Why Prosperity And Abundance Techniques Fail — Part 1

In a recent post, I asked you to take an honest look at prosperity and abundance techniques and to see that the world and very few individual lives have actually changed after all the time, money, effort and energy invested in them.

Today I’m going to start a discussion of the “Big Why” behind that obvious fact. I say “obvious fact,” because it IS what you see if you look closely, objectively, and with brutal honesty. Many people will not or cannot do that, of course, because they’re mesmerized by lies, illusions and stories, and have an investment in certain beliefs being true.

We’ll start with the 4 most obvious reasons why the manifesting abundance and develop an abundance mentality techniques fail, and then continue the discussion in future posts by diving into the less obvious reasons, which are actually far more important for us to discuss.

The 4 most obvious reasons why prosperity and abundance techniques fail …

Reason #1: People Don’t “Do” Anything

This is one of those “Duh … of course” reasons, and yet it’s rampant in the world, or what I now call “Story Space.”

That is, people listen to an audio, watch a video, attend an event, read a book, discover techniques, but never apply them. There are zillions of reasons why they don’t apply the techniques, but they don’t, and therefore, nothing changes.

Reason #2: People “Do” Something In A Half-Assed Way Or Change The “Recipe”

This is rampant “out there” in Story Space too. Someone will discover a technique that has 5 steps, for example, and intentionally (or carelessly) skip the 4th step, only doing steps 1, 2, 3 and 5.

Or they look at the 5 steps, decide they “know better” than the expert they learned from, and alter one or more of the steps. They therefore change the “recipe” and are then surprised (interestingly enough) when the “cake” doesn’t turn out correctly, or as “tasty” as they hoped.

Or, they take the new technique, and another technique they like or believe in or have an investment in, and try to cobble them together to create a new “super technique.” By doing that, however, they again change the “recipe,” and the cake rarely turns out well, even though many will insist the super technique is better.

There are many variations on this theme. You get the idea. You’ve probably done it yourself. I know I did in Phase 1.

Reason #3: People Are Profoundly Impatient And Give Up Too Soon

People who “sell” things are fond of making Big Promises about how fast a result can be produced using their magic bullet technique (which, by the way, I never do). As a result, many people are taught or conditioned to become what I call “profoundly impatient.”

They want results “yesterday,” and if they don’t get them as fast as they’d like, as fast as they were promised, or as fast as someone else claimed to get the result, they abandon the technique and move on to the latest fad or flavor “super technique” of the day.

I could write a thousand blog posts about this one reason alone, but you get the idea. Again, it’s likely you’ve fallen prey to this. I know I did, over and over, in Phase 1.

Reason #4: People Trust The Mind When They Shouldn’tprosperity and abundance

Most self-help, personal development, and success systems tell you to begin by setting goals. By “setting goals,” they mean getting clear on what you want, getting very specific on what you want, and getting clear on when you want it.

You ask yourself questions, fill out forms, write freely on paper, create Vision Boards, whatever. That’s the magic formula.

But here’s the thing. Where do the goals come from? Where do the precise details come from? Where does the preferred timing come from?

The mind.

And what is the mind filled with? Mostly lies, illusions and stories that aren’t True.

Therefore, what we pump through the super techniques is likely to be filled with lies, illusions, stories and distortion.

Therefore, for reasons I’ll discuss in future posts, we don’t get what we want, we don’t enjoy it if we do get what we want (or our overall quality of life doesn’t really change), or we get what we want, temporarily, but the change doesn’t last.

Stay tuned as I go more deeply into this whole “why prosperity thinking techniques fail” dynamic.

Leave a comment below about how this resonates with you, if you’ve experienced what I shared above, etc. — and be sure to share, Like, tweet, go Google+1 it so other people you care about can join in the discussion about why prosperity and abundance techniques fail.

Chat again soon …

    New York Times bestselling author, renegade, globetrotting speaker, coach and entrepreneur. Love it, hate it, letting it sit, whatever, please share your comments below. And, if you resonate with what I shared, please share this post with others, however you prefer to share. Thanks in advance. :)

    Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

    Leave a Reply to Robert Scheinfeld Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    25 thoughts on “Why Prosperity And Abundance Techniques Fail — Part 1

    1. I think there’s a big conspiracy going on where people don’t mention what you have just posted about. I’m fed up of it, so very glad to hear your honesty. Too often there are times when people shout about how they ‘manifested’ something, and here’s how to do it, but then just shut up and ignore when they did all the right things another time – but it didn’t work. But – it;s funny! How cleverly we fool ourselves!

    2. I don’t know about a conspiracy. Many times, from my experience, people don’t consciously realize they’re selectively deleting out what’s really happening, how often the techniques actually fail, how rarely they actually appear to work.

      A big part of “Phase 1” of The Human Game is how cleverly we fool ourselves. And we did such a great job of it that it’s often soooo difficult to ultimately See The Truth.

    3. I couldn’t agree more Robert. This whole idea of mind power is such an ego-trip… rare are those like you who teach about being…

    4. Love the post. I am new to the game-just finished reading your book. In only a short time, my eyes have opened to how I have been playing the Human Game and what I have created-amazing. I am also watching some of the suggested movies to dive deeper into the work. Buying the book is an excellent way of expressing appreciation.

    5. I love #4 – ego gets in the way every time. I am still wondering exactly how to find that sweet spot – the higher mind’s or Soul’s Vision without being led astray by ego. Can you give us more on that???

    6. Thank you.
      At the moment, I am sitting with a bunch of knowledge and trying to figure out how to turne my energy. Reading your blog made me breath lighter.

    7. Wow #1 really hits the nail on the head.
      BUT, wouldn’t someone just do the same thing with your book or course… i.e. buy it and then not do it????

      • That’s certainly possible.

        The Teachings, however, are quite radical in nature, and about supporting people in leaping into Phase 2 and knocking out the cloud cover. If you don’t know what that means, check out the resources on this page:

        http://www.robertscheinfeld.com/teachings

        In general, although there are exceptions, when someone’s story includes making the leap into Phase 2, they follow-up and do something.

        • Sometimes – for me anyway – learning is slowed by the use of a bunch of terms that one has to understand. Like your Phase 1, Phase 2 or Cloud Cover.

          Stuart Lichtman has a program that he says if a student follows the is a 100% success rate but his teachings include LOTS of made-up terms for his processes like his cybernetic transposition process, that just get me lost in confusion.

          Personally I have not found a coach yet who knows truly what the success rate is for their students because they just sell a product or do a coaching program and then it’s over and they move on. There is not checking in to see if the student has succeeded or not.

          • Wow. This is actually a HUGE topic!

            I agree with you about terms complicating things, Penelope. However, sometimes it’s important to create new terms because the “old” terms have many incorrect and limiting associations attached to them.

            You will *never* find an approach with a 100% success rate. It’s not possible. If anyone says that, they’re lying or misled or it’s hype.

            “Success rate” is always ultimately shaped by what someone’s life purpose and life story are all about. And the definition of the term “success rate” is often distorted.

            If success rate means “how many times I got the one specific thing I was after,” you limit yourself.

            If success rate means ‘I got something valuable that contributed to my journey,” that’s more accurate and supportive — but sometimes we don’t see that we got value because we’re so unhappy we didn’t get the one thing we thought we wanted and would be best for us.

            For The Teachings I share, I know they have the potential to radically transform anyone’s life. I know they radically transformed my life and the lives of 1000s of others worldwide.

            Will they “succeed” for EVERYONE who embraces them?

            Nope. No way.

            Is that because they’re flawed somehow?

            Maybe, but that’s not necessarily true.

            There are no guarantees that can be made for any approach if The Truth is told.

            I trust “the process” and the fact that if someone is drawn to embracing something, my Teachings or any others, there is value for them in it or they wouldn’t have been drawn as part of their life purpose — whether they’re consciously date of the benefit or not.

    8. Hello Robert,

      I can relate to some of your points made here. However, what about going with one’s gut instincts and the “Law of Attraction” which focuses on how one thinks to achieve better results or desired results.

      Interesting points made here.

      • Be sure to read the other segments in this series.

        Going with one’s gut instincts is often helpful, but it’s often an unreliable source of decision-making. Why? Because when what I call the Cloud Cover is locked into place, many things can pop into the mind masquerading as “gut instinct” or intuition that aren’t that, but just old beliefs or what I call “fast logic.”

        As to the Law Of Attraction, from where I sit, and from what you see if you look closely with brutal honesty, it’s a myth. It doesn’t accurately describe how things REALLY work.

        If you don’t know what I mean by “Cloud Cover,” or you want to go more deeply into my take on the law of attraction, check out the resources on this page, especially the video presentations:

        http://www.robertscheinfeld.com/teachings/

    9. My ‘experience’ of your work was, and is, just a high, high resonance of ‘that is really so.’

      Phase 1 bamboozlement is, how you say, pernicious, persistent, persuasive, all encompassing, thorough … and effective. I find this one observation – Phase 1 exists of necessity to make the movie work – very powerful and strangely empowering.

      Phase 2 questioning, observing and declaring just opens up such a new and expansive ‘space’ for more observing and declaring and experiencing – it’s masterfully lubricating!

      Phase 3 collapse of self and Total Creative Essence, or, rather, the noticing and allowing the possibility of this being what ‘tangled hierarchy’ looks and feels like … opens still further ‘windows-on-the-game-ness’ of it all.

      I gotta thank me for having you show up in my hologram – movie – story-space! Woo-Hoo!

    10. For me, the bottom line of TRUTH is that “i”, the illusionary character, is completely Imagined and Lived by “Me”, Consciousness. i am MY own projection. Therefore, i (the character)have NO power to fail, i (the character) have NO power to ‘decide’ to follow this ‘truth’ or that ‘truth’. It’s all a part of the experience I (Consciousness) choose for myself. If I (Consciousness) wants my character to combine many teachings just to experience the possibility, then that’s what I will create. It is impossible for me (the character) to fail because i’m not choosing and i’m not real (although the story could pretend that). Consciousness decides everything about my story. It’s whatever it is. It’s whatever I Imagine. It’s all perfect and it’s impossible to be off track. I (Con) can create the illusion of me doing something half-assed. It’s just made up…nothing to get wrong. i, the character, don’t have power to decide anything. “Decisions” and “trying” are two of the greatest illusions in my story. Whatever pops up to ‘do’ or ‘think’ or ‘feel’ is whatever I choose and want me to act out. At least that’s how I Imagine me to see it. And I could change my character’s mind. And it doesn’t matter if I do or don’t 🙂

    11. I live in Germany and just red your “Money Game-Book” and was just so thrilled! Since than I “worked” my way through all the postings and Videos and my heart is dancing Rock’n Roll and smiling all the time. Nevertheless I seem “to forget” the process during the day, but when ever I do it, my mind starts wandering and toppics like grocery shopping etc. start popping up, so the process gets interrupted most of the time. I know for sure that I want to book your 24 week-teaching program even right now is not the right time (moneywise). My heart knows that this is the way and I am greatful for creating you in my Hologram.

    12. Robert,

      The Law of Attraction (LOA), or “like attracts like” is actually more real than anything. It’s the most fundamental law in physical reality, which can be easily proven within the context of universal logic. Gravity and entropy for example are direct manifestations of LOA.

      Mainstram science hasn’t realized this yet, it’s still stuck within a rather distorted paradigm where it’s hard to make LOA fit in and make sense, but check out the works of Walter Russell. He was an Illuminate, gifted with Cosmic Consciousness and probably the greatest scientist ever in the history of modern science. His ideas (The Russellian Cosmogony) were just too far ahead of their time to be understood by other than a minority at the time the lived, and apparently still are. I highly recommend his books “The Universal One” and “A New Concept of The Universe” which will give a deep fundamental understanding of the principles behind physical reality and the “technology” behind mind-matter interactions.

      Understanding how LOA works on the physical level is very simple, it may however be a different story when dealing with the complexity of mind-matter interactions in practice. The energetic structures of the mind processes which interact with LOA can be very complex and difficult to comprehend, and are unique for every person. I believe that’s why the outcome of different (LOA based as well as other) techniques can be quite unpredictable. Without enough insight into both LOA and one’s own fundamental mental and emotional structures and beliefs etc. you don’t have much control over the process.

      That’s how I see it anyway…

      • Be sure to read the other posts in this series.

        I’m not a believer in LOA.

        To me, if you look closely, and are brutally honest about what you see (i.e. not selectively deleting out or ignoring the vast majority of times it fails), you see that things don’t REALLY work the way LOA says they do, it’s not a “law,” and LOA is not the “magic bullet” people claim it to be and hope it is.

        Just my two cents.

    13. Hi, I am sooo enjoying phase 3, wrote a poem like to share
      it’s called IMAGINATION
      Whatever I Believe, Will be,
      The proof is there to be seen,
      It all stems from Imagination
      I”M a Dream within a Dream
      I listen to every Word that I speak,
      Words hold power over what i reap
      I finally See that I Create my destiny
      Out of My Imagination
      I was born into Creation
      An original form in which to shine
      Over time I clouded my mind
      I forgot that I was dreaming
      I never did leave Heaven I know
      That was just my Imagination
      So with a tear in my eye,
      and a Smile on my face
      I shall leave my Mind
      And Create with grace
      I live in the Garden of Love
      A Paradise within itself
      For I AM also
      Walking upon the earth.

    14. I couldn´t agree more, i´ve tried so many help tools in my life. i find the key to start with is the seperations thoughts that makes us feel totally alone og helpless. For the first time in my life i deeply feel a change that makes me true pleased and a daily comfor feeling of security. Life has change to a exciting playground.

    15. I agree that most claims are totally insane, but sometimes when you take them up on it and try either to prove them correct or prove that their techniques don’t work, you can get a huge surprise.

      I admit I have jumped around a bit and tried mixing and matching like most others. I know this doesn’t work. I also bought stuff and didn’t use it at the time of purchase but mostly go back some time later and try them, especially when I’ve been disappointed but am taken by inspiration to relook at something else I’ve got on disk.

      What brought me to you was a link in a book that I’d had on disk for some time. It struck a chord.

      Why was I looking at that book? Because I’d had a huge opportunity presented me by my Expanded Self and had questioned it until the offer was withdrawn and, not matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it back. I was trying, not allowing the details to take on another form and so I was blocking myself.

      I had this huge opportunity when I started to really take on Neville Goddard’s teachings. I didn’t know enough when I got the opportunity and so got in my own way. The promoter had told me to expect small results in 30 days. I had only been using the technique for 3 days. I got a lottery opportunity which was presented through time being ‘bent’. I thought it was a computer programme malfunction and I’d be liable for prosecution if I took advantage of it. I could have picked up a minimum of AU$66 million and resolved my 2 brothers’ bankruptcy woes and my own financial issues.

      When I discovered the truth I was just too desperate to get another chance. I tried too hard and nothing worked until I let go, then I had some small successes but as you so rightly say, there was no consistency.

      Another thing – when we jump from method to method, whatever successes we were having, melt away.

      On Goals – I never set goals, nor make any plans of any duration. I’ve never felt right about this. That’s another thing that really drew me to your teaching.