Would you subscribe to the point of view that there are problems in the world?

For that matter, would you agree that there are problems much closer to home, such as your job, your friends, and even your own household?

Most people would answer “yes” to both of those questions, and most people would also back up that answer by pointing out that a whole pile of other people are either the cause of those problems, or that they keep the “problem engine” running by not cleaning up the way that they handle any given set of circumstances.

You will get no argument from me that there are plenty of problems that need to be solved, and I’ll even put my own “stuff” out there by saying that there are plenty of things in my own circle of influence that I would like to see happen differently than they do.

However, what if everything that happens around you is actually your fault? Which, by the way, is another point of view that I subscribe to, at least on a “local” level, if not worldwide.

Awhile ago I put up a post about the self improvement system known as Ho’oponopono. Although Ho’oponopono is based on healing imbalances with others, it is actually a system that is completely internal, and practitioners of that art claim to be able to solve issues with other people without even meeting or talking to them.

There is some very convincing evidence that we have the ability to influence others by working on our own inner-thoughts, and I will recommend that you grab a copy of Zero Limits by Joe Vitale as soon as it is released, and I will also refer you to this excellent post by Steve Pavlina where he gives some examples of how this concept has benefited his life.

For my part, I want to take it one step further, however, and explain a vicious circle that you can find yourself in that will keep replicating itself over and over until you find a way to break out of it.

In a nutshell, Ho’oponopono and similar beliefs state that our surroundings are powered by our own inner beliefs and perceptions of the way that we think things are, or should be.

To keep it “local”, I will stick with the example of your spouse or your significant other.

If you expect that your spouse is going to get mad at you because you spent too much money, or you stayed out too late with your friends, or because you shirked your responsibilities around the house, there is a very real chance that is exactly what you will get because you expect it.

However, the real truth of the matter is that the anger or disappointment that you expect to see in someone else’s eyes is merely a reflection of what you are already feeling.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that you won’t feel 100% happy with yourself if you allow yourself to succumb to a desire that you know for a fact is not in your best interest, or in the best interest of the people that you care about.

So, whenever it comes time to “face the music” with the person that you believe is going to be angry with you or disappointed, most of the time you will find that anger and disappointment waiting right there for you, just as you expected.

Then, to make matters worse, as you have already beaten yourself up (usually without even knowing it) because you know that you did something that wasn’t up to your own personal standards, your spouse or significant other reacts to you in a negative manner about what you did.

Does the term “rubbing salt in an open wound” mean anything to you at this point? Not only have you done something that you consider to be wrong, but then you have to face it out in the open, usually with people that you care about and whose opinions you respect.

It’s like stubbing your toe, and then falling over in pain only to hit your head on the wall on the way down!

Also, this concept is certainly not limited to when you have done something that you consider to be wrong. The same thing applies whenever you see things in other people that do not please you.

When you expect your children to not make enough of an effort in school, you are actually coming face to face with the fact that on some level you feel that your own education is not up to par.

When you expect your co-workers to find the most effective way to cause your job to be more difficult, you are actually choreographing their performance due to the fact that you feel your own work ethic is not high enough, or that you are unhappy about your career status.

When you expect your neighbors to be loud and obnoxious, what you are really coming face to face with is the fact that you have not achieved the level of success that will allow you to live in a big house on a private lot, or that you have self-limiting beliefs about money.

Fortunately, for every instance that you find your negative expectations of others to be 100% fulfilled, you are actually being given a wonderful opportunity. You can help them to be the kind of people that you want to be around, and help yourself at the same time.

All you have to do is start managing your expectations of yourself as well as the people around you in order to keep those expectations at a happier or more harmonious level.

It all starts with you being honest with yourself, and working on your inner beliefs.

The next time someone does something that you find displeasing, simply ask yourself why you find it displeasing. Dig deep and find the true answer, not the answer that you think is appropriate.

As is often the case with self-limiting beliefs, your reaction to the circumstances of your life can be colored by the self-limiting belief, simply because that is what you are used to.

However, by simply coming to terms with your own “inner demons” you will then start to project happiness, confidence, and prosperity to all who are in your immediate vicinity, not to mention the positive vibrations that you will be sending out into the universe as a whole.

So, the next time you get upset with someone, find out why you are actually upset with yourself. You will then have found the path to your own resolution, which will spill over onto every circumstance that is affected by your new level of understanding.

Think about how great it is to have control over every single moment of your life - even the circumstances that right now might seem hopeless!

You make the efforts that you make towards self development because you want your life to improve in some manner, right?

As you learn more and more about the power of conscious creation, you also learn that you are the one who is solely responsible for the life that you lead - regardless of how good or bad you perceive that life to be.

It is likely that you are familiar with concepts such as positive thinking, visualization, affirmations, and the like. Each of those concepts has a place in your conscious creation efforts if those concepts have value to you.

However, the common mistake that a lot of people make is that they believe everything that they say or do is the “end all, be all” of their self development efforts. They believe that whenever something doesn’t go the way they expected it to, that their time was wasted, and that their self development efforts simply aren’t working.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

In fact, quite the opposite is true. Tony over at the Success from the Nest blog¹ points out a very important fact - that if you don’t take action whenever you are inspired to do so, that you may very well miss that opportunity, and also that the longer you wait to take that action, the harder it will become to actually do so.

When using the Law of Attraction to consciously create your life, Inspired Action is exactly what you are looking for! By focusing on your goals via the aforementioned visualizations, affirmations, positive thinking, etc., inspired action is the “reward” that you get. It is the Universe telling you that NOW - not later - is the time to take action towards your goals.

However, just because you are inspired to take action, that does not necessarily mean that the action you take will lead you directly to your goal, which is where most people falter.

Whenever they take their inspired action, they assume that the action was put in place for the sole purpose of leading them directly to their goal. Yes, the action is meant to lead you towards your goal, however, that does not rule out the fact that you may have to work through other avenues of approach during that process.

It is often the case that the Universe will take you to places where you will learn things that are critical for you to know in order for you to attain whatever you are trying to manifest.

For example, my primary goal is to achieve time and financial freedom via the products, services, and free information that I post in various places on the Internet. Although I have a lot of knowledge about search engine optimization, web development, social bookmarking, etc., I had never previously attempted to actually make a full-time living primarily over the Internet.

As I have focused on my goals and aspirations, I have been led to some incredibly powerful resources that have taught me more about providing value to others, while also monetizing the process.

Although my primary goal is to achieve time and financial freedom by helping others, I have been led to resources that consumed a lot of my time doing what are affectionately known as “non-income producing activities,” also known as “getting the proper education.”

Just last night I had blocked off several hours to blog here on the Today is that Day site, as well as to comment on blogs owned by other people in the self improvement arena. However, starting with one stray link that took me to an article about creating catchy headlines, the next thing I knew I had burned through my entire block of time, and in fact had used more time than I had originally allotted.

Here is the thing, though. The education that I received by following links such as all of those listed below in the CopyBlogger² footnotes, I now have knowledge that will literally serve me for the rest of my life, and will drastically improve my chances of achieving massive success with my online endeavors.

So, even though my primary goal is time and financial freedom, I burned through more time than I had allotted, and I certainly didn’t get paid a dime for the hours that I spent reading through those articles.

However, I listened when I was inspired to read through that information, and now I am not only armed with a wealth of information that I didn’t have before, but my confidence in my ability to achieve my goals is higher than ever.

So, as you go through the efforts of achieving your dreams, and you don’t meet with immediate success, do not give up!

If you are properly focused on what you want to achieve, there will be a very real reason behind every action that you are inspired to take.

Do yourself a favor and listen to your intuition by taking that action!

Footnotes:

1 - Success from the Nest

2 - CopyBlogger Links:

7 More Sure-Fire Headline Templates That Work

Why Some People Almost Always Write Great Post Titles

How to Write a Killer “How To” Article That Gets Attention

Even people who are “gung-ho” law of attraction junkies sometimes falter when it comes to what type of action they are supposed to be taking in order to achieve their dreams.

The Law of Attraction is not about just sitting on your butt and visualizing a glorious life, and then getting up to answer the doorbell whenever the delivery man shows up to bring it to you.

Yes, you can and will affect things other than your own personal interaction with life when you start to invoke the Law of Attraction, but that doesn’t mean that you personally are not supposed to get up and work towards your goals when you are inspired to do so.

On that note, many of the popular self development gurus have gotten together and made a movie that combines the power of your attitude with the power of your action. Here is a great preview, and it will be released in April 2007.

Enjoy!

When thinking about your desires in life, there are 2 concepts that usually come into play. One of these concepts is obvious, the other is not, but both are powerful in determining whether or not you get what you want!

The most obvious thing that people think about is how they are going to accomplish any given task. This is probably the most self-limiting practice that you can consciously partake in.

Yes, it is a good idea to take action whenever you are inspired to do something that will take you towards your goal. However, if you constantly focus on how you are going to get something that you want, then you will easily fall prey to circumstances that take you off track.

Your only job in the process of creating what you want is to focus on what you want. The “how’s” will work themselves out by the simple fact of you staying focused on what it is that you desire.

The second concept is a bit more slippery to grasp, although it is equally as powerful in determining whether or not you are going to get whatever it is that you are after in life.

The concept that I am talking about is whether or not you believe - on the inside, where it counts - that you truly deserve whatever it is that you are wanting to attain.

As Antonio points out over at ThinkBanc¹, what you have in your life right now represents very specifically what you think that you deserve.

The beliefs that each of us have about our lives have been ingrained in us over the years and serve to dictate our lives on a day to day basis.

If those beliefs are positive and empowering, then you are good to go. However, if those beliefs about what we deserve are limiting, they are now coined as “self-limiting beliefs” and that is exactly what they do - they limit us to a certain level of success in life.

For some people, this comes in the form of health and weight loss. They don’t truly believe that they deserve to be healthy and beautiful like other people, so they subconsciously manifest that result over and over again into their lives.

For even more people, this same concept manifests itself with regard to their financial status. If you truly believed that you were deserving of riches, and that you could handle the “wealthy” lifestyle, then you would be in the process of manifesting that lifestyle every day.

Although most people will say indignantly, “I deserve money!”, the truth is that there is a self-limiting belief underneath the surface that is feeding them just enough of the opposite thoughts to keep them from ever amassing any significant wealth.

However here is the thing that you should take away from reading this post that can literally cause you to start manifesting money - or anything else - right at this moment:

If you have a strong enough desire as well as a belief that you deserve wealth, health, or anything else, you will set the universal forces in motion that will bring those things to you - just because you want them and believe that you deserve them.

As Robert points out over at the My Self Development² blog, the Universe does not have any feeling either way about what you are trying to bring into your life.

In fact, the Universe doesn’t have any feeling about anything. It simply responds to the energy that you put out there.

If that energy says “I want this and I deserve it,” then you will get it. However, if that energy says “I want this, and I think I deserve it, but deep down inside I’m not sure,” then all the Universe will deliver is more reasons for you to be unsure about your level of deserving.

The universal powers that are literally at your “beck and call” are just as certain as those that cause the sun to set each night, and then rise each morning.

Whether you live on a polar icecap where day-time and night-time can seem endless, or if you are in an area that gets a light and a dark cycle every 24 hours, one thing is certain:

The sun will always come back up and the night will always fall.

The fate of your life is just as certain, and just as predictable based on what you believe.

If you want success, then believe in success. If you are not experiencing success in some area of your life right now, then on some level, you either don’t really want it, or you don’t really believe that you can have it.

Either way, YOU are in control of what happens next.

Footnotes:

1 - ThinkBanc

2 - My Self Development