The Quest For Personal Development. Together. RazvanDobre.com

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

The Affirmations Experiment Or How Can You Get Your Drivers License By Using Affirmations


The power of affirmations is an amazing thing. No matter if they are positive or negative, affirmations work. They can draw into your life whatever you want them to. It's like having $100.000.000.000.000.000.000 and you have two choices: you could control the world and buy whatever you want (even an entire country or more) or you could end world hunger and make it a better place for all humans, including you and your family. You have that power right now, it's just that you can't see it because you don't really believe it's possible. When you will believe it to be true, it will be.

Affirmations can change the world if and only if you can put enough power and belief behind them. They don't work without them. If you just sit around and wait for riches to pop out of the computer, you will be disappointed, even if you use affirmations to help you out. Start using affirmations and pay attention to all that is around you. Affirmations will open a lot of doors for you. You must pay attention and see what's on the other side of each door.

Affirmations will do this for you and not more. They will show you the way. Then you must take it, but don't stop there. Continue to use affirmations and another door will pop open, and another one. And you must go through them all until you achieve your goal. Affirmations help, but they can't do it for you. But they do help. I'm the living truth of this.

I did a little personal experiment a while back. I love to continually improve myself, but I realized that reading a book doesn't help me a lot if I don't use the teachings in it. I realized that books are maps of places we have never seen before. They are priceless because without them we would head nowhere and even die without even knowing that we could have read a single book that would have taken us on a journey we would never forget. Most people read books, but they never use them as a map for their own life.


But a map is just a map if you just read it and abandon it. "Never be afraid to use the map!" I always remind myself this whenever I read a book that is screaming at me to follow it and yet I seem to not hear it. This happens. That's why I need to remind myself that books are maps. You should too.

The affirmations experiment

Let's get back to my experiment. I wanted to prove to myself and test out if affirmations really work. I had tested their power before and they usually work (I say usually, because sometimes I didn't do anything to achieve my goals except to repeat it again and again until I thought they would have become a reality). I use to think this. Unfortunately most people still think this.

They think affirmations don't work because they tried to repeat some words once and it didn't change anything in their life. They didn't do anything else but repeat simple words and expected miracles and because they didn't get anything they are firmly convinced that affirmations don't work. I saw the work. I lived those moments. This is a true story of the amazing power of affirmations and how to use them to get what you want.

I was using affirmations as a part of my daily life. I was always saying things like: "I feel good. I feel amazing" or "Day by day, I get better in every area of my life." and I used to repeat them on and on, for tens of times each day or whenever I felt unmotivated or sad. They worked. But I needed to see even more. And I was curious to put them to the test against a bigger wall. Getting a drivers license seemed a big enough wall to test them on. Here's what I did.

I wanted to get my drivers license now and not later. I was even seeing myself drive and I started imagining myself with the drivers license in my pocket. I was pretty determined to get my drivers license so I started looking for an instructor. I found one and started driving. I was surprised to see that the instructor took me to a polygon, where I had to go trough a series of tests. This was a surprise to me as I had never driven before and these things seemed hard to me back then. Anyway, this proved to be a good thing to do as I developed new skills then and because I was exposed to this "hard" things right from the start, the rest of my driving quest got a little easier.

My first 6-7 lessons were pretty normal. I was taking about 2-3 lessons per week, all early in the morning. I was the first to get into that car and all was going great, until... One day, I couldn't go to my normal lesson which was at 8 in the morning and I had to postpone it for 2 in the evening. Big mistake! A little thing to add here is that the car I was learning to drive on was...let's say it was drivable. It was an old, old, old car (it was old that when I had to take the actual exam the policeman said he is not entering that car and I had to look for another one! But this is another story for later).

The crucial moment

So, 2 pm came. I got into the car and tried to get the car started. For some mysterious reason, it didn't want to start. I thought I did something wrong and I tried again. Still nothing. I tried again and it finally started. I drove until I got to an intersection where my engine just stopped. I'm not even going to start to tell you how many horns I was hearing coming from the back of the car. I tried to quickly start the car without any success. Tried again and made it this time. I was feeling pretty bad as this didn't happened before. I thought I was on a bad driving day. Believe it or not this happened to me at least 8 times that day! It was the same thing. I would get to a crowded intersection and the car just wouldn't start. I thought that was my fault, and maybe partially it was. The instructor got a little angry at me after I repeated the mistake twice (Imagine his face after my 8-th "happy" experience :)))

It was 3:45 and I still had 15 minutes of driving time until the lesson should have ended, but the instructor told me to pull over. I did it, though I did not understand why. He said that he lessons were over! He didn't say the lesson was over, he said "lessons"! I asked why was that, and he said that I wouldn't be able to get my drivers license after what happened today. He said I was making too many mistakes and that I should stop right here. I couldn't believe my ears. My big dream of driving was going down the drain right here and there.

I was just about to give up and admit what the instructor was saying. He actually made a point to me and I was beginning to believe that there was something wrong with me and I wouldn't get my drivers license ever. I was just about to through in the towel, but something happened and I didn't. I said I was sorry for today, but I was going to continue and I was going to improve my driving soon. And I left. Walking home, I was glad that I didn't give in to the tentation of just quitting. It was my great desire to get what I wanted and the fact that I promised myself I would never, ever give up until I would achieve my goals, whatever that goals may be.

I realized that the instructor didn't know me that well if he thought I would just give up that easy. And I also had a hunch that what happened that day wasn't entirely my fault. I thought it had something to do with the fact that the car was old and maybe something happened that morning. Maybe another student that drove it that day made it act so weird or maybe all that drove it that day "helped" a little, Anyway, I wasn't going to give up and even more I decided that I would do a great job at my next lesson and the instructor would be proud of my. I was repeating to myself that I would do a great job next time and the instructor would be happy with my driving. I was using affirmations and my imagination but I knew from past experiences that this wasn't enough to actually make this a reality. I knew I needed help.

I talked to my father and asked for his help. He said yes and I started driving an old car that he had bought for me to practice on. It wasn't as old as the car I was learning to drive on, but it wasn't very far away. This actually helped me a lot, as things that I experienced with one car, I could relate to on the other one. I practice d for a couple of days and I was very determined to prove myself to the instructor. When I remembered what he said, my will got stronger and I pushed forward using affirmations. Talking positively to myself motivated me to move forward. One of the most used affirmations back than was: "The car will start from the first key and it won't stop until the lesson is finished". As you will see, this affirmation helped a lot.

Finally, the day came. I got into the car, put the key in and...guess what? The car started! I wasn't pretty shocked about this, but I was glad it did. That day, I constantly repeated to myself: "Today I will drive without errors and my car will not have any problems!" and that's exactly what happened. Because I put a lot of feeling and emotions into those affirmations, and I did my best to make them a reality, they've transformed into reality. At the end of the day, the instructor said that today, I drove like an A+ driver! I couldn't believe it! Just 4 days ago, he said I should just give up driving and now he had placed me in a great category of drivers! Amazing what affirmations and determination can do!

But, the story is far from over. Read on to see how I used affirmation to pass one of the hardest exams in a person's life. After, that day, when the instructor praised me, I started to really understand that this experiment that I started was going to have a happy ending, but I still had to work a lot. I started to learn for the written exam. I read every question in that big book, over and over again and at the same time I was repeating to myself that I was going to pass the exam. I repeated that again and again, and I read the questions until I felt sure that I was going to pass. I was confident and determined to get my license.

The big surprise

One day, while I was driving as usual, my instructor told me something that almost made me hit a three. He said: "Razvan, I'm sorry, but you can't take the exam in this car. The exterminators said that this car is too old and it's not suited for the exam. You will have to drive another car." I was in a little state of sock. I had almost 2 weeks until my exam and I had no car to drive on. Now the thought of driving another car is not that awful, but every car has it's own little secrets and I didn't want to drive a car that I hadn't driven before right at the exam, the place were I needed to pay attention to the driving part, not get used to the car. I knew I had to do something so I talked to another instructor and asked him if I could drive his car for my last lessons and also use his car for the exam. He said yes and so I started driving my third car (including my father's car which I drove for extra practice - important - I drove this car only on fields were there were no people so I didn't endanger anyone as I had no license at that time).

This car was also a Dacia 1310, just like the first one, but it was a little newer and this was good. I drove it for a couple of times until I got the hang of it and I was ready for the exam. All I had to do now was to get passed the written exam.

Then the big day came. I was a blurry day, but I was far from being blurry. I was almost sure that I would get my license and that the whole Universe was working in my favor. I arrived at "the scene of the crime :)" early in the morning to get the feeling. There were others who had to enter the exam before I did, and I saw them being kind of afraid and nervous. That was explainable: they were nervous because of the big exam they had to face, but what I couldn't explain was why they were spreading the fear to others around them. They were all saying things like: "I'm going to faint at this exam" or "I will never pass this exam". What were they trying to do? Sabotage themselves and others as well? It was obvious that if they continued to say they wouldn't pass this exam, chances are they would get exactly what they believed they could get. It was obvious to me at least. I tried to not let their "positive" attitude get to me, and I went to get some air outside the building.

After a while, the first people entered to take the exam. I was going to enter after them. An hour later, they started to come out. I noticed that some had their file with them (the file in which were their papers needed to take the exam). These people were very unhappy. I learned that the ones that had their file didn't pass the exam. That's why they were unhappy. I also noticed that the ones with the files were also the ones that earlier said they would fail the exam. Unfortunately, it seemed that their own prophesies came true. This made me even more aware of the power that affirmations had, no matter what kind of affirmations one used: positive or not. If you repeat them again and again, you will start to believe in them and sooner or later you will find a way to turn them into reality.

I wanted to turn my affirmation into reality. But I only used positive affirmations. I was imagining myself with my drivers license in my hand. I could see my picture on it. I was smiling. My father soon woke me from my day dream and told me it was time that the extaminators started calling us. They were calling everyone by name and checking their identification papers. "Dobre Razvan" someone called. "Present" I answered. They checked my papers and I went up the stairs into a big room. I took a seat and prepared for exam.

I don't quite remember how much time I was in the exam room, maybe 30 minutes, maybe more, but the important thing is that I came out of that room without my file. I still remember the face of the examinator when I scored 22 points (to pass the exam you had to score between 22 and 26 points, any number bellow 22 meant failure). The examinator counted my correct answers twice to make sure that it was right. When he told me that I passed the exam I was very happy, but I wasn't as happy as I thought I would be. Maybe this was because I already saw myself pass this exam many times before and this image was all too familiar to me. I don't know what it was but I passed. Congratulations to me :)!

The first part was over. The most important one was coming. After all the people finished the exam, we all headed for the exam cars that were close by. Most people were driving the same car they took driving lessons on, but something happened and my car didn't arrive at the exam! I told my instructor that I needed the car that day, but for some strange reason he never showed up. Later, when I asked him what happened, he said that he had forgotten that he had to come that day. But let's get back to the moment all the people were getting into their cars and preparing for the exam and I was waiting for my car to come. I wasn't expecting this. I thought all will go as planned, but this thought me that life never goes as planned. That's why it's so amazing and exciting! Because you never know exactly what will happen even if you plan every little detail.

Anyway, there I was, the only one without a car. Another instructor told me I could use his car for a fee. I said I would have a little test run to see if I could drive it at the exam. This car was a different model, and although it wasn't that much of a difference, for me it was a lot. I got into the car, started the engine and left. I drove for a while (this was before the actual exam started) and I saw that the car was fine, maybe too fine for what I had driven until now. I couldn't quite control the car well, so I said no to this offer and I was without a car again.

Now came the time to take a hard decision. It turned out to be the decision that gave me my drivers license instead of failing the exam. I had to decide if I would look for another car, wait for my own car or postpone the exam. This was a pretty big thing, as if I postponed the exam I would have to wait at least an extra 2 weeks until I could take it again. So, what do you think I did? I'll tell right after this short commercial. Just kidding :) Funny, no?

As if all of this weren't enough, the examinators that were going to decide who passes the exam or not, were coming. I had to decide fast. I thought it over and decided that it's best to postpone the exam. I thought that if I drove the new car, I would have some problems as I didn't know it very well and I could end up not passing the exam because of this. I didn't want that, so as hard as it was, I postponed the exam.

I remember I walked home on a pouring rain. It was raining inside if me also. I was disappointed that my car didn't show up and I had to postpone my exam, but I also felt that this is for the best and all things would end up in a great way. I decided to look for another instructor, and so I started driving my 4-th car from the moment that i started taking lessons! This last car was definitely the best of them all. I drove it for about two weeks until I was programed to take the exam again. It was a real pleasure to drive this car compared to the previous ones.

The final lesson

The two weeks passed and it was time to take the exam. In the morning of that day I had my final driving lesson, a sort of warming up for the exam (the exam was scheduled at 12). This was the most important driving lesson I ever took. I learned that day, more than I had learned in all my prior lessons put together. Did I have an amazing driving day? Not even close! It was the worst driving failure I had to go trough! Ever! It was even worst than that day when my first instructor told me that I should quit! It was that bad!

But, I knew that we learn a lot more from our failures than from our successes, so this is what I did: I was making a lot of beginner errors. My engine stopped in the middle of all intersections that day. I think I didn't miss even one :) For some strange reason, my knees were trembling. I guess I was afraid of actually taking the exam and my mind was transferring that fear towards my knees. My instructor told me that I would not pass the exam because of all the errors I was making. I told him that I will not make any errors at the exam because I already made them that morning and learned from them. It was a daring statement and my instructor probably didn't believe it. But he didn't know me very well...

The exam - Did affirmations really help?

This final lesson came to an end and I headed to take the exam. When I got there, I saw a couple of people that where approximately my age, talking, so I joined the conversation. Like I suspected, they were only spreading negative thoughts amongst them. A girl said: "If I don't pass this exam, my mother will kill me". I thought: "I'm pretty sure she won't kill you, maybe be mad at you, but definitely not kill you." Then a boy said: "This is the third time I'm taking this exam. I just have to pass it. But I'm so afraid. I don't feel confident about this."

I tried to help them a little bit, but they just didn't want to listen. They were too busy thinking about how they would go wrong, instead of imagining how they would succeed. The conversation got very negative, so I stepped back and left them to talk. We just weren't on the same level, and all that negative thinking could eventually make me start thinking that way. I started imagining how I would get in the car, how it would start and how I would have total control over the car. I also made a daring affirmation. I said to myself, actually I promised myself this: "I will drive perfectly today. My knees will be perfectly fine. The engine will never stop until I need it to stop. I will be very careful and nothing will go wrong. And most of all, when I have finished my exam, the examinator will congratulate me for being a great driver."

Back then, I believed all I said. I felt I would do great that day, and I knew that the examinator would congratulate me that way. I just knew. I repeated over and over that phrase, until it was time to actually start the exam. I got in the car. It was just me, the examinator and another boy, about my age. I wanted to go first. I put my seat belt on, checked the mirrors and my chair. The examinator told me to be careful and not hurry. He said he will tell me which way to go and that I should pay attention to the road. I acknowledged and started the engine and we were off.

The examinator also told me that this exam will take at least 25 minutes, so I had to keep my cool for some time. It turned out to be about 40 minutes, instead of 25. I drove carefully and in my mind I was repeating that affirmation. I paid a special attention to people that could appear from nowhere in front of the car( I was looking on the sidewalks to prevent this). Although, it was a big exam, I was relaxed and drove very confident. I drove around the city and then the instructor told me to park the car between two other cars. I had to park it with the back of the car in front. This was it! If I did this right, I would probably get my drivers license!

I put the car in position, pulled the steering wheel to the right and parked it like I was doing this for years! It was an amazing feeling! Even now, it's hard to believe that I did such a great parking back then! It was awesome! I got out of the car and the examinator said: "When someone deserves the license, they deserve it, and you earned yours with an A+. I rarely seen such confidence in driving and I'm glad to give you your drivers license. Congratulations!" I couldn't believe that he said those words! I mean, I was expecting that, but the actual fact that he really said them and that I had been so confident that day, it was just amazing!

So, this is how I got my drivers license using affirmations that gave me confidence. If you read the whole experiment, then you probably saw that I also used visualization to get my drivers license. Visualization is very important in this process and it can speed it up enormously. Visualization and affirmation are some of the most important parts of the law of attraction. This law can help you get what you want, either good or bad. So, be careful what you want and ask for, because you will eventually get it.

I wanted a drivers license and I used the law of attraction to get it. You can do the same with anything you want to achieve in your life. Affirmations work and this is just an example. Give them a chance and they will work. Remember to repeat the affirmation for more that 10 times at once and at least 3 times a day for at least 30 days if possible. Repeat them for as long as possible and they will grow stronger inside of you. Think of ways to make your affirmations a reality and do them and you will be amazed when your own affirmations will grow into real things. Improving your life is not easy but you can start today by repeating some simple affirmations that inspire you.

I can't wait for you to try them out and share your stories here! Hope to hear from you soon!

I embrace you,
Razvan Dobre

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