The Placebo Effect – Blog 251

“First we make our attitudes.  Then our attitudes make us.” – Denis Waitley

I am a big fan of CBS Sunday Morning.  I have watched the show regularly since it first aired in 1979, then hosted by the “On The Road” journalist, Charles Kuralt. I love the consistently interesting, positive and informative features, objective news updates and beautiful images it presents. After watching, I feel more hopeful about the state of the world as I begin a new week.

Last Sunday’s show included a feature story on “The Placebo Effect” that shed important light on exactly how “positive thinking” works and why it is such a powerful tool for solving our problems and reaching our dreams.  Since teaching them how to create a positive mindset is key to helping my clients reach their Big Goals, I was fascinated by the scientific findings it presented.

First, the reporter talked to a woman who had struggled with excruciating pain from Irritable Bowel Syndrome for two decades. Hoping for help, Linda signed up to participate in a very unusual study sponsored by a Boston medical center.  The study gave her three weeks’ worth of pills. But instead of testing a new medication, every participant in the study was taking placebos – pills that contain no active ingredients whatsoever.  Furthermore, everyone in the study KNEW that they were taking a placebo.

At first, Linda said she thought it was going to be a “waste of time” to take an inactive “sugar pill.”  But after her IBS symptoms began to improve within a week, she thought that “Maybe they just TOLD me it was a placebo, and it’s [really] a new medication they are trying out, and they just didn’t want me to know.” In the end, Linda and 60% of all the study participants reported noticeable relief from their physical symptoms without medication.

Of course, The Placebo Effect, as it is known, of people feeling better without a medical cause, only works in certain cases. You can’t expect to cure cancer or lower cholesterol with a placebo. Psychiatrists explain that where it has an impact is on “any symptom which the brain can modulate by itself.” About 35% of the time, people experience some relief from taking a substance that is not biologically active. Some even feel negative side effects from placebos!

We are such “highly-suggestible creatures,” says one psychiatrist, that his patients have experienced asthma attacks from just looking at pollen in a sealed jar, and showed allergic dermatitis symptoms from viewing a cat on television. Clearly, what you think about, your body can bring about.

What really caught my attention was a doctor stating that The Placebo Effect doesn’t work because we are simply imagining it. MRIs have shown that part of the brain’s “pain matrix” is activated by taking a placebo. In fact, there is a measurable rise in the production of dopamine, which dampens the body’s sensation of pain. Thus, taking a fake pill can prod the human brain to produce its own, very real, healing chemicals.

As further amazing proof that our expectations can help create our reality, one group of patients with Parkinson’s Disease in a study were given a placebo that they were told was a cheap, generic drug, while another group was given a placebo that was supposedly an expensive new medication being tested.

In both groups, a significant percentage saw measurable improvement in their tremors, but the group that was told they were taking the “expensive medicine” improved TWICE as much as the group that thought they were taking a “cheap” drug. Furthermore, the “expensive” placebo did just as well at alleviating Parkinson’s tremors as the current REAL Parkinson’s medication that chemically prods the body to produce more dopamine. One doctor involved in the study concluded, “People believed that if it was expensive, it had to be good.”

Aside from the possible medical (and skyrocketing drug price-related) benefits such studies may lead to, they also provide objective, scientific explanations for what Master Manifesters like the late Dr. Wayne Dyer have been asserting for a long, long time: Our own beliefs and expectations really DO affect what happens to us.

In my 12 years as a professional coach, more than 600 of my clients and I have demonstrated time and again that if you are willing to put the past in the past and release ALL negative expectations for your present situation, you can create a better outcome than you may have ever experienced before in similar circumstances. Positive change can also occur with someone you have habitually clashed with — IF you are willing to let go of expecting more of the same, and instead choose to believe that it is possible for them to change. If YOU can change your thoughts and expectations about them, they can change theirs and behave differently towards you.

I have developed a great tool to help the subconscious mind to accomplish this. It’s a self-coaching affirmation that I teach to all my clients (and regularly use myself) that starts with the words, “I claim, accept and expect The Best…” As The Placebo Effect proves, the essential foundation for creating a good outcome is expecting a good outcome

So it appears that the old saying, “What you think about, you bring out” is now a proven scientific fact. In  order to create GOOD results, you must stay laser focused on what you WANT to manifest, and not squander your brain’s enormous creative power on visualizing a Worst Case Scenario you fear. You can use the awesome power of your own brain to help you manifest the Life of Your Dreams. So, what are you waiting for?

PLEASE NOTE: It requires approximately four hours each Saturday to write, edit and post A Cup of Caroll. While it is absolutely a labor of love, I feel the need right now to focus on serving my many wonderful clients, organizing my office, and enjoying more time for relaxation and self-care.  Therefore the blog will be taking the next two weeks off and will return on Sunday November 6.  I hope my newer readers will check out the blog archives at www.practicalprosperitycoach.com  and enjoy some past editions you may have missed!

P.S. If you would like your own free subscription to receive future editions of A Cup of Caroll three Sundays a month, just go to the same website and click on the Prosperity Tips button at the top.

****************** Give the Gift of Dreams Fulfilled! *************************

I invite you to give a friend, colleague or loved one a truly unique gift that can change their life — ONE HOUR of Personal Success Coaching.  It is absolutely F*R*E*E* with no obligation and no strings attached!  You can give this to as many people who will really appreciate it as you wish.  (If you haven’t been in coaching with me for a while, feel free to claim it for YOURSELF, too!)

To schedule a F*R*E*E* HOUR of phone coaching that will help them clarify their Big Goals and get into ACTION to make this their BEST year yet, have them email me at caroll@practicalprosperitycoach.com to schedule their session.

 

Not Too Late II – Blog 226

“Visualize this thing that you want.  See it, feel it, believe in it.  Make your mental blueprint, and begin to build.” – Robert Collier from the book How Successful People Think

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My last blog (Not Too Late – Blog 225) garnered some of the strongest reader responses ever.  I am sure that is because the experience is pretty universal.  We all have Big Dreams we would dearly love to pursue, but the Inner Protector part of our Ego wants to stop us by throwing out a Limiting Belief about why it is futile to try.

That’s because your Inner Protector thinks ALL change is potentially dangerous for you.  Therefore, it tries to convince you stay on the couch, rather than let you risk pursuing a heartfelt dream, no matter how great the potential reward. One of the favorite Limiting Beliefs the Ego uses to dissuade you is that you are “too old” for whatever you want to do. For the vast majority of us, this self-limiting belief is a complete fallacy and it would be a shame if you let it stop you from pursuing your heartfelt dreams.

As evidence, I want to share with you today the first of three inspiring examples from my clients who refused to listen to the “You’re too old” story. They believed in their dreams and steadfastly committed to using the coaching tools I gave them to put the Law of Attraction (“energy attracts like energy”) into action to help them achieve their goals.

My first client endured some major changes in the recent past, including her decision to leave her emotionally abusive marriage and move to a new home. While it has been tough, both on her and her grown children, she is determined to emerge from the emotional “cocoon” she has felt trapped in for years and enter the next chapter of her life reborn as who she truly is – a woman with the soul of a beautiful butterfly.

To symbolize her readiness to soar into this milestone birthday year, she chose to compete in one of the top marathons in the USA – the New York City Marathon – this November.  She has run four marathons before, but the most recent was four years ago and her body is now “older” and not in tip-top running shape.  But aside from her age and lack of recent training, she faced an even more daunting hurdle that would have made many people give up before they started: She had to get accepted. She didn’t tell me she would “try” to get in. She committed 100% to running the NYC Marathon this year.

The NYC Marathon accepts 50,000 runners.  A number of those slots are reserved for non-competitive runners who are running to raise money for charities. Most of the competitive runners get in by having a qualifying time that meets the marathon’s standards.  Unfortunately, my client’s most recent marathon time was 12 minutes shy of the cut-off.

So her only remaining option was to enter a lottery that accepts 15,000 runners whose names are selected at random.  The odds of winning one of these slots depend on how many people apply, so nobody knows what the odds are until the drawing happens.

My client did everything I taught her to set The Law of Attraction to work in her favor. You can’t sit on the couch eating bonbons and expect your Big Dream to walk onto the front porch and ring the doorbell.  So, step one toward fulfilling her dream was to make sure she paid the non-refundable fee and entered the lottery before the cut-off.

Next, she knew it was critical to take some concrete ACTION that would demonstrate to God/The Universe and her own subconscious mind – the two greatest allies we have in reaching any goal – her COMMITMENT to winning a place in the marathon. She didn’t wait to find out IF she got in. Instead, she did something NOW that she would do when she really WAS in: She put her feet into ACTION by starting her training program immediately to prepare for the marathon.

To further bolster her belief, she practiced the powerful manifestation technique I described in detail in Blog 224.  She knew that the lottery winners would be notified via email sometime before midnight March 8.  So every day, at least once in the morning and once at night before she went to sleep, she closed her eyes and VISUALIZED opening the email proclaiming “ You are accepted into the NYC Marathon on November 6, 2016.”

There was nothing else my client could do to make her name come up.  She simply did everything she had it in her power to do: 1) BELIEVE in her dream and in herself 2) VISUALIZE her dream as though it was already real, and 3) TAKE COMMITTED ACTION to train for the marathon, because that is what she would be doing after she was accepted.

On March 8, she sent me a screen shot of the email she had just received: “You Have Been Accepted into the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon.”

She found out later from a friend who had also entered the lottery (but wasn’t selected) that there were 80,000 entries for 15,000 slots, putting the odds of her name being drawn at just 18%. But it wouldn’t have mattered to her if it had been one tenth of one percent.  If anyone could do it, she believed that she could.  With a rock-solid belief in herself and her Big Dream, she successfully silenced any Limiting Beliefs expressed internally by her Ego or externally by naysayers suggesting she might be “too old” for this or that it was such a “long shot,” why bother?

Next week, I will share two other inspiring stories from clients who refused to let their age, circumstances or the opinions of others stop them from reaching their Big Dreams in short order.  Stay tuned!

****************** Give the Gift of Dreams Fulfilled! ********************

I invite you to give a friend, colleague or loved one a truly unique gift that can change their life — ONE HOUR of Personal Success Coaching.  It is absolutely F*R*E*E* with no obligation and no strings attached!  You can give this to as many people who will really appreciate it as you wish.  (If you haven’t been in coaching with me for a while, feel free to claim it for YOURSELF, too!)

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

 

Picture This – Blog 224

“Cherish your imagination.  It will create an ocean of possibilities, and lead to unexpected places.” –Barb Mayer

On Oscar Sunday (focused on my favorite television event of the year), I thought it appropriate to discuss the incredible power of the human imagination and give you a couple of tools to put yours to work making your dreams come true.

The first simple tool you can use to put the Law of Attraction (“energy attracts like energy”) into action using your imagination is visualization.  This technique has been used extensively in the sports world for decades. Coaches teach it to their players as a mental aid to improving their athletic performance, in addition to the physical practice they must perform to hone their skills.

It’s simple to do.  Just close your eyes and use your “mind’s eye” to see yourself doing something you want to do in the real world.  If you want to take a dream vacation to tropical paradise, see yourself on the white sands, with palm trees around you and crystal blue water stretching out to the horizon.

Don’t limit your imagination to just the sense of sight, though. The point of visualizing is to convince your subconscious mind that you really ARE on the tropical island of your dreams. So you have to engage all of your senses. Imagine what the warm breeze feels like on your skin. How would the salty air smell ?  What would the waves lapping the shore sound like? What would that tropical drink you are holding taste like?

One important caveat: Be sure you are imagining the scenario the way your subconscious mind experiences the REAL world – from inside your body, looking out through your eyeballs.  If you imagine the scene as though are watching a movie of yourself doing these things, that’s exactly what your subconscious will conclude it is – just a movie you are watching, instead of your “reality.”

The more vividly you can conjure up the scene in your imagination, the more completely your literal-minded subconscious mind will be fooled into thinking it is real.  Then it will go to work trying to figure out ways to make it a reality in your life. It’s easiest for it to do this when you are asleep because that’s the one time your subconscious mind has 100% free rein, without the interference of your conscious mind to tell it “This is a trick!” 

The late, great Master Manifester, Dr. Wayne Dyer, asserted that whatever you fall asleep thinking about, your subconscious mind will go to work on during the next four hours of sleep. Everything you have ever learned, heard, read, seen or experienced is stored deep in the vault of your unconscious mind. Your conscious mind can’t access most of this deeply-stored information, but if you give your unfettered subconscious mind a vivid mental blueprint of what you want, it will work like a dedicated little Minion, diving into the vault containing all that information and experience to “connect the dots” in creative new ways that can make your imagined scenarios a reality. They usually come to you as unexpected, inspired ideas during your waking hours.

Isn’t it more productive to set your powerful inner Minion working on how to get you to a tropical paradise, rather than running over the laundry list of regrets from today and worries about tomorrow that most people fall asleep thinking about?  Here’s another bonus: My coaching clients who fall asleep visualizing themselves driving the car of their dreams, enjoying a luxury retreat with their huge, successful business Team, walking across the stage to applause or taking a family dream vacation report feeling more relaxed and sleeping more deeply. That alone is reason enough to try this technique!

The second fun and effective tool you can use to harness the limitless power of your imagination is a Vision Board or Dream Board. Think of it as a “still picture” version of visualizing that can be used in place of or in addition to the “mind movie” technique. Around early January, many of my clients like to have Vision Board parties with their network marketing teammates to create their current dreams together.

To build your Vision Board, simply get a large piece of whiteboard from the stationery store and cover it with pictures of things you would love to be, do and have. You can add inspiring words, such as “Limitless,” “Freedom,” “Abundance,” “Adventure,“ “Wealth” or “Leader” and beautiful pictures from internet sites like Pinterest or glossy magazines about travel or luxury living. For about $1 a week, you can subscribe to the Robb Report and continuously visualize living like the Rich and Famous — and eventually you will!

Recently, I had my own delightful demonstration of the power of a picture to seep into my subconscious mind and make my heartfelt desires a reality.  I don’t have a full Dream Board on the wall of my office, but I do have some beautiful pictures of two of my favorite things — Hawaiian beaches and horses.

When I was in elementary school, I used to ride a friend’s horse every day after school and I’ve been horse crazy ever since. I long ago gave up the idea of owning a horse, realizing the cost and commitment were more than I wanted to take on. We are fortunate to live just a few blocks from a stable, and whenever I pass by, I watch the horses in the arena and affirm aloud that God/The Universe is right now working on fulfilling my dream of being able to ride a horse whenever I want to.

Not surprisingly, I chose a horse-themed calendar for my office. February’s picture shows two beautiful all-white mares — mother and daughter rescues.  I stare at this picture every day for hours as I coach my clients on the phone.

As Valentine’s Day approached, I was driving along the freeway close to home and saw a huge white tent with a big sign that said “Cavalia,” which is like Cirque du Soleil, but with horses as well as humans performing graceful and amazing physical feats. This incredible show has been on my Bucket List for many years, but either we couldn’t afford the pricey tickets during the Great Recession or the traveling show wasn’t close enough to be practical to attend.

Now, it was five minutes away, so as soon as I got home, I went on the website and bought two tickets to give to Rick as his surprise Valentine’s gift.  We went on Valentine’s weekend and it was magical — everything we hoped it would be.

Unbeknownst to me, Rick also chose a horse-themed surprise Valentine’s gift for ME: a trail ride for two amidst the rolling green hills and live oaks of a 200-acre regional park near us. I had never been to that park and didn’t know it contained public stables or I would have suggested it long ago!

This past Friday afternoon, Rick and I took our one-hour trail ride — just the two of us and our lovely guide, Melissa. When she took us to the corral to meet our mounts, Rick was assigned Marley, a big brown gelding.  Then she introduced me to a mare named Whisper and I broke into a big smile because she is all-white, just like the two mares on the calendar I have been staring at all month.

We had a great time and have vowed to return to ride at least monthly. I’m even considering taking riding lessons. God/the Universe delivered my life-long dream of being able to ride a horse whenever I want to in a way I would be sure to recognize and appreciate – through the power of visualization!

 ****************** Give the Gift of Dreams Fulfilled! ********************

I invite you to give a friend, colleague or loved one a truly unique gift that can change their life — ONE HOUR of Personal Success Coaching.  It is absolutely F*R*E*E* with no obligation and no strings attached!  You can give this to as many people who will really appreciate it as you wish.  (If you haven’t been in coaching with me for awhile, feel free to claim it for YOURSELF, too!)

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

 

Love the One You’re With – Blog 200

“The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for.” – Zig Ziglar

This blog is the 200^th I have written. Time does fly when you are having fun! I published my first Cup of Caroll in 2008 and after writing about 100, I took a prolonged, but necessary, break and re-started it with fresh enthusiasm in March 2013.

Before I share this week’s topic, I must pause and sincerely thank my cherished readers for your loyalty and for passing the blog along to your many friends, family members and colleagues. I may never meet you personally, but I strive to contribute to your success and happiness in my own small way.

This summer there has been a major increase in readership, so I thought my newer readers might like to know some “fun facts” about A Cup of Caroll:

• It takes me about four hours to write, edit and publish each blog. I usually do this on Saturday afternoon, right before Sunday’s publication. Sometimes I have only a vague idea (or no idea) of what I’m going to write about until I sit down in front of the computer.

• The wide-ranging topics come from three main sources: Books, articles and other resources I have found useful and think my readers will also find helpful; my own experiences; and my clients’ experiences.

• I require that all my current coaching clients read the blog. This is not due to vanity, but because the topics provide essential information about how to make their lives more purposeful, joyful, successful and prosperous. I cannot possibly share the same life lesson with forty different clients each week! Most of my clients say reading the blog is like getting a bonus coaching session each week.

• Over 400 readers currently subscribe to this free blog. I am very happy to know that it also gives people who are not my clients the same useful information for manifesting their Big Goals and living a fulfilling life as my paying clients receive. This is part of my mission to pay forward all the invaluable training and support I have been blessed to receive from masterful authors, coaches, mentors and teachers throughout my life.

• In an effort to walk my talk, I now publish the blog three Sundays each month, instead of weekly. I coach my clients that it is essential to take at least ONE DAY OFF each week, in order to balance work and precious family time and “Me” time. A refreshed, relaxed mind is a much more productive mind!

Now to this week’s blog topic, which came to me courtesy of a client who is struggling with mounting negative feelings about her “day job” and the perceived lack of support she gets from her husband, as she strives to build a financially and emotionally rewarding career in network marketing.

The more enthusiastic she gets about her new business, the more she resents her current job. She finds it stressful and unfulfilling, and believes it steals precious hours and energy she could be devoting to her new business. Nevertheless, her current reality is that her new business is not yet able to pay all the bills and support her family. Her impatience has also led her to resent her husband for not doing more to help her escape the shackles of her day job.

Fortunately, she recognizes that her feelings toward her day job and her husband are adversely affecting her new business. It’s impossible to compartmentalize our thoughts and feelings (AKA our “energy”), no matter how hard we try. Like gravity, the Law of Attraction is always at work, causing “energy to attract like energy.” If she feels resentful, impatient and worried about other aspects of her life, her negative energy will inevitably attract more people and circumstances that will make her feel the same way. And wonderful prospective customers and business partners will subliminally register her negative energy and be repelled, rather than attracted, by it.

My client asked me what she could do to transform her negative feelings about her current work and her husband’s apparent lack of drive. Here are the suggestions I gave her:

• Keep your eyes on the prize. Whatever we focus our attention/energy on will grow stronger. Focusing on what you hate about your current situation is only going to give you more to hate. Focus instead on vividly imagining (visualizing) what you WANT your life to be like when you reach your Big Goal. That will put the Law of Attraction to work for you – calling in the right people, resources and ideas to make it happen faster.
• Constantly remind yourself that your current situation is only temporary. My client has already attracted a serious business builder to her Team who is off to a flying start. If she simply continues to support this Fast Starter and share the business opportunity with as many people as possible, she will attract MORE Fast Starters and her business will begin to gain momentum.   She can’t know exactly when it will be ready for “lift off,” but it could be much sooner than she expects.   Trust that everything is working out just as it should and believe that Divine Timing is always perfect timing!
• Be grateful for everything and everyone in your life right now. Whatever we are grateful for expands. If we want MORE good things to come to us, we have to express gratitude for what we have right NOW. If you are grateful for the one dollar you have in your wallet, you will soon attract ten, a hundred, a thousand more. If you say, “All I’ve got is one lousy dollar! I’ll never have enough,” you are telling God/the Universe, “Money obviously makes me unhappy, so please don’t send me any more!”
• The fastest, easiest way to feel happier about what you have in your life right now is to get out a blank page and list everything you can think of to be grateful for about your job, your home, your significant other – whatever or whomever you are currently unhappy with. This allows you to stand back from the situation and realize that there are many more GOOD things about it than bad. Even the negative aspects are actually positives because they can help you develop the skills and strengths necessary to get what you really want.
• So, I recommended that my client list 50 things she was grateful for about her current job – e.g., it pays the bills, sends her kids to school, puts a roof over her and her family’s heads, puts food on the table, introduces her to good people (and possible new business prospects!), etc. etc. etc. She can be grateful that her current job has provided everything she has needed up to now, and when she is 100% ready, her new career will provide even MORE of what she desires and deserves. (Oh, and I told her to list 50 things she is grateful for about her husband, too.)

I know that my client is 100% coachable and committed to succeeding in her new business. Therefore, I expect her to take on this assignment with gusto. If she does, I predict that she will discover MORE than 50 things to appreciate about her job and her husband. Most of my clients who have done this exercise report that once they start, they get on a roll and can’t stop at just 50 gratitudes! (One who was incarcerated for a time sent me a list of 100 things he was grateful for – in prison! He is now free, and happily building a productive life and serving as a great role model for his young son.)

If my client does this exercise, she will be channeling positive energy toward her great NEW business opportunity and feeling renewed love and appreciation for her precious family. In recognizing how very blessed her life is right NOW, she is putting the Law of Attraction to work for her and doing something very practical and powerful to help her reach her Big Goal with maximum speed and ease!

****************** 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 call toll-free 888-503-8145.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Good “No” – Blog 185

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

Nobody likes to fail. No one likes to hear “NO.” But as Mr. Churchill said, “failure is not fatal.”   A “NO” that closes one door to a Big Dream will open a door to something EVEN better — if you are willing to stay the course.

At the end of last month, a number of my coaching clients in the same Network Marketing skin care company were going after some exciting incentive goals. Three of these Leaders were within sight of achieving the top sales goal that would win them a trip to an exclusive resort in Mexico.

Unfortunately, what happened to all of them just days before the end of the contest was that several customers they had counted on for an order and potential business partners who had promised to sign up that month told them “No.” When those doors unexpectedly slammed in their faces, they each got a precious gift:   The chance to see what they were really made of as Leaders and role models for their Teams. Were they going to fold just short of the goal line or were they going to find a way to do it anyway?

I kept coaching them from the sidelines, reminding them to keep their belief strong and Expect the Best. Their commitment was to winning the contest, not being attached to a specific “How.” They kept their focus on the goal and all of them experienced some delightful mini-miracles at the 11^th hour. Being unstoppable, they got creative and did things like calling customers who had already ordered that month and asked them if there was anything else they might like … And several said “Yes”!

But even more gratifying, some brand new customers spontaneously reached out to THEM saying, “It’s time to get some things for my Mom” or “I am finally ready to join your business now.” All three of them reached their Big Goal in the last hours of the month and felt elated, amazed and triumphant as they did!

If they had given up when their own Plan A didn’t work out, they would have missed the opportunity to grow as Leaders, deepen their faith and marvel at the perfect Plan “B” (for “Better”) that God/The Universe had cooked up for them. Their personal growth would not have occurred from taking the predictable path to success.

Another client had a similar experience with an even bigger-stakes goal. A good friend promised her several years ago that when he retired, he would sell her his house “as is” at a below-market price.   The housing market in her area is very expensive and quite competitive, so this looked like the best chance for her to fulfill her Big Dream of turning her family from renters into home owners.

Finally, the time had come. The friend was retiring. My client and her husband went over to look at the house and saw that it needed work. The interior had not been renovated much, but it had “good bones” and they planned to fix it up over time as their financial picture improved.

Problem was, the friend’s wife understandably wanted to make sure they got what the house was worth for their retirement, so she consulted a Realtor and learned they could get $60,000 MORE for it than the price her husband had promised to my client. So the friend said he was very sorry, but he had to renege on his offer, unless of course, they had the extra $60,000? Nope.

To top it off, the very same day, the owner of the house her family is renting told them she was going to sell too, and they had just 60 days to move out!

HUGE door slam in the face, right? At first, my client was understandably hurt by the “back stabbing” friend and shocked that God/The Universe had let them get into a situation like this. But she quickly got back into her rock-solid BELIEF and re-focused her energy on her Big Goal of home ownership. She and her husband found a great Realtor of their own, who immediately introduced them to a lender that offered them a much bigger loan than they thought they were qualified for. They started looking at better houses right away, all the while packing up their rental home.

They really liked the first property they saw.   It was much newer and nicer than the friend’s house and seemed like a good fit for their family’s needs. They put in an offer right away…and were immediately outbid by $10,000. Yet, my client never wavered in her faith, but kept expecting something EVEN better to come their way.

It did. They found a second house that was better than the one they just lost out on, with lots of desirable amenities and a lovely yard. They offered over asking price and while they waited for a response, they went to see yet another property that had just come on the market. It was located between two streets that were BOTH named for her daughter – one her given name and one her nickname!

Elated, she texted me, “I felt so comfortable the minute I walked in. This is my Dream Home!” So they put in a second offer on that one, too, and waited anxiously to hear back. Their agent tried to reach the listing agent, but got no response for several days. In the meantime, their offer on the other house was accepted. I thought, “Well, then that is the one that must be the BEST for them because that is what God/The Universe guided them to.”

She was happy they were getting a nice home, but her heart still REALLY yearned for the Dream Home between the streets named after her daughter. She kept claiming “The Best” would work out for them and visualizing her family living happily in that home. She never gave up on her strong belief that it was meant for her family.

Finally, the same day they were about to sign the deal on the other house, the “silent” listing agent contacted her agent to say that the owners of her #1 Dream Home had accepted their offer. They got everything they wanted at $30,000 LESS than the other house. Escrow will close exactly when they need to move from their rental. Within two weeks, my client went from being a displaced renter to becoming a thrilled home OWNER — never imagining it could happen so quickly or perfectly for them.

This is what I have seen play out time and again in my own life and the lives of over 500 coaching clients I have been privileged to help reach their dreams during the past 10 + years: NO is not the end of the line. NO is just the start of something even better. As Winston Churchill also once said, we must “Never, never, never give up.” 

****************** 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 call toll-free 888-503-8145.

 

 

See It and Receive It! – Blog 183

“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.