Parallel Universes of Self — 6 Months Later

Some books feel like they're going to change your life — but then they don't. Others feel commonplace when you first read them, but then you realize you've been thinking about that book almost every day for years.

A Book I'm Embarrassed to Love

Parallel Universes of Self was one of my favorite books last year, and I'm kind of embarrassed to say that — because it's not a literary masterpiece. It's quite repetitive, and it's very much out there and weird. You can call it pseudoscience and wishful thinking, and you wouldn't be wrong.

But I freaking love this book. I've read it four times already and gotten so much value out of it.

This book is about reality creation and manifestation — basically the idea that you can have whatever reality you want as long as you use your focus and attention properly. What usually keeps people back is limited beliefs and contradictory intentions. And I think you can agree with me when I say that very little in this world can withstand persistent human effort. Your attitude changes your reality, and you get more of what you focus on.

Your Day as a Series of Movie Scenes

A big topic in Parallel Universes of Self is the importance of setting clear intentions. Who do I want to be in this moment? What do I want to get out of the conversation I'm going to have with a friend in five minutes?

Sometimes we don't focus properly — when we're at work we think about our family, and when we're with our family we think about work. Many of you might recognize this.

Dodson provides a great technique for setting clear intentions, and the metaphor he uses is to look at your day as a series of scenes in a movie. Just like an actor, when you go into a scene you need to know your intention — who you want to be, what kind of energy you want to bring to that situation.

In everyday life there are a lot of transition periods throughout the day. You go into your commute, you go to work — all of that. And these transitions are perfect for setting intentions.

The Roles I Play

Throughout the day I take on a lot of different roles. In the morning when I go on the commute, I become BookLab Bjorn — I write, I edit, I create content. Then I get into the elevator at work and I put on my other cap: Bjorn the game developer, where I focus on making a great game and making decisions so that me and the team can get through production without losing our health or burning out.

When the day is done and I get close to daycare, I become Bjorn the father — and my focus is on being present, attuned, and nurturing to my kids. When I put them to sleep, I become Bjorn the husband, and I want to be there for my wife.

All these transition periods are great opportunities to just step back and focus your intention. What kind of scene do you want to play out? How do you want this evening to be? How do you want the time with your kids to feel?

It's been really helpful for me to set clear intentions throughout the day and not be all over the place mentally.

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The Intention List — And Some Magic

Now let's talk about some magic.

The intention list is designed to help you focus on what you want rather than what you don't want. It's a way to blur the line between what you perceive as realistic and unrealistic.

It's basically a list written as if it has already happened — and it can include both small things and really big things. I write this list at night before I go to bed. An example might look like this:

These are just examples. The beauty is mixing the mundane with the wild — taking the kids to school alongside being contacted by aliens. The point is to blur the line between what feels realistic and what feels unrealistic.

It's Surprising How Many Come True

I've been doing this at the same time as I write in my journal, and I went back and looked at the old intention lists. It's surprising how many of the things I added actually happened.

I don't know exactly why it works, but I think it's because you focus your attention on the things you want and you become more alert to when those opportunities show themselves. It's surprising how many things came to fruition just thanks to this exercise.