WHY THE LAW OF ATTRACTION DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU

You probably have read many posts, stories, and books on the law of attraction and yet you struggle to find, "Why it doesn't work for you?" AN inner-voice keeps whimpering most of the time, "Why the law of attraction doesn't work for you"? 

Relax! You don't have to be on pins and needles, trying to figure out the reasons you weren't successful. Take a load off, let your hair down and just go ahead.

1. BELIEF - Start with Just it: 

You have access to tons of information about the law of attraction everywhere – on the web, blogs; in community forums, groups, workshops and training sessions. It’s not a secret anymore, people have access to information. With the vast source of information available, it should make the life easier, but in vain.

You got to believe before you receive. You got to apply before you believe.”

“Knowledge is power” – is a powerful proverb. We have seen this written on top of our boards in our schools. We were taught that knowledge is the only required criteria to be successful in life.

Yes, it is but that’s only half true. Knowledge is essential, a source to begin for everything you wanted to accomplish. But knowledge without desire and belief can’t take you places.

2. MINDSET - Something to consider changing:

 The reason why many people fail in spite of access to these life-changing secret strategies is our restrictive mindset. Our mindset which is the result of – (i) our bringing and social conditioning; (ii) excessive emphasis on logical knowledge devoid of human emotional factors like desire and belief.

I was introduced to the movie “the secret” by a friend. He gave me a brief description about the movie and I wasn’t even able to convince myself to give 2 hours of my time to watch it, believing that it was just a fancy movie with some course on positivity containing some inspiring stories for life success. I wasn’t convinced at that time, because I was busy running after logical ways to get a job and earning money was my only goal. 

During my, M.B.A Course we were trained with the following objectives – to get a job with a multi-national company and to earn bigger. I was successful in achieving those objectives. I wasn’t happy though. A self-realization, however, made an impact. It warned me not to go with the wind and made me realize the true purpose of my life. My realizations to looking at life from a different perspective lead me in a new direction.

I began gathering information about the law of attraction. Read many books on the law of attraction, read many life-changing stories and also watched the movie “the secret”, I then decided to try with few techniques and to my surprise, I was successful in many cases. Over the period of time, I realized that – “Knowledge is essential, but you also have to combine knowledge with human emotional factors like desire and belief. That’s how manifestations happen.

3. REALISATION: Leveraging Knowledge with Belief and Desire:   

Learning about the law of attraction is just (i) “Knowledge” – To use the benefits of quantum physics, you must have the desire to use it and have a strong belief in the processing mechanism.

To use it and manifest in your life, you must inculcate emotional factors like (ii) Desire to manifest something and (iii) belief in the process that makes it possible to manifest.

4. AFFIRMATIONS  – Catalyst for Manifestation:

Using Affirmations to achieve to achieve wealth is a powerful way to manifest rapidly. Provided that, you got to believe and feel deeply as if you already have it.
These affirmations can change the way you think about yourself and redirects you to a completely different path. You probably have a lot of negative self-talk about yourself every day. You have developed that pattern over the years. It’s time to rewire your brain. Replace every word that reads “I Can’t” with “I Can”; “I am not” with “I am”. Do this repeatedly.

Every word of the affirmative sentence has to be felt deeply as if you already have it an by expressing the gratitude toward the Universe for giving it to you.

Summing up with some quotes on the law of attraction:

• " All that we are is the result of what we have thought" - Buddha.
• " What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" -  Mark 11:24
• " Whatever the Mind can conceive it can achieve" - W. Clement Stone.
• " You create your own Universe as you go along" - Winston Churchill

6 BEST APPROACHES TO HANDLE CRITICISM

We all encounter criticism in various in various areas of our life. Facing criticism has become a challenge for many today but not many realize that it can be used as an effective approach for personal development. You might confront disapprovals either from your manager for various reasons or maybe disapprobation from your family or friends occasionally. But, how often have you considered to think logically and act practically about the criticism you receive?

Let’s look at criticism from a different perspective and use it as a self-help tool to maximize enormous benefits in our life, using these 6 approaches.

1.       Understand: Before you react, understand. You should refrain from getting emotional and taking everything personally. It’s important to understand the context of criticism for getting the most rewarding benefits out of it. To understand, you better listen carefully. Avoid being reactive, be proactive.

2.       Value and Acknowledge: It’s predominant that you value criticism, as it provides a medium for continuous learning and development. Acknowledging criticism makes you understand yourself better and directs you towards excellence.

3.       Personal Development Agenda: Manoeuvre criticism or a personal development agenda.  Use criticism as a feedback mechanism for self-development. Make it a personal development agenda, work on it to remove your imperfections and flaws.

4.       Driving Force: Trust me, when you value criticism and acknowledge it when necessary, it will transform you into a completely new version of yourself. It will no longer upset you, rather it will act as a driving force to be your best version.

5.       Don’t Overstrain: Now here’s a tip, Don’t take your criticism to such an extent that it becomes a source of continuous stress for you. Don’t stress yourself to be a perfectionist. Not everyone is perfect. Remind yourself at times that you are worthy in other aspects of life.

6.       Do thank your Critics: And yes, don’t forget to thank your critics. It’s all their effort. You only worked on it, but it’s your critics who helped you identify your defects. Be thankful to them. Make friends with them.

Some thoughts to get you going:

-          “He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.” – Abraham Lincoln

-           “ The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” – Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking

-          “ A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” – John Wooden

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TIRED OF PROCRASTINATION? A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO OVERCOME IT

Tried many strategies and techniques and yet kicked the can down the road? Read many articles and blog posts on techniques and strategies to beat procrastination, but could not execute them effectively?

Well, let’s keep it simple and straight to the point. Let’s think and focus on our basics first.

1.       Train Your Brain: It all starts with the thought. If you are serious about discarding the dithering attitude, train your brain. Identify, what you procrastinate? Why you linger? Note them down and acknowledge that you dawdle and that’s perfectly alright. Prepare a table with two columns. In the first column - Note down the areas/tasks you often temporize. In the second Column – Use a positive affirmative statement to cut down that limiting belief in column one. Do it for everything that you stall. You have to train your brain first, to train yourself.

2.       Set Up Daily Goals and To-dos In Advance: Since you have acknowledged yourself as a procrastinator, it’s way lot easier for you to work on it. Plan and Organize to get rid of that self-image of a procrastinator. It is always beneficial that you plan your day in advance. Make an advanced to-do list and set up daily goals that you want to achieve for the next day. Schedule goals and tasks specifically with time limits.

3.       Early to Bed Early to Rise: Now, this is very crucial and beneficial. We easily get carried away by staying up late at night browsing web, emailing, texting, late night dinners, partying etc. And we give ourselves an excuse to start over again next week and the cycle goes on. Say a big and loud NO. Go to bed early, switch off - the wifi, mobile devices, the lights and the tv. Get some sound sleep and wake up early next day with energy and enthusiasm to accomplish something valuable and meaningful. Waking up early will surely boost your energy and you’ll surely stay focused to work on your goals and your to-dos for the entire day.

4.       The First 20 Minutes After Waking Up – Determining Factors: Your first 20 minutes are the indications of your achievements. They will surely trigger - how you’re going to spend the rest of your day. Start your day with a glass full of water immediately after waking up and get your morning tasks and chores done in the next few minutes. Ponder all the tasks and goals for that day. Use this time to review your plans. Prioritize them, Schedule them and be flexible and comfortable even to reschedule.

5.       Execution is the key: Your plans will remain as plans unless you execute them. You have to push yourself harder to execute them. Planning without execution is futile. If you want to see the results, you got to execute your plans. Track the goals and keep checking your to-dos. Focus here should be on the execution and not on perfection. Perfection follows execution. This is where you should avoid complete distraction and your goals and to-dos should be under complete focus.

6.       Revaluating your action plan: Many strategies and techniques fail for the need of revaluation. It’s very significant that we have a check on the strategy adopted. Reviewing enables us to identify the gaps and help us design accordingly. It shows your areas of strength and achievements. Reward your achievements and celebrate small victories. Reviewing also provides an insight on the areas that need improvement in your strategies, techniques or even your goals and to-dos. Never forget or even underestimate the need for evaluating your plans to crack your success in beating procrastination.

Some thoughts that can keep you stay on track:

• “Better three hours too soon that one minute too late” - William Shakespeare
• “He who every morning plans the transaction of that day and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the busiest life.” – Victor Hugo
• “Arise, Awake! And stop not until the goal is reached” – Swami Vivekananda

6 WAYS TO REVERSE YOUR NEGATIVE MINDSET

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” – Buddha

Thoughts are creations. Every manifestation/situation of your life is the result of your own thoughts. The nature of thoughts decides your journey and destination. A negative mindset attracts negative circumstances creating stress in every area of your life – family and relationships, money, career, goals etc.

It's crucial that we identify these negative patterns. But this is where the actual problem lies i.e. ‘Identification of existence of negativity’. You should consider yourself blessed if you have identified and acknowledged the existence of negative patterns. Your ability to recognize the existence of this mindset makes it easier to reverse it. Transformation requires the identification of something existing. You can transform something into positive only when you recognize the existence of something negative.

Here are 6 ways that can surely help you reverse your negative mindset-

1.       Meditation: Meditation is the ultimate remedy to cure any kind of mental problems. To reverse the negative mindset, it is crucial that you meditate. Meditating consistently will provide you with enormous benefits both to the body and mind. It reduces stress and anxiety, which rewires your mind to a relaxed and peaceful state. A mind which is relaxed and peaceful is always positive and alert.

2.       Using Affirmations: Using Affirmations is a scientifically proven method to transform a negative thought into a positive thought. Affirmations break the negative patterns that were deeply rooted over the years and rewires the brain with the new sequence of positive affirmations used. Some examples of positive affirmations are –

-          I am the architect of my life

-          I am healthy both physically and mentally

-          I focus on everything that is positive

-          I am blessed with the ability to think clearly and positively etc.

3.       Count your Blessings: We feel negative most of the time because we don’t recognize and express the gratitude for the good things we have in life. We keep focusing on everything that is bad, inefficient, insufficient. Shift your focus, count your blessings. Be thankful for everything you have been blessed in your life. Start doing this, in few weeks you’ll notice the difference in the way you feel.

4.       Find Inspiration: World is not devoid of inspiration. It’s full of inspiration everywhere and every corner. You just have to find, appreciate and inculcate it in your life. With the advent of global connectivity and internet, you are exposed to many inspiring stories over the globe. Google them or YouTube them, there are millions and you can use them as a daily source of positive boosters.

5.       Surround yourself with positive people: You are a reflection of a person with whom you spend most of your time. Choose people wisely, surround yourself with positive people and their optimism rub it on you. Refrain from surrounding yourself with people who have negative and limiting belief.

6.       Believe in YOU & your source of creation – GOD: Always believe that you are a unique creation of God, bestowed with every quality that can transform every negative situation/thought into a positive situation/thought in your life as well as for others. Stop comparing yourself to others and thank god for bestowing upon you all the powers required for a positive transformation.

Let me conclude with some powerful quotes:

“Change your thoughts and you change your world” – Norman Vincent Peale

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the Mind can achieve” – Napoleon Hill

5 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT BOOKS THAT CAN REWIRE YOUR BRAIN

I am literally in love with the smell of books. I must admit this,  I was not an avid reader but reading few self-help books made me fall in love with books. It became an addiction thereafter. Though I don’t explore the different genre, I read a lot of stuff relating to personal development, spirituality, inspiration and transformation stories.

There are a plethora of books that transformed many lives in different ways. Let me share a few of my favourite personal development books that made an impact in my life in various areas like habit formation, belief system, thought processes, feelings, mindset, behaviour etc.

1.       THE SECRET – By Rhonda Byrne: I must admit this, I wasn’t aware that all that I was facing in my life was the result of my own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. This book happened to me as a gift and this had transformed my belief system. It explains how the law of attraction works and emphasizes the concept of “ASK, BELIEVE AND RECEIVE” to manifest anything and everything that you always dreamt of. It has many real-life manifestation stories that will inspire you and techniques included in it are worth trying and I am sure using this book as a guide, you will manifest many beautiful things in your life.

2.       THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE – Stephen R. Covey: This book is both a self-help book and a personal development manual. Covey talks about the concept of perceptions and paradigm shifts. The book uses 7 habits as the building blocks for change. The first three habits i.e. 1. Be proactive, 2. Beginning with the end in the mind, 3. Put first things first - help the users to gain self-mastery. The next three habits i.e. 4. Think win/win, 5. Seek first to understand, 6. Synergy - talk about cooperation and working together. And the 7^th habit – sharpen the saw focuses on continuous improvement in all the four areas viz. Physical, social, mental and spiritual. A life transformation book you should definitely read.

3.       THINK AND GROW RICH – Napoleon Hill: A must-read for people who aim to be an entrepreneur. Napoleon Hill describes how thoughts can be used as a medium to achieve excellence. He talks about Desire – a starting point for all achievements. The book also describes how to use faith, knowledge, and imagination as a means to achieve success. It also provides an insight into organized planning, decision making, training the brain and subconscious mind. And the most discussed personal development medium on the web i.e. sexual transmutation is explained deeply.

4.       THERE’S A SPIRITUAL SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM – Wayne W. Dyer: This inspirational book teaches the readers how to identify and tap the divine power present within us to confront any kind of a problem, be it a relationship, career, finances etc. It describes in detail about the practical applications of wise teachings to counter everyday problems. Dyer emphasizes on recognizing our spiritual power to solve any kind of problem. This reading will surely change the way you look at your life and find joy in spirituality and God's creation.

5.       THE ALADDIN FACTOR – Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen: We often give up easily on our dreams realizing that it’s too big to achieve. The Aladdin factor emphasizes on asking for what we really want. The book recognizes the 5 barriers to asking and also emphasizes on “How to ask?”, “Who to ask?” and “What to ask”? This book will guide you removing the barriers of asking i.e. Ignorance, Pride, Low self-esteem etc. Grab this book, ask for what you want, this book will certainly guide you.

Well, journey with books for me is never-ending. I would also love to take some recommendations from you. 

5 APPS THAT MAKE YOU SMARTER

Staying smart, sharp and cultivated has never been so easy. With the advent of technology, learning has become so effortless and painless. There is a legion of apps available on both android and ios store that can make us smart and intelligent.

The wide ranges of benefits about these apps are:

-          Most of them are free

-          They are structured and tailored

-          They are result oriented

-          They are handy and user friendly

Here are top 5 apps that can help you stay smart and sharp

• 1.       Curiosity – Makes you smarter: Curiosity which originally started as an online website is now available on both android and ios platforms. The app integrated the content relating to science and technology, mind, body, personal growth, places, etc.. It also features various podcast episodes on psychology, human body, learning, culture, intelligence, emotions etc. A pool of information on almost every discipline. A must try app for everyone who like to explore different fields and disciplines.
  
• 2.       Knappily – Knowledge App Daily is an editorial analysis app. This news analysis app covers a wide range of subjects like politics, sports, business, science and technology, international affairs etc. The best part of this app is that content is presented in a unique 5W – i.e. (What, Why, when, where and who) and I H format i.e. (How). You should definitely try this if you want to keep up with the latest news and happenings. It is available on both android and ios apps.
  
• 3.       Quora: Quora provides a platform that encourages users to share knowledge by answering to the questions on almost anything posted by quorans. It is basically a question and answer app that allows users to share information through posting questions and getting answers to them from experts in various domains. If you are a person who loves to learn through questioning and sharing information on various domains, quora is for you. Available on both android and ios platforms.
  
• 4.       Ted Talks – This app has a collection of powerful talks from people all over the globe. The basic idea of the organisation is to spread inspiring ideas and to deliver inspiring messages and to deliver informative talks covering all most every topic starting from science and technology, psychology, inspiration, human behaviour. The talks are so engaging that you get addicted and you start dreaming of becoming a Ted talker one day. It is available on both Android and ios platforms.
  
• 5.       Stumble Upon: Stumble Upon is discovery engine of various topics and interests. This discovery engine recommends few interests like technology, sports, science, health, art, fashion, language, photography etc.. Depending on the recommendations, you can stumble upon the things you like and basing on the liked content you keep receiving the content. The content you receive is based on your likes and dislikes of the feeds. This app might get merged with mix in the future. Available on both android and ios platforms.
  

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