Q: Matt, I’m listening to Theatre of the Mind for the third time and getting more and more out of it. In the program you spoke about the folly of “I AM” affirmations and how saying “I am going to” or “I will” are better approaches. As you know, this advice flies in the face of what the other gurus are teaching. How are you able to take such a stand with such confidence when it appears that everyone else is saying the opposite?
Jack
A: Great question, Jack. My answer is based on my success record. It is not based on theory. It is also based upon a simple observation of nature and reality.
Here’s what I mean by simple observation: Each and every day you mentally picture yourself getting something to eat and drink – unless you’re fasting, and in that case, you are picturing yourself not eating. This seemingly automatic and unconscious mental imagery is taking place as you ask yourself basic and fundamental questions such as: “What do I want to eat?” and “What do I want to drink?”
After a question about food and drink has been asked, your mind scans through a number of images and these images create feelings of pleasure or disgust within you. For example, you may love a ribeye steak but hate the idea of eating fish. You may crave fruit while disapproving of a salad with croutons. In fact, as you read the preceding sentences, you probably pictured each of the foods that were listed and various feelings immediately emerged within you.
This is what happens when you ask yourself “What do I want to eat?” each day. This is what happens when your answer contains the words, “I want to eat…” or “I am going to eat….”
Yes, the words “I want to” and “I am going to” and “I will” are future-based. And this is important because the truth is you haven’t eaten yet.
After asking yourself, “What do I want to eat?” you make a selection, a specific choice, and then you move heaven and earth to make sure you get your selection inside your mouth where you can munch on it. And you do this every single day of your life, usually with zero conscious awareness of the process.
What is your success rate with this method? It is probably 1,000 percent.
So, this starling observation leaves me wondering why someone would abandon a success process with a track record of 1,000 percent and go for one with the supposedly supernatural “I AM,” that incidentally, has a win-loss record that is incredibly embarrassing.
This is why I go with the tried and the true, “I am going to,” “I will” and “I want to.”
If you are broke, you can say, “I AM RICH” ten gazillion times and it won’t change a thing about your life in any positive way.
If you weigh 400 pounds, you can say, “I AM 200 pounds of chiseled muscle,” all you want and nothing will change.
But look out for the person who PICTURES abundance, prosperity and wealth. Look out for the 400-pounder who sees himself weighing 200 pounds with six-pack abs.
It’s about how you SEE YOURSELF – how you mentally picture going from where you are to getting what you want.
It’s recognizing that you aren’t wealthy until you are. You aren’t fit until you are. You haven’t written a book until you have written it.
Firstly and lastly, at the most basic and fundamental level, you haven’t eaten until you have eaten.
Picture what you want. Tell yourself you’re going to get it. Then go get it – or, if it’s a longer-term objective, work your butt off until it becomes yours.
You got it?
Here endeth the lesson.
Matt Furey
