How to Have a Great Day Every Day

The Power of Manifesting

Lauren H. Zander The Handel Group, LLC

Every now and again, old concepts rise to the surface in a new and
glittery format. So it was recently with The Secret, the book that
spawned much brouhaha including on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Its
central thesis was the re-packaged -- but hardly new -- law of
attraction. Roughly defined, the law comes down to this -- your
thinking can and does manifest what comes into your life, such that
positive thinking creates positive results and, conversely, negative
thinking creates negative results. A simple example: You know that
expensive white shirt you own? The one you are always nervous
about spotting when you wear it? And, "magically" you actually do get
a spot on it each time? Yet you don't spot the shirts you don't worry
about. Funny isn't it?

Since tuning in to the law of attraction, I have seen it play out not only
in my own life but also in the lives of those around me -- at work, at
home and in the headlines of the newspaper. It's amazingly powerful
once you get the hang of it. It can totally change your life. Want to
know the secret? I asked life coach Lauren Zander
(www.handelgroup.com) to help explain.

UNDERSTANDING THE PRINCIPLE OF MANIFESTING

The principle of manifesting -- the act of creating a fully satisfying life
through great clarity in your thinking, your desires and in how you
merge the two -- is one Lauren fully supports. But it's not so easy. If it
were we would all be walking around with a million dollars in the bank.
In her coaching practice, Lauren has found the ability to manifest
one's life to be an incredibly powerful tool that goes well beyond the
law of attraction. She explains that the law of attraction focuses on
what people wish would happen and ignores what they actually think
and feel about themselves, the truths about how they feel on a deep
level. As an example, let's say your desire is to get a good job and you
fantasize about doing so. But if lurking under your wish are deep
beliefs that no one likes you and you never get the jobs you want, all
the wishing in the world won't get you the job because the real content
of what you are manifesting -- that you are a loser -- determines your
outcomes.

This brings us to the missing step in the law of attraction -- to reach
your life wishes you must first carefully and honestly search out who
you are, and your history, including what you really think and feel
about yourself and your life. Only by finding out what you don't like
about yourself and your current life and exploring your negative beliefs
can you start to make changes. It is deep work, says Lauren, but
doing it matters because this is how you get to the place where you
can successfully manifest life the way you want it to be.

PREPARE THE WAY

Interestingly, the wishes you have for your life are valuable as an
important first indicator of where you should start your work. The
reason: Your wishes reflect the areas where you can't even imagine
yourself achieving happiness, your blocks in life. If you honestly
believed you could achieve these things, you would not be making
wishes, you would be doing it. For instance, let's say you wish you had
a happier marriage. But if in your heart you don't believe it is possible,
you are actually doing nothing or very little to bring it about. Most
people focus on why things are not possible. But, if you believe a
happier marriage is possible for you, you naturally picture what it
would be like to create more intimacy and fun with your mate and how
you can have more enjoyment in your life together -- and you would
then start doing those things. Voila, wish fulfilled.

In this process of self-discovery, you work with what Lauren calls your
real team players, your mind and your heart. Your mind and your heart
have very different jobs and must come together as a team. Your
heart will tell you your deep desires or wishes, but you must listen to it
without letting your mind make judgments or criticisms about the
message. Once you let yourself identify your heart's desires, only then
is it time to take on your mind. But be warned, getting its cooperation
is a challenge. Our mind is constantly busy, planning and worrying in
its role of protector to keep us on a "safe and careful" path doing what
we've done the way we've always done it. These ingrained defense
mechanisms are the inner voices that harp on us continuously to be
rational and sensible about life. We are not in the habit of forming new
traits so much as we are in the habit of defending old ones -- so
manifesting takes us out of our regular dialogue and starts us talking
about what else is possible. To move forward you must get your mind
in alignment with your heart about wishes and beliefs. You need to
open your mind to see that your wishes are possible for you -- yes,
you -- to achieve, and with its help you will.

DOWN TO BUSINESS

Okay, now you are ready for the next big step -- get rid of all negative
thinking. Lauren has her students keep "thought logs" to achieve this.
For one week they write down every negative thought they have,
whether about themselves, others, even inner nasty observances
about people walking down the street. She reports that this is usually a
lot of fun because you start to see how ridiculous -- and constant --
negative words make their way into your brain. The goal of the log is
to catch all negative thoughts as they start to form and turn them back
-- in this case the old advice, "just say no," actually works. The mind is
always directing energy someplace and this is your first step in
learning how to direct it in positive directions. By heightening your
awareness of the negative behavior, you can catch it and stop
yourself.

So now you know what you need to work on and you are eradicating
your negativity. You are ready to begin the process. Again, this is
deep work, but Lauren says it need not be hard. The key is to keep at
it, keep paying attention, and do not set time lines or deadlines. What
to do:

Set aside time every day for manifesting. Just like a sport, this
takes lots of practice to get good at, so do it religiously. It will
transform you from being a novice into an expert. And don't
worry about how long it takes -- it will happen as it happens.

Keep a journal in which you make note of what you want to have
happen and what your feelings are about it, including the fears
you have and need to release. Can you believe it is possible for
you to get that new job? Or the new house? Or a great
marriage? Or a better relationship with your children? If not, why
not? Keep writing until you reach the point where you honestly
believe achieving is possible, says Lauren. It has happened to
others, it can happen to you.

Start with simple wishes and decide the actions and activities
you need to do to get your wish fulfilled. Then do them, including
the ones that scare you, such as asking for a raise or telling
someone you are unhappy.

Write in your journal every night to focus your current
manifestations for the future. Lauren, who has been doing this
for years, says she can follow her career path by reviewing past
journals -- it is all there. Write how you feel, the future you would
like for yourself and then the actions that will direct you to that
place.

Lauren calls this process the law of assumption, rather than the law of
attraction. First you create the belief in yourself that generates an
honest assumption that you can have the life you say you want to
have -- you can see it, feel it, deserve it. Then, and only then, can you
manifest it into existence.

www.BottomLineSecrets.com

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