The Magic of Believing review
This book has been published in 1948, and yet it is still as abundantly enlightening now as it was when first released. It has a pocket book size which may lead some to think of it as a less than thorough read, but it's the exact opposite of that!
The title has an amazing amount of examples and accounts which show belief and the power of mental imagery at work in practical situations. If you want to read about other people's experiences with the power of belief, then this is probably the book for you.
The text, which was written by Claude M. Bristol, is presented in nine chapters which explore various areas related to the understanding of how belief creates our experience. The way in which this information is presented is fantastic. The book is written in a small font, and this is what allows for an abundance of information on the power of suggestion, belief, and mental imagery to be presented.
I shall now relate to you one of my own experiences with this book.
The summer after I left the education system was a quite pivotal time in my explorations of personal development, belief, and related subjects. I was already generally aware of that we're creating our own experience, but I wasn't entirely sure of the how. I knew about the general process, but what was (and still is) of interest to me is the most exact understanding of our own power which may be attained. In one month of that summer, I got an interview for an office clerk position. Now, I was totally unfamiliar with office environments, had no work experience of them, and didn't think that I would fit in in the company. I hardly even decided to go to the interview.
In the morning, on the way to this interview, I remembered this book I had bought some eight months earlier, but somehow never really read. It was The Magic of Believing. Due to its handy size, I just carried it along in my pocket and got onto the bus to venture towards the interview. The journey took about fifteen minutes, and so I started reading the book. I felt drawn towards the chapter which talks about mental pictures, and read some of that. After a few minutes of doing so, I decided that I was going to take on the mental image of myself as being the perfect employee for that company which was interviewing me. I really wanted to do this and increasingly became this mental image. After the bus ride, there was still a long walk towards the office premises, and I kept on holding that image.
Upon arriving at the company, it dawned upon me how seemingly everyone there was dressed more formally and business-like than I was on that day. I saw two other people who were in the company's waiting lounge; both of them being dressed in suits. I was wearing a quite casual shirt and regular trousers, and had a hairstyle which wasn't nearly as tidy as that of all the other people there. I decided to hold on to the mental image of myself as that perfect employee nonetheless.
When I was interviewed, everything went well, until to the point at which the actual regular working day at the office was described. When one of the interviewers did this, I had a gut feeling to mention how it sounded familiar from what I had heard about in my media studies at college. They inquired further, and I mentioned how we had learned about the workings of one company in the same industry. The interviewer who had asked the question than proceeded to tell me how the very company I had mentioned was their main competitor, and we all started laughing. They were impressed at how I would mention something so relevant, and from then on I really already had the job.
What gave me the gut feeling to mention something from my media studies at college, when I was being interviewed for a job in market research? If you have read The Magic of Believing, then you will probably agree with me when I say: belief. And if you haven't read it yet, and you are interested in exploring the power of our thoughts, then I would highly recommend the book. It is a great title, and whenever I think of my first job, I am reminded why.
Here's the book
-Thomas
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