THE FORMULA

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Contents

FOREWORD: The Age Of Human Ultimacy.........................xiCHAPTER: 1 The Family Treasure..............................1* Personal Identity.........................................3* The Law Of Destiny........................................4* The Law Of Human Nature...................................7* The Blessing Of Abraham...................................19* Abram's Experience........................................23* Esau, The Foolish Grandson................................31* The Secret Recipe.........................................33CHAPTER: 2 The Greatness Of Your Future.....................35* Married To Defeat.........................................37* True Victory..............................................38* A New Dimension...........................................42* Take Yourself Seriously...................................43* The Nature Of Your Relationships..........................47CHAPTER: 3 All You Need Is Your Seed........................54* Identity As Seed..........................................56* Ripen Your Vision.........................................58* The Bigger Picture........................................62CHAPTER: 4 You Are Amazing!.................................68* Doctrinal Captivity.......................................70* Authentic Transformation..................................80* Blessing Beneficiaries....................................86* Magic Johnson.............................................87* David.....................................................89* Divine Permission.........................................90* R.E.S.T...................................................93* The Basis Of Your Confidence..............................99CHAPTER: 5 Extreme Contradictions...........................102* Contradiction Domination..................................104* The Centrality Of Identity................................108* A Higher Understanding....................................110* Self-Mastery..............................................114* Inherited Constriction....................................116* King Josiah...............................................120* Identity Invincibility....................................123* The Power Of Perspective..................................125* David's Dominant Perspective..............................130CHAPTER: 6 The Nature Of The Fight..........................134* Transition Opposition.....................................136* The Danger Of Fitting In..................................139* Identity Boycott..........................................142* The War...................................................144* The 6-Point Checklist.....................................145* Who.......................................................148* What......................................................148* When......................................................150* Where.....................................................150* How.......................................................151* Why.......................................................156* Winning Your Fight........................................157CHAPTER: 7 What Now?........................................160* The Necessity Of A Vision.................................162* Mandela...................................................165* Imagination...............................................166* The Curse Vs. The Blessing................................167* Generational Curses.......................................168* Effective Leadership......................................171* Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.................................174* Cursed In The Promised Land...............................176* The Great Wall............................................181* Go Your Own Way...........................................184AFTER WORD..................................................189

Chapter One

PERSONAL IDENTITY

Your personal identity is the most valuable, important and powerful aspect of your life. I'm not referring to your name, nationality or number. Nor am I referring to your biological DNA, ethnicity or family lineage. I'm talking about something far more significant: what you accept and acknowledge as the truth about yourself as a unique individual, at this very moment—inwardly. I'm talking, with individualized particularity, about your self-definition, your self-concept, your self-perception, your self-truth, your self-assessment, right now, in this very moment. The personal identity aspect of your own mind is a treasure-chest, the contents of which will either bless or curse you. That which is contained in this specific dimension of your own mind has the ability to bring the best or the worst out of you; it can exalt or debase you. Your personal identity is the determinative program of your life; make no mistake about this.

Your personal life produces an outcome and a quality according to what you are, not who you are. Who you are will never change. You'll always be the son or daughter of your parents, the brother or sister of your siblings, and so on. Your biology is immutable. But your self-assessment, what you accept and acknowledge as the truth about yourself inwardly, as a unique individual, at this very moment, can change—instantly. The distinction between what you are and who you are is an important one. The principle underscored by this distinction is the first of two premier laws governing the human experience—the Law of Destiny.

THE LAW OF DESTINY

The Law of Destiny is Identity Produces Destiny. Simply put, what a thing is determines what it can and will produce. The apple tree was an apple tree long before it brought forth apples. The sprouting of a tree's fruit doesn't determine what manner of tree it is; it simply reveals what manner of tree it is. The original seed determined the manner of tree.

The tree was already an apple tree. It was never becoming an apple tree. It was all it was ever going to be when only a foot high, with no branches, leaves or apples. Even when there was no visible evidence of what it was, when its identity was a complete mystery, the tree wasn't any less what it was than when it came into full bloom. It was what it was—already, and because of what it was, its life simply produced accordingly. What others thought of it was irrelevant. What others said about it was irrelevant. What was growing contemporaneously in its environs made no difference. It was already everything it was ever going to be, irrespective of all else. Though it had to endure multiple fruitless seasons, it was only a matter of time until the tree's life bore witness to what it had long been. Put simply, the reason a tree produces apples is because it's an apple tree—already. So it is with you.

What your life produces doesn't determine what manner of individual you are; it reveals it. The manner of individual you are inwardly determines what your life can and will produce outwardly. Your actions, choices and decisions are not the sources of your destiny. Philosophical positions that assert as much are utterly false. Actions, choices and decisions are the products of your identity. It may appear as though the branch is the source of the apple because the stem attached to the apple grows visibly from the branch; but in reality, the branch itself is as much a product of the original seed as is the apple.

Identity is the source of destiny! How you define yourself constitutes the basis underlying why you do what you do, choose what you choose and decide what you decide. Actions, choices and decisions are just as much products of your identity as is the destiny they aid in manifesting. They are outgrowths of identity, mere functions of identity. Doing is a function of being, not the other way around. In all your conscious living experiences, you acted in accordance to the dictates of your personal identity. In other words, you did what you did because of your self-definition. This is why ultimately, in order to control your destiny, you must control your identity. Your life is not a product of what you do; it's a product of what you are.

Your personal identity is nothing but a seed. If you were to cut an apple seed in half, you obviously will not find an apple tree. But an entire orchard is contained within a single seed. Though the seed is small enough to fit on the tip of your finger, it actually has the potential to produce unlimited apples trees. The apple seed contains DNA, the genetic blueprint necessary for specific reproduction. Remaining true to the reproductive power of one single apple seed can produce thousands of acres of apple trees. The same principle applies to your personal identity. Your self-concept contains a destiny structure, DNA, a specific blueprint. This structure empowers your identity to produce the fruit of its origin. I'll come back to this point shortly.

Destiny structure consists of seven primary elements: state of mind, perspective, agenda, attitude, aura, words and action. Taken in order, your state of mind is your thought, your level of consciousness, the inclination and trajectory of your mental activity as it relates to all around you. Your perspective is not so much what you see, but how you see it. Your agenda is your purpose, your program of intent. Your attitude is the psychological disposition with which you approach your life. Your aura is your gravitational force, the personal polarity causing you to attract and repel. Your words reveal not only what you say and how you say it, but also what you don't say and how you don't say it. Your actions reveal not only what you do and how you do it, but also what you don't do and how you don't do it. There are other elements and dimensions of destiny structure, but they are sub-categories of these primary elements. Your destiny structure, taken together, is the specific genetic material that produces the outcome and quality of your living experience; it's the DNA of your identity, which produces your destiny.

Philosophers, religionists and intellectuals alike have deified one or more elements of destiny structure, assigning to these elements greater status than they are due. These individuals have struck the target of the mysteries surrounding personal destiny but have missed the mark. In print are many volumes written on various elements of destiny structure. I'm obviously not suggesting these elements aren't worthy of the written word; however, to present them as sources of destiny rather than mere products of identity is misleading and potentially harmful. As important as these vital elements are, both individually and in concert with each other, in no way do they constitute the sources of destiny. Again, they are mere products of identity. The only way to control these elements is to control your personal identity, which is their source.

Your personal identity is by far the most significant aspect of your life. No personal identity is benign, no personal identity powerless. All identities contain a destiny structure, a specific genetic blueprint that individual lives inevitably obey in proportion to the extent to which they are embraced. This is an immutable principle that was set in motion upon the earth at the beginning of time. As your identity goes, so goes your destiny. That which controls your identity also controls your destiny. This is why you must be in control of your personal identity, which brings us to the second of the two premier laws governing the human experience.

THE LAW OF HUMAN NATURE

The second of the premier laws governing the human experience is the Law of Human Nature: Identity Selectivity. This is the companion principle to the Law of Destiny. Identity produces destiny, but man has identity options. Man has the ability and the right to select his own personal identity based on three dimensions of time: the past, the present, or a vision—a conception—of the future. But regardless of the dimension of time from which a man selects his personal identity, those elements will reproduce corresponding fruit in his future, beginning now. This is why a man must be careful, because if you define yourself based on elements of the past, your life is going to reproduce corresponding fruit in your future, beginning now. You'll repeatedly find yourself in the same situations operating with the same destiny structure, and producing the same results. Your life will be a repetitive cycle, and depending on what that cycle consists of, this may or may not prove a positive thing for you. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The key word in this passage is "that," because if you plant that, you're not going to harvest this, and vice-versa. This universal truth applies to all life. Identity is the seed of destiny; but unlike other life forms, humans have the distinct privilege of choosing what that seed will be.

Your destiny is not a matter of chance; it's not a gamble; it's a science, but you must understand it in order to control it. Fixed laws and principles govern all life. However, these laws and principles can be harnessed in the service of man. Man has the ability and the right to select his own personal identity, which gives him personal authority over the outcome and quality of his own living experience—his personal destiny on earth, beginning right here, right now, in this very moment.

What you presently accept and acknowledge as the truth about yourself inwardly determines what your life can and will produce outwardly. The extent to which you are true to any identity is the extent to which that identity will be true to you. The elements of which your personal identity consists will reproduce in your future according to their origin, in exact proportion to your embrace. As a human being, you do have free will, exercised in your choice of identities and the range of options revealed by the destiny structure contained within any given identity.

The relevant question is not so much, "What did your personal identity come from?" but "When did your personal identity come from—past, present or a vision of your future?" From what manner of fruit was your personal identity extracted—chronologically? This question is important because the origin of your personal identity is indicative of the destiny your life is producing right now.

Your life has no choice but to reproduce the elements and dimensions of your personal identity's fruit of origin. A seed can only produce the fruit it comes from. It's futile to act in the hopes for something new in life while holding on to an identity that doesn't correspond to that for which you are hoping. All such empty action, forcefully taken in an identity for which it doesn't correspond, is vacuous. You'll just be going through the motions. Your actions will have no power.

It's been said generally that a man must control his thoughts about this or that thing in order to control his destiny; but I say unto you that a man must control his thoughts about himself in order to control his destiny. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." The term "heart" symbolizes the identity dimension of a man's mind. Your thoughts concerning the issues and things of life will always be in accordance with what you are—inwardly. They will be in accordance with what you accept and acknowledge as the truth about yourself. Your personal identity will always be the basis of what you think of all else.

It's been said that insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing but expecting different results. But I say to you that insanity is repeatedly being the same thing but expecting different results. You've heard it said that individuals must take responsibility for their actions, choices and decisions. But I say to you that individuals must take responsibility for their identities. You may have heard the slogan, "Just do it." But I declare to you, "Just be it." To do anything you must first be something. Those who do something in particular are those who are something in particular. You can only do according to what you are. The potential within you to act, choose or decide effectively is determined by what you are definitively. If it's not in you, it can't proceed from you. This should be clear enough.

Volitionally, there are things in this life you will do and things you simply will not do. It's not that you lack the opportunity or physical ability to do those things. The activities you won't engage in are simply inconsistent with your personal identity. Those activities don't correspond with what you accept and acknowledge about yourself, inwardly. They are outside the range of structural options made available to you by your self-concept. There are things no amount of money can get you to do; they're off the table and non-negotiable. Those activities are beyond the limits established by your self-concept. In fact, they're not even up for discussion. There are others, however, who won't hesitate to engage in those activities. What is abjectly unacceptable behavior while operating in one identity is perfectly acceptable in another. In this way, any personal identity is both constraining and liberating, both inhibiting and empowering.

There is a distinct gravitational force surrounding your personal identity. There is an aura surrounding your personal being. Others can detect the energy. The force of your being has such strength that others can hear what you said with their eyes and see what you did with their ears. It's been said that actions speak louder than words. This may be true on some levels, but being speaks louder and conveys more forcefully than words or actions. The unspoken and the unseen are detected sublimely. Others can sense what manner of man you are; they can sense your character. The spirit of your presence speaks louder and more clearly than any words from your mouth or any overt conscious action on your part.

There is a polarity that accompanies your personal identity—an invisible push and pull. Certain people and things are attracted to you, while others are repelled. The maintenance of your friends and enemies relies on your personal identity. The more your friends discover about you, the more they'll love and appreciate you. The more your enemies discover about you, the more they'll detest and despise you. You may have met unrepentant individuals of whom your instincts gave immediate warning. You may not have witnessed any nefarious act they committed, but you could sense the act on them. Wherever they go, they unknowingly carry the spirit of the identity that produced that act. The act itself may have been committed long ago in some distant locale, but the aura of the identity that produced the act lives on. The same dynamic reveals those who have privately engaged in wonderful deeds. In strange and peculiar ways, that which is done in darkness comes to light, revealing both that which is evil and that which is good.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from THE FORMULAby Russell Themagnificent Copyright © 2012 by Russell Themagnificent. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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