It’s when we use it on ourselves. Here’s what I mean.
It’s 1990. Imagine a tired, broke Jim Carrey, driving his old, rusty Toyota up a hill, somewhere in Hollywood. At the top of the hill, he pulls over. As he stares into the sunset from behind the dirty windshield, he asks himself:
What if I never make it as an actor?
Instantly, he shakes it off. He knows bad thoughts won’t give him a good life. He’s certain he’s going to make it. Instead of doubting, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his checkbook.
Jim Carrey writes himself a check for $10,000,000. As a reference he puts down “for acting services rendered.” He post-dates it for Thanksgiving 1995, giving himself 5 years. Carrey folds the check, puts it into his wallet and drives home.
Over the years, he keeps it there. It gets wrinklier and wrinklier, worn out and deteriorates. But as Carrey works, it’s always with him. Until, in 1994, his father dies. He slips it into the casket as he says his last goodbye, promising to make good on his words.
The same year, Dumb and Dumber is released on which, after box office numbers, Carrey made $10 million. He found out just before Thanksgiving, 1995.
Some call this the secret or the law of attraction, others just say visualization or placebo effect. The point of it is to create a very specific vision of where you want to end up in life, so you’ll subconsciously map your actions to get there.
There’s one big caveat though, which a lot of people are missing, I think:
This only works when you do. If you turn visualization into a form of procrastination, it won’t do you much good.
Carrey didn’t write himself a new check every day. He didn’t hold it and look at it every day. He wrote it, put it in his pocket, and let go of the goal, so he could grab something else: work.
I think that’s the best use of the placebo effect, and trust me – it really works.
