Believing and the Law of Attraction go hand in hand. You have to believe you’ll get what you desire most in order to manifest, on the physical plane, those things you want and those goals you want to accomplish. Unfortunately, many of us have grown up surrounded by a lot of disbelief. We internalize this negativity, which blinds us to the infinite possibilities in front of us. We are literally stiff and crippled by the beliefs that have been handed down to us.

To break free, we need to stretch our minds, much like we stretch our bodies when we do yoga. Stretch our minds to believe that we can get what we want, believing that we deserve the good things in life.

What is the one thing you want more than anything? Concentrate on that. Stretch your mind to encompass actually having that which you want. See it. Feel it. Breathe it in and believe. Stretch your mind and believe you have it. Practice this whenever you think of what you want, but make sure you envision yourself having that which you desire. By believing and using the Law of Attraction, you will generate a positive attitude. Believing is one of the steps in achieving what you desire most in life.

Speak to yourself as if you already have what you desire. In this way, you are kind of tricking your body into believing you really do have it. Once you have such positive belief patterns established in your life, you’ll start attracting other positives – be it positive people or positive events. Being surrounded by positives will attract even more positives into your life. You will then achieve what you’ve desired all along.

Believing and the Law of Attraction means stretching your mind and encompassing the possibilities. Believe and achieve.

A bird always knows when it’s time for the young to leave the nest. If you get too close to a beehive the bees will sting you, even if you don’t mean them any harm. There are some things that we do without even thinking about doing them.

Breathing is one such activity. The Planets revolve around the sun and trees grow. They “do” these things without really “doing” them.

This is known as Wu Wei, which means natural action. Knowing when (and how) to act is not about thinking “now” is the right time to do “this”. It is about simply doing, doing the natural thing. The aim of Wu Wei is to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium. A state where you always know what you need to do.

The literal meaning of Wu Wei is “without action” and is often included in the paradox wei wu wei: “action without action”. An example of active non-action using wu wei would be to teach in such a way that no course of action is dictated to a student (they are just told raw facts for use and left to their own creative devices), so they assume that they have been taught nothing, that is, until all they have learnt has been integrated in their lived experience.

I think the comic book summarization Zen Speaks says it best “A good teacher teaches the student that they already know the answer.”

When we choose to do an action, we are interfering with the natural way. Whenever we have to think about what needs to be done, we are thinking about manmade superficial matters. In any natural situation we just ‘know’ what to do. So, by reducing the number of things we have to think about doing, we reduce our interference with the natural order of things.

We’ve all grown up listening to fairytales. Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and so many more. Aren’t they typical? The prince always gets the princess, the step mother is always evil, the witch always pays for her deeds, the poor wolf always gets killed and of course, everyone lives happily ever after.

Fairytales are important for a child’s development. They have their own charm, I don’t dispute that. My only complaint is that they are too one dimensional. Good is always good, and bad is always bad. This may be true in magical kingdoms far, far away, but it is far from the truth in the real world.

The real world is not black and white. Things are not what they seem, nor are they so cut and dry. There is so much more to our lives than just happiness and sorrow, good and evil.

There is anger, hate, passion, love, lust, greed, joy, mercy; the list is endless. The world is made up of the seven colors of the rainbow and grey. Good people sometimes do bad things, and bad things happen to good people. Bad people can sometimes do incredibly nice things and good things happen to them too.

It is not always clear what the right thing to do is. Growing up is about making some very difficult decisions. We can’t always guarantee that our actions are going to have a positive effect. With so much moral dilemma, what code of conduct should one follow?

I say, forget ‘codes of conduct’, the only thing you should worry about, is doing the best that you can do. Always do what is right in your opinion. Sometimes, it’s best not to worry about the bigger picture.

Generation after generation of migrating birds will follow the same flyway to their destination. Each new flock of geese is guided by their elders on their first journey and after that, they always know their way. It’s fascinating to think about the great journeys that these birds take year after year, like clockwork.

I mention geese because I recently came across a beautiful movie that I had seen a while back. Fly Away Home is a 1996 film, directed by Carroll Ballard. It is about the young daughter of a widower (Jeff Daniels) who, with her father, leads a flock of Canada geese from Canada to a wildlife refuge in the US.

When the geese hatch the first living being they see is young Amy Alden (Anna Paquin). They believe that she is their mother and start following her around. As the geese grow and mature, it becomes obvious to Thomas (Jeff Daniels), Amy, and all their friends that the birds must migrate or the game warden will return to pinion their wings.

Her father, Thomas Alden, comes to the rescue. He devises a plan, to get the geese to follow Amy in an air craft, and so begins their great journey. Amy is not happy to lose her companions but she realizes it is for the best.

The movie is an absolute delight to watch. With spectacular visuals and stunning performances from the entire cast, it is no wonder that Fly Away Home was the most critically acclaimed movie of the year. There is a lot to love about this evocative family oriented film.

What I love most, is the message of the film. More than taking care of someone, sometimes the best thing you can do is teach them how to take care of themselves.

A sculptor needs a chisel to sculpt. A carpenter needs a hammer. A painter needs paint. A golfer needs a club. Without these tools they would not be able to complete their tasks. So how important are the ‘tools’ for the ‘trade’?

They say only weak players blame their equipment. This statement is both true and false. Tools cannot make up for the lack of talent, but it would be foolish to say that they don’t make any difference. Superior equipment will give superior results. Let’s say you were trying to make patterns on a sheet of paper. You could either use a knife to cut the sheet or a pair of scissors. Do I need to point out which would give you a better result?

It is not enough to have the correct tool. You need to know how to use it. A carpenter would not use sandpaper to hammer nails. Always use the right tool for the right job. Every business man and business woman needs a host of tools to conduct his/her business.

The quality of a business man is not judged solely on how good his tools are but also on how well he can put those tools to use.  The best equipment in the world won’t do you any good, if you don’t know how to use it.  With the rate at which technology is progressing, it is important for everyone to learn how to use the amazing new inventions that science is constantly throwing at us.

If you are in business, you need to take the time to find out what tools are available to you.  You need to know how and when to use each and every tool in your tool box. The tools do not make the man, but they certainly make his life easier.

There is something riveting about a court-room drama. Lawyers are very good at putting on a show. The arguments that go back and forth, the multiple interpretations of a simple statement, gently guiding a witness to a carefully laid trap, all of it requires a great deal of skill.

My favorite part and the most important in my opinion, is the close. The final statements made by both, the prosecuting and defending attorney. The closing statement is always worth hearing. It’s witty, clever and passionate. It is with this statement that both lawyers hope to make their case.

This got me thinking about a business case. Granted, drafting a business case can never be as entertaining as watching an episode of Judging Amy. Still, I firmly believe that a business case should be witty, clever and passionate. Just like a lawyer’s closing statement. When I mentioned this to a couple of friends, I was surprised to find that a lot of them did not even know what a business case was!

A business case captures the reasoning for initiating a project or task. It can be a formal well structured document or it could be a verbal argument. For example you could justify a software-upgrade by saying that it would improve system performance, but the “business case” is that better performance would improve customer satisfaction.

Formal business cases are written to ensure;

•    That your investment has value and importance
•    That your project will be properly managed
•    That your firm will have the capability to deliver the benefits
•    That the firm’s dedicated resources are working on the highest value opportunities
•    That all projects with inter-dependencies are undertaken in the optimum sequence.

So take some time and evaluate. Make your case.

We have gotten so used to getting our own way. We have gotten so used to shortcuts, to things being easy, that I can’t help but wonder, have we all become spoiled brats?

When we are driving on the roads, we won’t give the soccer mom room to cut into the lane. We blast past student drivers even if they are nervous. When was the last time you let a senior citizen cut ahead when standing in line?

Do you remember the last time you yelled? The last time you made a snide or sarcastic comment? Of course you do. You are snippy with the hostess if she won’t give you a table. The fact that she is just doing her job is irrelevant.

We want things and we want them now. We get agitated and frustrated if things take longer than they are supposed to. We don’t care about the fact that the weather is bad. We want to get on that flight. We have to get to our vacation.

We can go along with anything, as long as it’s done our way. We will go out of our way to make things happen the way we want them to. We will lie, cheat, use tricks and whatever else is required.

The following are the characteristics of a spoiled child, lack of consideration for other people, recurrent temper tantrums, and an inability to handle the delay of gratification, demands for having one’s own way, and manipulation.
We seem to have forgotten that the generations that came before us survived on much less. Not only did they survive, they thrived. They didn’t have lightning fast internet connections, they didn’t have touch phones, or even a washing machine. They were fine. So, what’s wrong with us? When did we get so spoiled?