This week's eMeditation

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- By Vic Johnson

"The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do." – As A Man Thinketh

What James Allen means here is that we won't attempt something unless we have the belief we can accomplish it. He says as much in his book Above Life's Turmoil where he writes, "Belief always precedes action."

Have you ever had a goal that you just couldn't get started on - or you got started on it but you couldn't maintain consistent action towards the goal?

About seven years ago I was living in some very trying times and struggling for some big goals that I'd set for myself. But I just couldn't seem to stay focused and as time passed by and I'd missed a goal, I'd get more frustrated and start over because that's what I thought I was supposed to do. I repeated this cycle several times and I became a basket case of emotion because I couldn't get anywhere.

Wayne Dyer, writing in You'll See It When You Believe It, says, "Your behavior is based upon your feelings, which are based on your thoughts. So the thing to work on is not to change your behavior, but those things inside of your consciousness that we call thoughts. Once your thoughts reflect what you genuinely want to be, the appropriate emotions and the consequent behavior will flow automatically. Believe it, and you will see it!"

As always, it's our thoughts that are in control and we won't have the "will to do" until we have the "belief to do." I've had a lot of success in this area using positive visualization and affirmations. In fact, for one extended period of time I told myself several hundred times a day while thinking about a particular goal, "I can do this and I know I can!" It took me a while, but eventually I had enough belief to go for the goal and achieve it. Even now when confronted with a challenging situation I'm likely to hear myself saying, "I can do this and I know I can!"

How powerful are your thoughts of belief? Dr. Maxwell Maltz said, "Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs."

And that's worth thinking about.

- Vic Johnson