Logic vs. Manifestation: Finding Useful Beliefs for Success
Belief in Logic and Reason
I've always taken pride in my desire to believe in logic and reason. When I first started in self-improvement, I went straight to Stoicism, which is an amazing philosophy completely based on logic.
Logic vs Esotericism
On the other hand, we have the "woo-woo" stuff, such as the Law of Attraction, which seems to be based on manifestation and something about making wishes to the universe. I've always dismissed all of these things as useless and, honestly, quite dumb.
For years, I've adopted this idea: "Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out." Recently, I watched a video that discussed an alternative way to perceive the Law of Attraction, which is called the Law of Assumption. I found it to be an interesting idea. It appears to be based on visualizing yourself in a way that assumes you’ve already achieved your goals.
I have been meditating for over 4 years every single day, so I have considered trying these visualizations while I meditate. However, I still feel a lot of resistance because it still feels like hippie manifestation.
Financial Goals
When it comes to my financial goals, I heard someone ask the question: “If you had to choose, would you rather be rich or be right?” I think often my ego fights to be right, even at the expense of my own goals. As much as I hate admitting it, I might need to let go of the wish to be right, in order to achieve my goals.
The Importance of Usefulness
I’ve thought a lot about this quote:
"It's more important for something to be useful than true." - William James.
This idea has always troubled me. On one hand, I care about the truth, but on the other, I want to have beliefs that serve me and help me achieve my goals.
However, if I were to try to adopt some of the hippie beliefs involved in manifestation, I would have to fool myself at first, and that contradicts this important principle I’ve been living by:
“You must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”- Richard Feynman.
I guess I’ll have to experiment with this as I go and allow myself to go through a stage of contradictions.
"Do I contradict myself?Very well then I contradict myself,I am large, I contain multitudes." -Walt Whitman