Yesterday I went to lunch with a couple work colleagues. On the way I was telling them how badly I really wanted to have a black woollen glove with red stripes. I wanted it so much and had been thinking about it for months and months to the exclusion of everything else. "Must have that glove. Want that glove. Come on glove, I need you. Come at me glove. Come on glove. Thinking about glove. Go you good thing..." It's all I've thought about for 20 years now. Anyway, we grabbed some lunch and went to the park to eat and chat. As we walked up to the bench in the park what did I spy there? That's right, a bloody black woollen glove with red stripes! I had manifested the glove I wanted! There was just one glove there, but that's all I had thought about. One fucking glove. Boom! I did it!
There's a concept called the Law of Attraction that some people subscribe to; It sort of goes along the lines that all a person needs to do to manifest what that person wants is to think about it. There was a book written about it back some time ago called The Secret and it sold by the millions. I can almost picture those people walking about in their daily lives with a cloud above them containing an image of what they way, much like Homer Simpson does about Duff Beer and doughnuts. "Come on glove, go glove, need glove, must have glove..."
The problem is that there is no Harry Potter way to conjure up the things a person wants. The words "Expecto Petronum" uttered with conviction and a wave of a wand will not bring you a killer booty, that Bugatti Veyron, the partner of your dreams or indeed the end to Kanye West. I doubt even Gandalf the White could dispatch Kanye despite so expertly vanquishing the Balrog. You see, I have a problem with books and concepts that make it seem so simple and easy to achieve things in life. Achievement comes from doing the right things more often than not, taking ownership and responsibility and in getting after it in a massive way. Sure, there is the handout aspect of modern society where people feel entitled to receive however that doesn't count as achievement in itself.
Having said that I will concede I am a firm believer is focusing on what one desires: The big promotion, holiday to the Maldives, better health, financial freedom etc. If one is focused on something, and applies the other elements with conviction, dedication and passion then it is more likely to come to fruition. I call it knowing your WHY, that is, the reason you want that thing in the first place and what it will do for you, mean to you and how it will benefit your life once attained.
It sounds quite simple although it's actually quite a complex concept to piece together. I say piece together as I see it as somewhat of a jigsaw puzzle; Putting the elements together at the right time. There are a few elements like goal setting, planning, understanding what activity is required and when, understanding the true WHY, contingency planning, motivation, problem solving, dealing with failures and success along the way, understanding when to step forward and attack and when to consolidate, dealing with naysayers and the tall poppy syndrome...And so on. Each of these elements have elements within them and so it gets complicated quickly.
I am not completely critical of books like mentioned above as they can enlighten someone to the concepts and after further research they could potentially come across the real methods to gaining what they need or want however to take them in isolation and apply them is going to get a person nowhere fast and if they do happen to achieve something it is likely to be through blind luck.
Back to the glove. I actually have never wanted the glove. Never thought about the glove it or desired the glove. The glove was there by accident and through no influence of my own. It was happenstance. My advice to people I coach is to make things happen rather than rely on happy coincidences. Not only is it more likely for the things a person desires to actually eventuate, there is a side benefit of a great deal of satisfaction and sense of achievement in knowing that the hard work and effort put in has contributed to that success. That translates to confidence which carries forward to the next time.
So, achieving through default can occasionally bear fruit, but designing and creating that achievement is a more reliable and satisfying way to achieve.
Oh, in case you're wondering what happened to the glove...We left it there on the table as somewhere out there someone who read the book, The Secret, is thinking about it in an attempt to manifest it into their life. If you know that person let them know where it is ok?
[- Design and create your ideal life, don’t live it by default -]