Constantly remind yourself that all that you have become is the result of all that you have thought. Your intellect, levels of confidence, talents, fears, habits—all are physical-world manifestations of a mental equivalent. The way to change those mental equivalents is by thinking quietly, constantly and persistently of the kind of person you truly want to become. These thoughts will become the seeds that you plant in the physical world. You will ultimately create molecules in your physical world that correspond to the mental images you have. Just as you create ulcer molecules with your thoughts, you can create what you desire if you remove doubt and replace it with belief.
• Stop using sentences in your material world that reflect what it is that you do not want to be. If you call yourself limited, clumsy, stupid, tearful and weak, you will be blocking the miracle-creating possibilities that you seek. If your miracle is to be some way you have never been, then you must stop those old tapes.
Begin a process of affirmations reflecting a consciousness of confidence and strength by talking about your unlimited capacity to learn any new intellectual skill and appreciating the fears you have overcome. Stress how capable you are both in conversations with others and to yourself. Remember, what you think and talk about expands into action. If you are talking about your weaknesses and defending them, then you must be thinking about them as well. Keep in mind that what you are saying to others, even in what seem to be insignificant ways, are reflections of that inner mental equivalent. If you want confidence to expand in your life, you must speak of your confidence, and mention examples of that confidence. If you want fearfulness to expand, then tell others about those fears and all of the gory details that will keep convincing you of your weaknesses. It may seem oversimplified, but it is the way to create a real magical transformation in your personality. Keep that zone of self-assuredness in your mind and practice letting those new miraculous thoughts develop their material equivalent in your daily world.
• Stay focused on what you are for rather than what you are against. For instance, don’t think about not having any further resentments, because then you are still thinking about resentment and subsequently that is how you will conduct yourself in the material world. Instead, think about what you want to expand. Think on health, harmony, love and bodily ease, and you will act on those things. If you think of yourself as lacking in talent or intellect, don’t say, “I will not think of myself as ignorant or talentless,” because then you are thinking about ignorance and strengthening the mental equivalent of limitations. Instead, use your mind to focus on images such as, “I possess all that I need to fulfill my dreams. I am limitless and a part of the perfection of this physical world. I am not a mistake, I am a divine necessity.” These kinds of images will shift your physical-world equivalent behaviors dramatically. You will act upon a new self-image, based upon possibilities, and you will see yourself performing miracles that you previously believed impossible.
• Remind yourself daily that you are a purposeful being. When you are living on purpose, giving of yourself in a blissful way, your personality will reflect that bliss. You will manifest the necessary talent and intellect to fulfill your purpose. It will not require a struggle or a detailed worksheet of goals and objectives. Your ability to manifest changes in your own personhood is already intact. You are not going to acquire intelligence, talent, skills and confidence from outside of yourself. These are components that already reside within you. What you want to do is shift to a purposeful state, a state in which you feel inspired and significant. When this is your state of mind, then all that you need in the way of personality characteristics will surface.
Remember that neither your family nor your culture gave you your personality. You created it! You have manifested precisely the personality that you needed to take care of your life’s work up to this point. And now you can reenergize yourself on your life’s journey. You do not have to continue to relive and reuse those old variables if they are no longer functional. Maintain your sense of purpose and you will not operate from any lacks in your thinking.
• Totally trust your intuition for a day at a time. Your inner voices will insistently let you know that you have the necessary ingredients to get your life to bliss. Your invisible silent conversations will have the allure of a debate:
“I can dance if I want to.”
“No, you have always been a klutz.”
“I am brilliant.”
“No, you flunked geometry in high school.”
“I am brave.”
“No, you are afraid of your own shadow.”
The “I” is your intuition, the “you” is your physical experience reminding you of the absurdity of your claims of real magic. You must learn to not only trust your intuitive voices, but to go with them regularly. It is your divine guidance talking in those silent conversations! When you know that it is there and refuse to believe otherwise you will find miraculous changes taking place within you.
One day while I was running I noticed a couple in a mild state of distress. They had somehow managed to lock themselves out of their rental car while the engine was still running. They were frantically trying to break into the idling car and get to the airport some twenty miles away. Several people were attempting to help them, including two employees from a security truck. I observed them, and my intuition said, “You can probably help them.” But I continued to run, ignoring that inner voice.
On the way back from my run, forty minutes later, the couple along with the same small crowd were still unsuccessfully attempting to gain entry to their idling automobile. I ran past them again, and that inner voice was even stronger. “Go back, I am sure that you can help them to solve their problem.” I ran about one hundred yards farther, and then I could no longer ignore my inner pleadings. I went back to the car, told the woman who was in a state of panic that I could open her car since this had happened to me several times. I had no idea what I would do, but I knew that I was there to help them and that I could do it.
They had been using a bent clothes hanger in an attempt to catch the door lock, which was smooth and tapered, designed to repel such invasions. I told the woman, “Your car is running, you have power locks, so we want to touch the power window button with a long stick.” I turned around and there was the perfect stick right there on the ground. I took my room key and wedged the window open just enough, and she put the stick down the opening, and just managed to touch the right button. The window magically opened and they were on their way to the airport.
I left that scene awed by the power of my intuitive voice, and with a new commitment to never ignore that inner voice. It was strong and clear: “Your purpose is to help, you will be guided on what to do, go there and use your intention to help manifest a miracle for those people. That’s why you are here in the first place.” I have no idea who those vacationers on Maui were, but I know that I am connected to them in a spiritual way. My inner voice, my intuitive divine guidance, provides me with an opportunity to manifest skills that I often don’t even know I possess. When I arrived on that scene and announced myself as an expert on getting into locked cars, I was as surprised as they were at my words. But somehow I knew that I could help, and sure enough, all that I needed was there. I didn’t have to go to locksmith school, I already had the necessary talent and skills to fulfill my purpose.
• Know that there is a secret buried deep within your invisible self. It says to you, “You do not need another thing, you are already all that you need. You have a divine personality, let it come out, and stop judging it. You are multitalented, get on purpose and your talents will all be there for you. You are brilliant, all the intellectual skills that you require for your purpose will surface.” You must give up the notion that you are a mistake, or that you got shortchanged in any way.
What you are is all that you are supposed to be. Your inner and outer design is perfectly in balance with all things in the universe. You may have convinced yourself otherwise, and if you have
, make this your new reality. Your perfection is not changed, but your lack of belief in that perfection is, and what you believe about yourself is all-important here. The secret in the center of your being is that you are it all already—no accident, no imperfections, simply a divine masterpiece you have allowed to deteriorate in your inner world. Surrender to that secret and you will have everything you need to live a purposeful life. Fight it, and mental anguish will define your life.
• Inventory the behaviors and characteristics that you exhibited as a child but that are no longer applicable to your adult life. You sucked your thumb. Now you know better. You struck out at your siblings when frustrated. Now you know better. You dribbled food down your chin and stuck your fingers in the chocolate cake. Now you know better. You wobbled and fell when attempting to walk. Now you know better. You were puzzled by fractions and decimals. Now you know better. This list could go on for volumes. Keep those words, “now you know better,” high in your consciousness.
You are in a constant state of change in your life. You are continuously learning how not to behave, and what new talents, intellectual skills and personality variables to use. The old ones no longer work. Certainly you have learned by now not to hit your sister when she takes your things. You don’t defend that behavior with sentences like, “I’ve always been that way, I am just an aggressive person by nature.” Now you know better! Use this awareness for developing other aspects of your personality. The key word in this awareness is know. You no longer doubt, you know better. You have replaced that old behavior with a knowing. You will continue to make this kind of replacement throughout your life when you are on a spiritual path.
Today I know better than to say to myself, “I do not have the talent to do something,” just as I know better than to say, “I’m just inferior, I’ll never learn to walk. I guess I’ll have to crawl for my entire lifetime.” Today I know better than to say, “I can’t write a book about manifesting miracles and real magic,” just as I know better than to say, “I know I’ll never learn to add numbers, I just don’t get it.” Today I know better than to say, “I am afraid of new challenges,” just as I know better than to say, “I am afraid of the boogeyman when the lights go out.”
You see how silly it is to continue with those old rationalizations. You know better. Trust that you will gain the necessary variables in your personality to create everything you need for yourself, and you will no longer hang onto those infantile descriptions of yourself at an early age.
• Create an intention inventory for yourself. Not a wish list, but an inventory of what you intend to create within yourself. The kind of person you want to become, along with the necessary ingredients for creating that person, are all within your power. You must first know this. Then shift to your intention stance. “I intend to manifest the necessary talent and intellect to become the kind of purposeful person I am destined to be.” This kind of inner commitment to your own excellence is the stuff of which miracles are made.
You will begin to have a better memory, if you “intend” that it will be so. Rather than focusing on how many things you are forgetting, you will concentrate your mind on all that you are able to remember. “I was able to think of that person’s name without any difficulty that time. I am truly improving my memory.” “I did that yoga exercise without any strain for the first time. I am manifesting a new talent.” “I actually stood up for myself with that pushy salesperson. I am creating a self-confident manner.” Use your mind to focus on what you are intending, rather than on what you are unable to manifest. In this way, you shift from wishing to action, and you are using your intentions to bring about miraculous personality changes as well.
• Begin to act in your physical world as if that person whom you would love to be were already here. Even if you have convinced yourself that you have been afraid of crowds all of your life, or that you are a sickly person, or that you are lacking the intellectual skills to associate with certain people, begin to act as if the miraculous person you would like to become were already here. Yes, I said fake it!
Go right out and without ever telling anyone else that you really are a quaking shivering mass of jelly inside, act confidently in a given situation where no one knows you. In that present moment of your life, regardless of what you have convinced yourself of in your mind, you are that new miraculous self-confident person. Act the part that you want to play. The acting is the physical world. The want is the inner voice.
There is no one on this planet who is any better in God’s eyes than you. You have that spirit of God flowing within you at all times, and you will discover a simple secret: Anything you desire to do you can do. Anything! The key is desire, which is an invisible, dimensionless concept that resides within you. If you truly desire it, and can picture it for yourself, you can manifest it.
The way to this truth for me has been to act as if that which I desired within myself were already here in the material world. When I was applying to graduate school I knew that my test scores on the entrance examinations were not at the top of the scale. But, throughout the admission procedures, I was behaving as if I were already in the program. Every interview was an opportunity for me to do just that. And despite the odds against it, I was admitted. I had already seen it in my mind, and I knew that it would be so.
When I was admitted, I heard that only a small percentage of those who were admitted actually completed the program and the dissertation. But I saw myself completing the program, and I saw myself doing it in three years. I acted this way at all times. I announced from the start, whenever the subject would arise, that I would complete my doctorate before my thirtieth birthday, in three years of full-time study (along with full-time work and parenting as well). On May 4, 1970, six days before my thirtieth birthday, I passed my final oral examination. I had already known it in my mind, and I acted as if it were a reality long before it was manifested in the physical world. Use the technique of first seeing it, and then acting upon that image before the actual event is materialized. It cannot fail you.
• Learn to preplay who it is you want to be in your mind before you put anything into action. For example, if you feel that you lack the talent to sing or paint, go within and live out your life on a spiritual basis first, and then try it out in your material world. See yourself at an easel, creating a masterpiece much like you do in your dreams. Effortless, flowing and without judgment. Practice being this spiritual consultant to your physical world on a regular basis. Sing out with perfect pitch in your imagination, glory in the wondrous feeling of joy that you receive from holding nothing back and just belting out your own tune. Forget about anyone in the physical world and what their reactions might be. Simply allow yourself this inner voyage of talent.
This is how you create the miracle of a talent that you never believed possible for yourself. You live spiritually first; that is, you live it out in your mind—your IQ, your habits, your personality, your health and your fearlessness. Pay the most attention to your inner dimension and know that everything that you have created about yourself as a physical being has that mental equivalent within you. It is in this dimension that you want to be totally accepting of your own greatness. Nonjudgmental, unlimited, simply allowing yourself to swim in your ocean of abundant inner possibilities. You need not share these inner preplays with anyone, they can be your own private journey. They will lead you to real magic if you stay with them unconditionally.
• Remind yourself that if you have judged yourself to be lacking in any personality variable, you will continue to manifest that lack as long as you focus on it in your mind. You can never get enough of what you don’t want. Your low self-regard will continue to plague you. Your lower intellectual abilities will stay with you as you convince yourself and others of your limitations. Everything about yourself that you see as a lack will keep on being more of a lack until you know something different about yourself. And what you know about yourself is yours for the choosing. If you have a choice in what you
will know about yourself, then why not know positive things rather than negative? You got to where you are in your self-assessments because of your choices. Keep that simple realization close at hand and it will serve you well in creating miracles for yourself.
• Seek out no opinions on your own personality. Ask nothing of anyone in the way of assessment. Forget about looking to IQ tests to determine your abilities. Look instead to your own divine awareness of your unlimited abilities. Forget about what others say regarding your talent or fitness for anything, always consult your own personal observer or invisible guides that are a part of your intuitive awareness. Others may give you “realistic” assessments of your abilities, but you are not interested in having their opinions, either negative or positive. It is enough that you know it and that you pursue your own interests. If you meet with obstacles, so be it. Bless those hurdles as lessons that God has provided, and then move along on your path. Use discouraging words from others as reminders of your determination to get your life on purpose in your own dream. Ask nothing of anyone. Be polite when their opinions come along, send them loving thanks for their thoughts and then proceed to go within.
I have personally learned to avoid the slings and arrows that come my way in my public pursuits. I have millions of books and tapes out there in the marketplace. Some people love them, others see them in an opposite light. It is enough for me to write and speak from my own position of purpose, knowing within that I am on the proper path. I have learned to ignore the reviews and stay on purpose. I am not trying to please anyone else in my work. I am simply doing what I know to be the right thing for me while always considering improving the lives of others and doing divine work. If my work helps you and others, I am thrilled. If not, I am still thrilled at being able to produce it. I am not focused on the outcome of my efforts. Results are not what motivate me. I am motivated by my inner awareness of having a heroic mission and staying with it, regardless of outcomes. Ironically, since I have been able to get my life on purpose, my writing and speaking seem to flow better than ever. I encourage you too to live this irony. Ask nothing and you will receive much. But if the receiving is your aim, you will be living a life of constant deficiency.
Real Magic Page 24