Success...One Day At A Time

My Real-Life Test Of The Law Of Attraction

Last Friday I decided to test the Law of Attraction - just to see if I could turn around a possibly stressful experience into something much nicer!

I'll let you decide for yourself if I was successful or not.

Here's the story...

It's very rare that I go into the City these days. It always amazes me how I managed to spend up to 5 hours a DAY commuting at one point.

I always used to hate two things. Waiting on a platform for a train too long, and 4 carriages instead of the usual 8 - which meant that I would have to stand for most of my journey.

So...here I am, deep in Friday afternoon rush-hour.

I've just spent a very enjoyable few hours at a seminar - and met some interesting people. As I don't tend to get out too much, it's nice to be able to meet face-to-face, so much better than Instant messaging or email.

Anyway...

It's a little later than I planned. 6:50pm in fact.

I get off the tube train...and follow the herd of people up the stairs to the main train station at London Victoria.

Where all hell has broken loose!

Trains are delayed. Rain is pouring through holes in the decades old concourse ceiling.

Men with briefcases are barking into their mobile phones, while many more of their clone-like peers are overspilling from the bar, drink in hand.

My worst nightmare. Train delays. Oh well. At least I don't have to do this every day.

But, there's another problem.

The train timetable tells me that me 19:04pm train stops at my station - yet on the announcement board - the train going in that direction diverts at a couple of stations before mine at Faversham.

Oh well. I'm sure there's a good reason.

There is. There's a mass charge as the platform for the train is announced.

There's only four carriages instead of eight...and any passengers going to my station will have to change before it diverts. Usually they just split the train at Faversham - four carriages go one way, the other four go another.

Not tonight. I had a 50/50 chance of it being my four carriages that would carry on. I lost.

And then follows the words that all regular train commuters dread:

"When you get off at Faversham please remain on the platform for further announcements"

Looks like my 90 minute train journey is suddenly going to take much longer than I thought.

And to think I used to do this every day!

Out comes my phone. Time to phone Lesley and let her know what's going on. It's engaged.

Look's like I'm going to have to do what I hate other people doing...phone her from the train.

Oh well...

Onto the platform I go...and soon realize that perhaps I should have moved sooner.

The train is standing-room-only.

So, on I squeeze. By now I'm wet from the rain, and starting to get a little hot in my coat as the heating on the train is turned up full blast. There's not enough room to take it off, the train is so packed.

Sweat begins to trickle down my forehead, as the woman next to me elbows me as she opens up her Burger King Whopper and begins to munch noisily in my ear.

As the warning beep of the doors closing sounds - there's a surge that almost knocks me off of my feet. It doesn't help that the student next to me is sitting on the floor watching "The West Wing" on his portable DVD player.

As the train pulls away I have to do it. Phone Lesley.

Just as I connect - the female driver comes over the tannoy announcing the stations where the train is going. All I can hear is Lesley saying...

"Speak up - I can't hear you!"

Joy. It's bad enough having to use the phone on the train, now I'm going to have to speak louder!

It gets worse.

Lesley isn't happy.

"I thought you said that you would be home earlier! You're not getting back to around 9pm? You KNOW that I've got a 'party' to go to next door, remember - I told you?"

Well...no, she hadn't. Last time I heard about a month ago she didn't fancy going.

Ten-month old Skye is now crying in the background and now Lesley is even less happy than she was a second before.

"OK. Well. I'll just have to pop-in next door as soon as you get home then, won't I? Bye."

"I'll call you when I get to the station and let you know what's happening with the train home" I tell her.

"Whatever"

With that I expect that she slamed down the phone.

If you've been married for any length of time - you'll recognize that she isn't happy.

Great.

I'm standing sweating on an overheated and overcrowded train, and I've just announced my domestic run-in to about 50 people standing around me. Plus - at the moment, I haven't got any guarantees that I'll even by home by 10pm let alone 9pm.

It was at that point that someone else's phone rang.

"Well...you're going to have to see if Marian can take you to find somewhere where they will take your prescription won't you. How can I do it? I'm on a train for God's sake. Now, don't start..."

Sounds like he's as popular as me at home!

It's about this time that I begin to run through my head the argument that I'm going to have with Lesley when I get back home.

Bet you've been there, too, right.

As if I wasn't having enough 'fun' as it was without he suddenly deciding that she needed to go to a party that she hasn't even mentioned for a month!

For five minutes I stood there sweating, damp, and fed-up as someone's elbow dug deeper into my ribs. We weren't even ten minutes into my journey, and I knew that I was getting angrier by the minute.

Suddenly a thought entered my mind.

I know that what I think about I attract. And, I know that, at that very moment - all I was doing was attracting a massive bust-up with Lesley whilst standing on a rain-swept platform wondering if my train was ever going to come.

Is THAT what I really wanted to happen to me?

Is THAT what I expected to happen?

I figured that it was about time that I firstly found a way to calm myself down.

So...at the next station, as a few people got off, I worked my way through to standing where the doors between carriages were. At least I could learn against something other than "West Wing Boy". And, if I was lucky - I might just get a seat in a few stations time.

Out came my Ipod.

I spent the next 30 minutes standing and listening to positive stuff about how other people can overcome their difficulties.

The weight of negativity was gradually lifting from my mind.

And...now that I had got rid of the anger...I was able to get myself into a place where I could start visualizing trains being at platforms, and conversations going exactly according to plan.

Next stop. I got a seat.

If I had still been standing amongst the scrum in the middle of the carriage - then I would still be one of the twenty or so people there - trying not to trip over "West Wing Boy" as he flipped out one DVD and put in another.

The slurp from the Burger King Coke cup told me that the girl had just complete her dinner, and I watched as she let out a little hamburger/coke combination burp which I would have been down-wind of if I hadn't had moved.

Things were looking up.

I spent the next 45 minutes listening and visualizing.

Deep down I didn't think that there was a hope in hell of Lesley suddenly being nice to me on the phone after the conversation we had previously - but, as I always say - you need to trust the process.

We pulled into the station where I would have to get off and wait for the connecting train.

As my foot touched the platform, a station attendent was shouting...

"First four carriages for all stations via Herne Bay. Please hurry along the platform as we're trying get your train out as quickly as possible".

Unbelievable.

If you've travelled on British Rail for fifteen years like I did - then you'll know how impossible it is for them to rustle up a train out of nowhere.

My record is 2 hours and 5 minutes waiting on a platform for 'missing' trains - so I know that it must be a record to actually have the train there waiting for me to board - just as if it had been part of the eight carriages when I had got on at Victoria.

Yeh, I know that you are thinking it's a coincidence, but even so - the likelihood of it happening at 8:30pm in a station miles from nowhere is certainly slim.

So far, so good.

As I climbed into the empty carriage - I was pleased with myself.

Round 1 accomplished. Round 2 to follow.

I was going to call Lesley to let her know that I would be home at least 15 minutes earlier than my previous 'pie-in-the-sky' prediction.

Be positive. Think positive.

Luckily for me - there was practically no-one in the carriage so I didn't feel as conscious as I would have been.

The call connected...and immediately I noticed something different.

I heard the words...

"Don't worry, no problem, there's no rush. She said that I can pop-in anytime and it doesn't finish until ten. Just take it easy walking from the station in the dark."

Blimey.

It was almost as if someone had taken over her mind! The anger had gone and she was her 'normal' self.

And to think...we were both on the verge of a huge bust-up an hour before.

I can tell you - I've been in a few of those situations with my wife in the past - and I can honestly say that this was the first time that nothing had 'boiled over' from the previous conversation we had.

I put the phone back in my pocket...and a little smile crossed my face.

Then the phone rang.

"Sorry. I know you don't like speaking on the train, but I wanted to check. Do you want me to put some dinner in for you for when you get home?"

I didn't, but when I got home, everything was normal - as if everything had just gone exactly the way it was supposed to have.

Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

Or was it just the Law of Attraction at work?

Negative Bird Flu Programming

A lesson from the negative affect of the media this week.

The head govt. medical honcho here in the UK announced this week that IF the bird-flu virus mutates into a human form, and IF it isn't controlled - here in the UK our population could be lighter to the tune of 750,000 people within the next few years.

IF it happens, of course!

Considering that NONE of this has happened in the Far East where the virus has been around for a number of years makes me wonder WHY the government is intent on scaring people like that.

Perhaps someone questioned them about why they were stockpiling 'Tamiflu' to the tune of 14 mill. doses within the next 3 years.

It seems to me that the only 'winner' in this mass dose of negative-expectation is the Swiss company Roche who make Tamiflu.

Guess which company has just announced significant profits on the back of this bird-flu outbreak?

And is expected to earn a few hundred mill. extra a year for the next few years as govts. worldwide stockpile their 'could-be-a-cure-of-sorts' drug over the next few years 'just in case'.

All this is a lesson on the negative effects our governments and media can have on YOUR life if you let it.

Me - I'm just going to do what I have always done. Worry about it IF it happens!

Go Down The Driving Range Of Ambition Instead...

Why is it that we don't do the things that we know we should do...

Yet usually end up doing the things that we know we shouldn't?

I've got a confession to make.

Over the last week - I've been sitting on something that I know I should do - yet can't quite bring myself to complete.

So - you're not alone!

In fact - in the past, this lack of action on a project would have had my mind coming up with all sorts of excuses why I couldn't get going, or whether I would EVER get around to it.

The days would have built up into weeks. The weeks would have grown into months.

And then I would find myself a year later wondering why I hadn't finished something that I was motivated, excited, and passionate about the year before.

(Actually - I've got a couple of unfinished projects sitting on my hard drive that have been there for a couple of years!)

Well...at least it shows I'm not perfect, and that Lesley is right.

If I'm supposed to be a positive-minded, motivational 'expert' (her words not mine!) - then why am I such a miserable sod?!!

Anyway...

I've realized recently that I DON'T have to get hung up on the fact that there are some things in my working life not quite finished.

Sure...in an ideal world, we would all wake up in the morning and spend our day completing everything in 'gold star' fashion.

Then we'd go to sleep again...and do the same tomorrow!

But, as I'm sure you'll agree...life isn't like that, is it?

Both you and I have those times where we can't really be motivated to do much.

I bet we both have more of those times that we would like, too.

But...as long as we still have times were we DO fire on all cylinders and are taking some serious action towards our goals - then I don't think that it's a bad thing.

Instead of moping around beating yourself up that you're not as perfect as guru 'x' says he (or she) is - just spend the time doing something that gets you interested, excited, passionate, and focused that doesn't have anything to do with hard work in your mind.

Me? When I don't feel particularly creative...

- I just read my marketing courses I've still got to go through.
- Or go down the golf driving range.
- Or go for a walk and listen to some self-improvement stuff.
- Or go and pick up Katie from school.
- Or phone someone whom I know will never get off of the phone - but I will still have a great time catching up with.

Or perhaps I'll just sit down and watch some TV that interests me. No, not soap-opera stuff or the 'bad' news, but thought-provoking quality stuff like The Apprentice or Lost that gets my brain working.

An hour of escapism is worth so much more to your long-term motivation than just getting angry at yourself for not doing what you should, that's for certain.

Remember, though. There's no excuse for spending ALL of your time 'playing' when you should be 'working' on yourself.

Yet - you already know that, don't you?

But...YOU alone are responsible for what you do with your future.

So if you take my advice but get a little carried away, and use it as an excuse - then perhaps you'd better just accept that where you currently are is where you really want to be.

Unless you want to really do something about it, that is!

Join Me As A Positive Junkie!

Let's face it...there are a lot of things on your mind, aren't there?

Thoughts about work.
Thoughts about your relationship with your family.
Thoughts about your bank account balance.
Thoughts about your credit cards.
Thoughts about that thing you saw in the store that you'd love to have.
Thoughts about how you can make more of your life without telling other people that you are interested in 'self-improvement' because of how they would react.

In fact...the thoughts you are having right now are probably taking up too much of your time, and, instead of motivating you to greater things are probably just stressing you out, right?

Life has a funny habit of cluttering up if you let it, and usually, it's full of ALL the wrong stuff!

So let's get one thing straight.

Stop thinking about what you shouldn't be thinking about!

(Yeh right, Gary - just like you saying 'Stop thinking of an elephant' - you just CAN'T!)

Well, of course, you're right, but it shouldn't stop you.

I firmly believe that if you DID stick your head in the sand and ignored your 'problems' - I very much doubt that it would help you much.

BUT...that's no reason for you to accept second best in your life.

We ALL have problems, issues, challenges, bad times, down times, arguments, stress, and even a little bit of anger.

Welcome to the life of a normal human being!

The key to YOUR success is how you handle these issues.

You can either treat them as huge problems that constantly cloud your life - or - you can look at them as temporary 'blips' or challenges that, once overcome, will benefit with new wisdom for years to come.

Personally, I'm trying to fill my mind as much as I can with positive stuff - positive thinking, viewpoints, speech, action, and experiences.

Even my walk back from taking to school every day is filled with positive thoughts as I work my way through more of the 100 hours of self-improvement audios I've already paid for. (I'm on hour 36, just in case you were interested - though I'm constantly adding to those 100 hours!).

And yet - my preferred method of learning is via reading (which I do every day - without fail.)

I find it a challenge to listen to audios, and I can't listen whilst I work at my PC. So - when I walk back from school, my Ipod is on.

I even surprised Lesley last week when I volunteered to do the weekly grocery shop - because it allows me at least an hour of learning as I walk!

Before I bought all of those audios - I had hours of wasted time that I was left alone with my own thoughts (even though most of them tend to be positive).

Yet - in 4 months or so - I have managed to listen to a day and a half of positive, thought-provoking, and challenging material. Time, in effect, that I have found from 'nowhere'.

Now, of course, my methods may not work for you. We're both different, you and I, that's for sure!

But...YOU need to find some way, somehow, to get some positive input into your head - even if you don't go away and apply it! (Yes, I know - I'm asking you to break one of my cardinal rules!)

The benefit to this is that your brain will automatically attract more of what you're thinking about. Just as it did when you began to see more of the same make and model car as yours when you purchased a new one.

Or when you suddenly noticed pregnant women everywhere when your baby was due.

This stuff, flat out, WORKS.

And...it doesn't HAVE to be complicated - no matter what the 'gurus' may tell you.

So...find something positive to get into your head - and just use it to get in the way of those other, not-so-positive, thoughts.

If you're putting good stuff in then that means that you will, if only for short periods at a time, push the negative stuff away.

And...in effect, you will begin progressing at TWICE the speed because, instead of being held back by negative thinking, you will be pushing forward thanks to your new positive outlook on life.

Try it for a few weeks and see.

Once you get into a habit of absorbing positive stuff everyday - then you'll find that you'll want to carry on.

Your time is NOW.

It's time to join me as a POSITIVE JUNKIE!