Personal Development: Getting To Grips With The Law Of Attraction

A great deal has been said and written on the subject of the so-called ‘Law of Attraction’. It has been popularised by videos and books, like ‘The Secret’ and by television talk-show hosts such as Larry King. However, few people comprehend what the aforementioned ‘attraction’ actually means. Could it be that you can attract into your life the things that you really want? And, if that’s what it means, how can you actually put the ‘Law of Attraction’ into action to change your life for the better?

Firstly, you need to realize is that the ‘Law of Attraction’ is at work in your everyday life as you read these words. This may come as a surprise to you but what you need to realize is that the life you lead is a perfect mirror image of what’s happening in your head. Unfortunately, much of what is going on in the normal person’s mind is doing them damage instead of good because, left on its own, the subconscious mind is both backward looking and negative, constantly ‘enabling’ you – and that’s obviously the wrong word – to keep repeating all the learned behaviours that are, currently, creating your reality. But more simply, as a result of the normal mind’s inner turmoil, it follows that the normal life is also in turmoil.

Whether you know[spin] [spin]this or not, the ‘Law of Attraction’ is a reality in your life. I’m not certain, from reading some of the reams of stuff – often misleading stuff – on the subject, that many will have fully grasped the extraordinary importance of this situation. But let’s say that you do understand it. You already appreciate that, to quote ‘The Secret’, your thoughts become things – what occupies your mind ends up manifesting in your life. You may have grasped this all-important concept intellectually – but intellectually understanding these facts and being able to put this ‘manifesting’ into practice is a totally different ballgame.

If you do not consciously take action each day to ensure that you’re in the right mental state, then it’s of no consequence how much you understand the way life works, you’re simply fooling yourself into the nice cosy misconception that the ‘Law of Attraction’ can change your life in a positive way.

To really practice the so-called “Law of Attraction” you need to clear your mind. There is little point in filling your mind with all the things that you want – most people have no idea of what they really want. Better still to fill your mind with the only place and time you are – the present moment. If you do that, you will coax your subconscious away from its obsession with both the past and the negative. You will become truly focused – effective, efficient, inspired and inspirational. In a clear state of mind you will attract the very best into your life, enabling you rise to heights that normal people couldn’t even dream of.

It’s Your Life – It’s Your Responsibility

I’m constantly hammering on about how so-called “normal” people are mad and that it is up to each one of us to “stop the madness”. Having recently spent a day chatting with some long-standing personal development clients with regard to how quantum physics beautifully describes how our universe, our world and our little bit of it – your daily life and mine – really works. What we put in – in energy – we get back out. If, like so-called normal people, you put almost nothing in (bear in mind that research shows that the normal person only puts 1% of their mental energy into the here and now), don’t be surprised if you, as a normal person, get next to nothing in return.

Energy is only present – so, thinking of the future or worrying about the past has no impact on energy. The only time that the universe exists is now. And you can only invest your mental energy in the here and now, if you focus your mind or take control of your current state of mind. And you can only take control of your present state of mind if you’re up to taking responsibility for yourself. And, for some, that’s a bridge too far. It appears to me that normal people are not up to the task.

Just listen to the politicians hold forth on the ongoing need to “rescue” the economy from the crisis that has befallen it. What they’re saying is “Hey, it’s not our fault, it’s the fault of an unprecedented ‘fracture in the international financial system’” – that’s real quote, by the way – as if the financial system was something conscious that thinks for itself! And, then, spare a thought for the poor bankers, who won’t own up to their part in all this mess either. A few (very few) bankers have actually apologised for the mess – though they’re not sorry enough to return their large salaries, bonuses, pension top-ups or golden handshakes. But almost all the bankers that I’ve listened to have blamed the catastrophe that has befallen their noble institutions… on the credit crunch.

Quick question: Is the “fracture in the financial system” some self-created beast in which no one had a hand, act or part? Is the “credit crunch” some monster from the deep with a mind of its own that has surfaced to consume all up-standing bankers (and everyone else with them)? Is no one to blame? Can no one take responsibility? We expect our children to own up to breaking a glass or having a few beers – but these so-called adults don’t really lead by example, do they?

What about you? Are your disasters someone else’s fault? True enough, stuff happens – often it’s beyond our control – but we can control how we react or, more to the point, act when stuff happens. Time to grow up. Time to be responsible for yourself – for your mind. If you don’t life will give you precious little in return (I’ve had to edit what I really wanted to say in case no one would publish this post!) well, pretty much nothing, for your “efforts” – and it will be good enough for you. What goes around, comes around – it’s the Law of Attraction, it’s how our energetic universe works.

Personal Development : Want Nothing – Prefer To Have It All

A long-standing client once asked if I was happy. “I certainly am” I replied “100 percent happy!” Her reaction? “Oh, that’s very sad!” But, happiness is to be found within (where else would you expect to find it?) and just because I’m happy doesn’t mean that I don’t want to achieve more, that I don’t want more out of life. I said “want” but, in truth, what I mean is “prefer”. You see, generally speaking, we haven’t got a clue as to what we really want. And although a self-styled personal development “guru” recently told me that that is why most people are unhappy, how could normal peopleknow what their heart really desires, when all the other normal people around them are judging their happiness in terms of how they measure up to all the other normal people?

Indeed, some people who single-mindedly knew exactly what they wanted are some of history’s worst nightmares. Adolf Hitler knew what he wanted – in the end it was good for neither him nor anyone else. Pol Pot was single-minded in the pursuit of his goals as was Josef Stalin. These are not the type of people we should aspire to be! You should want for nothing – but prefer to have it all. Indeed, even if all hell is breaking out around you at this moment, if you pause for reflection you will discover an eternal truth – that all is well in this moment, you have everything you need for the perfect life, here in this now. Therefore, the single-mindedness you need is a commitment and determination to live life to the full in the present moment, to engross yourself in now, to invest more and more of your energy into the present moment.

Quantum physics proves that if you invest more of your energy in the present moment, universal energy will respond to your investment. It works for people like Nelson Mandela just as much as it worked for Adolf Hitler. Energy in – energy out. And neuro-psychology also proves that paying attention to the present moment brings about peace of mind. If these are scientific facts, then you need to make absolutely sure that you know what you want – because it could be the worst thing in the world for you and others. Remember the saying“be careful what you wish for”!

That’s my reason for saying that you should want for nothing. You should have preferences to which you are neither attached nor which distract you from the here and now. When you prefer, you point yourself in the right direction but don’t rope you in to a destination to which, if you don’t arrive, you will be unhappy. Preferences are an inner compass. Prefer what’s best for you. Neither you nor I know what’s best for us but, having that preference as our goal in life is the best way to make certain that your mind doesn’t dwell on what you don’t have at this present moment.

And it is the present moment which is most importance. It is where you are right now. It is the only place in which you can do your best, be at your most effective. Scientific fact states that it is the only time and place there is. It is the time and place in which universe energy will respond to your heart’s desires – if you could only stop wanting and start living. So, focus on the here and now. Come to your senses – you have five of them, use them to engross yourself in this moment’s reality – and experience how it will change your life.

Self-Improvement: Waiting For Pennies To Drop

The old saying goes that even the greatest journey starts with the tiniest of steps – or words to that effect! And, certainly, so it is with the very personal journey that some describe as Personal Development. But the challenge in life is not just to start a journey, but to keep going. Research points to the fact that the vast majority of people who stumble or fail on their chosen journey – be it a new business venture, a weight loss goal, their desire to progress in a particular career or the desire to progress at a particular sport or musical instrument – will, having failed once, rarely try more than a couple of times. Yet, statistics for the University of Madrid’s Business School show that those who are really successful are prepared to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get on with it for just as many times as it takes. And it was Calvin Coolidge who alerted us to the importance of persistence, stating that only perseverance leads to success.

Recently, a client and I discussed the importance of regularly and continually taking even the smallest of steps to ensure that they stayed on their chosen path – their own Personal Development journey to effortless career success and personal health and happiness. The idea that even two or three minutes meditation in a day is infinitely better than no mental exercising at all was likened to us putting another penny in the slot so that, sooner or later, pennies will drop for us. I don’t know about you but, when I was growing up, we often went to the amusement arcade where you rolled pennies down a slot, onto a moving platform that had loads of pennies – most of them appeared as if they were about to cascade over the edge, into my hand!

In life, in business, in meditation, we simply do not know which penny will tip the balance in our favour. But the one sure thing is that, if we stop putting our daily penny in the slot, we will not reap the benefit of the pennies that we have already invested. Indeed, we will come to the incorrect conclusion that we have wasted all our previous pennies. Every penny counts – every minute that you invest in your own Personal Development no matter how seemingly insignificant, every moment spent in mindfulness, leads you to a greater awareness, a greater level of presence, opens your mind further to the incredible possibilities that this life holds for us and, indeed, the opportunities that may well be staring you in the face if you only had eyes to see.
For everyone with whom I have worked, sooner or later, pennies drop. But, if you really want to Change Your Life, you’ve got to put your next penny in the slot – right now…

Personal Development – How To Focus

Did you leave your house naked this morning? Of course you didn’t. It’s crazy that you’ve no problem preparing physically for the day ahead but you wouldn’t bothers to mentally prepare. And being mentally prepared is far more important. Your quality of life, your success, your wealth, your health and your happiness depend upon it. I say this with absolute certainty because many years research backs me up. What occupies your mind creates your life.

Whether you’re a success or failure, healthy or ill, wealthy or poor, happy or stressed or even depressed is all down to your state of mind. Unfortunately, that same research concludes that the normal person is unable to focus – on anything – because their default state of mind is distracted and negative. In other words, if your life is just OK or not too bad, if you’re not over the moon about your job, if you’d like to have more money or be more impressive or more attractive, the solution to your problems, real or perceived, is entirely in your own hands or, more to the point, in your own mind.

The solution to all your problems is within your grasp – if you could just tear yourself away from breakfast TV or get up five minutes earlier. Yes, it only takes five minutes each morning to make the rest of the day completely, utterly and totally different. That’s how simple Personal Growth is.

Like most people, you probably assume that to be a success you need to be focused on your goals. Not true! Sure, you need to know what your goals are but focus is simply a matter of paying attention to the present moment – the only time and place you have. And, if you start each day without taking five minutes to Focus Your Mind in the here and now, your mind will wander aimlessly through the day in its default mindless, unfocused, self-destructive mode. If you get home in the evening having had another crap day, it’s your own fault.

In other words, we’re basically talking about paying attention. First off, you need to picture your goals. They need to be exciting, they need to grab your subconscious mind’s attention. Because, this is the part of your mind where you store your beliefs that, right now, don’t seem to be getting you anywhere – fast. You need new beliefs and that is why you need to focus your subconscious. This is done by using your five senses to describe to yourself what it would be like to have already achieved your desired goal. You need to write down – handwrite it – what you see, feel, hear, smell and taste as if you already have achieved your goal. Then your subconscious mind will be focused.

But then, if you keep focusing on your goal, you’ll be unable to do the key things that you need to be doing now to move you towards your goal. So you need to learn how to pay attention to now. Again, this is done by paying attention to your five senses – your only interface with the real world. You need to retrain your mind to more fully experience what now looks like, feels like, sounds like, smells like and tastes like. Just five minutes of meditation each morning will start the ball rolling, because Meditation uses the senses to experience the moment.

It disciplines your mind to be more attentive, less likely to be unsettled by the nonsense of everyday life and more likely to be able to spot opportunity when it stares you in the face. Every normal mind needs that discipline.

Changing Your Life: Exploring The Law Of Attraction

A great deal has been said and written concerning the so-called ‘Law of Attraction’. It has become a byword as a result of videos and bestselling books, like ‘The Secret’ and by mainstream TV personalities such as Larry King. And yet most do not comprehend what this ‘attraction’ actually means. Does it mean that you can attract into your life what you want out of life? And, if that is the case, how can you actually put the ‘Law of Attraction’ into action to change your life for the better?

Firstly, you need to realize is that the ‘Law of Attraction’ is at work in your everyday life already. This may come as a surprise to you but what you’ve got to realize is that your life is an exact mirror image of what’s happening in your head. Sadly, most of what’s rattling around in the normal person’s mind is doing them damage instead of good because, left to its own devices, the subconscious mind is both backward looking and negative, constantly ‘enabling’ you – and that’s clearly not the right word – to repeat all the learned behaviours that are, currently, creating your reality. But more simply, as a result of the normal mind being in turmoil, it follows that the normal life is also in turmoil.

It doesn’t matter if it or not, the ‘Law of Attraction’ is a given fact of life. I’m not certain, from reading some of the reams of stuff – often misleading stuff – on the subject, that you will have fully grasped the extraordinary importance of this situation. But let’s say that you have. You already appreciate that, to quote ‘The Secret’, your thoughts become things – what’s going on in your mind ends up manifesting in reality. Great, you’ve grasped this all-important concept intellectually – but intellectualizing these facts and being able to get this ‘manifestation’ working for you, rather than against you, is a totally different ballgame.

If you don’t consciously take action each day to ensure that you’re in the appropriate mental state, then it really doesn’t matter how much you understand the way life works, you’re simply conning yourself into the wonderfully cosy misconception that this ‘Law of Attraction’ can change your life in a positive way.

To truly practice the so-called “Law of Attraction” you’re going to have to clear your mind. There is little point in filling your mind with thoughts of things that you want – people don’t know what they really want. Here’s a far better idea – fill your mind with the only place and time we have – the present moment. If you do that, you will coax your subconscious away from its obsession with both the past and the negative. You will become truly focused – effective, efficient, inspired and inspirational. In a clear state of mind you will attract the very best in life, enabling you rise to heights that normal people couldn’t even dream of.

The Dangers Of Self-Help

I’ve no idea exactly how many personal development or bestselling self help books sold over the last year – but I do know that self help is the fastest area of growth in publishing with millions of books being purchased each year. In addition, I know that, if you turn on your TV, open any newspaper or take a quick glance at the web’s blogs and forums, these self help books make little or no difference.

Many recent surveys conclude that we are more anxious, stressed and bewildered than at any other time in modern history – even a world war didn’t give rise to such abject fear as we are witnessing in a millennium where we all led ourselves to belief that humankind was finally moving to a new level. In fact, the wartime spirit that galvanized nations into powerful forces during the second world war, is nowhere to be seen in a brave new world where obsession with money – or needing enough of it to feel secure – is the order of the day and it’s every man for himself. What the hell has happened – and I use the world ‘hell’ deliberately because it seems to me that the normal life is much nearer to hell than heaven.

Bestsellers like ‘The Secret’ and ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’ promise a brighter, better life if you apply your mind in the right direction. Alternatively, Barbara Ehrenreich in her book, ‘Smile or Die’, claims that positive thinking has destroyed the US and ruined the world.

Having worked in the self improvement ‘business’ since 1996 – long before it was fashionable to admit to your friends or colleagues that you were ‘into it’ – I firmly believe that people who read these self help books are not only fooling themselves but are a danger to themselves and those around them. They read a bit, experience the ‘feel-good’ after-glow, perhaps even put something of what they’ve read into practice for a bit and then con themselves into believing that things are either better or, worse, about to get better – this is a general excuse for doing absolutely nothing whilst ‘waiting for something to happen’.

Books don’t change your life. Action changes your life – real action on a daily basis – action that you’ve got to take yourself. And I’ve seen precious little evidence of action. Sure, I see lots of reaction – but everyone reacts, we’re experts at is and it makes our lives worse instead of better.

So, put down your self improvement books and ask yourself this searching question? What action could you take today that can make your life better? As I don’t know anything about your life, I’ve no idea whether major action is required or, perhaps, it’s just something small. But I do know this – I am regularly questioning myself, challenging myself making certain that I keep taking the little and large actions that need to be done to push – yes, you’ve got to push yourself – my life towards more and more happiness and excitement. And I’ve the results to show for it.

The Dangers Of Personal Development

Regardless of where you are or what you’re doing, you are in the company of people who haven’t a clue that their subconscious mind is creating their reality as you read these words. These so-called normal people have no idea that their subconscious mind controls them and, by virtue of the fact that they don’t control their own mind, that they are actually crazy.

In contrast, you, having delved into the study of personal development (otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this!), have some feeling that your thoughts create your life. Many books have been written about it, numerous personal development websites explain that you can, indeed, fashion your own life experience. And you may well already have achieved some results to show for your endeavours.

However, that’s when it can become dangerous. If you do know that you shape your own life, that your subconscious mind can be brought under your own control and that your resultant behaviour, actions, interactions and, therefore your life, can be directed by you – you have a great responsibility to yourself that you must rise to moment to moment. Because, just in the same way that many books have been written on personal development, much has also been written on just how badly things can go wrong for those of us who know how the game of life is played and choose, either by act or omission, not to play according to the rules.

Complacency is a far more subtle enemy than worry, stress or fear. It lulls us into a false sense of security that permits our mind do what it does best – slip back into its normal state of autopilot that allows our programmed subconscious mind start to destroy the benefits that we might have gained from being more focused, more mindful, more present.

For the vast majority of people in this world – normal people – it is too great a challenge to snap out of the deadly hypnosis that our programmed subconscious mind wields over us. Indeed, for the vast majority of normal people, they will die never knowing that this challenge was even there to be attempted. For those of us who do confront this challenge and succeed, the real challenge is not to awaken but to stay awake and stay focused on a continual basis. We never know when life will throw a spanner in the works – one that will set us off on another path of self-sabotage, so we must do everything in our power to do what little it takes each day to make certain that our minds are focused and that we are as fully present as we can be to the only place and time where life is be lived – the here and now.

To Get More Out Of Life You’ve Got To Change Your Life!

Most of us want more out of life. I don’t mean that you’re unhappy with what you have. In fact, the secret to happiness is already having what you want. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t want to scale higher heights of happiness because there is no standing still in life.

And, then, of course, there are those who are desperately unhappy with their situation – the majority of people claim to be unhappy in their job, a frightening number of people worry about their finances and then there are people who are just downright unhappy with who they are.

However, you will get precious little out of life by wanting or by being dissatisfied with what you think you currently have or have not. The one thing that is stopping you getting something different out of life is – and this is kind of obvious – that you tend to do everything the same. Keep doing the same things and nothing’s ever going to change. If you want change in your life, you’re going to have to do actually change your life!

What are you to do? Like all great journeys, changing your life starts with the first step. A small step will suffice because you’re going to have to gradually recondition your mind – to get yourself used to the idea that, in every single thing that you do in life, you have a choice to do something new, something different. One of the most powerful exercises that I offer to my personal development clients is that they use the very routine that has them stuck in their rut to dismantle the habitual, repetitive patterns of behaviour that have so constrained them, their view of life and the boundless possibilities that life holds for them.

I offer the same powerful yet simple tip to you. Break routine by using your routine. Each morning, you will find yourself with a long list of little chores that you’ve done in a routine way all of your adult life. However, if you do something as simple as brushing your teeth with the hand that you don’t normally use, you will achieve two, potentially life-changing, milestones. Firstly, you will have awoken yourself to the obvious truth that, in every single thing that you do in your life, you have a choice. This awareness will enable you break every single destructive habit that has been holding you back from the life that you really want. Secondly, by virtue of the fact that you will be brushing your teeth differently, you’ll have to pay more attention to the task. Highly successful people call this ‘focus’. Focus just means paying attention – not to what you want out of life, but to what you’re doing right now.

Your life is lived in moments – every moment that you pay attention develops your ability to be fully focused, fully aware of what needs to be done when the big decisions in life call for real action – not the routine reaction of the normal doomed-to-failure mind.

Changing Your Life: It’s All Down To You

A friend recently suggested one of his best-loved self-help books to me – it was the latest in a growing list of recommended reading. In talking with him, I enquired as to how he was progressing putting into practice his learning from all his reading. I discovered that, in fact, he was a life-long student of self improvement but was unlikely to ever actually take the plunge. He informed me that a friend of his had suggested to him that he “stop reading the bloody books and starting doing it!”

Bookshop shelves groan with self improvement and self help books. It’s big business – apparently the fastest growing niche of the publishing market. Also, personal development websites proliferate – offering all manner of inducements to purchase their package which is guaranteed to change your life in five minutes!

None of these websites, packages or books will change your life. They may well point you in the right direction, provide you with an understanding that was missing your range of experience or knowledge or suggest concrete tips on how to get more out of life, change your life, transform yourself or whatever. no doubt about it, there is some top-class stuff available – and some innovative and practical personal development online help – but it will be no use to you until you put it into practice for yourself and keep putting it into practice.

Only you can change your life. Only you can grab control of that awesome inner power that is simply waiting for you to muster up the courage or energy to unleash it. The interesting thing is that most of the advice provided by websites or books demands very little work of you, demands that you make only very minor alterations to the manner in which you use your mind. Sadly, however, having been in this business for nearly fifteen years, I have seen far too many people who will not take five minutes every day to make the other twenty three hours and fifty five minutes so much better.

And this leads me to the main point – one that I’ve already alluded to – you have to keep putting what you learn into practice. No book, program or package will change your life in five minutes. You won’t change your life in five minutes. However, five minutes every day is an entirely different matter – if you make or take the time to make sure that your mind is up to speed each morning then your life will change beyond all recognition. Psychology tells us in no uncertain terms that normal people only perceive what they expect to perceive and experience only what they expect to experience – that the normal life is created by the sadly blind normal mind. Open your mind each morning, change your expectations and you will change your life. But, at the end of the day, it’s entirely up to you – no one else is going to do it for you.

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