Theatre of the Mind Podcast Episodes

Law of Attraction Secrets

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[music 00:31]
Kelly Howell: Welcome once again to "Theater of the Mind." Your host, Kelly Howell. OK. My guest today is James Arthur Ray, and we're going to be talking about the science of success and the Law of Attraction. Recently you might have seen James in "The Secret" DVD talking about the Law of Attraction or on Larry King or Oprah.
Hi, James! Welcome to "Theater of the Mind."
James Arthur Ray: Hi, Kelly! It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Kelly: Yeah! Well, you've been busy. Every time I turn on the TV you're there!
James: That's an understatement! [laughs 01:02 It's a good thing. It's really exciting times in our universe. People are opening their minds to traditions and ideas that I've studied for a lifetime, so I feel very honored to be able to be sharing that with the world.
Kelly: Well, yeah! It's been amazing. You've been on a whirlwind tour, I guess, huh?
James: I have. You know, I was in six states last week. I'm taking off today as soon as we get done.
Kelly: Oh, wow.
James: Fun stuff.
Kelly: Wow. Well, why don't we start with your version of who you are and what you do?
James: OK. Well, I really teach people how to create wealth and harmony in all areas of their lives. A lot of people, Kelly, believe that wealth means money. I can guarantee you, while you might go after the money and get rich, it doesn't mean you'll be wealthy. There's a big difference. They're not mutually exclusive, but there are a lot of people who make a tremendous amount of money and their relationships are horrible. That's not wealth. And then there are a lot of people who maybe are really "spiritual," and yet they're sick and broke all the time. And that's not wealth either.
So what I have coined and what I teach is this state of true wealth that I've called "harmonic wealth," in the five key areas: financial, relational, intellectual, physical and spiritual. When those are in harmony, then you're really, truly wealthy.
Kelly: How did you get into this work?
James: "God called me" [laughs 02:26] is the quick answer.
Kelly: [laughs 02:27]
James: I was a weird kid, Kelly. When I was 18 years old, my father was a man's man. He was a Protestant minister, a man's man. I was a wimp's wimp. I really was. I wasn't popular. I just didn't have things going on for me. I was that skinny, bucktoothed, thick glasses kid that never had any dates and everyone picked on.
Kelly: I'm looking at your picture. You do not look like a wimp! [laughs 02:56]
James: [laughs 02:57] Well, thank you. I'll take that as a compliment. But I'll tell you, I had a very, very insecure, introverted childhood. And while most of my peers and my friends were out running around, going to movies and having dates and dances and those type of things, I was introverted. I was home in my own pain, in my own cave if you will, trying to figure out how to really solve my own pain. When I was 18 years old, in the household of a Protestant minister, believe it or not, I started studying Buddhism, which is kind of weird. But I can never remember a time, Kelly, when there was anything more important to me than to understand the laws of the universe and how they apply to every area.
So while that was a painful childhood, it really, really served me well. And so here I am today, now, considered to be a thought leader. In parting all the great traditions, because I studied everything from quantum physics to psychology, philosophy, and all the spiritual traditions, and I believe there's a synthesis of all of them that comes together and gives us answers for our daily lives and how to accomplish what we're really capable of.
Kelly: How long have you been teaching harmonic wealth?
James: I started my own business in 1992. I was with AT&T for a myriad of years and was really great at sales there. Then I went to AT&T School of Business and was in charge of all management training. I left in '92 and started teaching what I'd been studying since I was in my teens. Really, I've been at it now for 15 years. It's funny, because people come up to me in the airports and they go, "Oh my god, James Ray! Did you just start traveling around since The Secret came out?" [laughs 04:41] No, I've been working for a lifetime to become an overnight success. And that's a real key principle for people to understand.
Kelly: Now, when I saw you, I think it was on Larry King Live, maybe? There was a whole crowd of people around you. Was that in one of your harmonic wealth seminars?
James: I have an event called "The Secret of Attracting True Wealth." That's the most brief event that I do. That's a twohour event that I'm doing all over the world right now. Normally it's $149. I've been doing it free. I'm doing it free right now because people are so excited about The Secret and the Law of Attraction, and what my passion is is getting out the message of what that really means, to create true wealth which, of course, I described as harmonic wealth and why The Secret really works.
As you're well aware, Kelly, there have been a lot of naysayers coming out of the woodwork too. You've probably seen me on The Today Show or The Morning Show or many other places.
Kelly: Yeah. I'm not going to ask you how we attracted 9/11. [laughs 05:52]
James: Yeah! Oh, thank you so much.
Kelly: We're not going to go there.
James: World News Tonight just came to me yesterday. I think it's going to air tomorrow. They came to my office and filmed me, and they filmed my live event last night. I had 2000 people in San Diego last night. Again, it's unfortunate, because typically the media wants to put a sensationalized spin on things, and a dramatic spin. I understand that and I'm OK with it. I'm one of the few teachers of The Secret who has been willing to step up to that plate, quite frankly. I welcome the naysayers, I welcome the questions, because it allows me the opportunity to not defend, or not get upset, but just to impart truth.
Here's the better question. Not, "Does the Law of Attraction work?" We're asking the wrong question. Of course it works. The better question is, "How can I use the Law of Attraction to improve my life and to improve the world?"
Kelly: I'm going to get into that in a minute. I just want to ask you this: is there a story behind how you ended up in "The Secret" DVD?
James: Yeah. There is. It's the Law of Attraction, actually, believe it or not. [laughs 06:58]
Kelly: I had a feeling about that.
James: Yeah, I'm sure you did. Almost everyone on The Secret, with a few exceptions, is a member of an amazing mastermind group called the Transformational Leadership Council, or TLC for short. We get together once every six months in a cool location around the globe and talk about how to transform the planet, how to improve ourselves, improve the world. Rhonda heard about us. We were meeting in Aspen at the time. So she flew her crew into Aspen to film us. It gets even more interesting than that, because I'm busy. I'm globetrotting, and so I'm usually late to the meeting. It's a fourday meeting; I usually make it for a couple of days. So I came in late and all my peers were being filmed. Canfield was filmed for an hour, and Proctor was filmed for an hour, and all these people.
And then as the days started to unravel, the filming got shorter and shorter. The film crew was getting fried, quite frankly. And because I got there late, I was on the last agenda. So then I started seeing my peers being filmed for 30 minutes, and then it was 15 minutes. It started to get really, really brief.
So here I am. They put on my makeup. I'm ready to roll. I'm ready to step in. They come out right in front of me and they say, "Gosh, we're sorry James, we're out of film." There was all this buzz about The Secret, The Secret, and being The Secret. I had a choice in that moment, and this is a key insight. I had a choice in that moment to have a crappy moment, if you will, or to realize that the universe is perfect.
Now, I can't tell you that I'm always perfect at this, Kelly. I'm not. But in that moment I did pretty well. I thought, "You know what? If I'm supposed to be in this, I'll be in it. If I'm not, I'm not." And I really stayed in that cool vibration of just being centered and knowing that things unfold perfectly.
Well, long short, a week later they called me from Orange County, Rhonda and her crew. They said, "Hey, we're filming in Newport. Can you make it?" I happened to be in town. I said, "Sure." So I buzzed down there. They ended up filming me for three hours. We laughed, we cried, we highfived, we hugged. It was a really cool event.
The point is twofold. If I had filmed in that moment with a fried moment, they would have given me 15 minutes because they were toasted, right? So I got three hours because they got a chance to rest and refresh. And then secondly, if I would have, in that moment, said, "Oh, this really sucks. All my peers got to do it and I didn't," I would have closed off to the universe and they would have felt that vibration and thought, "We don't want this guy. Look how pissy he is."
Kelly: Yeah.
James: So really, I think, a great example of how to use the Law of Attraction and the things I teach.
Kelly: Well, since we are on the Law of Attraction, what do you see as the most common pitfalls people make when they first start to apply it? I'm asking this because I'm afraid some people might be blaming themselves for their current situation where they've seen "The Secret" movie, get all jazzed up and then they get disappointed if they don't see immediate results.
James: Yeah. Well, you know, here's the thing. There are seven laws that govern our universe and I wrote about these laws back in 1998 in my book "The Science of Success." If you only... you know, the Law of Attraction is only one of them. There's six others. In fact, the Law of Attraction is not really a law, it a subset of the law of vibration. But then, alas, if you don't understand the full perspective then you really don't understand how the universe works. And that's where a lot of people tend to put blame upon themselves. I absolutely guarantee you everything is your responsibility, nothing is your fault. You may have heard me say that on Oprah. Everything is your responsibility, nothing is your fault. There's no blame here. There's no "I did something wrong." You live in a perfect universe and every single thing that comes into your life is here to serve you. Sometimes it's disguised as challenges. You know, the devil is nothing more than god in work clothes [laughs 11:11]. And so what we must do to develop a level of mastery is to understand that we're consistently projecting outward and attracting inward who and what we are. Did you get that one?
Kelly: Yeah.
James: So we're projecting the energy outward and attracting inward as results who and what we are. And so it doesn't do any good, it's counterproductive to get mad or upset when you have less than pleasing results because it's a perfect universe mirroring back to you where you had the opportunity to learn, love and grow.
Kelly: How do we address dealing with disappointment, when things don't always work out as planned? You did it very well when you were in this situation where the film crew was burnt out and ran out of film but, you know, just general words of advice for people listening now. How do you address it?
James: Well, it's simple, simple, pragmatic approach is to consistently ask yourself in every situation: What can I learn from this? What is this teaching me? How can I grow from it? How can I apply it?
Kelly: Yeah.
James: You know and quite frankly, you know, Kelly, I'm human just like the rest and there's many times when something shows up in my life and I go, how does this serve me? It doesn't, dammit! [laughs 12:28] You know, I mean it's the first gut check, right? And gut response. But then I come back and through discipline say, OK if I wanted it to serve me, how could it serve me. I mean, how does this serve me? What can I learn from it, how can I grow? Mastery is about doing that in a moment. I guarantee you that there is a listener today, there are situations in your life in retrospect you can look back upon that were really, really challenging. Really challenging.
Kelly: Oh yeah.
James: Like a divorce, a death in the family, a difficult business situation. And in retrospect you can look back and say, you know what? I grew so much from that situation. I learned so much, I became a better person. Now, most of us are pretty good doing that in retrospect. Mastery is about doing that in a moment.
Kelly: You mention in your "Science of Success" when you look around at your current circumstances, what you're looking at is a result of the past.
James: Right.
Kelly: And... could you talk more about that?
James: Oh, thank for allowing me to. I am so passionate about that. Because you see, we're constantly, Kelly, living in this residual, if you will, of our past thoughts, feelings and actions. And that's what I call three for three. And I'd like to talk about that in a moment.
Kelly: Yes, yes, I want to hear all about that. [laughs 13:43]
James: Because that's so important. But for now, we're constantly... three for three is thoughts, feelings, actions. So we're constantly living in this residual of our past thoughts, feelings and actions. So consequently, when you're looking at your current level of resolves, that's not who you are, that's who you were. And yet what most people tend to do is consistently define themselves by their current level of resolves. They look at their current bank account, they look at their current relationship, they look at their current body, they look at whatever, and they go, "I can't afford this." If you continue to define yourself by your current level of resolves you continue to get the same results. Because the Law of Attraction says like attracts like. You're putting your attention upon your current state of affairs, you're going to vibrate if you will, at current state of affairs, you're sending out a message of current state of affairs and you're telling the universe send me more of current state of affairs. What you must do is make decisions based upon where you're going versus where you are.
And here's the key. When the vision on the inside becomes more compelling and powerful than what you observe on the outside, then the universe is at your command. Even when you teach this stuff, Kelly, that's tough. I run a business and I'm going to tell you, it's tough. You know, current state of affairs are seductive.
But the Christian tradition tells us, "Judge not by appearances." Why? Because appearances are nothing more than the outcomes of our past thoughts, feelings and actions.
Kelly: Yeah. I remember this was in the eighties when I first started to discover the Law of Attraction in the '80s and I would say constantly, because it was true, "I don't have enough money, I can't do that. I can't do that, I don't have enough money." [laughs 15:33] And I had a friend who said, "Stop saying that. Say I have enough money." And he would catch me every time I said "I don't have enough money." And it actually shifted things in an amazing way. I mean, it really works.
James: Yeah, sure it does.
Kelly: Yeah.
James: I mean, if you don't have enough money, if you're saying you don't have enough money, the universe states your wish is my command.
Kelly: It's like a negative prayer.
James: It is!
Kelly: You know we have to undo our prayers of the past.
James: Every thought is a prayer. Every feeling is a prayer. And so consequently you always and only get what you love. Here's the thing. I don't know the answer to this Kelly, are you married or single?
Kelly: I'm married.
James: OK.
Kelly: How about you? Are you married or single?
James: I'm single. I'm happily single. And I'm looking. [laughs 16:25]
Kelly: [laughs 16:25] Ohoh.
James: You know, it's funny because I was interviewed recently on a radio show with a young lady and she asked me, "This is all the women want to know, are you single James?" And I said yes and I'm looking for that special young lady right now and she goes Oh my god, it's so great. But anyway...
Kelly: You better be careful, you might get swamped.
James: I know, I know. But there's worse problems to have Kelly. But needless, if you love your husband, you give him attention.
Kelly: Hmmm.
James: Do you have children?
Kelly: Yes, I have a son.
James: If you love your kids, you give them attention.
Kelly: Hmmm.
James: Attention equals love. And so the question I have for the listeners to consider today is: What are you in love with? Because the reality is, if you're really honest, many of you are in love with your misery. Because you're tending to it all the time. Energy flows where attention goes and I could get into quantum physics on this if we wanted to, but it's really... it's not necessary, just believe me. Physics backs this up, energy flows where attention goes. So if you wake up every morning and the first thought you have in your mind and the feeling you have in your body is how overweight, depressed and broke you are, you're secretly in love with your expanding waistline and your empty wallet. Attention equals love. Every single time you say, "I can't afford this," you love being broke. You might want to disagree with me, but let me tell you something, my certainty overcomes your doubt. Because you're attending to, it's like a roaring bonfire and you're throwing another log on it day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.
Conversely, if you wake up every morning and the first thought that you have and the first feeling you have in your body is how grateful you are for your current state of health, how grateful you are, appreciative for all the good and god that currently exists in your life it's like magic. More good and god flows to you. Attention equals love. And, you know that's why gratitude, I'm the big gratitude guy as you know. Gratitude is one of the most powerful, magnetic, creative forces on the planet because what you're doing with your attention is saying, "Thank you for this, send me more."
Kelly: What are the most effective practices you've used in your life to create success?
James: Well, there's one of them. One of my practices that I've used every single day for years and years and years, and you heard me talk about this in "The Secret" is no matter where I am on the planet, when I wake up first thing in the morning, I say thank you. And it's not just a routine, I mean it. Every morning I get up and I say thank you, god, because I'm telling you. And I did this even when times were tough. I mean, I've been on the skinny branches in many cases in my life and in my business. There were times, Kelly, when I was on faith sandwiches and vision cookies.
Kelly: [laughs 19:17]
James: You know, I mean if you looked at the current results, it was bleak. And I teetered on the edge of bankruptcy twice. Really, really teetered, hanging on by fingernails.
Kelly: And you were practicing.
James: Yes. Not perfectly, but that's where I really developed my mental muscle.
Kelly: Ahha.
James: At that time.
Kelly: I think also you probably developed a lot of faith.
James: I did. And even bigger than faith, I think there is a level beyond faith, which is a state of knowing. That's really where you're powerful. It was, I think, Carl Jung who was asked once, "Do you believe in god?" He said, "No. I don't believe in god; I know there's a god." Big difference, big difference. And so, in that time of trial and difficulty, I started developing my mental, spiritual, emotional muscle to wake up and say, "Thank you." What are you grateful for today? And many times, the first gut response was, "Nothing." Let's be honest. Nothing! If you wanted to be grateful, what can you be grateful for? I can be grateful that I'm breathing and alive, and that seems simple but instantly you begin to shift your focus; you shift your experience. I'm grateful that I can stand; I'm grateful that I have two legs, two arms, two feet. I'm grateful that I have a home. I'm grateful that I had a bed to sleep in; I'm not on the street, so on and so forth. When you are grateful, you get more to be grateful for. It seems so simple and yet it's a practice that, I guarantee you, if you start putting it into your life, it will profoundly impact your life in a positive way.
Kelly: Are there any other practices that you...?
James: Absolutely. Another one we've already talked about is: Make decisions based upon where you're going versus where you are. And that's the toughest thing. Even when you take these principles, it's tough. What you've got to do is set your intention and ask yourself that in a time of decision, you ask yourself the question a couple of key questions. I look at my current state of affairs and I say, "You know what, I can't afford this according to physical appearances." But, understanding that physical appearances are nothing more than the outcome of the past, then I ask myself, "If I really knew I was going to make $100,000 a year, a million dollars a year, whatever your number is a quarter of a million, whatever, and I'm just using money because it's tangible if I really knew that today then would this decision regardless of appearances, take me more rapidly in the direction of my vision and intention? If the answer is yes, then I go to the next question.
Would this decision accelerate me achieving my vision and intention? I get a yes, then I go to a third question.
If money were no object or no issue, would I make this decision? I get a yes, and then I do it, even if it seems illogical. Let me tell you something. Every single top achiever, performer, wealthy individual and I've worked and mentored and studied with a myriad of them do things that are illogical by common terms.
Kelly: Why don't we go over your seven secrets to top performance?
James: OK, love too. Well, the first one is to understand that success is predictable. It's absolutely predictable. Now, you know Larry King asked me last Thursday, "Well, what about people who are using the Law of Attraction and they're driving the bus?" And my response, "Who says that driving a bus isn't successful?" You know it's really interesting, Kelly, is that recent studies of teenagers and young adults, asked them the number one thing that they really want to create in their life, and you know what the overwhelming response was?
Kelly: No.
James: To be famous.
Kelly: Oh Yes, I thought that.
James: Yes, to be famous! Now that is a really crummy intention, and I'll tell you why. Axe murderers are famous.
Kelly: Yes.
James: Hardened criminals are famous. You can be famous for a whole myriad of things that doesn't mean you're outstanding and you're contributing to society. You see, what we tend to do and, this is where the Law of Attraction gets muddled up, is we tend to think it's about materialism and personal gain and becoming famous and, you know, not everybody is meant to be a James Ray. Not everyone is meant to be a Kelly Howell and thank god!
Kelly: That's for sure.
James: I mean there are people and it's just as noble, I told Larry, to drive a bus if that's what you're here to do. It's not about what you do; it's about who you are, and driving a bus, you can contribute to people in a massive way. I've had flight attendants who have made my day by making me laugh and being kind to me and smiling at me. We have this misconstrued perception in our society that to be famous means that you're really doing something wonderful and sometimes you are and sometimes you're not. And so, success coming back to the first principle success is something you have to define for yourself, not by society's goals, not by your parents, not by the government, not by the media, fill in the blank, but by you. The moment you set an intention for your life and you take a step in that direction, you're already successful. You really are if you really have defined it for yourself. It is noble, it is more noble to pursue your own intention imperfectly than it is to perfectly pursue someone else's.
Kelly: Now when you say intentions, in a way, what you're really talking about is what brings you the most happiness, right?
James: Well, and fulfillment and joy...
Kelly: How do you define success for yourself starting from scratch? You're in a job; you don't like it. You're unhappy. How do you redefine your life?
James: Well, first of all you have to understand that your job is not going to make you happy. In my last book "Practical Spirituality" I wrote about relationships and I pushed a lot of buttons, but it's true nonetheless. I say in there that relationships are not meant to make you happy. Most relationships are not meant for life. People get fired up about that, but statistics tell us over 50% of marriages end in divorce, so that's statistically sound. Some relationships are meant for life, most aren't. They're not meant to make you happy; they're not meant to complete you. They're not made to make you fulfilled. All those things come from inside. Everything external is not going to make you happy, fulfilled, successful or wealthy. Those are all internal states. Consequently, all those things external do is to out picture, or to mirror, who you are. Your work, your relationships, your health and fitness should be your love made manifest in the physical world. And they're just reflecting to the world and to yourself back who you are and what you're here to contribute.
Those states of happiness come from within. If you can't be happy... True mastery is about being happy when you're sitting on the curb, as it is when you're sitting in the multimillion dollar mansion. If you can get to that state then you really, really are there.
Kelly: I think what you're talking about now is so important because it's one of the hardest things for people to get: that life starts from within you, from within your own inner state of being...
James: Correct.
Kelly: ...and that we generate from our inner state, that we generate what goes on around us from how we feel inside.
James: You're so on, Kelly, and that's why I say gratitude is the most powerful, magnetic, and attractive force in the universe for manifesting results because anyone can be grateful after the fact. It takes a master to be grateful in advance because gratitude in advance is saying, "Hey, I'm so blessed and I know more blessings are coming." It doesn't mean that I'm done; none of us are done. However, when I'm grateful for my current state of affairs and I'm grateful for what I currently have, then I'll have more. That's an internal state that can be applied. You can be happy any day at any moment. And it doesn't take externals to do that.
Kelly: Yes, it really is dependent on us individually to find happiness, to find the gratitude.
James: Exactly. Most of us are looking for things outside of ourselves to do that, and then we get into this "if only" mentality. If only I made more money. If only I had a better relationship. If only I had a better husband or wife, then I would be something different. Well, that's not true. We know that's not true. Consequently, we get into this mentality of placing our power outside of ourselves versus taking it back and really beginning to master our lives.
Kelly: Yes, you said that everything a person wants already exists in the world and that in most cases it's within their reach. How can a person actually get what they want?
James: I think we're talking about it right here, Kelly, and let me talk about from a spiritual, emotional level first, and then we'll talk about it from a physics level as well. What people really want and I've been globetrotting now for 15 years or better around the planet I know what people want. Regardless of whether they're consciously aware of it or not, what they want is harmonic wealth. If you look at the word wealth and trace it to its origins, it means well being. It doesn't mean money; it means well being. So harmonic wealth is a state of harmony and wellbeing in the five key areas or our lifefinancial, relational, intellectual, physical, spiritual. And that comes from inside.
If you can't be in a state of harmony when you're making $10,000 a year then you're going to be in even greater disharmony when you're making $100,000 a year. I know you might want to doubt me on this, but my certainty overcomes your doubt, quite frankly.
Kelly: [laughs 30:03]
James: I have so many references of people. I mean look at the people who win the lottery. What do we know? Within a couple years or less what happens to them? Kelly, you're probably aware.
Kelly: They lose the money.
James: When they're interviewed they state, "It was the most miserable thing that ever happened to me. I wish it never happened." Now as a listener today you might be going "Well James, I'd like to try it though." Right?
Kelly: Well sure. I bet a lot of people are out there going, "Gee, well can I use the Law of Attraction to win the lottery?"
James: Yeah. Yeah, you don't want to win the lottery. Because let me tell you again, the Law of Attraction is one of the laws, but there are seven laws. One of the principles in this universe states that if you get something, if you are given something that you don't know how to create for yourself, it will slip through your fingers. You won't be able to hang on to it. If you don't know how to create a million dollars yet, then if you win it you'll lose it and you'll be miserable. Why? Because money is a magnifier. It's nothing more than a magnifier. If you are miserable making $10,000 a year and your relationship is on the rocks and you're out of shape and out of health and upset all the time, you're going to be multiplied. If you make a million dollars you're going to be multiplied miserable in all of those areas as well, because it magnifies who you are.
The only people who are more worried about money than the poor are the rich. I guarantee it. Because they're afraid they're going to lose it. So they're hoarding it and they're in fear all the time. And I know these people.
So again, what we really truly want is that internal state of wellbeing.
Now going back to your original question, everything we already want is already here. Well, I've answered that one, haven't I. At the emotional spiritual level of true identity, it's that state of wellbeing.
Now from a physics level though, what we know in quantum physics is that energy can never be created or destroyed. Everything that always was or shall be is already here. You've heard that I'm sure, Kelly.
Kelly: Yeah. Yeah.
James: So what we know in our universe according to physics is that there always, always must be as much positive energy as there is negative energy. In physics we call those positrons and electrons. A positron has a positive charge, an electron has a negative charge, and they're always equal, always equal. So what that means, that's one of the laws of our universe, it's called the law of polarity. The law of polarity states that if there's an up there's got to be a down.
Kelly: Rightsuccess and failure.
James: Yes, success and failure, in/out, up/down. If something is really, really, really, ... right now in your life that means there has to be a corresponding really, really, really amazing. But what we tend to do is look at our world through lopsided goggles. We only look at one side of the equation. We say this really, really sucks. Well, open your mind because there's really, really a gift there too if you're willing to look and find it. Can I give you a quick example?
Kelly: Sure.
James: I was in New York City recently with my brother, and we were just hanging out, doing a weekend. Trotting around New York City, about every third building in the area that I was in had Donald Trump's name on it. I turned to my brother and I said, "Wouldn't it be cool to own a third of New York City?" Well the fact is it would be cool, but it would also really, really stink. Because who do you think has more real estate problems, you or Trump? Right?
Kelly: Yeah.
James: Who do you think has more employee issues, more governmental concerns, more tax concerns, you or Bill Gates? What we tend to do is through lopsided perception think that we want to collect all the heads without the tails. We want, "Oh my god, I want to be a millionaire." Well let me tell you something, you can become a millionaire if and when you can handle a million dollar's challenges. If you can't handle the challenges of being a thousandaire you will go into nuclear meltdown if you become a millionaire.
Kelly: It's true. If you say you want to be famous, there's a lot of kind of unpleasant things you have to do to get there.
James: Tell me about it Kelly. Right now a lot of the media is calling me the rock star of personal transformation, and I feel like that. Like I told you, I was in six cities in the last six days. I am globetrotting all over. And I have put this information out for 1415 years now. Now I'm recognizable. In the airport people run up to me, in the gym people run up to me. And you think, "Oh my god, isn't that cool." Well, yeah it's cool but it's also not cool.
Kelly: Yeah, it could be exhausting too.
James: Yeah, the other day I had to get to a meeting at 11 o'clock, and working out for me is really important. So I have a busy morning and I jam into gym, which I did right before this interview by the way, I jam into the gym; I'm going to get my quick workout. And I used to be able to zip in and zip out and no one could care less. I go to the gym on this day and I'm really on a tight schedule, and three people come up and recognize and want to start asking me questions. So again, what you have to do is understand that the master is the person who embraces pain and pleasure both in the pursuit of their passion and their purpose and their contribution. Because it's all there, and if you think you're going to have all good without bad, if you think you're going to collect dollars and all you want to get is the heads without the tails, you're not going to be magnetic.
Kelly: Yeah, I think one of the hardest things that we're talking about here is defining for yourself what would make you happy; the real truth of what would make you happy.
James: Right.
Kelly: I think a lot of people that say they want to be really, really famous or really, really wealthy, maybe it's not really what they want.
James: Well again, wealth defined in its truest terms is what they want.
Kelly: Can you go over the harmonic wealth, what it means?
James: Absolutely. Remember, everything in our universe is comprised of energy. So to be in a state of harmony is to be in resonance, right? And when you're in harmony you can feel that in your body. When you're in disharmony you can feel that as well. So that's the harmonic part, to be in resonance. Then, again, wealth is defined as wellbeing. If you trace it back to its roots it really means wellbeing. So harmonic wealth is a state of harmony and wellbeing in the five key areas of lifefinancial, relational, intellectual, physical, spiritual. If we want to talk more specifically about each of those categories, I'm happy to do that as well.
Kelly: We could do that. I also want to remind you, you wanted to talk about the threeforthree. I think that's important.
James: Yes, let's talk about that. Again, I'm globetrotting and people run up to me very frequently now and recognize me and they're like "Oh my god, James Ray! I saw you in 'The Secret' and I'm just sitting in my living room visualizing and meditating my millions into my lap." Well, you know what? They'll come take your furniture away if you do that. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin taught us centuries ago that you are not a physical being having a spiritual experience; you're a spiritual being having a physical experience. So what that means to us as a physical being is that you've got to move your feet, you've got to get busy.
So I am very passionate about what I call going threeforthree. You've heard me on multimedia events talking about this. Threeforthree is thoughts, feelings, and actions. All must be firing in alignment. If you look at anyone who's not creating what they desire and deserve, one of those components is missing.
Kelly: So you may be visualizing and meditating but if you're not actually taking steps in the world you're not taking action.
James: Exactly. You might be really clearly visualizing and meditating and feeling real good about it. So you're thinking and you're feeling but you're sitting on your duff. It's not going to happen. It's just not. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesn't get it. Any teacher who teaches the Law of Attraction who says you just need to put it out in the universe and do nothing doesn't get it. Even if they're successful, they're unconsciously incompetent, I know every single person who practices this, every single high achiever is busy they're acting, they're taking inspired action. Conversely, you could have someone who is really visualizing clearly, thinking clearly, and they're acting. This action, that action, busy, busy, busy. But they're feeling unworthy; they're feeling incapable. Not going to happen.
Kelly: Right.
James: So you've got to go threeforthreethoughts, feelings, and actions. When all three of those are firing and in alignment then you can create whatever you desire and deserve. You really can.
Kelly: You said that what we attract, we put out. So if we're not putting the energy out in taking practical steps, we're not going to be attracting much back.
James: Bingo. Energy is also in the form of action. So what we must do is take inspired action.
Kelly: It takes a lot of work. If you have a goal of having a lot of financial abundance, I know for me I work. I work really hard.
James: So do I.
Kelly: So do you.
James: It's really interesting, becausewhat's the guy's name that interviews all the rich and famous?
Kelly: Oh, Robin Leach. I know him.
James: Robin Leach. He stated once, I have never in my life met a rich person who worked a day in their life. The rich people I know have never worked a day in their life. Now what most people think is that that means they're sitting on their duff. It doesn't. I am as busy as anyone, if not busier. This is not work for me.
Kelly: No, you're having fun.
James: I am having my love.
Kelly: And I'm having fun too. I love my work.
James: Bingo. And isn't that a magical place to be? That's my wish for every single individual. Because when you're in that place, it is magical.
Kelly: Well, it's where you want to be. You're where you most want to be.
James: Yeah. Well, it's like I said. Your work is your love made manifest. It wasI'm losing his name, but here is the quote. It will come to be in a moment. He said, "The secret to success in life is to make your vacation your vocation." Mark Twain. To make your vacation and your vocation the very same things.
People say to me, they run into me in the gym that know me, they say, "Hey, James, where were you this week?" "Well, I'm in L.A. I'm in this place. I'm in that place." "Business or pleasure?" I say, "Yeah."
Kelly: Yeah. I call my work serious play.
James: Yeah. You know, I really believe that we should be playfully serious and seriously playful.
Kelly: Yeah. Well, listen, do we have time to talk about your Science of Success program? You talk about the power of paradigms. Can we go into that a little bit?
James: Yeah, we have a few more minutes, and then I actually have to jump in the car.
Kelly: Yeah, you have to go.
James: I'm on another interview here. So yeah. What would you like to know about that? Paradigms are reallyit's not a term I use a whole lot anymore, and the only reason is because it's so been overused that people are kind of tired of it.
My favorite term now is mindset. But it's the same thing. I meet very few people who know what a paradigm is, and even less who know how to deal with it. Even those who used to throw the word around a whole lot don't really know what it means and how to deal with it.
Kelly: We can talk about it as mindset. So what is the power of the mindset?
James: Your mindset is really your programmed habitual way of thinking, feeling, and acting. The bottom line, Kelly, is that the majority of things that you attract into your life, going back to the Law of Attraction, you attract unconsciously. So they're out of your awareness. They're like minimized programs. If you've ever been sitting at your computer screen and you've got a word document up, if you look up in the righthand corner there's a little minus sign, right?
So you get tired of the document. You go up and click on the minus, and it zooms down into the other corner as an icon. And you think it's gone. But it's not gone. It's still taking up space. It's still putting out energy.
That's the metaphor for these minimized programs in your unconscious. There are unresolved emotional issues. All these decisions, emotions. Things that we have not resolved. And they're minimized. They're out of our awareness. And yet they're still attracting into our lives.
The bulk of my work, in my Harmonic Wealth Weekend, which is my flagship program, I invest the entire two day event in helping people bring these minimized programs that they're completely unaware of, up into their awareness, and heal them, release them, and set themselves free.
Again, I can quote many traditions. The Christian tradition states, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
That mindset is the conditioned, habitual ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are out of your awareness primarily. That's why less than pleasing results show up repeatedly in your life. You look at them and go, oh my god, why me? Because it is you.
Kelly: You're talking about shadow work. You're working on the shadow.
James: Bingo. I wasn't going to use that terminology, but a big portion of what I do is shadow work. I have a couple of events that are specifically focused on that alone. It was Carl Jung who said, that which is most unconscious within us, must of need be projected outward, and shows up in our life as fate.
Kelly: Right. So we can see it.
James: Yeah. And so again, coming full circle back to what we talked about earlier, Kelly. It doesn't do any good to get mad or upset when you have less than pleasing results. Because it's a perfect universe reflecting back to you where you have the opportunity to learn, love, and grow. It's a perfect universe reflecting back and going, hello. It's your 75th marriage. Are you going to change or not?
Kelly: I think this is really important. Because "The Secret" DVD is brilliant. It's wonderful. I just am so happy it's happened. But this is not addressed at all in the program, and it's probably the most important part of the work, I think.
James: Thank you.
Kelly: Because if you don't address the shadow, you'll just be disappointed, because you're not getting the results you want.
James: Bingo. My good friend Michael Beckwith, who's one of my dearest friends. He's in "The Secret," obviously. He does allude to it. I alluded to it quite a bit, actually. As I told you, they filmed me for three hours, and I believe some of my best stuff is still on the editing room floor. But it's not in there. And for good reason. The Secret is an introductory program. I'm so grateful for it, because it's introduced people to the Law of Attraction.
Then they get on programs like yours today, and they come to my live events, because they've seen me or heard me in The Secret, and I can share with them in much great depth and detail, because they've had an introduction.
If we really tried to get into all these kinds of things in "The Secret" DVD, it probably would not be as popular as it is.
Kelly: Right. Well, we're going to be doing a "Theater of the Mind" DVD. So maybe we'll get into some of that with you.
James: I would love to. I would love to.
Kelly: Well, James, how can people get in touch with you to find out about your seminars and your work?
James: The very best way is to go to harmonicwealth.com. If they go to harmonicwealth.com, they can get information about the "Harmonic Wealth Weekend." If they want to know about my DVDs, CDs, books, all those kinds of things, they can go to Jamesray.com. Jamesray.com is the catalog site that has everything that I offer, and then "Harmonic Wealth" really zeros in on that flagship program that is selling out right and left across the country.
Kelly: Do you have a book out?
James: I have several books out. "The Science of Success" is actually a bestseller on Amazon right now, because Oprah plugged it on the last show.
Kelly: Good for her.
James: That helps. That always helps. [laughter 47:10]
James: I have a book called "Practical Spirituality." And I'm working on a brand new book right now.
Kelly: Oh, what's that called?
James: Harmonic Wealth.
Kelly: Beautiful. Well, James, it's been wonderful having you on the show.
James: It's been a real privilege to be here. I do a lot of radio interviews. Some are good and some are great and this has been a really great one. I appreciate it.
Kelly: Well, we'll send you the mp3. You can use it on your site.
James: Beautiful. Thank you so much for having me. Have a fabulous day. And to all of you listeners, remember that you are god in human form. You are a cocreator of your universe. Go out and create what you deserve. That's your birthright. [music 47:48]
Kelly: Once again, James's website is harmonicwealth.com. In the future we'll be doing more in depth shows on the Law of Attraction. And if you want to get going on your inner work right now, you can download The Secret meditation at brainsync.com. It works on deep, inner levels to reprogram your mind and then your reality. Thanks for listening. Until next time, be well.
[music 48:19]
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