Transformational Income: Imagine

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
As a true Baby Boomer, I cannot think of the two words 'transformation' and 'imagine' in the same title without thinking of John Lennon's lyrics. Whatever you may think of his philosophy or his goals, the song is a poignant evocation of what it means to 'imagine'.

Napoleon Hill tells us that the imagination is literally the workshop of the mind. It is in the imagination that the impulse, the DESIRE is given shape, form and ACTION. It has been said, in fact, that man can create anything which he can imagine.

When Hill wrote his classic Think and Grow Rich, he wrote, “Of all the ages of civilization, this is the most favorable for the development of the imagination, because it is an age of rapid change. On every hand one may contact stimuli which develop the imagination.”

That was well over half a century ago. We have seen the fruits of the development of imagination and some of its failures. The world has changed a great deal; I would even be so bold as to say that THIS is the most favorable age for the development of the imagination because the stimuli is almost overwhelming.

Our brain is both a broadcasting and a receiving station for the vibrations of thought. These vibrations, whether sound waves or 'thought' impulses, come at us at a fierce and sometimes bewildering pace. Even when we try to still our minds, as in meditation, we will often find one thought or a whole crowd of them meandering through the supposedly empty space. There is no shortage of stimulation.

Our ONLY LIMITATION, then (within reason) LIES IN OUR DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF OUR IMAGINATION.

The imaginative faculty takes two forms. One is 'synthetic imagination' and the other is 'creative imagination'.

SYNTHETIC IMAGINATION is similar to using Legos to build a helicopter (Thanks to my grandson, Josh, for that example.). We make use of materials already at hand to make something different. We don't really create anything. Rather, we arrange concepts, ideas or plans (like Legos) into new combinations. The imagination works with the material of experience, education, and observation.

While the synthetic imagination is the one which will be used most frequently in the process of transforming the impulse of DESIRE into money, you may face circumstances and situations which demand use of the creative imagination as well.

CREATIVE IMAGINATION is the 'hunches' and 'inspirations' that seem to come from nowhere. In fact, through the faculty of creative imagination, the finite mind of man has direct communication with other minds or with Infinite Intelligence. It is by this faculty that all basic, or new ideas are handed over to man.

This communication is automatic. Ask someone where they came up with a really creative idea and chances are that they will not be able to tell you. But the faculty of creative imagination functions ONLY when the conscious mind is vibrating at an exceedingly rapid rate, as when the conscious mind is stimulated throught the emotion of a strong desire.

Just as a muscle or organ of the body develops and grows stronger with use, both the synthetic and creative faculties of imagination become more alert – and the creative faculty becomes more receptive – with USE. Your imaginative faculty may have become weak and flabby through inaction, but it can be revived and made alert through USE.

Transformation of the intangible impulse of DESIRE into the tangible reality of MONEY calls for the use of a plan or plans. The moment you reduce your plan to writing, you will have DEFINITELY given concrete form to the intangible DESIRE.

Read that again: THE MOMENT YOU REDUCE YOUR PLAN TO WRITING, YOU WILL HAVE DEFINITELY GIVEN CONCRETE FORM TO THE INTANGIBLE DESIRE. The moment you reduce the statement of your desire, and a plan for its realization, to writing you have actually TAKEN THE FIRST of a series of steps which will enable you to convert the thought into its physical counterpart.

How does that work, you ask? And what is this nonsense about 'vibrations'? Well, it is not nonsense. Consider: As far as science has been able to determine, the entire universe consists of but two elements – matter and energy. DESIRE is thought impulse! It is a form of energy! It is abstract and has no value until it has been transformed into its physical counterpart. Napoleon Hill adds:

Moreover – and this statement is of stupendous importance – this earth, every one of the billions of individual cells of you body, and every atom of matter, began as an intangible form of energy.

...When you begin with the thought impulse, DESIRE, to accumulate money, you are drafting into your service the same “stuff” that Nature used in creating this earth, and every material form in the universe, including the body and brain in which the thought impulses function.

...You are now engaged in the task of trying to profit by Nature's method. You are (sincerely and earnestly, wo hope) frying to adapt your to Nature's laws, by endeavoring to convert DESIRE into its physical or monetary equivalent. YOU CAN DO IT! IT HAS BEEN DONE