For over a thousand years, people went to the Oracle at
Delphi for insight, wisdom and even prophecy.
Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, Archimedes and Alexander
the Great all visited Delphi.
Today, the Oracle is relegated to a footnote in history,
classified as Greek Mythology; but to the people of that
time, it was as important as the Google search engine
combined with the Philosophy Department at the
University of Berkeley. If you wanted to know something
important or to access the wisdom of the ages, you
needed to go to Delphi.
Inscribed over the entrance to Delphi were these words,
The great Socrates, to whom, together with his student
Plato, we owe much of our western philosophical foundations, took these two words, “Know Thyself” as his
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primary maxim and it was the cornerstone of all his
works. His famous saying, “an unexamined life is not
worth living,” is demonstrative of his belief in the
importance of self-knowledge.
Pythagoras, the great mathematician, father of modern geometry and metaphysician said , “Know thyself - and
thou shall know all the mysteries of the gods and of the
universe.”
Lao Tzu, the great Chinese sage and author of the Tao Te Ching, wrote, “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing
yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.”
According to the Buddha, self-reflection (self-knowledge)
was the only dependable way to wisdom and
enlightenment.
The Catholic theologian, St. Augustine, said that the only way to transcend the limitations brought on by sensory
perceptions of the material, transient world and to
comprehend the unity and beauty of all creation was
through self-reflection.
The great American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
wrote that, “What lies behind us and what lies before us
are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
And, the Victorian poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson, wrote,
“Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three
alone lead one to sovereign power.”
Ayn Rand wrote that a person needs to acquire knowledge of external reality and self-knowledge in
order to discover and choose his values, goals, and
actions.
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Millions of books about success are sold each year.
Most people, perhaps including you, who buy these
books are looking for the road map that leads to success,
are searching for that best, proven method to become
more in order to fulfill their desire to have more of all
that life has to offer.
I have written this book to provide you with both the
map and the method; but the first and most important
step of your journey is to Know Yourself as you are; and,
to know where you are at right now, where you are
starting from and why you are embarking on this journey
to a chosen destination called success.
So how do you come to know yourself? First, you simply
redirect your attention from the external world of event
and circumstance to the internal world of thought,
feeling and belief.
You must learn the discipline to spend time with
yourself, by yourself, every day in order to stay in touch
with the evolving you. Meditation is your best method to
do that.
What good is a road map with a destination clearly
marked if you do not know where you are starting from?
And, of what purpose is the desire to become more if you
do not understand who you are already?
If you desire to have success, to be happy and fulfilled, to
find meaning and purpose in life, then you must get to
know the real you and where you are at currently.
So, let me ask you a question… who are you?
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I love to ask people that question. The most common
answer I get is, I am John Smith or whatever name they
call themselves. My answer is, well, that is your name,
but who exactly are you?
Sadly, most people cannot answer that question. Can
you?
So, who exactly are you? When you look in the mirror,
are you that physical body?
No!
You have a body. It is not you; it is something you have.
You already know this. So does almost every thinking
person. Your body is like your name. It is not you. It is
just something you have.
Yet, most people will still say things like “I am sick,”
when their body is undergoing some process. Your body
is the vehicle that enables you to get around on Planet
Earth and participate in the many physical experiences
available here. Imagining that you are the vehicle is as
silly as thinking that your identity is tied to your car. (A
common foolishness indulged in by many young men
who imagine their own value is enhanced by the sexiness
of their vehicle.)
You are not the home you live in, not the clothes you
wear, not the car you drive, nor the body you have. You
are not your job, not your role in society and not what
other people expect you or perceive you to be.
These are just things you do or have. If you do less and
have less than me, does that mean that you are less than
me? No, you are the same basic essence that I am.
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So, if you are not these things that you do or that you
have, who exactly are you? When you look in the mirror,
are you the mind that observes the body you see?
No!
You have a mind. It is not you; it is something you have.
If you stop and ask yourself, “Who am I?”, the question is
formed in your mind (perhaps even answered); but who
is it that is asking the question? The mind is simply the
tool you use to ask the question. It is not you. It is not
your essence.
So, what is the essence of you? Is it simply your
awareness of self? If so, what are you aware of being? If
your awareness increases, does that mean that you
become more?
If that is so, then perhaps I can enhance your awareness.
Let’s first take a look at your physical beingness.
Your body is a miracle. It is made up of 75 trillion
individual cells (maybe you have an extra billion or so in
that spare tire you carry around), each with a defined job
function, and all working together harmoniously to
provide you a great place to hang out and enjoy the
multiple trips around the sun that you get to take whilst
working a job, getting married and having offspring.
These cells, in turn, are made up of recycled multi-billion
year old stardust. We are carbon-based creatures. Carbon
molecules are created in the nuclear furnaces we call stars
when 3 helium molecules are fused. When these stars
exploded or went super nova, these carbon molecules
were distributed in space and then came back together in
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our planet and ultimately in the life forms that came to
inhabit this planet, which, of course, includes you.
According to our latest and greatest understandings of
physics and cosmology, all the sub-atomic particles,
atoms and molecules that exist in the entire universe
were created in the big bang event. So, therefore, every
element that exists in your body existed at the genesis of
the universe; which means that the molecular memory of
your body extends back in time to the very beginnings
of the universe. Additionally, all the elements that make
up your body will survive the demise of your body and
will be recycled into another use in the ongoing evolution
of the universe.
So, while your personal physical beingness may be a
transitory event, the elements that comprise your body
are as old and ageless as the universe. You just may not
have been aware of that fact before I brought it to your
attention. So, now that your awareness is enhanced, is
your conception of who you really are enhanced as well?
But, as I said earlier, despite how miraculous it may be,
you are not your physicality. It is only an aspect of your
total beingness.
Let’s take a look a look at that other wondrous aspect of
the miracle of you: your mind.
Your mind can envision and contain the entire universe.
Maybe you don’t spend a lot of time conceptualizing the
universe, but Stephen Hawking does. His mind is a
human mind, just as is yours; and the human mind is
complex enough to do just that. If your mind can
potentially envision the entire universe, then it can
certainly envision all the success you desire.
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It is the human mind that has first conceived of and then
created the computer I am using to write this book,
conceived and created the International Space Station
that floats in space some 200 plus miles above my head as
I sit here writing, conceived and created the Internet (that
is accessed by and connects one billion+ people) where I
found out the altitude of the space station and where you
can find just about all of the accumulated knowledge of
humankind. Imagine that.
If, as is said, knowledge is power (at least potential
power), then you are more powerful than every single
human being from previous generations who has ever
lived on this planet. Why? Simply because you have
access to more knowledge than the kings, moguls and
philosophers of previous ages. You also live in a time
when the average person in developed countries enjoys
more wealth and comfort than the kings of old.
It is the human mind that also creates all the wealth we
enjoy as a species or as individuals. It is your mind that
will create the success, wealth and personal fulfillment
you will get to experience and enjoy as you travel
through life and around the sun as it, in turn, travels
through space and time.
Just imagine how fortunate you are: you have access to
more
knowledge,
greater
technology,
more
understanding about how the human mind works than
the billions of people who lived before AND more than
the majority of people who are alive now. Your potential
is limited only by your imagination and those nasty
limiting paradigms I wrote about in the Preface.
So, here you are, alive in the best time ever to create
wealth and success for yourself, knowing full well that
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your mind is capable of creating almost anything you can
imagine. (The famous quote by Napoleon Hill is truer
today than it was when he first wrote it. “Whatever the
mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”)
Yet, you have not achieved all you desire. Why?
Perhaps, it is because you are not making proper use of
your mind. If, you can achieve whatever you can
conceive and believe, then it may be possible that the
vagueness of the ideals you hold and the limiting beliefs
you have are defining (limiting) your ability to create that
success.
What are your predominant thought patterns? Why are
you thinking what you think? To what end or purpose do
you think the way you think? What are your beliefs
about your ability to create success and your
deservedness to have great wealth? Maybe it is time to
think different thoughts and to choose to adopt bigger,
better beliefs. Your immediate response to these
questions might tell you that you are limiting your own
success.
Please answer the following questions honestly. Nobody
is listening except you.
Do you believe that you deserve to have all the success
and wealth you desire? Or do you believe that you are
not good enough, smart enough or educated enough to
have a truly abundant and luxurious life?
Do you believe that the potential to create wealth is
unlimited? Or limited only by your imagination? Or, like
most people, do you believe that there is a limited supply
and that when one person has more, it means others
must have less?
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Allow me to tell you a story about how a belief can limit
your success. This past Saturday, I went down to a
favorite beach bar to socialize with friends. I ran into a
lady who I have known for the past two years. She is a
bright, creative, caring and pleasant person, who, like
most people, gets by with a comfortable life, but does not
have any great level of success in her business or
personal life.
She asked me what new projects I was working on (after
I had asked her the same question) and when I replied
that I was working with a group of people to help them
become millionaires within one year, she said, “Wouldn’t
it be nice to live in a world where no one wanted to
become a millionaire?”
I replied, “Wouldn’t it be better to live in a world where
everyone was a millionaire?” She then explained to me
that it was people’s drive to have more that was
destroying our environment and causing poverty
amongst the world’s poor. Whoa. Big limiting belief.
Let’s take a closer look at what she said…
-
The pie is limited. If you have more, I have less.
-
The more you have, the more damage you cause.
-
Rich people are morally inferior. It would be a sin
for her to want more.
It is easy to see that she will never achieve any great
levels of success because she believes that it is morally
wrong to want more. She definitely does not have a
prosperity paradigm.
Most people are not aware that these same subconscious
control mechanisms are limiting their own ability to
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enjoy a prosperous and fulfilling life. Until and unless
you examine your own assumed beliefs about wealth and
your deservedness, you will not be free to discard these
limiting beliefs.
Now, let’s take a close look at the reality, not the
prejudice.
Wealth is created when someone creates value for others.
This value can be either real or perceived; but it is,
nevertheless, value that someone (or many people)
appreciates and is prepared to pay for.
Wealthy people create more value for more people than
poor people. That is how simple it is. Rich people don’t
take anything away from other people. They contribute
in some way to the quality of the lives of others.
The pie is not limited by anything except human
imagination. There is more wealth in the world today
than ever before, despite the fact that there are more
humans alive today than ever before to share in that pie.
The pie is actually constantly expanding because wealth
is created by the adding of value.
Wealth brings power to effectuate change. Wealthy
people contribute more to the betterment of their fellow
humans than the poor or middle class. Was that
university section or hospital wing built by the
underprivileged? Do the middle class attend those
thousand dollar charity fundraising dinners?
It is no surprise to learn that rich people individually
give more money to charity than average. They can
afford to. What is interesting is that the percentage of
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people donating to charity rises steadily as income
brackets increase.
The following figures are extracted from a very detailed
and complex study done by James Andreoni and John Sholz of the University of Wisconsin and William Gale of
The Brookings Institute.
92% of people earning more than $75,000 per year
contribute money to charity, compared to an average of
68% of people who earn less than $75,000 per year. That’s
money. What about time? 48% of people who earn more
than $75,000 per year volunteer their time to charitable
organizations. 33% of people who earn less than $75,000
per year volunteer their time.
Merrill Lynch reports that individuals who had a net
worth of $1 million or more donated an estimated total of
$285 billion to charity in 2006. Millionaire entrepreneurs
donated an average of $232,206.00, more than double the
amount dedicated to philanthropy by those who
inherited their riches.
So, it is easy to see the truth… people who create wealth
for themselves contribute to the overall wealth of
humanity by the very act of becoming wealthy, creating
value and expanding possibilities for others; but they
also contribute more of their own money and time to
bettering the lives of the less fortunate.
So my lady friend’s belief that rich people are taking
away from other people is exactly the opposite of the
truth. They are, in fact, giving more to other people, in
many ways, than the average person. Her belief does not
change the facts. Her belief only limits her own ability to
be a bigger contribution.
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She would be (and so will you be) much better able to
improve the situation on this planet by creating success
instead of thinking about how much inequity there exists
in the world. The best way to improve the world is to
improve yourself. Become more. Adopt the Prosperity
Paradigm.
An important part of getting to know yourself and then
to become more is to take a good close look at what
beliefs you might be holding that are limiting your ability
to create more success for yourself and thus be able to
make a greater contribution to others.
If you want to know the real you and desire to become all
you are capable of becoming, start by asking yourself the
following questions…
1. Who am I really?
2. Am I living up to my potential?
3. Why not?
4. What beliefs do I have that limit my ability to
create massive success?
5. What predominant thought patterns do I have
that limit my ability to create more?
6. What feelings do I have about myself that limit
my ability to shine my light brighter?
7. Do I have the will to make the personal changes I
need to make in order to become more?
8. Why have I not implemented the specific action
steps that will lead to success?
Tough questions to be sure; but once you have the
personal integrity to answer these questions in complete
honesty, you will know where you are at, the point of
your embarkation on your journey to the greater you that
you deserve to be.
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This book can then serve as your roadmap, your
guidebook, your map and your compass that will lead
you inexorably to your destination… that definition of
success that you have created for yourself.
Always remember that you are who you imagine
yourself to be. How grand a being can you imagine
yourself to be?
What image of yourself do you hold in your
imagination? Look in the mirror of self-reflection. What
do you see? Who is looking?
Once you decide who you are, then you can decide who
you wish to become.
If you are not constantly becoming more, then you are, in
fact unbecoming.
You are the grand creator of your own life. Make it your
masterpiece.
You will find that life offers you prosperity as soon as the
true, inner, powerful, real you uses your will to create a
congruency of ideal (vision), word (thought), passion
(belief) and deed (action). It really is up to you. Take
responsibility now for your life.
Remember that abundance is the rule. The universe is
expanding. More space is continually being created. New
stars are being born. Human wealth (knowledge, well-
being, prosperity, imagination) is continuously growing.
All it takes to adopt a prosperity paradigm is your own
willingness.
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Quick Review:
Step one on the path to self-mastery is self-knowledge.
Step one on the journey to success is to know and accept
where you are currently at. Once you have done that, you
can design the plan that will take you to creating and
living a super successful life. Commit to becoming more.
Direct Action Steps:
Here is a list of simple, effective things that you can do
starting immediately to get control of your life and start
consciously and intentionally creating the kind of life you
both desire and so richly deserve to have.
1. Spend daily time in reflection, contemplation,
meditation, stillness and silence. Ground
yourself in self-awareness.
2. Work at gaining control of the physical,
emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of self.
3. Develop a strong self-image. Get to know
yourself. You are an exceptional individual. You
are unique in the whole universe. You are
special. You are sacred. Learn to love yourself.
4. Think for yourself. Opt out of mass
consciousness.
Utilize
your
creative
imagination.