Intellectually, almost all of us know what we should do to become "a better person", in nearly all areas of our lives.
Whether you can actually do those things is another question altogether. And if you fail, it isn't necessarily for lack of trying.
For example, many people try very hard to quit smoking; or work more productively; or stop overspending; or to be kinder and patient with their kids etc etc. And many people fail.
They fail because of the nature of the human mind. Our minds can almost never stop creating patterns. The patterns are created endlessly. Some of those patterns work to our advantage - for example, positive beliefs, habits and attitudes - and some of them do not.
These patterns shape the way we think, speak and act, and also the events and circumstances of our lives. Ultimately these patterns create our entire reality. The stronger a pattern, the greater its influence is, on our reality.
You can try to challenge a pattern directly, with brute force and determination. You may even succeed. But if the pattern is too strong, you will simply fail. Addictions are a prime example. But in fact we have formed patterns about everything in our lives - whether it's money, career, family, relationships, hobbies, friends, society, food, sleep, homes, material possessions, community, health, illness, sex, our attitudes about politics, science, the economy, the weather, religion, the government etc etc.
Working with the LOA (in whatever form), we gain awareness about our patterns. We begin to cultivate skill and ability to directly deal with our patterns. With practice, we are able to create, nurture, protect and strengthen positive patterns. We are also able to weaken, override, confuse and simply sidestep our negative patterns.
And as we learn to control and direct our thoughts in a radically different way, we can even make a little paranormal magic now and then.
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But the point is - even becoming a better person, without any attempt to influence "external" reality, is not a simple matter of "doing" the right things. If it were, it should be remarkably easy to quit smoking - just stop sticking that damn thing in your mouth.
But it's not that easy, is it?
The pattern will get ya. Unconsciously, you find yourself reaching for that lighter and cigarette.
Until you learn to tweak your patterns - whether with NLP, hypnosis, visualisation, affirmations, prayer, meditation, vision boards, or Abraham's 22 processes, Haanel's Master Key or whatever -
the pattern will always get you.