1. Deciding
2. Decision Maintenance
3. Selecting from the already-existing Options
4. Actions indicate Beliefs

1. Deciding

Since the Present is the result of the Present, and not the result of the Past, in each NOW moment each of us "decides" exactly Who and What we are, and thereby instantly IS that. The Infinite Consciousness that each of us really is "creates" us to be "whatever way" we decide in that NOW moment that we actually are. Normally, we "assume" that we "become" a certain way because of the steps we created to get there, or the criteria we must meet to get there, but this is only an illusion. For example, a person may think "If I exercise every day, then in 3 weeks I will be strong." And in 3 weeks they are strong, but they are strong then because they are deciding in that NOW moment to be strong, not because of the "prerequisite steps" of exercise that they have set up for themselves to get there.

Therefore, if you want to be a certain way, you can take the long route (the normal human approach), which is to set up an elaborate set of steps that must be taken in order to reach your destination state of being, or an elaborate set of criteria that must all be met in order to get there. And then take the time to go through all these steps, or meet all those criteria, and then finally give yourself permission to decide to then be that way. Or, you can take the short route and simply decide NOW to be that way, with no intervening steps or criteria necessary to "get there".   And then, by trusting that decision, and acting accordingly, you become that way NOW.

2. Decision Maintenance

(Here's the "catch 22" where most people get stuck.)  Once you decide that you are NOW a certain way, if something comes along in your external reality that contradicts this decision, in many cases people will disappointedly think "Well I guess my decision did not stick. I guess I'm not really that way after all."  But what is actually happening here, is that the person is willing to let the contradictory "external evidence"  talk them out of their new empowered decision, which means that they are changing their decision from the new empowered decision to the previous disempowered decision. So it's still true they "are" what they decide, but they are NOW deciding to be what they don't prefer, instead of what they do prefer.

So Elan suggests an Alternate Approach: 

When you have decided that you are NOW a certain way, and your external reality provides you with evidence to the contrary, instead of letting this contradictory evidence "talk you out" of your new decision, use it to reinforce your new decision!  "Ah, look at this! I have decided that I am this way, and now my external reality is showing me the opposite! Oh, thank you, external reality, for reminding me - by contrast, of what my decision is, so that I can once again reinforce and reactivate my new decision!

In this manner, when your external reality provides "evidence to the contrary", you can use this to reinforce rather than nullify your new empowered decision.

Example: If you decide that you are a very popular person, and then you notice that you are not invited to a party that you expected to be invited to, rather than being "talked out of" your new decision (which means switching from your new empowered decision that you are popular, to the previous disempowered decision that you are not popular), instead you respond: "Oh, thank you, external reality, for reminding me - by contrast of what my new decision is, so that I can once again reinforce and reactivate my new decision!

And, through this process of Decision Maintenance - always using external reality to reinforce your new decision - you eventually reach the point where external reality no longer invalidates your new decision but only validates it!

Beliefs and  "What you see in front of you"
Cause    →   delayed-Result
Original sound      →   delayed-echoes from that sound
Beliefs     →   your perceived reality

Think of beliefs as the cause and "what you see in front of you" as the delayed-result. Just like, shouting in a canyon can be a cause, and hearing the echo of your shout can be the delayed-result.  Notice that if you shout "One" and then shout "Two", that at the moment you shout "Two", you are also still hearing the echoes of "One". Likewise, if you think of "One" as your original disempowered belief, and think of "Two" as your new empowered belief, when you first initiate your new empowered belief, you will still be getting echoes of the previous disempowered belief. But that doesn't mean that the new belief hasn't taken hold. It just means that its ripples/echoes haven't reached you yet.  So, just because you've adopted a new belief, but are "still" seeing echoes/reflections of the previous belief, this does not mean that "Well, I guess this doesn't work. I guess I'm still the old disempowered me."  It just means that the echoes of the new belief have not yet bounced back to you yet.  So don't invalidate the new empowered belief, just because its outer reflections/echoes have not yet reached you.

Don't look for what is the same - the echoes of the previous disempowered belief:  "Oh, I guess nothing has really changed."Instead, look for what is different - the echoes of the new empowered belief:  "Ah, the new Belief is beginning to produce Results!"

Conclusion:  Ignore evidence of the old disempowered Belief, and look for evidence of the new empowered Belief.

3. Selecting from the already-existing Options

Since you are actually an infinite being experiencing the "finiteness" of Time/Space, all the possible scenarios or "versions" of how your life "could" actually be all already exist! Each of them is a hologram, which you can think of as a "probable reality" or a "possible reality".  They all co-exist right Here right Now!  Therefore, you don't really need to "create" the way you would like your life to be, because it already exists!  All you need to do is select it from all the infinite available options.  It's like going to a delicatessen, where you see each of the dishes behind glass. All the available dishes already exist, and you merely have to select the option you want.  It's like a radio not needing to "create" the program it wishes to listen to, since the radio stations have already created all those programs. All the radio needs to do is select the already-existing program it wishes to receive.

And from all these already-existing options, you select the version-of-reality you prefer by assuming the posture of the version you prefer, to high-light and bring-forth that version. "Assuming the posture of" is another way of saying that you have decided which version you prefer to experience, and then you trust that decision, and act accordingly.

4. Actions indicate Beliefs      

Beliefs  →  Perception  →   Interpretation  →   Emotional reaction  →  Thoughts  →  Action

    1. Your beliefs determine the reality that you perceive. Your beliefs determine your perception of reality.

    2. You then immediately, automatically, (and usually unconsciously) interpret your perception of reality. That is, you (arbitrarily) assign, project, and "superimpose" an interpretation onto your perception of reality.

    3. You then emotionally react to your intepretation of that reality.

    4. You then have thoughts about this reality.

    5. Then, based on your emotions and thoughts, you take action.

Accordingly, your emotions are the result of your beliefs. So if you find yourself not enjoying your current state of emotions, just ask yourself:
"What would I have to believe, in order to end up feeling this way?"    By back-tracking in this manner and then shifting your beliefs, you can shift the cause (beliefs) and thereby also shift the result (your feelings & emotions).

Likewise, your actions are also the result of your beliefs. This is significant because, often, one will "say" to believe something, but the actions indicate a totally opposite belief.  For example: "Expect the best, but prepare for the worst."  If you are holding contradictory beliefs, it is always the strongest belief that determines the reality you get, and your actions are a clear indicator of your strongest beliefs.  So, you can use your actions (more than what you "say" you believe) as a reliable indicator of your strongest beliefs.   

To back-track from actions to beliefs, just ask yourself:  "What would I have to believe, to be taking these actions?"
It's a good idea to evaluate the beliefs that are fueling your actions, before you actually take those actions.   If you "say" you are expecting the best, but your actions are preparing for the worst, your strongest belief is "expecting the worst", and so that is what you would eventually experience, in some form.

A good way to calibrate your actions, is by going into your imagination and there asking yourself: "How would someone actually expecting the best would act?"  Once you see, in your imagination how they act, then just act in that same manner "out here".

Elan

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