Lesson 13: The Secret Motivation

"If you think you can or can't, you're probably right." -- Henry Ford

Last night, I watched a video called "The Secret Motivation." They revealed a secret that was kept for thousands of years among great leaders about the key to a prosperous life. I'm about to tell you that secret right now. The secret is....

The Law of Attraction.

If you believe and feel something is going to happen, it will happen. It's basically a different way of thinking. Thoughts may not be physical things, but they contain energy and attract everything that you experience in your life, whether you think they do or not. How it happens is not a factor-- how it happens is under the control of the universe. It's somewhat related to Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." When I'm late for work, that's when I hit all the red lights, that's when I get stuck behind all of Florida's senior citizens, that's when a damn goose decides to cross the road. Why? Because I keep thinking about what I do NOT want. The universe does not sense that you don't want it. It only senses the negative energy. If you give off negative energy, you attract negative things.

We often talk about things we don't want or don't like in our lives. If you shift your focus from what you don't want to what you DO want, if you think about it all the time, if you envision it, if you believe it, if you feel it, it will eventually come to you. The things you attract and experience are physical manifestations of your thoughts and feelings. We can almost control our entire lives by using our mind and emotions as a magnet to get us to where we want to be.

There are a few guidelines with this new way of thinking:

• The main two things you need are thoughts and feelings. You can't just set a goal and think about it to be able to have it -- you must feel it, you must believe it and envision it like you already have it.
• When you have distractions or things that make you feel bad, surround yourself with something that leaves you feeling good (e.g. relaxing music, a pet). That way, it will reinforce the good feelings and it will keep you focused on what you want.
• Say things in the most positive way possible. Instead of being anti-war, be pro-peace. Instead of not wanting debt, say you want income. Say you want an excellent presentation instead of wanting to not make mistakes.
  
• Things don't come right away, so don't be discouraged when you don't get them instantly.
• Appreciate what you already have every day.
• You must believe that you deserve what you want.

If you really think about this idea, it's pretty much taught in every religion. If you erase the word "universe" and call it "God" instead, then it's Christianity or Judaism. If you're atheist, "universe" is just fine because there is no higher being described in any of it -- it's just undiscovered science. Steve was just telling me he was reading a Bruce Lee book and everything I was telling him about this video is basically what Bruce Lee was teaching in his book.

Another point is... don't define yourself by where you are right now because that's only RIGHT NOW. "Ugh, my girlfriend left me, my boss wants me fired, I'm $7,000 in debt. My life sucks. I'm such a failure." Where you are right at this moment is a result of your old way of thinking. If you change your thinking now and start thinking positively, get your crap together and keep telling yourself that you can get out of this, you WILL get out of it.

I thought about how it related to me and I came to a realization of both negative and positive results:

• Negative: Ever since high school, I didn't want to be a pharmacist. I had such passion for not wanting to be one that I even wrote poems about it in my Creative Writing class, I wrote diary entries about how much I'm not cut out for it... and here I am, about to complete my second year of pharmacy school.
• Positive: For a few weeks, I've been musically inspired. I learned a new song on the piano, I YouTubed many musicians that made me more inclined to sing and play the piano, and deep down I really wanted to show people how much I loved it. Well... two blogs ago, I was unexpectedly signed up for an open mic night for the first time. How awesome is that?

Yeah, all this may sound like a bunch of garbage... hell, I'm still kinda skeptical. I don't understand it all that much. But saying just that ties into itself: if you don't believe it, it won't work. If you do believe it, it will work. But I'll see if I can give it a try.

Maybe you can too.