“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill
“Creative Visualization” by Shakti Gawain
Mark Victor Hansen – not sure which book (he was also one of the co-authors of the Chicken Soup series)
et cetera.

I’m all for clearing the gunk out of my engine…:)

Seeing is believing – but in this sense I am speaking about how if we visualize something (see it in our mind), then we believe it. Alabama couldn’t beat LSU today if they didn’t believe they could do it. If you can see yourself doing something, eventually you will have gone thru all the dress rehearsals (good reason not to visualize any ANY of the negative possibilities, even while accounting for them as necessary). Mark Victor Hansen was the one who said to write all your goals down (ALL of them) in a notebook with as much detail as possible, then set it aside for a year and see then what you managed to accomplish (without even thinking about it). It has to do with accessing and using the power of your sub-conscious I believe.

Mark, Ryan – what are your thoughts on this?

I do agree that exercises like Steve says, to write down what you want in an “affirmation” form such as “I’m making 10,000.00 per month in passive income” works, but not for some kind of goofie or magical reason. Rather it clears the garbage out of your mind(the negative, fearful, cynical and pessimistic self talk that most people have as a self-limiting bubble,and don’t realize they are doing it) and makes you focus on the goal, the task at hand and then you begin to operate and take action in everything you do in a manner that can take you towards the goal and accomplish it. But you have to start from a place in your mind that BELIEVES it’s possible.
I think writing all you goals down works for this reason, not magic.

BUT, we will be using the outcome of these exercises to set a goal and then work towards it … it’s the concrete steps that we take over the next 7 years that will determine the outcome. Although, without the goal, who knows what would happen … ?

@ Debbie – call me cynical, but the ‘problem’ that I see with those exercises is: if they really work, why don’t we just running on until we write ““I AM MAKING $1 MILLION a month in passive income AND have eradicated global-warming, world hunger, disease, wars, and … ” But, I AM adding Steve’s method to our list of techniques to use to help discover our Life’s Purpose and the associated Number/Date.

@ Lee – Your vote is in! Thanks for the links; Steve Pavlina is a long-time favorite blogger …

Regarding the social networking Idea? Of course I like it, when in school I read a book entitled “Man, the Social Animal” and have understood ever since then that we thrive on relationsips that we develop. So I am always interested in any kind of “netwoking ideas” eventhough I don’t consider myself very good at them.

It reminds me of something we did in Australia at an internet marketing event. We were trying to uncover subconscious blockages we have towards earning money. We came up with a number that we wanted to earn in passive income, and then had to write it over and over on a piece of paper, without thinking about it. By the time the timer went off, almost everyone in the room had gone from statements like “I can’t make $10,000 a month in passive income” to “I want to make $10,000 a month in passive income” to “I AM MAKING $10,000 a month in passive income”. There was very little set-up to it, and I am still amazed at how it sort of evolved. Similar to Pavlina’s idea that your life’s purpose will eventually just come out on paper if you stick at it long enough.