Ever feel like life’s just not moving forward? Sometimes, you’ve got to look back.
Another week into the Master Key Experience (MKE), and things are starting to click. Honestly, I’m feeling happier. My motivation for joining wasn’t about manifesting a bunch of material stuff, although a million bucks and a paid-off house wouldn’t hurt! I’ve had that, though, and still felt a bit… lost.
Years ago, I ran a business that made more money than I could ever dream of, but I still felt alone. Turns out, money can give you a temporary high, but real happiness? That’s an inside job. I knew that deep down, but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was missing.
This course has shown—or is showing me—where I went wrong. I wish I had read Og Mandino’s The Greatest Salesman in the World years ago. In scroll #1, Og says, “bad habits are the unlocked door to failure” (p. 54), and boy, do those words hit hard every time I read them—at least three times a day. Honestly, even if the course ended tomorrow, I believe this one scroll has already changed my life.
This week’s lesson—Week 4—tells us we’re all going to quit. Either we’ll quit the course, or we’ll quit half-assing it. I never thought of myself as a “half-effort” type, but on reflection, I haven’t been giving 100%. Sure, I show up to meetings and do the work, but there’s a difference between showing up and really showing up, you know?
Something else I’ve realized—I procrastinate. I always thought I was the decisive type, but now I see my constant over-evaluating was just my subconscious mind keeping me in my old habits. “Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate,” while the decision gets pushed further down the road.
Now, about manifestation. I’ve always been able to manifest things—some small, some huge. The first time I realized this, I was working as a pump jockey (yes, self-serve wasn’t a thing). A cop pulled in for gas and joked, “What are you gonna do with all the money you’re making?” As a bright red Pontiac Trans Am rolled up, I pointed and said, “I’m gonna buy a car like that.” Two years later, at 16, I bought my own 1976 Pontiac Trans Am. That wasn’t my dad’s doing either—he was rolling in a ‘72 Chevy pickup and a ‘70-something Datsun B210.
And it didn’t stop there. When I started working on drilling rigs, I weighed in at a whopping 125 pounds. Two years later, I was managing a 6-man crew; most were in their 40s. Two more years, and I was managing the rig. Manifesting like a boss!
Fast-forward 20 years, I was running my own engineering firm with 100 employees (spoiler: I’m not an engineer). A deal with my old boss fell through, so I started my own company with $17,000 in borrowed seed money. Two years later, we were pulling in over $10 million a year. Not bad, eh? Yes, I’m Canadian.
But then life happened: divorce, a backstabbing business partner, failed ventures, and bankruptcy in 2016. It was a low point, both mentally and financially. And it’s been tough since. Until now. Until MKE.
I’d forgotten all the things that used to work out for me, but now I’m remembering the power of my subconscious mind, the power of conviction, and the emotion needed in front of every idea (some would argue behind every idea, but I believe it starts with emotion and passion). Even if it seems wild to “normal” or “logical” folks, it can happen. You just have to believe.
I will leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes that seem to fit with not only this blog, but the course.
“What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.” – Buddha
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
Until next week.
Mark Nickom
