“Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.” -  General George S. Patton, American General in World War I and II, 1885-1945

Yes, you can find lots of quotes, sayings and advice on how to treat problems – as opportunities for success or as necessary obstacles to overcome in order to achieve your goals. It is no secret that problem avoidance is usually shunned and discouraged in most self-improvement courses, books and even TV shows.

Yes… you may read all the self-improvement books you want, enroll in every motivational seminar you can or listen to all advice coming from life coaches until you drop to sleep (after which you wake up and then continue listening) but until you change your semantics, language and choice of words; you’ll change back into your default self – not treating problems as opportunities and worse, avoiding them at all possible cost.

The Mindshift

And so, I propose a solution to end all problems about how to treat problems… STOP USING THE WORD “PROBLEM”… in fact, you should eliminate the word “problem” from your personal dictionary; in the alternative, every time you have a “problem”, YOU SHOULD NEVER CALL IT A “PROBLEM” BUT INSTEAD CALL IT A “CHALLENGE”.

“Challenge” vs. “Problem”

You don’t even have to read self-improvement books, take courses or listen to countless and numerous advice about how to treat problems… ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SUBSTITUTE THE WORD “CHALLENGE” FOR THE WORD “PROBLEM”.That’s one simple change, but has the same effect as all those self-improvement, motivational classes and books that focus on overcoming problems.

Champion Mindset

That’s how champions think. They don’t think about problems… they take on all challenges! Champions have challenges while losers have problems. Whose side do you want to be on – are you a champion or are you a loser?

For the last time, I repeat – instead of using the word “problem”, use the word “challenge” instead. Never use the word “problem” ever. There’s a big “problem” about that word.

 The second phase in the law of attraction process... this is the least understood, least recognized, least publicized but perhaps the most important stage in the law of attraction process. This is the stage where you realize what you affirmed and attracted in the first place. It's the Recognition Phase.

This phase is the middle in the complete process of the law of attraction, after the attraction phase, and before the response phase. Bearing this in mind, you can say that the whole law of attraction process goes like this:

Attraction ---> Recognition ---> Response

The Process - The 500-peso Bill Example

Let me give you a more concrete example of the process. Let's say you affirmed, visualized and tried to attract a 500-peso bill this morning - that is, you will have 500 pesos before the day ends. So later in the afternoon, you were just walking home from work, and you noticed a piece of paper flying around. 

You examined the piece of paper more closely, and upon further examination, you realized it's a 500-peso bill! Then of course, seeing that nobody is the owner of that bill apparently, you took it, and kept it inside your wallet.

That is the whole process right there! When the 500-peso bill came floating in your proximity, you have accomplished the attraction phase. Now, since you observed and examined the 500-peso bill, you recognized that it's a 500-peso bill, thus completing the recognition phase. And when you took the bill, you responded. You got what you asked for.

Now, the Attraction Phase had already been discussed extensively in the preceding article Law of Attraction Part 1 - Avoiding the New Year Resolution Mistake and Law of Attraction Part 2 - Why Affirmations Don't Work. Now that we're done with that, let's move on to Recognition.

The Recognition Phase - The Hardest Phase

Recognition is all about recognizing what opportunities have come your way because of the things you have done during the attraction phase. You can not act on the opportunity if you didn't recognize in the first place that this opportunity that came your way, is the one that you attracted.

This sounds easier than it is, because it isn't. In fact, recognition maybe the hardest phase of them all. 

In the example above, if you haven't tried to examine the piece of paper flying around, because you weren't observant and didn't want to exert any effort in looking at the paper more closely, because you already concluded that it's just a piece of trash, then you couldn't have been 500 pesos wealthier, effectively negating the steps that you did during the attraction phase.

See how important recognition is?

Another thing, the way opportunity presents itself could be various. There could be a billion or even a gazillion ways that you could get 500 pesos in any single day - your mother could have given it to you as she was just feeling generous, or your friend could have handed you 500 pesos because he felt obligated to repay you for what you did for him awhile back, or you could have been given a bonus by your boss unexpectedly for the remarkable work you did in a certain project, etc. That's the reason why this phase is the hardest.

There are a lot of missed opportunities that presented itself to the person asking for it, just because he didn't had the skillset to recognize opportunities as they come. Recognizing opportunities as they come may be the most important skillset you may acquire in your life.

Finally, the reason why recognition is hard is because it takes a lot of work... and most people who practice the law of attraction, or the secret, or whatever you want to call it, are lazy at best. They were led into thinking by these law of attraction gurus and experts that they need not do anything, and they will get what they want. That's why it appealed to a lot of people. The prospect of having anything you wanted in life, by just mere utterance of words, some visualizations, and written declarations, is a dream come true!

You will have to come to grips with reality boy! Success is not given to you, it is earned! Although, the tools needed to succeed may be given to you, you still need to use them yourself. God can't help you if you can't help yourself.

Improving in the Recognition Phase

Remember during part 1 of this series, I said that you shouldn't do anything and just let the universe do its thing in giving you what you wished for? In the recognition phase, this is where you take action.

Having said that, you have to develop the attitude necessary to put yourself into a position so that you're there ready to recognize opportunities as they pass by. This is where positive personality traits may be most useful... So what are the traits necessary in this phase?

• Zest

You got to have zest in life. That means you live a life full of energy and enthusiasm. You don't just wake up in the morning and say "I don't want to go out today." Instead you have the mindset of a person saying "Today is another day to go out, live life, and enjoy!" Having that zest will put the fire in your spirit that gets you going and puts you in a position to receive all that God wants you to have.

• Observant

This is very important. You have to be observant as regards all of the things that life has to offer. Like in the 500-peso bill example above, if the person who attracted the 500-peso bill was not observant, do you think he would have recognized that the piece of paper floating around was not trash but rather, treasure?

• Optimistic outlook

Having a positive vibe attracts positivity in your life. You attract what you project. Therefore, you have to be positive in order to attract positive things. Also, having a positive outlook narrows your frame into positive things, and therefore, you would have a better "radar" for the positive things you're attracting in your life.

• Adventurous

Being adventurous means trying out new things and being excited, rather than being afraid, to explore and discover new arenas and areas you have never engaged yourself into. Having this trait will increase your relational proximity to opportunities exponentially.

• Spontaneous

Being spontaneous means acting in the moment without having it pre-planned. Sometimes, you have to be spontaneous in order to realize that the opportunity is just right around the corner, if you just went with the flow, and "vibed with the universe." You don't have to stick to the plan all the time. Like I said, it restricts the ways the universe is giving you what you want, if you strictly adhere to plans. You have to be flexible, and being spontaneous is one of the ways to do that.

• Generous

Someone said "True greatness is not defined by how much you receive, but how much you give." The Bible also says "Give and you shall receive." In fact, you should give a little even if you don't have a lot. Giving opens up your vibe to the universe, and makes the energy of the universe flow unto you. If you become greedy and decide not to give, you cut off the flow of the universe and thus, you repel opportunities.

In fact, you should give without expecting anything in return. If you give and expect something in return, that's not giving. And, the more anonymous you seem in being generous (meaning you give "in secret"), the purer the act of giving is. 

• Humble

The real reason "being humble" is here, is that being "boastful" (opposite of humble) is anti-attractive, anti-seductive, and certainly won't put you anywhere near recognizing opportunities, unless you want to attract a lot of enemies.

Conclusion

We could state a lot more, but it's safe to say that these traits pretty much cover everything necessary to be successful in this phase.

So there you go, just work on building those traits up and you will have it easy in recognizing opportunities that you yourself attracted during the first phase.

Read Part 4 of this Series