Manifestation - Update

I've always been strong in goal-setting. And making plans and having a clear destination in mind. But I understand now where I've failed to succeed is in my attitude. I have a very positive attitude generally. And I'm very diligent about achieving my goals. But I discovered this week that when something doesn't go the way I plan it, I shut down. I become very pessimistic, and narrow-focused. Essentially I start to see the glass half-empty. And this is the root of my failures in life. Goathe says "In every adversity is the seed of opportunity, for something equal or greater." But in my stubbornness to do it "my way". I can't see the opportunities all around me that the universe wants me to see. This is where affirmations come in to play. Affirmations are not dreams. They are decisions. Even though an affirmation may be far fetched and even perceivably impossible to achieve. It is still crucial to make the decision. Even if you believe it is outside of your own abilities, or the timeline doesn't make sense. It is the act of deciding that makes something happen. There must first be action before their can be a reaction. You must decide to do something before the universe can reveal the path to achieve it. It's important to clarify how an affirmation is supposed to work. You are basically making a decision, but you are phrasing it in the present tense. As though it were already happening in your life. But it is vital that you phrase it in such a way that your brain will actually believe it to be true. Otherwise you are wasting your time. Example 1: "I am now a millionaire" Is something your brain would have a hard time believing. Rightfully so, when all your bills are due and you're scrambling for money to get lunch. Example 2: "I am now creating total financial success." or "All the money I want and need is now coming to me." Is something that your brain can wrap itself around. And your subconscious starts to work away at the problem. Why? Because your brain agrees with EVERYthing you tell it. Bad or good. You tell your brain you're having a bad day and your brain will say "Yes sir, bad day Sir!" and it will look for every reason for you to HAVE a bad day. The same thing works in the positive direction. You tell your brain to look for opportunity and success and it will say "Yes sir, opportunity and success Sir!" Now of course it's not as simple as that. As I quickly discovered. We all have self-sabotaging tendencies that reinforce the negativity. So much so that it's probably best for you to come to that on your own if you so desire. I know I have been. I am simply putting this out there because it is relevant I believe to a lot of people in my life. If you want to take your life to the next level, Tony Robbins' "Awaken the Giant within" has been a big help to me. As well as "The power of intentions" from Wayne W. Dyer. Robbin's stuff, has helped me break through a LOT of obstacles in the last year. But I've been challenged to understand how to take it to the next level with him. Which is where "The millionaire course" from Marc Allen has come in, and really made things click for me. All of these are books I highly recommend. Basically I think I understand the difference now between setting goals and creating affirmations. And the importance of each. You need goals and a plan to sort of loosely outline your yearly, monthly, weekly, daily tasks. In order to keep you moving EVERYday towards reaching your goals. If you do something every day, and just get better at it 1% every day. That's a pretty amazing difference after a year. But if you don't have that plan, you're always putting stuff off till tomorrow. Until it's become another year and another. Where affirmations come in, is for the BIG stuff. Where you need the universe to get involved and make stuff work for you. And especially to help you with changing your beliefs that have held you back. Of which there are MANY, at least for me. I'm starting to see results already. It takes a different way of seeing things to understand what's happening. But through those eyes things are looking very exciting. I'm going to commit a year to manifesting. And if I see results I'll give it another. I may not write about it on here much more though. This is supposed to be my art blog. I just needed an outlet I guess. If I get enough feedback on this though I may seek another venue to delve into this a little more, where other people can participate. --Will