The Most Dangerous Book Ever Written About Reality — Transcript

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1. 0:00Almost 100 years ago, a woman named  Florence Scoville Shin wrote a tiny
2. 0:04book that has quietly influenced millions of  people. It predates modern manifestation. It
3. 0:10predates the law of attraction movement.  It predates neuroscience. And yet,
4. 0:14many of the principles she taught are  now being validated through psychology,
5. 0:18behavioral science, and our understanding of  identity. Today, I want to share the five most
6. 0:23powerful distinctions I learned from her work  and explain them through the lens of modern
7. 0:27science and my own experience coaching tens  of thousands of people. So, let's get into it.
8. 0:36All right, guys. We hear a lot about other  teachers like Napoleon Hill, Neville Goddard, but
9. 0:41dare I say that I would put Florence Scovilleshin  head-to-head with any great new thought teacher.
10. 0:47She's definitely on my starting five. Her  book, The Game of Life and How to Play It,
11. 0:52is in my top five all-time reads. And she wrote a  number of other amazing books like The Secret Door
12. 0:57to Success, Your Word is Your Wand, The Power  of the Spoken Word. I'm going to David Splain
13. 1:01Florence Scoville Shin today because there's a  good chance if you've been wanting to change your
14. 1:05mind and change your reality that Florence has a  key that can unlock the next level for you. So,
15. 1:11distinction number one, life is a game governed  by spiritual law. So Florence opens the game of
16. 1:17life and how to play it with a powerful claim. She  says most people consider life a battle, but it is
17. 1:24not a battle. It is a game. So she consistently  reframes the entire human experience as a game
18. 1:32governed by a set of consistent laws. And this  is a big deal because if life is a battle,
19. 1:37then strength wins. But if life is a game, then  understanding the rules wins. And she argues that
20. 1:44every person is playing the game whether they know  it or not. And that the laws governing this game
21. 1:51are spiritual rather than merely material. And  this is a complete break from today's industry
22. 1:57of motivation and inspiration where you're told  to hustle and grind or if you're not working hard
23. 2:02enough, you need to just wake up earlier. The way  Florence describes the game is played is so much
24. 2:08more elegant and frankly so much more in alignment  with the like the way that I would want to play
25. 2:12the game of life. And one of her recurring themes  is that people suffer not because the universe or
26. 2:19God is withholding blessings but simply because  they are unknowingly violating spiritual law.
27. 2:25And that's a radically different way of looking  at life because instead of asking why is this
28. 2:29happening to me or what am I doing wrong she  says we should be asking what law am I failing
29. 2:34to understand. Throughout her book she tells  stories of people whose external circumstances
30. 2:39changed only after an internal realization.  There's a woman who's struggling financially.
31. 2:45She discovers that resentment and fear have  dominated her consciousness. And the moment
32. 2:50she lets that go her situation changes. Another  person remains trapped until they stop fighting
33. 2:56the circumstances that are showing up in their  lives and they learn to let go, which allows a
34. 3:01divine order to step in and solve their problems.  And her stories are almost always following the
35. 3:06same pattern. There's an internal correction, then  an external change. And it's never the reverse.
36. 3:12She is remarkably consistent about this. She says,  "Consciousness comes first, experience follows."
37. 3:19One of the things that I really like about how  Florence teaches and that is that she's always
38. 3:24referencing scripture and she says the Bible  is a guide for understanding these laws. So for
39. 3:29example, she references Isaiah, "If ye be willing  and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.
40. 3:35If you follow the laws, you'll prosper." That's  basically what this is saying. So she interprets
41. 3:40scripture all the time less as religious doctrine  and more as how the mechanics of consciousness
42. 3:46work. And this is one of the reasons I like her so  much because she takes the seriousness out of life
43. 3:51and she says it's a game. She removes the blocks  and the impossibilities that we all experience
44. 3:56and she says look the block is a misunderstanding  of the law. Understand the law and you can remove
45. 4:00the block. So everything that she talks about is  how the internal creates the external. And she
46. 4:05does it in such a lawbased framework driven way.  Of course, I love frameworks that she presents
47. 4:12reality as a structure that anyone can get good  at learning. And I don't know about you, but
48. 4:18that makes me excited. It makes me really want to  get good at the game. So, distinction number two,
49. 4:23your word is your wand. So, if there is one idea  that Florence returns to over and over again,
50. 4:28it is that speech is a powerful creative force.  So, she wrote a whole book, two books actually,
51. 4:34on the subject. She says, "Your words are never  neutral and your words reveal your beliefs and
52. 4:40your thought process and that they reinforce  themselves into reality and that they have
53. 4:45the ability to be creative or destructive." So,  she talks about observing that most people are
54. 4:49continually speaking against themselves without  realizing it. People say they never have enough.
55. 4:55They say nothing works out for them. They say  they're unlucky. They say they always attract the
56. 5:00wrong people. And then they become surprised when  life continues to reflect those assumptions. So
57. 5:06for Florence, your speech is not simply describing  your life. Your speech is participating in the
58. 5:12creation of your life. Again, this is why she  devoted two entire books to the subject. So
59. 5:17she believed that words impress themselves not  only on the subconscious mind but on the field
60. 5:24of reality itself. And one of her recurring themes  is that the miracle that someone is often looking
61. 5:30for often begins when someone changes the way  that they speak. Not because saying different
62. 5:35words is magical, but because different words  are revealing a different consciousness. And
63. 5:41so she's always showing that when someone stops  speaking from fear and starts speaking from faith,
64. 5:46their decisions change, their identity changes,  their expectations change, and eventually their
65. 5:51circumstances change. But she also says that  words are magical. because they inform how
66. 5:56coincidence and synchronicity show up for you.  So the word becomes the outward evidence that
67. 6:04an inward shift has already begun. And she's  always referencing scripture. She says death
68. 6:10and life are in the power of the tongue. And by  thy words thou shalt be justified. By thy words,
69. 6:16thou shalt be condemned. And so she reads these as  spiritual instructions. Your speech is constantly
70. 6:22setting the direction for your consciousness.  And you know this just makes sense if we look
71. 6:26at it from a modern perspective. Your words are  more crystallized vibrations of your thoughts.
72. 6:34Right? If your thoughts are vibrational, words are  amplified frequency of your thoughts. So words are
73. 6:41the first representation of your thoughts in the  physical world. And so they become a very real
74. 6:47creative force. It's like this idea of the word  has now become flesh. The thought has now become
75. 6:53physical through your speech and the stories  that you repeatedly tell about yourself become
76. 6:59the lens through which you perceive reality. And  look, let's be honest, most people complain a lot,
77. 7:05right? Try noticing for the next 24 hours when  you say something negative. You'll probably be
78. 7:10shocked at how frequently that happens. Or  you speak something that's not in alignment
79. 7:15with your desires, right? You say, "Ah, I just  don't have enough time." Or, "My body hurts," or,
80. 7:21"I'm tired," or, "It's going to be hard."  Like, all of these words represent your
81. 7:26current consciousness. And your consciousness  creates your reality, right? Like Ford said,
82. 7:30the man who thinks he can and the man who thinks  he can't are both right. And sometimes it's hard
83. 7:35to notice your thoughts, but it's much easier to  catch your words. And so if you just stop speaking
84. 7:41your negative thoughts into the world, you choke  off the sunlight to your mind and eventually the
85. 7:47negative beliefs start to dry up. Right? That's  how powerful your words are. They are the doorway
86. 7:52between the inner and the outer world, between the  visible and the invisible. And according to Shin,
87. 7:57your speech is the gate that determines what  you allow out into your physical reality.
88. 8:03Distinction number three, non-resistance is the  key to creation. Now, one of Florence's deepest
89. 8:10teachings is that resistance strengthens the very  thing resisted. And she repeatedly points her
90. 8:17readers towards Christ's instruction to resist not  evil. And at first glance, that sounds passive.
91. 8:23But her interpretation is actually anything but  passive. She suggests that emotional resistance
92. 8:30binds consciousness to unwanted conditions. I'll  say that one more time. Emotional resistance binds
93. 8:38consciousness to unwanted conditions. In other  words, fear keeps fear alive. Resentment keeps
94. 8:46the past alive. Conflict perpetuates conflict. The  energy that you invest in fighting something often
95. 8:52becomes the energy that's actually sustaining  it. So instead of forcing life into submission,
96. 8:58she teaches non-resistance. Across her books, she  tells numerous stories of people who finally get
97. 9:05what they want only after letting go of fear or  control or bitterness or desperation. The external
98. 9:12breakthrough always follows an internal surrender.  Again and again she demonstrates that letting
99. 9:19go is not giving up. It is creating space for a  higher order to enter the system which creates a
100. 9:26resolution to the problem itself. In other words,  non-resistance creates a space for solutions to
101. 9:33emerge and resistance simply perpetuates the  problem that you're trying to solve. And she's
102. 9:38points to teachings in the Bible like agree with  thine adversary quickly. Right? You first read
103. 9:45of that and you're like agree with my adversary  quickly. But what what that is indicating it's
104. 9:51an instruction related to consciousness that you  should be non-resistant. Right? She interprets
105. 9:56these as instructions for consciousness. And the  objective is not surrendering the circumstances.
106. 10:01The objective is withdrawing your creative energy  from what you no longer wish to perpetuate in your
107. 10:08reality. Now, of course, I love this teaching.  It's in alignment with one of my primary teachings
108. 10:12I call the golden equation, which is desire plus  non-resistance equals desired result. Right? If
109. 10:18there was one equation that distilled down all  of personal growth, success principles, spiritual
110. 10:23law, it would be that whatever you desire can  and will materialize itself if you can remain
111. 10:31non-resistant to the desire itself. But just  notice that so often the moment we want something,
112. 10:37we start noticing the absence of it. Like the  mind starts explaining why it's not here yet,
113. 10:41right? There's not enough time. There's not  enough money. I'm not worthy or deserving of
114. 10:45it. The doctors say that nobody's ever recovered  from it. He'll never change. So if your thoughts
115. 10:51are creating your reality, then you must maintain  a non-resistant state to the thing that you want.
116. 10:57You have to ignore your current reality and hold  the vision of the thing desired. Florence says
117. 11:02this is one of the primary spiritual laws that's  fundamental to overcoming challenges and achieving
118. 11:07the vision and goals that you have for your  life. And I'm all in with Florence on this one.
119. 11:13Distinction number four, imagination precedes  manifestation. So Florence consistently taught
120. 11:20that the unseen precedes the scene. Of course,  this is also a fundamental teaching of the great
121. 11:25mystic Neville Goddard. She says the inner image  precedes the outer condition. In other words, this
122. 11:32is not a question of which came first, the chicken  and the egg. Was it the inner vision or the outer
123. 11:37manifestation? She says 100% of the time, the  vision must be held first. the crystallization
124. 11:43of it into reality then follows. So she encourages  people to mentally occupy, I love that phrase,
125. 11:51mentally occupy the fulfilled state long before  physical evidence appears to hold the vision
126. 11:58despite your current circumstances, which is  easier said than done, but this is how the law
127. 12:04works. And so she encourages what she calls living  in anticipation or living in preparation assuming
128. 12:12that what you desire already exists and living as  if you were the person who had already received
129. 12:16it. Right? This is another way of describing  being your future self now. And she tells stories
130. 12:22of a woman who sets her table every night in  anticipation of her estranged husband coming back.
131. 12:27back and then after two months of loyal consistent  routine, right, living as if he suddenly reappears
132. 12:34and they reunite. And she shares other stories of  placing orders for the furnishing of a new home
133. 12:38before the home had been found. And miraculously,  a woman finds the home of her dreams. So,
134. 12:43she's frequently tying imagination and faith  together. She has a great quote. She says,
135. 12:49"Man's supply is inexhaustible and unfailing when  fully trusted, but faith or trust must precede the
136. 12:57demonstration." She again references scripture  where it is said, "According to your faith,
137. 13:04be it unto you." Right? Faith is the substance of  things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
138. 13:10For faith holds the vision steady, and the adverse  pictures are dissolved and dissipated, and in due
139. 13:16season we shall reap. if we faint not. It's a word  salad way of saying stay loyal to your decision
140. 13:23and it must materialize into your reality.  So modern neuroscience supports a lot of what
141. 13:27Shin talked about in the 20s. Like we know that  professional athletes can imagine playing their
142. 13:32sport and their muscle fibers respond as if they  were actually training. Pianists have been studied
143. 13:37just imagining playing the piano and their brains  become active as if they were actually playing the
144. 13:41piano. So your mind is so powerful and both on  a practical level and a vibrational level what
145. 13:48you consistently hold in your imagination will  given enough time out picture itself into your
146. 13:54reality. But make no mistake imagination comes  first manifestation follows. Distinction number
147. 14:02five faith is not religious it is acceptance. And  so Florence's understanding of faith is, I think,
148. 14:10profoundly practical because faith is not a belief  in some higher deity or a god or something really
149. 14:17external to yourself. What she means by faith  is acceptance, unconditional acceptance. Faith
150. 14:24is what you believe. And so if you believe in  scarcity, then that is what you have faith in. If
151. 14:30you believe in abundance, then that is what your  faith is placed in. So faith is belief. Period.
152. 14:37Full stop. Do you believe in fear more or do you  have faith in the certainty of the goodness of the
153. 14:43future? And again and again she demonstrates that  people receive after they have inwardly accepted
154. 14:50the reality that they seek. In other words, you  have a desire and you begin preparing, you begin
155. 14:55expecting, you start acting, you begin embodying  long before circumstances provide confirmation.
156. 15:02She tells this story in the Bible of the kings  of Israel, Judah and Adom, who've marched their
157. 15:10armies into the desert to go to war, but  they end up running out of water. And so,
158. 15:13stranded in the scorching heat, their men and  their livestock are dying of thirst. Desperate,
159. 15:18they seek out the prophet Elisha for a message  from God. And Elisha gives them a seemingly
160. 15:23bizarre and physically exhausting instruction from  the Lord. He says, "Make this wad full of ditches.
161. 15:31For thus says the Lord, you shall not see wind,  nor shall you see rain, yet that valley shall be
162. 15:39filled with water so that you, your cattle, and  your animals may drink." So the soldiers already
163. 15:44dehydrated and weak. They start manually digging  deep trenches in this dry desert dust. There's no
164. 15:50sign of a cloud. There's no wind. There's no rain.  Yet they obey the command and they dig. And the
165. 15:55next morning, a supernatural flash flood rushes in  from a distance, fills every single ditch they've
166. 16:02prepared. The water saves their lives, and the  reflection of the morning sun on the pools trick
167. 16:08their enemies into a tactical blender that ends  up giving these two kings a total victory. And so,
168. 16:14Florence highlights this story to prove that you  cannot just wish for something. You must do all
169. 16:19of the work as if you expect it. That's what true  faith is. By digging the ditches, the armies gave
170. 16:26the water a place to go. And so, in Shin's words,  the average person asks for a demonstration or a
171. 16:32miracle, but immediately checks the horizon to see  if wind and rain are coming, looking for physical
172. 16:37proof, or waiting for the economy or timing  or circumstances to look favorable before they
173. 16:43believe. Shin says, quote, "The average person is  always looking for results. He wants to see the
174. 16:50wind and the rain before he digs his ditches. But  the law is dig your ditches first and then expect
175. 16:57the water. How powerful is that? So Shin gives  practical examples of how her students apply this
176. 17:03law to materialize their vision. There's a woman  who's seeking a position and she doesn't sit home
177. 17:07worrying. She buys a new work bag and plans her  commuting wardrobe and preparing her desk that she
178. 17:13doesn't physically have yet and reorganizing  her home. Right? There's a person wanting to
179. 17:19go abroad. They buy a suitcase or they apply  for a passport even though they currently have
180. 17:23zero dollars in their bank account. Another guy  shopping for a home buys a small little decorative
181. 17:28piece or a keychain for the house, signaling to  the subconscious mind that the move is already
182. 17:32a done deal. And by performing these physical  actions, you're digging your ditches deep with
183. 17:38faith. And you're training your mind to stop  looking at your current lack and begin focusing
184. 17:44entirely on expected abundance. So the external  world eventually catches up with these internal
185. 17:51decisions and the faith and preparation that  comes along with it. You dig the ditches and the
186. 17:56rain must come. So for me after reading all four  of Florence Scovilleshin's books I'm convinced
187. 18:02she wasn't simply teaching manifestation. She was  teaching that consciousness operates according to
188. 18:08these laws. Right? Your understanding of reality,  your words, your imagination, your resistance,
189. 18:13your faith. These are not separate ideas. They  are different expressions of the same principle.
190. 18:18Your inner world continually crystallizes into  your outer reality. And maybe that's why her work
191. 18:24has endured for almost a century because while the  language has changed, human consciousness hasn't,
192. 18:31right? The game is still being played, the  laws are still operating, and the invitation
193. 18:36is the same as it was when Florence first wrote  those words. Learn the rules. Learn the rules.
194. 18:44master your consciousness and watch your life  begin to reflect it. So, I hope you love this
195. 18:49episode as much as I love sharing it with you. A  couple of asks. Number one, if you haven't yet,
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204. 19:31I love you so much. Thank you for being here  with me, and I will see you in the next episode.