Looking at the title of this post, you could easily think, “Oh no, another one of those woo-woo new-age articles about the power of positive thinking.”
And although I think positive thinking is a good idea, this post is not about that.
It’s about something that keeps happening to me.
The ultra-sceptical side of me wants to dismiss it but the logical data-gathering side of me is saying, “Hmm, the law of cause and effect seems to be acting.”
Let me explain.
Like most people in the world, there have been plenty of times in my life where I would look admiringly at the high achievers in life and think to myself, “I wish I could achieve half of what they’ve done.”
I’d either leave it there and forget about it or I’d become obsessed with it and do lots of research and gain lots of knowledge…
And still do nothing.
More often than than not, the reason for this state of inaction was some doubt in my mind. The mind is amazing at coming up with some excuse not to break out of your comfort zone and just do something.
But then there have been times in my life where I’ve just grabbed hold of my balls and taken action to achieve something.
I’ll give you two examples to help you understand what I mean:
Japan
At the end of last year, my Sensei (martial arts instructor) told me that there was a Taikai in October this year in Japan. For those of you not familiar with Japanese martial arts, a Taikai is an event where a large group of people meet up and train together. He told me that this particular Taikai was important, because it might be the last chance to train with the Grandmaster of the martial art that I practice, as he’s getting old and will be less inclined to travel.
In addition to this, I’d always wanted to go to Japan. Despite the fact that I’m attracted to Asian women, I’ve been in love with martial arts since I saw Bruce Lee’s film ‘The Big Boss‘ as a child on a hired VCR at my parent’s house in the early eighties. The idea of travelling to the Far East is a long-held dream.
But that’s all it’s ever been. A dream.
My mind is forever telling me, “It’s too expensive to go there, I can always go when I’m rich,” but I’m still not rich and I’ve still not travelled to Japan.
My Sensei told me that in order to be able to go, a deposit had to be paid before the end of January and another large sum of money had to be paid before the end of April.
I did some mental calculations and knew I could manage the deposit, but I also knew that I’d be short of the full payment by several hundred pounds. So, for a month or two, I gave in with resignation to not being able to go to the Taikai.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, Sensei said that the time for the deposit to be put down had almost approached and asked for any last students to hand it in at the next training session.
I could see these excuses going through my mind again and I got angry.
“Why can’t I go to Japan? I’m fucking pissed off”, I thought to myself.
Right then and there, I decided that I would go. I would put down the deposit and just find a way to get the rest of the money before the deadline.
Somehow.
I got the deposit from the bank and gave it to Sensei at the next training session.
Now here’s the good part.
The very next day, I got an email from an agent saying that they’d seen my CV somewhere on the internet and they had a vacancy at a company which they thought would be a good fit for me. I had a look at the job specification and not only was it a perfect fit for my current skill-set, but there was scope for training and development to learn more advanced techniques which would in the future allow me to earn more.
And the company was offering a significant increase on my current salary.
I worked out if, after getting the job I could afford to pay for the Taikai and the figures were almost perfect.
A coincidence? I don’t know.
London
Another example came after I’d been at my graduate job a couple of years and had managed to pay off all of my debts. I had learned the ropes of Daygame and wanted to move to London to get access to a larger number and variety of hot women. I wanted to work up a sum of money to enable me to get a flat and keep me going down there until I got myself a job. I worked out that it would take another nine months at least to save the money.
This made me grumpy and dissatisfied. I wanted the pussy and I wanted it now!
Then something unexpected happened. The company I was working for lost their biggest client and in order to survive, had to let all of their employees go (except key people). I got given my notice and because I’d just completed two years at the company, I also got a fat redundancy cheque.
Without thinking of the possible consequences, I gave notice of my intention to move out of my flat, started selling all my furniture and unused possessions and began trying to get jobs and somewhere to live in London.
It was a real hassle trying to get somewhere to live, but I eventually found what I though was a good place and made an offer. The main issue they had with me was that although I was a professional, I wasn’t in work. I eventually persuaded them to take three months rent in advance plus the deposit, but that wiped out most of my spare cash, leaving me with just over a month of living costs in my bank.
I squashed everything I owned into my little car and moved everything down to London in one day. I’d managed to get a couple of interviews in the preceding week, but I wasn’t hopeful so I set about really pushing to find a job. But I didn’t need to, because a day later, one of the companies I’d interviewed for offered me a job.
At the end of the month, just before I got my first pay cheque, I had less than ten pounds left in my account.
Is it a coincidence that the figures worked out so perfectly or did the act of being brave and going after what I wanted despite a high possibility of failure somehow cause events to work out exactly in my favour?
I don’t know, but like I said before, I’ve had a number of situations in my life where I’ve taken a risk and despite not knowing how I’m going to come out of the situation unscathed, something has happened to provide the solution.
So, be brave my friend. Be brave.