Thoughts are Things

What are you thinking right now?  Is it a happy thought?  Are you thinking about how blessed you are to have such a wonderful life?  Are you thinking how wonderful it is to have so much free time that you can sit down and read something just for fun?  Maybe instead you're thinking thoughts that are stressing you out.  You're thinking you're rushed for time, you're brooding about being so broke all the time or possibly you're irritated at someone or something and you're reading this as a form of escape.  Are you always aware of what you're thinking, or do your thoughts run freely and unbridled through your brain?  I'm thinking that if you knew exactly how powerful your thoughts are you would want to make an effort to harness that energy to your advantage.  

Here are two good reasons to learn to be more careful about which thoughts you allow into your brain:  First, what you think is a direct cause of how you feel.  Your mood at any particular time is always the direct result of what thoughts you are thinking.  No exceptions.  Next time you find yourself in a foul mood, pay attention to the thoughts that are running through your brain.  Odds are you're in a rant of some kind, and the words you're telling yourself are feeding your funk.  Ever notice how you can be in a really good mood and someone will say or do something that ruins it and leaves you grumbling and angry?  It wasn't that outside event that changed your mood, it was, as the friends of Bill W like to put it, your own stinkin' thinkin' that bummed you out. 

As a recovering emotional basketcase, this first reason is why I eventually learned to control my thoughts.  I tend to brood, darkly.  So darkly, that I developed a terminal illness:  a depression so profound that for over three years it was always a miracle when I made it through the day without taking my own life.  I would call my best friend and ask her, "Cindy, explain to me again why it is that I need to stay alive?"  And she would always list reasons for me until she finally hit on one that my brain could believe and focus on.  It wasn't always the same one; most often it was my cat, Pearl, who needed me because she was afraid of everyone else.  Between them, Cindy and Pearl kept me alive; they both stayed by my side long after everyone else I knew had backed slowly away from the crazy woman that I had become and left me alone to wallow in the darkness.  I will always be grateful to Cindy for her patience and her compassion during that time. 

My psychiatrist got rich off of me.  Well, he got $400 a month; the medication he prescribed cost me another $350.  While I was under his care I got progressively worse.  It got so bad at one point that he actually told me that "we" wouldn't be able to manage this for long as an outpatient.  He told me to prepare for the fact that eventually I would be living out my life in the State mental hospital as an indigent patient.  No, he wasn't trying to scare me; he was just being clinical.  Somehow, though, even through my medicated fog, there was a part of me that refused to accept that.  Oh, it would have been easy to give up and allow his proclamation to become my reality.  If would have been easy to just be crazy and locked up, letting the state feed me and clothe me and give me a place to stay, rent free, for the rest of my life.  It would have been even easier just to die and put everyone out of their misery.  But there was still a tiny part of me that wanted to fight for my life.  That small part of me THOUGHT that somehow I could beat this thing.

One day, Mr. Psychiatrist Moneybags gave me one of his textbooks.  I was in graduate school at the time, and he knew me well enough to know that I devoured textbooks.  I was obsessed with soaking up knowledge, a fact that was both a symptom of my pathology and ultimately the thing that brought me back into the light.  The textbook was called Cognitive Therapy.  It was a new concept to me at the time, and it really opened my eyes.  Basically, the theory is exactly what we are talking about here.  Some people are crazy because they think crazy thoughts.  All you have to do is teach them to think better thoughts and they'll be OK.  Apparently my doctor had never actually read this book, because he had never tried this on me.  His job was to write prescriptions.  At any rate, that book saved my life.

So, the first reason to control our thinking is to control our mood.  We do not have to believe everything that we think.  We can choose to stop thinking thoughts that make us miserable and choose instead to think pleasant thoughts that keep our mood and our vibrational energy high.  Second, the graduate level reason for choosing our thoughts, is that what we habitually think eventually becomes what manifests in our world.  Again, no exceptions. 

Wallace Wattles, that Law of Attraction guru, states this as his First Law: 

"There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the inner spaces of the universe.  A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.  A person can form things in his thought and, by impressing his thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing that he thinks about to be created."

The universe responds to our thoughts and turns them into "things."  Thoughts are things.  As Einstein put it, E=MC2 ... Energy and Matter are made of exactly the same stuff.  What that means is that if you are always thinking things that stress you out and make you unhappy, angry, depressed, or worried, those very things you are thinking will be what crosses your path out in the real world.  Is it just irony that people who spend a lot of time worrying about being robbed, who spend money on security systems and who are afraid at night to be in their own home alone, are the very people who get robbed?  People used to yell at me for always leaving my doors unlocked.  They would show me news reports of home invasions just blocks away from where I lived.  I would always ask, "Was the house locked up, or did they break in?"  Without exception, the intruder had to bust his way in.  Now, I'm not telling you to unlock your doors, I'm just saying that you get what you think about most.  

This is the reason that visualization is such a powerful tool.  We did some powerful visualization last month when we did the Prosperity Project together.  Do you remember how it felt to imagine yourself spending all that money?  I recommend that you spend a few minutes every day deliberately visualizing yourself in your happy place, whatever that may be for you.  See yourself doing the things you will be doing after you have finally achieved your dreams and made your fortune.  That exercise alone is very powerful and will serve to move you in that very direction.

Today, though, what I'm wanting to suggest here is that even when you're not actively visualizing that you become aware of each thought as it enters your mind.  As you go through your day, become the silent observer who watches your thoughts.  For now, don't judge them as good or bad thoughts; simply observe what you think and how your thoughts make you feel.  When you find yourself thinking a negative thoughts, notice it.  Say, "Hmmm.  That's a negative thought."  And then go about your day.  If you  do that consistently, two things will happen:  First, by observing your thoughts you are no longer identified with them.  Negative thoughts will no longer have the power to destroy your mood.  Second, you will find yourself discarding negative thoughts in favor of better thoughts.  You Spirit wants to soar free and wants to be light and happy. 


Eventually, as you become more and more aware of the connection between your thoughts and your reality, you will begin to ask yourself this question:  "If what I am thinking about right now became my reality, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?"  I guarantee that when you become aware enough to ask yourself this question, you will quickly begin to cast down destructive thoughts and to focus on more positive stuff.  As Paul writes in Philippians 4:8,  "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."  For that, my friends, is what your life will become.  No exceptions.

Prosperity Project, Phase 2: It's Not What You Do, It's How You Do It

Greetings, prosperous friends!  Yesterday we gave some thought as to what wealth is, and we found that we are already abundantly wealthy right where we are.  We remembered that if we focus on the wealth that we already have in our lives, even more wealth can be attracted to us.  We learned that the secret is to look upon all that we already have with an attitude of grateful appreciation, seeing it all as very good.

Start Where You Are
In Phase 1 of the Prosperity Project we had dreams of homes and vacations, gifts to friends, charitable foundations ... all things that require big money.  How, then, do we get from where we are now to where we want to be?  The answer has always been to Start Where You Are.   Buddhists have been teaching us that for centuries.  The Tao Te Ching teaches that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  Since all we ever really have is the Right Here And Now, we have no choice but to change our lives in this present moment by changing ourselves.  Since in the present moment we have whatever job we have (or don't have), then instead of trying to change WHAT we do we should focus on changing HOW we do things. 

The Certain Way
In The Science of Getting Rich,  Wallace Wattles tells us that in order to earn more money we must do all that we do in what he calls a Certain Way.  In an earlier post, we learned that when we do things in the Certain Way we make it a point, in every transaction, to give people more in use value than they give you in money.  We learned to always give way more than we are paid to give.  We also learned to be larger than our current position, by never leaving undone anything that can reasonably be done by us.  Not to say that we should overwork, but we should always do all of today's work today.  Tomorrow's work will take care of itself.

Do Today's Work Today
Wattles is very clear on why we should never leave work undone, and if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense:  When we set our intention, when we have a Clear Mental Image of what it is that we want to create in our lives and we intend to make that a reality for ourselves, the universe starts setting things up so that our dreams can materialize.  That requires an incredible amount of orchestration, because other people will need to be inspired to do their part, which in turn will cause even more people to do their part, which will eventually cause a synchronistic opportunity to present itself to us, which will be the break we need to materialize our dreams.  If, however, we fail to do that one all-important thing because we're too busy watching General Hospital; if we decide to wait until tomorrow, or the weekend, or next week to get around to it, then it throws off that divine timing.  By doing the thing we were inspired to do that very same day we get the inspiration, we are honoring the Universe's time schedule.  If we fail to do that one thing, then the Universe's beautifully orchestrated miracle of timing is thwarted, and things must be set up all over again.  What could have happened quickly for us, now must take quite a bit more time ... all because we got in our own way by procrastinating!

It's Not What You Do, It's How You Do It
Many of us here on the Prosperity Project have been wondering what THING we can do that will earn us large sums of money.  We are looking at our present jobs realizing that no matter how hard we work, we will never make a lot of money there.  Napoleon Hill tells the story of a man who worked outside his office window selling peanuts on a street corner.  That man worked hard every day; he was always busy.  When he wasn't selling peanuts he was cooking peanuts and doing all the busywork involved with selling food.  But in spite of how hard he worked all day, he still only earned pennies.  Many of us are like that peanut seller:  We are busy all day, working hard with little time for ourselves, to earn just a few pennies a day.  Many of us work hard all week and barely make ends meet.  People who make gobs of money work no harder than we do, they just work a bit differently.

The secret to earning more money is to remember that what we do is not nearly as important as how we do it.  Whatever our work may currently be, we should do it with enthusiasm.   We should do more than is expected of us, and always do all of today's work today.   Yes, in order to make more money we will eventually need to do more lucrative work.  But here and now, today, we don't need to decide what that work should be.  We don't need to make plans to quit our jobs and start some get-rich-quick scheme.  We need not make any heroic efforts at changing our circumstances.  What we do need to change is how we go about doing the things that are already ours to do.  We need to BE the kind of people who deserve to be paid the kind of money we would like to be earning.  Someone once gave me some excellent advice:  If we think we should be earning $100 an hour, then we should do the job currently set before us as if we were being paid $100 an hour to do it.

Here's today's study question:  PRETEND YOU ARE A CONSULTANT BEING PAID HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY TO WORK IN YOUR COMPANY AND IMPROVE THINGS FROM THE INSIDE.  HOW WOULD YOU WORK DIFFERENTLY IF YOU WERE BEING PAID TEN TIMES THE AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU CURRENTLY EARN?

The Power of a Clear Mental Image

In The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles teaches us how doing everything in what he calls a Certain Way allows riches to be attracted to us.  One of the most important characteristics of that Certain Way is to have a Clear Mental Image of exactly what it is that we want.  Before I get into that, though, I want to point out that although we are attempting here to attract riches, that does not necessarily mean that we are wanting to attract mere money.  I want us to remember that although we are focusing on spending dollars here at the Prosperity Project, money is a only a tool that allows us to have the real riches we are seeking.  What we really are wanting is to be able to live all of the life we are capable of living.  We really want to have everything we need to work on all those projects and ideas that are floating around in our mind.  And we also are wanting that for the people we love.

So, back to the idea of a Clear Mental Image.  The Universe, or what Wattles calls Formless Substance ... God, if you will ... wants us to have whatever it is that our hearts desire.  The Universe is set up so that if we want something to appear in our lives, all we need to do is think about it and we will begin to attract it.  (Of course, there's more to it than that, but thinking is the all-important first step.)  The more clear and focused our thinking, the faster we will attract what we are thinking of.   Unfortunately, most of us are better at compulsively thinking about all the things we don't want.  We call that worry.  Universal laws being what they are, we begin to attract exactly what we've been worried about.  We have all learned to be quite clear about what we fear most, and if we spend a lot of time thinking about that, what we fear most is exactly what we attract into our lives.

It is much more difficult to be clear about what we really do want.  Often, we just don't know.  Or, we want two things that cancel each other out.  Or, we alternate between wanting something and being terrified that we won't ever have it, in which case we attract it and repel it at the same time.  So here on the Prosperity Project, the most important work we are doing every day is to spend some time thinking about exactly what it is that we really want out of life.  We are also going one powerful step further: we are declaring what it is that we want.  We are speaking it into existence.  This is very powerful work we are doing here, and we are guaranteed to see results.

I want to take the time and space here to reproduce a rather long passage from The Science of Getting Rich, because it illustrates what Wattles means about having a Clear Mental Image:

"I recall now the case of one student who was told that he must get in mind a clear picture of the things he desired, so that the creative thought of them might be impressed on Formless Substance.  He was a very poor man, living in a rented house, and having only what he earned from day to day; and he could not grasp the fact that all wealth was his.  So, after thinking the matter over, he decided that he might reasonably ask for a new rug for the floor of his best room, and an anthracite coal stove to heat the house during the cold weather.  Following the instructions given in this book, he obtained these things in a few months; and then it dawned upon him that he had not asked enough.  He went through the house in which he lived, and planned all the improvements he would like to make in it; he mentally added a bay window here and a room there, until it was complete in his mind as his ideal home; and then he planned its furnishings. 

Holding the whole picture in his mind, he began living in the Certain Way, and moving toward what he wanted; and he owns the house now; and is rebuilding it after the form of his mental image.  And now, with still larger faith, he is going on to get greater things.  It has been unto him according to his faith, and it is so with you and with all of us.

The bold text in that excerpt is mine.  I wanted to emphasize that having a Clear Mental Image of what we want is only Phase 1.  Phase 3 is Profit!  (Remember the Underpants Gnomes?)  The all-important Phase 2 in the process of allowing abundance is living in the Certain Way.  Could Wattles be any more vague?  Actually, he spells out pretty clearly what he means by that, and we'll go into it in more detail in another clue.

For today, though, I want to leave you with the encouraging thought that by participating in this Prosperity Project every day, we are doing the tough mental work that most people won't tackle.  We are  focusing to laser clarity our mental image of what we really desire.  I've followed the example of the student in the above excerpt, in that in my mind I've totally remodelled a house that I don't even own.  It doesn't matter that I may not always live here; every day I am sharpening my image of what my perfect life looks like.  The same is happening with Bob's workshop and Robyn's insurance agency.  As we write down the improvements we are making to our surroundings, I can actually see in my mind what these spaces look like, and can totally visualize the happy work being done there.

To a desire this clear, the Universe has one resounding reply:  Your wish is my command!

More Life for All: The Clue of Significance

As we visualize our dreams, enjoying the imagining of what it could be like to have money rolling in, we quickly begin to realize what it is that we really value. Every day on the Prosperity Project, as we imagine what we would do with a certain amount of money, we are really deciding in that moment what it is that we value most.

Playing this game every day is showing us WHY we want more money. I've always believed that our intentions for doing an act are way more important than the act itself. I've done some really dumb stuff in my life, but often I meant well. My intentions were kind, my actions just had unwanted circumstances. I believe that if we always act with good intention, even if we screw up, then eventually our judgment will catch up and we'll begin to make wiser choices.

This game is helping us practice. Today's clue, then, is the clue of Significance. As we spend our money, let's give some thought to the ways in which our having more money is providing more value to the people around us. Are we spending our money in ways that matter? What really matters, anyway? Are we being generous with our money? Are we remembering to bring along the people that we love? Are they sharing in our prosperity even though they may not share our vision? How is the world a better place because we have more money? Knowing the answers to these questions goes a long way in convincing our subconscious that we really are worthy.

In that Law of Attraction classic, The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles explains that all people who get rich do so by acting in a Certain Way. One of the main characteristics of that Certain Way is doing everything with the idea of providing More Life for All. That especially applies to the way we spend our money. As you spend your imaginary money every day, imagine all of the ways in which spending this money will provide More Life for All. Take some time to visualize all of the people whose lives will have added value because you spent that money. Certainly go into detail imagining how the money will help the people you love; but also give thought to all of the people you will never meet who will benefit because you have spent today's money.

It's a very powerful exercise. I wonder where it will lead?

Prosperity Project Day 8

As we begin our second week of the Prosperity Project, I think it's a good time to set some goals to strive for in our everyday lives. It's time to start working on what Wallace Wattles calls our Clear Mental Image.

But wait: Isn't that what we've already been doing here every day? In part, yes. By spending a few minutes every day deciding how we will spend our daily allowance, we are doing some very powerful visualizations that will have massive repercussions in our daily life. In the process, we are finding out what we value most. Most importantly, we are feeling really good as we are imagining ourselves enjoying the things that we are buying, and we are imagining others feel good about the gifts they are receiving from us. We have even spent some time imagining the benefits our spending has brought to people further removed from us, the people who manufacture, distribute, and install the items that we buy.

Today, though, I want us to take a minute to set a financial goal for ourselves in the real world. We've all heard the saying, "If you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you get there?" So today I'd like us all to set a short-term financial goal, so that when we reach it we will have clear evidence that we are moving toward prosperity, and will be encouraged to continue with our Project.

This isn't as easy as it sounds. When I first started visualizing future abundance about a year ago, I started affirming that I made $100,000 a year. That's not an outrageous amount of money, really. People make way more than that every year. But it's a number that I just couldn't really believe. Even as I affirmed it, I knew that it was impossible. As Abraham teaches, it's not your words that necessarily attract reality, it's how you feel about those words. After a few months I lowered my number to $5000 a month: way more than I'd ever made, but still not believable. As I mentioned before, my first stab at visualizing wealth ended in bankruptcy!

I'm sure you've already heard the advice that goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. They need to be goals you can believe, or you will sabotage yourself with doubts. So today, I don't want you to try to set your ULTIMATE goal, because I have a feeling that where we ultimately end up will be far and beyond anything that we could possibly imagine today. What I'd like you to do is to set a very small, measurable, attainable, realistic goal that you can attain by a specific date. It should be a stretch, but a believable stretch. Remember, here on the Prosperity Project we are training ourselves incrementally to allow more wealth to enter our lives. So let's start small, and then as we reach those goals let's make them a bit larger as time goes on and we gain more confidence.

Are you ready? Here's my first goal:

In six months (by Valentine's Day) I will have saved $5000 to pay for my trip to Fiji on the first week of June. I will save it easily, and will not have to forfeit my quick trip to San Francisco or my vacation in the mountains to achieve this goal. As I am saving this money, I will continue to live comfortably, paying my bills and buying groceries with ease.

And now it's time to spend some money!!!

$8,000 Today's deposit is revenue from my website, which has quickly gone viral.

$ 800 God's money. Over the past week, The Space Coast Symphony Orchestra has gotten enough money out of the Prosperity Project to make it through their first season. There is still much that they could use, but they will be able to buy music and pay their musicians. So for the next week, I want to focus on another musician friend with a huge need. My friend Captain Music has a dream of producing a huge Tropical Motivation event right here in Port Canaveral. This event will jump start his career, and will benefit countless musicians and others who will be involved. He needs $20,000 cash before he can begin to schedule it. The rest of the revenue will come from ticket sales. So Lee, here is your first installment, my friend!

$1,600 Wealth Building Account (Total $7,200)

$5,600 To put the finishing touches on my room addition (Total $17,600). My project came in slightly over budget, but not by as much as it could have. I'm glad that Keith is such a genius at building things or this could have cost me a whole lot more.

So now it's your turn. How will you spend your $8,000 today?

Prosperity Project Day 7

"And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good."

Today marks the end of the first week of our game. The seventh day is traditionally a day of rest; in the creation story told in Genesis, it is said that God rested on the seventh day. Actually, that is a bad translation. What the word really means is that God ceased on the seventh day. (He's God. Do you really believe He needed a nap?) But before he did, God looked around at all that he had created that week and saw it as good.

To me, that is one of the most profound statements in the Bible. Think about it: the world is only six days old. Surely, things aren't finished yet. The world STILL is not finished this many aeons later. But God looked on it as ALREADY good. In other words, God looked on his world with a grateful and appreciative eye. He looked at it with the intention of seeing what is right with the world, not what is wrong with it. He deliberately focused on the positive aspects because, being God, He understood the creative nature of thought. He knew that if he focused his attention on the good, that the good would grow.

So I would like to begin a tradition here on the Prosperity Project of taking the seventh day to look back on all that we've created with our wealth, and to see it as good. How has your imaginary lifestyle improved over the past week? How have you been able to add value to the people around you? And here's the real question: How has your real life benefitted this week from doing this Project?

After today, we will have spent $28,000! That's more than I've been making in an entire year!! During this first week, I've built a solid foundation for my future life. I've bought the best tools and gadgets I could dream up, I've updated my software, and am almost finished building the room that will become my command post. I've helped an injured friend, helped another friend pay his bills, and I've helped a fledgling orchestra get off the ground. It is definitely good. I haven't spent any of it on living expenses; none of us has. Before I began this project my living expenses were already covered, as I imagine yours are covered as well. This project is about the extra money that is coming our way.

So how has my real life benefitted from this project? My friend Andrea will appreciate my answer: I've decided to start playing the lottery! Wallace Wattles teaches that when money comes to us, it will come through already established channels. That means that money won't miraculously appear in your checkbook; it will come because you have earned it, but only if you do the work. It will come as a gift from someone with money, but only if you add value to their lives; Or, you might just win the lottery, but only if you buy a ticket. In other words, believing money is coming is not enough; we must act in a way that opens the door for money to enter. So this week I've been more aware of seeing and acting upon those opportunities. The best way for insane amounts of money to come to me right now today is through the lottery. So today I'll buy my first lottery ticket. Just one, but if money wants to come to me it will have a handy way of getting here.

$7000 Lottery winnings!! I got 3 out of 6 numbers right on my very first ticket!

$ 700 God's money is still going to the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra. Between me and Robyn they should have no problem making it through their first season.

$2000 Wealth building account (total $5600, or 20% of $28000)

$4300 Room addition (total $12000) By now the room is dried in and I can start using it while I finish.

It is all, definitely, very good.

How will you spend your $7000 today?

The Science of Getting Rich; or, What the underpants gnomes don't tell you.

There is a science of getting rich. You don't get rich because you work in a certain industry, live in a particular place, were born into a specific kind of family, or are exceptionally smart or hard working. You become rich because you do things in a Certain Way. So says Wallace D. Wattles in his book, The Science of Getting Rich.

Written in 1910, The Science of Getting Rich is one of the source documents upon which the movie The Secret was based. When I watched The Secret, I could sense the truth of the message and was eager to learn how to apply the Secret to my own circumstance. But there seemed to be something missing from the Secret, as if they had kept the actual Secret of it, well, secret.

In one episode of South Park (season 2, episode 17), one of the children, Tweek, has a big problem with underpants gnomes. They keep coming into his room in the middle of the night and stealing his underpants. Since no one believes him, the kids all wait up one night to catch the underpants gnomes red handed. After Cartman hits one of them in the head with a stick (Cartman's like that, you know), the gnome explains why they steal the underpants: "Phase One, steal underpants. Phase Three is profit." So then, what's Phase Two, the kids want to know? The gnomes all look at each other as if none of them had ever thought of that question before. "Phase One, steal underpants. Phase Three is profit," the gnome smugly repeats, as if that explains everything. Well, The Secret felt a bit that way to me, too. As if they had left out Phase Two.

The Science of Getting Rich is all about Phase Two. According to Wattles, one of the biggest lies we've ever been taught is that there is a limited amount of resources on this planet, and that we must compete to get our share before it is snatched up by someone else. This erroneous belief is at the root of all competition and greed. The truth is, all of nature is abundant and excessive. There is more than enough of whatever we could possibly want. There is no need to scrap and compete.

First, we must realize that things are produced by thought. All things. In other words, whatever we think about consistently and with great emotion, is what manifests in our lives. That is why we speak of "manifesting abundance." This idea lies at the heart of the Prosperity Project. We all seem to realize that if we can change the way that we think about money, we will be able to allow money to flow to us more freely. This is the same idea that prompted Napoleon Hill to write Think and Grow Rich.

Second, we must understand that it is perfectly normal and healthy to desire to be rich. All of nature seeks to grow to its ultimate fullness of being. As people, we need money in order to be and do all that which we are capable of being and doing. In order to live life to its fullness, we absolutely need money. Being rich is not wrong or evil, as some of us were taught to believe.

When I first started exploring my strained relationship with money, I realized that I had been trained to believe that anyone who had more money than we did had necessarily done something immoral to get it. Or, that once they got the money the having of it corrupted them in some way. So, naturally, if you want to be good and pure, you have to be poor. Boy, was that ever a messed up point of view. There are still vestiges of that lurking in my mind, which is why I was so excited about trying the Prosperity Project.

I think one of the biggest hurdles many of us face in attracting wealth is this belief that money is somehow bad. It isn't. Money doesn't make us evil any more than spoons make us fat. The Science of Getting Rich spends the first couple of chapters convincing the reader that it's ok to want money. Really. It is the nature of life to continually increase. In order to know more, do more, and be more, it is necessary that we have more of whatever it is that we need to make those things happen. Money helps, although money, in and of itself, is not wealth. Abundant life is wealth.

The real Secret, if you will, is to go about earning and spending our money In a Certain Way. Wallace cautions that we must be careful to examine WHY we want more money. If we want it so we can have more power, women, drugs, booze, toys; if we want it just so that we have more than everyone else; if we want money just to hoard it so we can get to a really big number in our portfolio, then we are acting out of a competitive mind, not a creative one. That is not the Certain Way of which Wattles speaks.

So what is the Certain Way? The attitude we must take concerning every single thing that we do is that of More Life for All. Always give the other person more in value than they give you in exchange for your goods and services. In every transaction, you must have the idea of INCREASE for all concerned. If you provide a service, give them more than they pay for. If you are an employee, give your employer more in services than your paycheck requires. If you continually add value to every person that you encounter in your daily life, then the universe will respond by adding value to you. That added value will often take the form of money.

If you want to be and earn more than you currently do, then the way to grow is to be LARGER than the place you are now. If you more than fill your current position, then growth is inevitable. For example, if you are paid only $10 an hour but you feel you are worth more like $50, then do your $10 an hour job as if you were being paid $50. If, on the other hand, you do mediocre work because you are insulted that you're only being paid $10 an hour, you are pretty much proving that you are being overpaid at $10 an hour. Who would want to put someone like that in a high-paying position? I mean, really? That is the Certain Way. It is a way of excellence, and of More Life for All.

Since attitude is an important part of the Certain Way, Wattles spends a lot of time talking about my favorite topic, Gratitude:

"The more gratefully we fix our minds on the Supreme when good things come to us, the more good things we will receive, and the more rapidly they will come; and the reason simply is that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come."

There are a lot of clues in The Science of Getting Rich. Over the past year I've read this book three or four times. I've listened to the audiobook in my car dozens of times, over and over again, like when my daughter was three and she watched The Wizard of Oz three or four times a day. Every day. She learned that movie by heart. That's how well I want to know the truths set forth in this little book.

WHERE TO GET A COPY OF THE BOOK:

The really good news is that this book was written 100 years ago, and the copyrights have long since expired. Here is a link to a pdf file of the book. If you want to get the book for free, you can print it out, as I did, or just read it online. (iPhones are great for reading online books.) Just click on this link:

The Science of Getting Rich at Google Books

Finally, if you are intrigued by Wallace D. Wattles and his Science of Getting Rich, I encourage you to check out the following link to Certain Way Productions. There you will find a link to an e-course that is well worth whatever money you decide to pay. She leaves you on the honor system to pay whatever you believe the course will be worth to you. If you feel like you really cannot afford to pay anything, she will honor that decision, because she believes that if you take this course and apply what you learn, that you cannot help but get rich. She knows that when that happens you will come back some day and pay the money you did not pay today. I think she may be right. I took the course for free, but as I write this review I realize that one day, I will go back and pay her. The audio course is exceptional, and I urge you to take the time to listen and do the workbook exercises. Here is the link:

http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net/

I'll see you back here tomorrow for Day 7 of the Prosperity Project.
Remember, Phase Three is PROFIT!