Those of you on my newsletter received an email last week where I talked about a subject related to the movie The Secret.
The responses I received to that email where quite polarized, which should not be surprising since subject matter that can be interpreted as spiritual or religious tends to elicit hard-line opinions. Yet I have to admit I was surprised by some of the emails I received in reply to the newsletter, which was a little naive on my part.
I received messages from my readers from both ends of the spectrum. Everything from I love what you are saying and totally agree, to that movie is a bunch of hogwash — just thinking about what you want won’t get it, all the way to the movie is against my religion and you shouldn’t be promoting it.
I’m happy whenever people engage with my content, and I never take one person’s feedback too strongly unless I’m receiving many responses along the same line. It was certainly interesting to read the different places people were coming from and thank you to everyone who wrote to me – it was an enlightening experience to read your point of view.
I don’t adhere specifically to a branch of religion, nor am I an atheist. If a label must be applied, I’m closest to agnostic, believing in a higher power but not looking to lock that power into a rigid framework like doctrine can do. I like to take on board concepts and ideas from all religions and belief systems, but I never became so restricted by them that I can’t at least listen to other people’s ideas without labeling them blasphemous.
You might call me a perpetual fence sitter, which in itself has problems. The wonderful thing about taking on board and truly feeling a specific religious calling is that you no longer suffer from being “lost”. You now have a framework to follow, a way to live and a community of people who share your beliefs. That is a wonderful thing.
Of course I have a moral compass, as we all do, which gives me some sense of rules and structure that govern my life. I’m going to draw the line on certain actions and label them wrong or right. Some things fall into a grey area, which once again is where having a strong religious belief has “benefits” – you have less greys and more black and whites – although I don’t think that’s always a good thing. Unwavering absolutes can be very dangerous – religious fundamentalism has certainly taught us that.
Do I Believe In The Law Of Attraction?
If you haven’t seen The Secret I’ll summarize it for you quickly now.
The movie, which in my opinion is the superior way to absorb the message (the book by the same name doesn’t do it nearly a well), is a documentary that effectively teaches a principle known as the Law of Attraction.
Before we had the Law of Attraction, as it was presented in The Secret, a book many of you will be familiar with – Napolean Hill’s Think And Grow Rich – introduced the idea that by thinking of what you desire and taking congruent action to seek the outcome, the “universe” will help you get there.
I’m not 100% sure as he never states the name of the book, but I believe Bob Proctor, who features prominently in The Secret, refers to Think and Grow Rich as the starting point for his successful application of the Law of Attraction, which if you really want to break things down to the core, means that all of these books, movies and people are referring to the same universal principle, or “the secret”.
The idea here is that the universe is structured in a way that if you think in a certain way, you actually manipulate your conscious reality to manifest what you are thinking.
If you dive into metaphysics, which movies like What The Bleep Do We Know/Down The Rabbit Hole go into deeper than The Secret does, we find that everything is made up of the same thing, so differentiating between thoughts and what we perceive as reality is a moot point – the universe see it all as the same thing.
We can make this more practical however – and this is where I think some of the detractors of The Secret go wrong. It’s not simply a case of thinking about what you want and then it magically appearing, which is how some people criticize the concept, it’s about thinking about what you want in a positive way, taking action congruent with those thoughts and then – here’s the key – when the window of opportunity opens, you take it.
Whether it is a case of the universe being structured in a way that intention, thought and action are rewarded with what you want – in other words it’s the universe that opens those windows for you – or it simply happens because you keep working towards a goal, is up for debate. No one can really know for sure and ultimately it comes down to belief.
One thing that is important to note, if you choose to believe in this idea and successfully execute it, you create a positive feedback loop. You take the actions that result in what you want because you believe taking those actions will get you there, thanks to a universal law. The law may not exist, but the outcome is positive because you executed – the link between cause and effect can be blurry – but the outcome is what counts and if you get what you want then there’s no compelling reason NOT to believe in the idea, unless you like not getting what you want.
As I wrote in the newsletter, I wasn’t purporting that I am a believer or otherwise in the teachings of The Secret or the Law of Attraction, although I have experienced positive outcomes as a result of my exposure to the movie and the idea. I certainly feel that some of the people in The Secret presented concepts that helped to raise my own consciousness in some way, and that’s what’s important in my opinion.
Proof of Results?
About six years ago I was feeling pretty bad about many aspects of my life. I had returned from six weeks backpacking in Tasmania with a girlfriend who was an ex-girlfriend by the time I got back.
I wasn’t broke, but I wasn’t making much money either – about $500 a month from the Magic card game website I owned back then. I was reading a lot about the Internet business success of other people, but most of the time that served only to depress me. I wouldn’t begin blogging for several years yet.
I was just about to start working seriously on my proofreading business, which wouldn’t be really successful for a couple of years, but before that decision was made I had to go back to my part time job to make sure I could pay the rent. I was feeling pretty rotten, I didn’t have many friends around me as they were all in full time jobs making new friends and finding life partners.
I felt like I was very far away from most of the things I wanted in my life – love, wealth and real friendships.
It was during this time that I began hanging out with a friend of my ex-girlfriend. She worked in the city and I often visited her when I went into town. Our relationship was platonic, although really it was situation of mutual sadness. We decided to spend lunchtime complaining to each other about how much our lives sucked.
It wasn’t a healthy thing to do of course, yet misery enjoys company, so for a few months we continued to indulge in this unhealthy past time.
I remember clearly having a conversation with this girl about business and what I thought would be my “big goal” in terms of how much money I wanted to make. I said to her that what I wanted was to make $1,000 a day from my business.
I recall how I felt when I said that statement and her reaction. She thought that outcome was near impossible and an incredible amount of money (she was earning a basic wage at the time, about $500 a week). I could only imagine what I would do with $1,000 a day, and while I didn’t consider it impossible, it really felt like a very far away goal, very, very far away.
In some sense it was a very far away, depending on how you value time.
I was just thinking during the last few months that the goal I set myself all those years ago, has become a reality. I haven’t done the exact numbers yet, but I’m pretty sure on average for the year, I make about $1,000 dollars a day now.
How Did This Happen?
Did my statement of intention, the following six years spent working towards reaching my goal and then finally meeting my target, get any assistance from some kind of universal law?
It’s tough for me to answer that. What I can say is that for many years that goal remained very far away, but slowly, with consistent action and making the decision to do certain things and take certain opportunities when they arose, the signs that I could get there became more frequent and I started to believe it more and more.
Today, I’m so confident of my ability to make money, as the cliche goes – it actually feels “easy”. I don’t say that to impress you, merely to demonstrate how your state of mind can change based on your reality changing thanks to experience.
Realizing When It Is Time To Change
While I have moved towards a place of deep satisfaction when it comes to my financial situation, I feel there is much room for improvement in other areas of my life.
As a result of this, 2009 so far has been a period of focusing energy on improving these other areas of my life. It’s because of making the decision to change and improve myself, that I’ve once again come up against the challenge of relying upon faith in a possible outcome to push me towards experiencing the outcome. I’m moving towards new territory, trying to do things I’ve never done before, forcing me to overcome strong feelings of self doubt along the way.
As many of my fellow Internet marketers know, we can often lead very solitary lives, working from home. This has suited my personality and benefited me financially because I’m blessed with the ability to be very productive while in solitude, but it’s caused an imbalance in the other two aspects of my life that require socialization.
My awareness of this imbalance really came into prominence when I returned from my overseas travels. I looked at my bank balance and despite spending a stupid amount of money while overseas, I came back with more money in my account than what I left with. I realized that focusing most of my attention on making more money would be futile and misguided.
Don’t get me wrong, I will run my business at the same pace I have, serve my customers, educate myself about what’s going on in my industry and continue to enjoy what I do to make money, BUT, there is no need to add to my workload simply for the sake of making more money. More money won’t make much of a difference to my overall happiness and will take energy away from the things I need to do in order to improve upon the aspects of my life I want to change.
In case you can’t read between the lines, that last paragraph is stating that once you’ve reached a certain point financially, making more money does not equal more happiness. All you money-hungry, success-focused entrepreneurs should heed that advice or you might end up pouring your energy into activities that you do simply for the short term rush that comes from making money. It’s not going to make you any happier long term – in fact it might even do the opposite once the thrill of the rush starts to have less effect.
How To Raise Your Awareness
I’m going to sample now from the newsletter I sent last week. Some of you will have read this, but I know most of you have not. This is important stuff, because it shows how you can bring change to your life, but also how you can rely on other people to raise your awareness so you have the courage to make the change.
Pay especially close attention to the section where I talk about the power of finding gurus – real gurus – and why they can help you in more ways than just giving you successful techniques to replicate.
The Courage To Seek Change
Success in business, in blogging and in life in general, comes down to many facets.
You have raw business techniques and strategies, you have your mental state and your body condition, your present physical reality, your access to resources, your skills, inherent talents, the people around you and many other elements.
As a human being we are complicated creatures, but what I have learned after years spent working to improve aspects of my life, in almost all cases your sense of self, your “inner game” or strength of character, or whatever you want to call it, is the root determinant of your success.
In other words, the power is within YOU.
In order to improve yourself you need to raise your awareness. Raising awareness, in my opinion, is the answer to most of the world’s current conflicts, and from a micro level, the answer to the problems you currently face in your life too.
To raise one’s awareness simply means to become aware (or conscious) of what needs to change and how to change it.
The problem people face – and we all go through this – is feeling frustrated not because we don’t have something, but because we feel helpless due to not knowing HOW to change.
Are You Capable Of Change?
Change is the key to success. In order to realize new states of being, something about you must CHANGE.
In order to realize change you need to see what actions are required to make the change happen. If you don’t have the awareness, you have no idea how to make the change. Problem solving begins with problem awareness.
What makes this particularly difficult is our in-built belief structure, which is largely made up of our passed experiences. If you’ve never experienced the change you want, then in order to begin the process of change, you essentially make a “leap of faith”.
If you’ve never done something before you don’t have the comfort to know that doing certain things will result in certain outcomes. In order to have the courage to make the change, you must believe in the possibility of the outcome, without having ever experienced it.
That’s why it’s so important to make that first dollar online. Once you know that making money on the Internet is possible, even if you only make a dollar, you start to experience the reality of an outcome, rather than just believing in a dream.
If you can make $1, then it seems a lot easier to make $10, then $100, then $1,000, etc. With experience comes confidence, but how do we get confidence without experience?
From Awareness To Experience
It’s amazing how easy it is to do something once you have done it before. With the experience, comes familiarity and a realization that yes, it can be done, you know how and you can thus do it again.
However, before you gain the experience yourself, steps taken towards change are based on your observation or study of other people’s experience. Seeing what others have and do, gives you awareness of patterns of behavior you can then repeat, with the expectation to experience the same or similar results.
Unfortunately if you’ve tried to make change happen before and failed to achieve the outcome you want, your assumptions are going to become increasingly negative, and you will start to battle with your own self belief. It takes a strong “inner game” to move passed this and keep striving. Your faith must be unwavering.
This is why it’s so important to learn from people who have gone through the change you want to realize in your life. They offer the best roadmap to follow, to carry with you along with your faith in the belief that it can happen to you too.
That’s why gurus, in the true sense of the word, are gurus.
The term, which comes from Hinduism, refers to a spiritual teacher. “Gu” means darkness, and “ru” means light; thus a guru turns ignorance into enlightenment.
People place faith in the teachings of gurus because gurus can manifest awareness in others. With awareness comes the power to change.
It’s not necessarily an easy process, but we should be thankful we have so many people willing to share what they know so those of us who want to improve ourselves have gurus to turn to.
When a person possesses a strong clarity about key aspects of life, it’s their strength and guidance that can empower others to realize their goals. Clarity is a powerful liberator, almost as powerful as experience itself, and of course true clarity comes from experience.
Find Your Gurus and Make Change Happen
There are many insights to be gained from this article and I don’t expect everyone to interpret it in the same way. I value your feedback, so if you have anything to say after reading this far, please leave your comment. I can’t promise to respond to everything, but I will read what you have written.
What I hope is that you will read this blog post and use it to help you find the courage to make positive change a reality in your life. In particular, if what I have written helps you to battle through periods when your belief is faltering – which we all go through during periods of change – then I consider that the best outcome possible.
Whether you take stock in concepts like the Law of Attraction, believe in The Secret, are religious, or you think it’s all bunk and live a very scientific and pragmatic life, doesn’t matter. You are human and thus you are wired to experience life with emotions and live with the same internal conditions we all face. Ultimately that is your greatest weakness and your greatest strength.
How your life progresses rests in your awareness and acceptance of reality, and how you then leverage it for positive outcomes in your life.
Yaro Starak
Raising Awareness One Blog Post At A Time
The Secret is everywhere!
My blog has a feed to watch the first half hour of The Secret. It then sprawled 3 posts about it.
Stay positive, take congruent actions and results will manifest. Congrats on the success you have made from this blog! As soon as I can manifest some money I will be enrolling into your course.
I’m from Australia – is there off-line training available too?
Once again congrats and take care!
John
Yaro, I like when you go into your past and really tell us how you got to where you are now as well as what you did to get to the present. I think you and I are very similar and that gives me hope for the future. If a person that shares many of my hobbies and beliefs can become successful then maybe so can I. I enjoy reading your post keep up the good work.
What ever happened to your MTG site?
Great Article! It’s all about Bringing balance to your life…the Quam. (from the movie Jerry McQuire).
Hi Yaro,
I really appreciate this post as I know I have had points in my life where I feel I will never get where I’m trying to go. It’s refreshing to find others that have been there.
I bought The Secret, despite the fact that I’ve read Think & Grow Rich and similar books and loved them, this book didn’t resonate with me (maybe I should watch the movie),
I believe the Law of Attraction is real in the sense that when you focus on things you will discover them. If you don’t dream of working for yourself or earning a more substantial income your chances of having these outcomes are null. When we want something, study it, think about it, and consistently work towards it we achieve it.
“Nothing happens until something moves,”
Thanks again for the great posts!
Hi Yaro,
that’s so true what you say! The Secret / Law of Attraction is all well and good, but you have to take action.
I have been working towards complete self sufficiency since 2005, applying various strategies and gradually becoming the person I wanted to be. Yet one single factor changed it all for me, and that is FAITH. I would consider myself agnostic as well, but once I started to trust that my efforts were worthwhile and that I was changing, I actually started to see REAL results. I also find that some time spent in meditation (and some visualisation) has accelerated the results. Adding gratitude to the mix made things manifest even faster.
I walked away from a job I hated in the middle of the recession that everyone is talking about…and yet I have never been happier. I made the decision to change and everything has fallen in to place.
I turn 40 in a few weeks and now understand why things don’t happen overnight just because I want them to. I have to grow before I can get rewarded (and I have worked damn hard at it too!)
Thanks for such a great article!
Hi
I saw the movie the Secret, even read the book. It explains the Law of Attraction , but in the Hollywood way. There are other books treating the same subject, like the Attractor Factor by Joe Vitale, etc. I am reading another more pragmatic book by Brian Tracy ,” Goals”, which tells methods and practices to follow to change our lives.
All in all, this is true , we have to change something: our beliefs. We are conditioned by all this avalanche of information. I have cut off TV news, because it reminded me too much of the negative around us, adn too little on the positive which is in much greater dimension. There is a book that I put on the top of all others , it is “Power vs. Force” by David Hawkins, which tells how the way we think affect the rest of the world. I like the positive aspect of the book. We can make a drastic positive change in the entire world, by being more positive. Try to smile, to enjoy others, to see the world as a wonderful place, to enjoy the present moment as much as possible, to value others more and more, and to dissolve negativity from your mind i.e., envy, greed, impatience, anger, selfishness, are all replaceable values. It is all in the mind. for more about this, I wrote on it on http://bestyourlife.wordpress.com
Enjoy what you have right this instant! Count your blessing often!
Yaro,
I’ve begun work on a new blog http://www.modelsforlife.org. I’ve read the Secret many times and fully believe that much of what I’ve achieved in my life has been because of the “law of Attraction.”.
I own a business but realize that I need a more stable income that I can manage without so much work on my part and a business that I can run from any location. I love to travel.
I’m attempting to read through your blogger Premium Series, Caroline MiddleBrooks StumbleUpon and her BloggerBible. I’d like to build one or two blogs that I have a passion for, but need to learn how to drive more traffic to them.
They are good blogs and well written and one in particular is definitely a niche market http://www.theconflictedmale.com. Once my traffic is substantial, I’d like my ad revenues and affiliate products to generate income for me, but for now, I’m tryng to make my way through all this material. (PS-There have been lots of reported problems with wordpress based blogs 2.6.3., This is causing me a lot of down time messing with it.)
Anyway, back to my point.I know that if I look in the direction of success and earnestly work toward it, that the law of attraction will bring it to me. I’ve had so many things happen in my life when I envisioned them, that I can’t just relegate it to “coincidence.
I thought about them and drew them to me, both positive and negative and it’s almost uncanny how it happens on an everyday basis. So I’m feeling a bit lost in all the things that I need to learn in order to eventually draw traffic to my site. but I know it will be.
I’d love to talk to you more in depth at some point about the “Secret’
and how it works it’s way through our lives. It’s not unusual, not something strange, but draws upon the physical bounties of the universe. In this way, it can effect science that is totally in line with religious, spiritual beliefs or both. All are variants of “energy”. Whether that energy is the concept of a “creator” a “big boom” or whatever, it is still energy and it carries with it frequency. Even the bible, says…”Ask and you shall receive…seek and you shall find.”
What more convincing argument for the Laws of Attraction could there be?
The movie “ The Secret” released by Rhonda Byrne back in 2007 was one of the greatest gifts ever received by ALL of us, that entertained the concept.
A beautiful truth that finally reached many…especially those who NEEDED it to be true…!
Please do not misunderstand me..I’m not disputing the validity of it ! I’ve been living it since 1990 when I came across the “Seth” material by Jane Roberts.
“Everything ALL of a sudden became clear !!:.…WHY I lost that job!..WHY I’m always alone!..WHY I’m always broke!!…
and that : I CAN be rich! ..I CAN be whatever I want!..”
The Law Of Attraction ..The law that governs the “happenings” in the world…Each and every one ,that happens to us individually and collectively.
Unfortunately, this great gift also came with an even greater dilemma .
Most of those who’ve used the concept to get what they want in life and succeeded in getting them, are still not happy..And wonder: “ I’m able to get whatever I want, but yet, I feel an emptiness!” Imagine that dilemma…This individual was better off living a life “governed” by chance occurrences.
Then you have those who’ve also entertained the concept but are UNABLE to manifest all their desires (this group comprises of about 99% of those who live by the law of attraction)
So they continue researching, psychoanalyzing , buying more books and programs, join more groups in order to MASTER the law of attraction in order to (hopefully) FINALLY get what they want and consequently…
FINALLY be HAPPY!!
Two things happen..They either continue the search for as long as they can and give up, disclaiming the truth of “The Law Of Attraction”… or they succeed and “upgrade” to the first group of people: They have it “all” but yet feel a continuous sense of emptiness, an unhappiness..They’ve reached the top… but the top doesn’t feel as expected ..at least not anymore…the sweetness was short lived…IT ALWAYS IS!
If the law of attraction was intended for happiness ..it would only allow ONE option to choose from: “How to attract Happiness”(Most of us already live in a state of unhappiness)
In my opinion..the main reason why one should be aware of The Law Of Attraction is to UNDERSTAND one’s own life circumstance.. however good or bad..
This in turn will give one insight into one’s own state of mind….To understand what your mind had to be identified with in order to manifest :“THIS”….And at last come to understand that YOU ARE NOT YOUR MIND OR ITS CONTENT, but merely an observer of that TOOL..A TOOL we’ve all allowed to take COMPLETE control over us!!!
….Hence the current state of humanity…
francois
The movie “ The Secret” released by Rhonda Byrne back in 2007 was one of the greatest gifts ever received by ALL of us, that entertained the concept.
A beautiful truth that finally reached many…especially those who NEEDED it to be true…!
Please do not misunderstand me..I’m not disputing the validity of it ! I’ve been living it since 1990 when I came across the “Seth” material by Jane Roberts.
“Everything ALL of a sudden became clear !!:.…WHY I lost that job!..WHY I’m always alone!..WHY I’m always broke!!…
and that : I CAN be rich! ..I CAN be whatever I want!..”
The Law Of Attraction ..The law that governs the “happenings” in the world…Each and every one ,that happens to us individually and collectively.
Unfortunately, this great gift also came with an even greater dilemma .
Most of those who’ve used the concept to get what they want in life and succeeded in getting them, are still not happy..And wonder: “ I’m able to get whatever I want, but yet I feel an emptiness!” Imagine that dilemma…This individual was better off living a life “governed” by chance occurrences.
Then you have those who’ve also entertained the concept but are UNABLE to manifest all their desires (this group comprises of about 99% of those who live by the law of attraction)
So they continue researching, psychoanalyzing , buying more books and programs, join more groups in order to MASTER the law of attraction in order to (hopefully) FINALLY get what they want and consequently…
FINALLY be HAPPY!!
Two things happen..They either continue the search for as long as they can and give up, disclaiming the truth of “The Law Of Attraction”… or they succeed and “upgrade” to the first group of people: They have it “all” but yet feel a continuous sense of emptiness, an unhappiness..They’ve reached the top… but the top doesn’t feel as expected ..at least not anymore…the sweetness was short lived…IT ALWAYS IS!
If the law of attraction was intended for happiness ..it would only allow ONE option to choose from: “How to attract Happiness”(Most of us already live in a state of unhappiness)
In my opinion..the main reason why one should be aware of The Law Of Attraction is to UNDERSTAND one’s own life circumstance.. however good or bad..
This in turn will give one insight into one’s own state of mind….To understand what your mind had to be identified with in order to manifest :“THIS”….And at last come to understand that YOU ARE NOT YOUR MIND OR ITS CONTENT, but merely an observer of that TOOL..A TOOL we’ve all allowed to take COMPLETE control over us!!!
….Hence the current state of humanity…
Yaro, I sincerely apologize about the double post..It was done unintentionally..
Change – we either do it or it does us.
You are right we get good at not changing. Procrastination is one of the best distractions. We need to turn the fear of change into the excitement of changing. As you inferred, the first few steps can be the most difficult.
This was a really interesting article! I am quite familiar with these teachings because it was a big inspiration of mine to start my own business.
I suggest you watch The Opus because it really brings all the teachings together and presents it in a simple to understand in reality based manner.
Andy
Mind blowing post, I am fully agreed to the quote “Change is the key to success” as without change we can not progress.
Great piece, Yaro. You are quickly becoming my favorite blogger. Thanks for sharing your experiences (not making much money to making more money than you could spend on your vacation) with us.
I have used and benefited from The Law of Attraction, having used it to attract a great relationship after having attracted a series of really, really pitiful relationships. (Have been happily married for years now.) I also used it to attract a house in the type of neighborhood I wasn’t even sure really existed.
Now I’m going to use it to attract wealth.
The thing is, people mistake LoA for hooey because they think you just make a single declaration, and suddenly the cash or whatever falls in your lap. But it takes more than that. You have to declare it every day. Picture it every day. Feel it every day. ACT on it every day.
For those of us who fear LoA is an affront to religious beliefs, check out Norman Vincent Peale’s “Positive Imaging” or the more recent, “The Greatest Secret” by Ron McIntosh. Both approach LoA from a biblical perspective.
Hi Yaro,
Great article. Great insight in to awareness. I enjoy the “Secret” and believe the law of attraction to be true in many ways.
Thanks,
Mikko Kemppe
Well I think, Putting together your very own personal development plan that fits who you really are can be a difficult, and in some cases impossible feat – if you don’t have the right resources and tools.
Hi Yaro.
First off, yours is my favorite newsletter and I always make it a point to read it. While I am not an Internet marketer or anything, I do enjoy writing and blogging (for fun and for money) among other things.
Reading what you write has helped me become more focused in what I do in life. I’ve been reading what you write for years now – and I love it. Just goes to show that one does not have to be in the same profession to benefit and get inspired by what someone writes.
So – at the risk of sounding like a me-too – nevertheless – I’ve got to say it. Your stuff is great.
Cheers and Thank you.
Vidya
Hi Yaro,
I am in the process of doing some research right now on limiting beliefs, fear, and why we hold ourselves back from achieving our goals, and I find a lot of value in your writing. I can relate to much of what you talk about, in terms of the feelings we go through during those times in the “messy middle”. I too am in the process of taking some LEAPS of faith, way outside my comfort zone, first in negotiating myself out of a fairly cushy job in the corporate world for the sake of pursuing my true passion, and then secondly selling most all of my belongings and moving across the country only with that which fit in my smallish Honda Accord and 6 shipped boxes. But I have a vision, I know what I want, I know why, and I *somewhat* know how to get it, but I am okay with that semi-uncertainty because I know that in each step that I take toward my vision, I will learn the skills that I need at that time to help me to take that next step. Not every day is bright and sunny, even tho I now live in a beautiful city that IS bright and sunny every day.
But through those highs and lows, I stay focused on my vision, almost like a laser, to the exclusion of all the distractions, doubts and so forth that jump in my path.
I am a huge fan of James Ray’s (also featured on The Secret and mentored by Bob Proctor) teaching, and one of the things that he has said that has helped me the most is this –
When you are standing at that line, at the edge of your comfort zone, you can either take that step forward into the unknown, uncertainty, toward the vision/goal that you hold, or you can fall back, into what you know, what makes you feel “secure”. But realize that when you get those scary, doubt-filled feelings, it means that you are on the brink of something big. Something life changing. And if you can take those scary feelings and flip them into feelings of excitement or enthusiasm, for what is to come, rather than allowing them to keep you captive in fear, it changes your whole perspective and experience.
Doing this has helped me so much on my journey, because when I really stop and think about it, those “scary” feelings, really do feel the same as the “excited” feelings, it’s all just a matter of how you decide to label them.
Anyway, thanks again for your words of wisdom. Articles like these help to solidify my passion for knocking the pants off my own limiting beliefs
and are a great reference, like you say, of someone who has succeeded.
Sheila
Yaro,
This is a very insightful article. I am a scientist and a teacher, and in studying physics, especially quantum physics, I believe that there is much more to consciousness than we understand from everyday life. The Law of Attraction and The Secret begin the process of understanding more about consciousness. Life experience (age) also breeds a greater understanding of consciousness and insight.
I’m not religious, but spiritual, and I believe that on a deeply basic level, we are all connected and that there is a higher power, regardless of what you call him or her.
I also believe that we become what we believe about ourselves. If we believe we can become something, we tend to seek knowledge and take actions in that direction, and we eventually make that belief a reality. If we do not believe we can accomplish something, we most certainly will not accomplish it.
I see that happen often in my students. Those who are doing poorly, but are willing to work hard and believe they can improve make great progress while those who don’t believe they can improve don’t make progress. The difference in the students isn’t intelligence or a natural gift in the subject. It is whether they believe in their own abilities or not, and are willing to put in some hard work. Those who don’t believe they can do something won’t put in the hard work and will cause failure because of it.
Whether one follows the teachings of the Law of Attraction, The Secret, What the Bleep Do We Know, a religion, a guru, the principles and practices of psychotherapy, or the basic concept that you get out of something what you put into it; each of us has the power to change our lives. The decision about changing is are we willing to believe in ourselves and take the actions we know must be taken to realize that change.
Sherri Joubert
Hey Yaro, Julia from Transilvania here.
I believe that if you really want something you should try to accomplish it. What I do is that i focus on selling domains almoust every day and in the few first months i didn’t sell anything altough I thought about it every day, but then I started believing that I can sell those domains and pleople started to buy them. It just happened 2 months ago and once a transaction is over, another domain is being purchesed from my portfolio.
It’s fun.
I also believe that those people who are balanced and look at the bright side of life are happy and good things happen to them every day and that makes them feel even better and so on.
I now focus on selling 3 websites but they’re in Hungarian language and people in Hungary are not familiar with buying and selling developed websites so I’m having a hard time but I’m sure i will be able to sell them in the near future.
I really enjoy reading your blog and you inspire my work every day. Thank you!
Julia
This is one of the best blog posts I’ve read in a while! Thanks!
Great article! Good way to summarize it: realize change is needed, increase and maintain awareness, and build the courage to make it happen.
Not so sure, I will call them gurus, but I get your point. I prefer mentors.
Keep them coming!
Jorge
It’s definitely better to get responses that are both positive and negative. It adds another level of realism, and it means that people are really reading and chipping in to the discussion. I think its important to get the message right. If you are positive about something while going full force and taking all of the opportunists at hand, your chances of succeeding are much higher. I enjoyed reading your story, of how she thought the 1,000 a day goal was near impossible and you almost thought the same thing.
Till then,
Jean
You have expressed yourself so well. I love this bit -”One thing that is important to note, if you choose to believe in this idea and successfully execute it, you create a positive feedback loop. You take the actions that result in what you want because you believe taking those actions will get you there, thanks to a universal law. The law may not exist, but the outcome is positive because you executed…”
Even a non believer has to appreciate the power of placebo – when drug companies run trials they expect placebo to be about 35%. These results can be very clear to see and are measured scientifically. It pays to believe!
Thank you so much for writing this article and demonstrating the power we have to co-create our reality. Life is truly what we make it through our intentions and of course what we pay attention to. I love that you call your site the Entrepreneurs Journey. It shows that the entrepreneurs of this age (the information age) are focusing our gifts and talents on that which is a derivative of higher consciousness.
Most importantly, I am very impressed with your commitment to show others that “making money” as you put it “doesn’t equal happiness.” We can increase our finances but it is also important to increase our awareness in order to live in abundance.
Great article. And very well written, sir. Loved it. Keep up the wonderful work and thank you for being a wonderful messenger here in the blogosphere.
Sincerely,
Carmellita Brown
I really like these self help type posts. We likely all need to change something about ourselves to make our lives or business better. Raising your awareness of these issues is the best place to start. Once you fully realize your faults, it becomes easier to prevent that behavior.
This article spoke to me on so many levels and it was pure Synchronicity that I would find this article today. “The answer to most of the world’s current conflicts” and another that you once were involved with the Magic card game, were just two points that seemed to interweave with my day. I am an ambassador for the Parliament of the World’s Religions and am dealing so much now with awareness being the answer to most of the world’s current conflicts and trying to promote this very fact. But, I have also been trying to apply these concepts to my business life and health. Thank you for the inspirational article.
I realized my email was incorrect in the last comment
Hi Yaro,
I found your blog through your business partner(?) Gideon Salwick, who was recently interviewed on Mixergy.com .
This is a great, great post. So many people keep talking about the idea of the “Law of attraction”, my sister is in fact learning about it right now. I watched “The secret” last year, and while i do think many of the concepts do hold through, i think the movie lets itself down by being too “magical” and almost disney-like. Know what i mean?
I read Think and Grow Rich at the beginning of the year, and the line that always rings out to me is “to become successful, you have to become success conscious”.
Since then, while i may not be demonstrably financially successful just yet, i’ve definitely experienced many wins already this year.
I do think that the inner state is most important, totally agree with you and feel re-inspired. I try to guard my inner state more than anything else.
I don’t know for sure if I’m repeating what’s already been said here, or simply too late but I think the law of attractions is having faith that what you desire for is a possible reachable goal, thus making it worth hoping for and setting as a goal and working toward until you reach it. Put simply: You draw what you want to yourself by moving toward
Hey Yaro
Awesome post, great content. I’m looking forward to making some changes this year and I reckon I’ll be reading this again
– Nick
That’s so strange!! I was just doing research for a blog post I’m writing about psychological barriers to getting rich. I liked what I found on The Light Brigade site, which basically said that we
1) ‘frame’ our version of reality with the help of society (parents, school, media, etc…) and then we
2) ‘selectively’ focus on evidence that bolsters our ‘frame’ while ignoring evidence that might weaken it. Then when we realize that our current frame of reality isn’t quite cutting it, we
3) opt for ‘incrementalism’ which is changes that are too small to really affect the overall inertia of our lives.
That is quite related to your ‘belief structure idea’, but stated in another way that I think might be useful for readers.
Cheers nice post!
Thank you for sharing your experience Yaro!
As your story demonstrates, it is not a matter of “Can I achieve this?”, but it’s a matter of “WHAT I really want to achieve?”
Knowing what you want in ALL the areas of your life, can surely lead you to a perfectly-balanced life! But you ever know it all once a time. You know it day by day, as you grow up. And that’s the fun!
Francesco
I remember hearing that one of the best things you can have for success is a “short memory”. Meaning, forgetting your failures rather than carrying them with you!
I think we need to see everything as experimentation and a learning process rather than concrete failure.
Great article… thanks for the inspiration!
I do agree that change has an outmost importance when talking about progress in ones life. The fear of change prevents many people to finally overcome the obstacles and break their monotonous daily routine to improve their life for the better. While some of the “gurus” out there are only selling dreams, in my opinion, it is really not important where you get the inspiration to change your life. At the end it will come down to you and to how you use that in order to really make some changes. Life, just like anything in this universe is a progress, nothing is constant everything changes and evolves all the time. So try to live yours like that, and never ever fear change.
Hello Yaro,
I’m a new follower and one of your new students – this post really hit home with me. I have the book on my night table – The Secret – and had just finished reading it last week – I had purchased this book because of a personal desire and need for “change” and new “direction”. Always believing that we are our own “Creators” I couldn’t get enough information about “Manifesting” our lives/business/success etc. Reading this book has lead to some wonderful findings in my life since ( your programs for one – and great information you share which is truly bringing to light some of my own passions.
Oh, and as far as working from home ( I work from home – online now full time ) and YES! It can be lonely and it can be quite the challenge getting out and being social after years working day and day out ( when you work from home or are self employed ). I am still learning! I am inspired by you. Cheers!
I am pretty much pleased with your good work.You put really very helpful information. Keep it up.
True Gurus does not lie. False Gurus do lie. And this is something that is extremely dangerous. Im not saying that the law of attraction does not work, I will present what I am trying to say below.
Life can not be taken for granted, especially as Easy. In the movie the secret, at several points in the movie they say stuff, if I remember it right, as following;
“If you apply the law of attraction, life is easy”
They sell it, as an easy way out. When in fact, the law of attraction isn’t even something that you can “apply” since it already is in action. You do not apply the law of attraction and therefor you are certainly not the one in charge of whether your life is easy or hard. You simply can not regulate that.
Why this is dangerous is because it sends a whole lot of people in to very very deep deppressions since every time they realize this very blunt fact, they blame themselves and it is sort of bi-polar. One second you are so greatful because everything works out easy, and when it is hard you sink through the ground so deep that youre almost likely to kill yourself because you are to the 100% convinced that you are doing something wrong. You completely go against what is called yourself and your self-esteem by thinking thoughts as;
I am not greatful
I dont know what I REALLY want
I dont ask people
I dont receive
BAM, law of attraction is there for you all along and it always has been. The only thing you are regulating are your own perspective on things. When you keep your selfesteem as high as you can you see possibilities. When you think
I am greatful
or just
I am
You suddenly see possibilities. I would have recommended Ronda Bhyrne to instead of convincing millions, and soon to be BILLIONS of people (she has actually set that goal out for herself and no doubt she will make it), that life can be easy all the time. She should have instead given a lesson about courage, and I will finish this off with a quote from I do not remember who.
Life is very simple, and simple is not the same as either easy or hard.
It is very simple to every now and then reward yourself with positive affirmations. But it really does not have to be easy. Sometimes its really hard. And it does not have to be easy to be courageous. You develop courage, you don’t get it as some sort of christmas present like the movie the secret may seem like. Just listen to the following sentence
“You can do anything, nothing is impossible. It is EASY!”
You would be no more or less naive if you clicked one of those “You just won a million dollars, CLICK HERE”. So, change the “Easy” part, with “simple” and you will be on the right track.
/someone guessing that OP is another scam-artist, but I might be wrong.