Name: Beyond Willpower
Rating: 3.7 (65 reviews)
Author: Alexander Loyd

What’s in it for me? Find true happiness within yourself.

Do you perceive yourself as a happy, healthy and successful person? Or do you feel like you’re a plaything of fate, thrust about by circumstances you can’t control?

If you feel unhappy and aimless, these blinks are for you. They outline a concept called the Greatest Principle, the assumption that everything that ails you stems from some internal problem – even if your current struggles are with external matters like physical or financial difficulties, or a nasty divorce. And that’s great news; in the end, it’s entirely up to you to control your internal state.

These blinks explain how to obtain this control. You’ll learn how to ease any pain or fear by rebalancing the energy in your body, as well as how to set goals that can make you happier. By following this advice, you may well find yourself in a much better situation in as little as 40 days.

You’ll also find out

why a pay raise or breast enlargement won’t make you a happier person;
how the pursuit of happiness differs a lot from a child’s quest for ice cream; and
why a heart transplant can make you crave fast food.

Your ultimate goal should be based on an internal force, not an external one.

What do you want more than anything else in the world? Take a moment and think it over until you land on that one thing you desire most.

Given a chance to consider this question, it’s likely you came up with an answer. But is it the right one?

Well, there’s an easy way to know if it’s the wrong answer, because goals founded on things like money, achievement or health – also known as external circumstances – are always the incorrect choice. Even so, 99 percent of the answers people give to this question are based on external circumstances.

But what’s wrong with wanting to strike it rich, win an Olympic medal or get in perfect shape? Absolutely nothing! Except, deep down, none of that describes why you got out of bed this morning, or what’ll keep you motivated tomorrow. In other words, goals based on external circumstances don’t permeate everything you do.

Instead, people choose such goals because they believe myths, like the notion that money will make them happy. However, while things like material wealth might bring you joy for a little while, being a millionaire is no guarantee of a happy, peaceful and loving life.

That’s why strong goals for success are based on attaining a particular inward state, like feeling calm or full of love. A goal like this will become a part of everything you do and, when you get up in the morning, it will be because of your goal.

In fact, although you might be unaware of it, this is a goal you’ve already set for yourself; it’s why you brush your teeth, why you eat, why you work and why you hang out with your friends. Simply put, it pervades every aspect of your life.

So, if there’s a deeper goal already motivating you, why is it so hard to identify what you want most from life? To find out, you’ll need to travel back in time to your childhood.

Chasing after everything you want won’t bring you real happiness.

Imagine it’s a sweltering August day. You’re five years old and want an ice cream. How do you communicate your desire?

More or less without fail, kids apply a three-step strategy and, if it doesn’t work, they use willpower to get what they want. The strategy unfolds like this:

Our cells record every experience we have and painful memories can physically harm them.

Lots of people have stiff backs and experience chest pains, but would you ever have imagined that the source of such ailments lies in your cellular memory?

It’s true. Your brain isn’t the only place that memories are stored; the cells throughout your body record experiences and, if they’re painful, the cells can become unhealthy.

While your desire should align with your success goal, they’re not the same thing.

At times, just living your life can feel like navigating a dense jungle. How can you tell if you’re on the right path to reaching your ultimate goal for success?

First off, you need to know what your desire looks like; after all, to reach your ultimate goal, your desires need to be in line with it. Simply put, if your desire doesn’t match your goal, you’re on the wrong track.

Confront your worries systematically and build your confidence by assessing them and applying the Energy Medicine tool.

Imagine your desire is to launch your own business, but you’ve got no clue how to do so. When you’re hit with this realization, negative thoughts might fill your head, leading you to believe that you don’t have enough time, will never be able to raise enough money and are too incompetent to make your dream a reality. You might even think that failure will make you look like an idiot, and be paralyzed by this possibility.

So, how can you overcome these fears?

Key ideas in Beyond Willpower