Parallel Universes of Self

Change your inner world and watch reality rearrange itself around you.

About the Book

We all use our awareness and intentions in one way or another — usually in a very similar way each day. Frederick Dodson is committed to show us that we are in charge of our reality, and he gives us all the tools we'll ever need to turn our awareness and intention into a wizard's wand that can turn any desire into reality.

Sounds reasonable? Sounds far-fetched? Let's take a closer look.

The Reticular Activation System

I remember when I first saw Peter Jackson's Tintin in the cinema. For the rest of that week I saw Wire Fox Terriers everywhere. You've probably experienced something similar — you become aware that something exists and suddenly you start to see it everywhere.

This is because of a system in the brain called the Reticular Activation System (RAS). The RAS works as a gatekeeper between your senses and the brain, filtering what goes in and what doesn't. Those dogs had always been around, but my brain had deemed them unimportant and filtered them out. After paying focused attention to Wire Fox Terriers in the Tintin movie, my brain realized these creatures must be important and decided to let them through.

The fact that our brain works this way has great implications for how we experience the world — and that's what Parallel Universes of Self is about.

You Create Your Own Reality

This book basically states that you create your own reality. You have to go into it with an open mind — but not so open that your brain falls out.

The main point is that you can change how you experience your external world by changing or eliminating limiting core beliefs about yourself and refocusing your attention towards the things you actually want. By doing this, the external world will reflect your internal changes in a magical way. By being a different person, you will get different results — and taken to its extreme, this practice reaches almost mystical levels.

"Understanding that everything really is illusion depending on the viewpoint, you can trade unfavorable solutions for more favorable ones. A film, for instance, can be many things — it can be an emotional experience, it can be directors, producers and actors, it can be pixels on a screen, and it can be atoms bouncing around — depending on the viewpoint."

Start at the End

One of the more controversial ideas in this book is that action is only secondary to how you feel. The shortest way to create any change in your life is to experience yourself and the world as if it had already happened.

"There is no other thing that operates independently of what you believe."

One of the reasons I can't discard reality creation as just some new age mumbo jumbo is because I've seen it work so many times in my own life. The typical pattern: when I put my energy towards something, believe it's feasible, commit to that reality without expectation, without forcing it, with a light heart and in a good mood — it usually comes to fruition, often in an unexpected way.

The Voice Actor Story

At one point I decided to become a voice actor for cartoons. This was during a period when I watched a lot of cartoons with my children and thought it would be interesting work doing voices for crazy characters. During a party I mentioned this idea to a friend who challenged me to act on that hunch.

I didn't know where to start. I didn't know anyone in that profession, had no idea how to get into the business, no contacts — nothing. But I found myself at a release party for a video game I'd been working on, chatting with some dude at the bar. He mentioned he was an actor. I mentioned my ambition for voice acting. He told me he actually did more voice acting than regular acting.

That conversation resulted in him sharing the best strategies for landing a voice acting job, putting me in contact with his agent, and promising to mentor me. This was one week after I decided to become a voice actor.

All my manifestation experiences have one thing in common: they happen during periods where I feel really good, light-hearted, energized — where I'm not forcing it and have very little expectations.

"When you stop chasing the world, the world chases you. Feeling good on the inside is the starting point — otherwise magic doesn't work."

Resistance from Others

When you choose a new reality for yourself and become a new person, the people around you might react with resistance. They might try to pull you back down to your old reality. Not everyone likes to see people change for the better — it might shine a light on their own stagnant state.

"This is where the stress lies — whenever you experience pressure, it's probably based on a core belief about what someone else is supposedly expecting from you. Although the circumstances have completely changed since your childhood, these beliefs are still operating on some level. Persistently resting in your shoes in reality means doing so despite disapproval from others and society."

The Intention List

One of my main takeaways — and my absolute favorite exercise from this book — is the Intention List. This is a list where you write in the past tense, as if something has already happened. It includes things you want, intend, or wouldn't mind happening — both general and specific, realistic and unrealistic. The purpose is to blur the line between what feels realistic and what feels unrealistic.

An example might read:

• I took the car for repairs
• I got my hair cut
• I met someone very interesting
• Surprisingly, I got four new customers
• I gave Eliana more love than she has ever received
• I got money unexpectedly
• I felt well rested and had a lot of energy
• My sick dog recovered
• I had an out of body experience
• I had a vivid dream that showed me hints of my next big move in business

The main purpose is to calibrate your focus and attention. It's important to let go of expectations — some of these things might happen, some might not. The purpose is to set your focus on what you want and guide your attention. The main reason we experience things the same way all the time is because we use our focus in the same way. Change your attention and you will experience a new world.

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