On a dark, cold night (as most tend to be in January), Karin and I pulled the shades, got comfy in front of the fire, and surrendered to the pleasure. The guilty pleasure.

Yes, we turned on the season premier of The Bachelor. I will not try to explain or defend the allure of this program — it's a losing argument — but in our home it's one of those rare shows where we can both be equally entertained and provokes us to talk back at the television. 

"Nooooooo!" This guy's out of his mind! He should send her packing immediately. Don't even let her get her luggage, just take her straight to the the limo!"

Like I said, it's a guilty pleasure…

Anyhow, last night they had on a petite woman who, like the others vying for the bachelor, was certain she was destined to marry this perfect stranger. When sharing her feelings towards her bethrothed, she mentioned the law of attraction and how she had been envisioning them together as a couple. Because that is what she envisioned, she shared, clearly this is what would occur. She went on to talk about her vision boards and the importance of "balance".

As she spoke, I felt myself cringing for her. She was not coming off well. She sounded a bit dippy, out-o-touch. A kook.

And of course, moments later she was one of the first women dismissed by the bachelor. The producers smelled gold and continued to interview her after she was cut, asking her to elaborate on her vision boards. The point was to make her seem like more of a flake. After all, how well could this stuff work if she had just been sent home by the man she was intending to marry? Just another fool who bought into that pseudo-religion "Secret" fad. 

I do not know the woman or anything about her except for a few minutes of tape put together by some editors. But she got me thinking about my relationship with the Law of Attraction and how it's evolved over the past decade. Like any love affair, we've had our ups and downs. And this woman stumbing on about her vision boards reminded me of how close we came to splitting up for good at one pint. But today, we're back together. I think we're just meant to be.

Since this is the guiding principle of my life and work, I thought it was worth exploring here.

The beginning.

(coming soon)

 

I few days ago, I read this in my former client David's newsletter.

He wrote:

"A year ago, someone who provides guidance for our business asked what revenue level we intended to hit in 2008. I threw out a number that seemed achievable… and he laughed. "Why are you taking the easy way?" he said. "If you focus there, you'll have no chance of playing big." A few days later, I e-mailed him a much larger number, which I wrote on a Post-It note and placed under the glass on my desk. Nearly every morning, I looked at it and thought, 'We'll make it.' There must be something to the whole positive affirmation thing, because we surpassed that lofty number. Aim high. You might surprise yourself."

After reading this, I wrote David a note of congratulations and he replied that I was the "someone who provides guidance" he had referenced. I had engaged in so many conversations over the past year that I had forgotten this particular exchange from early January 2008.

As we enter into the New Year, this is a natural time to consider our intentions. So, let's talk about money for a moment. Money is synonymous with freedom, and freedom is at the core of our deepest desires.

Allow me to ask you the same question I asked David a year ago…

"How much money would you love to have flow in over the next year?"

Take a moment and consider your intention.

Do you have a clear answer that feels great?

Or are you struggling to arrive at an answer, noticing that thinking about money brings up feelings of resistance within you?

In my experience, I'd bet on the latter. Here's why.

Even though my question leads you to connect to what would FEEL great, we are so powerfully conditioned to let our THINKING run our lives, that we unconsciously allow our ego to begin a conversation in our head.

For example, when I asked David about how much money he'd love to have come into his experience, after a few moments of deliberation, he initially offered a very conservative number - a slight increase over his previous year's income - because that's all his ego let him believe he could create.

This is what always happens, because from the ego's perspective, YOU become the sole engine of creation that needs to DO EVERYTHING in order to MAKE SOMETHING happen. In other words, if your intention is to experience much more money, your ego tricks you into believing that you now have to figure out HOW you are going to do that.

As soon as you enter into that conversation regarding HOW (and of course, your answer is "I don't know!"), you have completely disconnected to the feeling of your desire. As a result, you now have zero chance of creating something that would truly feel great.

After hearing David's reply, I reminded him to connect to what would feel great, not what he thought he could make happen. As a result, he arrived at $200,000, and wrote this on a Mickey Mouse Post-it note, keeping it by his desk where he could see it all the time.

"I probably looked at it four times a week or so. I never worried about it. I never dwelled on it. I just noticed it and connected to my knowing that I was going to hit it. And then I forgot about it."

A year later, not only did David hit the number, but he exceeded it by a substantial margin. In fact, he allowed in almost $100,000 more that what he originally settled for. Pretty cool, yes?

When we hear of other people's successes, one of the first questions we tend to ask is, "How did you do that?" We want to know their secret so we can follow their example and replicate their success.

So how did David create so much extra income?

He did some stuff. Some stuff happened. There's a story there, sure, but it's really not relevant to the final outcome. The greater truth is that he focused on his desire, he connected to the feeling of his desire, and he allowed it into his life.

Each day you have the opportunity to do the same, free and clear of all your past experiences and struggles. Your work is to get clear in your desires, to get aligned with feeling good, and then get out of the way. It really is that simple.

However, while the mechanics of this process are simple, if you do not consciously practice this new way of being, you cannot and should not expect anything to change.

If you could create an extra $100,000 this year by investing 15 minutes each day, would you do it?

Better yet, what if I told you that I would show you exactly what this requires of you, and it would not have to cost you a cent?

To learn more about what this practice requires, please watch the video below… and get started!

The New Year is already here and 2010 is on the way…

Click here to learn more about the VCLN 2009 and register!

Hurry, deadline is JANUARY 5TH 2009!

I woke up this morning thinking about graduate school. To be more specific, my thoughts have been focused on Statistics classes. As a grad student in psychology, you were required to take four semesters of stats. My memories are not fond ones.

Nothing said pressure like a stats exam.

You had twenty people in a small classroom, everyone on top of each other, touching elbows. You could smell the anxiety in the room. The tests were all open book, and while this sounds helpful, it offered much less utility or comfort than you would think. Adding to the pressure, the desks were tiny — they were the old school, one-piece models where a half-desk is attached on the left side to the chair (If you were left-handed, you were pretty much screwed). When you opened the massive textbook, it dwarfed the entire working surface area. Good luck with your notebook, calculator, exam, and test booklet.

Absolute chaos.

I remember opening one exam and feeling my mind going blank. The words and numbers on the exam appeared to be written in hieroglyphics. I took some deep breaths and waited for my panic to subside, but it just gathered momentum. Blank blank blank. My study partner Sandy sat next to me and sensing my distress, moved her paper closer so I get a good look to get my brain kick started (bless her heart). However, I was so freaked out I could not even cheat properly. The tests usually had only four or five problems, and when time was called, I did not answer one. 

In the end, I still ended up with an A in the class. One reason was that the professor dropped your lowest grade (bless his heart). The other was that I started studying the old tests. You see, older classmates had been through the same hazing and if you bought them a beer every now and again, they were willing to share their collection of old exams from a particular professor. By dissecting the problems from old exams and working backwards with solutions in hand, I was able to figure out how to arrive at the correct answers. What's more, the tenured professors tended to become lazy, so by looking into the past, you could anticipate the sorts of questions that would be on the exam.

I mastered a system, not statistics. I got an A in every stats course, but today, I'd struggle to calculate a standard deviation, let alone a regression analysis. If I were back in school today, under that same level of pressure, I would almost certainly adopt the same strategy that delivered the A's. 

My point is really this: so much of what I see and hear about education is about achievement and getting the grades that allow for advancement to "the next level" (i.e, college, med school, and now some kids get tested to gain admission to private pre-schools). There's not much emphasis on learning  in many current educational systems.

Pressure to achieve does not allow people to the proper space and time to gain awareness to where their true passions lie. My prediction? The more we continue to strap kids into this system from childhood, the more we can expect a crop of disillusioned 30-40 year-olds who have no clue who they really are or where they are truly built to thrive in life.

Okay, related to this, I have a question for you… (and yes, it leads to a wee sales pitch, but it's a great product!

When was the last time you really studied something? Where you stuck your nose in some good books? Participated in stimulating discussions with other students? Argued a point? Had an old belief taken down like one of those old Vegas hotels after a demo job? Because studying and learning is one of the great joys of life.

Expansion + Evolution = Elation.

I learned a lot in college and grad school. However, most of the value of my education lies in learning how to learn (and how not to learn).  As I look back, not very much of what I learned in the classroom stands out as particularly helpful in the game of life.

But I learned how to live independently. I learned how to think and write in a particular way. I learned how to get up in front of a group of people and make my case. I learned how to teach.

And today I have evolved into a passionate student and teacher of the Law of Attraction. I study and practice every day and as a result, my life continues to grow in the direction of freedom, ease, and connection. This is my passion; this is what I here to share.

If it's time for you to engage in learning again — real learning — then I invite you to join me and a community of like-minded students in the Very Cool Life Network 2009 program. Deadline is Monday, January 5th!

 

Details are here.

There's a free bonus call this afternoon on intentions and money for all students. 

It's way cheaper than a single college course. And I bet the return on investment is many, many times higher (I'd figure it out, but then I'd be back to the whole stats thing…)

In any case, now's a good time to ask yourself…

"What am I learning that will improve the quality of my life in the next year?"

 

 

If you've been following this blog for the past few months, I'll assume that you're familiar with my unlikely spiritual teacher — an inanimate retaining wall that rests in front of my house.

Right after I contracted the job, the wall gave up the ghost. There are actually two walls, one is 90 feet long and 4 feet high, the other 75 feet by 3 feet.

This wall has taught me about my feelings about money, taking full responsibility for my feelings, and the power of consciously choosing a better thought. The whole experience has been like a graduate school class in personal development.

I am happy to report that the wall is done. And it looks beautiful — I am thrilled to put my eyes upon it each time I arrive home. What's more, somehow, the whole thing came in a few hundred bucks under budget!

Granted, the project was originally scheduled to take two weeks and ended up taking five months, but hey, who's counting, right?

To recap, I hired a contractor to do the job, mostly because he offered the best price, but I also trusted the dude and he billed himself as a stone mason.

Work began, I kept writing checks and then work stopped. My contractor disappeared with about $3500 and would not return my calls. And yes I called. And called. I stopped by his house several times. Very often my anger toward the whole situation would pop in my head as my head hit the pillow. I'd lie in bed and stew, unable to choose a better thought.

When I found myself reaching a better place mentally about the whole thing, my phone rang one day. He promised that he and his crew would be here on Monday. Monday arrived and I found myself looking out the window like a lonely puppy waiting for his master to return. No one showed. No one called. For weeks, no one returned my calls again. Feeling like a pissed off version of Charlie Brown after getting duped by the football trick one too many times, I was out for revenge.

Now revenge is not a great feeling place to be. But you know what? It felt better than where I was. And so I followed this thread.

My first idea was to take him to court and sue for my money, so I called my attorney. He told me to first check with the county clerk and see if my guy had any outstanding liens against him. If he did, even if I won, I'd be at the end of the line and the chances of getting my money back were nil.

So I looked him up, and sure enough, you could field a baseball team with the list of people he owed money. But according to my lawyer, I still had one card to play and I wasn't about to fold.

An hour later, I found myself in the District Attorney's office. He told me they pursued contractors in a criminal manner. Because the disputed amount was over three grand, he could charge my contractor with a felony.

I had told my contractor I wasn't playin' around… I admit, the thought of him getting hit with a felony charge made me giddy with satisfaction. I could picture him spewing the same bullshit to the trooper at his door, the trooper having none of it, telling him to watch his head as he got cuffed and stuffed.

Days later I gave my statement to a state trooper in my home. (As I told him my story, he kept shaking his head. I asked him why and he said he was dealing with a contractor that gambled away $10K of his home renovation money. I knew I had a strong ally.)

The trooper went to put the bracelets on him, but he was out of town and his family informed him of his visitor. That night I got a call from my contractor (so that's how you get them to call you back!) and his tone told me he was feeling the pain, but he'd been up against a wall before. He's a talker — a man who just keeps talking and who knows how to manipulate a conversation. I'd fallen prey to him several times already. This evening would be different.

I'd just seen the movie Fargo on cable and I stole a line from the film when he tried to spin me into his web of words and excuses.

"Jack, I'm not going to debate you."

He'd spew again and I'd repeat myself.

"I'm not going to debate you. You took my money, either pay me back or take your chances in court. Oh, with a felony charge, I'd hire a good lawyer if I was you."

No, this wasn't enlightened conversation. I was in war-mode and my sole focus was to bring this man down, to make him feel the pain that I felt he brought into my life. Throughout our conversation, I kept my thumb pressed on his windpipe.

And it felt good.

Eventually, he saw his situation clearly and he agreed to start gathering his nickels in order to pay me back. I called off the dogs with the state trooper and in a week I had most of what he owed me in cash (He gave me a notarized IOU for the balance. It's be good to see it, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Better to get something back then nothing, I thought.)

The funny part was that I met him over at his house to complete the transaction. He told me all the things that had gone wrong for him, and while I was empathetic, I really just wanted my money. But we shook hands like men. No hard feelings.

Just resolution to a problem.

While I had a hard time disconnecting from feelings of blame, worry about my money, or anger, I did begin to choose better thoughts. Even though revenge is not the highest level vibration, it beats despair. When I connected to revenge I was able to connect to disappointment. From disappointment, I could touch frustration. From frustration, I could eventually believe that I would see some money back from Jack. (You can check out the full emotional scale from Abraham-Hicks here).

Connecting to better feelings creates better realities.

A month before hitting my threshold with Jack, a beat up pick-up pulled into my driveway. Actually, "beat up" is being generous with the condition of the vehicle — it had no rear window and was leaking several fluids. Anyway, the driver knocked on my door, a man who had seen better times, but he told me he'd been driving past my house many times, and he'd noticed that their had not been much progress on my wall? Did I need help?

While I still believed my contractor would return like the prodigal son, I took the man's number. Now, when it was clear that Jack was out of the game and winter was fast approaching, I called the man who had reached out for work.

He arrived the next day at the appointed time and wrote me a reasonable estimate. And I found myself hiring him. He just struck me as man who could build a wall.

And he did.

He showed up. He worked hard. And he built me a beautiful, sturdy wall.

Every time I drive home now, I love what I see again.

And I hope I've internalized a lesson or two about choosing better thoughts… all the time…

zee trick, she is done

"DO YOU BELIEVE?"

DECEMBER 2008

Drew Rozell, Ph.D. partners with a select number of dynamic individuals, groups, and progressive companies who understand the value of raising their level of awareness to deliberately create the coolest version of their lives and businesses.

"This stuff works!"

 

Frozen apple from the recent ice storm. More cool photos here.

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DECEMBER 2008

Welcome, my friend…

'Tis the season!

I just finished wrestling a 9-foot, hundred pound tree to stand at attention in my living room. Hours before I headed out to a local tree farm, chainsaw in hand, to collect my holiday bounty. Within one minute of leaving the truck, I found myself with my heels momentarily parallel to the earth before landing flat on my back, another victim of the recent storm.

Fortunately the saw was still in the "off" position and I was able to continue my hunt with all limbs and digits in their rightful places. This being the country and all, I was the only person present at the tree farm — there was no one to even take my money. Expiring at a Christmas tree farm from a self-inflicted wound would have created a rather embarrassing legacy. So always bring a friend, folks! Or better yet, find a nice artificial pine…

My tree, a blue spruce with needles as sharp as, um, needles, did not go passively. After a few bad words, countless tiny punture wounds to my face, chest, arms, and legs, my quarry found its way to the top of my truck, and with a few more bad words, my living room.

So as another year comes to a close, it's time to kick back with a beverage in front of the fire and watch the white lights twinkle for a bit. Santa should stopping by any time now.

I hope you enjoy this month's holiday-inspired feature about the power of believing. In recent weeks I have am come into a new level of belief in my life and I've developed some conscious practices to reflect this. As a result, I notice that things keep getting better and better and better. 

As a result of this new awareness, I am leading a new community in the new year. The Very Cool Life Network 2009 begins in early January (pretty soon!). If you are ready to fully regain control of yor own destiny, I invite you to join us. More on this below.

Another year ends, another begins. They go fast. Make them count. Live deliberately.

Have a peaceful holiday…

Thanks for your support and thanks for reading this.

Really.

P.S. If you like this, please share it with someone. Or leave a comment. Same is true if you don't like it… Thanks!

 

 

DO YOU BELIEVE?

As the holiday approaches, I found myself reminiscing about my fondest Christmas memory. I was probably 7 years old or so, and by this age I had adopted the pre-holiday ritual of poring over the huge Sears catalog for weeks, amazed at all the wonderful stuff that was available. I can still smell the ink on the pages. This particular year my expectations were set to receive one big gift and I had my desires narrowed down to a Big Trac (a sort of programmable tank) or a remote controlled car. Unable to establish a clear preference, I decided to allow Santa to exercise his judgment.

When Christmas Eve finally arrived, I ricocheted off the walls with excitement. Because joy is amplified when shared, I remember deciding to sleep on the spare mattress in my older sister Nora's room where we could whisper in the dark about what was yet to come. I can still see the bright starlight streaming through the windows as I lay there listening for Rudolph's hooves to land upon the roof. And I remember how thrilled I was to hear them touch down in the middle of the night. My whole body vibrated with anticipation; morning could not come soon enough.

I woke before dawn, the house quiet and dark. I slipped out of bed and like a cat, silently prowled around to the other bedrooms. No one else was stirring, and so I proceeded to make my way to the stairs. As I descended, I turned the corner and the entire living room where our Christmas tree stood came into view.

Just hours before there were only a few gifts from relatives and family friends scattered about. Now brightly wrapped presents exploded from under the tree — gifts seemed to cover the entire floor. It was the most beautiful, the most magical sight I had ever seen in my life.

How wonderful! How fantastic! How thrilling!

I could hear my own heart beating in my chest and I scurried back upstairs to share my discovery with my four older brothers and sisters.

After repeated efforts to cajole everyone from their slumber (what was wrong with these people, anyway?), soon the smell of my mom's once-a-year cinnamon rolls filled the house and the sound of paper tearing filled the room. Sorting through the packages with my name on it, I identified the one with just the right size and shape. I peeled back the wrapping to see the picture on the box that sent electricity through me.

Big Trac! Big Trac! Ecstacy! Ecstacy!

Still buzzing with this miracle of manifestation, I continued to open more presents, these from my parents. Batteries. Underwear. Socks. My parents tried, but Santa was a tough act to follow. After this temporary lull in the action, I had trouble believing what happened next. My brother handed me another gift from Santa, one I had missed in my frenzied state. Unwrapping slowly (I like to make the surprise last), my first pass revealed a black rubber tire. And then there was another.

Could it be?

Yes. It most certainly was… The yellow remote controlled sports car from the Sears catalog! My brain almost short-circuited from the wonderfulness of it all. In this moment, the world was the most abundant place where everything I ever wanted came to me - beyond my wildest expectations! I spent the rest of the day playing with my siblings and taking my fantastic new toys to our family friends' homes. There were smiles everywhere we went.

Just writing this, I feel the exhilaration of that day as fully as I did when it unfolded. In recalling this memory, I can still touch those magnificent feelings of anticipation, magic, and joy. Everything I want just shows up! Everyone around me is so happy! Life is such a wonderful experience! In a flash, I can call all these feelings up and bask in the glow, making it all just as real as it was over three decades ago.

Perhaps you have a Christmas memory like mine. Perhaps not. But somewhere in your life, I would bet that you can call up a time where the feeling of pure joy pulsed through every dendrite in your body. As wonderful as that feeling is, as we grow older, often we allow ourselves to be seduced into leaving those feelings of unbridled joy, anticipation, and magic behind with our childhoods.

We give up believing in magic in favor of cold, hard reality. We allow our sense of wonder and anticipation be replaced by fear and doubt. We shut ourselves off from a true feeling of abundance, opting instead to put our attention on scarcity and lack.

The greater truth is that the world is no less a magical place than it was when you were a child. The manner in which the universe operates has not changed. Rather, it's likely that, with time, your beliefs, your focus, and your expectations have shifted.

What's the secret to regaining that childlike wonder?

You must believe.

You must believe in goodness. You must believe in limitless abundance. You must believe in serenity. You must believe in a universe of infinite possibilities. You must believe in the power of the unseen to create fantastic outcomes, better than your anything your logical mind could ever design. You must believe that you — and you alone — hold the power to create your reality. And from these beliefs, you must choose and practice being joyful.

When you believe and practice connecting to those wonderful feelings, you come into alignment with your desires. When you align, your desires manifest in your life. That's how it works.

Believing is beyond imagining, beyond wishing or dreaming. Believing is not fickle, sporadic, or convienient. Belief requires vigilance and commitment. Believing is a conscious choice, a disciplined way of thinking. Many people profess to beleive. Many fewer practice believing.

By choosing to believe in the inherent goodness of life and by entering into a practice of nuturing this faith, you reclaim the most thrilling way to live your life — a life that allows gifts to magically appear each day.

 

(Final note: If you want a personal, cool example of the magic of believing, take a moment to check out this post)

 

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When I write these promo sections, I've learned that I'm writing to a very small percentage of my readership. I'd estimate that 90+% of the people who read and enjoy my stuff never buy anything I have to offer, so right now I'll do my best to make my case for the other 10% of you. 

If you want to live like no one else, then you must begin to live like no one else. 

I'll start with a few questions for you to consider…

 

• Was 2008 your best ever?
• Is your life always getting better?
• Is your income increasing each year (despite the what the headlines say about the economy)?
• Is your relationship better than ever? (Are you even in a relationship?)
• Do you feel a greater sense of freedom, ease, and connection in your life than ever before?  

I hope that you can answer YES to all those questions. But I certainly would not be shocked if you could not. 

If you've not done much to invest in yourself and upgrade your personal awareness, I'd expect that this past year was much like the year before. And the year before.

Sure, you WANT things to change. Deep down, you believe things can change. But somehow, things seem to play out the same way… and that's rather frustrating. You may have even considered joining this community in the previous weeks. Part of you really wants to… but then part of you stops short, wondering if it'll be worth the cost.

Clearly, only you can answer whether you're ready, willing, and able to really live like no one else and upgrade your life. But keep in mind that the consequences of doing nothing. If you do not do anything significantly different in the upcoming year, my crystal ball tells me what your life will look like in December 2009. And it looks a lot like it does right now. And that might be fine… 

But does it feel like it's a very cool life? Are you in that club?

If I've got your blood pumping a bit, then take a moment to check out what I'm offering with my community of like-minded people who wish to consciously practice the awesome power of attraction.

So far, we're 16 people strong from around the world. 

Are you one of us?

The time is now…

Explore more and register here.

 

 

 

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>>> BOOKS <<<

 

• Money and the Law of Attraction by Jerry and Esther Hicks. So good, I'm reading it again. Will be the text for VCLN 2009.  
• Alaska Tracks by Ned Rozell (my brother with another great book! Get it for the adventurer in you!)  

 

Okay… One more photo…

ice, ice, baby! more shots here.

 

 

Check this page for updates throughout the month…

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ISSN: #1530-3101 Library Of Congress, Washington D.C., USA © Copyright 2008 by Drew Rozell, Ph.D. - All Rights Reserved