I recently met a young man here in Ecuador who wants very much to study engineering in the USA; at Berkley to be exact.  He is bright, energetic and focused.  His challenge: he does not speak English well enough to succeed at an American university.

He is working hard.  He listens to English language podcast as he commutes to school on the bus.  He meets with me to practice the language.  (He returns the favor by listening to my broken Spanish for an hour.) Ingeneral, he has focused his sights on success.

“I even used the Law of Attraction,” he tells me, with a slightly embarrassed laugh.

I was surprised to hear a young Ecuadorian say they were familiar with the Law of Attraction. I thought that particular “new thought philosophy” had gone out of style years ago.

For those who missed it.the Law of Attraction claims that what we focus on expands. By focusing on positive or negative thoughts, one creates an emotional vibration that will attract similar vibrations:i.e. positive thoughts attract positive results, negative thoughts attract negative results.

This belief is based on the idea that people and their thoughts consist of “pure energy”, and that “like attracts like”. Many people claim to have attracted wealth, love, and success simply through the power of their own thinking.  That is the Law of Attraction.

But, I must ask, can one attract fluency in a foreign language by picturing oneself speaking fluently?

Probably not.

If you’ve been following my posts, or, better yet, reading my book, you are already putting in focused energy visualizing your success. Unfortunately, imagining your success is not enough.

You can visualize all you want but until you put in the work, your results will be inconsistent.

“Don’t wait for inspiration. It comes while working.”
~ Henri Matisse

If you want to speak a foreign language, speak it. If you want to build a profitable business, build it.

While you work, continue to imagine success.

Three weeks ago, a client of mine, tired and discouraged from trying to do it all, all by herself, set a goal of finding someone to help her in her business.  That weekend, to relax and let go of the stress and overwhelm she was feeling, she went to a local park to play ultimate frisbee.  There she met the exact person she needed to help her.

Was the Law of Attraction at play here? Perhaps, but first she had to clearly recognize what she wanted.  Second, she needed to do something with her intention.  Sitting home wishing for a solution would not work.

When the solution, (miraculously?) presented itself, she had to be ready to respond. In this case, by inviting this new person to meet to discuss the position she had already identified.

When you’ve had enough of imagining yourself as a successful entrepreneur, call me.  I have developed several new, affordable coaching packages.  One will be just what you need to move from the realm of imagination into reality.

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