I often struggle with the metaphysical side of personal development. It contains a lot of talk about thoughts, frequency, manifesting and such. It’s much easier to wrap my head around things that are more “real.” I can understand how to set a goal and break it down into action steps and milestones. To lose 20 pounds in the next 2 months I need to eat less junk and move more. To increase my income I need to earn a raise in my existing job, find a new job that makes more money, or start a side business. It might not be easy, but at least it is simple conceptually. But what does it mean to adjust the frequency of my thoughts to align with my higher self to manifest my dream car?
Metaphysical stuff fascinates me though, and I think there is real value when you can understand and apply it. The first step is to understand what is actually being said.
Is It Really Metaphysical?
A lot of teachers use metaphysical speak to make mundane things sound more magical so that you will buy their books and programs. For example, that whole bit about frequency and higher self to manifest a car? Adjust the frequency of your thoughts might just mean you need to start thinking positively about being able to get that car. You will never get it if you don’t believe you can have it.
Higher self can be inspiration or seemingly random opportunities. When you believe you can have something, you start to get ideas about things you can do to move toward the car. Maybe you come up with a great idea to generate the extra funds you need to buy a car. You are also more likely to notice opportunities when they appear. Maybe Uncle John has one and he’s looking to buy a newer one. He might just sell it to you for less, or even give it to you. You are his favorite niece or nephew after all. If you follow through on the inspired ideas and act on the opportunities you hopefully end up owning the car, or something better.
It’s hardly magic or a miracle. It’s just positive thinking to notice opportunities and move toward a goal. Basic stuff.
It’s Magic!
There is also the metaphysical stuff that appears magical. In books like Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda and Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East by Baird T. Spalding they describe people having amazing abilities. You can read about great yogis dropping gold coins out of thin air for their followers. The great masters can teleport or bi-locate from one place to another, and leave inanimate duplicates of themselves behind to protect a village. Who doesn’t want to run into Jesus and Buddha walking down the road together or have a lavish feast appear out of thin air with your wise, dearly departed great-great-grandma?
It’s wild stuff. And that’s only a few examples of what those books contain. There are a lot more things they can do too. But what am I supposed to do with all of that? Is it supposed to inspire me for what I will be able to do once I have cleansed myself and reached enlightenment? How do I get there? They don’t tell you that. They do tell you that you can only have it when you no longer want it. In other words, when it’s no longer a big deal to you. I even heard once that we really do have these abilities but the aliens have to unlock them for us or teach us how to use them. Whatever. It doesn’t seem very practical, or practicable, for me right now.
Useful Metaphysics
Finally there is the metaphysical stuff that maybe we can do something with. Most of what I know about deals with retraining the subconscious mind. This is probably the most valuable for us right now. Our subconscious mind is the repository of all of our experiences and our sense of self-preservation. Some say it contains generational experiences as well, everything that our ancestors did and learned.
The subconscious mind is responsible for keeping us safe. It defines our comfort zone.
And it works very well, mostly because we don’t realize that it’s working at all. It guides our thoughts and actions from below our conscious thought. Sub conscious.
Many times I have wanted to do something and never got around to it. I don’t mean forgetting to take the trash out because I got distracted by something else that needed to be done, or caught up in a conversation with my daughter.
I mean that it will do anything in it’s power to prevent me from finishing a blog post that might improve my online presence. It will give me ten reasons not to take that long hike that may improve my health in a variety of ways.
The Saboteur
The subconscious mind can sabotage things that will hopefully improve my life, either directly or indirectly. From its perspective it is much safer to stay exactly where I am, because I can largely predict what will happen next if nothing changes. And that is safe. Even if it’s not.
Chicken fingers are safer than trying new food. Staying home is safer than traveling to somewhere I have never been. It is safer to avoid a conversation with a stranger, or someone I haven’t talked to in several years.
Right now a lot of what I struggle against my subconscious with has to do with building my business. That stranger is a customer who wants to place an order. This is one of those blog posts. I still have to get that e-book done. My subconscious views them as either not worth my time (nobody’s going to read this, right?) or dangerous because it might open me to uncomfortable criticism or outright ridicule. It’s safer to stay small.
I’m going to expand on this in my next post, specifically resistance to doing the things we want to do that take us outside our comfort zones.
My Request for You
The business I mentioned has to do with the idea that personal development comes a lot easier when we have people to discuss it with. My long-term goal is to build a membership site here where anyone interested can start and join conversations about anything related to personal development, metaphysical or not. For now it’s a Facebook group. So far it is me, my mom, a cousin, a former teammate from another business, and my accountability partner. Four great people and me, but there is room for more.
Here’s my request for you. If you are interested in personal development, please join the Facebook group and suggest a topic that we can discuss. You can also leave a comment below suggesting a topic for me to write about here.
Thanks for your help.