Would you like to possess tremendous personal power?
Would you like to be trusted, respected and loved?
Would you like people to treat you better?
The good news is all of this can be yours! The answer to obtaining these qualities as well as many others is the secret of the Boomerang Principle.
An aboriginal boy from the bush country of Australia said to his father, “I’d like to get a new boomerang, but I can’t get rid of the one I already have.”
The Boomerang Principle states that whatever we throw out to life, we receive in return. The greatest teacher who ever lived, and the greatest expert in human relations, made this statement: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” This is a principle we can rely on. It is one of the most powerful combination of words in the human language. It was taught centuries before Jesus actually articulated those powerful words. Confucius, Zoroaster and Mohammed all proclaimed the same idea. It was been practiced by the most successful people on the planet and yet, to the majority of the human population, this principle remains a largely unused and underappreciated mystery.
We are human magnets. Our actions, attributes and even our inner and secret thoughts attract in kind. Like begets like. When we categorically comprehend the principle of action and reaction, we can stimulate any desired response in others. If we want smiles, we give smiles. If we want others to like us, we first like them. If we want to speak poorly of someone behind their back, we can expect a magnified retaliation in response.

Applying the Boomerang Principle is essential to changing your thinking and changing your life. In The Lehrman Project I explain that creating powerful changes “requires expanding your ideas and imagination about the person you are and the person you would like to become. It is about rising above your current situation, with its limitations and problems, and seeing yourself living the life you desire. This type of thinking requires practice.
“In developing effective relationships with a spouse, a co-worker, your children or anyone else for that matter, your commission is to monitor, manage and control your thinking. One of the paramount qualifications you can acquire in this life is the ability to effectively communicate, negotiate, influence, and persuade other people. This ability is characterized by an elevated compassion, sensitivity and awareness of the thoughts, feelings, motivations, and desires of the people around you… 
“Keep your words and thoughts clearly and completely focused on the type of relationship you really want. At the same time, you must refuse to think about what you don’t want. Your primary intention should always be to make positive subconscious communication a habitual way of thinking.” You can learn more about how to do this here.
The Boomerang Principle has possibilities in both good and bad. In fact, this powerful principle has sometimes been referred to as the law of retaliation. It involves the ancient philosophy of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” except the response is usually magnified and multiplied considerably. For instance, if one nation attacks another, the attacked nation will usually respond with increased force and destruction. This concept works on individuals as well. If I insult you to your face, you will likely throw a bigger insult to mine. But if I am gracious toward you, you will most likely be gracious in return. When we apply force and push others around, we will receive evil for evil, gossip for gossip, animosity for animosity multiplied and increased.
When we do good to those who wish to harm us, we disarm and we dominate. As Lincoln said: “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
The Boomerang Principle contains a power that is too strong for people to resist. It conquers every resistance it encounters. When we learn how to use it effectively, it will change our lives for the better. Try this formula for thirty days. Send kindness out into the world and watch it boomerang right back to you!

There is a lot of talk about the dangers of distracted driving these days, but have you ever considered the danger of distracted thinking? We all have sidelines, we all have distractions, we all have temptations. Investing our time in these sideline distractions can weaken the power of the Law of Attraction and inhibit our ability to manifest our truest desire.
Have you ever watched a child playing completely content with a certain toy until it sees another child with a different toy? Children often want whatever they see and may drop one perfectly enjoyable plaything as new play options are discovered. We are a lot like children in this respect. We want so many things that we are not constant or loyal to our greatest desires.

When Thomas Edison was asked how he achieved so many successes he responded: “It’s very simple. You and I each have eighteen hours a day. You spend those eighteen hours doing a number of unrelated things. I spend it doing just one thing.”
If you want to achieve anything through the Law of Attraction you must learn to focus. Get one specific desire in your mind and in your heart. Let it flow through every aspect of your being. Forget the distractions, temptations and sidelines. Move with full power toward the one thing you want most.
An old military strategy asserted: “Divide and conquer.”  Armies are weak when they are divided. So are individuals. If our time and efforts are divided among too many desires, we will be unable to concentrate and manifest our biggest aspirations as easily as if we focus that concentration on one specific manifestation. Distractions always drive us away from the main purpose of our lives. As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated: “The one prudence in life is concentration; the one evil dissipation.”
A strong desire and a specific purpose imbue the Law of Attraction with greater power.  This is a natural principle. “Where your treasure is,” taught Matthew in the New Testament, “there will your heart be also.” To achieve any positive result through the Law of Attraction, we must have our hearts set on our greatest desire. We will always produce a result. We need to assure ourselves that it is the result we are hoping for by focusing particularly on that one desire.
In The Power of Attraction I wrote: "There is a vast difference between simply thinking and actually directing your thoughts consciously. Thought is creative and will automatically correlate with the object of your thinking and bring it into manifestation."
You’ve probably heard the expression, “jack of all trades,” but remember that a jack of all trades is a master of none. If we are trying to manifest several different things at the same time, we will send our subconscious thoughts scattering in every direction. If we focus all our thoughts and efforts on one desire, our subconscious will seek out that desire with laser-like pinpoint accuracy. The power of wholehearted, one-directional focus can become the most valuable asset in our lives.

When it comes to the Law of Attraction, it really is the thought that counts. Our greatest strength lies in the creative powers of the mind. As I explained in an earlier post, the mind is like a garden. We either cultivate useful, beautiful plants (thoughts) purposely or we allow negative, destructive plants to thrive there by default.
Harvard psychologist, William James, developed what he has called the 'as if' principle. The 'as is' principle states that if you wish to possess something, an emotion, a qualification, a lifestyle, etc., act 'as if' you already had it. Let it get ahold of you. Let it possess you. Infuse you mind with the thought that you are already have it. As Shakespeare said: "Assume a virtue if you have it not." No one has ever determined just how far the mind can go in shaping our circumstances.
Every thought we think has an impact on our personality and, consequently, on our success or failure at achieving the things we desire. When we express these thoughts in words, we significantly increase the force and power of our thinking. We are, ultimately, what we believe and feel. King Solomon wrote that we are what we think in our hearts.  People can make themselves sick simply by thinking that they are sick. Wouldn't it also be true that you could make yourself healthy by thinking healthy thoughts? Or wealthy by thinking prosperous thoughts? Or confident by thinking confidently about yourself?
The British Army once tested the power of thinking on three individuals. They selected three men to determine the power of mental attitude on physical performance. The strength of these men was tested using a simple gripping device. Under normal circumstances, the three men had a gripping strength of about 100 pounds. A scientist then put them under hypnosis and made them believe that they were very weak. Under these conditions their best effort only registered an average of 39 pounds. Still under hypnosis, the scientist told the three men that they were actually very strong. Their average grip rose to 142 pounds. When these men believed in themselves, their strength increased by nearly 300% over when they thought they were weak.
It is significantly important what and how we think! The power of suggestion is tremendous. To gain anything in life, we should cultivate and think and act the things we would like to be. When we have the energy to choose our own fate, we can obtain any desire we have in life if we pursue it. Arthur Simons wrote that "there is no dream that may not come true."

In The Lehrman Project I wrote o​f a concept known as Tabula Rasa. In this section I mention that "when you believe something to be true, it becomes true for you, no matter what the facts may indicate to the contrary. Everything you are today is the result of an idea or an impression you took in and accepted as true....When you change the way you think and feel about yourself and your world, then the world around you changes."
​The largest ocean cannot sink even the smallest ship unless the water gets inside it. Allowing negative thinking into your mind is no different than poisoning your own drinking water. It is destructive and dangerous. When weak, negative, destroying thoughts get into our insides, we are in trouble and sinking fast. It is mental suicide.
The best road to success in any endeavor is to dream big, think big and give substance to your thoughts by acting big, by acting 'as if'. When our actions and attitudes reflect our passions and desires, we saturate ourselves with the power of attraction and then nothing can be withheld from us. This is the  'As If' principle.

"If you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be, and you keep and hold that picture there long enough, you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking." -- William James

Being successful at manifesting our desires through the Law of Attraction requires that we have an objective; a clear path about where we want to go, how we are going to get there, and what we are going to do once we arrive. Successful manifestation becomes so much easier with an objective that is clearly visualized and deeply desired.
Think of the pull of a small magnet. The force of its attraction increases the closer the magnet comes to the object it is attracting. This is also true in manifesting our desires through the Law of Attraction. Unless we give the object of our desire special attention, it will seem unimportant to the subconscious mind. We need an objective, something that our subconscious can tie into.
I read once that “genius is the power to visualize the objective.” To properly visualize our desire, it must be clearly defined and cemented into our subconscious mind. Our desire should become a focal point, like a star we steer our ship by. If we are constantly changing our objective, we will make very little progress.
As I explain in The Power of Attraction: "There is a vast difference between simply thinking and actually directing your thoughts consciously, systematically, and constructively. Thought is creative and will automatically correlate with the object of your thinking and bring it into manifestation." 

​One of the paramount differences between successful manifestation and failure to manifest is that successful people focus of the future objective whereas unsuccessful people focus on the present and see nothing significant or spectacular in the future. The temporary let-downs of the present will not stop someone whose vision and focus are held in the future.
I love hiking the mountains of Colorado but if I were to focus on every footstep it takes me to reach the summit, I would easily become discouraged and quit. When I keep my mind focused on the magnificent vista and panoramic view from the top, then I climb with pleasure.
Consider this: Until 1926 no woman had ever successfully swum across the English Channel. An automobile company offered a brand-new Buick convertible and $2500 in cash to the first woman who could accomplish this feat. A 19-year old American girl by the name of Gertrude Ederle wanted that automobile so badly that she determined to swim the English Channel. Part way across Gertrude’s strength gave out. She couldn’t go on. As she floated in the channel waiting to be taken out of the water, she closed her eyes and envisioned that beautiful Buick convertible. Visualizing the object of her desire gave her a surge of strength and she again began swimming. She did not stop until her feet reached the opposite shore. Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel because she held a close image of her future objective.
All of our passions and desires are located in the subconscious mind. They are a part of the imagination. If we keep our imagination focused on the objective, we have power. If we concentrate on the obstacle, we have discouragement.
Napoleon once stated: “I see only the objective. The obstacle must give way.” Napoleon won his battles in his head before he ever won them on the battlefield. He saw the objective and everything else he ignored. We should practice in our own imaginations this same one-directional concentration with a clearly defined objective.
The imagination is an incredible tool. Allow it to run ahead, to step into the future to define what lies ahead. Don’t rely solely on your own perspective because it can be tricked and deceived when robbed of the panorama of what awaits in the future. Let your subconscious live with the object of your desire; make it as enticing as possible; light it up like a beacon on the seashore. Raise the image of your objective to a heroic size!
Gradually the subconscious magnet of the Law of Attraction will become stronger and stronger until the complete manifestation of your desire cannot be withheld from you.

Think of the elaborate abundance with which creation surrounds us. Anything and everything we might hope and wish for is easily within our reach. We are, without a doubt, intended to share in that abundance. There is more than enough to spare. Consider the richness of our natural resources. Think also of the resources in your own subconscious mind that lie buried and mostly unused.
Nature gives us everything in abundance and expects us to manifest that abundance in our lives. The Creator did not intend for us to be destitute or poverty-stricken. Consider this: Only one millionth part of the sun’s rays reach our planet to maintain life; the rest of its beams dissipate in cold, empty space. Can you imagine that the Being who created such an abundant source of heat, light and energy intended for humanity to be deprived of the things we need for our happiness and sustenance? Do you believe that the Universe intended us to live in want, sickness, fear, ignorance and insecurity?
Consider how abundantly nature rewards us for what we do. A single tomato seed can multiply itself a million times in one year. Ten forests can come from one acorn. If we plant one bushel of seed potatoes, we receive sixty bushels in return. One single potato carried to England by Sir Walter Raleigh in the sixteenth century multiplied itself into food for millions. A single apple seed can become a great tree, producing foliage, blossoms, fragrance and fruit not just for one year, but for many lifetimes.
There are no signs of limitation in nature.
So why would we suffer limitation in any other area of our lives? Every ounce of energy we pour into our education can be returned to us fantastically multiplied. Every invest we make in the development of character, creativity, ingenuity, courage and conscientiousness is also abundantly rewarded. Every determination we make in life returns to us many times over. Every manifestation of faith, even as tiny as a miniscule mustard seed, can move mountains.
Nature is rich and the Universe intends for us to be rich as well. The essence of the Law of Abundance is that we must believe in abundance. We must think abundance. We must expand our boundaries. We must increase our vision for greater accomplishments and let no thought of failure or limitation enter our conscious or subconscious minds. We can be more, do more and have more. Ralph Waldo Emerson righty said that humanity “was intended to be rich.”​

There is no lack of opportunity. The Universe never intended for us to live as beggars. It never intended us to be poor or worried or unable to pay our bills when we are surrounded with abundance that is ours for the asking. “All things, said Jesus, “whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” The important thing is to believe and take the first step. If we work toward our goals with all our hearts, why should the thought of failure even enter our heads?
When we think anxiety, disappointment and failure, that is what we get. To utilize the Law of Abundance we need to think strength, health and prosperity. Our achievements today are the result of our past thoughts. Whatever value we place on our existence, life will give it to us. As one poet wrote: 
​
“I bargained with life for a penny,
Only to find dismayed,
That anything I had asked of life,
Life would have paid.” 

If we emphasize and visualize our worries, our fears and our negative attitudes, we will eventually become saturated with them. We make our negative thoughts a reality by our habits of failure.
Many of us only see our limitations and we are defined by them. But consider that Napoleon and Caesar were Epileptic and yet they became extremely powerful. Many people claiming welfare checks from the government are in better health than Julius Caesar when he was conquering the world. John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, one of the greatest pieces of literature, while he was totally blind and living in poverty. Abraham Lincoln had to borrow money for a train ticket to Washington, D.C. so he could give his inaugural address. Walt Whitman wrote: “Nothing external has any power over me.”
We need to be careful about what we think, because that is what we become. Thoughts are energy; thoughts are magnets that attract to us the various things we think. The greatest short cut to prosperity is to believe in it. “Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over.” (Luke 6:38) Nature is rich and it intends for all of us to have abundance in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, filled up and running over. All we need to do is obey the Law of Abundance.

If you place a seed in the ground it will slowly and imperceptibly begin to germinate. Eventually that seed will produce an abundant harvest. Beneficial seeds will always produce beneficial harvests. Harmful seeds will always produce harmful harvests.
We all have deeply hidden thoughts and feelings buried like seeds in the subconscious soil beneath our conscious awareness. Some of these seeds are beneficial and produce good fruit but some of them may be harmful and destructive, producing harmful and destructive events in our lives. Our outer world will always mirror the inner world of these subconscious thoughts and feelings.
We have a garden full of buried seeds; quotes, comments and thoughts about money. These seeds have been planted by our parents, our teachers, and our colleagues. What we experience in our day-to-day living is the harvest from those buried seeds. They confirm, validate and re-enforce the hidden thoughts and beliefs of our subconscious minds.

As I explain in The Lehrman Project, if you want to change your relationship with money (or anything else for that matter), you need to reprogram your subconscious mind – replacing inaccurate, negative thoughts and feelings with the positive thoughts and feelings that will give you the results you are seeking.
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“Look at your thoughts about money and start changing your thoughts. The money will then respond differently.”  -- Fredric Lehrman

Making a list of your most negative thoughts about money will help you to bring these deep-seated thoughts and feelings to the surface so you can view them and choose a replacement thought and feeling.
Many years ago, after listening to Tony Robbins, I sat down with a note pad and created a list of my hidden thoughts about money. On the left side of the paper, I listed my negative thoughts about money and on the right, I wrote a new, positive belief that would reprogram my old thoughts and feelings about money. This process not only transformed my beliefs about money, it transformed my financial world as well.
Look at your own thoughts, feelings and beliefs about money. Where did they come from? Are they your own thoughts or were they planted in your cerebral soil by someone else? Are they producing a beneficial harvest or a harmful harvest? Pay attention to your own thoughts and beliefs about money. You may want to read through the following list of money thoughts compiled by Andrew John Harrison.

What is the great question of life? It is the question: “Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life?” This question is the foundation for the development of all philosophies. It is the question behind all religion. Even the scientist, looking to unlock the laws governing the ever-unfolding universe asks: “Why am I?” This is the question of all people everywhere throughout all time.

Obstacles to finding right responses to this question arise when we look for the answer outside of ourselves, especially when, not finding it, we gradually begin to ignore the question altogether.

The answer to finding the purpose of our existence is simple and straight-forward when we look within ourselves. Each one of us is individually and intimately connected to the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. Our consciousness is part of the Universal Consciousness. When we search within ourselves, entering the silence and allowing the Infinite to flow through us, we discover our own singular answer.

When we accept who we truly are, the answer is obvious. We are the individual channel through which the Infinite expresses itself.

As explained in The Power of Attraction, our free will to choose empowers and enables us to create. What we choose to create can glorify Infinite Intelligence. What we choose to create can contribute to the continuous expression of a constantly unfolding cosmos. The answer is delivered to us through inspiration which, like fine-tuning a radio for perfect reception of our favorite station, is simply the art of adjusting the individual mind to that of the Universal Mind. We become a channel for the flow of infinite wisdom.

All great things come through recognition. The scepter of power is consciousness and thought is its messenger. This messenger is constantly forming the realities of the invisible world of thought into the conditions and environments of our objective world. Thinking is the true business of life and power is the result. We are constantly and continuously involved with the mystical and miraculous power of thought and consciousness.

The essence of the Universal is within you. When you perceive this reality, you begin to feel your own power and you begin to act; to do things. This perception gives vitality to thought. It is the fuel that fires the imagination.

You are an agent of visualization. Imagination is your workshop. Thought is creative vibration and the quality of the conditions you create will depend on the quality of your thought. Every time you think you start a train of causation which will create a condition in strict accordance with the quality of thought which originated it.

The Universal acts through the individual. We are the channel of this activity. It is within us.  Become the mechanism through which the Creative acts.
Be, do and have.
 
To learn more, read “The Power of Attraction: How to Apply the Law of Attraction to Create the Life You Want.”