Attention, Attraction, Achievement

Have you heard about The Secret? I will confess that I have not yet read the book or watched the DVD but I did sneak a peak today in the bookstore. The Secret is, apparently, that we can attract things into our life by paying attention to them. This is not quite as big a "secret" as how they get the caramel into a Caramilk bar. Some people attract success by knowing what they want, paying attention to opportunities, and working hard to make their vision real.

The advantage of a secret that is well-known is that there is considerable evidence that it works (which is not quite the same as it being true). The disadvantage is that you have probably already heard some version of this secret without becoming as wildly successful as you would like.

I have been reading a book about a different kind of secret. It's a book by Milton Erickson's family and friends about the "secret" to Erickson's success. That secret is apparently that Erickson was able to be intensely curious, intensely present, and absolutely confident that people had within themselves the resources they needed to heal and help themselves.

The secret to influence is to pay attention to the unique experience of each person you want to influence. The secret to paying attention? That's still under wraps. We have good guesses, but no proof. Milton Erickson would have been fine with that: he believed that the will to do something positive was more important than the ability to understand.

How will you know that you are ready to pay attention to attracting those things you need for achievement?

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