Tag: Abraham
Big Mistake
The big mistake most people make when it comes to using the Law of Attraction – or using anything to achieve their goals and dreams – is wanting to know how.
“How do I make it happen?”
“What are the exact steps I should take?”
“How do I get from here to there?”
The thing is, you rarely if ever know how in advance.
Once you complete a goal and can hold it in your hand, or show it off to friends, you can explain the how of it.
You’ll then have a complete beginning-middle-ending story.
The puzzle will be revealed.
You can then explain the steps you took.
But not before you attract it.
Recently I surveyed my list, asking what book they would like to see me write next. While virtually everybody wanted more books like Zero Limits and AT Zero on ho’oponopono, a few wrote in some suggestions.
Those people were usually wanting to know how to attract something specifically, and how I did it.
They wanted stories of people revealing exactly how they attracted their goals.
They were asking for step-by-step plans.
This is the big mistake.
Let me explain:
When I was making a name for myself as a copywriter and marketer back in the 1990s, a lot of things occurred that I couldn’t predict, let alone know how to make happen.
For example, the Internet came along.
Who saw that coming?
I was one of the first to be online already – on what were called Bulletin Board Systems (a kind of miniature, local only, limited reach Internet) – so when the actual Internet was born, I was already there.
The speaking and writing I was doing in Houston, where I lived at the time, now being posted on CompuServe and AOL, broadcast my name across planet Earth.
It helped make me cyber-famous.
It was certainly an essential step in my career.
But I never saw it coming.
It was never on my to-do list.
How could it be?
Are you starting to see how this works?
During these same early years, I wrote a little book called Spiritual Marketing.
I released it online, free, and it touched millions of lives.
I never knew it would do anything. I released it to the world in the hope that it would help people.
But The New York Times wrote about it.
And Bob Proctor urged me to publish the book.
And it became an early print-on-demand book.
It was also my first Amazon bestseller.
But I wasn’t following a “how to make it happen” plan.
No such plan existed.
These synchronistic events were happening as a side result of my passion and persistence.
They were happening organically.
They were happening on the way to my dream.
I couldn’t predict them because I couldn’t see them.
They were on the unseen road ahead, to be discovered as I kept moving forward.
And along the way in this adventure a publisher contacted me. He later published my book, Spiritual Marketing, but with a new title: The Attractor Factor.
That became the most powerful and popular self-help book I’ve ever written.
And The Attractor Factor was given to a television producer in Australia. She read it and contacted me.
She said she wanted me to be in a movie she was making about the Law of Attraction.
It was to be called The Secret.
That movie changed my life.
It put me on Larry King’s television show, twice, and got me invited to speak in countries I didn’t know existed.
How do you make those things happen?
After all, none of them could have been foreseen.
When people ask for the step-by-step exact plan to make something happen, they are making the mistake of thinking there is such a plan.
There isn’t.
There is a general formula, but not a specific one.
There are formulas for helping you choose your intention, start taking action, and maintain momentum once you get going.
But there isn’t a specific “do this and then do this” plan.
Even Mark Twain knew it.
Twain said, on his 70th birthday, “You can’t reach old age by another man’s road. My habits protect my life but they would assassinate you.”
Thinking you can copy the specific things I did in my life to attract and achieve specific results in your life is a big mistake.
Thinking there is a “how” to get where you want to go is an error.
You attract the results you want with the formulas I have revealed, in books like The Attractor Factor, Attract Money Now, and most recently in The Miracle.
Other self-help authors have other formulas.
Mine goes something like this:
- Declare your intention or inspiration.
- Take the first baby step to begin moving toward your goal.
- Keep taking action on all next steps and new opportunities.
- Surround yourself with positive people and messages.
- Clear any limiting beliefs as you notice them.
You’ll notice there isn’t a specific task that will work for you and everybody else.
There isn’t because there’s no way to know it in advance.
Steve Jobs knew this, too.
Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”
Melissa Etheridge told it to me this way –
Have faith that it’s all working out in your favor.
Have faith that “The Great Something” is – as I sing in my title track song on my new album – your “hidden ally” in life.
Have faith in yourself, the Universe, The Great Something, and your journey.
And then one day, after the dust has cleared, and you realized you attracted your goal, you can look back and tell the how of it all.
You can then connect the dots.
But all you can do today is the next obvious action step.
It’s the next “dot” that will lead to your success.
Dot by dot, by dot, you will get there.
Now go do today’s “dot.”
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – Check out www.MiraclesCoaching.com
Self-Help Songs
How can “self-help songs,” well, help your self?
My six singer-songwriter albums all contain original tunes of “song therapy.”
They often contain positive messages of motivation, transformation, and inspiration.
It’s my way of helping you through challenges and tough times with songs of encouragement.
In many ways, my songs are “coaches” in lyrical form.
My newest album, The Great Something – now on iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon, and more – contains the most advanced and memorable self-help songs of my career so far. But don’t take my word for it. Note –
Stephen Oliver said (used with his permission) “I just received my copy of your new CD, “The Great Something”. As soon as I got into my home office (I’m a freelance writer), I put it on the stereo. I’m listening to it as I write. Now I’m in a quandary. I can’t decide whether it’s incredible or ‘merely’ fantastic. Either way, I love it. I’ve already added it to my night time playlist, along with all your other CDs.”
And Jimbo Berkey said (used with his permission) “After listening to your newest album, “The Great Something,” I am convinced that it is the most powerful and compelling message that anyone who hasn’t begun this journey could ever encounter.” (Jimbo went on to buy 20 more copies of the CD to give out to people.)
Let me explain how you can use self-help songs like the ones on The Great Something in your life:
“The Hook”
When you are facing a situation where someone or something is about to “set you off,” take a breath. The self-help song “The Hook” (on my One More Day album) contains the message “Don’t Take the Hook!” It’s a reminder that you don’t have to take the bait. In general, whenever you get upset, it’s when you went unconscious. Something or someone flipped your internal switch and you got mad or sad. The song “Don’t Take the Hook” is your reminder that you have choice; you don’t have to get engaged or outraged. You can always walk away. You can even walk away singing, “Don’t take the hook!”
“The Glad Game”
But if you do take the hook and find yourself upset, you can always play The Glad Game to recover. I wrote this self-help song because of the famous book, and many movie adaptations of it, called Pollyanna. “The Glad Game” (on The Great Something album) is your reminder that you can find the good in any situation or person. You may have to really look. But it’s always there. Always. This upbeat swing-rock-dance song will show you the way.
“Look for the Light”
One way to find the good, or play The Glad Game, is to “Look For the Light.” This self-help song, also on The Great Something album, is a reminder that there is light (or good, or glad, or positive) in any and every situation. This song was born when someone asked me how to handle political fighting and opinion conflicts that split people. I spontaneously said, “Look for the light.” There are always people doing good things, and good causes you can find and support. But you may need to pause and look for it.
“Empowerment”
You’ll find yet another way to use lyrics as affirmations in my self-help song “Empowerment” on my album The Healing Song. This instrumental cried out for my voice, so I allowed inspiration to guide me in speaking hypnotic commands of inner strength. Listening to this track alone can strengthen your mental core, so you can have, do, or be, whatever you imagine and work toward. I listen to this song every time it shuffles up on my playlist. It’s powerful.
“There’ll Be Days”
After my private songwriting lesson with rock legend Melissa Etheridge, all of my music became more focused. The self-help song “There’ll Be Days” (also on my latest album, The Great Something) is my favorite song for conveying wisdom in a traditional singer-songwriter folk format. It’s a reminder that some days will be tough, and some will be tender, but you can get through them all if you smile and remember this song. I know it doesn’t sound humble at all, but I think this song is pure genius. At least I can’t stop listening to it. It’s hauntingly beautiful.
“The Great Something”
When you need reminded that you aren’t alone, and that the dark night of the soul will pass, you might listen to “The Great Something” (the title track on The Great Something album). This self-help song was directly inspired by my lesson with Melissa Etheridge. She advised me to write in the first person. I took her advice to heart and wrote the most personal, raw, and revealing song of my life so far. I listened to it earlier today to remind myself that “The Great Something” – what others might call Divine, Universe, Nature, Gaia or something else – is with you always.
“Some Thoughts”
Everybody has thoughts, but not everybody knows they are not their thoughts. The self-help song “Some Thoughts,” on my One More Day album, is an upbeat tune reminding you that some thoughts serve you and some thoughts suck. But you can play the jukebox in your mind and just select a different song/thought at any time.
“You Gotta”
The self-help song “You Gotta” (on my album titled Sun Will Rise) is a pep-talk in song. With saxophone, guitar and an upbeat drum (by the drummer with the same name as me), this one is designed to urge you to get up, get moving, and move toward your dreams. “You gotta dream, dare, grow and go” is an affirmation and command. After all, any dream you want to attract requires movement from you, as life is a co-creation.
“Everybody’s Going thru Something”
The most popular music video I ever had created is the one made to breathe life into the self-help song, “Everybody’s Going thru Something” (on my very first album, Strut!). I wrote this song to remind us that we all have dreams and we all have pains. If we can be more understanding, we can bring more peace to the world. (See the music video at the end of this post.)
“Remember”
The smokey-bluesy-jazzie self-help song “Remember” (on the album Reflection) is a hypnotic-poetic ballad revealing the creativity technique I used to make numerous albums. The technique is called The Remembering Process and Daniel Barrett, my producer, and I wrote a book explaining it called, naturally enough, The Remembering Process. With baritone saxophone and a smooth groove, this spoken word song offers you another way to enjoy creativity. For some reason I want to say this song is really hip.
If this intrigues you, please see All Healing Music, the portal for almost all of my healing music (many recorded with Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon) and self-help songs (all recorded with my band of legends: Daniel Barrett, drummer Joe Vitale, Glenn Fukunaga).
Remember, what you listen to also programs you.
Choose wisely.
Ao Akua,
PS – Audio samples of my singer-songwriter albums are here: http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/JoeVitale1
PPS – You may also be interested in a blog post I wrote last year about Motivational Songs at https://www.mrfire.com/music/motivational-songs/
Can People Change?
I spent two months trying to figure out my career – my rise from nothing to something – so I could explain it in some comprehensible way to the Austin, Texas writers group of the National Speakers Association.
I knew no one would care about my story unless I gave them something to care about.
I knew that the Law of Attraction alone wasn’t enough for most people.
Telling my birth, struggle years, first tiny successes and list of failures, shooting star moments and such, could be lengthy.
It might fit in an autobiography, but not in a short talk.
So I decided to answer the question, “Can people change?”
To begin, let’s look at the me of 1974.
Brace yourself –
I was broke, alone, unhappy, angry, and driven to be an author.
But my drive was more obsession than passion.
I modeled my life after self-destructive authors like Ernest Hemingway (who many said I resembled at the time) and Jack London.
And as a result of the unconscious belief that I needed to struggle, I went through homelessness and poverty and many “dark nights of the soul.”
I didn’t know that the Law of Attraction was in effect, matching my reality to my subconscious beliefs.
But, today, I am happy, successful, healthy, in a long term relationship, with fans around the world.
Look at me now –
What happened?
This is what I wanted to explain to the Austin special interest writers group of NSA members.
With that in mind, I created “The APS Formula.”
“The APS Formula” is a 3-step strategy for going from nothing to something – like I did.
I delivered the formula at the private event for 12 people.
I stayed away from Law of Attraction and just focused on visible, practical, doable steps.
Afterwards, the group leader told me, “Out of a scale of 1-10, your presentation was a 17.”
I know you weren’t at the event. So I’m revealing the formula here for the time first ever in print.
Here it is:
The A stands for author/authority.
If you aren’t an authority, few will listen to you with any respect.
The best way to be an authority is to be an author-ity; write a book.
My 1984 book Zen and the Art of Writing proved I could write. Later books, such as Turbocharge Your Writing and Cyber Writing and Hypnotic Writing, all did the same thing.
My first clients all hired me for writing, including a businessman who paid me the largest fee of my life to write his book.
My first talks and classes were all on writing and publishing.
When the Internet came along, I wrote articles about copywriting, sales letters, marketing; and they were posted online. This made me one of the first cyber promoters and cyber copywriters.
Some people today still know me as a copywriter from this early period.
Today I’ve recreated myself as a musician. I wrote a little book, Healing Music, to establish my authority as a singer-songwriter.
And because of my self-help books, such as The Attractor Factor and The Key, I’m now considered a self-help, self-improvement, and spiritual teacher.
Again, you want to be an authority and being an author can do that for you.
The P stands for promote/product/passion.
I learned if I didn’t promote my own work, it died.
I also learned I had to create more product, which I did with Hypnotic Writing, Project Phineas, and others.
I also followed my passion, as when I wrote The Seven Lost Secrets of Success. I was on a mission. The book made people know me, like me, and want to do business with me. One company bought 19,000 copies of the book. (!)
Project Phineas was my home study course, recorded in my bedroom with pillows under the door. I recorded it with my passion for “Phineas,” P.T. Barnum’s first name. It eventually became my first Nightingale-Conant product, The Power of Outrageous Marketing.
It was my passion for metaphysics that led to Spiritual Marketing, which later became The Attractor Factor, which led to an invite for me to appear in the hit movie The Secret, which led to redirecting history for me.
Same with Zero Limits (and later, AT Zero) and my passion for ho’oponopono.
Same with P.T. Barnum and my book, There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.
These were all products that I was passionate about and heavily promoted.
I went on the cover of Austin All Natural magazine to promote myself as a musician, shortening a one-year program into three months to get it done and seize the publicity.
Again, you need to promote your book, create more product, and follow your passions.
The S stands for speaker/salesperson.
I found that I could reach people and sell people if I got on stage.
At first it was just breakfast groups. But those led to other groups. And adult education classes through Leisure Learning in Houston. I had six people in my first class and was so terrified I nearly passed out. But word got out that I was worth hearing.
And, over time, I got better.
I developed products to sell in the back of room at my talks, like Hypnotic Writing.
I’ve been a keynote speaker at the national NSA meeting.
I’ve spoken to 20,000 people live in Peru.
But I started with six people.
And I turned my success at speaking into a product too with Hypnotic Speaking.
The APS Formula is a greatly simplified explanation of my successes.
When I think about it even deeper, I intentionally and usually un-intentionally used all 10 of the steps I reveal in my book on P.T. Barnum.
Anyone wanting massive success should read, study and apply the steps in There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.
Finally, I also think “The Great Something” was behind my rise from nothing to something.
I wrote a song about it, with a little inspiration from Melissa Etheridge, and it is on my new album, The Great Something.
If I can go from homeless nobody to famous somebody, you, too, can achieve your dreams.
Yes, people can change.
At least start here, with The APS Formula.
Expect Miracles.
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – It’s always wise to get help. Check out my Miracles Coaching program.
The Secret: 10 Years Later
It’s hard to believe The Secret book and movie came out more than ten years ago.
They’re still cooking, still circulating, and still changing lives.
I’m forever grateful for The Secret, whether I was in it or not.
It triggered an awakening, a conversation, and hope.
But it also created confusion.
Many people watched the movie or read the book, tried what they learned, and felt “It didn’t work.”
And that’s the problem.
The Secret was only an introduction to a principle. It revealed the basics of the Law of Attraction to the masses.
But that’s all it did: introduce the idea.
It didn’t offer the depth you need to understand the law or use it to create a new reality.
Even today, ten years later, I see people not fully understand what I call “the missing secret.”
In short, you get what you unconsciously believe, not necessarily what you consciously say.
In other words, intentions are one thing, but you also need to know about counter-intentions.
Let me explain.
Intentions are what you consciously declare.
“I intend to increase my sales” is an intention.
“I intend to create a bigger business” is an intention.
“I intend to attract my soulmate,” is an intention.
Intentions are powerful; they engage the mind, rally the emotions, and help create momentum.
Intentions are good.
But.
Counter-intentions are in the subconscious/unconscious mind.
If you unconsciously believe “money is evil” or “money is bad” or “I don’t deserve good things,” then you will veto your intentions.
You will block them.
You will unconsciously sabotage your own success. You won’t even know it.
You’ll blame your lack of success on other people, or politicians, or the current economic climate, or even The Secret.
And that’s the missing secret.
You can sit and meditate, visualize, affirm and wear amulets all day long, but you won’t attract what you want while the limiting beliefs remain operating in your deeper mind.
The unconscious is far more powerful than the conscious. Numerous books on neuroscience prove this fact. So, in order to attract what you consciously want, you have to clean up your unconscious/subconscious beliefs.
The movie and book never addressed this issue. Again, they were only introducing an idea. We need the sequel to the The Secret to understand how to actually begin to manifest the reality we want on a consistent basis.
Since there’s never been a sequel to the movie (there have been numerous follow up books, such as The Magic and the recent, How the Secret Changed My Life), I’ll give you a formula to help you make better use of the Law of Attraction.
Ready?
Here’s The Formula:
First: State your intention.
What do you want to have, do, or be?
Be clear.
Be specific.
Declare it.
Own it.
Write it down.
That’s your goal/intention/outcome.
It should ignite the fire of desire in you.
Second: Note what objections surface.
What thoughts come to mind?
Do you have doubts?
Fears?
Concerns?
Be honest.
Really look within.
Stating your intention will trigger limiting thoughts about attracting it. Those are clues to your limiting beliefs. Welcome them.
Write those down, too.
Third: Clear the limiting beliefs.
Ask, “Do I believe this?”
Or, “Where’s the evidence for this belief?”
Act like a good detective and unearth the reasons you may have for the beliefs, doubts, fears, or concerns.
Then question the evidence.
Question the reasons.
What you are doing is dismantling your own belief system.
You will weaken it, and eventually clear it.
You will deprogram yourself.
You will rewire your own mind.
You will be free.
This last step is something you can use a wide variety of techniques to accomplish. I’ve written many books to help, such as my newest, The Miracle: Six Steps to Enlightenment. You can use EFT (the tapping method). You can use the Hawaiian spiritual tool called ho’oponopono, which I wrote about in Zero Limits and AT Zero. You basically say, “I love you, I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you” to your connection to the Universe, as a type of prayer for cleansing. You can get into my coaching program, you can work with another person, you can write out a dialogue with yourself, questioning your beliefs in writing.
Modern brain sciences prove that you can change your own mind.
Read books like Shad Helmstetter’s The Power of Neuroplasticity or Jeffrey Schwartz’s You Are Not Your Brain.
The ways and means to “get clear” of counter-intentions are readily available to you.
And proven to work.
But it’s essential to do this step in order to attract what you intend, or something even better.
Again, I’m grateful for The Secret, and you should be, too. It may not have revealed the “missing secret” but it paved the way for a whole new world of transformation, including your own.
“Train your mind to see the good in every situation”
Dr. Joe Vitale, a star in the movie The Secret, is a bestselling author, musician, speaker, coach and more. His latest book is The Miracle: Six Steps to Enlightenment. You can have his free e-book, Attract Money Now, at www.AttractMoneyNow.com His main website is www.MrFire.com
Twilight Zone Self-Help
When my drummer was here recently for the recording of my sixth self-help singer-songwriter album, titled The Great Something, he talked about how much he loved the old 1960’s hit television show, The Twilight Zone.
It’s Twilight Zone-ish enough that my drummer has the same name as me, grew up in the same area of Ohio as me, and went to the same college as me – but we never met until five years ago, for the making of my first singer-songwriter album.
Drummer Joe Vitale with author Joe Vitale
But it gets even stranger when one night an episode of The Twilight Zone aired on television – one I don’t recall ever seeing before.
As I watched, an idea for an “instant change” self-help technique came to me with a jolt.
Oh, this is good, I thought to myself, laughing.
Wait till I tell everyone about this!
And this is where the story gets really interesting.
But let’s start at the beginning.
William Shatner in The Twilight Zone
I’m a huge fan of The Twilight Zone TV show.
I was five years old when it first aired in 1959, but I saw virtually every episode after that, and still watch them today. Each show was genius. Great acting, great stories, great lessons.
Over half of the 150 episodes were written by the man who created the show: Rod Serling.
Serling deeply influenced me when I was a teenager.
I studied his scripts, short stories, and movies to unlock his mastery at writing.
I loved his screenplays for Seven Days in May and Requiem for a Heavyweight.
Talk about hypnotic writing!
Rod Serling’s Advice to Writers (1962)
DON’T LET SENTIMENTALITY REAR ITS UGLY HEAD!!!
MAKE PEOPLE THINK… STUN THEM… GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE IMMEDIATELY
DON’T OVERLOAD DIALOGUE
HAVE A POINT OF VIEW… DON’T ACCEPT SOMEONE ELSE’S CONCEPT
OVERALL THEME LEADS TO CHARACTERS THEN ON TO PLOT
RESEARCH BACKGROUND FOR ANY STORY
CONTINUITY… TIE SCENES OR PARAGRAPHS TOGETHER
I almost signed up for the Famous Writers School, as Serling was on their board (as was John Caples, another writer who would influence me decades later).
It didn’t happen. I was still in high school, and my parents couldn’t or wouldn’t swing the tuition for the correspondence course.
But something even better happened.
I met Rod Serling.
He was giving a presentation in Youngstown, Ohio, not far from my home. Two friends and myself went to hear the great one speak. It was around 1970.
I was too excited to sit still.
I was star-struck and eager to meet the icon.
He walked out on stage, cigarette in hand, tanned, tiny, unshaven, tight lipped, and uncomfortable.
I was instantly disappointed.
Serling was a chain-smoking little man with darkness and insecurity in him.
He said if there was a thump at night, he’d be the first one outside in his shorts.
He said he was the only boxer who had to be carried into as well as out of the ring.
He was articulate, self effacing, and entertaining.
But I wanted to see a super human, not a mortal.
Though I was shy and nervous, I managed to ask him a question.
I raised my hand.
He nodded at me.
“Do you plan to write your autobiography?” I asked.
“No,” Serling replied. “Nothing much has happened in my life. It’d be boring.”
I was shocked.
Here was one of early television’s most influential writers.
A creative mind on the level of genius.
He wrote screenplays for some of the most haunting TV shows and movies ever.
He won several Emmy Awards for his work.
He served in the war and received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, as well as trauma and wounds that would give him nightmares his entire life.
He was known as “the angry young man” of Hollywood, fighting with TV executives over censorship, racism, and war.
He was also unhappy.
“I was traumatized into writing by war events,” Rod Serling explained. “By going through a war in a combat situation and feeling the desperate sense of terrible need for some sort of therapy. To get it out of my gut, write it down. This is the way it began for me.”
And he thought his life story would be boring???
It was a turning point for me.
I decided if this insecure man can become a scrip writing legend, than there was a chance for me to make it as an author, too.
And now, before I get to the point of this entire article, let’s pause for a commercial break….
Preorder today! I dedicated my sixth singer-songwriter album to the great Melissa Etheridge
Be the first! Preorder my new album “The Great Something” as a limited edition collectible audio CD. All original transformational songs. All dedicated to Melissa Etheridge. You’ll get a surprise bonus gift when it ships in March. See http://www.thegreatsomethingalbum.com/
And now let’s continue with this article….
Back to the episode I saw the other night.
It took place in an office.
A businessman is talking to his secretary.
He is preparing to go on a trip.
He goes to his phone, starts to dial his wife’s number, when suddenly someone shouts, “CUT!”
The man freezes.
He watches as his office walls are moved.
And then he sees an entire film crew looking at him.
He is on a movie set.
The yelling of “CUT!” caused him to freeze.
He is almost traumatized by this turn of events.
He didn’t know he was on a set, or in a movie, or was an actor.
Imagine how you would feel if right now you heard a booming voice yell “CUT!” and then you saw the walls around you move apart, only to reveal a film crew that has been watching you the whole time.
The episode is from 1960. It’s #23. It was written by Richard Matheson. It’s called “A World of Difference.” Howard Duff is the key actor. Find it and watch it sometime.
And now let’s get to the point:
Here’s how I discovered a self-help “instant change” technique:
Whenever you notice anything not going the way you want it to, mentally or out loud yell, “CUT!”
And then do, think or say something different.
Use “CUT!” as a command to change your mind or even a situation.
For example:
A friend was complaining about her day.
I listened for a moment.
Then I blurted, “CUT!”
She stared at me.
“Let’s redo this scene,” I said. “Say your lines differently this time.”
I had to explain the entire Twilight Zone episode to her before she understood what I was doing, but my “pattern interrupt” caused her to smile and begin a new conversation.
Another example:
I was served dinner at a restaurant.
I was about to complain about the dish when I remembered that complaining doesn’t help. It’s far wiser to state an intention instead.
So I yelled “CUT!” in my head.
“State what you want,” I told myself, “not what you don’t want.”
I then stated that I wanted my food heated up a little more, and the server smiled and handled it. No one was offended by a complaint, and I got what I wanted from the intention.
Do you see how this works?
I’m simply pretending that life is a stage play or television show.
As long as “the show” entertains me, fine.
But if I or someone in my real life reality show gets “out of tune” or goes “off script,” I can simply say “CUT!” and “Let’s do the scene again!”
“In almost everything I’ve written, there is a thread of this: man’s seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself.”- Rod Serling
My own philosophy of life states that life is an illusion, anyway.
We’re all actors and actresses on the stage of life.
The problem is, we are all in a hypnotic trance and believe our roles.
“Awakening” is all about realizing you are acting out a script, though unconsciously.
By saying “CUT!” and pausing, you start to awaken from the trance and redirect your life.
In a real sense, you become the scriptwriter of your own life.
How cool is that?
I’m having fun using this self-help method in my daily life.
If I notice my thoughts start to go downhill, I just yell in my mind, “CUT!”
And then I choose to “redo my lines” by thinking more upbeat thoughts.
I doubt anyone involved with the making of The Twilight Zone ever thought of this way of retraining your brain and interrupting patterns, but I like thinking Rod Serling is smiling from above.
If not, then “CUT!” and “This time put a smile on your face, Rod!”
Ao Akua,
PS — One of my favorite screenplays by Rod Serling was titled, Patterns. It was a live television drama in 1955. It became a movie in 1956. Yelling “CUT!” is a great way to break a pattern. Just sayin’.
A secret message for you
