Whatever The Mind Can Conceive MOJO - June 22, 2009

Another Monday and another MOJO! As we wind into summer and we are at the half way point (give or take) of the year, I thought this story may cause us to pause and think what is it that we are creating in our lives, today, in this moment. Consequently, I share this story:

Napoleon Hill once said, "whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." Another way to say “you get what you expect.”

Scientists used to believe that we respond to information flowing into the brain from external sources. However, recent studies suggest other truths - that instead we respond to what the brain, on the basis of previous experience, expects to happen next. Study in point: Doctors in Texas studying the effect of arthroscopic knee surgery - assigned patients with sore, worn-out knees to one of three surgical procedures: scraping out the knee joint; washing out the joint; or doing nothing. During the "nothing" operation, doctors anesthetized the patient, made three incisions in the knee as if to insert their surgical instruments, and then pretended to operate. Two years after surgery, patients who underwent the "pretend" surgery reported the same amount of relief from pain and swelling as those who had received the actual treatments. The brain expected the "surgery" to improve the knee, and it did. Neuropsychologists studying these experiments as a part of “expectancy theory” explained that we spend our whole lives becoming conditioned. Through a lifetime’s worth of events, our brain actually learns what to expect next, regardless of whether it happens that way or not. Because our brain expects something will happen a certain way, we often achieve exactly what we anticipate.

Ah, a scientific explanation, to some degree, behind “The Secret” (one of many explanations by the way) - possibly that is why its so important for all of us to hold positive expectations in our minds. Replace the old negative expectations with more positive ones, and when we begin to believe that what we want is possible, our brain will actually take over the job of accomplishing it for us.

Recently, an industry of “New Age” philosophy has created a stir; however, these principles are simply a remix of centuries old theories. Many of today’s sages take their “core” content directly from Napoleon Hill’s articles and books written between 1928 – 1941 based upon interviews with billionaire industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Another famous Hill quip states “[y]ou can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” So what is it you believe for your own life, in this moment? Do you have a vision and personal mission statement for yourself that you truly believe in – that absolutely resonates with you at all levels of your being? If, like most of us, you want to be happy, set a goal that “commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” (Andrew Carnegie, riches man in America in the early 1900s) If not, no better time than today to start (mine is in process of being revised and updated)!

I hope this MOJO finds you well and that you make this week better than last!! Make it a great day; and as always if there is anything I can help you with or be of service to you, please don’t hesitate to ask!