Cathie draws the short straw and experiences the Magnetic Lifestyle!

If you have read the WELCOME page, you will realize that this blog is slightly different in that we are using the acronym MAGNETIC LIFESTYLE to present some ideas and insights which we hope will help you attract the lifestyle you choose.

The first 8 posts for the acronym MAGNETIC are foundational and are intended as a ‘map’ to help you apply the subsequent 9 posts for LIFESTYLE in a fun, effortless and enjoyable way.

In the post  IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT it was explained that when you describe what you see in the world ‘out there’, you are not describing true reality, but a dramatically filtered version of reality created through your own personal beliefs. This is a key understanding because it means that as well as looking at the world you see, you have to look at the lens through which you see the world, your belief system or your own internal ‘map of reality’.

The following analogy may help. In celebration of the publishing of the MAGNETIC posts, ‘techie queen’ Cathie and her husband Dave are jetting off to Thailand for 22 days stopping at Bangkok, Phi Phi & Krabi Islands & Phuket.

Now imagine that the travel agent sends Cathie a street map marked ‘Bangkok’ but due to a printing error it’s actually a map of Nonthaburi (2nd largest city in Thailand). When Cathie arrives in Bangkok she gets the street map out and is immediately confused. So she calls up the travel agent and explains that she can’t make sense of any of the street names. The travel agent representative, who has been brought up to believe in the importance of diligence and perseverance, politely tells Cathie to ‘try harder’. So Cathie, who is renowned for never giving up, sets off with Dave with a quickness in their step, determined to find their hotel. The result – they now get lost twice as fast!

Feeling worse than ever, Cathie rings the travel agent again. Realising Cathie’s attitude and spirit are very low, the travel representative tells Cathie not to get disheartened and to think more positively and asks her where she is. Cathie says she’s outside a bookshop and the travel agent tells her to go in and pick up all the books she can on Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). So Cathie goes in, purchases a couple of books and reviews them with Dave. Now they’re both so psyched up and feeling so positive that you can’t stop them. They set off again and because of their new positive attitude, they don’t even mind that they’re lost and can’t find their hotel! They smile and accept the reality of the situation.

Although this may seem a silly analogy, how many times do we try to change our behaviour and attitude without questioning the accuracy of the ‘map’ from which our behaviour and attitude automatically flow? This is not to say that a good positive attitude is not important. It most certainly is, but you still need a correct map if you are to successfully navigate your way in life and achieve the changes you desire.

Cathie takes up the story by sharing her own personal insights on the importance of a correct map….

For over 50 years I’ve lived with the belief that to be successful, I had to work hard and that nothing came easy. Although my family and friends know me as a very positive, determined and hardworking person, I was continuously being asked why I wasn’t getting anywhere, even though I believed I would ‘someday’. Being a very passionate person, I’ve always given 100% to everything I attempt, yet I couldn’t put my finger on what was missing that would get me to my ‘destination’.

Like many people, my life has been a mixture of good and bad experiences. But the significant and big changes in my life only began when I took the time to really examine my own map of reality. I had always had a positive attitude and yet I was still not achieving the results I wanted. Why? It was because I had an inaccurate map. It was only when I started to challenge my current thoughts and beliefs about who I was and what I was capable of, that I realised that my ‘map’ or the lens through which I saw the world and myself was completely untrue.

As I began to create a more accurate map, based on the truth of who I am and what I can achieve, my new behaviour, attitude, actions and results changed automatically. It is the best investment of time I’ve ever made.

For more information read About Cathie

In order to allow YOU sufficient time to really examine your own map or the lens or beliefs through which you see the world, we have decided to defer publishing the 9 posts on LIFESTYLE until Cathie’s return. This will give you the opportunity to complete all the ACTION Steps and Belief Study Workbook published so far.

The next post is … LIVE YOUR LIFE ON PURPOSE

Your results are a reflection of your conditioning, not your potential

If you are continually seeking and not finding, it is because you focus outward. Focus inward and you will find that you are the one you have been looking for.

Peter Field

As mentioned in the Welcome page to this blog, the first 8 postings in the acronym ‘magnetic’ are designed to instil the belief that you can attract your ideal lifestyle. This is not pie-in-the sky, mumbo jumbo, wishful thinking.

In a previous post APPEARANCES LIE we learnt that we live in an orderly universe which operates in accordance with precise and repeatable laws. The difference between people is not one of potential, but one of understanding and working in harmony with these laws.

In the British Society for Scientific Research, Professor William Bateson states, “We are finding now beyond doubt that the gifted and the geniuses of mankind are due not so much to something added to the ordinary person, but instead are due to factors which in the normal person inhibit the development of these gifts. They are now without doubt to be looked upon as releases of powers normally suppressed.”

A frail old lady lifts a car

These powers are within each of us right now, but due to conditioning are normally suppressed. The following story illustrates the extent of these powers. It appeared in Time magazine a number of years ago and concerns a woman in Florida convalescing after a long serious illness. She was sitting in her wheelchair on the front porch of her family home. Her son was in the front yard working under his automobile, which he removed the wheels from and placed on blocks. Suddenly the mother watched, shocked, as the car lurched and fell, crushing the son. The whole life of the boy was about to be crushed out of him and he was screaming for help. The husband came running and tried desperately to lift the car off his son but to no avail. So he jumped in his car and sped off to find help.

As the groans grew fainter, the mother knew she must help. But how? She hadn’t walked in months. In a flash she realised it was life or death for her son, and she was the only one to help. She raised herself shakily to her feet and walked unsteadily to the car. Bracing herself, she lifted the car a few inches, just enough to let the boy scramble free and then she collapsed to the ground. The doctor was called and other than some strained muscles, she was unharmed. Incredulous over what happened the doctor said, “I will always wonder how far she might have lifted that car if she had been well and strong!”

You may have heard of similar stories of ordinary people suddenly becoming capable of incredibly courageous deeds. In a true emergency, the mind stops, you become present and you don’t have time to think and allow your fears, doubts and worries (conditioning) to determine what you can or cannot do. This was the case with this frail old lady. She acted in the present moment and in the words of William Bateson released ‘powers normally suppressed’.

But you don’t have to wait for an emergency to release these powers. There is within you, right now, the potential to be more, to do more and to have more because we are all drawing on the same infinite power and working with exactly the same laws.

When you are drawing from the infinite, you can never take more than your share

So if you’ve already attracted great things into your life, know you can attract more and if you haven’t attracted great things yet, know you have the potential to do so. As Thomas Troward, one of the greatest authors of the past 500 years reminds us, “Where we are drawing from the infinite we need never be afraid of taking more than our share. That is not where the danger lies. The danger is in not sufficiently realising our own richness, and in looking upon the externalised products of our creative power as being the true riches instead of the creative power of spirit itself”.

You are created in the ‘image and likeness’ of your Creator and have the same creative power of thought to attract to yourself all that you desire. Your current results are simply a reflection of how you have used this creative power. For example, one person may use this power to visualise and dream about owning their favourite car. Yet another person may use this same power to visualise and dream about owning the car dealership. The universe will support both visualisations because this is the gift of free will.

This is discussed further in a previous post … EVERYTHING IS ALREADY HERE

It is important to understand however that while universal intelligence or spirit will support you in attracting your desires, you must take the required ACTION. Nature may provide in abundance, but even the bird must search for the worm. The Quakers suggestion “Pray and move your feet” is good advice.

The insights and ideas shared in the first 8 posts of this blog lay down the foundations from which effective and significant change can take place. However unless you take action on the ideas shared in this blog, then it becomes just more information that you’ve gathered.

So in the second part of our journey together, the acronym LIFESTYLE looks at how to apply your new understanding so you can attract a lifestyle that is worthy of YOU.

ACTION

Step One

If you have not read all the posts and completed all the exercises in the acronym MAGNETIC it is recommended you do so before proceeding further. They provide a solid understanding that will serve you well on the next stage of your journey.

Step Two

Surround yourself with people that encourage, support and help you release the powers ‘normally suppressed’. Become active on this blog. Leave your comments and share your experiences so that you can help others on their journey. Remember this is a universe based on attraction and the more you give, the more you will receive in ways that will inspire and delight you.

In order to allow YOU sufficient time to complete the Action steps and Belief Study Workbook published so far, we have decided to defer publishing the 9 posts on LIFESTYLE until Cathie’s return from Thailand. Full details are provided in the supplementary post … WHY CATHIE NEEDS A CORRECT MAP OF THAILAND

You are always believing in something

There is a huge difference between choices we are conscious of
and choices that are consciously made

There are only two things that cause you to do anything: belief and understanding. Some people have the belief they can do better. Other people don’t believe they can do better but through understanding and re-evaluation move from a non-believer to a believer.

For example, before Roger Bannister completed the sub four-minute mile, it was believed such an achievement was impossible. Sports commentators and physiologists said it could not be done. Roger Bannister had the belief it could be done and on 6 May 1954 achieved the ‘impossible’. By 1979, over 300 other runners had broken the four-minute barrier. Their beliefs changed in light of their re-evaluation of the Truth.

How beliefs work

In order to understand why beliefs are so important to your success, let’s take a quick look at how they work. According to Hungarian biologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, there are two million bits of information bombarding our senses every second of every day. If we try to make sense of all this information we would go insane. So our nervous system filters the two million bits of information down to 134 bits through a process of deletion, distortion and generalisation. All three processes are quite natural and essential. The system in charge of filtering all of this information is called the ‘Reticular Activating System’ or RAS. Roughly the size of a little finger, the RAS runs from the top of the spinal cord into the middle of the brain and automatically filters incoming stimuli into what is important and what is not important based upon our beliefs, values and prejudices.

For example, we can probably all relate to the following car experience. Have you ever took ownership of a new car and then seen identical cars everywhere you go. They’re at the stop lights, parked near you in the car park and cruising past you on the freeway. You can’t believe it, where have they all suddenly appeared from? Well of course these similar cars have been ‘out there’ all the time, but they have not appeared in your reality because they have not been important to you. You have unconsciously filtered them out of your awareness.

Your beliefs create your experiences

So why is this information important to you? Well your experiences in life are determined by what you focus on. And you can’t focus and take action on things you have deleted from your awareness. And so the filtering process is crucial to understand because it provides the ‘raw material’ upon which you create your life experiences.

Yet only 0.0067% of the available information filters into your awareness, the rest is filtered out. So unless you are very clear and specific on what you desire, you will unconsciously filter out all the ideas and opportunities that could help you. Think about this carefully because it means your beliefs act as a sort of gatekeeper through which you grant or refuse permission for certain thoughts and ideas to flow into your awareness.

The subconscious mind cannot think for itself. It’s job is to make sure that what you believe will become true for you. For example, if you believe “it’s hard to earn money” or “money is evil” or “I don’t deserve to be rich” the filtering process will work as follows. You will unconsciously delete and distort all incoming information so as to support these limiting beliefs. You will attract and be attracted to people and situations that confirm the truth of what you believe. If you are faced with a number of possible interpretations, you will select those which support your beliefs and filter out the many other valid interpretations which contradict your beliefs.

You did not choose your beliefs

So where do your beliefs come from in the first place? Well, one thing is for sure, you did not choose them. When you are born, your fertile subconscious mind is wide open because none of your higher faculties (such as your ability to reason and reject information) have developed. As a result, parents, teachers and others in authority can place any information in your subconscious mind and if it is repeated over and over again, it forms your beliefs. These beliefs are neither accurate nor complete and are simply the product of other peoples’ habitual ways of thinking. This may be why the word belief has the word “lie” in it!

So although The Law of Vibration and Attraction confirms that, at some level, you have ‘attracted’ all of your life’s experiences, it is also true that there is a big difference between choices we are conscious of and choices that are consciously made. For example, most people would agree that in addition to our inherited belief system, we did not consciously choose the DNA received from our parents at conception. This provides the blueprint for our body’s physicality as well as any intellectual, psychological or emotional predispositions. Neither did we consciously choose our childhood environment which moulded and shaped our developing neurology.

You are doing the best you can

So don’t be too harsh on yourself as you read and complete the exercises in this blog. You are doing the very best you can based on your current level of awareness. The purpose of this blog is to help you raise your level of awareness so that you can create your life by design, rather than by default.

Consider this. When a speedboat travels across the water, it leaves a white foamy froth behind called the wake. The wake is not driving the boat. The boat moves because of the energy generated by the engine in the present moment. The wake is simply the trail left behind. The same principle applies to your life.

You do have a past (wake) in which choices were not consciously made, but it is your choices in this present moment that will determine your progress forward. So how do you identify any beliefs you may have which may be holding you back from achieving your desires? Well because your beliefs will always become true for you, your present results are an accurate reflection of your current beliefs in the main areas of your life.

FREE BELIEF STUDY WORKBOOK

If you wish to review your current beliefs, a complimentary belief study workbook, including instructions, exercises and templates has been prepared to assist you with this process.

Download your copy of the BELIEF STUDY WORKBOOK

Warning!

Paradoxically, your current belief system may try to convince you that you do not need to download this workbook and review your current beliefs! This would be a mistake. E.M. Gray spent his life searching for the common denominator shared by successful people. He found it wasn’t hard work, good luck or astute human relations, though these were important. In his essay “The Common Denominator of Success”, he observed, “The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do.”

Failures do not like to spend the time required to review their current belief systems. But it is not a ‘spending’ of time, but an ‘investment’ of time, because if you are not living the lifestyle you would choose, it is because your core beliefs are not in vibrational harmony with what you desire.

ACTION

Step One 

Download your copy of the BELIEF STUDY WORKBOOK (if you haven’t already)

Step Two

Are you allowing your past (wake) to drive you forward? Sit quietly in contemplation of this question. Realise your past has no power over you other than what you give it. Re-read Mindset and watch the inspiring videos to remind yourself that you always have a choice as to how you will respond to your current circumstances.

Step Three 

Be kind to yourself. We all do the best we can based on our present level of awareness. As Oprah says, when you know better, you can do better. And the fact you are reading this blog is evidence you are taking steps to do better. So pat yourself on the back and CONGRATULATIONS.

In every single moment, we are all drawing on the same infinite power and working with exactly the same laws. This means what one person can do, others can do too. As George Elliot reminds us “It’s never too late in life to be what you might have been”.

This is discussed in the next post …  CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU

The Law of Attraction is always working

You create your own universe as you go along

– Winston Churchill

The film ‘The Secret’ has done a wonderful job of raising awareness of the law of attraction and many people are enjoying a prosperous and fulfilling life by working in harmony with this law. But what about the many other people who, although aware of this law, are not experiencing the results they desire.

What is the difference that makes the difference?

Well it’s not because the law of attraction only works for some people and not for others. Being a universal law, the law of attraction is operating all of the time even for those who are not aware of it or don’t believe in it. And it’s not because some people are more lucky than others. The law of attraction is impersonal and applies equally irrespective of age, gender, race or background. So if this law applies equally to all people why is there such a diversity in peoples results? Well I believe it’s because those who are successful have a deeper understanding of the law.

The Law of Attraction defined

Many people define the law of attraction as “like attracts like” but a more accurate definition is that ‘you attract into your experience that with which you are in vibrational resonance’. This is because the law of attraction is a secondary law based on the primary law of vibration and an understanding of both laws is required.

It is the vibration you are sending out in every moment of every day that is determining what you are attracting into your experience. So what determines your vibration? Thoughts are considered the most potent form of energy penetrating all time and space and different thoughts create different kinds of vibration. It is the composite of your thoughts, feelings and beliefs which determine your vibratory output and what you attract back into your life.

Here’s how it works. Everything that exists in the universe, both visible and invisible is, at its most basic level, energy vibrating at different frequencies. So whatever you focus your attention on is already pulsing an energy vibration. For example, if you have the idea that ‘earning money is hard’ and give thought and focus to this idea, you begin to vibrate at the same frequency. The more you focus your attention on this idea, the easier it becomes for you to assume that particular rate of vibration. Eventually, you have practiced this vibration so much that as soon as you think about the idea that ‘earning money is hard’ you instantly assume the vibrational frequency associated with that idea and we call this a belief.

Beliefs are not fact

A belief is nothing more than a practiced vibration and through the law of attraction will bring into your experience everything in harmony or resonance with that vibration, thus reinforcing the truth of your belief. A belief however is not fact. It only appears true because by the law of attraction, you attract into your experience people, circumstances and events in vibrational harmony with your most dominant thoughts, thus validating the truth of your belief.

Everything is created through energetic vibration and you cannot attract anything into your experience that you are not in vibrational resonance with. The principle is similar to tuning in a radio station. In order to hear your favourite radio station, you set your tuner to the exact vibrational frequency match. Your favourite program becomes real in your experience to the exclusion of all the other radio stations that are broadcasting at the same time.

Even though there are many, many different radio stations playing out there in every moment of every day, you are not aware of them and they do not become part of your experience until you tune in and achieve an exact vibrational match.

So your experiences and what you perceive as reality are simply a matching of vibration because you cannot experience anything you are not a vibrational match to, just as you cannot hear what is being played on 82.4 fm if you are tuned into 106.fm.

Where is your focus?

So what are You tuned into? Where is the focus of your attention? Most peoples’ thoughts and feelings are focused on what they ‘don’t want’ and as a result, they attract more of what they ‘don’t want’ into their lives. For example, John is currently in debt and is desperate to attract more money into his life. However, because he doesn’t understand how the law of attraction works, he focuses his thoughts and feelings on his debt. He talks about debt to other people and worries that he hasn’t got enough money to pay his bills. As a result, he sends out a vibrational signal of ‘lack’ which, by law, can only attract more ‘lack’ back into his life.

If you tell John that it is his own thoughts about lack that is creating more lack, he will most likely say, ‘well of course I think about lack. I’m in debt and to think otherwise is irresponsible’. But his response reveals a deep misunderstanding of how the law of attraction works. The law doesn’t respond to what you want (eg, more money) but only to the vibration you are sending out through your thoughts and feelings. This is why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It is all a matter of where people focus their attention. Focusing your attention on your current unwanted results or ‘what is’ will only attract more of ‘what is’ into your life.

Remember, you vibrate first, then you attract. Asking for the manifestation before the vibration is like asking for heat from the fire before you put the logs on. It won’t happen. But when you understand how the law of attraction works and offer the vibration first by thinking, feeling and acting as though what you desire is already here, then all sorts of serendipitous events take place to bring your desires into manifestation.

Action

Step One

The law of attraction responds to your vibrational output. Visualisation of what you desire is a powerful way to raise the frequency of your vibrational output. Watch the following short videos free  from The Secret to become more aware of the love, joy, abundance, and prosperity that continually surround you.

Step Two

In short, whatever we place our attention upon, we attract more of.

In his book Fear Less, Gavin de Becker states that

The problem today is that the Satellite Age has infinitely expanded the reach of our perception. Now, we don’t just experience calamities in our own lives, but in everyone’s lives.

When we focus on negativity and bad news we attract more negativity back to us. Make a decision right now (Now is all there is) that for the next 1 -7 days you will read inspirational and uplifting material during the time you would normally watch the news or read the papers. Journal what you notice, particularly in relation to how you feel.

Step Three

Watch the following short inspirational video on the Law of Attraction.

Step Four

If you haven’t seen the film ‘The Secret’ you can view it online or purchase it at thesecret.tv

Step Five

To gain a deeper understanding of exactly how you can apply the Law of Vibration and Attraction into your own life read Peter’s own book Lighten Your Load, endorsed by teachers from the hit film The Secret, and available at peterfield.co.uk

When we finally understand that we are participants in our own experiences, we may wonder why we have attracted certain experiences into our life. But this is to misunderstand how our beliefs (which form a significant part of our vibratory output) arise in the first place.

This is explained in the next post …  IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT

Everything is connected

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

- Price Pritchett

There are only two sources of reference to go to when you begin to study life: science and theology. Science confirms that Energy is neither created or destroyed and is forever moving into form, through form and out of form. Theology confirms that God is neither created or destroyed, always moving into form (we are spiritual beings created in the image and likeness of God), through form and out of form. The disciplines may be different, but the core message is the same:

Everything we will ever need is already here

in either non-physical or physical form

Manifesting your desires is not about getting things that are not here or are separate from you. It’s about attracting into your experience that to which you are already connected on a non-physical or spiritual level. The earlier post Appearances lie explains how everything in the universe is energy moving or vibrating at a certain frequency and it is the speed or vibrational frequency of the energy relative to our 5 senses which determines whether we perceive it in physical form or not.

Give thanks in advance

It follows therefore that the correct approach to manifesting is not one of supplication or begging or wanting but one of gratitude for the spiritual essence of your desires being already present for you right here, right now. When you give thanks in advance for that which you choose to experience in your reality, you acknowledge it’s presence Now and affirm your faith and certainty in the perfection of the manifestation process. You understand that everything that exists in physical form began in the formless world of spirit (or energy) and was brought into form through the creative power of thought.

This is an important realisation and explains why so many people don’t get what they ‘want’ in life. The subconscious mind has no ability to reject any thought or idea impressed upon it. Its primary function is to bring your dominant thoughts and ideas into physical form. You can never have that which you ‘want’ or think is missing from your life, because this very thought is an acceptance that you don’t have it and are separate from it. This is a consciousness of lack. Thoughts and words such as ‘I want more money’ continually impressed upon your subconscious mind will be externally expressed and you will experience ‘wanting more money’ in your life. The subconscious mind takes your thoughts, words and ideas literally, so think, speak and focus your attention only on what you desire.

Faith and certainty

Put simply, the universe follows you exactly. If you believe you have your desires Now and think, feel and act on that basis, they must move into physical form by law. The great teacher Jesus had this clarity and certainty and before every miracle thanked God in advance for its deliverance. Even though there was no physical evidence available, he never doubted that what he declared would not manifest. This is the level of certainty and belief that is required.

This level of trust and faith in the manifestation process is not easy. We like to see the evidence first, hence the saying ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’. But this is our conditioned response. The manifestation process works completely opposite and you’ll see it when you believe it.

Just because you can’t see the possibility of having what you desire in your physical reality at the moment, does not mean it is not on the way to you. Here is an important truth: 99% of what you create in your life is complete before you see any evidence of it in your physical reality. The problem is that you have trained yourself to believe that nothing is happening until you actually see the physical proof. But here’s the catch. As you focus on the absence of physical proof with worry and doubt, you push the very thing you desire further and further away from you. If you plant a seed in your garden, you know with certainty and belief that your creation is well underway before you see any physical evidence. It is highly unlikely you will go out to your garden and stomp on the seed you planted and demand that you see results right now! You don’t worry about it, instead, you allow the natural laws of the universe to do their work and the small seed you planted matures into what you desire.

The same is true in your life. You have planted many wonderful seeds of thoughts and ideas in your subconscious mind, but because of doubt and a lack of understanding of the manifestation process, you’ve entertained thoughts which have destroyed and sabotaged the seeds of your desire. But now you know better and in future posts we will help you focus your attention only on that which you wish to experience in your life.

You are worthy of your desires

If you feel unworthy of receiving the good you desire, understand that spirit is always for expansion and fuller expression and can only do so through its polar opposite of physical form, such as You. Your own desires have been placed there by spirit to allow you to evolve and grow. To feel you are unworthy, or that it is selfish or non-spiritual to desire material possessions is to deny the very spirit that created you. You can never be more worthy or more deserving than you already are because you are a spiritual being created in the image and likeness of your Creator.

Spirit is substance which forms itself according to your demands, and must have a pattern from which to work. A pan of dough is as willing to be formed into bread as biscuit. It makes as little difference to Spirit what we demand.

- Frances Larimer Warner

It is also important to realise that spirit has no preference for any particular desire or creation because the underlying energy is the same in every creation. Spirit is like a river, it just keeps flowing. We can sail a boat on the river and enjoy it, or we can jump in and drown. Whichever we choose, the river keeps flowing. Similarly, if we don’t understand the rules of the game called life, spirit will support us in our ignorance. It does not assert itself because it does not need to. It is already the entirety of everything. Free will allows us to create whatever life we choose, consciously or unconsciously.

This is why we see so many conscientious and hard working people experience unhappiness, poverty and sickness. It is not because they are ‘bad’ people but because somewhere along life’s journey they have misunderstood or misused the law. A baby will fall to its death if it crawls over the edge of a high building. The fact the baby knew nothing about gravity is immaterial. The law of gravity, like all universal laws, is impersonal, absolute and consistent. It is our responsibility to understand these laws and work in harmony with them.

How long will it take for your desires to manifest? This depends upon your faith, belief and certainty.

Action steps

Step One

Read this post frequently until your awareness shifts and you accept that on a spiritual level you are already connected to all that you desire. Don’t look for evidence in the world ‘out there’ first. The world ‘out there’ is simply a mirror showing you as you are. Remember, you’ll see it when you believe it.

Step Two 

No matter how impossible it may seem to you right now, begin thinking, feeling and acting as though what you desire is already here now … because it is!

Step Three

Your word is law in the universe and words continually spoken will become manifest in your experience. Notice how those who talk frequently about poverty and/or sickness tend to manifest these conditions in their experience. Become more conscious of your own self-talk and speak only in terms of what you wish to experience in your life.

If everything you desire is already here, the next step is to choose the thoughts which will put you into harmonious vibration with your desires. To do this you have to understand The Law of Vibration and Attraction.

This is discussed in the next post … THE LAW OF VIBRATION AND ATTRACTION

An attitude of gratitude

If the only prayer you say in your life is “thank you,” that would suffice

Meister Eckhart

So what does gratitude have to do with success? In short, everything! We live in a Universe that operates by laws; predictable and repeatable laws. The good things you currently possess have come to you as a result of these laws. One of the most important of these laws is the Law of Attraction. This law states you will attract into your experience people, circumstances and events that are in exact vibrational resonance or alignment with your most dominant thoughts and feelings.

By expressing gratitude for what you already have, you send out a high, fast vibrational frequency which will attract more of what you desire into your life.

As Plato once remarked 

“A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things. The grateful heart draws to itself great things, the ungrateful heart draws to itself limited things”.

When reflecting on gratitude, many people focus their attention on what they don’t have and this feeling of lack and insufficiency is the consciousness they project and attract more of. Instead of counting their blessings, they count their envies based on what others have and they don’t.

Theodore Roosevelt said

“Do what you can with what you have right where you are”.

So the starting point is not to focus on what you don’t have, but to count your blessings for what you DO have. In the western world, we take many things for granted and fail to appreciate the many blessings we have.

The following statistics serve as a timely reminder:

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the worlds’ wealthy.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, you are more blessed than 3 billion people in the world.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed  than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can read this message you are more blessed than over 2 billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

The wonderful thing about gratitude is that you can express your appreciation immediately. In addition to being grateful for the basic necessities of life such as food, shelter and running water, you can also be grateful for the smaller things in life. Expressing genuine gratitude for the first cup of coffee in the morning or the convenient parking space is as effective as showing gratitude for the bigger things in life. This is because it is the feeling or vibration that counts. If you cannot give money, give of yourself spiritually and intellectually and watch how the Law of Attraction will respond to your needs.

In his book Life’s Greatest Lessons, Hal Urban describes how he would assign his students a simple exercise – to go the next twenty-four hours without complaining.

Their first response was usually a complaint about the assignment! It took twenty-three years before he finally found a student who could do it. After challenging more than 70,000 people of all ages, he only found four who didn’t complain. Try the exercise for yourself. If you are like many others, you may be surprised by both the frequency and pettiness of complaints.

The second part of the assignment was just as illuminating. He gave the students a piece of paper that read: ‘I’m thankful for….’ across the top. It had three columns below labelled ‘Things,’ ‘People,’ and ‘Other’. The students were asked to list the material things they were glad they had, the people they appreciated and the things they were thankful for that didn’t fit into the first two columns such as freedom, health, opportunities, faith, and love.

On completion of the list and during the next twenty-four hours, they were asked to read the list four times: after lunch, after dinner, before going to sleep and the next morning before school or work. The results for the students – then later with adults – were astounding.

All participants felt much happier and it clearly showed in their body language, broader smiles and wider open eyes. Appreciation and gratitude does this. If you focus your thoughts on what’s right, and not on what’s wrong, you have to feel better. Feelings follow thought.

In their book ‘Ask and It Is Given’, Abraham-Hicks says:

“Every time you appreciate something, every time you praise something, every time you feel good about something, you are telling the Universe: “More of this, please.” You need never make another verbal statement of this intent, and if you are mostly in a state of appreciation, all good things will flow to you.”

What could be more powerful than that?

ACTION

Step One

Read the ‘blessings’ shared in this post on a daily basis. You may want to copy them out and carry them around with you.

Step Two

Complete the two-part assignment set by Hal Urban.

FIRST  –  go the next twenty-four hours without complaining and see how you get on.

SECOND  -  on a piece of paper write the heading ‘I’m thankful for….’ and underneath have three columns labelled ‘THINGS’ ‘PEOPLE’ and ‘OTHER’.

List the material things you are glad you have, the people you appreciate and the things you are thankful for that don’t fit into the first two columns, such as freedom, health, opportunities, faith, and love.

Step Three

Begin a GRATITUDE JOURNAL. The concept behind a gratitude journal is simple: Write down three things (or more) that you are grateful for every day and watch your life change.

As Oprah Winfrey remarked

“To keep a Gratitude Journal is the single most powerful thing I have done to change my life”.

Step Four

Practice random acts of kindness and tell no-one. There are many opportunities every day where you can add a little touch of kindness. Your actions can range from giving the cashier eye-contact and genuinely saying thank you, to anonymously paying a road toll for the car behind.

Don’t wait until next week before you take these action steps because when next week arrives it will be ‘Now’.

Confused ….then read the post … NOW IS ALL THERE IS

The paradox of time

No matter how persistent the illusion of time may be, the illusion of past, present and future is still an illusion. 

 - Einstein

At first glance Einstein’s quote seems ridiculous. How can we deny the reality of time? You need time to grow up, to acquire new skills, to design and build a house, to visit family and friends and, of course, to read this blog. Everything seems subject to time, so how can ‘Now’ be all there is.

The paradox arises because the eternal moment of Now is confused with the ‘content’ or what is happening in the present moment of Now and this gives rise to the illusion Einstein refers to.

The following analogy may help. Think of the eternal moment of Now as a movie screen that allows the movie, which is the ‘content’ of our lives to play out. The content (movie) is always changing, whereas the movie screen is permanent and changeless. The paradox is that the changing content of our lives is always happening in the changeless moment of Now. 

To help integrate this concept into your consciousness, Eckhart Tolle poses the following questions in his brilliant book, The Power of NOW.  Answer them carefully.

• Have you ever experienced, done, thought, or felt anything outside the present moment of Now?
• When do you think about your past?
• When do you dream about your future? 
• When do you learn from your past? 
• When do problems arise?
• When are they solved? 
• When do you feel pain? 
• When are you healed?
• Can you do something yesterday Now?
• Can you do something tomorrow Now?
• When do you dream of your ideal lifestyle?
• When do you see the physical manifestation of your dreams?

Your answers should confirm that everything takes place in the eternal moment of Now. Now is all there is. What does this mean for You? Well it means that if you want to improve your life, you can only ever do it Now. If you say you will start in 6 weeks time, when 6 weeks arrives it will be Now. Your magnetic point of attraction is always in the Now. The moment of Now is where all your power is.

If we spend most of our time thinking about the past, or worrying about the future, we will miss the insights, gut feelings and creative solutions that can only come to us if we are present and still enough, long enough, to receive them. This is why all the great teachers encourage us to be still and enjoy the present moment.

One of the most important relationships you will ever have is your relationship with the Now, or more accurately, with what is happening in the Now. This is because Now is all there is. Saying ‘Yes’ to Now is saying ‘Yes’ to life because life and Now are inseparable. Yet how many times do we say ‘No’ to life by having thoughts which oppose the reality of the present moment.

Thoughts like: 

• The weather should be better
• The checkout queues should be shorter
• The traffic should move faster
• My wife, husband or partner should agree with me
• The neighbours should be quieter
• I should be healthier, thinner or more successful
• Children should be better behaved
• Things should be cheaper
• People should be more considerate

And the list goes on and on. This is important because all suffering is caused by wanting what is happening to be different from what is happening! What is happening IS happening and no amount of thinking or worrying can change this. When your thoughts argue with the reality of the moment you suffer….100% of the time.

It is not a question of right or wrong or the condoning or approving of what is happening. These are judgment views anyway. It is the mental anguish you cause yourself every time you oppose or argue with reality. What is ..is. And the truth is that for everything you think is wrong and should not have happened, someone else ‘out there’ will think it’s right and it should have happened.

So what’s the answer? The answer is to upgrade your thoughts to a preference. This means that you prefer something to be a certain way. You prefer less violence in the world, less poverty, shorter checkout queues, better weather, but you don’t insist on it because if you do, you know you suffer.

Your power lies not in resisting ‘what is’, but in letting ‘what is’ be ok. You can then be more effective in responding to the issue. This leads to a key understanding. It is never the event itself that is the cause of your suffering. It is your resistance to it. By accepting what is and saying ‘yes’ to life, you remove all resistance and life starts working for you rather than against you.

ACTION

Step One

Continually revisit the questions posed by Eckhart Tolle and included in this post until the truth that Now is all there is, forms an integral part of your consciousness. 

Step Two

Notice when your thoughts argue with ‘what is’ and in that moment upgrade your thoughts to a preference. Journal any changes in your feelings when you make the shift from insisting things ‘should’ be a particular way, to ‘preferring’ them to be a particular way.

For more information about Journaling, read the … GRATITUDE

Step Three

Become more conscious of your five senses as you engage in everyday tasks. For example, when you are washing your hands, pay attention to the sight and sound of the water coming out of the tap, feel the sensation of the water on your hands and smell the fragrance of the soap as you rub your hands together. Be fully present in the moment instead of being absorbed in thought about the past or the future.  

Step Four

At least twice a day, take time to pay attention to your breathing. You may wish to close your eyes. Breathe in deeply, excluding any thoughts as you concentrate on the in-breath. Then exhale slowly and fully with the same concentration. When thoughts appear, as they will, let them go and use them as reminders to refocus on your breathing. When you are conscious of your breathing, you are in the present moment.

Step Five

Don’t take life too seriously. The content of your life (what is happening) is impermanent and always changing. During challenging times, repeat to yourself “This too shall pass”. And remember, these words do not become true because you affirm them. You affirm them because they are true.  

If energy is neither created nor destroyed and Now is all that exists, then every thing you desire is already here, if not in one state, certainly in another.

This is discussed in the next post  … EVERYTHING IS ALREADY HERE

Who are you really?

We are human in expression, but divine in creation and limitless in potentiality

- Eric Butterworth

Our senses tell us we are a physical being and when viewed from this perspective, this is a logical conclusion. After all our body is the largest and most visible part of us. But in the same way our rational brain finds it difficult to comprehend that water, a fluid, is composed of two gases – two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen – we also find it difficult to comprehend that our body is in fact the smallest part of who we really are. Yet it is.

As R. Buckminster Fuller states -

Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invisible and untouchable

French visionary Pierre Teilhard de Chardin spoke the truth when he stated “You’re not a physical being having a spiritual experience; you’re a spiritual being having a physical experience” and we live in both of these worlds (physical and spiritual) simultaneously.

The three parts of your personality may be expressed as follows:

1. You are a spiritual being.
2. You have an intellect and
3. You live in a physical body.

Supplementary Report 

To see how all three parts of your personality are working together to produce your current results, a supplementary report has been prepared, compliments of magnetic lifestyle. The report includes a powerful graphic which will help you see, perhaps for the first time, why you may be getting the results you don’t want and not getting the results you do want.

Download your FREE supplementary report here 

In this blog, the word Spirit is used interchangeably with the word Energy to describe the Source of everything that exists in the universe. Other terms for this Source include God, Higher Self, Infinite Intelligence, All That Is and Oneness. Please use whatever terminology you are most comfortable with. Spirituality in this blog does not refer to religion but to your awareness of your Oneness with your Creator.

The idea that you are a ‘spiritual being’ is not new. Since the beginning of recorded history, every great teacher has told us we are spiritual beings, created in the “image and likeness” of our Creator. This means we have the same creative power of thought as our Creator, just as a glass of ocean water has all the qualities of the ocean. We can deny this, but we cannot change it.

So what does ‘a spiritual being, having a physical experience’ mean? In the absolute realm of spirit, duality or relativity does not exist. In the spiritual realm, joy, abundance, love, peace and well-being is all there is. As a spiritual being, you can only know conceptually that you are spiritually perfect, because there is no relativity or duality to allow you to experience this perfection. For example, you cannot know what abundance or well-being really feels like, without first experiencing their polar opposites of scarcity and sickness. Similarly you cannot know yourself as tall or fat until you know and become aware of short and thin. You are having a ‘physical experience’ because it is only in the physical world of duality that you can experience and feel what you know conceptually.

Knowing about something and experiencing it, are two different things. For example, you can know about the beautiful city of Paris by reading many books, but you don’t really know Paris until you have visited it and experienced it. This distinction is true for all ‘experiences’ in the physical world.

The unity principle

In what has been referred to as the Unity principle, Judge Thomas Troward, (1847–1916), one of the most influential writers of his time, stated that wherever spirit is, the whole of spirit must be because spirit is wholeness, oneness, unity. In other words, whatever is, is whole, because spirit is wholeness. The poet, Robert Browning, expressed it this way “On the earth the broken arc, in the heavens, the perfect round”. In other words, we may see a lot of broken arcs around in terms of deprived and depraved lives, but in every case we are seeing but a broken arc of a perfect whole. But while we place our attention on the ‘reality’ of a broken arc, we close our minds to the ‘whole’ of us that is the reality of us.

This is discussed more fully in a future post titled … THE LAW OF VIBRATION AND ATTRACTION

So if spirit is whole and we are spiritual beings, why is there so much suffering? This is not an easy teaching, but the following analogy may help. Although the source of electricity and water is continually flowing to us, we still have to ‘connect’ to it by either turning on an electrical switch or turning on a tap. In the same way, although the wholeness of spirit flows to and through us, we ‘connect’ to it through our thoughts. When our thoughts and beliefs are aligned with the truth of who we really are, we have a strong connection and spirit flows effortlessly to and through us. When our thoughts are based on limitation and scarcity, we have a weak connection which restricts the flow of well-being into our lives.

Put simply, we will only experience what we know and believe is true for us because this is how consciousness works. If you believe yourself to be less than whole, you will have a partial experience. But even in the midst of this partial experience, which may be in terms of sickness, financial hardship or poor relationships, the whole of spirit is present within you because spirit is wholeness. Your awareness of this ‘ever present’ wholeness is the key to overcoming any adversity in your life.

The caterpillar and the butterfly

If it is not easy to think of yourself as living in two worlds (spiritual and physical) simultaneously, consider the following. The caterpillar and the butterfly live in entirely different worlds, and no-one would ever say that a caterpillar is a butterfly or that a butterfly is a caterpillar. And yet we know that the caterpillar and the butterfly are simply different levels of expression of one entity. The caterpillar can fly, but not as a caterpillar – only as a butterfly. He has the potential but something has to happen first.

In the same way, you have the potential to attract to yourself all that you desire, but something has to happen first. You have to shift your thoughts, focus and attention away from lack, unworthiness and sickness and onto the wholeness of abundance, worthiness and well-being.

This is not easy because when we are born, programs of fear, doubt and worry dominate our consciousness. Like the caterpillar, we are a partial expression of our true essence. But as we grow in awareness through life experiences, we eventually awaken to the truth of who we really are. Like the butterfly, we become a full expression of our true essence and a whole new world of possibilities opens up to us.

ACTION

Step One

Download your FREE supplementary report here (if you haven’t already done so)

 Step Two

Repeat the affirmations in steps, 3, 4 and 5 below.

Affirmations work because the subconscious mind cannot differentiate between actual reality and suggestions. Therefore it processes suggestions (or affirmations) as being real and uses its powerful unlimited creative ability to actualise those affirmations. And remember, affirmations do not become true because you affirm them. You affirm them because they are true. You are synchronising your consciousness with truth. As we progress through this blog you will see how affirmations, combined with imagery and emotion, become an attractive force for success.

Step Three

Affirm “I am human in expression, divine in creation and limitless in potentiality”. Allow the truth of these words to soak into your consciousness. Help others by always seeing them as you wish them to be, in their wholeness, rather than as they currently are and this will facilitate the desired change.

Step Four

Affirm ‘I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, happy, harmonious and prosperous’. This simple, all purpose affirmation has proved very successful in transforming the lives of many people in different circumstances. Write both these affirmations down, laminate them, carry them around with you, stick them on your bathroom mirror and record them so that you can play them when you are walking or in the car.

Step Five

Depending on your personal circumstances, you may also wish to affirm:

 I am already enough
 I am abundant and live in an abundant universe
 I am worthy of all the success I desire
 I am loving and lovable
 l am enjoying good health now

Step Six

Every time you turn on a tap or an electrical switch, recall your present moment thoughts. Are they strengthening or weakening your connection to spirit?

The reason the affirmations above begin “I am…” is because there is no such thing as ‘past’ or ‘future’ except as a concept in our mind. There is only the present moment.

This is discussed in the next post  … NOW IS ALL THERE IS

Setting things right or seeing things right?

Judge not by appearances, but judge with right judgement

John.7:24

Whenever we are experiencing challenges in life, be they financial, relational or in business, there is a tendency to go ‘out there’ guns a-blazing to sort things out. But as you progress through this blog, you will come to understand that more important than setting things right, is seeing them rightly.

We live in an orderly universe

Right seeing or right thinking is based on truth, and will therefore always be right for you. We have been conditioned to believe that life is lived from the outside-in. Things happen to us in the world ‘out there’ and we react. Life for the average person is a continuous reaction to outside events. But this is to misunderstand a fundamental truth. We live in a universe which operates according to laws and principles. If it didn’t there would be chaos. For example, if there was no such thing as gravity we would float off into the atmosphere. There would be no such thing as electricity and one plus one would not equal two.

Dr Wernher von Braun, considered by many to be the ‘Father’ of the space program, stated that “The natural laws of the universe are so precise that we have no difficulty building a spaceship to fly to the moon and can time the flight with the precision of a fraction of a second”. Understanding and working in harmony with these laws is the key to attracting the lifestyle you desire.

There is but one Great Law – namely Energy Is

Nobel Prize winning physicists have confirmed that everything that exists in the universe, both visible and invisible, is at its most basic level, energy vibrating at different frequencies. You, me, a desk, a glass, a tree, a car, a dog, our thoughts, our feelings, our desires and everything else in the universe originates from and is an expression of this one infinite power. Scientists refer to this power as energy but other terms include Spirit, God and universal intelligence. What you call this power is not as important as your awareness of it and your understanding that everything is an expression of it.

If it is difficult to think of yourself as energy, let’s take a closer look at the human body. What is the human body made of? Tissues and organs. What are tissues and organs made of? Cells. What are cells made of? Molecules. What are molecules made of? Atoms. What are atoms made of? Sub-atomic particles. What are sub-atomic particles made of? Energy? No. They are not made of energy; they are energy. Everything in the universe is made up of large groups of sub-atomic particles or energy packets known as quanta. You are one big “chunk” of energy and so is everything else in the universe.

Need coffee … think again!

Quantum scientists are even telling us that what we perceive to be empty space is not empty at all, but is pure energy, pregnant with unlimited potentiality and possibility. They add there is enough energy in one cubic metre of this empty space to blow up every single ocean on the planet. You are this energy because everything, including you, originates from this one energy Source. That’s why it’s called the Oneness. So when you hear yourself saying “‘I need my coffee, I’ve got no energy,” remember energy is all you are!

The idea that everything is energy is not a new idea. In 1905, Einstein wrote on his chalkboard the famous equation E = mc2 (energy = mass x speed of light squared) confirming that what we perceive as matter (or solid) is energy moving or vibrating at a certain frequency. Energy operates by law and is continually moving from the formless into form (or matter) and back again into the formless. Depending on the speed of vibration, we call this energy different names to create our physical reality.

From formless to form … and back again

For example, imagine a block of ice in front of you. The ice is actually energy vibrating at a certain frequency and while the energy vibrates at this frequency, we call it ice. If we were to apply heat to the energy we call ice, we wouldn’t call it ice any more because it would be moving at a faster, higher speed of vibration. The ice would move into a liquid state and we would call it water. It is still the same energy but in a different speed of vibration. If we continue to add heat to the energy we call water, it will move into a faster, higher speed of vibration and we would call it steam or vapour. It has moved from a physical vibration into what we call an astral vibration. If we were to continue to add heat to the energy we call steam, we would now call it air, ether or gas because it moves from an astral vibration into an etheric vibration. But at every level it is the same energy in a different speed of vibration. The speed or vibrational frequency of the energy determines whether it appears in form or is formless.

Like the colours of a rainbow, each vibrational frequency ‘blends’ into and is connected to the vibrational frequency above and below. There are no ‘gaps’ or separate lines of demarcation. There are literally millions and millions of different levels of vibrational frequency for everything in the universe.

So if everything is energy moving at different speeds of vibration, why do we see things as ‘solid’? It is because our senses decode or interpret this speed of vibration as ‘solid’ in order to create our physical reality. However, one look under a powerful microscope would uncover this illusion and you would see a dance, with molecules, atoms, and sub-atomic particles moving about in ceaseless energy patterns.

Your senses lie

Our senses perceive the sea of energy that surrounds us from a very limited standpoint and makes up an image from that. It is just an interpretation. It is not accurate and does not reflect the reality of the world we live in. For example, as you are reading this blog, electromagnetic forces such as electricity, radio waves and cellular phone signals are all around you but you can’t perceive them with your senses. This is because the speed of their vibration lies beyond the range of our perceptual ability. Our eyes can perceive the colours red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet vibrating in a range of around 500 billion vibrations per second (vps), but cannot detect infra-red or ultra-violet light because their speed of vibration falls outside our visual acuity. This does not mean such colours do not exist; it simply highlights the limitation of our visual senses.

Similar limitations apply in respect of our other senses. A dog can hear a whistle from 1000 yards that we can’t hear if we’re standing next to it because the speed of vibration is too high for the human ear to detect. We can’t smell, taste (or see) the deadly gas carbon monoxide, yet we know it exists. Our thoughts, feelings and desires are also real but we can’t perceive them with our senses.

Understanding the rules of the game called life is acknowledging that our senses perceive a tiny fraction (less than five per cent) of the vast ocean of energy that surrounds us. It is just an interpretation and is not true reality. Despite this, many people still live their lives based on the saying “I’ll believe it when I see it”. Taken literally, you could be forgiven for asking why these people pay their electricity bills!

ACTION

Step One

Watch the following short video by Deepak Chopra explaining that Everything is Energy

Step Two 

Step Three

To learn more about the laws of the universe and exactly how your thoughts and feelings create your reality, read Lighten Your Load

Your physical senses enable you to connect and interact with your outer world. This is not where your power lies. Your power lies in your inner world. 

Find out more about this power in the next post …  GUIDE TO WHO YOU ARE

Fixed or Growth Mindset?

Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so, if you but perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. 

- James Allen

When you get right down to it, the key to success for most people is rarely a great idea or a phenomenal opportunity, but their everyday thoughts, feelings and actions. In other words, their Mindset.

According to world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, there are two types of mindset: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

People with a fixed mindset believe that their conditioning and circumstances in life determine what they are able to achieve. People with a growth mindset believe that their conditioning and circumstances are simply a starting point. They believe that by exercising their unique human endowments of self-awareness, imagination and free will, they can achieve their hearts’ desires.

So who is right? Are our talents and abilities fixed or are they simply the starting point for further development? Whilst genetics, childhood experiences and environmental factors clearly play a significant role in shaping and moulding our lives, they are not the sole determining factors. The following story will serve to illustrate this point.

The power of choice

In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl describes the horrendous circumstances he faced as one of the millions of Jews imprisoned in the death camps of Nazi Germany during World War 11. He was tortured and experienced every form of human degradation possible. His parents, brother and wife died in the camps or were sent to the gas ovens. Except for his sister, his entire family perished. He saw many of his friends killed or commit suicide in the camp, and lived every moment not knowing if his path would lead to the ovens. Despite these unimaginable circumstances, Frankl decided there was one thing that no one could take away – his ability to choose his own response – no matter how traumatic his personal circumstances.

In what later he called “the last of the human freedoms,” Frankl discovered that between what happens to us and our response to what happens, lies the opportunity for conscious choice. In the midst of the most degrading circumstances possible, Frankl used his imagination to picture himself in different circumstances, sharing his experiences with his students after his release from the camps. Frankl survived the atrocities and went on to help thousands of people realise that their conditioning and circumstances, however difficult, need not be the determining factors for their achievements in life.

You may feel that your present circumstances severely limit the opportunities available to you but the biggest influential factor is not your circumstances but your mindset – your thoughts, feelings and attitudes about your circumstances.

Experiences do not cause thoughts

Thought for the average person is a reflex process. Things happen to us and we react in thought saying “well of course I’m upset, you’d be upset too if you had the same experiences”. But experiences do not cause thoughts. We assume, almost universally, that the thoughts we think are produced by the circumstances that we experience. But this is not the case.

Someone may do something to you and give you every reason to be upset, but between this external incident and your internal response you have a choice. It’s not denying the incident happened or that bad things aren’t happening in the world ‘out there’, it’s acknowledging that your response is determined by your mindset. The word responsibility – ‘response-ability’– is the ability to choose your response.

Of all the factors governing success and fulfilment in life, none is more important than mindset.

Make the decision today that you will master a success mindset. Follow up with the ACTION STEPS and read the subsequent posts.

In the words of Oprah Winfrey

Right now you are one choice away from a new beginning – one that leads you toward becoming the fullest human being you can be.

This blog is based on the understanding that there is a power within you that is far greater than conditioning or circumstances. The following short videos illustrate this better than any words presented here. They are a wonderful testimony to what can be achieved when you adopt a growth mindset.

ACTION

Step One

Put some time aside to watch the following truly inspirational videos …

This is the story of Dick & Rick Hoyt, the most inspirational father and son team to race in an Ironman.

Step Two

Watch this incredible video with Nick VuJicic … No arms, No legs, NO WORRIES

To find out more about this power, we have to understand the truth behind all appearances.

This is explored further in the next post … APPEARANCES LIE