Spiritual Dimensions of the Success Breakthroughs Seminar

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Yesterday, Jack Canfield held a cocktail party where we were invited to return as though five years had passed and we had accomplished all of our goals developed during the seminar.

I was fascinated to listen to how many ways that people had served others. One young man had helped end gang violence. A woman had stopped bullying in schools. Another man had established schools around the world anonymously. Still another person had established schools for the disenfranchised in Africa. And so on.

I could not help but marvel at this seemingly unlimited urge to help.

Where did it come from? It seemed to surge forth from the heart.

Let me explain. One exercise we did set the stage. Each person was given 24 toothpicks and told to put them into a structure that included nine squares. Next, we were asked to remove eight toothpicks to leave two squares that did not touch one another. Some people got the answer right away by inspecting the display. Others struggled. Once you had gotten the answer, you were instructed to look around to see if anyone had raised their hands to ask for help. To help, you were told to clap your hands when the person removed a toothpick that would help them succeed and to be silent when they made a mistake. By trial and error, anyone could solve the puzzle at that point in less than 30 seconds.

Afterwards, people shared their experiences. Many reported enjoying providing the help as the main learning of the exercise. It seemed like they wanted to give and were delighted to have the opportunity.

I was also impressed by many other common impulses. More than half the people wanted to write non-fiction books with helpful messages. The more people who were helped by those messages, the happier the people were. It was very nice to behold.

Many of the people also reported "success" as becoming closer to other people.

From a personal perspective, I found myself feeling like we were all one person at several points during the week. I liked that feeling.

But one of the most moving aspects of Saturday came when a woman I was working with shared her plans for after the seminar. These plans included spending 20 minutes a day to pray. I was impressed because that aspect of self-improvement had not been evoked explicitly during the seminar . . . yet that spiritual dimension was accessed anyway. I had had a similar reaction in deciding to increase my Bible reading from just evenings to include mornings.

A special epiphany came when Jack Canfield showed photographs of crystals grown from water that had been in contact with different human thoughts. Angry thoughts produced crystals that were very ugly and misformed. Loving thoughts produced crystals of great intricacy and beauty. When a large number of people had the same thought on the same day, the same crystal structure showed up in fresh water crystals taken from lakes around the world. This made me realize that our loving thoughts create a physical impact on our world.

Think about that the next time you have to decide how you want to react to something. Do you want to create beauty and harmony . . . or discord and ugliness? It's up to your spirit!

Regardless of how much money you have . . . or don't have . . . you can create beauty and harmony both with your thoughts and your deeds.

May you always walk and think in beauty and harmony!

Tomorrow, I'll write more about how you can gain from this seminar . . . without having attended.

Tuesday, I will address the question of how you can be an Amazon.com top reviewer with integrity. Many thanks to kev for suggesting this topic.

Wednesday, I'll talk about how you can enjoy your ideal weight without spending much more money on food.

Thursday, I will share some ideas for improving your nutrition to feel better and operate more effectively.

Friday, I'll tell you about more mansions and estates that you can visit that will bring you great joy.

Saturday, I'll give you an update on how to enjoy the football season better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day.

Next Sunday, I will explore the spiritual joy and meaning of selflessly serving others.

Please feel free to let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

If you are new to this blog, be sure to check out the updated table of contents entry that was posted on August 10. It will help you find earlier entries that may be of interest. I'll update this table of contents every week or so for your convenience.

August 4 was the most frequently read blog entry to date. Be sure to check it out!

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because one of them invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell