There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say: "I've got dreams of course I've got
dreams," then they put the box away. They bring it out once in a while to look inside and say "yeah
still there." These are great dreams but they never get out of the box. It takes an uncommon
amount of guts to put your dreams on the line, to hold them up and say: "how good or how bad am I?"
That's where courage comes in. I read these words from Erma Bombeck years ago and it's always stayed
with me. Because there is a way to manifest your dream life. You don't have to be rich,
you don't need a high priced education. You just have to use the one thing we all have conscious
access to, because there's a pattern you can find in anyone who's made a major life change;
three key stages captured in what might be the simplest and most powerful idea I know:
"I was in darkness but I took three steps and found myself in
paradise the first step was a good thought..." so let's start there.
Thoughts are incredibly powerful. Every great transformation, every revolution, and every new
movement must begin with a thought; a new way of looking at the world that asks: "what if things
were different?" Take for example the Wright brothers. Wilbur and Orville Wright were high
school dropouts. In December of 1892 they opened a small bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio where they
learned basic mechanical skills. Inspired by the work of Sir George Calais and Leonardo da Vinci,
the brothers were fascinated with the possibility of human flight. Around the same time some of the
world's best minds were racing to figure out how to build the world's first motorized airplane.
Samuel Langley was one of these men. As a well-educated professor who held a seat at
Harvard, Langley was given fifty thousand dollars in grants from the War Department
and twenty thousand dollars from the Smithsonian to invent the world's first airplane. Because of
his connections he was able to put together a team of brilliant engineers. In his search
for fame and prestige he had all the tools to do it, and yet he never did. The Wright brothers had
none of these things. No one on their team had a college education. They weren't given grants
of money. They were self-funded from the savings they raised at their bicycle shop. And while they
weren't driven by fame or status what they had was belief in a dream that building their flying
machine would completely change the world. To anyone watching the idea that these brothers could
do it seemed delusional. They were so far behind, how could they ever make it? Why even try? They
attracted a small team of people who all believed in the same dream. Driven by passion they worked
relentlessly. On December 17, 1903 the brothers flew the world's first motor-powered airplane; a
craft that they built, beating out scores of teams with more money and resources. A few days later,
despite all his advantages, Langley quit, and the Wright brothers took their place in history.
How was it possible? In a society that conditions us to feel like we have no power, that our dreams
are impossible, or that we're passive victims of forces outside our control, having self-belief
becomes a superpower. The author Walter Wintle wrote that: if you think you're beaten, you are;
if you think you dare not, you don't; if you'd like to win but think you can't,
it's almost a cinch, you won't. For out in this world we find success begins with a fellow's will;
it's all in the state of mind. You've got to think high to rise, you've got to be sure of yourself
before you can ever win the prize. Because life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster
man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the one who thinks he can." Self-belief is the
seed of all possibility, the root of all change. For years scientists believed that the brain's
structure couldn't be changed; that the brain you're born with is the one you're stuck with. But
studies in neuroplasticity now tell us that the brain is a lot more flexible than once thought.
The word "neuro" refers to neurons; the nerve cells within the brain, and "plasticity" means
the ability to change, and so research in this area shows us not only that the brain continues to
change throughout our lives, but that just based on the way you think your brain can reorganize
itself, forming new pathways and rewiring connections deep within its physical structure.
In other words, when you think positively you change your brain. Whether you do it by
practicing gratitude, visualization, or meditating the results are very real. A meta-analysis of more
than 200 scientific studies on 275,000 people found that having a positive growth mindset led
to success in almost every domain of life, including marriage, health, friendships,
and career. It's the reason psychologist Richard Wiseman said that "expectations play an absolutely
vital role in explaining why some people obtain their dreams with uncanny ease while
other people rarely get what they want in life." All of it boils down to one very simple truth:
the things you focus on expand, focusing on the negative traps you in a cycle of pessimism which
rewires your brain for negativity, but making the choice to shift your focus to the positive
will attract and magnify more of the things that bring you closer to your heart's desire.
This same basic Insight is found in many ancient traditions. If you want to change your physical
reality then you first have to change your thoughts and beliefs surrounding it. We see
it in the Hermetic maxim: as above so below, as within so without, as the universe so the soul.
Because when you begin to understand the deep correspondence between your inner reality and
the outer reality you start to realize that to transform yourself is to transform your world.
Every single person who manifests a dream must first believe in a vision that doesn't
yet exist. Before it can become real in the physical world it must first become real in
the mind. This first step is what sets everything else in motion; nothing can happen without it,
and when you can see that vision clearly, "all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."
Ask yourself: how can I shift my focus and attention to the things that empower me?
What beliefs bring me closer to my heart's desire? You don't have to believe every
thought that comes into your mind. Belief is a thought you choose to make real, and one good
thought is enough to begin to rewire the neural pathways in your brain for hope and optimism.
The words we use have tremendous power. Take for instance the man who posted this message on an
online forum: "My mother died a few months after I was born. Whenever I asked how she died people
would tell me she passed away in her sleep and no one knew why, but just a few years ago I learned
the truth: she had cancer when she was pregnant with me, giving birth to me severely weakened her,
and eventually led to her death. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself because from
what everyone's told me she was an amazing woman. A stranger replied and wrote: "Hi, I'm a mom and
if I know anything, I know that yours would tell you this if she could so I'll tell you for her.
She never regretted it; not for a second. You are made of everything that was best in her.
Cancer may have ended her life but getting the chance to create yours was her proudest moment.
She faced the end with nothing but peace, knowing that you would live on where she couldn't.
Sweetheart you have nothing to forgive yourself for. You didn't take her from this world, you
are how she remains in it." That is how powerful words can be, and every single one of us has that
same power. Because the words we use are a choice. The author Connie Roseti says that the stories we
tell about ourselves and the words we use shape our happiness and well-being, and in moments of
despair, often what we need is to learn to tell a different story about who we are. This idea is
something we find in many ancient traditions. In Lawrence Kushner's" The Book of Words," he
writes that the magician's word "abracadabra" comes from the Aramaic "avara k'davara," which
means "I create as I speak." It alludes to the idea that words aren't just things we use to
communicate with each other; words are an act of creation. And much like an incantation which comes
from the Latin word "incantare," it means "to cast a spell, to charm, or enchant." It captures this
sense that words contain real power, and you can use them to bring about the reality you want. So
choose your words carefully. Ask yourself: how can you speak in a way that positions you as an agent
of change? A creator of your own reality? One good word is enough to shift your entire experience.
To make any lasting change you have to take action, because it's the act that
takes the vision you have in your mind and brings it into the physical world.
There's a great example in the 1982 movie Gandhi where after 1947 India was being
torn apart by conflict, and within the country Hindus and Muslims fought each other bitterly.
There's a scene where Gandhi goes on a hunger strike refusing to eat until the violence stops. A
man comes to Gandhi's bedside and says: "Eat, I'm going to hell but not with your death on my soul."
"Only God decides who goes to hell." "Well, I took the life of a child. I smashed his
head against a wall." "Why?" "They killed my son, my boy, the Muslims killed him." You can
hear his gut-wrenching pain, the anguish he's feeling, how he's lost all hope for the future.
"I know a way out of hell," Gandhi says. "Find a child whose mother and father have been killed;
a boy about this high, and raise him as your own. Only be sure that he is a Muslim and that you
raise him as one." With these words Gandhi shows the man the action he can take to change his life.
Why does it work? Because only an act of love can stop the cycle of hate and violence. Love can save
an orphan child from growing up alone. It can give a grieving man the meaning and purpose he needs to
feel the emptiness left by the loss of his son and remorse for taking the life of another. It
won't erase what he's done. We can't change the past, but it brings the possibility of love and
healing into a world divided by war. This one act carries the seed of hope for a better future. It
transcends culture religion or any human-made distinction that could ever exist between us.
"I was in darkness but I took three steps and found myself in paradise:
the first step was a good thought, the second a good word, and the third a good deed."
Because the truth is doing good transforms not only the person who has been helped, it transforms
the person who does the helping; it transforms you. Maybe you've done things you aren't proud of;
things you may think are unforgivable. But whatever you've done, you can find redemption.
There's a way out of hell, and you can make the conscious choice to rise above your current plane
of thought and bring into being the highest version of who you are. Ask yourself: what's
one thing I can do right now to move towards that higher being? It doesn't have to be as dramatic as
the man who spoke with Gandhi. You don't have to change the world. It can be as simple as reaching
out to a loved one you've lost touch with, or inviting new love into your home. Make it the
smallest and simplest step you can take towards your goal; one that makes your own life brighter.
"Because we are not on our journey to save the world, but to save ourselves. But in doing that
you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes." What do you think? Do you
have your own story of manifesting your dream? Are you on that path now? I'd love to hear from you,
and I'd love it if you pressed the like button and left a comment with an airplane emoji. As
always thanks so much for watching, take care of yourselves, and I'll see you in the next one.