A Cup of Caroll

“You’ll see it when you believe it.” – Wayne Dyer

As you will recall, last week’s blog was about using the powerful, enjoyable tool of visualization to create a vivid picture of something you want in your mind, as the first step toward making it a reality in your world. Children and adolescents use their imaginations like this naturally and frequently.

Have you ever found yourself staring out the window on a beautiful day, lost in happy thoughts about something you are looking forward to doing over the weekend? That “daydreaming” is a type of visualization. You can SEE vividly in your “mind’s eye” some fun activity you anticipate doing, while your body is actually sitting at your desk (possibly with a report due by 5:00 PM).

Of course, many of our daydreams never manifest because they are simple fantasies. Still, it’s fun to imagine yourself walking the red carpet, winning the lottery, or driving a red Ferrari! Nevertheless, some goals we visualize CAN become real, depending on the level of our commitment to having them. If you are willing to put your consistent FOCUS, BELIEF and ACTION into it, you can eventually reach it.

Visualizing is a very natural human activity and it is also the first step in turning a thought into an actual thing that is real in the material world. Thomas Edison reportedly failed to invent the light bulb 300 times before he succeeded. But as he kept imagining different possibilities, eventually his subconscious led him to create a version that would WORK in the real world.

Unfortunately, most of us have been taught not be gullible and easily fooled. We grew up with the Skeptic’s battle cry: “I’ll believe it when I see it!” But as Wayne Dyer asserts, the opposite is actually true: By BELIEVING you see it in your “mind’s eye” first through visualization, your subconscious mind is given the blueprint to help you eventually SEE it manifested in the “real” world.

Every Big Goal that is eventually reached must begin in the same place: Getting clear on what you WANT. You can’t take ACTION toward a goal unless God/The Universe and your own subconscious mind both know exactly what you want. One way to get clear is to describe the outcome you want as a positive affirmation. Think of an affirmation as an intention statement describing what you want to have.

Your affirmation/intention MUST be stated in the present tense, as though it is already real. In fact, it IS “real” now, in the sense that it exists in your imagination, just as the light bulb existed in Edison’s imagination first and then became a material prototype.

It’s not self-deluded to state what you want to have as though it’s already REAL – That’s what will cause your subconscious mind (which believes everything you tell it) to start cranking up your imagination and creativity so you can take the actions to invent that light bulb or get that red sports car!

One of my clients has been in a tough financial situation for many years. She is the sole custodian and sole support of two special-needs children who require most of her time and energy beyond what she gives to her demanding job. Her salary barely covers their necessities, with little left over for “luxuries” like new clothes for herself.

Given her present reality, I have tremendous respect for her willingness to try to imagine something different for her life. Right now, she doesn’t appear to have any options open to her for creating significantly more financial prosperity, yet she is willing to state each day what she WANTS, as though it is her reality NOW. We created an affirmation for her to support this NEW reality: “I receive regular, reliable financial support based on my instrinsic value, in addition to what I do, and I am SO grateful!”

When she says that affirmation aloud daily, she gives her subconscious mind and God/The Universe a clear blueprint for what she wants. The more vividly she SEES and FEELS that to be true in her subconscious mind, the faster it will bring her the means to make it real.

A meaningful example of unexpected abundance came to her quickly after she began saying this affirmation. Every year, her company puts on a black-tie Holiday party for the staff and every year, she feels chagrined to be wearing an inexpensive or re-purposed dress, rather than a fancy cocktail dress like the other women. This year, she focused solely on what she WANTED, which was to feel beautifully dressed and confident at the party.

Her birthday was a couple of weeks before the big soiree, and out of the blue, a friend sent her a gift check that was exactly enough to buy herself a beautiful cocktail dress (on sale for the Holidays, of course!), matching shoes and earrings. She sent me a picture of herself taken at the party in her lovely outfit, glowing and radiating a beautiful smile.

That manifestation was just the start of many financial windfalls and unexpected help that have come to her since. Last week, she courageously asked her boss for a raise, laying out a strong case for her value to the company and the considerable responsibilities that have been added to her position over the past year. Even after saying, “We hadn’t planned on giving anyone a raise this year,” the boss promised to consider her request carefully.

Affirming (stating) and visualizing her value, my client believes she has a good chance of getting a much-needed raise. However, as she now has real-world evidence to believe, even if she doesn’t, God/The Universe and her subconscious mind will conspire together to come up with another route to her prosperity.

She knows that the HOW doesn’t matter. She already BELIEVES her prosperity is growing – and soon she will SEE it in her checkbook!

****************** The Gift of Dreams Fulfilled! ********************

I invite you to offer someone you care about a truly unique gift that can change their life — ONE HOUR of Personal Success Coaching! It is absolutely F*R*E*E* of charge, with no obligation and no strings attached! And if YOU haven’t coached with me in awhile and would like a “tune up” session please give yourself this gift! 

To schedule a F*R*E*E* HOUR of phone coaching that will help clarify your Big Goals and get you into ACTION to make this the BEST year yet, please email me at caroll@practicalprosperitycoach.com or 888-503-8145.

“Visualize this thing you want. See it, feel it, believe in it.   Make your mental blueprint and begin.” – Robert Collier

One of the most powerful tools for turning any Big Dream into a reality is absolutely free and simple for anyone to use. In fact, I bet you did it naturally throughout your childhood; back then, you called it “daydreaming.” I have learned how to refine this amazingly effective technique and now teach all my clients how to use it to help them reach their goals with greater speed and ease.

If you use this tool regularly, it will unleash the power of your #1 manifestation ally, your own subconscious mind, to guide you to make even your biggest Dreams come true.

Here’s how you can visualize for maximum success:

1) Close your eyes. You can do this during the day, as though you are about to meditate, and at night when your head’s on the pillow and you are relaxing into sleep.

2) Use your imagination to see in your “mind’s eye” the thing want to have — your dream car, dream home, perfect career, deluxe tropical vacation, new romantic partner, a specific sum of money – anything you are committed to having. It’s fine that you don’t know HOW to get it right now, because that’s not YOUR job. Your job is just to be as specific and detailed as possible about exactly what you want.

Some things can be easily imagined, such as your dream car. You should know the make and model you want, the color of the exterior and interior and all the bells and whistles on the dashboard and other interior features. If you don’t, you really should go to a dealer and test drive your dream car!   But if that’s not practical, at least go online and find a detailed picture.   Be sure it shows exactly the color that you want because if you want a red one and you test drive or study a picture of a black one, you are going to get a BLACK one!

For something like your Dream Job, you may not know exactly what industry you want to be in. That’s perfectly OK. Simply set up your visualization so that you are visualizing the kind of environment you want to work in – whether it’s a big, bright corner office with a city view or somewhere in the great outdoors. You can imagine friendly co-workers laughing with you as you walk together down the hall without being able to see the details of their faces. For your Mr. or Ms. Right visualization, you might set up a scene you would like to live out with them, such as the two of you holding hands and walking side by side down the beach surrounded by a glorious sunset.

3) Simply using your sense of sight isn’t enough, though. You must get ALL of your other physical senses involved in your visualization: Imagine TOUCHING the buttery leather seats, SMELLING that unique new-car smell, HEARING the quiet rumble of the engine while your favorite tunes play on the state-of-the-art sound system. Make it an IMAX, Sensurround kind of an imagination scenario!

CRITICAL NOTE: John Assaraf, one of the Master Manifesters featured in The Secret DVD about using the Law of Attraction to manifest big dreams, teaches this important tip for success: He says an “amateur” would visualize himself driving his dream car as though he were someone else, standing across the street looking at “himself” driving. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really make your subconscious mind BELIEVE your dream is REAL. And it must BELIEVE it is real in order to help you get it.

The way your brain is accustomed to seeing the real world around you is looking through YOUR eyeballs. So you should practice visualizing yourself driving your dream car as though you are inside your own body, sitting in the driver’s seat. You can see your hands on the steering wheel, your knees below you, and your foot on the gas, but can’t see your own face (unless you are smiling at yourself in the rear view mirror, of course). That’s how the “masters” like Assaraf visualize their way to success.

4) Here’s the true “trigger” that gets your new car Dream moving toward manifestation: Besides engaging all your physical senses in your visualization, you also have to FEEL it emotionally. How would you FEEL if you really did have that car? You undoubtedly would feel JOY, FREEDOM, FULFILLMENT, and most of all, you would feel GRATEFUL, wouldn’t you? You truly can conjure up those feelings (with a little practice) just by using your imagination.

If you do this visualization technique for just five minutes or so twice a day — once in the morning before you leave the house and again as you drift off to sleep, you are telling your subconscious mind with your FOCUS and your FEELINGS that this Big Dream is “real” to you. And it will do everything it can to make it a reality in your life so the men in the white coats won’t come and put you in the straightjacket!

You see, your subconscious mind believes everything you tell it. It can’t take a joke, it doesn’t understand sarcasm or irony. You tell it something is real, and it BELIEVES you. And your subconscious mind is also like a giant computer that has stored away absolutely everything you have ever experienced, heard, seen, read – ALL of that is in the “vault” in your brain, just waiting to be called up when needed.

You can’t always call up this deeply stored information with your conscious mind. But if you set it to the task and then relax, your subconscious mind can retrieve the facts you need. And it can also “connect the dots” of all that varied information to figure out some NEW and innovative ways to go after something that your conscious mind never would have thought of. That’s how thoughts become things — through the inspiration that comes from the subconscious mind.

Dr. of Psychology and author Wayne Dyer, who is the #1 Master Manifester in my opinion, says that whatever we fall asleep thinking about stays in our subconscious for the next four hours. Your subconscious works and works on it, until it finds a solution for whatever conundrum you are thinking about. That’s why you can wake up with an inspired new approach to a problem you have been wrestling with or in the shower, suddenly remember exactly where you left a lost object. Your subconscious can also guide you with new, inspired ideas to help you make that little red sports car a reality.

One of my clients recently was looking for a nanny/housekeeper to help with her young daughter. One day, she saw an unexpected “vision” in her mind of a smiling middle-aged Hispanic woman, standing behind her kitchen island, happily preparing a meal while listening to Spanish songs on the radio. She couldn’t explain why, but she just FELT in her heart this woman was going to be her nanny/housekeeper.

She interviewed several applicants by phone, but none of them was a good fit.   Finally, she spoke to one who sounded perfect and my client invited her to come to the house for an interview.   My client was surprised to find that she looked very much like the middle-aged Latina in her vision. After a great interview, she hired her.

On the woman’s first day, my client walked into the kitchen and found her happily working behind the kitchen island with her lively Spanish songs playing on the radio. “It was exactly how I had pictured it,” she told me.   “It’s positively freaky!”

No, it’s visualization!

****************** The Gift of Dreams Fulfilled! ********************

I invite you to offer someone you care about a truly unique gift that can change their life — ONE HOUR of Personal Success Coaching! It is absolutely F*R*E*E* of charge, with no obligation and no strings attached! And if YOU haven’t coached with me in awhile and would like a “tune up” session please give yourself this gift!

To schedule a F*R*E*E* HOUR of phone coaching that will help clarify your Big Goals and get you into ACTION to make this the BEST year yet, please email me at caroll@practicalprosperitycoach.com or 888-503-8145.

“Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach

I have been excited to write about this topic for a couple of weeks now. The unexpectedly effortless fulfillment of a very Big Dream got me thinking about many other seemingly “too good to be true” such manifestations that I have experienced over the past decade.

That made me realize that this is something that can happen for anyone, not just me. In each case, to get the outcomes I wanted, I just used a few reliable tools for harnessing the Law of Attraction (which says “energy attracts like energy”) to bring me what I wanted – the same tools I give to all my coaching clients because they work.

I want to share a few of my personal Big Dreams-come-true with you to make this simple point: Don’t let anyone tell you that your Big Dreams are TOO big. No matter how unlikely it may seem, if your Big Dream truly matters to you, does no harm to others, AND you are willing to demonstrate unwavering commitment to it, it CAN become a reality – often in the most amazing ways.

My First Manifestation

The first time I specifically set out to create something BIG using the Law of Attraction was 2004. For the first time, I had no man in my life to help me choose a car to buy. I didn’t have any particular make or model I was attached to, and when I attempted to do research online, I felt frustrated by ALL the choices available.

Feeling lost, I turned to a basic manifestation tool I now recommend to all my coaching clients: I made a short LIST of the features I knew I absolutely MUST HAVE in my next car:   A four-door sedan, good mileage rating, air conditioning, heat, a CD player and radio, no more than three years old and under 36,000 miles. Everything else – the color, make, model and “bells and whistles” I left up to God/The Universe to locate for me.

I read “My Ideal Car” list aloud every morning and every night, always thanking God/The Universe IN ADVANCE for guiding me to the perfect car at the perfect price, which for me meant a payment of no more than $300/month. A few weeks later, I found myself driving past a local VW dealership that one of my friends worked at. On a whim, I decided stop and say hello to him. That day, my car search wasn’t even on my mind; I was just there to visit my friend.

Walking around the lot while we were chatting, he pointed out a lease that had just been turned in – a single-owner pristine 2002 Passat, two years old with just 24,000 miles on it.   He said, “We almost never get these in and when we do, they get snapped up immediately. You should check it out.” The next day, I test drove it and bought it. I got a $10,000 discount off the identical new model AND another $2,000 off for being a friend of a dealership employee. The monthly payment was $301. Every single one of my “Must Haves” was met and my car is still in great shape and sitting in my driveway.

My Most Meaningful Manifestation

At age 53, five years after my second divorce, I wrote in my January, 2006 Year Creation that I wanted to be engaged by the end of the year. Since I didn’t have a single prospect for a first date at that point, that Big Dream seemed VERY far-fetched!

Still, with a fresh memory of how effortlessly my Passat had come to me, I sat down and made a list of every “Must Have” and “Highly Desirable” trait I wanted in Mr. Perfect For Me, including that it would be desirable if he had “grown or older children” so that I could be a grandmother one day, despite having no children of my own.

I read “My Ideal Mate” list aloud twice a day, and kept my eyes and heart open. Through a series of “taps on the shoulder” from friends and advertisements, God/The Universe guided me to the dating website eHarmony. Within a couple of weeks, I was matched with a handsome Realtor who was a widower with a teenage son, Matthew. We had our first date in March, Rick proposed in September and we were married on Cinco de Mayo, 2007. By the way, Matthew has grown into a great young man who says he wants a family some day, so our prospects for grandparenthood look good!

My Longest-Odds Manifestation

The longest-shot BIG Dream I have ever fulfilled was with the IRS in 2013. Having lost everything in the Great Recession, we didn’t have the means to pay federal taxes for several years. (I’ve written about this in detail in past blogs, so I won’t rehash all the “How” details here.) Statistically, our accountant told us that having our Offer in Compromise of 25 cents on the dollar — which was initially rejected by the IRS — eventually accepted during a last-ditch APPEAL was the longest of long-shots. We just kept affirming that we deserved “The Best” possible outcome and one day I woke up with clear guidance of exactly what evidence to give the Appeals Agent that made her overrule the IRS in our favor. As a result, we were able to pay off ALL our past tax debt in five months instead of five years.

My Biggest Jaw-Dropper Manifestation

Now for the most recent and MOST jaw-dropping Big Dream that I have personally manifested! After losing our savings and most of our income in the Great Recession, our newlywed Dream Home was foreclosed and had to move back into Rick’s house that he kept as a rental property. Finally, we were on the brink of losing it, too.

My first thought was, “Where we will end up next? Who is going to rent to a family with poor credit, a dog and a cat? Just how little will we have to learn to live with?”

Thankfully, I was able to let go of my fear quickly by remembering that no matter how impossible it seemed, my experience told me that God/The Universe would lead us to our perfect home, if I followed the same Law of Attraction-activating steps I’d used before.

So I made a list of all the Must Have and Highly Desirable features we wanted in our new Ideal Home. I read all the features on my list aloud once every morning and every night before sleep, thanking God in advance for manifesting our perfect new home. While our soon-to-be-lost house was getting multiple offers, and Rick was about to begin searching the MLS for rentals in our area, our son Matthew went to Best Buy one evening to pick up a new part for his computer.

In the aisle next to him, Matt recognized Randy, an old family friend whom he hadn’t seen in several years. A widower like Rick, Randy was delighted to see how much Matthew had grown and asked how our family was doing.   Uncharacteristically, Matt opened up and confessed that we were losing our house and looking for a new place to live.   Randy instructed him to tell Rick that he was about to put his own home on the rental market and move into his new bride’s house saying, “I guess God brought us together in Best Buy for a reason, huh?”

Randy’s lovely home has ALL of our Must Have and all but one Highly-Desirable features. Instead of a pool, we were even more delighted that it is a spacious, three-bedroom, single-story house – which I had not even thought to ask for! Randy didn’t care about our credit score or pets and graciously accepted what we could afford to pay at considerably under current market value.   He was thrilled having us as tenants, knowing we would keep his home in pristine condition while its value continued to appreciate. He said we were welcome to stay for the next three years, but warned that he must sell the house by August 1, 2015 to avoid paying capital gains tax on the profit.

With Spring, 2015 rapidly approaching, I have been preparing myself emotionally to dust off my Ideal Home list — this time with complete confidence that we will be guided to our perfect new LONG-term home. And even though it seems TOO BIG a miracle to ask for, I have prayed daily, “I don’t know HOW it could possibly happen, but if there is a way we can stay in this wonderful home, just show us what You want us to do and we will do it!”

Two weeks ago, Rick asked Randy when he wants to put the house on the market, so we can begin our rental search and start our packing. Randy replied casually that he has decided not to sell after all. He likes the rental income, is happy to let it appreciate further, and is fine having us stay here for the foreseeable future at the same rent! OK, that’s officially the FINAL lesson I needed to never, ever again fear that whatever my heart truly desires is TOO Big for God/The Universe to deliver!

I hope you will believe that about your OWN Biggest, Craziest Dream, too and I invite you to share it with me! In fact, whenever you are ready, let’s spend an hour together in a free phone coaching session exploring what might be possible for your Dream — even if you have no idea of the HOW – because you just never know, do you?

 ****************** A Valentine’s Gift of Dreams Fulfilled! ********************

For Valentine’s Day, why not give someone you care about a truly unique gift that can change their life — ONE HOUR of Personal Success Coaching! It is absolutely F*R*E*E* of charge, with no obligation and no strings attached!

 To schedule a F*R*E*E* HOUR of phone coaching that will help clarify your Big Goals and get you into ACTION to make this the BEST year yet, please email me at caroll@practicalprosperitycoach.com or 888-503-8145.