An Overview of the Principles and Laws of Change
Many of us come to a point where we want to change our lives for the better. If you have not felt this way, then you probably have what you want. On the other hand, if you’re reading this, there’s a reason for it.
You may be looking for a change! But you may not know how to do it or what you need to do to make it happen.
Whether it’s changing something specific in your life or transforming your life entirely, the belief and faith that you can do it is key. Disbelief can hold you back, but faith can help you take that first step towards a better life.
It could be that you’re in debt, in poor health, unfit, want to lose some weight, in a job you don’t want to be in, in a relationship that’s not going well or you are alone and you want someone to share your life with. Or a myriad of factors that affect our lives – and for each of us, those factors are specific and uniquely personal.
No two people want exactly the same thing, exactly the same way, at the same time. When it comes to our preferences, we truly are individuals.
It’s important to understand that there’s no magic key or instant solution to change your life. Instead, it requires knowledge, faith, and belief in a set of principles and natural laws that, when followed, can help you create the life you want.
Knowledge – where change begins
You can gain knowledge by reading books and articles, listening to audiobooks and lectures, and watching documentaries and films.
However, this knowledge isn’t just about education. It’s about understanding yourself and the universal laws that govern your life.
To change your life you need to understand how the mind works, the principles that need to be followed and the laws governing how your life came to be the way it is now.
You must become aware of who you really are, your thoughts and actions. You must wake up!
The Mind
When we talk of the mind we are not talking about the brain. The mind is non-physical and is divided into two parts: the conscious and subconscious.
While the conscious part is what we’re in control of, the subconscious governs how and why we do things – we cannot directly control this part and it is automatic. That is not to say that the mind is two components because it is not – it is one, whole, consciousness.
To change your life, you must change how the subconscious works for you and you do that by using your conscious mind, through conscious effort, to install new ideas and beliefs into your subconscious – to replace old beliefs that hold you back from success and fulfilment.
Character
Another important aspect is character. Our character is created throughout our lives. It is part of what is known as the self-image. We can change it if we want. We can alter traits like laziness, procrastination, confidence, persistence, and even our emotions and feelings towards a given situation, person, or circumstance.
To improve our character, we need to replace old beliefs that hold us back from achieving our goals.
Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were our last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence. – Marcus Aurelius
The Self-Image
Our self-image is a vital component of our mind. It’s how we perceive ourselves, who we believe we are.
A good self image can bolster your success and how you will change your life. A poor self image is the “enemy within”, which holds you back, keeping you standing still. It can pull you down into the cellar of your potential.
All that you believe yourself to be, all that you believe you can or cannot achieve, your beliefs about yourself, both negative and positive, are encompassed within the self-image.
This part of you is embedded within your subconscious and, when it needs to, reminds you of who you are – or to be more exact, who you think you are.
The Ego
The ego and the self image are dependant on each other. When a change occurs in the self-image, there is also a change in the ego. And vice versa.
Our ego is who we see ourselves to be in other people’s eyes, and it’s how we think others see us.
It can influence what we think we are, who we think we should be, our position in society, and our status. It’s how we think everybody else sees us.
The Internal Machine
All of these components of our mind are synergistic, and they’re what make us who we are. Who we are right now, what we do, how we do it and where we are in life, are all a result of our mindset. Our beliefs about ourselves are crucial to our mindset, which ultimately affects our whole existence. Change a belief, and your life changes.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, after its kind: and God saw that it was good. – Genesis 1:11
The seed you plant in your mind, that idea, that thought, THAT is what you will get back. Whether it is sadness or joy, to succeed or to fail, can’t or can – whatever you plant in your mind, THAT is what will grow in your life – THAT will be the outcome.
The External Machine and The Universal Laws
Everything to do with your mind, you have control over. Whatever happens outside of your mind, is out of your control. Other people, time, circumstances – all out of your control.
But, there is a very simple law that governs that external part and it has many names, such as the “Law of Reaping and Sowing”, “Cause and Effect”, the “Law of Attraction”.
This law dictates that whatever you put out – your thoughts, your feelings, your beliefs – then that is what you will get back.
Like Wi-Fi
Each of us is an energy bundle, a mass of energy. We are connected to the universe in the same way that a mobile phone is constantly connected to a network or Wi-Fi, as long as it is turned on and the password has been entered correctly. We “turn on” when we realise that we are never disconnected. You can never turn this off. Whether you believe it or not, want it or not, it’s the way it is. It’s the way of the universe.
The “password” is the way we connect to the stream of our life. When we are on the stream and we are not resisting the flow of it, our life seems to work out and things “just seem to fall in place”.
The substance of the Whole is passive and malleable, and the reason directing this substance has no cause in itself to do wrong, as there is no wrong in it: nothing it creates is wrongly made, nothing harmed by it. All things have their beginning and their end in accordance with it. – Marcus Aurelius
If you’re reading this for the first time, it may sound like something out of a fantasy or a science fiction book. It’s not. This is the way it is, and the sooner you take control and responsibility for your life and its outcome, the sooner your life will change for the better.
Emotion
Emotion is the key. Neville Goddard called feelings the secret to manifesting your desires.
Be careful of your moods and feelings, for there is an unbroken connection between your feelings and your visible world. – Neville Goddard
What you truly feel about a given situation, event, want or desire defines the outcome. Your feelings are energy and that energy defines what you will get in life, what your physical world will be.
That which you hold to be true in your beliefs and your emotions, is what you will get – whether it is positive or negative. The whole process is subjective to you and objective to the subconscious and the external machine.
Fear
Our fears hold us back from moving forward.
Napoleon Hill, in his book “Think and Grow Rich”, defined the 6 Basic Fears: Poverty, Criticism, Health, Love, Age and Death. All other fears fall under these 6, either as a whole or split amongst two or more of them.
As long as we hold onto our fears, instead of letting them go, we will not be able to rise above the place we are at now. The old saying, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”, is appropriate here. Our fears cause judgement, prejudice, discrimination and blind us to what could be. We become blinded to opportunities and lessons that we can benefit from.
Letting go is a choice. A self made decision.
Belief
Without belief there can be no realisation of goals or dreams. Therefore, if there is no belief in the realisation of a dream, then there will be no action. And should action be taken, it will likely be halfhearted, resulting in failure.
Belief in the process does not have to come from you. You could have faith and belief in someone or something else.
The process of letting go and letting God relies on this belief. And if you are not religious or spiritual it doesn’t matter, because this law still applies. It is the point where you are willing to release control, and trust that the life you seek will be yours.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? – Matthew 7:9-11
Knowledge is a continual process. Everything is accepted with humility and rejected with reason.
There is a way to a new life. The pathway to a better life requires effort, correct thinking, action, consistency and belief. And it all starts with a decision – a decision to a better way to live.
Bibliography:
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Feeling is The Secret by Neville Goddard
Photograph by Caleb Jones on Unsplash
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