I've learned at least two things about achieving goals: There is an easy way and a hard way.

The hard way is to work night and day, stay obsessed, rarely sleep, and never give up.

Since everyone talks about the hard way, I want to address the easy way. After all, why struggle if you don't have to?

I've used the easy way to create bestselling books, lose 70 pounds in eight months, find my ideal mate, get healthy, increase my wealth, and much more.

Obviously, it works.

Here's the formula in brief:

1. Be grateful for what you already have.

2. Playfully declare what you would like to have with positive emotion, feeling as if it is already achieved.

3. Act on the nudges and opportunities that appear.

That's it. In my Nightingale-Conant program The Missing Secret, I explain a 5-step formula for getting what you want. It's useful for those times when you don't feel grateful, or can't decide on what you want, or don't understand the concept of letting go while taking inspired action. It's also helpful when you have issues about money or about being deserving, or feel in any way blocked from your goals.

But the bottom line for me is this: Declare what you would like with no attachment and plenty of good feeling, feel grateful for what you already have, and act on what appears. The result will be the manifestation of a happy life.

Let's explore this in depth.

1. Feel grateful now.

It doesn't matter where you live or what you have.

If you're reading this, you're most likely living like a king or queen compared with people in third-world countries. You may even be living better than kings or queens from history, as they often lived in cold, violent, frightful times. You've got it made.

 

2. Choose what you want without attachment, feeling as if it is already achieved.

There's magic in saying "I’d love to — (fill in the blank), but I won't die if I don't have it." Since the world is simply energy taking form, when you declare you want something, you begin to attract it. But when you say you need something, the need pushes it away. You want to select your desire, and feel the joy of already having it, without feeling any desperation. Need will push it away; desire will attract it. If you feel as if you *already* have it, then you *will* have it.

3. Act on your opportunities and intuitions.

You may get offers, calls, or who knows what. Act on them. You never know what will lead you to your goal. Your ego cannot see the big picture. Intuition and opportunities will come to you from the larger view, and your job is to act on them. As you do, you will be taken to your goal, even when it appears you are being blocked away. Trust is key.

Is that really all there is to it?

Again, the fuller procedure in The Missing Secret will take care of any snags in the process, but the basic process is simple.

Let's walk through it:

1. Look around your room. What are you grateful for? Make a list. Get into the authentic feeling of true gratitude. In other words, be happy now. You don't need a reason to be happy. But if you want one, find something, anything, to be grateful for right now. When you're grateful, you're in a mental place that will attract more to be grateful for.

2. Look around the playground of your mind. What would you like to have, do, or be? What would be fun? Write it down. As you do, feel what it would be like to already have it now. Pretend you won the lotto. What would you want for yourself or others? What would be fun? The key is playful non-attachment while experiencing its completion *now.*

3. Now pay attention. As you go about your life, listen to your hunches and act on them, and pay attention to the opportunities and act on them. You never know what will take you in the direction of your goal. Your job is to take inspired action. You may have some work to do in this step, but the work will be from your heart and will take you in the direction of getting your goal.

Why not go through the steps right now?

Write them down, experience them, and then check back in a few weeks and see how they are doing. You may surprise yourself by how easily and quickly your goals are achieved.

If you find yourself doubting the process, thinking negatively, or in any way not enjoying the simplicity of the easy way to attain your goals, then consider learning the 5-step process in The Attractor Factor.

Above all, have fun. Keep smiling. Be playful. Stay grateful. These are all elements of the new secret to manifesting your goals.

Remember the words of a famous song that also perfectly summarizes this new way to achieve your goals: "Don't worry. Be happy."

What's Your #1 Excuse?

Before my book The Attractor Factor became a #1 bestseller at Barnes and Noble online, people told me I was nuts to try to promote a book when, at the time, Harry Potter was already in the top spot.

"You don't stand a chance," one author wrote. "Why don't you wait until Potter is off the list?"

After my book hit the streets, made all the lists, beat Trump, Da Vinci, and even Harry Potter, some people said, "Well, okay, but that only happened because the new Harry Potter book isn’t in print yet."

Gee. How come Potter was #1 then?

Still others suggested that perhaps the Trump and Da Vinci books were just having a really bad day.

Yeah. Riiiiiiight!

I marvel at the thinking of some people. No matter what you say or do, they stick to their excuses and stay negative, limited, and stuck. Yet they don't see it. They think, "I'm just being objective."

Are they?

I venture to say most of us operate from our unconscious mind. That is the predominant and most powerful operating system in us. None of us are totally aware of what we say or do. And if we're asked to explain what we do, we have rationalizations for the most extreme behavior.

I don't mind that people said I couldn't knock Potter off his broom before I did it, or that people said it was easy after I did it.

What I do mind is limited thinking. Not going for the dream. Being stuck and blaming the world for it.

For example, I just read Phil Keoghan's book, No Opportunity Wasted. It's a page-turner about facing your fears, having faith, shedding your inhibitions, and testing your limits.

In the chapter on excuses, he lists the number one excuse for not taking action as, "I don't have the money."

Boy, do I hear that one a lot. People don't realize that money isn't always necessary. Sure, it's handy. Yes, I love it. But no, you don't “need” it. Keoghan says:

"Instead of focusing on the amount of money lacking in your budget, focus on what you DO have: a willing spirit, an imagination filled with bright ideas, people who care about you and can perhaps help you in some way. These are the things that will enable you to do almost anything."

Some people realized that making my book a #1 bestseller despite all the odds, without an empire behind me, and without a New York or British marketing budget funding my efforts, was truly historic. After all, I'm just one guy and a computer.

I did it by having a big dream, and by having friends online who supported my efforts. They did mailings, and they offered their own bonuses. My friends did that, not me.

Of course, the negative talkers might jump on that fact and say, "See. You had friends. I don't have any."

That's not true, and it misses the point. It falls back to blaming and excusing. And it doesn't get you the success you want and deserve.

When you have a goal, listen to your heart, not the naysayers. In many ways, it's you against the negativity of the planet. While that may seem daunting, it's not impossible odds.

Look at me. I beat the negativity. I knocked Harry Potter off his throne, at least long enough to taste victory. I like Potter and admire his author. But I love that I was able to share some of the glory. Harry Potter can be a success, and so can I. The world is big enough for all of us to win.

Including you.

What's your dream?

And what are you going to do to achieve it — no matter what anyone else says?

The next move is yours.

Excuses are a dime a dozen. What is rare is the person who will take action.

The choice is yours.