Why Who You Are Is The Key to Get What You Want | Vishen Lakhiani

Do you set goals? I mean, do you have a lifebook, a goal list, a bucket list, a 3M IQ list? If you do, I want to teach you a technique from the Buddha and the badass that accelerates the time it takes to have your goals, no matter how outlandish or crazy they might be, come into your life. So most people forget a really important aspect about setting goals, and that thing is this. Whatever you want, whatever you focus your mind upon, the universe doesn't give a damn. It doesn't work that way. About a year ago, it was May in Portugal, I was having breakfast with the Reverend Michael Beckwith. Now, Michael Beckwith is one of the foremost spiritual teachers in the world. He's been featured in more documentaries on the mind and soul than any other living human being. And so I asked Michael Beckwith, michael, tell me, like, how do you manifest? How do you bring your dreams into the world? And he said, vision, vision. I've been in movies like the Secret, and I want to tell you something. Everybody gets it wrong. The universe doesn't give you what you want. Rather, the universe acts as a mirror. It will reflect back to you what you are. And he went on to explain to me a concept called the law of resonance. First, you become. You take on the identity, the characteristics, the quality of that which you seek to be. And then the world bends towards that. So here's the problem with goal setting. We write down goals such as, I want to own a business doing xyz, I want to be a great writer. I want to be in an amazing relationship. But all of these wants don't actually matter. First, you got to shift the core of who you are. Remember, the universe will reflect back to you who you are. So the more important question is this. You have your goals. Ask yourself, who would I be if I were the man or woman who has achieved these goals? So you want to write a book. Who would you have to be? Well, you'd obviously have to be a man or woman who is great at writing, who is great at storytelling, who is incredibly well educated. You want to take your company to 10 million. Who would you have to be? Well, you'd have to be a man or woman as an entrepreneur who maybe has financial literacy, who is willing to take risk, who is a great product designer who knows how to build a team. So, yes, you can start with the goal, but the more important question is, who would you be if you already had the goal? That's the trick question. If you already had the goal. Now, as you make the list of the qualities, the characteristics, the identities that you need to take on. You now program this into your mind and you step into this new reality of you. And that's where a technique called identity upgrading comes into place. I talk about it in chapter nine of this book, but let me give you an idea of how the technique works. You take your characteristics, you take those identities of what you want to be, and you program it into your subconscious by asking your subconscious a question. So, for example, you're not in the best shape of your life, but you want to complete a Spartan race. Who would you be if you were completing a Spartan race? Obviously, you'd be someone who was Spartan, fit. You'd be someone who takes their health seriously. You turn that into a question and you ask that to your subconscious mind in the midst of your meditation. The question might go like this. Why do I have such a fit, muscular body? Why do I love exercise so much? Why do I eat so healthy? Why do I love competing in Spartan races? You're asking yourself those questions as if you're already that person. Now something funny happens when you do this. Your subconscious mind latches onto the question and your subconscious mind is like a heat seeking missile towards answers. It will start shifting your beliefs automatically, it will start shifting outcomes, and you will find yourself taking on the characteristics of this identity. I've tried this and it sounds too simple to be true, but the fact is it shifts your identity so rapidly. Your behaviors change, your habits change, the books you find yourself drawn to change, and you start taking on that identity. And when you take on that identity, what happens is the universe will shift to that new reality. So I outlined this process in chapter nine. Because this particular identity shifting methodology is how I manifest. It's how I set goals. I'm less concerned about the goals. I'm more concerned with who do I have to be to be the man who already has those goals and then program that into my identity and watch the law of resonance kick in. So I want to suggest that you try this technique. You can read about it in chapter nine of the book. And the best thing about the Buddha and the badass is that you do not have to read the book in order. This book is written as a series of nine powerful ideas to bring out your inner Buddha and your inner badass. So grab your goal list or grab your lifebook or grab your three most important questions. Open up chapter nine. It'll take you maybe an hour to read and do the exercise and watch what happens. And if you have done the identity upgrading process before Leave a comment or if you've watched my masterclass, leave a comment. If you want to be guided through this process, there is a link in bio to watch a masterclass for free. It's 75 minutes because I go really deep in the nuances of this methodology and I want to make sure that you have these tools at your disposal. And of course, check out the book@mindvalley.com Buddhabadas.