Today I’m going to tell you a story. Are you sitting comfortably?
Then I’ll begin.
At sixteen, Bob and the local school system parted company. With little knowledge, limited skills and a bad attitude, he didn’t expect much out of life – and that was exactly what he got – not much. He drifted in and out of the navy, in and out of factory jobs and in an out of bars. By the time he was 26 years old, he was frequently sick, constantly tired, and earning only $4,000 a year with debts of $6,000.
He was learning that thoughts and feelings of mediocrity and hopelessness always led to more of the same. He was allowing his current circumstances to dictate the images he held in his mind, and beginning to grasp the idea that a mind engaged in images of struggle and strife will always produce the same as a fact.
Unhappy, unhealthy, and broke, he knew that his way was not working. Misery was a constant companion until the day he sat down with the man who was to change it all. Ray Stanford was everything Bob was not, happy, healthy and enjoying material wealth.
Ray explained there were certain laws governing happiness, that if followed would allow Bob to become a happier and healthier man. This idea seemed very strange.
He went on to say there were also exact laws governing material wealth. Now he really had Bob’s attention; if there was one thing Bob wanted it was money. He believed if he could get out of debt, everything else would be easy. This was a new idea he was ready to entertain. He had reached the point where he had ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’.
Ray suggested to Bob that he read a particular book, saying “Find the secret in this book and you can have anything you want”. The book in question was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Bob couldn’t find the secret at first, although it was mentioned many times on many pages. He read the chapter on persistence every day for a month, soon coming to the realization that he had never stuck at anything. He decided if he ever did find the secret he would stick with it every day until the day he died.
Find it he did, and the secret was simple; decide what you want, write it down and read it every day. It was 1960 and he wrote that he would have $25,000 in his possession by 1970. He’d given himself ten years to make it. From his present perspective it was hard to imagine he would get it at all, it seemed pretty much a fantasy. But every day he read his card. His friends in the bar laughed, “Bob thinks he’s going to be rich” they sneered.
He stopped bumming around in the bar. Keeping his card to himself now, Bob continued reading it every chance he got and before long his desire felt real. That year he earned $175,000 and well beyond a $1M the next. The secret had led him to inspired decision making and intelligent action, enabling him to live a successful and fulfilled life.
The idea of greater things constantly held in mind always leads to growth and progression.
We are all governed by the same laws: we are what we assume ourselves to be. Your present experience of life, even your present self is the effect of your thinking; the result of persistent assumptions, thought in secret and made visible for all to see. Every thought in the direction of our desire is the way forward, bringing it closer, whilst every thought in the opposite direction leads to more experiences to be unhappy about. There is perfect order in the universe; every thought, every feeling that we persist in becomes a part of our living reality.
Bob experienced a dramatic change in his world. We too can be happier and have a more successful, fulfilled life. We’re never disqualified from a bright future because of our current circumstances.
Don’t give up on your dreams or sit on the sidelines. Bob discovered that by persistently putting his attention on something he wanted, without knowing how to get it, he got it. He learned that with persistence you can’t fail.
This is the key point, anything that we repeat to ourselves, deliberately or not, becomes a part of our every day life experience, a part of who we are, it becomes our habitual way of thinking.
In order to change our life we must first change ourselves, change the ideas from which we think, the ideas that keep us firmly anchored in our present life. If you are willing to persist in the idea of something greater in your life, begin it. With thoughts of greater things persistently held in mind, success is inevitable.
It’s never too late. Six or sixty, it doesn’t matter, we are transformative beings, and there is no expiration date on transformation.
What’s your desire? Maybe you want a new car, or there’s a business you always wanted to start, maybe a relationship to be improved, or spiritual growth to be had. Remember, we can never rise higher than the thoughts we have of ourselves.
Let me encourage you to start expecting the best in your life. You deserve nothing less. Tomorrow is a blank canvas awaiting your personal touch. With every thought you either build a new, grander life, maintain the life you now lead, or you’re going downhill.
Through persistence you can see your dreams come to pass. You have created who you now are without any trouble at all and the creator is always greater than his creation.
Move on. Imagine this new you. Are you willing to entertain a new idea about who you are and stick with it, paying no attention to those old thoughts? They may feel familiar and comfortable but hey, they keep you shackled to your present life.
Today is the day, now is the time. Whatever you can imagine for yourself, become it. Rejoice both in who you are, and who you will be. Your destiny is whatever you say it is.
And Bob? Oh, you want to know what happened to him?
He became a student of universal principles, the same laws that knowingly or not, we all use every day. He practiced and persisted and today is the owner of a multimillion dollar company with a mission to improve the quality of life for thousands of people throughout the world. From the little seed of persistence grew a greater, more fulfilling, happier new life.
What would a little persistence do for you?
How do I know this story is true? Because it’s the story of Bob Proctor – we had a year long training with him – and he told us.
Encourage one another.
Love Elle.
xoxo
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17 Comments
Wow, what a post!! Great way to start a new week. So many great take-aways here.
Love these lines: …”there is no expiration date on transformation.”
…”we can never rise higher than the thoughts we have of ourselves.”
…”the creator is always greater than his creation.”
I think it’s time to read the book by Napoleon Hill.
Thank you for some wonderful thoughts, ideas and a bouquet of inspiration to believe in our ability to get to where we want and attain our goals and dreams.
I love stories!! Sitting at work this Monday morning for my ‘pick me up’ break, your post was perfect! I agree there is always a chance to begin again and in Bob’s case..to hold the faith to help bring it around to what we want. Thank you for sharing Elle!
Thanks Katy and welcome. We love the conversation. 🙂
Our thoughts governing our lives and the law of attraction have been put before me many, many times over the past few weeks … I know it’s time to pay attention in a big way. Napoleon Hill mentions have also crossed my path repeatedly the past few days so I know it’s time to read his book. Thanks for a timely post and for whoever forwarded it to me … glad I found your site.
Hello Debi – I’m so glad someone forwarded you the post too, and happy you joined us. Welcome. 🙂
Elle, this is wonderful. I am just finding out how this stuff works, and it’s brilliant. A few days ago I was called to translate on a flower show, and I excepted. I was so excited. I kept repeating to myself that it will be great, that I will manage just fine, and I felt it, and the night before it began, I wrote to myself: everyone was so kind, I was excellent, pretty, charming, open, focused, I met wonderful people. Keep in mind that I was always nervous and trembling when performing in public with my heart racing and knees shaking. When I arrived, I found out that there is a stage, there is a microphone headset involved, spotlights, and over 300 people in the audience. My job was to help with the flower arrangements and translate the words of two people with 600 eyes pointing at me 🙂 Elle, it was amazing. I stood on that stage for almost 4 hours, I felt so relaxed, I didn’t miss a word, my voice was strong, I was focused, I helped with the flowers and I translated at the same time, it was insane. I met wonderful people, I made a new friend, I made some contacts for future jobs… Me, someone who couldn’t read a paper in front of a class without shaking like a leaf! When I was standing on that stage, I took a moment to ask my heart how it felt – it responded with a nice, relaxed heartbeat. I was so happy. And it never crossed my mind that it could be any other way. When I got back home and read what I had written the day before, I found out everything came true. I simply decided to be new, this Ana doesn’t shake, why should she? I have a right to be new, even in front of people who knew the old me – that was also an important lesson for me. Sometimes we feel that people who know the old version of us somehow keep us in that mold, but they really don’t – when you appear in front of them in your new state of mind, you really don’t leave then any room to think anything else of you than what you present to them in that moment. And everything comes so naturally. Oh, Elle, thank you so much for being you, and for letting me share these things with you.
Wow, incredible story. Bravo to you,Ana!
Thank you, Harriet 🙂 you’re very kind.
Ditto what Harriet said Ana. It’s so wonderful of you to share your journey with us, and what a cool journey it is when we live from this all loving, all possible, all joyful space. Bravo. 🙂
What a great story and what wonderful lessons inside. Thank you so much. I loved the post, Elle. And happy, happy birthday to you! Love, Vidya
This is Exactly what I needed this morning.
Thank you for continuing to send your light and thoughts out into the world.
Miriam
And thank you Miriam for joining in our conversation – the laws of life are a great thing to be involved in. 🙂
Bob Proctor has touched and taught tens of thousands of us, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of us. I love that story…
Keeping your faith focused on your life as it is with your desires fulfilled is all important. Like Bob and his $25,000
we need to be fact arrangers not fact acceptors. Did I borrow that phrase from you ?
Write on Elle !
Talent, intellegence, beauty, are all powerless without persistence. So well put, dear Elle. What a post, you really hit one over the fence with this one! We are both a fan of “Bob” so this one hit home!
How great Dore` that you’re a fan of Bob too. He’s a great mentor.
I really respect the author and I like this post.
HOWEVER
I disagree VEHEMENTLY that the “secret” to Think and Grow rich is simply “write down what you want, and read it everyday”. That is simply a habit to get you to implement the secret, that habit changes your THINKING. Changing thoughts changes ACTIONS, which changes RESULTS.
That book covers topics of the mind and talks about the “ether of the Universe”.
in Bob Proctor’s “Born Rich” series, he goes over energy and levels of vibration.
The lessons learned go over so many topics in so many different areas of life, that to reduce them to one line seems to do it injustice in my honest opinion.
I think the “secret” is simple when understood but I don’t think putting it in simple terms will help people. I also think that telling people the “secret” will prevent them from getting off their behinds, reading the book, and finding it themselves.
I personally started reading the book and putting into practice what it says 2 years ago. I had to do more than just read a list, I had to change my subconscious conditioning, change my habits, change everything. And by changing me I changed the results I got in life.
Please edit that one line to something else. I respect the author, this site, and this blog post, but I think that one line will really unintentionally hold some people back.
Thank you and have a blessed day.
Hi Leo…thank you for your comment. I think the whole point of what Bob was saying back then was that this very practice is simply a way of changing the sub-conscious mind as you have managed to do. I studied with him personally for one year and went to his seminars also and this is most definitely what he spoke of. Not to say of course that as you say there isn’t more to know and understand. But this is the point he started with and it lead him to greater awareness and understanding of the things you mention such as vibration and energy.
Congratulations to you…I must say I’m impressed that you have changed the results in your life after two short years. Personally after many, many more years than that I’m still working on it. 🙂 Certainly much has changed, in huge ways…some areas more greatly than others. But truth be told I think I’ll be in constant growth mode until the day I leave the planet. And I’m happy to do it. Much joy to you. 🙂