10.4. JACK CANFIELD: SEMINAL WORKS ON PERSONAL OPTIMIZATION

According to the results of a famous NASA experiment, it takes 30 days to permanently rewire your brain. Astronauts had to wear goggles that turned everything in their view upside down. After a few days, they were able to learn their new "upside down" environment so they could effectively move about. After 30 days, the rewiring in their brains became permanent so they could go back to a normal view, but then be able to put on the "upside down" goggles and still move about with ease. The astronauts who took their "upside down" goggles off after 15 days and then put them back on after a few days had to relearn how to move in their upside-down world. They could not just move about with the same ease that the astronauts who had worn the goggles for 30 days were able to. This proved that it took 30 days to rewire the brain permanently. The findings carry a broader message, which is that we are capable of massive change in any area we choose, but we must practice this change for 30 uninterrupted days to make it permanent. Most people do not consistently practice something they wish to change about themselves for 30 days straight, but that is what it takes. Anyone can make positive changes within themselves if they institute whatever it is they wish to change about themselves into their lives for 30 days.

Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul (HCI, 2001), among many other noteworthy books, suggests focusing on your goals for 30 days by first writing them down on 3 × 5 index cards, visualizing the goal, going forward in time and stepping into the goal, "feeling" what it's like to have already achieved the goal, which has the effect of emotionally engaging yourself, and then looking back to see the things you had to do to make it happen. This is an effective way of programming your subconscious, which represents 85 percent of your brainpower. And since your brain sends out brainwaves just like radio signals, know that when you think a thought, others may be picking up those thoughts perhaps on a subconscious level. In this way, you can draw people into your focus by sending out your positive thoughts. This is why the message from the documentary, The Secret is so powerful. When you visualize your goals, and feel what it is like to have achieved those goals, you send out a powerful message to the world. The "how" will show up in various ways that provide the path upon which you will travel to achieve your goals. For example, not only will others pick up your positive thoughts on a subconscious level, but they will also see the change in you in your body language, your mannerisms, your energy, and your attitude, and perhaps be more likely to assist. So it is imperative that you optimize the thoughts you hold in your head. Change your thinking from negative to positive. Stop looking at negative news, and drop out of the "ain't it awful" club. If you are around people who are negative or who constantly complain, keep your distance. Read uplifting books, biographies, and books on leadership mind-sets. And don't let fear stop you from achieving your goals. Embrace the fear and do it anyway.

Interestingly, Dean Radin, a well-regarded scientist who was interviewed in the documentary What the Bleep? spoke of how he has observed that people's thoughts could affect the outcomes of computerized random number generators to a statistically significant degree. In his experiments, a group of people in a room together focused at once and in unison on either of two numbers, a "zero" and a "one," that would be randomly spit out by a computer. If the group focused on zeroes, the computer would spit out zeroes with greater frequency, and in a manner that was statistically significant. Thus if people's thoughts can have an outward effect, much like radio waves permeating the atmosphere even though we cannot see them, and influence the numbers being spit out "randomly" by a computer, this is further evidence for always keeping one's thoughts positive. Beware of negative thinkers and the energy they emit!