The longest list of success stories I've ever seen: Helene Hadsell
Helene won EVERY contest and got every prize she wanted. It's estimated she won around 5,000 contests.
Sounds too good to be true right? But it's true. Helene Hadsell won every contest she entered. She wrote a book detailing her success stories from the beginning, and I'm here to summarize her winnings and advice from her book "Contesting: The name it and claim it game". If you love success stories, you'll love this. If you're in a rush, I think the most interesting success stories are the experiences numbered 17-18.
Things that you should take from this are in purple. Text in parentheses are comments from me, usually identifying what she did that you may hear often in the manifestation community.
Note: Helene is human like all of us. She isn't flawless, and like any human she can waver. However, this does not invalidate her success. As her dominant assumption that she can win any contest she enters never failed her. Observe why she didn't receive what she ideally wanted at times, and instead received it a different way. Her manifestation were sometimes “delayed” due to the fact she assumed it to be that way. The fact that she admitted to not getting everything she wanted in the way she wanted makes her story more reliable, and helps us from making the same mistakes.
The start, Chapter 1: The Name It & Claim It Game
Hadsell read Norman Vincent Peale's book, The Power of Positive Thinking. Since then, she wanted to prove to herself that anything the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve with positive thinking.
2. Never entertain doubts
3. You can con yourself into anything: By repeating it over and over. Until one day, it is incorporated into your thinking.
Her first experiment started when her husband wanted an outboard motor in this contest. She filled out an entry imagining herself from her husbands view point. Three weeks later, she received a call that she won the outboard motor.
She says that before she received winning conformation, everytime the thought crossed her mind about the contest or motor, she convinced herself again and again she would win (she thought in her favor everytime her desire crossed her mind). She asked herself "I wonder when they will let us know that we have won?" She had no negative doubts, and didn't entertain the thought that she wasn't lucky or that only clever people would win (she had a self concept that aligned with her desired outcome). She refused to entertain any negative doubts that could affect her manifestation (she refused to waver!).
Hadsell entered another contest where she used the same positive thinking, and questioned how long it would take the company to inform her. She KNEW she would be a winner. Only two attempts at winning contests, and she ended up winning both of them. Seeing this, the family joined in.
Now, I'll vaguely list more success stories in order. I'll add more to ones that stood out and that you should pay attention to.
1. Her daughter Pam wanted a bicycle and won a bicycle.
2. Her son Chris wanted a bicycle, also won a bicycle.
- >She comments, "I inject this for anyone who sees this as luck. The fact that we did win the first time we entered help us gain confidence. There is an old cliche that goes like this: "If at first, you don't succeed, try, try again." Had I not won my first try, I feel my positive attitude would have urged me to continue to enter anyway. I have since realize that with a positive thinking outlook, there is no failure, only a delay in results" (This does not have to apply to you. This is Helene's rule, and you'll see how it affects her manifestations. Every person has their own rules for manifestation, and each rule that they accept as true works as so. This doesn't have to be true for you. Let's say you want the rule of manifesting instantly. Simply persist in this no matter what you see. Soon, it will work how you wish. You don't have to believe it for it to be a rule, just persist and soon reality will conform how you wish). "The imaging faculty played a leading part in the goals I wished to achieve. I recommend, in order to play any game successfully, train your faculty of imagination."
3. Helene mentions her and her family won balls, radios, dolls, games, electrical appliances, and cash prizes. "You named it, and we claimed it."
4. Won a trip to Arizona by plane. Helene is scared of flying, so she asks the company if they could go by train instead. But it was a prepackaged flight, so they were disqualified. They received a second place prize of a movie camera instead.
- > After this, she used powerful positive thinking to convince herself planes were safe and that she would enjoy flying. That she would enter contests involving flying because it would be fun. Conning herself.
5. She won a family dude ranch trip and flew there for the summer. "I recall that all during the trip, I was in an 'in-fright' trance, convincing myself how great it was."
6. The next year they won a family trip to disneyland
7. Helene's other son, Dike wrote a 250 essay for a trip to Americas capital. Of course, he won.
- > She was so proud of it, she shared it with some guests she had over before the win, asking if they wanted to have a sneak preview of a winning entry that would win her son a trip to Washington. One of the guests said "Say, this is terrific, but how can you be so sure that it will win the trip?" Helene called these people "Doubting Thomases". She told them, "Give Dike your address, and he can drop you off a card while he is in Washington D.C." Helene regrets this and says she'll never do it again, because it caused suspicion she might know the judges. She says, "NO Braggin' before Baggin'", and to remember that.
8. Chris won a free trip to the World's Fair for one child and one adult
9. Dike won a trip to europe
- > Before receiving the win, Dike took his passport pics and prepared. The editor, Carolyn says "This tip is important because being prepared tells the Universe you are serious about receiving the abundance it has to offer, and you are ready to reach your goals and dreams now."
10. Chris wanted to go to Europe too, and eventually won a similar contest to go to Europe. "As I stated earlier, all five Hadsells were in the act of winning contests by using a positive attitude."
11. Her daughter Pam won cash prizes by submitting entries to numerous national and local contests. She also won a complete home library and radios. Another time, she won five pairs of roller skates.
Chapter 2: All Things Come to Him Who Waits.
12. Helene mentions she has many household appliances now from sponsors. Around Christmas she wanted an electric skillet. Her husband wanted to buy it for her but she told him not to, because she was positive she'd be winning one shortly. He bought her one anyway. After christmas, she hears from three different sponsors, congratulating her on winning their prize of an electric skillet. She donated these as gifts since her husband already gave her one.
13. Helene really wanted a new stove. She entered the Westinghouse contest which had over fifteen hundred different prizes, and some were stoves. After the contest closed, she heard from others that they won some of the prizes the contest offered yet she heard NOTHING. But she was so positive she could almost touch it. She knew regardless of Westinghouse she would definitely have the stove in her kitchen. She applied to another contest where she received a 1k cash prize, and she used that money to buy a stove. Ten days later, Westinghouse tells her someone overlooked notifying her that she actually WON a stove! After explaining her recent stove purchase, they gave her a laundry unit instead.
14. The family really wanted a color TV. Chris won a 16 inch TV but it was black.
15. Three weeks later, Helene won a TV that was also black and white. They joked they weren't concentrating on color enough and agreed to give color more thought.
16. The third time Helene won a TV, she was so positive she would win. She did win, but it was still black and white. But she refused to be discouraged by what one might call a "failure" and wouldn't give up. Her family begane to joke she was color blind or wasn't color conscious. After two years of projecting for a color TV, she gave in and bought a set. She says, "I know there are no failures, only a delay in results, but that was just flat out taking too long!" (REMEMBER THIS FOR LATER. Although it took long, I noticed she inevitably gets what she wants later in the book when she's no longer actively looking for it. This is because although she believed there were no failures, she also believed a delay in results. In reality, the only “delay” in results is wavering. But you can even affirm wavering doesn’t affect your manifestation. )
17. One day, she and her friend bought tickets to this live show. Before sleep, she suddenly had a very strong desire to be on the show. While she slept, she had a vivid dream where Art LinkLetter (the host) chose Helene from a vast audience and invited her to be on his program. As she sat in the audience the next day, she waited for her dream to become reality. Mr Linkletter was on stage and walked up to where she sat, and among hundred of people, he asked her, "Don't I know you?" She replied "No, this is my first trip to Hollywood." He then asked if she wanted a very special Christmas present. She was escorted into the spotlight and received a beautiful watch. After the program, Mr Linkletter asked her again, "Are you sure we haven't met before today?" Helene didn't tell Linkletter she dreamt about this, and thinks it has to do with telepathy or projection in dreams.
18. I found this day the most interesting.
-> There is this show called "Its Your Bet" where someone from the audience would be chosen by the camera and the celebrity playing the game would answer three questions from their partner, and if correct, the audience player would receive the prize that was flashed on the board (I explained this vaguely as I've done most things, the game will make sense as things unfold, specifics are unnecessary).
-> As Helene waited in line to be let in, she met this mother and daughter who have been playing this game for a long time. They haven't won a single thing. As they told Helene their stories of failure, Helene noticed why it was so. "Sure, they wanted to win, but instead of being positive, they had doubt. Not negation or pessimism, but just enough doubt that they nullified any positive energy they might have had when they entered a contest. I call your attention to this because this is what most people are guilty of doing. They say they are positive, but somehow they don't retain this powerful energy constantly, until their wishes or desires manifest."
-> Helene wanted these people to win. The mom wanted a color Tv and the daughter wanted a refrigerator. She explained to them her concept of how great she thought positive thinking was, and asked them if they would like to play a game using positive thinking and visualization. They agreed, but she could sense they were thinking she was crazy. She told them to project positive energy when the item they wanted flashed on the screen. When that happened they were to know they would be chosen by the house camera and be the winner. And when the celebrity was answering questions, to look at the partners answers and mentally project that answer to the celebrity.
-> When the color TV came, the mother was chosen. Helene was sure the mother and daughter sent answers to the person playing, and Helene did too. All three questions were answer correctly. During lunch break, the daughter asked a question, "Don't you think the whole thing was a coincidence?" So, would she also like to win her refrigerator by coincidence? They decided to do it again. Note that the crowd is now three times bigger than it was the first time. The camera zoomed in on the surprised daughter. During the mental telepathy, the players smoothly picked up the answers. Of course, the daughter won the refrigerator.
-> After that, the duo left and Helene decided to stay as she waited for her husband. She was bored in the audience and sensed that no one in the audience had a strong desire to win an appliance. She remembered her own mother wanted to win a color TV. So, just as she planned, the camera zoomed in on Helen and she won the prize. (So even if she didn't give in and stayed patient, she would still be given the opportunity that would guarantee her winning a color TV.)
Helene calls it WISHcraft. "But let's analyze this situation: the prizes were there for anyone who wished for them; the players of the game had free will, they could accept or reject anything that was mentally suggested to them." (Here, she is talking about how some might see the telepathy part as witchcraft but says people have their own free will. They can choose whether or not to accept the thoughts they receive. I want you to apply that knowledge to your own circumstances. When you’re wavering, you can choose whether or not to identify with the thoughts you are receiving. You are not your thoughts unless you choose to be. Also, do people really have free will? It's up to you. Your reality. Your perception. You can let people be unpredictable, or you can pull the strings. Everything is up to you. But either way, you’re deciding how the people in your reality show up. They don’t have the free will to decide, you decide for them. They only have free will if you assume they do.)
"Question: What if several people were vying for the same prize-- which one would win?
Answer: The one that emitted the most positive energy. (In my opinion, its based off your assumptions. If your observing people manifest, whoever you assume will win, will win. But let's say your one of the ones manifesting. Every single person who persists and doesn't waver will get what they want, just only in their reality. Personally I believe by persisting in a certain reality, we shift to the reality where that is true.)
Question: Can anyone do this?
Answer: It is being done every day, in every way. It is about time you are made aware of it." (You are ALWAYS manifesting. Whether you decide to acknowledge it or not. When wavering, your manifesting just that.)
Helene shares her favorite quote you've probably heard before: "Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character, watch your character for it becomes destiny." Carolyn (the editor) notes: A small thought now, especially when repeated, leads to your final destiny.
This is not the end of Helene's success stories, maybe I’ll make a p2.
