Here are some practical ways to do this and get back to the present:

1. Practice watching your breath for a few minutes at a time. This simple exercise practise. several times a day can really help you calm and clear the mind of distractions
2. Be conscious of where you walk with every footstep. When you are walking to and from work or home, narrow your thoughts into your steps and become aware of the weight of your step, the ground beneath, your toes leaving the floor. Keep one eye on where you’re going though
3. Spend one minute concentrating on any thought or object to the exclusion of all else. This is a great one for the desk or travelling home, just shut your eyes and let go of the days hassles.
4. Stand outside in nature and simply watch the world around you without judgement. Let go of your critical self just for a little bit (give it a lunch break) and look at everything with a fresh and forgiving eye. Too much overly critical thought uses up a lot of mental energy leaving you drained.
5. Several times a day ask yourself where you are? “Am I here? ” is a fine way to determine whether you are in the present moment or whether you are dreaming of the future or thinking about the past.

Trying some of these simple exercises can release us from unhelpful and negative thought patterns and allow the energy and power of being in the moment to return.

Please DO NOT spend your money on every EBook out there that promises to give you:

“secret techniques to attract all the wealth you ever dreamed of”

…or something like that.

Most of these e Books are just rehashed and plagiarized material from other law of attraction authors, such as ‘Wallace Wattles’, and other old books on the ‘Science of Mind’, ‘New Thought’ and so on.

I should know, I’ve bought most of them!

They will often have a long page of key buzzwords to entice you and draw you in as well as an enormous amount of free (everyone likes freebies right?) giveaways worth $500 dollars, $275 dollars etc and so on.
Now, for the most part many of these books and their writers are ok and well-intentioned and there may be a few nuggets of information inside that are useful. You could probably find most of that on the web from websites such as this. But many are just cleverly marketed pages designed to excite you and take your money in return for average ‘copies’ of information you have read before!

Ok, I’ve finished ranting! How, then, do you find out which materials are worth investing your money in?

Well, there are a couple products that I would recommend as the best and I promote them here on the site. I do this because I know they worked for me. They have worked for me in small ways and in BIG ways and they have contributed immeasurably to my own personal growth. I wouldn’t be able to recommend them otherwise. I couldn’t recommend something which I knew didn’t work; its not my way and I would be creating too much bad karma for myself. Nothing is worth that.

More importantly than this though, I feel the teachings and the teachers themselves have real insight into the fundamental truths of subjects like the ‘Law of attraction’ and ‘manifestation’. I believe this can really help us to create more happiness and more success in our lives.

I believe you can tell this when you read something truthful. You can feel it inside you and you know this is right. You get a sense that what this person is saying is so true you can almost feel the power of the knowledge beginning to resonate inside you. When you get this feeling then, for me, it is a sign of real integrity, authenticity and understanding. This is rare with so many so called law of attraction teachers and e-book sellers.

There are three products and teachers that I recommend and they are:

The Wealth Beyond Reason program
Bob Doyle lives and breathes the law of attraction. He was recently featured in the movie ‘The secret.’ I found his writing and easy to follow explanations, not only inspiring and uplifting, (like an injection of pure, positive mental attitude) but also very simple to put into practice. There is an awesome amount of material on his site from downloadable written stuff, audio and online lectures. He is a teacher with real passion and integrity. If you want great results with the ‘Law of Attraction’ and ‘true abundance’ on an energetic level, you need to listen to this guy!

Revolutionscape: A happy pocket full of money
This e Book took my understanding of all things quantum to a whole new level. Again easy to read and understand but incredible in its simplicity and power. It makes you think about time and our mental states and how to almost flick a mental switch between poverty and wealth. Amazing. You have to read this book if you haven’t already. If you are lucky enough to already have it in your life then you well done; go away and read it again now! You can follow the link aboveto the ‘Revolutionscape’ site where you can buy the book on its own or get it as part of a bigger wealth fundamentals package!

The Super Manifesting program from Enlightened Beings
This ‘manifesting’ program has incredible exercises for generating everything from ’showers of money’ to whole new career paths, relationships and massive personal growth. Many of the detailed visualizations I have used to incredible effect on a regular basis. If used consistently just one of the visualizations will rocket your ‘vibration’ to a higher level and keep it there. As well as this, there is a complete ‘ninety day plan’ for increasing the level of wealth, joy, satisfaction, personal power, health in your life and being, to the point where nothing will ever be the same again.

These three systems each allowed me to see things in a significantly different way and opened my eyes to new perceptions and I wholeheartedly recommend them. Like I said above, I have used these three systems on a regular and consistent basis in my life for the last three years and I can vouch to their effectiveness.You will find links to the websites and the material through the site.

All the best,

Michael.

Relaxation
Practising the art of relaxation affords us a natural method to control and eliminate stress. By learning to completely relax our bodies and minds we allow room for more constructive, harmonious thoughts to be deliberately ‘planted’ into our subconscious mind. This can be the powerful basis of all our self improvement strategies.

Meditation
This allows us to focus our consciousness to a single thought, object or idea. This in turn has tremendous benefits which affect all aspects of our every day life such as the ability to think more and more clearly, greater decision making ability and becoming aware of our own intuition.

Visualization
With visualization we can sense an image in our mind’s eye, a picture of our future goals and the ambitions that we desire to appear in our lives. By always keeping in mind the images of our goals, the possibilty of reaching them becomes more and more believable.

Affirmation or Auto-suggestion
The interior dialogue that goes on inside our heads has a profound impact upon our state of mind and our ability to achieve the success we desire. Replacing any habitual and ongoing negative self-talk is essential if we are to create a happier and more successful future life. Any positive ‘suggestions’ we can make to ourselves, can have a dramatic influence upon our subconscious mind and therefore our ‘reality’ for ‘as we think, so shall we be’.

Inspired Action
Taking action follows the changes that we make on the inside. It is not as difficult as you might think once you have realised the direction you want to go in. No-one should feel afraid of taking action. Inspired action is not like work or a chore it is exciting, thrilling and an expression of our greatest self. You too will be able to take action in the most effective way and at the perfect time by putting these tools into practice and making them a part of your life from now on.

These strategies can help to create acceptance of who we are because they help to bring about rapid change in how we feel about ourselves and are the foundation of a powerful, positive mental attitude. Once we have created a positive mental attitude it is far easier to then begin taking the right kinds of actions in our daily lives that help us to move forward toward our most cherished goals.

Wealth Beyond Reason
The Truth about the Law of Attraction

‘Wealth Beyond Reason‘ provides you with the mental and emotional tools to overcome the financial problems and obstacles in your everyday life!

The program takes you STEP-BY-STEP through how you look at your life to how you change for the better vibrationally and energetically. Bob Doyles’s teaching is about your own power to attract everything you want almost effortlessly. Effortlessly because when you start attracting the right opportunities for you, following up those opportunities becomes more like play than work; the way it should be! No complex theory, just eye-opening and effective tools and techniques you can start implementing immediately. With Wealth Beyond Reason you get instant access to videos, downloads and literature. I really recommend it if you feel you should be getting more out of life, more money, more abundance and more wealth!

As I mentioned on the page about ‘E books’ and ‘what you should know about them’, Bob Doyle’s teachings are some of the best around and that’s why I’m so enthusiastic about this stuff.

“Do not be surprised now when the outstanding truth unfolds to you that your consciousness is the all power and the only power acting upon your affairs, controlling and maintaining your health, revealing to you the intelligence and direction necessary for your success in any and every walk of life”
(Joel S. Goldsmith, 1992, p122)

“When your mind thinks correctly, when you understand the truth, when the thoughts deposited in your subconscious mind are constructive, harmonious, and peaceful, the magic working power of your subconscious will respond. It will bring about harmonious conditions, agreeable surroundings, and the best of everything. Once you begin to control your thought processes, you can apply the powers of your subconscious to any problem or difficulty. You will actually be consciously cooperating with the infinite power and omnipotent law that governs all things.”
(Joseph Murphy, 1997, p7)

“If you will let your dominant intention be to revise and improve the content of the story you tell every day of your life, it is our absolute promise to you that your life will become that ever-improving story. For by the powerful law of attraction, it must be!”
(‘Abraham’, 2008, p206)

“Carry any kind of thought you please about with you and so long as you retain it, no matter how you roam over the land or sea, you will unceasingly attract to yourself, knowingly or inadvertently, exactly and only what corresponds to your own dominant quality of thought.”
(Swami Sivananda, 2004, p21)

“If you wish to demonstrate prosperity, begin to think and talk about it and to see it everywhere. Do nothing that contradicts this thought either mentally or physically. The world is full of good; take it and forget all else. Rise above depression and be glad that you are saved from adversity; the human mind needs to be cleansed from the morbid thoughts that bind through its false beliefs.”
(Ernest Holmes, 1987, p23)

The physical laws of the universe are actually this whole process of divinity in motion, or consciousness in motion. When we understand these laws and apply them in our lives, anything we want can be created, because the same laws that nature uses to create a forest, or a galaxy, or a star, or a human body can also bring about the fulfilment of our deepest desires.”
(Deepak Chopra, 1994, p5)

References:
Chopra, Deepak, (1994), ‘The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success’, Co-published by Amber-Allen Publishing and New World Library, California, USA.
Goldsmith, Joel. S, (1992), ‘The Infinite Way’, Devorss Publications, California, USA.
Hicks, Esther &Jerry, (2008), ‘Money and the Law of attraction’, Hay House Inc, California, USA.
Holmes, Ernest, (1987), ‘Creative Mind’, Sun Publishing, New Mexico, USA
Murphy, Joseph (Revised by McMahan, I.), (1997), ‘The Power of Your Subconscious Mind’, Simon and Schuster UK Ltd, London, England.
Sivananda, Swami, (2004), ‘Thought Power’, Divine Life Society, India.

This is quite a common problem in the beginning when we start making goals and using new affirmations or ‘goal statements’ for the things we’ve never attempted before. It is quite easy to feel like nothing is happening in the first few days if you have never tried this type of self-help technique. You can quickly lose the energy generated by the initial excitement of your new goal and the possibility of its attainment. And when you lose the excitement for what you are telling yourself, it starts to lose its effectiveness.

Our new affirmations are often new thoughts and new concepts for the brain and consequently there are no established ‘pathways ‘for these new thoughts to travel along; they have to be created.

A good way to think about this and to help understand the resistance we encounter to the introduction of new ideas is with a water analogy. Imagine a stream of water running downhill for the first time. Without any outside direction it will try and take the path of least resistance. Over time the force of the water will carve new channels in the earth and rock to make its journey even easier. Eventually all the water flows down this same channel making it deeper allowing more and more energy to flow through it.

Our thought patterns can be imagined in the same way. Old thoughts take the path of least resistance; well trodden ‘back-roads’ in the brain. We think the same old thoughts day in and day out and it takes very little energy to maintain this status-quo and that’s the problem. New thoughts need to carve new channels in the physical matter of the brain and new neural paths, before they can flow freely. This is how habits of thought are set-up and it is why old habits are so hard to break; the electrical impulses of thought naturally move down the well-established ‘grooves’.

Can you see how it might be difficult at first when trying to build new habits of behaviour and shift our thinking in a new direction? If we have maintained the same thoughts and attitudes over a lifetime then behaviours can seem very stubborn and unwilling to change. Unless we persist with our new habit we don’t give ourselves the time for the changed thinking to create a new route or road to travel along. When we feel resistance in the beginning of any new enterprise, it is because the new thought doesn’t have anywhere to go. It is a pioneer, if you like, travelling in an unknown country. If we don’t support it, it will scatter and dissipate like the stream of water having its supply cut off.

Its’ easy to say “well this isn’t working”, “that’s just the way I am” or “I’ll never change now”. Change is always possible. We can always shift to a more positive attitude from a negative one, from an attitude of failure to one of success. To do this we must indulge the thoughts, the attitudes and the pictures we want to see happen in our lives. We must persist in our affirmations and practice. It will get easier very quickly.

You don’t have to believe in your statements but they must contain a ‘seed’ of energy within them to give them power! That seed of energy comes from believing in our own power to create the circumstances we desire in our lives; by believing in the power of our own minds.

Recognising these attitudes is the start of thinking positive. Whatever the root of these feelings is we can overcome them. And it is simple. It just means we haven’t yet convinced our deeper minds that every opportunity, every success is available to us. We have to fill our mind with the idea that there are limitless possibilities and limitless abundance for everyone.

Every possibility that is in line with our highest destiny can be attained. By that I mean some of us are not destined to bet the thing that we have been chasing or working towards. Let me use an exaggerated example. Most of us will not become the ‘President’ or ‘Prime Minister’ of our countries no matter how hard we try. But every reward or satisfaction we think we would get by becoming that ‘ideal’ of President is available to us; only it will come through our own unique path and in its own way. The more we try to crowbar our way into a path that wasn’t meant to be, only means more obstacles will be put in our way. That means more frustration and dead ends and more likelihood of those unhelpful feelings coming up and making us feel bad when we here of other’s successes.

Hold on a second! Isn’t it the case that we can do what we want and be what we want? Well yes it is, but I couldn’t be a ‘President’ now even if I put my mind to it. Too much has happened and I don’t have the skills or training. I could put my mind to it but my heart wouldn’t be in it for the long run. If your heart isn’t in it in something, i.e. if you don’t have the emotional power and desire for that goal, you won’t get there.

Feeling wealthy is partly about accepting who we are and our limitations and moving in the right direction. Yes we do have limitations but if we follow the right path there are no-limitations and we can go as far as we would like because it excites us and we feel good.

Creating a life where you think positive, a life without negatives, involves discovering and following our true destiny.

From the moment we open our eyes and before we reach full waking consciousness we have the opportunity to spend ten to twenty minutes taking advantage of our highly ‘suggestible’ frame of mind. ‘Suggestibility’, as explained by Christian H. Godefroy in his book “Mind Power” is “the capacity of the subconscious mind to receive suggestions from the conscious mind…” (Godefroy, 1993, p. 6)

At the point of waking from sleep we can practise this ‘self-suggestion’ or ‘auto-suggestion’ as some call it, which is simply a method to implant new, positive thoughts and ideas into our minds. With repetition these new ‘suggestions’ will have an influence on our behaviour and our state of mind. If we fill our minds with positive thoughts and images we can help build increasing positivity, confidence and success!

The reason why this technique is so powerful is that it takes advantage of the brains natural cycles and the difference between certain brainwave frequencies that we all experience. In deep sleep our brain wave pattern is classified as ‘Delta’ (if we are getting technical it’s about 0.5 to 3.5-4Hz). During alert and fully awake activity our brain operates in ‘Beta’ state which is marked by a strong focus on tasks, listening, good attention and so on. As we wake after sleep, we hover between these frequency ranges in a state classified as ‘Theta’. We then move up to Alpha (relaxed awareness). Theta is the place to be! When we are in the theta state we can experience deep relaxation, access to our creative imagination and ease of visualization.

This short period or window of opportunity is perfect for using our affirmations; by mentally repeating our desires or by speaking them out loud we will be reminding our mind to focus more upon the goals throughout our day. By picturing our goals in our mind’s eye we will draw the best of circumstances and opportunities into our lives. Lastly, by generating that ‘wealthy feeling’ we will attract our success and reinforce our motivation.

Each night set an intention to use this method. List your desires and prepare your affirmations. Most of us can set our alarm clocks a little earlier each day to make room for this practice. When you waken, go over your goals and positive intentions with strong feeling and certainty. Don’t worry if it feels false or untrue to start with, belief will come through repetition. Your goals will soon start to seem more achievable and real. A quarter of an hour is just about the right amount of time for this practice; any longer is unnecessary. The rewards are certainly worth it.

Reference:

Godefroy, C. (1993) Mind power: Use positive thinking to change your life, Piatkus, London

Our world is very much centred on taking direct, practical action to achieve goals and move forward in life. This has been a very successful strategy for the human race thus far, in nearly every respect. Particularly in modern western culture, a good day’s work is something to be proud of. I agree. There are few things more satisfying than an entire day productively spent in pursuit of your goals and dreams. So the main argument against using the law of attraction, (there are other names for this phenomena) is that by taking action and working hard we can achieve our goals regardless; why therefore do we need a law of attraction?

The truth of the matter is that harnessing the law of attraction means that a person uses ‘inspired action’, not ‘inaction.’ There is never inaction or a lack or productive natural effort. Action and the law of attraction do not compete with each other; they are compatible, bound up and exist in symbiosis. The law of attraction must always have existed. Men and women who have changed the world throughout history have used the law instinctively by cultivating strong desires and following through with powerful, inspired actions.So I would argue that it is not simply action that achieves but the right kind of action taken at the right time that brings results.

This leads to a question: how do we know when it’s the right time to act? Once you have properly set the law of attraction into motion with excitement and energy, you will know when the right time to act comes along. The energy will build drawing your desired outcome closer. You will feel it. It can be felt as a powerful, positive instinct and no-one is immune to its effects.

This is the formula for the law of attraction itself:

Set our intention – generate positive feeling – let go of doubt – give thanks – follow inspiration to action

Let’s look at a concrete example to illustrate each part of the formula and the working of the law.

Set our intention
We need a single intention to focus upon such as:

• Finding a partner,
• A new job or
• A better income.

These are common intentions that we have all thought about at one time or another but you can use anything. Let’s use finding a partner as our example, as this can arouse strong feelings to do with sex and love and sexual energy is a strong, powerful drive that can be easily utilised.

Generate positive feelings
As we focus in on the intention of finding a new partner, we might list the qualities that we want in this person or we might find pictures of attractive people that arouse our desire. We can use anything that generates feelings of anticipation and excitement. Your intention must arouse emotion! It should not be a strain or be stressful in any way. It should feel natural and easy. It reminds me of playing ‘hide and seek’ as a kid and you’ve got a great place to hide. Will they find you? They probably will. But you don’t know when and the anticipation and excitement is such fun. It’s good energy.

Letting go
Once the intention is set and the fire of positive expectation has been lit, we must gently let go of any concerns about timing or if, how and when our desire should arrive. Looking for results is the fastest way to fail and is the same as wanting to take premature action. It is born from doubt and from fear and attachment to clock time and the pressure that brings. You want to see without looking. Know this will work! You simply have to nurture the positive feeling energy you sparked with your intention. Do not let it go out or you will have to begin again. Imagine how good it will feel to have your desire; this is where your attention should remain.

Gratitude
Being thankful for the desire before it has arrived will help you stay positive and keep the energy moving in the right direction. Giving thanks for something which you can’t yet see is simply an affirmation of confidence in the process itself. This becomes easier with every success you have with the law. Here is where your ‘action’ can be affirmative too. I call it ‘making space’ for the change that’s coming! With our example of meeting someone new you could begin to smarten your appearance, invest in new clothes, and start looking at trips or holidays for the two of you and so on. You might ‘make space’ for them in your home if you want to go this far. Use your imagination.

Inspired action or following inspiration
Ok, I have set my intention to meet someone new and I have aroused within me a feeling of excitement, anticipation and growing conviction. I’m not thinking about where or when it will happen because I know that it will; I’m simply going about my normal routines and ‘making space’ for the new pattern of living. At some point, something unusual or just beyond the usual will occur without much effort or arrangement on your part. Make sure you are awake. Be ‘present.’ This isn’t the same as looking for it! It’s seeing without attachment. An opportunity will appear in some form or another and it is impossible to list the way this may happen! You will feel an inner nudge and this is the time to take action with full commitment and enthusiasm. You’ve asked for it after all.

That’s all there is to it. The trouble with this process is that it is too simple to be taken seriously. Many people make it more complicated than it needs to be. One of my intentions for this site though, is too make this information as simple as possible – the way it should be.

Remember, positive feelings are the energy that sustain the desire and attract the circumstances for the fulfilment of that desire. Without this initial energy there will be no attraction. Use anything you can to generate a feeling of excitement, expectation and anticipation.
This is probably the most important part of the equation and is mentioned in every self help book that’s worth something. For example, in Napoleon Hill’s famous book, “Think and Grow Rich” he classifies it as ‘desire’ or transmuted ‘sexual energy’ (Hill, 1987, p.176-177)

Let me state it again: No feeling, no energy – no result, no attraction, no change!

This positive feeling energy or excitement should be felt more and more until your desire materialises. As the feeling increases, your conviction that what you asked for is coming, also continues to grow, until you are waking up every day so excited about the prospect that it fills you up with positive attitude and certainty. At this point your desire will materialise very soon.

It gets easier with every success. Once you know it works, it becomes even more exciting to know that you can use this incredible process again and again and this reinforces your ability and faith. Success breeds success.

Reference
Hill, N. (1974) Think and Grow Rich, Fawcett Books

It is any positive statement that we can repeat to ourselves in order to shift our emotional state to something more productive or constructive. Positive affirmations provide a temporary boost of energy and a tool for long term behavioural conditioning. Affirmations work because they generate corresponding feelings of anticipation, excitement, desire and expectancy.

If we want affirmations to work for change quickly and powerfully there is one golden rule; our words must be accompanied by a corresponding emotion!

A good way to think about the power of words is to imagine the affirmation as a car; the words are the shape, style and exterior while the feelings that accompany the words are the fuel, the energy, the ‘oomph’ that makes them go!

We use positive and negative affirmations all the time in our lives without realizing it. So much of our habitual language is made up of tired and worn out sentences which we repeat to ourselves like zombies; we are hardly giving any thought as to how these words impact upon our life and our success!

Let’s look at some examples of negative routine and automatic statements that we repeat. Have you ever said anything like this to yourself in the past?

• I can’t do this
• I’m so stupid; I’ll never be able to do that.
• My memory is no good. I can’t remember anything
• Just my luck.
• That never happens to me or that will never happen to someone like me!
• He/she won’t like me.
• I’m going to fail

These are just a few examples of negative affirmations which many of us have expressed to ourselves over and over again.

I know I have. I spent years telling myself how bad I was and how dumb I was and how I was going to fail. Consequently I failed exams and lost jobs…mm, funny that. Maybe that was down to laziness and not being any good at the job? Lol, possibly, but knowing what I know now I’m convinced it was my general negative attitude created by all the negative self-talk!

It seems that knowledge of affirmations and having a positive attitude is still looked at as being ‘out there’. It seems a shame that so many people are missing out on this powerful self-help strategy. They could be harnessing an incredibly powerful and easy to use tool to make improvements in their lives, career, and relationships and so on.

Ok, so we want to use an affirmation but how do we go about that?

Decide which goal to focus on.

Firstly we need to define an issue or goal that we want to work on. It helps if you have made a list of things that you want to do in life, aspects of your personality you want to enhance or goals you want to attain in the short or long term. What’s important to you now? Affirmations can be used for almost anything and help you attain any goal in life.

Here are some ideas to get you thinking:

Intangible attributes and non-physical qualities:

• Self-esteem
• confidence
• charisma
• love
• belief
• a new, harmonious, satisfying relationship
• more friends
• a more exciting lifestyle

Mental and spiritual goals:

• better concentration
• improved memory
• ability to relax and deal with stress
• higher consciousness
• lucid dreaming
• creative ideas and ability

Physical aspects and issues:

• weight loss
• changing body shape
• stronger, fitter
• clearer skin
• improved vision

Career, general success and wealth:

• meeting targets
• finding a better job
• a better home
• financial security
• increasing one’s income
• attracting money
• generating wealthy feelings and ‘money’ state of mind.

So you can see that you can put your words to work in every aspect of your life! Now comes the exciting part. You need to think about what you would like your life to be like! You have to realize that you can create a more desirable reality for yourself. Life will give us everything we want if we are certain of it.

Here are a few simple examples of positive intentions:

• I am more and more wealthy every day
• I am feeling more and more confident
• My greatest good is coming to me now!

Hold on, you might be thinking, “these are just sayings aren’t they? I don’t really believe that they could work for me.!” Well, yes they are sayings. The secret is that the more you repeat something to yourself the more power it has. Like a lie that if told often enough you will come to believe the lie eventually. This is why affirmations work; they become part of you through repetition and emotion! You don’t have to believe in them to start with. You just have to repeat one long enough and it will begin to have an effect upon your consciousness, your thoughts, your attitude and your behaviour! Repetition and emotion -  that’s worth repeating.

I will talk more about how to structure affirmations in a later post but for now try one for a few days and you will begin to feel the change.Just remember…emotion is the key – feel it.