Pardon me while I ramble a bit, but there has been something that has been bothering me lately. And that’s the world’s obsession with meditating to manifest the things they want in life. There are thousands of ethical bribes in exchange for your email address from life coaches that will tell you the secret to getting what you want is visualising it. They promise you that this is a powerful first step to filling holes in your life and finding happiness.

And the next step?

Well, open up your wallets, because to find out that, you’ll have to pay. Or you’ll have to give them your phone number so they can give you a “free consult” in order to give you just a taste of your dreams.

The answer isn’t in them. It’s in you. 

Meditation is something I’ve done so long I can’t even remember when I started. I do know it was in martial arts, though. I was sitting there uncomfortably on my knees, eyes closed, focused on my breathing, and trying to calm my thoughts during martial arts training. Sensei would talk us through how to breathe and focus, how to let thoughts flow through us, and how to start projecting what we want into our minds. Even for someone with ADHD like me, it’s an extremely powerful exercise to con yourself into believing you can do something.

Now, in the vernacular of meditation people you are “loosening limiting beliefs” and “preparing yourself mentally”. Sounds a lot more picturesque than “conning yourself into believing you can do it”. It’s the same thing, though.

It doesn’t begin at tricking yourself, though. It begins at coercing yourself into believing that you need the things in your vision to be happy. It turns out that the more unsatisfied you are with your life and decisions you’ve made to get there, the more easily manipulated you are [zotpressInText item=”{8NXZFQ3N}”].

Harsh, but true. When you are unsatisfied with something, you look for ways to become satisfied. That’s why the ethical bribes/freebies you can find on every business website works. It’s because in exchange for a way to communicate with you directly, you are getting something small that may help you realise the dreams behind the dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately, it also works for less ethical things, too. Like politics and religion. 

In business it’s an exchange. You want something, and you know the price of getting the knowledge or training. In politics and religion, they don’t tell you the price, and it’s not clear. You’re always looking at a moving target, lies built upon lies, and taking advantage of your goodwill. Just like marketers, they know you are searching for something to be a part of, something to make a stand for, something to make your mark with.

It’s part of how we work as a society to yearn for these things, and it’s the reciprocity that businesses and politicians sell the ideas to us — each with their own price. Survival of a community has always depended on this concept of reciprocity. If we look to our cousins, the chimps, they give each other grooming, friendship, look out for each other in times of danger, and even sometimes share food. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s what we do for each other on a base level.

Humans get more complicated with the application of intelligence though.It goes from sharing bread at a communal meal to wanting more out of this life and world than we have. We are able to look at our world and want more or realise our mistakes. That’s an amazing feat of intelligence, and one that is uniquely human. (At least until they prove that intelligent alien life is out there in space, that is.)

The way business owners use meditation rely on this cycle.

Meditation that these coaches lead you through are nothing more than a way to gain clarity on what you want and how you are going to do it. They are powerful. However, the key is not in visualisation. It’s in action.

All the free webinars, e-books, and video series start at the beginning with the pain points. It’s an old selling technique that reminds you of the why you want change so you’ll do what it takes to get it. This is good to help you regain clarity, but it is also really good for moving your mouse over to the buy button, too, once you get a taste of how things could be with meditative techniques.

Put the emotions on hold and get smart.

But, again, you can meditate all day, spend the money on their programmes, but unless you take action, nothing is going to change. And for every pain point there is a different desired outcome. And for every desire, there is a different action. It’s your job to know what is rubbish and what isn’t. The thing is, you can’t learn that without careful observation, a decent amount of knowledge, and knowing what you want to achieve. There is also a good deal of trial and error failure in there, too, unless you have a really good teacher. Sadly, most coaches are newbies that jumped in the game because it’s good money to make off of people’s desperation. Believe me, I know. I nearly fell for more than one person’s lies.

If you are determined to get a coach to shave off years of learning curve (which I highly recommend, but only the RIGHT coach), then read Dani Magestro’s Before You Hand a Coach Your Cash (not an affiliate link!) It’s a short, 13-page e-book she’s selling for $15, but it’s valuable for making sure you’re not getting shafted by wanna-bes with no history, high prices, and very few scruples. In it you’ll find exactly how you need to search for how a person is what they say they are, not just hype from a great copywriter making them glow. This is done with action, not meditation.

Remember, the key is meditate for clarity, then act.

See, the part that bothers me is that we are all being taken for a ride. If it’s willing, that’s fine. But you are expecting miracles, it’s time to wake up.