Supercoach - Michael Neill [21]
Do the principles of attraction really work? In my experience, absolutely. But if you use them to try to manipulate the universe into giving you what you think you need to be happy, you’re as likely to manifest frustration and self-doubt as that shiny new husband or loving automobile.
This leads us to a third way of thinking about getting what we want in our lives . . .
3. Creation
“People are always blaming circumstances for what
they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people
who get on in this world are the people who get up
and look for the circumstances they want, and,
if they can’t find them, make them.”
— from Mrs. Warren’s Profession,
by George Bernard Shaw
When I first ask people what they want, they generally go up into their heads to order off an invisible menu of possibilities that have been programmed and conditioned into their brains throughout their lives. For many of us, that menu is so limited that “Nothing seems to inspire me” is a common complaint. We don’t know what we really want, so we go for the best thing we can find, assuming that something will be better than nothing but ultimately feeling uncreative, unsatisfied, and unfulfilled by what we get.
This is one of the reasons why even a traditional coach can be such a huge help in moving forward— the coach generally has access to a larger menu with more choices available, consequently opening up new possibilities in the minds of his or her clients.
But while asking “What do you want?” with intention and awareness can certainly get at the real desires lurking underneath the straitjacket of societal acceptability, an even more powerful question is this:
What would you love to create?
When we come to the table as creators, we’re no longer limited by whatever happens to be on the menu, because we know we can always go into the kitchen and cook up something wonderful of our own.
And what if, instead of seeing ourselves at a cosmic restaurant, we viewed our lives as a blank canvas; a musical score waiting to be written; or even a raw, unformed lump of clay? We would then be free to create absolutely anything—and if we don’t like what we’ve created up until this point, we can always throw it away and start again.
Then the natural artistry you were born with as a child has the space to come out and play, and circumstances stop being “good” or “bad,” or “right” or “wrong,” but are simply the raw materials for your next creation.
The reality is, you’re infinitely creative—and when you take the best of what’s inside you and use it to create from, things like success, abundance, loving relationships, and a meaningful legacy stop being goals to be pursued and instead become the natural fruits of your creation. And therein we find the fundamental differences between these three models of success:
— Acquisition-based thinking places the power outside us in the visible physical world. If we want some of that power for ourselves, we need to go out and get it. When we don’t get what we want, it’s either because the world is rigged against people like us or we just aren’t trying hard enough.
— Attraction-based thinking places the power outside us in the invisible metaphysical world. If we want to tap into that power, we need to align our thoughts, feelings, intentions, and desires. When we don’t get what we want, it’s either because God/the universe has a higher plan for us or we just aren’t thinking positively enough.
— Creation-based thinking recognizes that the power is (and always has been) inside us. We access that power through the choices we make about how to be (our “ground of being”), how to see (our attitude, or “angle of approach”), and what to do (the words we speak and the actions we take). When we don’t get what we want, it’s either because we haven’t yet found a way or it’s just taking more time than we want it to. No blame, no fault, no shame. And when getting what you want stops being about you and becomes more simply about what you want, it also gets a whole lot easier.
A Great Big Game of