In other newsletters, I’ve talked about how the Option Method dissolves self-defeating beliefs and helps you break free from past conditioning. Students in my Option workshops sometimes ask, “When I stop making choices from my past conditioning and self-defeating beliefs, who will I be?” Some say, “I’m not sure I even know what my authentic self really wants.” As you dissolve limiting beliefs with the Option Method, you naturally begin to get in touch with your innate desires. As blocks dissolve, your desires have room to express themselves. But you can also help the process along by really delving into your desires with the following Option exercise.

The Blue Sky List

If you could have anything out of the clear blue sky, what would you welcome in your life? This is your chance to brainstorm and go wild with unbounded imaginings. It’s best if you jot down your ideas, or “free write” them, which means writing without editing or even lifting your pen. Do not try to write something perfectly. Let the inner critic take a snooze. Describe the life you would love in detail, even if it seems impossible today. Start your sentences with “I welcome,” “I choose,” “I’ve decided.” But refrain from saying, “I want.” These expressions are better than the old-style affirmations that asserted something was already true when it wasn’t. An example of that form of affirmation might be, “My business is thriving,” even when you know your business is currently in the red. This type of affirmation can keep our beliefs and desires at odds with each other. It can generate doubt and resistance, when we want to feel expansion and possibilities.

When you use the words, “I welcome,” “I choose,” and “I’ve decided,” there is no unsettling sense of lying to yourself. If you do feel some resistance to your desires—such as, “But I’m unworthy of what I want”—then you see a self-defeating belief staring you in the face. And you know exactly where you’d like to do more self-exploration in an Option session. The main thrust of Option is dissolving self-defeating beliefs. It works magic on concepts we’ve held about the world and ourselves for years, or decades. Then in supplementary exercises, like the Blue Sky List, it helps you discover your true desires—what you want INSTEAD of the life you were living from limiting beliefs.

A Blue Sky Success Story

A woman, named Marilyn, who studied the Option Method with me in my 10-week Teleclass, sent me an excited email about a "BIG amazing result" with her Blue Sky List. Marilyn said, "Just yesterday, I wrote this in my Blue Sky List: 'I want a source of current facts and statistics to support my work.’ Then today, I got 20 emails in error, with an apology from a major research network. I checked out their website, and—guess what—they post current facts and statistics on my specific work area! If I hadn't been making a Blue Sky List, I would have just deleted those 20 emails and been annoyed. But, because I was welcoming this information into my life, my eyes caught on the name, and I followed it to their website. I plan on making the Blue Sky List a permanent practice."

It's true that Marilyn's Blue Sky List made her more alert to events in her environment that aligned with her desires. In fact, I believe that just by writing the Blue Sky List, she attracted those erroneous emails into her mailbox! So don’t be content to write just one Blue Sky List. Write them regularly. Your mind and emotions will get on board —you will start to resonate with what you want and draw it toward you.