Goal Setting and the Power of Autosuggestion

by

Gary Greenbank

Most people who read about goal setting take away the idea that thinking positively will help them achieve their goals. There is always a deeper message if you are ready for it.

You've probably also heard that 'we are all one' and that you are a 'spiritual being having a human experience'. An increasing amount of people believe that our minds are connected at some level in what could be called 'infinite intelligence' or the 'universal mind'.

Consider the idea that we actually change our life situation by using autosuggestion to tap into this 'infinite intelligence'. That is, if we can see and feel ourselves in possession of a goal, then this emotion of desire opens up the connecting link to 'infinite intelligence' through our subconscious.

To explain the idea of oneness in human terms think of your Higher Self as the ocean and your Limited Self level as a drop of water in that ocean. When you look at the ocean you know that it is made up of individual drops of water, however, all you see is one great expanse of water. This is the same as the relationship between you at your Limited Self and Higher Self level. Just as all the drops of water make up the ocean, you and every other living thing in the universe make up your Higher Self. You are the ocean having the experiences of each drop of water that is part of you. As your Limited Self, you are a drop while as your Higher Self, you are the entire ocean.

In our mind, at our Limited Self level, we have what is called our conscious faculty which is the guardhouse that helps us analyse and make judgments on the environment around us. Behind this lies our subconscious. We can tap into our subconscious in a variety of ways including meditation, prayer, hypnotism etc.

Many people believe that our subconscious is the connecting link between our finite brain and infinite intelligence. This is the basis for all manifestation theories involving positive thinking and goal setting. Many books have been written on this subject including 'The Secret', 'The Law of Attraction', 'The Power of Now', 'Think and Grow Rich' and many others.

What is often not understood is that when we want something to change in our life the change isn't actually manifested by us as our Limited Self. The actual process we use to change our situation, whether we know it or not, is to use autosuggestion to open the connecting link between our subconscious and our Higher Self or Infinite Intelligence where we are connected to everything else as one. It is at this level that we change our environment and therefore change our life situation.

Autosuggestion is where you have such a burning desire for something to change that you can actually see and feel yourself in possession of what you desire in your life - visualising and then adding the emotion of actually feeling yourself in possession of what you want.

This emotion and faith then stimulate your subconscious to link with the infinite intelligence to change your life situation. So how do you use this process to change your life? As mentioned earlier, the most effective way of tapping into your subconscious is through autosuggestion.

The following is an excerpt taken directly from the classic book, Think and Grow Rich. The example Napoleon Hill uses is making an amount of money however in reality your goal can be anything and you would just replace money in the excerpt below with your own goal.

'First. Go into some quiet spot (preferably in bed at night) where you will not be disturbed or interrupted, close your eyes, and repeat aloud, (so you may hear your own words) the written statement of the amount of money you intend to accumulate, the time limit for its accumulation, and a description of the service or merchandise you intend to give in return for the money. As you carry out these instructions, SEE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.

For example:-Suppose that you intend to accumulate $500,000 by the first of January, five years hence, that you intend to give personal services in return for the money, in the capacity of a salesperson. Your written statement of your purpose should be similar to the following:

"By the first day of , I will have in my possession $500,000, which will come to me in various amounts from time to time during the interim.

In return for this money I will give the most efficient service of which I am capable, rendering the fullest possible quantity, and the best possible quality of service in the capacity of salesperson of (describe the service or merchandise you intend to sell).

I believe that I will have this money in my possession. My faith is so strong that I can now see this money before my eyes. I can touch it with my hands. It is now awaiting transfer to me at the time, and in the proportion that I deliver the service I intend to render in return for it. I am awaiting a plan by which to accumulate this money, and I will follow that plan, when it is received."

Second. Repeat this program night and morning until you can see, (in your imagination) the money you intend to accumulate.

Third. Place a written copy of your statement where you can see it night and morning and read it just before retiring, and upon arising until you have been memorized it.

Remember, as you carry out these instructions, that you are applying the principle of auto-suggestion, for the purpose of giving orders to your subconscious mind. Remember, also, that your subconscious mind will act ONLY upon instructions which are emotionalized, and handed over to it with "feeling." FAITH is the strongest, and most productive of the emotions. Follow the instructions given in the chapter on FAITH.

These instructions may, at first, seem abstract. Do not let this disturb you. Follow the instructions, no matter how abstract or impractical they may, at first, appear to be. The time will soon come, if you do as you have been instructed, in spirit as well as in act, when a whole new universe of power will unfold to you.

Scepticism, in connection with ALL new ideas, is characteristic of all human beings. But if you follow the instructions outlined, your scepticism will soon be replaced by belief, and this, in turn, will soon become crystallized into ABSOLUTE FAITH. Then you will have arrived at the point where you may truly say, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul!"

Many philosophers have made the statement that man is the master of his own earthly destiny, but most of them have failed to say why he is the master. The reason that man may be the master of his own earthly status, and especially his financial status, is thoroughly explained in this chapter. Man may become the master of himself, and of his environment, because he has the POWER TO INFLUENCE HIS OWN SUBCONSCIOUS MIND, and through it, gain the cooperation of Infinite Intelligence'.

The actual performance of transmuting DESIRE into money, involves the use of autosuggestion as an agency by which one may reach, and influence, the subconscious mind.

This same mechanism, where we connect with our Higher Self, has also been called Creative Genius and is the process behind intuition, imagination and instinct.

If you need any more proof read the biographies of people such as Einstein and Beethoven and you will realize that they were working with intelligence greater than that in their finite brain. Similarly with great inventors, this process of linking to the infinite intelligence allows them to operate at a higher creative plain than in their normal finite mind.

If you're interested in this idea that we are all one, and our minds are connected in some way we don't at this stage understand, I'd suggest you read my article on Internet of Minds and also watch a very interesting video presentation by Jill Bolte Taylor a brain scientist who documented her incredible experiences while she was having a stroke!

For more advice and answers to questions you won't find in a text book go to businessadvicecolumn.com

copyright Gary Greenbank 2012

What is Your Goal?

From the Universal to the Universal

By Sri Swami Chidananda

The other day, when I was returning from my tour, I decided to get down at Dehra Dun instead of Hardwar. In the same compartment of the train were a Kashmiri lady and an army brigadier. They were talking about there being no provision in the India of today for the training of the youth—who are the wealth of the nation. I joined in the conversation and pointed out a number of organisations that were showing a real concern for the upcoming generation.

Finally, as we were getting close to Dehra Dun, the lady said to me, "Swamiji, you seem to know so much. Please give me some of your jnana, something that I can carry with me for my life." I said, "Look here, I have been giving it, and that should be enough. Nevertheless, as an individual aspirant approaching me, it is my duty to give you some jnana. Therefore let me say something."

I went on, "The first jnana I want to give you is: This life is only a journey. You have come here; you don’t belong here. You are on a journey, and at the end of the journey you will have to leave and go. So nothing is really yours here. Nor do you belong here. First truth.

"The second truth is that when a person is on a journey, they usually have a destination to reach. What destination have you set for yourself? Is it what you were discussing with the brigadier? Is that your destination? Is that your reach? Think of it! Your destination cannot be anything here for the simple reason that you do not belong here. If you reach any destination here, it will be here and you will go elsewhere. So you can reap no permanent benefit from whatever secular, temporal, worldly, earthly goal that you set for yourself—no matter how great it may be.

It may even be something as comprehensive as banning the use of nuclear weapons, something upon which the fate of all humanity on planet Earth hangs. It may be something as big as the United Nations or the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. All these things are trivial, for the simple reason that none of them can be your real goal; because no matter what you achieve here you will go empty-handed. You came empty-handed, you’ll go empty-handed. Therefore, think!

"Third truth: All these important things that you have been discussing—that there is no proper provision in India today for the youth and that you must do something about it—is based on the egoistical feeling that there is a you and that you can do something.

"Look here, this world has been going on for hundreds and thousands of years before you and the brigadier and all people came. You come now and you will disappear like little insects coming in the rainy season having a 24-hour lifespan. Empires have come and gone. You have come and you will go. This drama of life will go on, the world will go on—another 1000 years, 2000 years, 10,000 years.

"You are nothing. There is some higher power that has been looking after this world for eons. Scientists say that the first sign of life came on planet Earth so many millions of years ago. What is your calendar of 365 days before millions of years? So don’t worry about it. There is some higher power who is quite capable of looking after this world that you are so concerned about. He doesn’t require Kashmiri ladies like you. You better take care of yourself, so that during this precious little human life between an entry point and an exit point that you do something to improve yourself, bring out all the latent potential within yourself.

"And before you leave, try to do maximum benefit to God’s creation—into which He has put you. That is the only thing that makes life worth living. Life’s importance is not assessed in terms of how much you have amassed, what titles you have, how many audiences you have addressed or how many books you have written. All that is vain fancy. The value of life is in having come here, before you go how many people have been happier, how many have been benefited, how useful have you been to God’s creation. Not only human beings, the whole world."

I continued, "How many tears have you wiped from crying children, orphans, widows, helpless people, from poor, suffering people in the remotest villages where there is no drinking water, no sanitation, no education—they are disease bound? Try to do something. Go there and give them a proper road; they are cut off during the monsoon season. Go not to the posh cities, but help suffering humanity in the rural areas. Bring sanitation, hygiene, medical aid. Give eye camps for those who are blinded with cataracts. Then you have done something.

"Our culture, our country has as its highest ideal in life paropakara, benefiting others, being useful to others, doing something that is good for others, not only for yourself. Paropakara is the highest ideal. They went so far as to say that this body has been given only for this purpose. So bring about a change in the orientation of your vision.

"So this I am telling you personally. What then is the goal? Your goal is to go back from where you came. There is a great Universal Soul. You are not this body, this cage of flesh and bones. You are not the five karma indriyas or the five jnana indriyas. You are not this mind, emotion, sentiment, imagination and various moods such as anger, passion, greed, envy, jealousy. You are not even this little "I" that you are identifying yourself with when you look in a mirror. All these are not you. You are a centre of radiant consciousness, shining consciousness—eternal, imperishable, unborn, beyond time, beyond space, infinite. Read the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita every day!"

That is how we took leave. I did not speak to her as an individual addressing an individual. I spoke as the Universal addressing the Universal in that lady. And I said that you belong to that dimension. This is a golden chance to lift yourself up from this confined consciousness to your real dimension of infinite consciousness, universal consciousness. That is why we are here.

She asked for blessings. I said, "May the Universal Consciousness grace and fulfil whatever is there in your heart, whatever you are aspiring for, whatever you are ardently longing and wishing for. May it be fulfilled!"


(Reproduced by kind permission of Swami Padmanabhananda, the Divine Life Society)