How do you master something so ethereal as the Law of Attraction?

I see this so often–it’s a common theme among LoA detractors–”That just doesn’t work. I’ve tried it. I thought of $10,000 and a Mercedes and it didn’t show up.”

You don’t master the Law of Attraction. You master yourself. The Law of Attraction is always working. It’s the way the universe works. You desire, you get your thoughts and actions right, and it happens somehow. You make it happen.

The key is in mastering yourself–becoming a student of your mind, then the master of your mind. Your mind is behind everything that comes your way. To think otherwise is to believe in fate, that you don’t have any control over your world, that things happen to you instead of you being in control of your life and destiny.

I don’t believe in ‘fate’.

I believe that I am master of my world, that I am in control of what happens in my life. Certainly, there is interaction with the other people in my life, and things don’t always go the way I think I want them to. But even then, I am in control of what those experiences mean to me, and what I do with that meaning.

Knowing that–that I determine the meaning of my life–is more than a little scary. But it also means that the better I get at consciously controlling the way my mind works, the more the magic happens.

I see the magic happening, and it drives me on to learn more, practice more, be more.

And, in the end, that’s all there is–to BE. To master the workings of your mind so that you sculpt consciously who you are.

But it doesn’t come from wishing.

Why do you get up in the morning?

Is it just to get through this day, and the next, just trying to make it through to the weekend? Do you wake with a sense of futility—a sense that this day is going to be just like yesterday, and tomorrow just like today? You come home, eat a little dinner, drink a few pops, watch some tv, wander off to bed after you get on the kids for not finishing their homework.

On the weekend, maybe you’ll get out to play a little golf, or cut the grass, or plant some veggies in the garden. But all through those two days, in the back of your mind, like a nagging little shrew, is the thought that on Monday morning, it’ll start all over again. And, in another 30 or 35 years, you’ll get a gold watch as a reward for all your hard work. That oughta get you a few bucks at the pawn shop.

What if…?

Have you played that children’s game with yourself since you ‘grew up’? What if I could learn to fly like I’ve always wanted to? What if I really could have that car I’ve always wanted? What if I owned the company and could play golf in the middle of the week?Why don’t you take a few minutes and play ‘what if’ with yourself? Go ahead, write a few things down. Just play along with me here for a little bit. I’ll wait.

Wouldn’t it be nice…?

I want you to do a little exercise here. Take a look at what you just wrote. Now, instead of asking “What if?”, ask yourself, “Wouldn’t it be nice if …?” Go ahead, take your time. Really think about it. Wouldn’t it be nice to be sitting in that airplane seat, watching the propeller go around and around, feeling the vibrations, anticipating smoothly pushing the throttle in…picking up speed, feeling the expansion joints in the runway hit faster and faster…then, in an instant, you’re free from the confines of the ground, floating…flying.

Why have you given up on yourself?

Why is it that you’ve believed the people, including yourself, who’ve told you that what you want is impossible, that you should just ‘get real’? That’s what I want you to do, the next step. Get real. Get real in your mind what it’s like to do what you want. But you have to get real. Really, really, real. You have to feel the butterflies and excitement as you pull into the parking lot of the motel in Las Vegas, the thrill of knowing that the next morning you’ll be in the seat of a 200 mph race car as you go through the Richard Petty Driving Experience on the one and a half mile oval of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Do you know what it’s like to have 600 horsepower at your fingertips?

So take the time to get real with your dreams, your goals, your deepest desires. Do it every day. Don’t wish it. Be there. Be at the speaker’s podium of a blogger’s conference, talking to hundreds of your fellow bloggers that have paid lots of money to hear what you have to say. Be in the seat of the race car, watching the bleachers go flashing past at 150mph.Be there in your mind, and believe that it’s a foregone conclusion, and the doors will open for you. Because you’re attuned to it, you’ll see possibilities you’ve never seen before. You don’t know exactly how it will happen, but you know it will. And when the way is shown to you, jump on it. Do whatever is required. You may have to do some prep work first. You might have to actually learn to drive before you can drive a race car. But don’t worry about that, and don’t overly question the roadmap when you see it, because that really is exactly what you’re seeing now–a roadmap for you to follow to make your dreams a reality.You think maybe now there’s a better reason to get out of bed in the morning? Just a little?

That’s ok—it’s a start.

Pam at Make the Most of U wrote a great response (and tagged me in the process) to Aaron Potts’ request for ‘Simply Successful Secrets’, an interactive research project that he’s started (which also included me, I see, but I missed the request somehow).

I really like seeing discussions like this, because when I start to think about the questions, I notice areas in my thinking that could use improvement or even complete overhaul.

Take success, for instance. When I first thought about how I would respond, my initial thought was, “I can’t answer this. I’m not successful.” Then I proceeded to list to myself all the reasons why I don’t think I’m successful (remember—the mind will give what you ask of it): there’s bills that aren’t paid because I’m not taking the actions that I should take business-wise because my brain is so messed up and there’s so much baggage that I can’t get around because I’ve tried everything I know and nothing’s worked because I’m no good at this stuff because I don’t try hard enough because I’m not worth anything…

Short story is I let myself go way off the deep end. After I realized what I was doing (it took a while, I’m not perfect), I made a herculean effort to change my internal conversation. “When I am successful, what do I do?”

“Nothing. You’re not successful.”

“Shut up. I am too. Get back in your cave, little man. Brain: what do I do when I’m successful?”

After some back and forth, the angelic little man on my other shoulder (remember the football field scene in ‘Animal House’?) told me things that I do when I’m being successful. So here’s my list, in no particular order:

1. I am.

This is the ‘being’ part of the have, do, or be anything you want in goal setting. It’s not exactly what most goal-setting coaches have in mind when they say it, but I think it comes first. Before you have and do the things that the person you want to be has and does, first you have to be that person in your mind. If you don’t know how that person would be, find someone you can model. Or find several people and take the best qualities of each.

2. I read daily.

I read constantly. Books, blogs, etc. Used to be, before I was successful, I read fiction books. I was absolutely hooked on action/suspense books. Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, J.D. Robb, etc. I still read those occasionally, when I want a little break. But now I read things that help me reach for new possibilities. As a matter of fact, part of my herculean effort above was to read. I read, front to back, a book named The Greatest Networker In The World, by John Milton Fogg. It was intended as a training tool for network marketers, but is more of a training tool for life and life changes. I highly recommend it.

3. I exercise regularly.

Lately, irregularly would be a better description, but I still do. My little spider-bite ordeal kept me from being as active as I like to be, but I have substantially recovered from that so it’s not as inhibiting. I go to the Y a minimum of 4 times a week; more if I can get there. Sometimes I work on the stair machines and treadmill, sometimes walking on the track, sometimes swimming. When the kids go, it’s all swimming. That’s the best workout I get, truthfully. My kids could wear me out!

4. I spend time with my goals.

I’m building on my vision board, which resides on the wall to the left of my computer monitors. I have my goals written down (do you?), and I spend some time throughout the day visualizing them, sometimes modifying them if they’re not quite right.

5. I spend time with myself.

In the morning, I make a special point to think about the things in my life that I’m thankful for. If I can’t think of more than 4 or 5, I know it’s time for an attitude adjustment. I also take an hour or two each day to read, to work with a Neuro-Programming program I picked up, and some time in my version of meditation. I’m not very good at the meditation thing yet, but the NP program is helping that. I’m finding it challenging to quiet my mind. It seems like it’s always going. During meditation, I accept the thoughts that enter, dismiss them, only to find that another has taken its place. Meditation is a work in progress for me.

6. I do something to promote my business.

One of the areas that I could do better in. This, truthfully, is where a lot of my personal work is taking place. Talking to people, learning to be comfortable in selling situations, just doing something. My comfort zone has not included direct interaction with other people. So, I’m improving that, little by little.

7. I spend time with my family.

Part of this is necessity: we homeschool our kids, and that does take a chunk of time during the day. There’s also piano lessons, recitals, nightly reading, RC airplanes, and of course our twice-weekly jaunts to the YMCA. I used to be a hermit in the computer room, and my family life suffered. Now it’s better. Focus, you know.

So…

…while I’m not yet what most would term wildly successful in some areas, that will show up in it’s good time, when I’m ready for it. I understand that. All I can do is what I know — then watch, and adjust.

That’s all any of us can do.

Thanks Pam and Aaron for the shoulder tap. I’m not going to tag anyone specifically, but I would enjoy comments and linkbacks telling me what YOU are doing to be successful in your life. If you don’t think you are, tell me what you would be doing if you were successful.