Nearly everyone I've ever come across in my adult life has heard of the book ?Think and Grow Rich? by Napoleon Hill. Each has had a fairly good understanding of the theory of positive thinking, most giving favorable thoughts and merit to the concept.. Many motivational Gurus have regurgitated this philosophy as their own and repackaged it as the latest ?wealth building? system and made a fortune doing so. ?The Secret? is the latest program to do so.

Actually, ?The Secret? has put a unique and powerful twist on the philosophy of positive thinking and affirmations, which is why I believe it has become so popular.

The Law of Attraction plays the lead role in this new way of thinking and I believe finally someone has hit the nail on the head and delivered a very usable idea that actually works.

I've always subscribed to the theory that we are what we think. Most of us live pretty routine lives, working at jobs we do not like, struggling to make ends meet, one lost paycheck away from disaster.

Been there, done that!

I realized very early on in life that the majority of my random daily thoughts were almost always negative. I didn't consider myself a negative thinker until I actually put some thought into what I thought about routinely throughout my day.

How am I going to pay my rent this month? I suppose I could get a part time job, I hate applying for a job. I could work overtime I guess? ughh, the thought of spending even one extra minute at this place! Imagine that, caught at another red light and on and on my day went.

I remember the moment I read ?Think and Grow Rich?. I really thought I had stumbled upon the answer and spent a good day and a half writing out positive affirmations on index cards and taping them on mirrors, my cars dashboard, the refrigerator, you name it.

I remember very clearly the first affirmation I wrote: ?I am wealthy beyond my wildest dreams!?

I also remember quite vividly mumbling, ?yea right? every time I read it.

I didn't know it then, but my sub-conscious mind did not believe that I was wealthy, in fact it knew without a doubt I wasn't wealthy, so it never allowed wealth to manifest itself for me like Mr. Hill promised it would.

You have to believe with complete conviction that what you are saying is true in order for affirmations to work. I knew with every hungry bone in my body, for example, that my next meal was going to be peanut butter and jelly because I was about as broke as one could possibly be and still manage to keep a roof over their head.

My positive affirmations actually caused me to think more negatively than I had before, cementing my downward spiral into a pit of despair of which there was no escape.

It wasn't until I experimented with goal setting that I realized the error of my ways. You see, with goal setting you are stating what you would like to have or achieve at some point in your future. If reasonably set, your mind does not reject the idea of you earning a comfortable living and certainly will not stand in your way to reaching this realistic goal.

I went against the advice of other motivational gurus of the time in that I did not write my goals down and then put them away somewhere. I actually replaced all my affirmation index cards with cards that had my goals set and clearly defined.

This allowed me to visualize, with a good measure of reality, what my future life might look like, and presto, things began to click for me. Great things, positive things.

Dale Carnegie actually hinted at this idea in his immortal book, ?How to Win Friends and Influence People?. I strongly urge you to visit my website at http://www.grapevineassociatesinc.com/ebook1 and pick up your free copy!

Years later I am happy, content and financially comfortable, just like I had planned. I hope you will begin to think differently and learn everything you can about the Law of Attraction. Good luck to you!