I quite like the idea, held by some, that the universe is deterministic. Godless, neutral, and defined only by physical laws. Tectonic plates shift, a tsunami occurs. An animal eats because he’s hungry. Effect is always because of a prior cause. Our chaotic lives, with our brains full of ideas and ambitions, is actually a life on railway lines, prescribed, undeviated, predestined.
Deterministic. We fall into an illusion of free will because those railway lines are invisible, and we feel so certain about our subjective state, our feelings, our judgements and our opinions. But whatever decisions we make, it won’t make any difference to what was always going to occur.
Do you like that? I’m not sure I do, because it makes everything we do rather pointless, don’t you think?
Maybe, you genuinely want to change the world. I know it’s a great ideal to have, to try and make our planet a better place. But first, you have to totally believe in that ideal in the first place, and match your thoughts with suitable and comparable actions. If you want world peace, then you need to find peace inside yourself. And very few people are able to do even that.
One thing this bloody pandemic has emphasized is how jaundiced so many folk have become. I simply do not understand where the hate, the anger, the rage, the jealousy and utter negativity comes from. If you don’t know the answer to that about yourself, you simply have no chance of changing anything. If all you do is complain and feel life is against you constantly, and whatever happens is always somebody else’s fault, then don’t be surprised that’s all you’ll ever see. If you ignore stuff because you don’t like it, then it ceases, in your case, to exist. If you only focus on what you perceive to be injustices against you, then that becomes your reality, but no one else’s.
It’s been said that every game in life is played in the short space between our ears. So I don’t live in a villa, I live purely in my mind, a totally unlimited area. If it remains uncluttered, all is fine, and maybe my actions could have a part in changing things for the better. But if my mind is a complete 
mess, regrets piling up, expectations getting to unachievable heights, secrets and lies stuffed away in a corner, and worries and stresses accumulating everywhere, woah, stop!
I think that in order to change anything, you have to be able to change yourself first. Difficult.
Can we change our future with our minds?
This will probably be my shortest but very powerful blog.
The word has material power. Shamans have known it. It’s been known since the earliest antiquity, since time immemorial. It is called magic.
In 1993 I very much wanted to see the United States. I did it somehow the same year. Passing the TOEFL exam at my university. Yes, my efforts and some luck. It wasn’t easy in Russia of 1993 with no money in my pocket.
In 2011 I wanted to see Alaska badly. Well, actually, since 2007, when I was unemployed at the time. Hopeless. But I had a dream.
Then I entered the company – then did it with it, the Reader’s Digest The Expedition that I inspired first everybody in the company and then organized it in 2011.
In the same year, 2011, I wanted to marry, sooo much, the most beautiful woman in the world. We married in less than in a year since our first date: October 17, 2010 – October, 1, 2011.
In 2014 I felt like I need to run the marathon. I did it in September same year. Yes, I spent five months in preparations. Running four or five times per week, any weather, any mood. Just run to your plan. OK. Just power of my mind.
Then I decided to go back to the Last Frontier which I did in 2017: I’ve spent more than three months there because I’d won the prestigious Fulbright program grant in Journalism. It was one out of eight in the 3-stage contest. I was inspired, fearless, confident, and consistent. I won it.
It works, my friends. Yes, we can change our future with our mind. My lifetime experience says it. You only need to want it very strongly.
Now I’ve got an idea that must be realized – shhhhh… Too personal. It is harder then to get to the Last Frontier. 
Not sure it would work in this touchy field…
Will it work?
Only the future will show…
Are you willing to pay the price?
There is an entire industry built on the notion that you can think your way to success. In the US there’s even a common saying: Fake it until you make it. In other words, even if your’e not sure, act like you can, believe it and it will come true.
I think there are really three different components to this idea:
- Wanting something
- Fear of success
- An absolute belief that you will reach your goal
These three are all intertwined and tightly related but let’s see if we can deal with them as separate issues.
- I do not believe simply deciding that you want something is enough… even seeing yourself getting what you want in your mind will not make it so, let me cite some examples:
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- If wishing made it so, every last sixteen year old boy would have a hot girlfriend, who is a College Senior.
- Donald Trump would have more than three miles of new wall.
- That damned virus would have simply despaired.
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- Self Image, on the other hand, will sabotage your dreams. You will fail if you don’t think you deserve to succeed. You will quietly work against yourself and quit too soon. I have to monitor my “self talk”; I stop me from calling myself stupid because I know for a fact that’s not true and I know I’m allergic to negative energy. Having a mate that believes in you and tells you you will achieve what you deserve is so important.
- Our final item is the one that interests me: if you can navigate the first two, can you write your goal down, trust yourself and wait for it to come to you?
Can we change our future with our minds? Maybe, I don’t think you will accomplish anything at all unless you believe you can… inside. I suppose if you set a goal and decide you will do anything, anything to get it you have a far better chance of success. By anything, I mean putting your goal before your family and yourself.
I believe it simply is not possible to become a multi-millionaire without throwing a few friends under the bus. Jack Nicolson had a great line in a movie: “You gotta’ break a few eggs to make an 
omelet.” I suppose that’s true. Can we change our future with our minds? Perhaps. Are you willing to pay the price?
Well? Are You?