How To Get Anything You Want In Life
Douglas Vandergraph once said, “Thought, Purpose, and Achievement. Until thought is linked to purpose, there can be no real achievement. He who lends the nature of his thought to his dreams and desires can do no more and will do no less than accomplish what he thinks. You are exactly what you think about, no more and no less.”
That is where the power lies. I was dead broke, overeducated, underemployed, handicapped, and not happy. At the age of 16, I was in a severe car accident. This accident resulted in a lifelong physical disability and corresponding low self-esteem. I made it through high school and eventually with an Ivy League MBA. After college, I got married for six months, divorced, and had yet to find an employment match for my degree. Until this point in my life, my biggest benefactor was a life experience. I was a pro at taking a beating and an expert at shrugging off the stares as I limped by. I had no family support and no regard for my health(I was a stroke victim, but I smoked cigarettes) or future. It is easy to look back now and see all of the opportunities before me, but hindsight is 20/20. I was not home-bound. I was losing in every possible way. I knew I was failing, and I had no idea how to change my circumstance. I was a complainer, and if you had ears, I was happy to tell you all about my horrible car accident, the fact that I had been on TV for being the longest documented death case in America, my divorce, you name it. I was hurting and found some relief in sharing my misery. By the name of Warren, a man I trust told me that it was all my doing and I could have anything I wanted in life by doing one thing. Make a choice. Warren said, “If you want to change your life, all you need to do is change your life.” Sounded like a funny play on words to me at the time. This man, who was not suffering from any of the concerns I was having, told me that I could solve all my problems by just deciding to do so? Well, my immediate response was not favorable to his idea. Warren did, however, get me thinking. He suggested I sit down and write out a list of reasons I was unhappy. Oh boy, something I could agree with. I started at number 1, and I ended up with a list of over 400. So this man got me thinking and eventually got me to monitor my thinking. I finished my unhappy list and handed it over. Warren read my list and asked me to write another list. The second list was to be things I wanted in my life, regardless of cost or way to accomplish them. A happy list of things I would, regardless of how I would get them, something I would have. The first thing I wrote down was a loving mate and #2 kids. I have always wanted to be a father. I grew up in a single-parent household, and I wanted to be the father I never had. Number #3 was a Billion Dollars. It does not matter what you want or that you can see no line of sight to getting it, write it down, and so I did. It is our job to tell God what we need, and it is his job to figure out how we will get it. So I completed my happy list. I was then asked if I was ready to start receiving the items on my happy list, and I was more than ready. He asked me if I was prepared to choose. I agreed I was, and then Warren asked me to select a list. Happy or Unhappy? I immediately grabbed happy from his hands. He asked me if I had a lighter on me, and at the time, I always did have one based on my unhealthy personal habits. Warren handed me my unhappy list and told me to burn it. I lit it on fire, and he told me this was symbolic. I was to leave these items in the ash and start every day by reading my happy list aloud. Brainwashing works. You read anything repeatedly every day long enough, and even if it is a lie, you will start believing it. Reading good things and things you want to accomplish every day changes your thinking repeatedly. Write your lists, make a choice, and start reading your happy list over and over every day. It works like magic. I have almost everything on my happy list. If I can achieve these amazing feats, so can you.
Kindest Regards,
Douglas Vandergraph
