Do You Feel Lucky?

Well, do you?

I remember, once upon a long ago when I was growing up, watching action films and television programmes in the hope that they would teach me how to get out of a tricky situation.  However, I felt cheated because, usually, the hero would get out of trouble in the tick of time, by the skin of his breath.  

How lucky was that?

I know now, of course, especially being "in the game", that these little plot devices are included for dramatic effect, to nail the viewer to the seat, to protect the remote control from abuse or the book from betraying its "un-put-downable" reputation.  But it still left me feeling short-changed.  I mean, how can you replicate these things in reality?

A man can avoid almost all dangers by staying in his house - but he thus also avoids grasping opportunities that pass by his windows un-noticed.

We know, obviously, that accidents - and indeed tragedies - happen, and that the loss engendered thereby can be felt throughout nations and for the rest of some people's lives.  But mostly, these can be avoided in two ways.

Firstly and most obviously is by the exercise of care.  This, of course, has its merits: mostly in that it's easy to see that the exercise of such care can lead to the avoidance of danger.  Trouble is, though, that it can also lead to the avoidance of much else.  A man can avoid almost all dangers by staying in his house - but he thus also avoids grasping opportunities that pass by his windows un-noticed.

I used to think, even though I've been steeped in the lore of mysticism for longer than I remember, that metaphysics was the love-child of mumbo-jumbo and good-old-fashioned twaddle.

The other way to avoid danger is through the application of one's mind.  I've long been fascinated by this, 'though for most of my life it has baffled me even with - or perhaps because of - my somewhat over-active brain.  I used to think, even though I've been steeped in the lore of mysticism for longer than I remember, that metaphysics was the love-child of new-age mumbo-jumbo and good-old-fashioned twaddle.  But now I can see what the ancients were on about because I can rationalise it with science.  

The Baader-Meinhof Frequency

You see, there's a part of the brain, the old reptilian brain, called the reticular activating system.  This filters out the many millions of bits of information into the hundred or so we can deal with at any given moment without going potty.  But depending on our experience, or our needs at any moment, the information filtered by this part of the brain can change.  I remember going on a childhood holiday to the beautiful island of Jersey, and my uncle there had a Rover 2000 car he let us use.  I'd never noticed them before, but after we came back I saw them everywhere.  This phenomenon is, I believe, called cognitive bias, the "Baader-Meinhof frequency", and you can use it to your advantage.

According to the great thinkers of our era - from Napoleon Hill to Zig Ziglar, from Jim Rohn to Tony Robbins, from Earl Nightingale to Joe Vitale - what the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.  This is borne out by discoveries in quantum physics which suggest, essentially, that the mind manifests in reality what develops in its beliefs, if those beliefs are steeled with emotion.  Which comes back to the original premise of what the mind can conceive (think) and believe (feel), it can achieve.

You Are What You Think About

Some - such as Abram Maslow - have said that we use less than ten percent of our mind's potential.  Of course, there are many who say we use all of our brain, but I feel there's semantic sleight-of-hand in play here.  But think of it this way: whilst the size of our brain may be set by the parameters of the skull, the power of the mind has been said to be, for all practical purposes, infinite.

You have an infinite capacity to achieve.  Everything you see that is not a part of nature was once a thought, and it came into being through the disciplined application of that thought: from this message to the computer or smartphone on which you are reading it.  Success is, according to Earl Nightingale, "the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal", and it comes about through the thoughts you feed your mind and the emotions you invest in those thoughts.  You can have anything in life you desire, if it doesn't impinge upon the rights of others, and you focus your thoughts in that direction.  Supposing, for instance, you want a Ferrari: if you can see it in your mind's eye, if you can see the colour, if you can hear the click of the door as you open it and climb in, if you can imagine yourself driving it, if you can feel the comfort of the leather seats, and the racing seatbelts holding you in, if you can smell those seats, hear the roar of the engine and feel the G-forces pulling the skin from your face as you accelerate.  Perhaps you've got your significant other nagging at you to slow down in the passenger seat, and a sprog or two shoehorned uncomfortably in the back asking desperately "are we nearly there yet?"  You notice the looks of admiration from people all around you and all sorts of other good stuff.  These are such things as dreams are made on, and dreams are powerful.  Dreams are the raw material for goals.

Think about it: if you go after a job unconvinced that you will get it or, worse, convinced that you won't, your language is going to be pessimistic at worst, cautionary at best.

To make your dream your goal, simply write it down, in as much detail as you can.  Write it - don't jot it down on notepad or simply think it: writing it takes effort, it becomes your "skin in the game".  Surround yourself with things which will remind you of the goals you wish to achieve, and act as if you already have those things.  Obviously you don't want to spend millions of pounds on a house when you've only got thre'pence ha'penny and a dead rat in your bank account, nor can you drive a Ferrari you don't own without permission or the attention of the Old Bill, but act successful, whatever your image of success may be.  You see, the subconscious mind - which is what you are accessing - doesn't do time: for it, there's no time but the present.  If you, therefore, tell it "I will become successful", then you're success will be like the horizon, or the end of the rainbow, or "tomorrow" which, as we know, never comes.

Write your goal, therefore, as a stand-alone thing - in a pad reserved for this.  Don't write "I want" - I want never gets - or "I will get".  Don't even picture the flowers on the road to your goal.  Just write the goal - "just the facts, ma'am, just the facts".  Done that?  Good.  Now, set aside an hour a day, first thing in the morning, shut yourself away from the world, even if you have to get up an hour earlier than everyone else in the madhouse... and think.  Think of at least twenty ideas of how to get to your goal, twenty ideas of how to improve what you do now, or twenty ideas on how to increase the service you give to others, and write them also on a fresh piece of paper in this pad.  Then, put the question out of your mind 'til the next morning.  Some of the ideas will be barmy, some simply unworkable, but you will come up with some gems.  What you will find, also, is that if you put the question out of your mind, brilliant flashes of inspiration will come to you during the day.  Write these down as soon as you can, as well, and once you have determined their viability, act on them.  The subconscious mind loves action on your part.

This, then, increases your likelihood of success.  But more than that - much more than that - it reprograms your brain, your reticular activating system, to bring the information you need to your conscious mind's attention.  It also helps to serve in altering your paradigm, loosing the thrall of those little habits of belief and attitude that, according to Bob Proctor, conspire to hold you back from your success.  This further boosts your chances of success as little things, little tiny details with influence far beyond their size, turn the tide in your favour.  Think about it: if you go after a job unconvinced that you will get it or, worse, convinced that you won't, your language is going to be pessimistic at worst, cautionary at best.  If, however, you are confident, your language will be necessarily more attractive.  The same goes for your demeanour, your actions, your speech (have you ever noticed the difference between the slow monotone of the depressive and the Tiggerish bounce of enthusiastic diction?  That, perhaps, makes Mark Watson's comedy routines more uplifting, if not necessarily better, than those of Jack Dee.)  People will usually gravitate towards positive people as they, too, want to be happy.

This is the way BusineVersity is developing.  As we work to find buyers for our clients, or to recommend sellers to those who need hard-to-get items or things they need trust to purchase, or help those who wish our assistance in a variety of ways, we are instigating a policy whereby we actively think of solutions in the manner described.  This is bound to yield amazing results, and will doubtless advance our position in the networking field and consultancy fields.

Affirmative

Finally, you need to bind all this up with affirmations.  Remember, what the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.  Remember the Ferrari and picture it in your mind's eye: all the little details (the colour, the click of the door, the feel and smell of the leather, the G-force, the admiration, the nagging beau and the querulous bambini) and that you have to affirm that you already have it, not that you will get it, some day.  Do this every day, and eventually it'll become a habit.

While there are no guarantees in life, you can be as sure as you can be that this will get results.  And whilst Lady Luck is a fickle madame, apt to play tricks on the unwary, if you include in your daily meditations gratefulness for everything life has given you thus far and a spirit of forgiveness for those who have wronged you, this will oft win her undying loyalty.

Do you feel lucky now?