazing individuals, so be sure to tune in!
Also, after the show, there will be 2 separate teleconferences discussing the Law of Attraction, and you can sign up for the time slot that works best for you at the following URL:
http://www.lawofattractionteleconference.com
Enjoy the show and the free call!
As you go through your life, you are on a general quest to better yourself, right? I’m not necessarily talking about becoming “enlightened” or trying to become a world leader (although props to you if those are your goals), but rather I am referring to the simple concept of wanting your life to become everything that you dream it can be.
I know that I have personally never met anyone who felt that their life was complete and that they didn’t really have anything else that they wanted to be, do, or have.
So, unless you are one of those people (if they even exist), then you are trying to get something done. Maybe it is to make more money, perhaps you are wanting to excel in personal relationships, maybe you just want to catalog the many different species of dust bunnies in your house. Whatever your goal is, then that is your goal, and you are working towards it.
That being said, see if you agree with the sentiment of the following statement:
“In order to accomplish my goals, I have a clear plan of action that will take me from where I am now to where I want to be, and I will not stray from my path no matter what!”
True or False: That statement is the correct way to accomplish your goals, and that type of commitment should be commended.
What?!?
We’ve all been told for years, including right here on this blog, about the importance of making a commitment to our goals, and then sticking to that commitment over the long-term in order to see those goals turn into reality.
However, it isn’t the “commitment” part of the above statement that is incorrect, but rather the “I will not stray from my path no matter what” part.
You see, it is our human propensity towards needing to be able to see the entire journey before we even take the first step that tends to keep most people well inside a “safety zone” that resides far from the happiness, freedom, or accomplishment that they long for.
As Bob Proctor says in the movie, ‘The Secret‘, most people who have ever accomplished anything didn’t know how they were going to do it. Bob does not talk very much about that concept in the movie, although the message that he is sending is very clear:
Despite the fact that having a plan of action is a good thing, in almost every case, things happen along the way that you could not possibly have foreseen.
In fact, as you pat yourself on the back for sticking to your plan and attaining a goal that you have accomplished in your life, take a moment to think back on the journey. How often did your plan get modified - if even slightly - based on your evaluation of any given set of facts that were in front of you? Would the word “often” even cover it, or would we need to bump that up to something more powerful like every single day?
The point that I am making is that by only sticking to one direct path - and by refusing to get off of that path - you will be losing the benefit of one of the most powerful concepts behind the Law of Attraction and conscious creation, and that concept is called INSPIRED ACTION.
Inspired action happens whenever you focus on a very specific goal - money, relationships, dust bunnies - and the Universe taps you on the shoulder to get your attention, and then points you in a particular direction.
You are basically being told “Go over there, and you will find a way to catalog dust bunnies!”
The problem with inspired action is that most people don’t understand it. They look in the direction that they are being inspired to go in, they don’t directly see whatever their goal is, so they shrug off the inspired action, and keep right on going with their original plan of action.
Then, when they get to the end of the road that they had mapped out for themselves, but don’t quite find the pot at the end of the rainbow they had expected, they suddenly remember that one time when they had the hunch to go in a different direction, but chose to ignore it.
By then, it is too late. Inspired action depends very much on timing. When the Universe says to do something, you should do it. Do you remember that old series of E.F. Hutton commercials that were on in the 1970’s/80’s? The tag line was “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen!”
Well, that is YOUR job in the creative process - to listen. By staying focused consistently on your goals, by visualizing frequently what your success looks like, and by believing that you deserve whatever it is that you are trying to attain, the Universe WILL tap you on the shoulder and tell you how to get what you want.
However, if you shrug off that tap because it doesn’t make any sense, or because you can’t logically understand how taking that action could get you to your goal, then you will miss the proverbial boat.
The real irony to that fact is that had you taken action when you were inspired to do so, even though it didn’t seem logical at the time, it would have resolved into being based very much on logic and science once all of the pieces were in place.
Over at The Fast Lane1, you can check out both a real-life story by Napoleon Hill that illustrates this concept, as well as a fictional story that also drives the point home. The take away fact from both of the stories is that a certain end result was desired, and the path to get that end result was shown, but not necessarily from the direction that it had been expected.
Brad Isaac over at Achieve-IT2 has put together a very effective tool for getting the “creative juices” flowing in order to call upon the power of Inspired Action, and I highly recommend that you check it out. I have done similar exercises myself, and as of the date of this writing - January 22, 2007 - I was blindsided with my most recent inspired action less than 2 hours ago, and I wasn’t even thinking about the goal at the time!
And finally, Elyse at Choosing Prosperity3 has a post that includes definitions from Abraham-Hicks that illustrate the difference between motivation and inspired action. It is a critical difference, and one that many people frequently don’t recognize.
In closing, please know that inspired action is usually pretty obvious. Everyone has random thoughts, ideas, or musings about their lives and their goals, and that is more of a background noise that is simply part of who we are. Listen to it and enjoy it because it makes up your level of uniqueness.
However, inspired action that comes as a result of consistent focus and visualization is usually much more direct, and will normally come at you when you least expect it.
It is actually a pleasant surprise, though, because when it happens, you will realize that you have just been handed a key that will unlock the doorways into the future that you want.
Do yourself a favor and use it.
Footnotes:
1 - The Fast Lane
2 - Achieve-IT
The Law of Attraction - in essence - is simplicity at it’s finest. What you think about, you bring about. Very simple, very easy.
Or is it? Is it really just a matter of thinking good thoughts and then sitting back and waiting for what you thought about to come into your life?
Well, although sitting on your couch and waiting for the Key to the World to get delivered by the postal service is certainly not recommended, the basic concept of creating your life via your thoughts and feelings is very solid.
However, there are some sinkholes in the system that can - and will - trip you up if you are not ready for them, and needing things is one of the biggest.
The entire process of invoking the Law of Attraction involves matching your vibrational frequencies to the things that you want to attract into your life. When your vibrations are positive, then positive things will manifest, and the same thing applies to negative vibrations.
Contrary to popular belief, positive vibrations are NOT caused by what you think about. You can practice positive thinking all day long, but if you don’t match your feelings to what you are thinking about, you could very well manifest the opposite instead!
This effect happens when you want something, but the emotional feeling that you have about that thing is based in “lack”, rather than in abundance. Since money is the most common thing that people fail to manifest by stepping in this Law of Attraction sinkhole, I will use that as an example to illustrate the point.
Let’s say that you are trying to manifest a certain amount of money. For this example we will only use “normal” money that you want to bring into your life for things that you need to pay for. Although it is certainly possible to manifest large sums of wealth with the Law of Attraction, since great riches are something that we want - but that we don’t actually need - they won’t serve to illustrate this concept.
For now, we will focus on you just trying to bring in enough cash to cover your basic needs - a dependable car, enough money for rent, groceries, clothing, health needs, etc.
Since those are all things that we actually need, then we certainly feel strongly about having them. That is exactly when we start to put our foot into the sinkhole.
Whenever we need something - as opposed to wanting it - the vibration that we send out is one of desperation, which is certainly a negative feeling, and not very likely to bring about positive changes, aka more money in our pockets.
In addition to a baseline sense of desperation, we could also be sending out an entire host of negative vibrations; fear, doubt, worry, etc. Each of those negative feelings sends out a negative vibration and the Law of Attraction obediently brings us exactly what we FEEL about, not what we THINK about.
By having feelings of desperation, fear, doubt, or worry, the Law of Attraction will simply bring us more reasons to have those feelings!
One of the critical things that you must remember about the Law of Attraction is that it always delivers - every single time. If you don’t find a way to use it to manifest the things that you want, there is a pretty safe bet that you will be manifesting things that you don’t want.
All you have to do in order to get anything - and everything - that you want from the Law of Attraction is to FEEL GOOD! In the movie ‘The Secret‘, even though the audience has just spent 90 minutes learning the ins and outs of the Law of Attraction, Rhonda Byrne sums up the entire movie - and the entire Law - in one beautiful message that Nature helps her to deliver:
That moment in the movie actually invokes an emotional response from a lot of people who see it because it takes 2 simple words that everyone is already proficient at using to demonstrate the fact that we can all have whatever we want by doing something that we all know how to do!
So, how can we bring all of that back around to help us manifest things that we need? Simple: send out “feel good” vibrations via Creative Visualization.
Again, remember that the Law of Attraction is activated via our feelings, not via our thoughts. In order to feel good about something that you don’t actually have, you can access the absolutely unlimited power and depth of your own imagination to envision a landscape where you DO have everything that you need.
Here’s the trick, though. It’s called Creative Visualization for a reason - you need to actually paint a mental picture that is so real in every detail, that you actually feel the feelings of being there.
Take the actual circumstances of the scene that you are visualizing and map them out in every possible detail to make it as real as possible. Actually paint the picture by adding in the same “real life” details that you would have if you were actually living that moment:
As you put together this pseudo-real set of circumstances in your head, it is absolutely imperative that you view the scene in your head as if you are actually there. You are seeing the scene through you own eyes, not through the eyes of a casual observer.
Also, your visualization must take place in the NOW, not in the future. Even though you don’t actually have the money yet, in your visualization you do have the money. If you make the mistake of visualizing a scene at some point in the future, then it will always stay at that point in the future.
And finally, the most critical piece to this entire puzzle is that when you are visualizing your scene, you must feel good about the fact that you are there and that you have the money!
The feelings that you generate with your powerfully holographic visualization are the entire point of the exercise.
If you create a detailed visualization, but think the entire time that you really don’t believe that it will work, because you really don’t have the money, and your rent is really due, and your cupboards are really empty, and because…etc.
Do you think that type of thinking will generate the positive vibrations that you need in order to manifest positive things into your life? Of course not.
However, you can - and will - bring those positive things into your life when you put yourself in the middle of your visualization by painting a great picture. Build a happy moment in your mind and believe in your created scene so much that you actually start to feel the way you will feel when that moment arrives.
That, friends and neighbors, is when you are in the sweet spot! At that moment in time, you have the Law of Attraction tightly within your control, and you can use it to manifest every single thing in your visualization, and much, much more.
This system works, and it will work for YOU, as well. Remember, though - if you need it to work, then it won’t. The Law of Attraction will never bring you anything that you need - no matter how badly you need it. However, it will bring you what you want - every single time.
If you have a need, then turn it into a want, and it will show up for you!
At this point in the game, the word "Ho 'oponopono" is not nearly as well known as it will be within the next 6 to 12 months, so I am putting forth this basic description of Ho 'oponopono so that you can decide for yourself if you would like to engage in some further study.
Based on what I know, I would recommend that you DO spend more time learning about and practicing Ho 'oponopono, and if you take that advice, Dr. Joe Vitale is the man who you want to learn about it from. Dr. Vitale's passion on this subject is amazing, and as of this date (November 7, 2006) he already has a book in the works on this very subject.
The basic idea behind Ho 'oponopono stems from the meaning of the word, given to us by the Hawaiian culture. Loosely translated, Ho 'oponopono means "to set things right", or, in simpler terms, to fix stuff!
Everyone has things that they want to have fixed, and Ho 'oponopono is not only a powerful way to fix literally everything that you can imagine, but it is so ridiculously simple to use that there is really no reason to not take advantage of this powerful technique.
The basic concept behind Ho 'oponopono is going to first require you to realize the immutable fact that your entire existence comes from within, not from outside of yourself.
John Assaraf does a great job of vocalizing this concept during part of his teachings in the movie 'The Secret'. John says "There is no 'out there' and 'in here'", and that is the very truth of our Universal existence.
We are all one with all things at all times. That may be tough to grasp for some, but it's true. We are all simply extensions of "source energy", which is the very "stuff" that the entire Universe is made out of.
So, if we are made out of this source energy - which we are, and based on Quantum Mechanics, we are all creators of our own existence (which we are), then one very simple truth rears it's head for all to see, and it is quite undeniable:
Everything is your Creation!
Everything that you see, hear, feel, smell, touch, think, remember, or emotionally react to - these are all things that YOU have created. And yes, that includes the good, as well as the bad. Each of these things exists because on some level you want them to exist, which takes us back to Ho 'oponopono.
If everything that you perceive in the world exists BECAUSE you perceive it, can you guess what amazing and God-like power you have at your very fingertips?
That's right. You can either make more of it, or you can make it go away!
No, I'm not talking about creating thousand dollar bills out of thin air, or wishing away annoying in-laws. However, it is indeed possible for you to create your life so that you HAVE thousand dollars bills, or that your in-laws are no longer an annoyance to you.
That tip alone is probably worth the price of admission, right? :)
How is all of this done via Ho 'oponopono? By simply accepting responsibility.
When you truly grasp and get your head around the fact that you are literally creating every single piece of your existence - from the smallest molecule up through the tallest skyscraper, from the most heart-felt Love to the most gut-wrenching hatred - then you realize that you can effect change over each and every one of those things because you are responsible for them being there to begin with.
You do this simply by showing Gratitude for the things in your life that you are thankful for and that you want to grow and flourish, and by showing Forgiveness for the things that you want to go away or diminish.
Now, let's see if you have been paying attention:
If you are responsible for all things in your existence - the good as well as the bad - and you have the power to diminish or to allow those things to grow simply by showing Gratitude or Forgiveness, who are you showing Gratitude and Forgiveness TO?
......
......
......
Okay, time's up. It's YOU! If you created something that is wonderful, you are thanking yourself for doing so, thus ensuring future occurrences of that same positive behavior. If you created something terrible, then you are forgiving yourself for doing it, thus making sure that it doesn't happen again in the future.
Here is where it gets tough to swallow, but these concepts are just as true on a "microcosm" level as they are on a "macrocosm" level:
You are responsible for everything that is part of your existence. I always like the bad news first, so I'll share that courtesy with you (thus creating more courtesy for myself, if you've been paying attention):
Terrorism is your fault. Murder is your fault. Famine and disease are your fault. School shootings are your fault. Taxes are your fault.
OUCH! That hurts, doesn't it? You bet it does. But here's the good news:
Love is your fault. Childbirth is your fault. Families are your fault. Friends are your fault. Medical miracles are your fault. Firemen are your fault. Pets are your fault. A child's curiosity is your fault. Unadulterated JOY is all YOUR fault!
Are you starting to see your power now? You can do it all. In fact, you ARE doing it all. Right now, at this very moment as you read this. You are both creating and destroying your world, because it is all YOU.
When you go to bed tonight and you can't sleep, you created that. When you pass out face down on your pillow and get the best night's sleep of your life, you created that, too.
When you get out of bed in the morning and it's raining so hard that you can't even see your car in your own driveway, that is your creation. When you get up in the morning and you are greeted by a dawn that could literally be the dawning of Time itself (and it is), that is also your creation.
It's all you. All the Good, all the Bad, and everything in between. And you can control these things by learning to control your Gratitude and your Forgiveness reactions to them with Ho 'oponopono.
Different practioners have different methods of invoking the power of Ho 'oponopono, but since I believe in Dr. Joe Vitale (after all, he is MY creation), I am utilizing his methods of invoking Ho 'oponopono, which can be summed up in the 4 phrases that he uses whenever he wants to invoke Ho 'oponopono, which is also called "cleaning":
"I Love You"
"I'm Sorry"
"Please Forgive Me"
"Thank You"
That's it! By creating a mantra of saying those 4 things pretty much as often as you can day after day and week after week, you will quickly come to the realization that by Loving yourself, by Apologizing to yourself when you have done something wrong, by Forgiving yourself for that wrong-doing, and by Thanking yourself for the opportunity to create Good, as well as to stop creating Bad, that you can create your life to be "right".
Remember that the loose definition of Ho 'oponopono is "to set things right". Since you are the sole creator of your entire existence, you have the power to create whatever "right" world that you want to live in, and you can do it by simply saying and believing those 4 simple phrases.
I know that for some of you, all of this may seem incredibly hard to believe. You refuse to grasp the fact that you are literally the very creator of the entire existence that you live, and that you can easily manipulate that existence with 4 sets of words.
So here is one more test for you:
If you don't believe any of this, who created that disbelief?
Think about it.
And yes, I Forgive You.
I read two excellent blog posts today about how people learn about self improvement and the Law of Attraction, but then they either don't utilize that knowledge, or they don't follow through on their efforts.
This is a very real issue, and one that I am personally trying to extinguish with the Today is that Day Success Community. I wanted to put a post out here on the blog about this in the hopes of sending a wake up call to some of the people who have seen the need for positive steps, but for whatever reason still aren't seeing their efforts through to fruition.
Antonio over at ThinkBanc points out 2 potential reasons for this; people either don't realize what is possible because they just don't know the details, or - what I believe to more often be the case - they simply don't believe in it.
Concepts such as the Law of Attraction are so foreign to what we have been brought up to believe, that people simply refuse to grasp that they can literally "change their stars" just by learning the proper techniques.
Rick over at Shards of Consciousness has an outstanding post on this same subject, and he adds in 2 more very real reasons why people don't make good on their self improvement efforts.
One reason is Information Overload. Sometimes we try so hard to improve our lives that we can't see the forest for the trees. We buy books, programs, and memberships, yet we don't actually DO the work that it takes to effect the changes!
Another reason that is not so obvious, but just as true, is that some people simply don't want to accept responsibility for making their lives better. After all, it is easy to just lay down and let life have it's way with you. Making an honest and consistent effort to give your life a turn for the better is much more difficult than just sitting on a park bench and watching it all go by.
Rick gets the Self Improvement Cornucopia of Truisms award for this little gem:
"Our thoughts and dreams come and go, whispering among themselves just below consciousness, the inhabitants of our mind that set up residence while we weren’t looking. Occasionally we wake up and see what we were doing."
Is that priceless, or what? That is EXACTLY what happens to so many of us!
The desire as well as the power to manifest those desires are conspiring secretly just out of our grasp, and once in awhile they poke their head up, motivate and empower us, and then they sink back below as we once again fall back to sleep.
Here's the million-dollar point, though. Those dreams and desires - and the power to bring them permanently into the light - are still there.
My own experience has led me to concur 100% with the experts quoted above as to the reasons why we are not dragging those dreams and desires kicking and screaming into the light, and here is a quick review so you can make sure that you aren't one of the sleeping people:
1) Ignorance of the knowledge or the application of the knowledge that can help us.
2) Refusal to believe that we truly have the power to effect positive changes in our lives - short of a miracle or a lottery winning, that is.
3) Information Overload - a.ka. sticking our noses in the truth, yet still managing not to get any on us.
4) Refusal to take responsibility for our own success. Funny thing is that people who won't take responsibility for their success also seem quite adept at not taking responsibility for their failures, either.
Makes you wonder what they ARE taking responsibility for...
The bottom line is that the knowledge and the training that you need to create your version of the "perfect life" are literally at your very fingertips. A few deft clicks of your mouse or a fancy keyboard maneuver and you could be reading the outline to the rest of your life right here on the Internet in a lot less time than it would take you to think of a good reason to not put forth that effort.
Ever since the movie The Secret came out - and even before then - the resources have been available for people to get off their butts and do something with their lives, yet people are still stubbornly refusing to do so.
Are you one of those people who is going to take this opportunity to wake up and start making the changes that you desire, or are you going to just sit there and let this blog post be just another notch in your belt of Information Overload?
The choice is - and always has been - yours.
