Search for the Magic Bullet

I have been watching and responding to entries on Journal@New Insights, our online journalling facility, for some three years now.

One thing that fascinates me is the degree to which people \’live in hope\’. By this I mean they put their faith in finding some \’magic bullet\’ solution to the challenges they face in life.

[box type=\”shadow\”]\”People are always looking for the single magic bullet that will totally change everything. There is no single magic bullet.\”

– Temple Grandin[/box]

Invariably, for most, that magic bullet involves money, as we have come to connect \’having money\’ with \’having a life worth living\’.

Fatal flaw

The fatal flaw inherent in the philosophy of \’living in hope\’ is the assumption that big outputs can be produced from minimal or no inputs.

Betting on the lottery is a classic example of living in hope. Even though the chances of a big win are infinitesimally small (one in many millions) there are those who would have to be struck down by a serious illness, or worse, to be prevented from buying a weekly ticket for the draw.

Others regularly scour the Internet or the newspapers looking for the next miracle get rich quick scheme or opportunity. How often have you been tempted to spend the equivalent of a few dollars for access what is touted as the next secret fortune making system?

An addiction for some

For some, the quest for the magic bullet becomes an addiction. Even though they may ultimately spend many hundreds or thousands on achieving little if anything, they narrow-mindedly apply the very same logic (huge potential output for very small input) to each new offering they come across.

I learnt my lesson

I once succumbed to \’magic bullet\’ thinking and learnt my lesson.

Some years ago, while in corporate life I visualized creating a lucrative part time hobby. I invested a fair sum of savings in an online share trading system and related training. Slowly but steadily with a lot of focused time and effort, applying carefully what I had learnt, I started to build up a tidy little trading portfolio.

But I got greedy.

I fell victim to some clever marketing. An infallible new \’autotrading\’ system would, I was told, take all the time and effort out of trading while boosting my profits by many hundreds of percent. All I had to do was sign a simple mandate, sit back and watch this amazing system rake money into my bank account.

Yeah, right. It took just three months to lose every cent that I had accumulated over two years through my focused efforts.

A classic trap

My \’magic bullet\’, just like everybody else\’s offered huge outputs for virtually no inputs – a classic trap that I fell right into.

Law of Attraction – a magic bullet?

I happened to mention my views on \’living in hope\’ in a journal review that I did for one of our trainee coaches. She responded by saying \”Yes, but you are the same person who writes about the relevance of the Law of Attraction. If you get what you focus your thoughts on then why not focus on a \’magic bullet\’\”?

It was a good point, worthy of some discussion.

In my experience the Law of Attraction really does work. BUT, it\’s not as simple as having whatever it is you think long and hard enough \’land in your lap\’!

Input required

What happens, when you focus your thoughts, is that you start to attract OPPORTUNITIES that will, if you pursue them diligently (this is your required input) move you in the direction of your visualizations.

The fundamental difference

And this is the fundamental difference between employing the Law of Attraction to work for you and living in hope!

Those who live in hope wait for a near miracle to happen and deliver the means to live their dreams.

Huge output – little or no input – little or no chance of anything happening!

Those who believe in actively attracting the lives they dream of know that with clear intention and focused thought they can manifest the opportunities that, with the necessary inspired action on their part, will lead them to where they want to be.

Huge output – patient and dedicated input – guaranteed results!