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Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want--and Getting It!

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The author also wrote Put Your Heart On Paper and Writing On Both Sides of The Brain. Saw the book and picked it up because in looking thru it I saw straight forward, easy to read suggestions that I could actually use.
There are 20 Chapters which cover everything from Knowing what you want and setting goals, Gathering ideas and suggestions, Being prepared to receive what you seek, Getting unstuck, Changing ones environment, what Resistance means, Letting go and creating balance, Giving thanks and Handling a breakdown, on to Raising the bar and really going for the gold in our goals and dreams.

She challenges the reader to think BIG. On page 26 she lists questions we need to ask ourselves i.e. Can I have more than on goal? On page 33 she reminds the reader that writing down our dreams is like a message we send to our brain that we are ready or as she says "Open for business."

On page 53 she suggests a Tidbit Journal where we simply jot down ideas and thoughts that come to mind as we go about our daily life. This is really helpful as is her overall suggestions about journals or diaries, since we can often read what we wrote a week, month even a year ago and some gem of wisdom will jump out at us or we will simply be reminded that we are making progress and succeeding.

She is also wise because she drives home the point that we have to make the effort and NOT give up. This was really important to me because I had begun to get really depressed and wanted to give up, until reading her words about not allowing the negative to defeat me.

Using my computer I also took her suggestion but changed it a bit, and made a File where everyday I try to write a letter to God or Self and state what I seek need want and desire. It is like a private conversation. This has really helped me focus better. I think my friend Mark must have read her book as well because he shared with me that he writes a letter to God everyday as well, rather than pray.

This may be an odd notation, but I also loved the fact that the books cover has a fountain pen writing the words "knowing what you want and getting it." I find using a nice fountain pen and keeping a journal is a soothing and classical gift I give myself. In fact I would suggest that this book would make a GREAT gift along with a nice fountain pen for a Graduate or anyone seeking a positive change in their life.

Now I wanted to share some more of how she helped me focus and obtain some desires and needs. Bought a new Marjolein Bastin journal on April 2-01 after reading Write it Down, Make it Happen: Knowing What You Want and Getting It! by Henriette Anne Klauser. So here is what I wrote: We want and need a small two bedroom cottage with hardwood floors, lots of windows, near a lake, river, creek or ocean. With fruit trees and an area for a big garden as well as chickens and maybe some goats. With good water pressure, two phone lines and cable. And a lilac bush, and shade trees. All at a good price we can afford.

Six months to the day we got a call from our friend Cindy up in the Mother Lode (Sierras of CA) telling us that her neighbor a real estate lady had a colleague who had a woman friend who had a cottage that she wanted to know if we would like to look at. The woman wanted to move to Mexico and was looking to "unload" the cottage fast. We said we would love to look at it and within a few days we drove up, saw it and said yes. And it has ALL the things we were focusing on when I wrote in my journal what we wanted.

So we moved in 11-01 and in March of 2001 we spoke of how we really needed a better car, since the one we had would overheat when we drove and it was an older '87 car, and one we still own and love. November we got some unexpected funds and were able to buy a brand new Toyota and paid for it in full.

Lest you think this is all about Give Me, Give Me, Give Me, it isn't that at all. Simply have with the aid of this book, been able to rid myself of the fear of want or the fear I am not going to find what we need. NEED is the key word. It isn't about wanting more "stuff" than someone else. It is all about learning how to focus and really know what one wants. In knowing this our real needs become known and the process begins to take shape.

It also has opened me up to being more generous with all I have, so that others are blessed as well. You cannot keep the blessings that come to you, just for yourself and this is something the book tries to share.

And yes I still keep a journal and re-read Write It Down and Make It Happen over and over a lot and still glean wisdom galore!

This is an excellent book that motivates you to examine what you want from life. Each chapter ends with an assignment that helps you formalize your ideas.

Her thought is, not only do we motivate ourselves and our subconscious by writing our thoughts and plans and dreams down, but in turn the energy of the outside world becomes more focused for us as well. I really do believe this. I haven't done all of the assignments yet, but I intend to.

Ironically some of the examples and assignments she suggests, I have done in ignorance of this book and the results are just what she predicted, so I know it works.

What I particularly like is that this book is not a "Rah, Rah", happy yuppie book, like some of the ones out there but a more thoughtful approach for a person to carve out the life they want. This could work for many walks of life and is just not applicable for the middle to upper class income.

We all have dreams, when we put them on paper we are quite a bit closer to realizing them they we ever thought.

The table of contents is below so you have an idea what is covered.

Introduction

Write it down make it happen

Knowing what you want: Setting Goals

Gathering ideas: A suggestion box for the brain

Getting ready to receive

Addressing Fears and Feelings

Getting Unstuck: Writing through to resolution

Doing it easy: Listing

Focusing on the Outcome

Changing your Environment: Get near water to write

Scripting your daily life

Becomming Committed

Stacking Goals: Raising the Bar

Starting a Group: What by When

Taking the Initiative

Writing letters to God

Resistance has Meaning

Creating a Ritual

Letting Go, Creating Balance

Giving Thanks

Handling Breakdown

Epilogue

Thanks and ever thanks

Bibliography

About the Author

This is a very well written book, with many thoughts/exercises that prove much thought and action on your part to move you forward on your goals.

Here is one specific exert that I found was incredible. "Writing about the outcome helps you to stay focused, even when you're not focused - or think you're not. The written word keeps the image steady, unwavering, like a lighthouse beam, steady on. It keeps the goal, the intended consequence in mind.

When you focus on the outcome, write in the present tense, as though you were describing something that is already happening. It call it "writing as reality". Be sure to date your description, because when you read it back later, you will have an eerie sense that you wrote it after it took place rather than before.

Now dig deeper. Not just the outcome, but the outcome of the outcome. Don't just write about what you want, but include why you want it. Why does it make a difference whether you have this or not? And then keep going deeper - why do you want that? And then deeper still, the outcome of that second outcome and so forth, until you hit the core of it."

Very good book for going deep within yourself for the answers that you already have.

"You can have anything you want." How often have you heard this and read the books or attended the seminars and come away feeling even more helpless? "Write It Down, Make It Happen" is a book which gives practical ideas and plans to make your dreams reality. Even as I read this book I was doing the things the author recommended. Am I writing things down and are they happening? I finished reading this book about two weeks ago and I am writing in my journal every day and things are happening.

Follow the advice in this book and you will get rid of the garbage in your life and make room for, and attract, the wonderful new experiences you desire. Thanks and ever thanks, Henriette Anne Klauser.

I've had this book for several years. It has remained in my collection through several 'cleaning out' phases I've went through where I narrowed down my books to the necessities -keeping only the ones I KNEW I would read again or refer to someone else.

I remember when I was younger, I tried to keep a journal, several different times, and just couldn't stick with it. I couldn't see the point in it, and writing takes time, and I had better things to do. -So I thought! I came across this book in my early 30's and it really turned my perspective around about writing out what it is we want.

The book begins with a List of Questions, which is a run down of what your apprehensions could be about trying this technique. Takes you by the hand and tells you how and why to write out your goals and attract your desired outcome to you. Each section ends with a "Now You" section where it tells you an activity to do based on what you learned from reading the previous chapter on examples, stories and ideas. There are some REALLY good ideas in this book! I loved the 'Listing' section where you make lists instead of some long drawn out outline. Lists are fun and quick and easy!

I cannot even tell you how many times I have wrote things down and they happen. I recently went back thru my journal (yes,I keep one now, even tho' it's not regular/everyday it's still tremendously useful)and looked at a list of things I needed to have accomplished by a certain time. -And what I noticed was EVERYTHING on my list had happened! You really do have to try it for yourself to see how it works. Maybe writing it down is the confirmation to the universe that it's something that we really do want.

This is a great gift to give, I've kept my copy thinking that I would loan it out, but I haven't because I'm afraid I might not get it back!

This is a great book. I love the fact that it told me to acknowledge no limitations on what I can accomplish, but focused on what it is I really want to achieve. When I started by writing down what it was that I wanted, my goal, it immediately felt closer to becoming a reality and I felt energized.

The power that resulted from writing down my goals was so strong that I knew I was ready to receive the help from the Universe that the book promised. It definitely helped me achieve my goal. The author mentions the reticular activating system (RAS) which "awakens the brain to consciousness and keeps it alert", which is a fancy way of saying that with my goal in mind, my brain is very receptive to picking up whatever information will help me towards my goal.

The example of football coach Lou Holtz is a great one. Holtz used this method of goal setting and wrote down 107 lifetime goals and has achieved 87 so far. I found this to be very inspiring. His goals were audacious - things like appearing as a guest on The Tonight Show, having dinner at the White House, coaching Notre Dame football, winning a national championship, and landing a jet on an aircraft carrier - but he is well on his way to achieving them all. Writing them down is the first step to making them real.

Another book that I found very useful was Goal! Your 30 Day Game Plan for Business & Career Success, Goal!: Your 30-Day Game Plan for Business and Career Successwhich also focuses on the importance of journaling. It has you write down your goal and uses something called the 30 Day Goal Track, which consists of a series of daily writing exercises. These exercises only take a few minutes to complete, but each one reinforces that you have already achieved your goal. Creating that mindset of success is critical. Like Write It Down, the book Goal! emphasizes the importance of writing in the pursuit of a goal. Two great books!

I saw the author many years ago, on Oprah. I thought her concept was so effective, yet, at the same time, so EASY to do! I decided to give it a try! I made a list to help me find Mr. Right.I was divorced,with no children, and wanted to meet a man who too, was without children. I love kids, but I saw how it affected children,the whole "Divorce, Dating, Re-marriages, New parents/Siblings scene,and I just felt it would be easier to be with someone, and start on a fresh slate.Well, I doubted I would find such a man, but, I DID!!!! I made a very, very specific list, and put her ideas into action, and one thing lead to another, and I met my wonderful husband! It is amazing that something as simple as putting things to paper, and putting them "out there" into the universe, can deliver such positive results! I eventually wrote the author, to tell her of my good fortune, and she wrote me back,thrilled to hear of what had transposed in my life! I think it is a great concept to put our goals, and ideas in writing,as it gives us a definitive "blue print" to work off of! Simple,yes, but very EFFECTIVE!!!!

Henriette is a generous writer and wants to see others succeed - anyone who doesn't see this in her writing is missing the boat. I've used this technique for years. As founder of Woman, Honor Thyself - Honor Thy Dream workshops, participants write down their dreams on cards for in so doing "You honor thy dream" For the last year, I had "April in Paris" posted all over the place - and guess what - I spent 10 days in April celebrating my 60th birthday and it was a gift from nieces and nephews. MAKE IT HAPPEN is a fun book as well as spiritual - just believe and try it. Follow your heart and may all your dreams come true.

P.S. Not only is Henriette encouraging - she even takes the time to respond to her emails.

About three years ago my business coach recommended this book. An avid journaler and reader I figured it was right up my alley.

It was and it is.

As some other reviewers mentioned -- using these techniques may be a bit like Dumbo flying with his feather -- but in this day and age it's not so awful to want to cling to the feather in the first place.

The book helped me create a space and a reverence for the time I take in reflection and goal setting. I learned to clear my head and respect my ideas and thoughts, my goals and my dreams -- even when no one else did.

My life continues to be a great source of joy and success -- is it because of THIS book? nah. It's because of a dedication to living with the basic tenets of this book (and many others) in my heart.

It's quite possible that you simply stumble upon this book when you are wondering where you are going with your life and why...it's possible that you are on a constant quest for your right life. Use this book as the tool to help you move your mindset to a slightly quieter space and give yourself permission to Write It Down so you can Make It Happen.

This book helped me totally change my life. If you apply what is written you will see a huge difference in your life as well. The power of pen to paper is amazing and this book will help you realize that you too have the power...just at the tip of your fingers.

One bad day can change just by writing it down! No Kidding!!!!

I loved it and recommend it to everyone.