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I BELIEVE THEREFORE I AM
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Advance Praise for Claire McGee and I Believe Therefore I Am

Buy, read, and study this book. If you can believe it, then you can achieve it. Whats better than achieving the you that you really want to be? Tom Nicoli Award-winning, Board Certified Hypnotist A Better You Hypnosis, Inc. Author of Thinking Thin: The Truth About Weight Loss www.tomnicoli.com

Claires analysis of the language we use and how it affects our beliefs alone is worth the price of the book. Mary Anne Wihbey-Davis Author of The Sales Messenger President, Peak Performance Solutions www.peakperformancesolutions.com

The main thing Ive noticed about the highly successful people that I know is that they believe things about themselves and the world differently. This book will help you achieve that difference. Charles Umphred VP Marketing Scent-Sations, Inc. www.scent-team.com

Im all about BE-lieving; therefore, I am all about this book. Fireball Tim Lawrence Hollywood Movie Car Designer and TV Host www.thehollywoodgarage.com

To effectively use the Law of Attraction, you must know how to control your thoughts and beliefs. This book will show you how to master both. John Peace www.law-of-attraction-guide.com

As a manager of Human Resources, I highly recommend I Believe Therefore I Am to anyone who is truly interested in creating positive lasting change in his/her life. Ann Fitzpatrick Human Resources Manager

I am inspired to share this book with others so they may reap the benefits of such a positive influence. Brian Brown Manager

I Believe Therefore I Am is clearly written and offers practical applications for drawing the best life has to bring to the reader. Kate Tingley Counsellor

Claires brilliant methods of sharing and teaching makes learning easy and enjoyable. Laurie Yeates Nursery-Greenhouse Manager

I have read many books about positive thinking, The Secret being the most recognizable. However, I Believe Therefore I Am is the only one that gave specific exercises, examples, and methods to actually be able to change how I think. Leann

I BELIEVE efore her T I AM

How to Deliberately Live Your Life by Programming Your Mind for Success, Happiness, Love, and Fulfillment

Claire McGee, M.Msc

Kallisti Publishing
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Kallisti Publishing 332 Center Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702 Phone (570) 825-3598 Fax (419) 781-1907 www.kallistipublishing.com I Believe Therefore I Am. Copyright 2011 by Claire McGee. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in review. Kallisti Publishings titles may be bulk purchased for business or promotional use or for special sales. Please contact Kallisti Publishing for more information. Kallisti Publishing and its logo are trademarks of Kallisti Publishing.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011928312 ISBN 0-9678514-7-5 ISBN-13 978-0-9678514-7-1

DESIGNED & PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Table of Contents
Introduction The Keys
First Key: Will Power to Achieve Why Is Will Power an Important Key? Second Key: Conscious Decision to Take Intended Action Why Is Conscious Decision to Take Action an Important Key? Third Key: Subconscious Belief in the Outcome Why Is the Sub-Conscious Belief in the Outcome an Important Key?

x 1
1 2 3 4 4

We Are Energy I Told You So The Mirror

6 12 16
16 20 20 30 33 34 37 39 41 13 14

Red Light or Green Light: You Choose Become Aware of Your Thoughts The Mirror An Exercise for Being Inwardly Aware Check-In: An Exercise inSelf-Awareness

Positive Thinking Follow-Through Method We Are Magnets

See the Good in You &You See the Good in Others Stew or Steak: Creating By Default Deliberately Set the Stage for Your Day Planting the Seed: The Law of Gestation Go Shopping in Your Mind Focus on What You Do Want!

26 33

Claire Bridging the Gap The Pros & Cons Setting in Motion
Make the Commitment: Define Values for Expecting Results Make the Decision: Taking Yes for the Answer Reading the Signs

ix

43 46 51
53 56 65

McGee

Brain Filtering

63 71 87 113
114 114 111

Talking to Ourselves The Words We Use Positive Communication

The Word List Does Continue An Exercise in Positive Communication Empowering Others to Take Action: The He Said, She Said Scenario Which One Is the Telephone Pad? We Live Up to the Expectations We Place on Ourselves Build the Foundation for Your Success Positive Statements, Conscious Reminder Affirm Your Belief in Your Ability to Achieve Affirmation Practice

Habitual Beings

120
121 121 124 126 127 129

Catch and Release The Elevator Meditation Your Goals

132 139 143 149 153 158

150 143 141

Let Your Emotions Be Your Guide Your Lifes Mission Statement Continue the Progress

Its Just Beginning

Coaching with Claire About the Author

Introduction
t one time in my life, I had just about everything a woman could want. I had a loving husband whom I loved very much. I had two beautiful children who doted on me as much as I doted on them. My house was full of fun and laughter and love and was in a constant state of hustle and bustle. I was also successful in business and continually advanced within the company I worked for. I thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing and I was very good at it. I started out as an Executive Assistant and worked my way up to a Market Analyst. The company was impressed with my performance and I gained a great deal of respect from my employer. Life, in a word, was awesome. Then I became very sick. When I was twenty-eight, I was diagnosed with a rare hereditary and debilitating muscle disorder Congenital Fiber Type Disproportion Myopathy. Ever have a cramp in your toe or a Charlie horse in your calf muscle? Thats what I dealt with on a daily basis a hundredfold. The spasms and cramps affected my entire body. I was unable to smile without my face seizing up. I was unable to go for walks or play with my kids without being in severe pain.

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When I was twenty-nine I had an episode where a muscle spasm cinched the main artery on the left side of my neck, blocking the blood flow to my brain. I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance with stroke-like symptoms. I ended up being in the hospital for a week. When I left, I had to walk with a cane. I was unable to work anymore. I was unable to play with my kids. I was unable to be a wife to my husband. My life was gone. Every day I moved with care because I was scared. I didnt know when the next attack was going to hit me. I was nervous, anxious, and became increasingly sad. Every thought I had was focused on the fact that I was sick and I had lost everything. The more I focused on the illness, the more I suffered physically, mentally, and emotionally. I felt like a terrible mother because I was unable to play with my children. I felt I was a terrible wife because I couldnt lift a finger to help around the house or enjoy my husbands company. I hated myself. I contemplated the reasons for my existence. I hated being sick. I hated being useless. I hated simply existing instead of living. I fell into a deep depression. Frankly, the only things that kept me alive were my children and the fact that they needed a mother. I think thats what caused me to snap. I wanted to be a good mother to my children, not the huddled mass on the couch. No more! I said. I had hit rock bottom. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I decided to do something about it. I took a very hard look at myself and my life and I realized all the self-damaging thoughts I was having that were affecting myself and all who came in contact with me.

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I was a mess and I caused it! I decided to be brutally honest with myself and find out what got me to where I was, what was causing me to stay there, and what I was going to do to change it. While my illness took just about everything away from me, one thing it did give me was the opportunity to do something that I had always wanted to do. Even when things were great, I always wanted to go back to school and get my Masters degree. So I did. I figured I was home anyway, I might as well do something I enjoy. Within four years I earned my Masters degree in Metaphysics. This accomplishment was a huge one for me because it was a dream I had all my life. It was a dream come true and I was the one who made the dream a reality! Whilst I was in school, I came to understand the fact that our souls and physical selves share a relationship one that is crucial if a person is to fully develop self-acceptance, appreciation, love, and courage and move forward positively in life. I began doing exercises that began the healing process. In school they referred to these exercises as Spiritual Mind Treatments. Because of these exercises, I came to understand that all this time my entire life I was repeating habits; I was living my life on a sort of autopilot that was guided by beliefs that were inculcated in me throughout my life. Growing up, I had difficult experiences. Those difficult experiences translated into habits I created in my adult years. The habits I am referring to were: shame due to what happened to me as a child; guilt for treating people poorly; anger for my peers isolating me; sadness because I had never made friends on my own; doubt in my ability to succeed; low self-esteem; an undeniable feeling of being unfulfilled; and the iron-clad

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belief that life was meant to be hard. I took all these emotions and fears and I dug a hole as deep as I could and covered the hole with a steel door and locked it. I then placed a cinder block on top. I thought if I could just bury them deep enough I could forget them. When this realization hit me, I began the process of developing my own personal exercises to remove the erroneous beliefs I had. I also endeavored to change the way I lived. I wanted to live consciously and volitionally rather than merely sleepwalking and responding to stimuli like some sort of lab rat. I realized that the more I focused on being sick, the more frequent the attacks. So I decided to concentrate on being well. That was the beginning. Every day I visualized all the things I enjoyed doing when I was well. In my mind I could see me at the park with my girls. I saw myself in a business suit again and saw myself contributing to society and to my home. This brought me pleasure, so I kept picturing being happy and healthy in my mind. I started to take small steps toward being well. I started by simply standing for as long as I could and every day I would try to stand for just a little bit longer. Eventually, I went for daily walks down the street. It was very painful; when I finished, I said to myself Good job, Claire, you walked today. After a while, I was able to walk around the block. While it was still very painful, I kept doing it. When I would finish a walk, I would say Congratulations, Claire, you made it farther today then you did yesterday. It was at this time when I started to talk to myself. I realized the types of things I would think and say that were damaging and decided to be nice to myself. I would say things like Your body is doing its job and healing itself, or You are moving forward and getting

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healthier and healthier by the day. Over time, I began to notice changes. I was able to walk further practically normally compared to the invalid I had become! and I was having fewer attacks. The fewer attacks and less pain I was having gave me strength and excitement, because what I was doing was working! One of the biggest accomplishments I had in my life was the day I noticed I was going about my day with minimal medications. The narcotics I was taking as needed became obsolete and the muscle relaxants I was taking every couple of hours became once a day instead. It was this realization that gave me the courage to call the disability company I was with and tell them I didnt need them anymore. I knew that I had to completely get my life back together. I was capable and healthy enough to move forward, so I did. I walked away from disability and I started my own consulting company. I now lead a highly professional and uniquely qualified team of motivational teachers who apply the techniques I learned and developed on a daily basis with corporations, educational entities and individuals all over the world. I look back on my life and I am thankful for all that I have experienced. It was these experiences that got me to where I am now, writing this book and talking to you. As human beings, we live in our own self-made reality. This reality is made up of habits which we have instilled in our minds through many years of self programming. These habits also make up our belief system and cause us to experience the same patterns over and over again in our daily lives. Whatever is our reality is our reality. This reality may differ from someone elses, which is okay. We are still valid because our way of life, our

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Claire

xv

beliefs, our decisions, our actions, and our experiences, cause us to live in and experience a very real personal and individualized reality. Another person may attempt to alter our perception of what our reality is. This is a valiant effort on the other persons part and, at the same time, often wasteful. It is up to us to alter our reality and make it whatever we want it to be. It is up to us to realize what habits are controlling our life and change them, if the purpose they are serving is self-destructive. This book is made to do just that. In the pages of this book, we will visit the reasons for the habits we have created throughout our many years of existence and experience. We will realize what habits we have developed that are self-destructive and what habits we have that help to advance our life. Through the many exercises in this book, you will eliminate and enhance habits through a process of selfreflection and realization. You will also delve into what the Law of Attraction is all about and what you can do to master your own success with this tool. Because we are habitual beings, the exercises in this book are presented in such a way that you can do each exercise as they are laid out in the book on a daily basis, until such time as it forms a new habit When you are performing the exercise, walk away from the book until you are ready to move to the next one. Remember, you are creating new habits and therefore need to give each exercise time and dedication in order for them to work and for you to see the benefits they provide. I wrote this book to share with others. We all deserve happiness. We all deserve to accomplish what we set out to do. We all deserve to feel good and love ourselves because it is our birth-right to do so. I watch people go about their day and feel the pain they have

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inside. I can see the cinder block they placed on this pain and want so much to lift it up for them. I wrote this book because it makes my heart sing when I see someone have a genuine smile on their face from a sense of being proud of who they are and what they have accomplished. I would love to see you happy. I would love to see that you know the true value you possess and the endless possibilities that lie before you. The world is an oyster that holds many riches riches every single person on this earth can benefit from. You deserve to feel fulfilled. So much so, that when you are eighty years old you can look back on your life and say I am proud of who I am, what I have accomplished, and am grateful for all my lifes experiences and the love I am blessed to have shared. It is for this reason I wrote this book. As much as I would like the world to benefit from the pages, I am truly grateful for having the inner awareness and knowledge to write the material. If one person can benefit from it, then I have succeeded. Claire McGee, M.Msc April, 2011

I Believe

I BELIEVE efore her T I AM

The Keys

ou hold three very valuable keys that can open doors to endless possibilities or lock doors and keep you stuck where you are. These three keys have molded you into who you are today and they will continue to shape you into who you will become. The method and exercises described in this book will enable you to take advantage of these three precious keys so that you can create the life of your choosing. One important thing for you to know is this: Whether you consciously and volitionally choose to use these keys matters not; either way, they will influence if not determine your life. The point is that you can choose to use them to the ends of your choice.

Weve all experienced a motivational speaker at some point in our lives or listened to an individual whom we hold in high regard. Maybe a friend who tells us that you can do it! If so, then you can recognize Will Power. Will power is the feeling we have inside that gives us excitement, courage, and energy. It causes a boost or a drive to take action on a decision we have made.

First Key: Will Power to Achieve

Therefore I Am

The Keys

For example, a senior position becomes available at work. This is a job that interests you, yet you hold some reservation as to whether or not you are suitable for it. Colleagues and family encourage you, telling you that you can do it. They remind you of all the assets you bring to the table. After listening to and taking in what these trusted people said to you, you feel motivated to take action. This starts your mind saying, Yes, I can do this! What do I have to lose? Its worth a shot. At that moment, your mind has decided to apply for the senior position. So you do. There are many examples of igniting will power. Parents encourage their children to succeed at whatever they set their mind on. Teachers encourage their students by giving incentives and positive words to keep the children motivated. Companies keep employees motivated through bonuses or feedback for a job well done. All these instances send a message to our mind sparking a fire within us to achieve. This fire is our will power. Once our will power is ignited, we make a decision to take action.

I Believe

Why Is Will Power an Important Key?

Without will power, we may lack the drive and ambition to take action toward a goal we wish to obtain. Without will power to get us started, we may become complacent or stagnant our lives follow the same disconnected emotions day in There is energy in and day out. the human mind Without the will power, upon which the habit decision making becomes difpatterns of weakness ficult. We may miss the deador success is formed. line for the job opportunity ~ Anonymous because we couldnt make a

The Keys

Claire

confident decision. When we tap into and turn on our will power (by feeding ourselves positive self-talk), we have basically lit the fire within us, sparking our conscious decision to take action. This then begins the process of creating a sequence of events that move us toward a goal we have set out to achieve.

McGee

Conscious Decision to Take Action is literally just that: You made a decision and are now taking the action to achieve what you set out to do. Deciding to apply for the senior position is a conscious decision. Along with the decision, you begin to give yourself motivating messages through self-talk such as, I can do this or Take the chance or I have the skills and Im going to succeed. You are constantly talking to yourself mentally. This chatter is coming from conscious brain activity. Additionally, with each thought you send to your brain, an emotion is triggered. This emotion is ruled by your sub-conscious brain activity and is very powerful when sending messages to others as well as yourself. (We will be discussing the ruler of our emotions, the sub-conscious, later in this book.) With each thought you present to yourself, an action and emotion follows. For example, your body grumbles a wee bit and suddenly you think to yourself, Im getting hungry. From that you make a decision on when to go and eat and what you are going to eat. Even if it was not time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you would look at the clock and see the time passing more slowly because you made a decision to be hungry. Your actions are now of looking forward to the meal you are craving.

Second Key: Conscious Decision to Take Intended Action

Therefore I Am

The Keys

Why Is Conscious Decision to Take Action an Important Key?

I Believe

Conscious Decision to Take Action and the thought we have sent to our brain creates one of action to satisfy the decision made. In every moment of every day we are consciously making a decision to take the next action. We are still making a conscious decision when we are doing nothing at all! Our decision is to do nothing and our action is not to act. Every conscious thought we have and every conscious word we say creates an action and reaction from our being.

Third Key: Subconscious Belief in the Outcome

Our subconscious brain is very strong at holding fast to experiences it recognizes as truth. All experiences we have encountered in the past are stored in our mind at a subconscious level, causing natural reactions from our being when a similar occurrence comes into existence later on. When our subconscious recognizes an experience, it draws upon previous results, causing our reaction to be one from the past rather than what may or may not be happening in the present. This steadfast approach our brain has been trained to do reacts to both positive and negative in the same manner. When we have had difficult experiences from our past, it is best to approach the present situation knowing our subconscious is calculating what it recognizes to be truth from a previous experience. If our subconscious recognizes this current experience as being negative, our reaction is one of protection causing us to take a stance of fight or flight. If our subconscious recognizes the experience as positive, we embrace this new experience with the same outlook.

The Keys

Claire

Our subconscious mind Conscious mind has a job to protect us when is reasoning will. we are hurt and encourage us Subconscious mind when we are happy. Therefore, is instinctive desire, every experience is processed the result of past by the subconscious, which reasoning will. causes us to naturally react. These reactions are based on ~ Charles F. Haanel what the subconscious mind has calculated from previous experiences.

McGee

No matter how much conscious effort we make to convince ourselves of something, or what actions we attempt to take toward our goals, if our sub-conscious does not recognize it as truth based on a previous experience, it retaliates, creating an internal battle. The battle between our subconscious mind and our conscious thoughts can and does often negate all our efforts to achieve a goal. Further to this, our will power is finite and after a significant amount of time struggling with this internal battle, we tire and lose focus and give up on our dreams and desires. Our subconscious believes. We make decisions based on those beliefs. Those decisions cause us to take action. The action causes us to experience. The experience reinforces our belief. Our belief therefore gives us our outcome. This is natural law and is the crux to the Law of Attraction.

Why Is the Sub-Conscious Belief in the Outcome an Important Key?

We Are Energy

hought is energy, both consciously and sub-consciously. Therefore, what we think is being projected to our environment and is being answered and reflected back to us. When we are around a person who is angry or sad, we feel their emotion. The environment we are in feels tense and gives rise to the saying We can cut this tension with a knife. People often refer to another persons energy as their vibes. We are either getting a good vibe or a bad vibe from another person. In the instance of someone producing energy based out of anger, the vibe another person in the same environment is receiving is associated as negative. This unseen negative impact causes the other person to move away or withdraw from the angry person. The angry person is now repelling other individuals occupying the same space. This is the same effect when individuals are around a person or people who are motivated, enthusiastic, and productive; the energy in the environment is pleasing and healthy. Most people feel comfortable in an environment such as this and continue to interact there. In this instance, the individuals are drawn to other individuals who are expressing positive vibrations and emotions

Energy

Claire

through energy. Whichever person you are angry or happy, glum or enthusiastic, dull or motivated you are repelling those who are in an opposite frame of mind and attracting others who are of the same mind. Notice in your daily environment individuals who flock together. In the lunch room at work for instance, these individuals are bickering about work production, company policies, or other individuals in the company. This conversation seems to occur every time these individuals get together because people tend to like conversations that fuel strong emotions and convictions. If during one particular lunch an individual is feeling frustrated about the conversation that keeps replaying over and over again and he has a different perspective and would like to change the subject or offer solutions, the majority of participants will prefer to discuss the issues at work with little resolve. After lunch, this frustrated individual feels agitated and has lost the desire to have lunch with these individuals in future. The next time this group of colleagues gets together, the individual who thinks differently decides not to attend, ultimately avoiding interaction with the group. We attract like minded individuals. For this reason we surround ourselves in conversations, people, and circumstances that keep our beliefs fuelled. If the collective environment at work lacks co-operation or is continually fuelled by problems with no resolve, individuals who are proactive tend to lose interest in their employment at the company. Often these individuals, after a certain amount of time trying to cope with the environment, become ill and go on sick benefits or seek employment elsewhere. This same rule applies to a very proactive company that recognizes the value employees bring to the growth of the company. Individuals who are unproduc-

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Energy

tive or feel a lack in some way, such as low self-esteem or fear failing the expectations of the company, also tend to leave the company one way or another. Generally speaking, and it is unfortunate to say, the first scenario of the proactive employee leaving the company tends to be most common. Emotions are contagious and cause others to react accordingly. Have you ever noticed when you are in a foul mood at home that your family tends to be upset or frustrated too? This happens to me often and I always think to myself, Cant I be miserable by myself? Why does everyone else have to be in a bad mood, too? I am affecting my loved ones and they are feeling my emotions. It is so strong at times that they believe the emotions they are feeling are theirs and yet are intelligent to know that I am the one causing it. Like yawning is contagious, so are emotions. Our emotions are triggered by our thoughts at a conscious level and are ruled by our sub-conscious beliefs in the experience. Therefore, whatever we are thinking, we are feeling; and whatever we are feeling, we are sending out signals in the form of energy to others around us. We either attract others who may assist us in advancing our lives or repelling them and making it more difficult to achieve our goals. Either way, we are attracting like-minded individuals who keep us in a circle of negative or positive experiences. To determine the type of individual you are attracting, pay attention to the conversations you are involved in. These conversations can act as a radar giving you the awareness of the types of circumstances you are attracting in your life. If at any time the conversations are opposed to your outlook, switch the focus by changing the conversation. If necessary, remove yourself from the conversation and begin to focus on positive circumstances in your life.

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Energy

Claire

Now is a good time to also discuss relationships past and present. Many people believe opposites attract. Some may reflect upon their life and say, Yes, my significant other is the exact opposite of me. On many levels that may be true. Regardless of how opposite two people are, though, there is a very real link between the two people in the relationship. They are like-minded and that link, when strong enough, is what brings two people together. When I first met my now husband, I was sad and very lonely. I had just separated from my first husband and was living in an area that was unfamiliar to me. Although a new relationship was the last thing on my mind, I met someone to whom I was instantly attracted. He too had separated from his wife, for reasons different than mine, and was looking for companionship. Philip, my future husband, also struggles with depression at times and was in a very lonely and vulnerable psychological state. The day we met there was a sudden pull toward one another. It was remarkable the strength of the connection. We became friends and eventually partners in life. I am naturally a very optimistic person who sees the world as an adventure. There are times, like everyone else, when I am down and uncertain as to what the future holds. When we met, though, Philip and I had some things in common: vulnerability, fear, and depression. We attracted one another because of our, at the time, like-minded outlook on life. Although we are very different from one another, we create interests together on a regular basis that help build our relationship and keep our link strong. It is for this reason I highly recommend to anyone in a long-term relationship or who are planning a lifetime commitment to do the exercises in this book together. This way the couple remains on the same wave

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length. If one moves forward and masters their ability to achieve their goals and the other remains stuck with the habits that hold them back, the couple may start to drift apart and therefore go in different directions. If this happens, it can be difficult to reconnect. When the energy people are vibrating changes, the interaction with others change. Someone who moves from being pessimistic to optimistic begins to move away from pessimistic personalities. As they move forward, they attract and are attracted to optimistic individuals. We surround ourselves with like-minded people and become increasingly repelled by the opposite. We are so repelled by the opposite mind that we can at times become very intolerant of them, thus making it even more difficult to communicate. This is one of the main reasons for relationship breakdown. Once the needs have been met which brought them together, they must find commonalities on a continued basis to keep the relationship strong. Otherwise, the partners are likely to listen to different energy waves and move away from each other, eventually causing a complete separation. Relationship building is also crucial when working toward our goals. It is rare to ever master our goals on our own. It takes knowledge, experience, and understanding. It takes resources and interactions with others. It is for this reason we must remain focused on our desire and seek out those who may aid us in achieving the ideal end result. By cultivating these relationships we gain mentors who can help us and provide us with knowledge through their expertise. They may also be the ones who can guide us toward our final outcome. These individuals may have the plan to get us going or a solution to a puzzling question. They may just be the ones who offer us the deal of a lifetime. The more we focus on what we want and the greater our belief is in receiving it, we begin the process of at-

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tracting like-minded individuals in our lives. Embrace these people for they may be the ones who get you where you want to be. There are ways to invoke healthy positive vibes that are expressed from our being. There is a way to change our thinking patterns that are producing selfdestructive habits and turn them into self-motivating, positive habit patterns and beliefs. Becoming aware of the words we use, the thoughts we have, and having a firm vision of the end result of a goal we wish to attain assists in training the brain to create the positive energy needed to advance our life. Further to this, we gain the personal power for attracting and achieving whatever we want. Going forward in this book, when you get to a page that has Stop Reading and Do the Exercises, it is time to put the book down and simply do the exercise every day until such time as it becomes a permanent habit. Only you know when it is has become a part of your daily habits, therefore only you can know when it is time to move on to the next section in the book. My general rule of thumb is seven days (one week) from the first day to the last day. Then on the eighth day resume reading the next exercise. With that said, lets keep going!

McGee

I Told You So

ur mind constantly likes to say I told you so. What is meant by this is that whatever our mind believes, our mind seeks out proof of its belief. For instance, we wake up in the morning and are running late. We misplaced our keys and the children are moving slowly. We become frustrated as the time ticks by. Our mind believes its going to be one of those days. When we think this, we have decided that this is the experience we are going to have. It is going to be one of those days. We are now driving to work and hit every red light on the way. We begin thinking Its taking forever to get to work I am going to be so late! That in turn feeds the belief of having one of those days. We become more agitated because we simply do not have time for this. By the time we get to work we are tense, frustrated, and aggravated. We are now sending out vibes to everyone around us and they have noticed. Some may ask how our day is today. Some may ask whats wrong. Some may even avoid us. As the day goes on, the frustration mounts. Throughout the day we witness and experience things that reinforce our first thought of having a bad day. After a while, we confidently say, I knew it! This is a bad day.

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Now keep in mind that on Whether you think this same day we may have you can or think you had a wonderful lunch with cannot, either way a colleague. We were perhaps you are right. able to complete a task or two ~ Henry Ford on our to-do list. We may have observed, learned, and experienced new things. These are all very positive experiences and they went by unnoticed. Why? Because our mind was focused on the fact that we were having a bad day. Our brain filters the positive aspects of our day and reinforces our belief: Its a bad day. What we believe, we think. What we think, we create. What we create, we experience, which reinforces what we believe. When we are reluctant to go to work (or any other required destination) in the morning or are simply not enthusiastic about the day ahead, we create a continued momentum of the feeling of lack and discontentment. When we are motivated, see the value we offer, and strive to reach our goals, we build a momentum for greater success and happiness in our daily lives.

McGee

There is a big difference between an optimistic reality and a pessimistic reality. This story illustrates this fact very well. Two individuals are at point A and both must get to point B within half an hour. Both individuals are driving down the road and take the exact same route. Both individuals come to five different intersections before reaching their destination. Upon arrival at their destination one says, I am here while the other person exclaims, Well, that was timed perfectly. Green lights

Red Light or Green Light: You Choose

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Therefore I Am

I Told You So

the entire way! The difference between an optimistic reality and a pessimistic reality is the optimistic person noticed the five green lights! Both left at the same time, both took the same route, and both came to the intersections. Both received the same opportunities. It is the optimistic person who noticed! This is a perfect example of the way our mind focuses on what it recognizes as truth. The pessimistic person feels or believes that life is meant to be difficult or perhaps is anticipating a bad day. When the pessimist is focused on difficult times, they fail to notice the advantages available to them. The optimistic person, on the other hand, is open to possibilities and is therefore more likely to notice small blessings that surround him or her on a daily basis. In this instance, the small blessings were the five green lights.

I Believe

Become Aware of Your Thoughts

You are now aware that every thought you have invokes an emotional response from your subconscious mind. This emotion is then sent out in the form of energy to others and your environment. You are also aware that your mind seeks out reassurance of its belief by continually focusing on what it recognizes as truth in our reality. This happens on a daily basis. Therefore, it is important to be aware of what thoughts you have and remain in control of what you are thinking. Every thought you think that is negative in nature attracts negative results to you. Every thought you think that is positive in nature attracts positive results to you. With that in mind, become aware of what you are thinking! Be aware of every thought you have and the

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emotion you are experiencing. Use your emotions as a radar to know if what you are thinking is proactive or selfdestructive. Chances are that if it feels good, then continue; if it feels bad, then change your thought patterns. Constantly be aware of the fact that your every thought has the creative power to either clear up your problems or to keep them alive and attract even more to you.

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The Mirror

he way you feel about yourself is vital to your success of attracting that which you want into your life. The mirror exercise is a very powerful way to embrace who you are and give you the ability to realize your accomplishments. Performing this exercise will allow you to reconnect with your true self and see the value you have to offer. When this exercise is conducted on a daily basis, you begin to invoke a strong positive feeling of accomplishment. This feeling of accomplishment is then sent out in the form of emotional vibrations toward all you come in contact with. The energetic signal you send to others causes a shift in both whom and what you are attracting. I remember when I was home alone suffering through my illness both in mind and body. I sat on the couch every day and watched mind numbing TV. I constantly thought about all my seeming failures and the fact that I was a waste of space. At one point in that self-loathing, feel-sorry-for-myself stage in my life, I came across an interesting perspective of our attitude toward living creation.

The Mirror

Dr. Masaru Emoto is a highly influential speaker on the topic of energy, vibrations, and the idea that every

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thought, word, idea, action, and even music plays a large role in the quality of life. He even found that simply by using negative suggestions, one can change the molecular structure of water! Rather than the water remaining pure, it transforms and reacts by producing a dark muggy appearance. Perhaps not surprisingly, positive thoughts create the opposite reaction: The water crystallizes with pure beauty. This information touched me and caused me to act. I figured if water can have that much of an affect just from our intentions and words we express, my body (being a large portion of water) must be having similar reactions. It was from that point I decided something must be done. Whenever I found myself in front of a mirror, I would look into my eyes and I would smile. I worked hard to muster up some semblance of kindness and gave myself a compliment. Every day I did this until my words transformed into genuine care and love for myself. At first it was hard and very awkward. In time, it came very easily to me. Today I can honestly say I believe it! I want you to do the same thing. Look in a mirror. Whilst looking into your eyes, say positive things about yourself. You look beautiful today. Youre a terrific person! Youre great and its good to be alive. The strongest and most powerful message to give is: I love you. Every morning (for a minimum of one week) as you get ready for the day, look in the mirror and straight into your eyes, smile and say I love you, (your name here). I love all that you have accomplished, all that you are accomplishing now, and all that you are accomplishing in the future. You offer great value and I love you.

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Therefore I Am

The Mirror

Quite often, when people Think of it in terms initially hear about this exer- of vibration. Its easy cise, they think Youve got to to understand that be kidding me! I know this language the spoken because I, too, had a similar word has a vibration. reaction. When we have these Well, written words thoughts, they speak loudly of the way our subconscious also have a vibration. mind truly views ourselves. Anything in existence Our brain is retaliating and has a vibration. creating a sense of unease. ~ Masaru Emoto This is a clear indication our belief system is in opposition. It truly does not believe we are worthy of self-love or any kind of love, for that matter. It is then even more important to do this exercise. You probably heard the expression For one to truly love another one must first love thyself. This exercise made those words bellow in my ears and what a revelation it was! There is a huge difference between loving someone and loving someone unconditionally. There are three types of love that people can experience. One type of love is the love for our family. We love our family because family is important and we would do anything for them. For others, the love of family is out of a feeling of obligation. Another love is the love for a potential partner in life. When we fall in love with this partner we constantly think about him or her and we develop a strong desire to be around them as much as possible. We receive feelings of excitement, warmth, and butterflies in our stomach. After a few months of this refreshing and new experience, we transform into feelings of comfort and normalcy. It is during this time that unconditional love plays a crucial role in the survival of this relationship. Many relationships tend to wither after the three-

I Believe

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month honeymoon stage because certain expectations develop or conditions are placed on the relationship. The third and most rewarding kind of love is unconditional love. We know we love someone unconditionally when we love them with all their quirks, terrible habits, actions and reactions different from our own, and our belief in the ability to see each other together walking hand-in-hand well after retirement has come and gone. This love is powerful and all deserve the right to experience and have this love in their life. In order to do so, one must unconditionally love them self and realize all the quirks, mistakes, and nuisances that make them who they are. Each and every one of us is an amazing unique creation of a perfectly designed orchestrated event called life. When you do the mirror exercise, you develop awareness to what it is I am saying. That is, if this awareness has eluded you up until now. By doing the mirror exercise, your smile becomes genuine. You can feel a sense of empowerment and perhaps a bit of excitement. It sets the stage for the rest of the day and begins to change your old habit of sending out a feeling of lack. Over time, this sense of well being becomes very much a part of you. You may find you even have a skip in your step. You start interacting with different people. You give off an air of confidence and feel self-empowered enough to try anything you set your mind on. It is a very simple and extremely effective exercise in feeling positively about oneself and creating additional positive circumstances in your life. Situations may come into your existence that are of great benefit. The people around you see and feel your confidence, thus building solid and positive relationships. The job you are moving toward becomes easier to attain because your boss sees the confidence in your ability

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I Believe

to get the job done. These are only a few examples of many endless possibilities.

An Exercise for Being Inwardly Aware

As mentioned, each and every one of us is an energetic being who daily sends out messages in the form of energy to our surroundings. We also receive signals from others around us constantly. Unfortunately, many are unaware of the impact another persons energy has on our ability to remain balanced within ourselves. As an example, when the environment is stressful, we become stressed. When someone is in a foul mood around us, we feel (at the very least) uncomfortable, sometimes to the point of irritability or complete exhaustion at the end of the day. The reason for this is our energies are intermingling and we are sending and absorbing energy constantly. Many people are unaware of the fact that they hold onto another persons energy. People who are highly sensitive to this bombarding effect tend to have uncontrollable mood swings and feel exhausted easily. Being aware of who we are and what energy we are vibrating makes it far easier to determine energy affecting us from our surroundings. It is important to be aware of this as it aids in our ability to remain balanced and deal with stress-related issues in a much healthier way. Next is an exercise one can do at home, preferably in the morning prior to leaving the house.

Check-In: An Exercise in Self-Awareness

All my life I have been very sensitive to peoples

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emotions. I constantly suffered from mood swings and outright irritability. I remember when I was growing up my parents would say Thats it! You are no longer allowed to hang around with that person. She is a bad influence on you! I would also hear Where is this coming from Claire? You were fine earlier today and now youre uncontrollable? Boy, was I a handful when I was a child! My parents were correct, of course. I was taking on different emotions and all the while thinking they were my own. If my friends parents were getting a divorce, I thought and acted as though my parents were. If my friend was angry at someone, I expressed anger even when I had no idea who the person was. When I was twenty-six years old, I finally understood what was happening to me and within a matter of seconds figured out what it takes to release the energy that was affecting me. I was having a fabulous day with a friend and we had decided to go back to his place for a bite to eat. When I came through the front door, an overwhelming feeling of sadness and worry came over me. When I felt the rush of sadness I thought to myself, Hold on! I was feeling fine a second ago. This feeling is coming from somewhere else. I have to let this go. As soon as I thought those words, the energy dissipated and I was back to myself. It turns out that the emotions were coming from my friends roommate, who was going through a bad spell. It was an epiphany for me, though. I finally understood what my parents were saying and, at the same time, understood what to do to release the effects. Here is an excellent exercise if you are someone who experiences the emotional roller coaster or who would like to be more aware of the effects happening to you on a daily basis. Check-In is an easy to do exercise with one goal in

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mind: to assist you in becoming more self-aware both internally and externally so that you may more readily and easily understand or act upon external information coming from your surroundings. This is a simple morning exercise where you ask yourself two very important questions. You may decide to do this exercise as soon as you wake up, while you are having your shower, or while you are having your morning breakfast. It is best to create your own personal routine which works for you. The questions and the reason for asking them are:

I Believe

What is my body telling me today?

Is your body tired? Does your body have any aches and or pains? Is your body energized or fatigued? Do a body scan from head to toe and check into all sensations your physical body is telling you. By doing this, you become self-aware of your body sensations and can therefore easily identify when another sensation presents itself to you. When someone is stressed around you it is quite common to receive tension headaches or muscle aches due to tension. Although these physical effects may be yours, being aware of this exercise assists in confirming what is yours and what is someone elses. If the headache or muscle tightness is someone elses, this exercise may help in reducing the physical effects that person is having on you.

What are my feelings today?

We wake up having experienced different things the day before and therefore our moods can change daily. In order to remain aware of yourself as an individual, it is best to check your emotion in the morning when you first wake up as well as before you interact with anyone

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or change your environment at any given time. When you first get up in the morning, find out if you woke up in a good mood energized, excited, happy, for example or if you woke up in a bad mood sad, nervous, worried. By doing this, you become aware of your own feelings and therefore can quickly identify a feeling that presents itself to you outside of your own individuality. When you have acknowledged the way you feel, you are better equipped with recognizing another persons emotions when entering their space. When a sensation comes in different from what you know to be yours, acknowledge the feeling within your mind and then think, This feeling is coming from somewhere else. I let it go. Depending on the strength of the impact received, re-acknowledging and repeating the words to let it go may be required. Additionally, take a couple of deep breaths from your stomach and breathe out gently. After a very short period of time, a sensation may come over you, like a balloon releasing air. At this point, check in with yourself to determine if you are back to the way you felt prior to the emotional impact. There are many benefits to being aware of what energy is being sent out from us and what energy is affecting us. By noticing another persons energy we gain the ability to empathize and get to understand the other individual better. If we wish to attract positive people and we get a feeling of discontentment from someone, we have an awareness to decide if this person is someone we wish to be around at that particular moment. Having this ability and self awareness also adds value within our careers. We work with others on a daily basis. Being aware of the types of personalities we work with gives added knowledge when dealing with them. Anyone in Human Resources or Management who

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The Mirror

is involved in the hiring process can become increasingly aware of the personality of the interviewee. If the interviewer feels a vibration that indicates lack of confidence, the interviewer can use their inner awareness and knowledge to determine if this person is indeed right for the job. Conversely, someone who is seeking employment can get a feel for the prospective employers environment and determine if the environment is conducive to the needs of the job seeker. The examples listed here plus the ability to remain in control of your emotions and keeping them balanced are a few of the endless possibilities of being aware of what emotional vibrations are being felt by you and influencing you.

I Believe

Stop Reading and Do the Exercises

Reading isnt enough. You must take the time to do the exercises in this book in order to create the new habits that will create the future that you desire. You may find the exercises difficult; you may even find them tedious. The results you will obtain from doing them will be beyond priceless.

Every day, look in a mirror. Whilst looking into your eyes, say positive things to and about yourself. Make this a daily habit!

The Mirror Exercise

Every morning when you awaken, ask yourself these two questions and then answer them honestly. What is my body telling me today? What are my feelings today? These questions and your answers will assist you in becoming more self-aware both internally and externally so that you may more readily and easily understand or act upon external information coming from your surroundings.

Check-in

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I BELIEVE THEREFORE I AM
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