The same is true when we affirm one thing but undo it with negative thoughts, fears, beliefs and actions. The subconscious mind must follow where the conscious mind leads. And the subconscious acts on the dominant, most consistant thought. If we spend five minutes a day affirming "prosperity," but spend the rest of the day bewailing that we don't have enough money, guess what the subconscious is going to think we want? Most of our thoughts and actions must be in the direction of our goal for the subconscious to realize that it truly is what we want.

I once gave a client hypnotic suggestions that if they smoked a cigarette, it would taste absolutely awful, so revolting that only drinking water would wash away the taste. This is called a post-hypnotic signal, a command to the subconscious to make something occur based on the person's thoughts or actions. However, the conscious mind still directs the subconscious, and if it doesn't cooperate, it undermines the suggestion.

On the drive home, my client smoked and had to stop at a mini-mart to pick up a bottle of water to wash the disgusting taste out of their mouth. However, even though it continued to taste awful, they continued to smoke. After a week or so, the suggestion wore off because, by continuing to smoke, the conscious mind overruled the hypnotic suggestion.

Even if we're experiencing something we don't want, it's in our life because of the overall tendency of our thoughts and actions. The subconscious acts on the accumulation of the energy we've put towards a particular goal or idea. A person who wishes to release weight must change their eating behaviors and increase their activity level. Although putting new information into the subconscious mind is imperative, they also must implement the changes in their physical life. If they don't act on the new ideas, or allow themselves to begin to fall back into old patterns, the subconscious will take that as a command to ignore the healthier ideas.

A person who wants more prosperity must be willing to create the channels through which that supply will flow. Doing all the mental work in the world is unlikely to change a condition until some physical action is taken to convince the subconscious that we really want the new circumstances. Even if we don't know quite what to do, taking any steps that we can conceive of will allow us to be guided in the right direction.

Answer: There will always be some negative people who swirl into and out of our world. But if critical people are a constant in your life, then something else is generally going on. There can be several reasons for this. The first could be that they're simply reflecting the inner critic within you. You may be very judgmental of yourself, and you've attracted them because of your own self-criticism. If they put you down in similar ways that you do to yourself, or pick on characteristics that you already feel insecure about, this is probably the case.

A second reason could be that, due to low self-esteem, you don't set appropriate boundaries. Negative people can generally sense whom they can belittle without consequences and whom they can't. When they can, they simply dump their discontentment on others.

In both of these cases, standing up to the criticism (both inner and outer) will help to eliminate them from your life. They'll either change their response to you or leave your life.

Another reason for critical people in your life could be that you may be so positive and optimistic that you're stirring up others' unhappiness. "Misery loves company" as the old saying goes, and these folk may be trying to bring you down. Unfortunately, whenever someone is happy, positive, upbeat, and successful, it casts a light on others' attitudes and they don't like what they see in themselves. Instead of changing, they try to change you. In this case, realize it's their issue, not yours. Take appropriate action when you need to, letting them know that their negativity isn't appreciated. These are simply unhappy people.

A couple of my friends didn't particularly like "What the Bleep...," but absolutely loved this DVD. It brings together many spiritual and personal growth leaders to explain the "Law of Attraction" and manifestation in a very clear and concise manner. Although it's listed as a documentary, it's mainly a seminar on video. But instead of simply filming a bunch of people talking in real time, each subject is addressed by various presenters, before moving on to the next area. This makes for a deeper exploration of each topic, from several different angles. At times I wanted more information from one of the presenters before they moved on, but it was still filled with inspiration and motivation.

The information covered in this film isn't really a secret. But many people have never been exposed to it, especially in this form. This film also has an accompanying book that is a compilation of quotes and an audio CD containing the soundtrack. Immersing yourself in this film, book or CD, and then practicing what it teaches will certainly change your thinking to change your life.