By the thinkBIG Team
John Lavenia is a direct selling star with US company, Liberty League, which recently started operations in Australia. He calls himself the Gonzilla of personal development so thinkbig was fascinated when he locked himself away in an isolated cabin for a week to write his first book: Integrity Is Everything. John gave thinkbig managing editor, Michael Walls an exclusive extract to the book.
All doing is preceded by being. People who are lucky or have the Midas touch are thoroughly being in the flow and thoroughly being people of success, with no counter-intention.
In my business trainings people ask me every conceivable question about the "how-to" of business. But all the how-to in the world isn't going to bear fruit for someone who is not first being the person who would have the result.
Two people engaged in the same activity can have completely different results because it's not the activity, it's the way it's being done that gets a pleasing result. To do things in a certain way requires that we think in a certain way and take action from that position indicating that we've become that person who would have the result that is pleasing to us. We then operate our lives and take action from that position. If not, we struggle because we can't outperform our self-image.
Beingness is a primary state to manifesting what we want in life and we cultivate this by choosing the right thoughts. Doing this consistently and deliberately results in an elevated emotional state. That state becomes part of our self-image, our beingness.
To identify who we are being we should ask ourselves one question; "How do I feel?"
If I'm happy, peaceful, confident and having fun that's who I'm being; I'm a person who is in the flow and the currents of life, including the currency of my wallet and bank account, flow to me with no force. Conversely if I'm stressed out, anxious, pissed-off or resentful that's who I'm being; I'm a person who's going against the flow, cutting off the currents in my life and short-circuiting my own energy.
And once again, we can never outperform our selfimage. All the hard work in the world isn't going to bring us satisfaction. You can't be successful until you become successful!
Most people think that success comes from having the result, completing the project, losing the weight, making the money or landing the big deal. But that's attachment to appearances.
All those working their lives away at an ordinary job think that once they do the job good enough for long enough, they may get the promotion or some sort of recognition from an authority figure and ultimately have the belief that they are successful. But that's giving their power away to some outside phenomenon, in this case their job and deferring a life of possibility and choice for some imagined retirement day.
The self-reliant person, the entrepreneurial type, is someone who says, "You know what, I'm credible now. I'm successful now." My favourite definition of success is "the progressive realization of a worthy ideal". This comes from an audio recording made years ago by Earl Nightingale called, "The Strangest Secret". It means that the moment I take deliberate action on a goal I have become successful; regardless or whether or not I have demonstrated the money in the bank account or the end result. Self-mastery is the greatest game there is because once you get who you are, you get everything else too.
The work is in the BEING.
The receiving is in the DOING.
The having is not your concern.
Long awaited Book
Integrity is Everything - The long awaited book from direct-selling mentor and personal development expert John Lavenia. Known as "The Godzilla of Personal Growth" for his direct and unrelenting delivery, John offers thoughts on his no-nonsense approach to success in writing for the first time. Reflecting much of his spoken-word spontaneity, Integrity is Everything is written for the 21st century man or woman who seeks answers to the common struggles that much of our society lives in. Many top producers in the direct-selling industry today have attributed breakthroughs in their income to insights they gained in his seminars and teleconferences.
John has been a student of personal development, business success, spirituality and interpersonal relationships for over 20 years. In this book, he expounds on insights he has received while studying some of the greatest thinkers in history – Goethe, Emerson, Shaw, Einstein and many others. He also offers distinctions on a spiritual approach to success, which he has derived through studying and applying a vast array of eastern and western thought.
Great -– Now that we know who we are, what do we do? This question is at the root of making right decisions in our lives.
Let's say your goal is to create wealth in your life. It's not the person yesterday who struggled with money who we are relying on to make these decisions and take these great actions. No. It's the person we've become now who is called upon to take action. So the question is, what would this person do?
Now, think that you're the person who earns the money, has the successful results and all the things that you fully expect in your life. What decisions does that person make? Take it down to every last detail. How do you shake someone's hand? How do you look in the mirror? How do you sound on the phone when you're talking to your prospective client? What decisions does this person make when it comes to capitalizing their business, prioritizing their time, or going to events that could further them in their business or career? Are they diligent? Do they study good information, or do they watch four hours of TV per day like the average American does?
We begin to do things to model ourselves on this new image that we've totally sold ourselves through our new way of thinking. And we can build on that self-image model by taking character traits and actions from high achievers and creating a culmination of personalities by putting bits from this person and that person into our idea of our new beingness.
Sometimes when I'm making decisions I ask myself, what would a highly evolved person do? Depending on the situation, if it's business I might ask, "What would Donald Trump do?" If it's my relationship with society I ask, "What would Oprah Winfrey do?" Or in health,"What would Arnold Schwarzenegger do?" I can take that and make it a part of my character.
There are all these different parts and the end result is a being that is capable of doing great feats. And by the way this has nothing to do with "fitting in" and conforming to the masses. We wouldn't be in this conversation if the intention was to be like everybody else and do what everybody else is doing.
Having become this new person and chosen and acted on decisions that this person makes, I immediately shift the currents of the universe and begin automatically attracting the circumstances necessary for the fulfilment of the vision. And this never fails.
Those seemingly coincidental circumstances that just show up in the lives of the "lucky" start showing up in my life. I have almost no part in the having. There is nothing to be done in the having of things. It just comes.
There is no work that has to happen here. The work was in the being. The work was in choosing the right thoughts. The work was in cultivating the expectation of greatness for myself.
The doing – the activities that I took, the decisions that I made and acted on – that was merely arranging the receiving pipeline and opening the floodgates. When I placed the advertisements, or picked up the phone, or went to the gym, or made the deal, that wasn't work; they were receiving activities.
The having is something that I gave no mind to. There is no effort to be put into having.
So get the equation straight: The work is in the being. The receiving is in the doing. The having is not your department. The having is not your area of concern. The universe provides all, handles all the details perfectly and always delivers unto you exactly what your innermost expectations are. So then the question for a lot of people is, what is it that I've been expecting? To answer that question, look around. That's exactly what you've been expecting.
Again I say the work is in the being. If we're diligent in this one thing it will get us off the ground in the direction that we want to go. When we begin using our will to choose the right thoughts consistently we become someone who we weren't before. If we are willing to do that, we cannot fail. However, as simple as that sounds, and as simple as that is, the following fact remains:
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. Henry Ford (1863 - 1947).
Here is why most people fail. They do the exact opposite of the BE DO HAVE principle. They live by the "have do be" principle. They say, "If only I had more money.. or better education.. or a different location or spouse.. or more luck.. If only I had better circumstances then I could start that business.. or make that investment.. or take that action.. and then I would be successful.
Then I would be this person I always wanted to be". Guaranteed failure! But this is exactly what most people do. If we look at our bank account or our appearances and allow that to become our self-image and get emotionally involved in that to determine who we are then our past equals our future. There is no evolution in that way of "thinking".
Here is something that you'll want to make note of and keep as you live from your possibilities instead of your past. There is a great distinction between thinking of the end and thinking from the end. Most people, when they have a thought about their desires, think "Wouldn't it be great when this happens". It's always something apart from their immediate reality; always something in the distance.
The way of mastery is thinking from the end. The inner dialogue goes like this: "So now that I have that result in my life, what am I experiencing? How does that feel?"
Sometimes when I'm thinking of a goal I'll think, "Now that I've already reached that goal, what is my next goal?" And I start thinking of the goal that hasn't even manifested as if it's already in the past. It's like I advance the videotape and I'm already planning for my next goal. This is thinking from the end.
