Your Outer World Is A Reflection of Your Inner World
“The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of the state of your mind.” —Wayne Dyer
This is the second article of a seven-part series on how to create the life you want by understanding and applying The 7 Natural Laws of the Universe. This article focuses on the second law – the Law of Correspondence. Previous parts of this series can be found on our site here:
Create The Life You Want Part 1: Apply the Law of Mentalism
In The Kybalion, a study of The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece and based on the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, it states “as above so below” and “as within so without”. In other words, our outer world reflects our inner world.
Let’s dig deeper into what we can learn from this and how you can apply the Law of Correspondence to embody the life you want to live.
What Drives Our Reality?
Based on the teaching of The Kybalion and my own experience, our predominant thoughts and feelings on a conscious level create the reality that we perceive.
On a physical level, think of a tree, a simple example. The outward appearance of the tree is a result of what’s happening beneath the surface at the roots. If the tree’s roots are constricted and it doesn’t receive enough nourishment from the Earth, it’s growth is affected. If the tree’s roots have all the nourishment needed from the earth, it will grow to its full potential. The canopy and fruit of the tree will be healthy and lush.
On a mental level, think of your state of mind. If your predominant thoughts focus on a state of lack, you’ll never feel abundant. If you’re always worried about your aches and pains, you’ll never feel healthy. If your predominant thoughts are negative or filled with anger or hostility, the world around you will appear that way.
Happiness or unhappiness is a state of mind and a direct reflection of the predominant thoughts you focus on. Eventually, negative thoughts become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more negative you are about yourself, the more negative the outer world appears to you.
On a spiritual level, everything that is thought up on a conscious level has a corresponding origin on the spiritual level. In other words, everything is connected and in correspondence. The macrocosm is found in the microcosm and vice versa.
In his book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One Joe Dispenza presents a great question that each of us should ask ourselves: “Can you accept the notion that once you change your internal state, you don’t need the external world to provide you with a reason to feel joy, gratitude, appreciation, or any other elevated emotion?”
In other words, you don’t need the external world to make you feel elevated emotions because you don’t control your reality in that way. Happiness is an inside job.
How Do You Create A Better Reality?
Try these 6 simple steps:
1. Start observing your thoughts and feelings.
If you don’t like the effects occurring in your life, it’s because of the predominant thoughts and feelings cycling through your mind.
For me, I notice and observe so I can see the patterns. For instance, if I’m having a particularly bad day or week or feeling challenged with something, I take inventory of what I’m thinking. A lot of times I find myself slipping back into old patterns of self-limiting beliefs such as “I’m not smart enough”.
The not smart enough belief stems from an unfortunate experience I had as a young child in the first grade of being labeled and misunderstood. Who I am is not defined by others opinions or words.
Take a close look at the thoughts that are driving the perception of your reality. Look at all aspects of your life such as your health, relationships, finances, career, etc. They are mirror images of your inner world. Ask yourself, “what thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are driving how I perceive my life in these areas”? Notice and observe.
2. Accept responsibility. Flip your negative thoughts around to the positive.
Time to accept responsibility for how you view what’s happening in your life because it’s a direct reflection of your predominant thoughts. When you change your thoughts, you change your reality.
Call yourself out every time you notice a thought that is not constructive and in your highest good. The only limitations we experience are the limitations we create in our mind. Don’t allow your thoughts to run amuck.
Change the questions you ask yourself to more empowering ones. A shift from questions such as, “Why can’t I do this?” to “How can I get this done?”
Whenever I catch myself saying, “I’m not smart enough”. I just smile and refuse to let myself be defined by an old limiting belief. If I’m dealing with a challenging problem, I ask, “What can I do differently to break through?”
I always find a way when I re-phrase the question from a limiting one to an expansive one. It helps me focus on all the positive possibilities versus what is constricting or confining my perception of things.
3. Keep a journal.
Document what you’re experiencing in a journal. It can be liberating.
Use it to track progress, declare positive thoughts and affirmations, and to express gratitude for all that you are thankful for in your life.
4. Practice Gratitude.
Fostering gratitude is one of the best ways to boost your overall state of happiness. It has the strongest link to mental well-being over any other attribute you can cultivate from within.
More specifically, research by UC Davis psychologist Robert Emmons, shows that gratitude magnifies positive emotions and blocks toxic emotions allowing you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. It has an immediate effect on your state of mind helping you to be more resistant to stress and increases your sense of self-worth bringing out the best in you.
5. Look for opportunities to feel positive rather than negative about yourself and your life.
I remember a past coaching client of mine who referred to me as the gentle drill sergeant. It was a compliment. He meant it in a very positive light because I helped him break through a perceived barrier at a critical time in his business.
I reflect on that client conversation most often when I start to think negative thoughts that influence my state of mind around my own confidence. It snaps me out of it.
6. Visualize the person you want to be. Visualize the world you want to live in.
Don’t be burdened or limited by your perceptions of today’s reality. Create zero distance between where you are today and where you want to be.
Try this simple exercise:
- Close your eyes.
- Visualize in your mind that the stars in a night sky are playing out a movie.
- The movie you create is of your ideal world.
- See and feel the world you want to live in and the person you want to be more of. For example:
- Visualize how you can be more courageous in your actions.
- Visualize the type of people you wanted to be associated with.
- Visualize the books you’re reading, new things you’re doing, etc.
- Place yourself directly into the movie of your desired reality.
Do this periodically throughout the day.
You can change your reality. But it’s a choice. You decide.
Is it easy? No. But it can be done with conscious and deliberate persistence. Over time it gets easier. But you must work at it every day.
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