There’s been a lot of hype over the last few years around the Law of Attraction or “The Secret” as it’s been branded, however the concept has been oversimplified and the direction given falls short in some critical areas.

The Law of Attraction states that whatever you ask of the life, or God, or the Universe, that’s what you attract and, for the most part, there is a lot of truth in this. However, there is a thin line between a “Self- Fulfilling Prophecy” and a “Self-Delusion”. My mentor Igor Ledochowski uses a great analogy for this. If a man looks at a block of marble and “knows” that a beautiful statue lies within, he is exercising the first part of the Law of Attraction, however, it’s only when he starts to chip away and the useless stone surrounding the beautiful statue that it begins to become a “self-fulfilling prophecy”. If he merely stares at the stone and convinces himself that it’s ‘already’ a beautiful statue, then he is experiencing a “self- delusion” and will never see his vision become a reality.

Every invention and innovation we enjoy in our daily lives started as a dream or vision, however it took someone to take action to turn those dreams and visions into realities that the world could benefit from. I firmly believe that if you focus on the negative, you will experience more negative in your life, however if you focus on the positive, you will experience more positive in your life. This is the premise of the formula ‘Attention => Energy’ which stands for “where attention goes, energy flows”. The way this works is whatever we direct our subconscious mind to pay attention to, then that’s what it will serve up to us in the

way of memories, experiences, connections, etc. However this is merely the beginning of the process. It’s the decisions we make, along with the actions we take, that turn these evidences into realities.

So why is it that some people can get a hint of an idea and explode forward into a successful experience, while others may study, and research, and analyze, and plan for years and never seem to get off the ground? I believe that it all boils down to our next topic of discussion.

“Fear of Failure”

The “Fear of Failure”, which is sometimes the “Fear of Success”, is one of the most limiting fears we can have, because it creates ‘doubt’ and ‘doubt’ can be a dream killer like no other mental perspective. When we doubt our skills, our abilities, our outcomes, or our effectiveness, then we begin to rationalize reasons for not event attempting to try and take the actions that we know we have to take in order to succeed.

And here’s an enlightening moment for you everyone experiences “Fear of Failure”. That’s right EVERYONE, even those we consider to be ultra-successful. People who succeed at their dreams go through exactly the same range of emotional states as those who don’t succeed, with one critical difference. They don’t let the “fear of failure” overpower their “desire to succeed”. They accept the fact that the road to success is paved with challenges, risks, doubt, and other obstacles, and they move forward anyway, with the belief that they will see their vision become a reality someday, all they have to do is continue to diligently “chip away at the useless pieces of stone”.

Many people who share similar visions, and face the same challenges, allow doubt to become a road block toward success. They give up on their dreams at the first sign of resistance (they may never even pick up the hammer and chisel to begin with).

So how can you ensure that you experience a “self-fulfilling prophecy” versus a “self-delusion”?

Well, here are some tips.

First, be very clear about what you want to accomplish and even more importantly WHY you want to accomplish it. For example, if you have a goal of making a million dollars, but you have no clear idea of what having a million dollars will do for you, then you won’t have the internal drive to accomplish your goal. You need to think clearly about the benefits you will experience once your goal has been accomplished. What will it feel like? How will it change your life; your relationships; your life style; etc.?

Only with these questions answered will your subconscious mind have enough information to drive your behaviors toward your goal.

Second, you need a plan of action. It’s not enough to know where you want to end up; you must first know where you are starting from. If you want to head toward a destination, but you don’t even know what town you are currently in, then planning the trip is nearly impossible. Sure, you could do what most people do, which is head of in any direction and ‘hope’ for the best, however knowing where you are in relationship to where you want to be, makes planning the journey that much easier.

For example, let’s move forward with our “make a million dollars” scenario. So you decide to make a million dollars and you know why you want to and what it will mean to you. How would you plan out that trip? First you need to know when you would like to achieve that goal. A year from now; 5 years; 10? In order to determine how realistic that is and what the effort will be, you first need to know where you stand now (financially) in relation to that goal. How much is your current net worth? Is it a positive number? Or is it negative (debt)? Then you have to think about what it will take to move from where you are to where you want to be, within the timeline you have chosen. Any timeline is ‘possible’, but not always ‘probable’ it all depends on what choices you make in how to get there and then the action you take to make it happen.

Third, “Take action NOW”. It’s as simple as that. When you decide what you want, why you want it and how you can get it, then the only thing left is to take action, and this is the most critical step of all, because as the old worn out saying goes, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. It doesn’t have to be a huge step, just a step in the direction you want to go. In our ‘millionaire’ scenario, it might be as simple as opening a savings account and putting a few dollars in it. Or cutting back on some discretionary spending on ‘nice to have’ items and services, anything that helps you to begin building momentum toward the accomplishment of your goal.

And the fourth and final tip on this subject is “Continue to diligently move forward”. Don’t give up. Don’t let doubt become a road block. If you hit an obstacle then find a way around it. If you can’t do this on your own, then get someone to help you. There’s no ‘law’ that says that you have to do everything on your own (in fact it’s nearly impossible to succeed that way) so align yourself with others that share you passion and your vision and work together toward shared success.

So you might be asking at this point “this is great, but I thought this was a hypnosis newsletter, so what’s all this got to do with hypnosis?”

Let me tell you, it has EVERYTHING to do with hypnosis. Becoming a great hypnotist is a vision, a dream, a goal and it takes the same thoughtful planning, determination and action to turn into reality. You can ‘study’ hypnosis for years and never ‘become’ a hypnotist, or you can get some basic training and immediately begin making a positive impact in your life and the life of others, it all depends your plan and the actions you take.

Also when working with clients to accomplish their goals, you need to help them go through the same planning steps and then use hypnosis to overcome limiting self-talk, negative self-image and any other self-imposed limitations they may harbor (even if the client is yourself).

If you feel you are experiencing limitations brought on by doubt or any other self-limiting perspective then share that with the group and we can all help each other overcome our obstacles and move forward.

That’s all I have for now. I hope you found it valuable and that it served you.

Until next time.

Michael C. White, C.Ht.