This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Good Vibes, Good Life" by Vex King. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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What does your dream life look like to you? What can you do to make your dream life a reality?
According to Vex King, the author of Good Vibes, Good Life, you can attain your ideal life by visualizing your desires and taking steps to achieve them. But many people don’t even know what their dream life entails—you can’t move forward if you don’t know the destination.
Here’s how to manifest your dream life.
Tip #1: Visualize What You Want
In his book Good Vibes, Good Life, mind coach Vex King explains how to manifest your dream life. The first step, he says, is to visualize it in your mind—if you want a new car, close your eyes and imagine yourself driving that exact car, feeling the leather steering wheel, smelling the new car smell, adjusting your mirror, rolling the window down, listening to the radio, and so on.
Similarly, if you want to learn a new skill, imagine yourself practicing that skill and go through the motions in your head. Studies show that this fires the same parts of your brain that you use when actually doing the action.
(Shortform note: In The Secret, Rhonda Byrne explains that making a vision board can help you visualize what you want. To do this, get a blank poster and attach multiple images that represent how you want your life to be—for example, your dream house, car, job, or vacation. As you post each image on the board, take a moment to feel the experience of already possessing those things—if you posted a picture of the beach, imagine feeling the sun on your shoulders and sand under your toes. Put the vision board somewhere where you see it regularly and take time every day to look at the vision board and visualize your ideal life.)
Tip #2: Consider Your Underlying Beliefs About Reality
King explains that everyone has different underlying beliefs about how and why the world functions and that your reality is shaped by these beliefs. So, if you have negative underlying beliefs, you’ll create a negative reality.
(Shortform note: In Awaken the Giant Within, Tony Robbins makes a similar claim, arguing that your beliefs dictate how you interpret and react to your life experiences. For example, if you believe that only people with a 4.0 GPA can get the job you want, you probably won’t apply if you have a lower GPA. Because you didn’t bother to apply, you won’t get the job and your original belief will be confirmed. This is likely to shape your perception of reality—only people who excelled in school can be successful in their careers.)
For example, if you believe that people are inherently untrustworthy or that wealth only comes to people who are born into it, this will become your reality. On the other hand, if you believe that most people are good people and that wealth comes to those who work hard, then this will become your reality.
If you find that you have negative assumptions about people and the world, it’ll be difficult to manifest a positive life. To change these negative beliefs, identify the opposing beliefs and seek out information to prove them. For example, if you believe that wealth is only attainable for those born into it, look up success stories about wealthy people who started with nothing to counter your previous assumption.
(Shortform note: In Awaken the Giant Within Tony Robbins adds an additional recommendation to help you change your beliefs: Differentiate between specific and global beliefs. For example, a specific belief would be that you’re not good at tennis. A global belief would be that you’re bad at all sports. It’s ok to have some negative specific beliefs—if you’re bad at tennis and that’s the reality, then you can admit it—but don’t let specific beliefs translate to global beliefs. Just because you’re bad at tennis doesn’t mean you’re bad at sports in general.)
Tip #3: Recite Positive Affirmations
King explains that when you recite affirmations, you can alter your subconscious through repetition.
To make these affirmations most effective, create honest and achievable affirmations, write them down in your own voice and in the present tense, make them as detailed as possible, and recite them out loud daily. For example: I am a confident, smart person who can handle any challenge that I face. Nothing can bring me down and make me feel negative because I have an impenetrable bubble of positivity surrounding me all the time.
(Shortform note: In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill seconds King’s argument, explaining that one of the keys to achieving any goal in life is through visualization and reciting affirmations—Hill calls this process “autosuggestion.” Like King, Hill says that in order for these affirmations to be successful, you need to recite them as if you’ve already achieved them—for example, “My new Porsche is shiny silver and smells like a brand new car.” Hill adds that you also need to “emotionalize” your words—say them with conviction like you truly believe and are excited about what you’re saying.)
(Shortform note: In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill seconds King’s argument, explaining that one of the keys to achieving any goal in life is through visualization and reciting affirmations—Hill calls this process “autosuggestion.” Like King, Hill says that in order for these affirmations to be successful, you need to recite them as if you’ve already achieved them—for example, “My new Porsche is shiny silver and smells like a brand new car.” Hill adds that you also need to “emotionalize” your words—say them with conviction like you truly believe and are excited about what you’re saying.)
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Here's what you'll find in our full Good Vibes, Good Life summary :
- Why the key to living your dream life is to have good vibrations
- How to successfully manifest your dream life
- Tips on how to avoid suffering and negative energy
