If You Can't SEE Your Success, Nobody Else Will.

The title of this entry sounds like a tired bumper sticker. But it sums up the theme of what I want to put forth.

In my last article ("The Secret To The Law of Attraction"), I detailed how the DVD hit “The Secret” lays the groundwork and provides the tools for everyday people to become extraordinary. If you haven’t checked out “The Secret,” go to their website at http://www.thesecret.tv/ and get ready to become transformed.

The interviews with people in “The Secret” prove that one’s mind is a powerful instrument that can change one’s life for the better. Based on The Law of Attraction that states we draw to us what we believe and what we express to the world around us, “The Secret” uncovers the powerful principle that we are masters of our own fate—painters of our own reality. The problem is that most of us don’t know that. We wander aimlessly through our lives, convinced that we are powerless over our fate and broken by the unseen puppet master who supposedly yanks our collective chain.

Well, if that’s what you choose to believe, then I guess that’s what you believe.

But for the rest of you who are willing to step out of a restrictive reality and venture into the realms of the endlessly wonderful world of palpable possibilities, keep reading.

I stumbled across “The Secret” in the summer of 2006, right in the middle of dealing with an endless string of rejections for “Protector.” The more rejections I received, the more depressed I became. The more depressed I became, the more I began to doubt my talent. The more I doubted my talent, the more I felt like giving up. The more I felt like giving up, the more depressed I got. The more depressed I got…you get the picture. It was a vicious cycle of “No’s” from publishers. Oh, I came close a few times, with agents and publishers asking me for “exclusives” to give them time to consider the book. But the final answer was always a “No.” The only saving grace was that publishers were strangely upbeat in their rejections. I kept being told that “Protector” was very good but they weren’t convinced they could sell it to the public. I heard continually from editors that if I could get “Protector” in the hands of readers, I’d have a hit. But yet, it never seemed to get past the “No” hurdle.

Then I happened upon “The Secret.” It was quite by accident but, then again, was it an accident? If you believe in what “The Secret” talks about, you know that it was no accident but another example of how The Law of Attraction works, attempting to bore a sliver of optimism into my depressed little heart and keep me focused on my publishing goal. I watched the film and was instantly captivated by the message that we have the power within us to create the reality that we want.

This wasn’t a new message to me by any means. I’d read many esoteric books on the power of the mind. In the 1990’s, an acquaintance suggested I buy a series of books by the author Neville Goddard who went simply by “Neville” in texts. In the late 1950’s, Neville was known as one of the “fathers” of “New Thought.” New Thought was a revolutionary concept that included the idea that one could transform their existence by not just imagining it but by actually living it as if it already existed. While Neville authored many books on the power of the mind, the one that I think spells it out most eloquently is “The Law and the Promise.” The “law” was The Law of Attraction. And the promise? The promise was that if the Law of Attraction was used to create a better world for yourself and others, there was the promise that one’s wishes would be fulfilled beyond their wildest dreams.

In his use of The Law of Attraction, Neville wrote and lectured about how he made a sea voyage from New York to see his family in Barbados during the Depression, without any money of his own. He related how, by the use of his “imaginal” power, he was honorably discharged from military service to continue his lectures during World War II. He regaled audiences in the 1950’s and ‘60s with awe-inspiring accounts of how others had made use of “The Law.” In one television appearance, Neville said, “Learn how to use your imaginal power, lovingly, on behalf of others, for Man is moving into a world where everything is subject to his imaginal power.”

In the latter part of the 1960’s and early ‘70’s Neville gave more emphasis to The Promise after he had experienced it. The use of imaginal power can change circumstances, “but is all temporary, and will vanish like smoke,” he maintained, if one didn’t use the power for one’s highest good and the good of others.

To read “The Law and the Promise” (as I have many times) is to expose oneself to an idea that is profound yet defies logical reasoning. Story after story is recounted in “The Law and the Promise” of people who put Neville’s ideas to practice and created the most incredible lives for themselves. Their dedication to their own “imaginal powers,” even in the face of ridicule and derision from their friends and family, is awe-inspiring and jaw dropping. The dozens of stories read like a delusional fantasy if it weren’t for the fact that each and every one is true .

There’s the older couple that imagined an office building next to their home but were only able to spend a minor amount of money that wouldn’t buy the framing, let alone the entire building. Yet, through this couple’s focused thought, a builder showed up “out of the blue” and offered to build them their office exactly in the specifications they imagined.

There’s the woman who saw a friend wearing a hat and thought to herself upon returning home how much she’d love a hat just like it. She spent the night imaging herself wearing that exact hat and by the next day, her friend called her “out of the blue” and mentioned that she didn’t like her new hat and wanted to know if this woman would like it.

And the incredible stories go on and on—testaments to the power of the mind to create and live the reality that one chooses to live.

Neville taught that it wasn’t enough to just want something. The next step was to live and act as if you already have it. Now, that second step is where most of us roll our eyes and worry that we’re two tomatoes short of a chef salad. We’re taught that it’s okay to want something and pine for it and tell everybody how much we REALLY, REALLY want it. But it’s another thing entirely to live one’s life as if one already has the thing. I mean, isn’t that bordering on delusional?

Well, yes, it probably is delusional if all you do is live like you have it but you don’t make an effort to move yourself closer to the goal. The whole idea is to create an energy around you that literally WELCOMES the desire into your space. Once that energy is sustained by your constant belief that you have the thing you want the most and once you move toward making strides in that general direction, the law of attraction guarantees that you will most certainly attain what you want to fill that space. Doors will open “unexpectedly.” People who can help you will show up “out of the blue.” Bizarre “coincidences” will occur that you put you in the “right place at the right time” to make your dreams come true . It’s happening around us all the time. How many times have you heard someone say when they’re telling you about an incredible event in their life, “It was strange. It was like I was led right into it…” Or “I got a call out of the blue from a person who was able to steer me toward my desire.” Trust me. It’s happening every single day to thousands of people. The power to make one’s dreams come true is literally hovering in the ether just waiting for someone like yourself to grab it and change their life.

I had plenty of examples from my own life to prove to me that it’s true . For instance, my aunt grew up during the Depression and struggled with her husband and two children to make ends meet. Still, she dreamed of owning her own home. But it wasn’t just any home. My aunt dreamed of a white washed house with pink trim and a white fence around the ample front yard. She loved La Jolla, California because she loved the beach. Well, when she was dreaming this, she lived in land-locked Kansas and was having trouble paying the rent on their tiny abode. My aunt never read Neville or subscribed to any esoteric ideas. BUT that didn’t stop her from combing through magazines until she found the drawing of a house that absolutely, positively defined her dream. She cut out that drawing and taped it on her refrigerator. She then talked about the house, referring to it as “her house” and how it was located in La Jolla and how the kids could walk to the ocean. Okay, everyone thought she was nuts, but she didn’t care. She just kept focused on that drawing and projecting herself into it with intense power and belief.

What happened? Well, several years later, her salesman husband “suddenly, out of the blue” got an offer to relocate to Southern California…La Jolla, to be specific. He got a raise and they entertained the idea of buying their own house, even though it was a long shot. But then, life “miraculously” led them to a house on a quiet street…a white house with pink trim, surrounded by a white fence that enclosed an ample yard…And the terms of the sale were within their budget. My aunt essentially wished herself into a house that nobody believed she could ever attain…except for her, that is.

I thought a lot about my aunt as I watched “The Secret” and re-read Neville’s “The Law and the Promise” last summer when I was also opening yet another “Thank-you-but-no-thank-you” rejection letter from another publisher. The damn thing said the same thing: “We really like your book but we’re just not sure it’s right for us.” It was time to stand back and really analyze what I was unconsciously attracting to me. After careful examination, it seemed that I was attracting great reviews and enthusiastic replies but I wasn’t closing the deal. If I was really going to ignite the Law of Attraction in my own life, I realized that I had to look at where I was getting in my own way. In other words, where was I contributing to the lack of flow?

I realized that my main problem was that I wasn’t putting any positive energy into the reality of living as if I was a successful writer. I was so bogged down in the dead, heavy energy of “Let’s hope this publisher says ‘yes.’ God, I’m getting tired of hearing ‘no.’” Yeah, that’s really a prosperous mentality, isn’t it?

I made a list of what I would like to see in regard to “Protector.” That list included a website dedicated to the book that was “innovative, memorable, original and compelling.” I didn’t know any website designers nor did I want to personally build the site on my own, but I didn’t let that transient fear stop my progress.

The list also stated that I attracted a publisher that was “willing to take a chance on a first time novelist and would quickly and easily publish the book by January 1st, 2007.” There was no publisher ANYWHERE and this was July of 2006. On average, books take around a year to be published after they are accepted and the contract is signed. Still, I held to that January 1st date.

I added many more desires such as, “Readers respond to ‘Protector’ on a deep level and I’m getting great five star reviews.” In keeping with living the reality, I typed up a series of “reviews” from readers and newspapers. In one of them, I stated, “Laurel Dewey has created a memorable character in Jane Perry—a fictitious, yet real woman, who I hope to see in other books by Laurel Dewey.”

To cap it off, I downloaded a copy of the New York Times Best Fiction Best Seller List, and pasted “Protector” over the #1 book, changed the date to late 2007 and taped the page on the window in front of my computer so I could see it on a daily basis.

I did all this and then I continued with Step #2: I talked and lived as if it all had come true . Okay, I’m going to admit that at first it was a bit odd. My husband wasn’t sure how to respond in the beginning when I told him that I got another “five star” review on Amazon for “Protector” or that my website had 200 hits in its first few days of being up and running. But eventually, he played along and we gleefully bantered about the book and all the success it was bringing to us.

The best way to explain what happened next was to imagine a floodgate opening and a powerful wave of water pouring out into an open river. Within six weeks of living the new reality, I had come in contact “out of the blue” with a great website designer who was thrilled to create an innovative, memorable, original and compelling site.

Simultaneously, I “happened upon” a small press publisher who readily agreed to publish “Protector” with a January 1st release date.

“Protector” was published on that date and I’ve received dozens of emails from readers repeatedly expressing to me how the book has touched them on a “deep level.” The real kicker? Within a few weeks, I received a five star review from an “official” reviewer that commented “…Laurel Dewey has crafted a story both touching and riveting. I sincerely hope that we will get to meet Jane and Emily again….” A second reviewer wrote, “Dewey’s heroine, Detective Jane Perry, is as real as a fictional character can get.” As you can well imagine, I was stunned at the nearly identical phrasing that I had written in my “imagined reviews” in July of 2006.

I’ve still got the page I copied from the NYT Best Seller list with “Protector” featured in the #1 position taped on the window in front of my computer. And my husband and I still talk about how incredible it is that a book that nobody wanted to publish has made it to #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List. The only difference now is that my husband is really sold on the concept of “Imaginal Power” as he has watched the whole incredible process unfold before his eyes.

And me? I’ve learned that it’s more enjoyable to engage in the life you want to live rather than wallow in the fear, hand wringing and apprehension of the “what ifs” and “let’s cross our fingers and hope…” The coolest part of it all is that when your reality catches up with your imagined one, you’re already comfortable in the skin of that world and able to deal with your responsibilities because you’ve been talking about it and acting as though it’s already happened.

I encourage you to give it a shot and see what it’s like to live your dream.