Introduction

The Source is written by Dr. Swart, who is a neuroscientist and senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  Dr. Swart provides the science behind the law of attraction and advocates that neuroplasticity of the ‘source’ (brain) is scientifically proven.  Essentially ‘The Source’ puts the science behind books like The Secret. It brings hope and encouragement that anything is possible if we apply ourselves in the right way.  It is a book of self-discovery and provides a basis for discovering our authentic selves through some simple but effective tools, techniques, and practices.

Summary

Dr. Swart describes how throughout history people have used manifestation and visualisation to help shape their lives to find health, success, love, friendship, and wealth, in fact, anything your mind wishes is possible, and how we just have to put thinking, feeling, and acting into motion.

 The book is a toolkit for unlocking the power of our minds to maximise the potential in us all because science has proven our brains are malleable and that they grow and develop depending on how we nurture and care for our brain by attending to it emotionally, physically, intuitively, motivationally, logically and creatively.

The book guides you through some basic principles:

 Principle 1 – Abundance – positive thinking and generosity, with the central belief that there is enough out there for everyone.

Principle 2 – Manifestation – directing our energy towards our deepest desires and focusing our attention on this can help us manifest our ideal life.

Principle 3 – Magnetic Desire – positive desire is the mentality that we can make good things happen, and it’s the emotional intensity of that desire is what drives us toward tangible outcomes.

Principle 4 – Patience – this is about enjoying and most importantly, trusting the process and allowing things to unfold naturally in their own good time.

Principle 5 – Harmony – is the need for balance between our mind and body; being more fully present in our body and brain together in the moment to find balance and strength to make the best choices and to help emotional regulation.

Principle 6 – Universal Connection – the idea that we are all connected, to each other and the universe; it is the principle that underpins an abundance attitude to life. This principle is as much about the way the world impacts you as it is about your impact on the world.

 The book then goes on to describe the importance of self-care, rest, fuel, hydration, and oxygenating (exercising) and also describes how an uncluttered environment is an essential part of our success. 

What resonated?

 In the initial introduction, Dr. Swart says: “We moved away from emotions to logic and facts, and survival through competition became our means to an end.  We lost the sense of abundance that had gotten us so far, and the sense that there was enough for everyone.  We lost our relationship with fate: we needed to control fate and have more than everyone else. We stopped the simple life connections – like sitting around a campfire telling stories, gazing at the stars, or walking barefoot in nature – to cultivate agriculture and create industries where power and status outweighed collaboration or peaceful coexistence. We stopped being and started doing a lot of things, existing on a kind of autopilot that we could not turn off.”

 Dr. Swart says that we will have to challenge the consequences of our evolutionary hardwiring and retrain ourselves to think in a more agile and positive way.

 There are lots of exercises to do throughout the book that challenge your thought processes and help to start to rewire self-limiting beliefs or old ways of thinking. Dr. Swart calls this “firing up the source” and it includes:

Raised awareness (switching off your autopilot) – this is about bringing the unconscious into the conscious and that there is little difference in the brain between an actual event being experienced and a strongly imagined vision of the same event. It is why athletes will often visualise how a race goes prior to the actual race and strong visualisations of your goals are what this chapter exercises help with.  

Action board it – this is essentially about creating collages that represent everything you aspire to, sometimes called vision or dream boards. Dr. Swart says doing boards harness the concept of selective attention and combined with neuroplasticity of behaviour change, is where you begin to see results.

Focus attention (neuroplasticity in action) – essentially this is about being mindful about what is happening in the present moment and practices such as meditation, which help the brain function well.  

Deliberate practice (the source comes to life) – this is about combining the above three areas in a deliberate way supporting you to turn thought and insight into action.

 Favourite Quote

 I really like this paragraph from the book because it describes life as it is lived by many today.

 “Over time, we have neglected the limbic brain that got us to the pivotal moment in our evolution, and instead placed the cortex on a pedestal. We have demoted depth, passion, and instinct and come to rely on surface-level capabilities – such as exams, rote-learning, or transactional relationships – that are more connected with material gain than true joy.  We live a life dominated by stress and are too busy to really take notice of who we are, where we are going, and what we want from life.  We are now at a moment where technology will disrupt our minds and bodies more than we can being to imagine. We are on the threshold of massive change.”

 Conclusion

 The book is for you if you want to improve your life and need to understand the science that backs up traditional concepts such as laws of attraction and manifesting the life we dream of living. 

 The book is extremely well written and I liked the book a lot because of the backdrop of it being grounded in science, which adds to its credibility. If you’re a sceptic then it is a must-read, if you are already converted and want a robust set of actions to put into practice you will gain a great deal from reading the book, indeed, I am looking forward to working through the book on a practical level.