The Magic Of Believing by Claude M. Bristol
The Book
The Magic of Believing by Claude M. Bristol
For more than four decades success-oriented Americans have turned to the no-nonsense, time-tested motivational techniques described in The Magic of Believing to achieve all their long- and short-term goals: a better job, an increased income, a happier marriage, or simply a good night’s sleep. Now it’s your turn to put Claude M. Bristol’s special “magic” into your life and into action !
Opinion on the book
As last week book was a good introduction to personal finance, this book is a nice introduction to self development. For some people it may just be enough, for some it is a good start, and for some it is just outdated (remember that this was first published in the 40s ! ).
The self development market has evolve a lot since The Magic Of Believing, but at the same time you realise that almost all of it relates to that book (I’m not saying it started everything, just that most self development adivces are the same). So this book is a good start, or a good reminder for later because it is very short, or fast if you get the audio tape.
The Book in One Sentence
Whatever you set your mind to you can achieve.
Quotes
“Through repetition, beliefs sink in”
Notes
# Power of thoughts
Working hard is not enough for success. Successful succeed throug thinking, hands were merely helper to their brain. You can get anything if you can make it the burning desire of your life. So you need to know what you want!
What do I want to achieve? The thoughts attract that upon which they are directed. They offer you :
- constancy
- intensity
- power
But you have to believe with every fiber of your body!
# The Subconscious
The subconscious provides you with :
- intuitive understanding of your body needs → it warns you, to preserve it
- saves our life in case of immediate need → through fear or reflex for example
- it’s operating in the psychic world, but it can be summoned and used by the conscious mind
To use it you’ll need to :
- Be sure you ask for something you believe to be rightfully yours and that you can handle : you’ll need to put absolute faith into your subconscious mind!
- Convey your needs to the subconscious with the spirit that the work has already been done. See and FEEL yourself as already successful!
- Go on with your life while yout subconscious work it out. At some point you’ll receive messages from your subconscious → act upon it immediately! Don’t think! Just do what it says, or you’ll lose faith in your subconscious and it won’t give you any more message
# Suggestion is power
Through repetition, beliefs sink in.
Ex : Repeat all over that it’s economic crisis and that’s exactly what happens. Repeat that it’s golden time for entrepreneurs and that’s exactly what happens!
# Mental picture
“assume the virtue if you have it not”
This is different than daydreaming!!
Plant the right seed (goal), and give it proper water every day (positive thoughts, constant focus and repetition) and it will grow into a strong tree that could break anything with its roots!
Write down what you want, or find relevant pictures, and put that everywhere! So it becomes part of your life, so you can see it at any moment without having to do anything!
If you’ve no idea how to get to your goal don’t worry, keep focusing on it, it will come to you (your unconscious mind is processing it as we’re speaking!)
But :
- don’t talk about it or you will scatter your forces
- act upon what come to you!! “Faith without action is dead”
# The Mirror Technique
- Stand in front of a mirror big enough so you can see your body to the waist up
- Stand still, breath deeply
- Look at yourself, in the depth of your eyes, tell yourself you’re going to get what you want, do it until you believe it
The goal here is to get that “trust in yourself” eye out of the exercise. And walk through life with it.
# Project your thoughts
If you want something, you need to associate with the people who already have it.
Why you should (or should not) buy that book
If you’re eally interested by what you read here and want to go further then this book is not what you need. Wait for the weeks to come, or if you really can’t wait go for something from Tony Robbins for example : it’s very accessible and dense at the same time.
Share the notes
~Thomas
PS : If you're enjoying the notes then consider subscribing to the RSS feed or to the newsletter by email to have the notes delivered directly to you every week, for free.
________________________________________________________________
What about you? Have you read that book? What did you think of it?