The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent

I love that.

Have you seen the YouTube video “Everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy”? If not, check it out on our site. Pretty funny.

A comedian on Conan O’Brien’s show goes off on how ridiculous it is that we ignore all the *AMAZING* things going on in the world and focus on all the stuff that isn’t quite perfect. And, in the process, make ourselves miserable!

My favorite part: he says we shouldn’t be allowed to EVER complain when we’re flying in an airplane. We should all be beaming with joy at the fact we’re SITTING IN A CHAIR IN THE AIR (!!!!) getting to places in hours that used to take years or decades to get to.

So, next time you feel inclined to get your grumpy on when you’re experiencing the miracle of FLYING, please pause for a moment and realize you’re going 500+ miles per hour while sitting in a chair thousands of feet off the ground and see if you can’t swap a little appreciation for your complaining. :)

(Oh, and that trick works for pretty much anything, btw. There’s ALWAYS something remarkable about our present moment and we ALWAYS have a choice to focus on that or the part that’s not going the way we think it “should.”)

This book starts with an overview of the ideas behind “Deliberate Creation” and then it applies these ideas (via various processes) to all aspects of our lives—from relationships and work to finances and physical health.

That quote above shows up AGAIN and AGAIN throughout each of those sections.

So I figured it was kinda important. :)

“For any desire to be realized by you, or before anything can manifest in your experience, there must be vibrational compatibility between your desires and your beliefs.”

In short, if you want something and you don’t think you can have it, you’re going to suffer. And, if you REALLY want something and you don’t think you can have it, you’re REALLY going to suffer. (Think: depression, rage, etc.)

Positively, if you REALLY want something and you REALLY believe you can have it (and are leaning toward that desire with consistent inspired action), you’re going to feel REALLY good. Think: joy, enthusiasm, love, appreciation, giddiness, etc.

Quick philosophical tangent: One of the reasonsI love Esther and Jerry Hicks’ wisdom is that I think they provide a really powerful alternative to the whole weird reading of Eastern thought that leads to the conclusion that “desires are the root of all suffering, so get rid of your desires and you’ll get rid of suffering” mumbo jumbo.

That’s just never made sense to me.

Desires (whether it’s my desire to eat or sleep or go to bathroom or whatever) play a vital role in my life. Clearly, if I’m *attached* to having every desire met every moment of my life (and resisting what is), I’m going to suffer. (BIG) BUT, if I try to purge myself of all desires (which is totally, insanely impossible), I will ALSO suffer.

The real question, of course, is: How do we live with Divinely-inspired visions of the future AND feel great moment-to-moment-to-moment?!?

This, as you know if you’ve read many of these, is a significant theme in my overall wisdom-quest.

Let’s explore some Big Abraham-Hicks Ideas on how to do it! :)

“For any desire to be realized by you, or before anything can manifest in your experience, there must be vibrational compatibility between your desires and your beliefs.”

Deliberate Creation vs. Creating by Default.

Reminds me of a few things: having what psychologists call an Internal vs. External Locus of Control; being a Creator vs. a Victim; and being Proactive vs. Reactive. Each juxtaposes taking responsibility for your life rather than merely letting life throw you around. As we discuss again and again, the difference is *really* important for our overall well-being. Let’s take a quick look at each.

Internal vs. External Locus of Control. If I have an external locus of control, I blame things outside of me for my problems—from a “bad” economy or “bad” childhood or “bad” anything. I’ve put “bad” in quotes because it’s ALL subjective and your idea of “bad” might be someone else’s treasure. In fact, someone with an internal locus of control would realize that anything and everything is neutral and, rather than blame the outside circumstances, they’d choose to see the best in it and do what they can to create what they want. Super powerful distinction. And, one of the easiest ways for psychologists to predict your emotional and physiological well-being is to find out where you put control. So, go Internal with that Locus of Control will ya, yo?!? :)

Creator vs. Victim. Another way to describe internal vs. external is Creator vs. Victim. Check out my Notes on The Power of *TED for a really cool look at this model. In short: Creators aren’t Victims. They have an internal locus of control and, as a result, a MUCH better life.

Proactive vs. Reactive. Yet another way to look at it is via Stephen Covey’s Habit #1 (see Notes on his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People): Be Proactive. You can be proactive or reactive. If you’re constantly “reacting” to your environment you’ve lost your “response-ability.” And, you wanna get that back. :)

When you do, you’ll move from “creating by default” to “Deliberate Creation.”

Fun.

“To have conscious awareness of the value of your alignment, and to understand how to achieve it and how to maintain it, is the optimal experience. We call that Deliberate Creation.”

The idea that we have an Emotional Guidance System is one of Esther and Jerry Hicks’ primary gifts to the world. I go into more detail on it in my Notes on Ask and It Is Given and Money, and the Law of Attraction.

For now, know this: “Nothing is more important than the vibrational alignment, or maintenance of the continuum, between you and You, for every moment is impacted by your Connection or lack of Connection to your Inner Being.”

And this: “… you deviate from the loving frequency of the Inner You, but the Non-Physical part of you (that God Force, Source Energy, Inner Being, or whatever name you assign to that Eternal Non-Physical Energy from which you have come forth) never, under any conditions, feels anything less than love and appreciation for that which you are.”

And this: “From your state of balanced energy, you experience clarity, vitality, eagerness, physical wellness, abundance in all things you consider to be good, and an exuberant state of joy. This is the natural state of who-you-really-are.”

Well, that’s an obvious statement, eh?!?

But you might want to re-read it, because it *really* captures what effective living is all about.

“You can always correct your course, but the sooner you are aware that you are off your path, the better and more satisfying your journey will be.”

I like to think of this when I wash my dishes. You ever notice how when you wash a dish shortly after using it it’s MUCH easier to clean than if you stick it in the sink then let it sit for awhile?

Same thing with our challenges. The sooner we can notice we’re going down a path that just isn’t serving us (whether that’s in a little event like someone cutting us off in traffic and catching ourselves before we get cranky or in a bigger event like finding ourselves in a job or a relationship where we’ve let years/decades of “ick” pile up).

We can ALWAYS correct course. Let’s just see what we can do to become more aware EARLIER on when we get off path and correct course sooner and sooner and sooner until we find that we get off path less and less and less! :)

This is great.

Often times we get ourselves into trouble when we want to feel THE (!) perfect emotion in any given moment. Um, yah. Not always gonna happen.

Esther and Jerry call themselves “eternal spewers of processes” and one of the key reasons to get their books if they resonate with you is to tap into the array of different “processes” they recommend to shift your emotional state from a less desirable to a more desirable one.

Their process called “The Book-of-Positive-Aspects” is a really cool one. Super simple. Super powerful.

Imagine you’re feeling a little less than stellar. Rather than trying to reach for the “perfect” thoughts to create the “perfect” state in that moment, take some time and write down all the positive things about your situation. That alone will get you rockin’.

How about an example? I’m writing this from Bali where I’ve been on sabbatical for eight months. I just moved to a new villa for a month. Super sweet and… as I’m trying to write this morning, there’s ALL kinds of noise cropping up every few minutes—from a random blower-like thing to some hammering to… All of which is threatening to get me a little feisty and give me a convenient excuse to forget my commitment to write today and “come back to it later.”

My quick “Positive-Aspects” process is really simple: I start by reminding myself that I’m in Bali in a sweet villa on sabbatical getting paid to write about wisdom I’m passionate about. Complaining about ANYTHING in this situation is kinda like complaining when I’m sitting in a chair in the air. Not cool. I also see the positive opportunity for me to avoid the knee-jerk response and truly PRACTICE this stuff. Then the noise becomes a challenging gift! I could go on, but that’s pretty much enough for me to get back to rockin’ it. (Muting the outside noise by putting the head phones on with some nice alpha/theta creativity-inducing music didn’t hurt either. :)

The point is we can ALWAYS move from the weak, disempowered, victim-oriented “creating by default” mode to the strong, empowered, creator-oriented “Deliberate Creator” mode!

So, how about you?

Something currently tripping you up?

Create a little “Book-of-Positive-Aspects” and automatically get yourself pointed in the right direction!!!

(Seriously. It’s powerful. Go for it. :)

I am stressed about: ____________________________________________________

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These are all the positive things I can see in it: __________________________________

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Genius.

We can spend ALL of our time wishing we were somewhere else, had more of this or more of that but the fact is: a) We have what we have NOW; and, b) We will only EVER experience life in the NOW.

So… If you believe Esther and Jerry, Eckhart Tolle (see Notes on The Power of Now), Byron Katie (see Notes on Loving What Is) and the countless other teachers who say the same thing, NOW is a good time to feel great. :)

“I don’t have to figure it all out at once. I just have to figure out, right now, how to feel a little better than I was usually feeling, right now, how to feel a little better than I was usually feeling.”

This is fantastic.

It’s so easy to go straight for THE most complex aspect of our lives and try to solve it with a still-developing set of tools.

It’s ALWAYS better to start with the simple.

As Krishnamurti says (see Notes on Think on These Things): “To go far you must begin near, and the nearest step is the most important one.”

If we want to travel a great distance in our spiritual evolution, we’ve *gotta* start with where we are and take the next, simplest step in our path. It’s not quite as sexy to focus on the super simple fundamentals but when we get in the habit of doing our best with the SMALL THINGS we find that less and less “big” things crop up and, when/if they do, we’ve got the skills to flow with them with more joy, flow and ease.

So… What’s an easy challenge in your life to which you can apply some of the truths you believe in?!? (Get on that. Create some wins and watch your power grow!!! :)

Ah… Are YOU willing to play at the Leading Edge of creation and dance with your creative genius?!?

Good. :)

That difference between where we are and where we’re destined to be is often called “dynamic tension.” We’ve gotta learn to embrace it. Life is one beautiful opportunity for expansion into a deeper and deeper connection to our Highest Selves and as we embrace our truths and align more and more consistently with the Divine within us, there’s a effervescent joy that just kinda bubbles up, eh?!?

To that bubbling,