Open for Business
The Fractal Law of Success
Note: This article will make more sense if you have a
visual understanding of fractals. You can view images of
fractals at: http://www.fractalus.com/ifl/.

Fractals are complex, self-similar shapes that repeat
fundamental patterns at ever increasing and decreasing
scales. When you magnify a segment of a fractal, you will
find a repetition of the shapes you saw at the larger
scale. Magnify it further, and the same pattern will again
emerge in infinite complexity with self-similar fidelity.
Conversely, zoom out, and you will see the same patterns
emerge from an eagle eye view.

Think of your beliefs, behaviors, and habits as part of a
fractal, a pattern that tends to replicate either success
or failure. Every aspect of this fractal shapes and is
shaped by every other aspect, just as your attitudes,
aspirations, and ways of being shape the large and small
actions you take each day and vice versa. The sum of these
actions and states of being are what attract or repel
opportunity and disappointment. (Yes, you can attract
disappointment. In fact, if you are not paying attention,
you can get quite good at it!)

In this way, the image of the fractal can illustrate why
it is who we are being far more than what we are doing
that determines success and failure.

Here's an example from my files of fractals in action. The
client's identity has, of course, been changed.

Margaret was frustrated because, in spite of a concerted
effort to market her art, she consistently attracted
people who did not want to or could not pay for it. Her
experience was that the people who liked her paintings
could not afford to buy them at prices that would allow
Margaret to support her family.

As I coached Margaret to become aware of her beliefs about
the value of her work and the relationship between art and
money, she realized that she believed that art patrons
only valued work by dead painters. Further, she noticed
that she harbored some resentment against people who had
enough disposable income to purchase on fine art.

As Margaret practiced just noticing her beliefs and
emotions without trying to change them, she discovered
that they were shaping her behavior and choices. She
realized that they resulted in thousands of subtle shifts
of speech and body language (not to mention attitude) that
infallibly contributed to the very outcome she complained
about. That is, she felt alienated from her best customers.

What's more. Margaret noticed that she tended to apologize
for her prices and to assume that people would think they
were too high. She would propose a reduced price or barter
before her prospects ever had the chance to discover for
themselves the value of her work.

Once she became aware of these patterns, we looked at them
together. Coaching was critical at this juncture to
prevent her from falling into the trap of self-criticism.
Margaret saw the fractal relationship between her own
beliefs and behaviors and the results she was getting.
Seeing this relationship energized and inspired her, for
it demonstrated how powerful she was. She was already
producing results in the outside world that precisely
mirrored her inner state.

Margaret began to play with new ways to think about and
embody her offer as an artist so that she could create
different results. She sought out examples of living
artists who were successful. She looked for stories about
people of substantial means who used their material wealth
to bring joy and beauty to their own lives and their
communities. She got curious about how it would feel to
have patrons like that. Within a few weeks she sold three
paintings at twice her usual prices.

Test the law of fractals in your life. Think of a
situation in which you are being consistently frustrated.
Describe it in a sentence or two. What is it you want and
how is that desire being thwarted?

Now, imagine that this thwarting of your desire is part of
a pattern that emerges from underlying beliefs and
behaviors in you. This is no time to indulge in beating
yourself up. Simply observe what is so. In what ways are
you not surprised by the results you are getting? In what
ways can you notice yourself somehow stepping back from or
getting in the way of the results you want? (One way to
reveal hidden beliefs is to state the problem as you see
it and add the phrase "and this means..." For example,
"There isn't enough work to go around and this means I
might as well not even try."

Notice how these beliefs and behaviors are "self-similar"
with the very results you dislike. Let yourself feel this
direct connection, because in feeling this connection you
will also experience your power to manifest results.
Rather than trying to change your beliefs and behavior,
just be curious. What would it be like if you felt
differently? What would it be like if you no longer had
your negative thoughts?

Cultivate lightness as you play with the possibilities.
After all, one sure way to get stuck is to gun your engine
and spin your wheels. Once you begin to play with
different ways of being you will have already disturbed
the original pattern and things will begin to shift of
their own accord.

A final word: this is not magic, it's life. Let these
images and laws live in you! Remember, it's not about what
you DO so much as it is about how you BE.

[Revised from a column that originally appeared in the
September 15, 2002, issue of The New Leaf.]

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