The Answer - Integrating Change = Wealth and Wisdom
Recently there has been lots of buzz about the latest and greatest "how to" answer to attaining what you want. You may have heard of the Internet movie or seen the narrators of The Secret featured on Larry King Live and the Oprah show. The purported secret is The Law of Attraction which states that you have to know and focus on what you want before you even know how to get it. It also says that what you focus on is what you get. And engaging in negative self-talk such as, "you'll never make it" or "what a loser," creates a self-fulfilling prophecy; it sets you up to lose without even understanding how it happens that you don't succeed.
The big secret is that this is not new news. Thousands of books have been written that say about the same thing. As Jerry Adler wrote in Newsweek Magazine, (March 8th 2007) "The Secret was a marketing genius that turned what might have been a blip on Time's Advice Bestseller list into a publishing phenomenon."
The real secret is that there is little substance to this mass media love affair. You may be asking yourself, if it were that simple, then why don't I already have what I want and more? Because positive thinking and a healthy focused, attitude are only the beginning. What you don't hear from these narrators is just how many years it took each one to make the profound changes in their thinking and behavior that led to effectively attracting what they wanted. Include attracting more money and you open up a Pandora's Box of real or imagined fears, shame and worries. It would seem obvious, that if you constantly worry about money then all you get is more worry, not more money. But most people have money and worry emotionally married. They cannot think or talk about money without worry. Imagine the process of changing just this one deeply-ingrained worry habit. Now imagine changing hundreds or even thousands of habitual or unconscious money thoughts and their underlying beliefs.
The Answer to effectively utilizing the Law of Attraction is your willingness to dig beneath the surface into your cherished, but unconscious belief system, consciously exposing hidden negative beliefs that are worn out and generations out-of-date. Only with this self-awareness can you make lasting, integrated changes and prosperous new choices.
Test making changes by doing these simple experiments. If you always get dressed before eating breakfast, then eat breakfast before you get dressed. Change the wrist on which you regularly put your watch. Do you notice any discomfort making these simple changes? The natural tendency is to go back to the routine way of doing things. Now imagine changing your beliefs about money. What discomfort you might experience as negative money messages from the past come to conscious awareness. Changing your money attraction factor takes tenacity, courage, and determination.
You can learn a lot about the risk of growth and change from the life of the lobster.
How does a lobster grow bigger (change) when its shell (unconscious beliefs) is so hard? The only way is to shed its shell (moldy beliefs) at regular intervals. When the lobster's body begins to feel cramped inside the shell, it instinctively looks for a reasonably safe spot to rest while the hard shell comes off and the pink membrane just inside forms the basis of the next shell. But no matter where a lobster goes for this shedding process, it is very vulnerable. It can get tossed against a coral reef or be eaten by a fish.
A lobster puts itself at risk for change. Are you willing to take action - even uncomfortable action - to change your beliefs and behavior? Are you willing to be committed to the process of change? Would you consider having a support system to assist you? If you answered "yes" to these questions, you are well on the way to the Answer to The Journey to Wealth & Wisdom.
Joyous Prosperity,
Marilyn August,
Business Advisor/Wealth Coach
