How God Changes Your Brain - Andrew Newberg, M. D_ [82]
But suppression of negative thoughts is not enough to make any dream come true. At some point you may have to evaluate the practicality of your goal. For example, practitioners of Transcendental Meditation used to believe that if they concentrated hard enough, they would eventually be able to levitate. Known as “yogic flying,” some students spent thousands of dollars for training, but so far all anyone has been able to do is hop. It may be an ecstatic, enlightened hop, but it isn't levitation. Well, the same holds true for obtaining wealth. If you concentrate hard enough, I do not doubt that your income will rise, but don't be surprised if doesn't reach the moon.
Concentration is essential to set your goal in motion, and the suppression of self-doubt is critical, but more is necessary to achieve success. You have to become motivated to do something about it. You have to take action, you have to tell others about your dream, and you need something to offer them to make them participate in your success.
In other words, you can't do it alone. And you can't depend on the universe to oblige your every whim, as some of these books suggest. There's no clear evidence that there is a quantum force that emanates from any part of you that influences the cosmos to do your bidding. Quantum properties do appear to be involved in the synaptic activity between neurons,112 and we can use quantum dots to track peptides in cells,113 but this does not clearly translate into any observable phenomena inside or beyond your body.114 Even if quantum physics could be shown to influence your life, it would more likely do so on the quantum level, meaning that you'd experience a subatomic increase in personal wealth. Dream about a million bucks, and you'll be a penny richer! Certainly we can all do better than that.
The magic comes when other people feel and see your optimism and excitement about your project, which makes similar circuits in their brain resonate to yours. If they have the time, energy, and mutual interest, they will be neurologically inclined to join forces with you, or at least support you and give you helpful advice.
The longer you focus (i.e., meditate) on your goal, the more real it begins to feel, and if you stay focused long enough, you'll alter the neural circuitry in your brain. The same is true for any principle or belief. Focus on God long enough, and God becomes neurologically real. Focus on peace, and your body will become relaxed and serene. And if you intensely focus on wealth, monetary issues will permeate your mind and influence your behavior in the world.
Goal achievement begins with the belief that you can succeed, but it is equally important to establish what goal you truly desire. This too is easy to do. Chris and Janet Attwood, authors of The Passion Test, describe a useful technique of making a list of your desires and goals to meditate on and review throughout your life.115 They also suggest that you create a “vision board” that contains pictures and images associated with your goal. From a neuroscientific perspective, this makes a lot of sense because, as we explained in Chapter 5, the visualization process makes it easier for the brain to translate ideas into concrete attainable goals.
When you meditate on what you desire, immerse yourself in positive images associated with your goal. For example, try to envision meeting important people who can help you on your quest. Then take action. Call up everyone you know—not with trepidation, but with the knowledge that people are neurologically inclined to help—and ask them for the name of someone they know