I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reached for an InnerTalk program simply because I thought I might need it. If everyone around me starts coming down with a cold, I’ll start playing Accelerated Healing even though I’m feeling perfectly fine. If I know I have to give a presentation, I’ll start using the programs in our Public Speaking collection from the moment I know about it and continue right up until the event.
I don’t wait until I’m sick or nervous before doing something about it. If I can see a potential challenge ahead, I’d much rather start preparing myself while I’m still feeling healthy, confident and in control. Because once something has become a problem, we may have a much steeper hill to climb.
Before the Problem Appears
There’s actually some fascinating science behind this idea.
In Mind Training, I wrote about research discussed by Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer in which healthy people watched videos of others coughing and sneezing and were encouraged to imagine that they had colds themselves. Forty percent of them subsequently reported cold symptoms, compared with only 10 percent of a control group. Those who reported symptoms also showed an elevated immune response.
Think about that for a moment. Simply engaging mentally with the experience of being sick was enough to produce measurable changes in the body.
We’ve also heard from InnerTalk users over the years who tell us that they began using programs such as Accelerated Healing when illness was circulating around them and remained healthy even while people around them became sick. I’ve experienced the same thing myself many times. Of course, nothing can give us complete control over our health, but there is much we can do to tip the odds in our favor. And this holds for many areas of our lives. As such, it raises a fascinating question: If expectations and beliefs can work against us, why wouldn’t we deliberately work on strengthening the ones that support us?
That’s part of the thinking behind a program such as Be Well Stay Happy. We don’t have to wait until we’re unwell to strengthen beliefs about being healthy. We can reinforce those beliefs while we’re already well. And the same principle extends far beyond health.
Preparation Isn’t Merely Defensive. It’s Expansive.
If I know I’m going to speak in front of an audience, why wait until I’m nervous to start working on confidence? If I’m pursuing an important goal, why wait until I’ve lost motivation before strengthening it? Why wait until stress is overwhelming before working on our ability to manage it? Thinking ahead can help us meet difficulties before they have the chance to become larger problems. But sometimes the thing we’re unprepared for is an opportunity.
Imagine suddenly being offered the promotion you’ve been hoping for. You meet someone who could change the direction of your career. An idea comes to you that could become something important. You’re asked to speak, lead, create, travel, learn or take on something you’ve never done before. Or perhaps, after years of responsibilities and obligations, you finally have the time and freedom to pursue something you’ve always wanted to do.
What Will Your Next Opportunity Ask of You?
Opportunities are coming. We may not know what they’ll look like or when they’ll appear, but life continually presents us with possibilities. The question is whether we’ll be ready to recognize them and do something with them when they arrive.
- It might ask for confidence—the willingness to believe you’re capable of stepping into something larger.
- It might require optimism—the ability to see possibility instead of immediately seeing all the reasons something could go wrong.
- It might require vision, so you can recognize where an opportunity could lead, or strategic thinking so you can turn an exciting possibility into something real.
- And then there’s motivation.
An opportunity can open a door, but at some point we still have to walk through it. This is one reason I believe so strongly in the Essential Pillars of Success collection. These aren’t resources we need once. They’re resources we draw upon repeatedly throughout our lives.
- Confidence.
- Motivation.
- Stress management.
- Health and well-being.
- Optimism.
- Prosperity.
- Vision.
- Strategy.
- Believing in ourselves and what might be possible.
They help us when we’re struggling with the problems that inevitably arise. But they can also help us strengthen ourselves before those problems appear—and put us in a much better position to recognize and maximize the opportunities that come our way. That’s why I genuinely believe Essential Pillars of Success is something every InnerTalk user should have in their personal library.
Preparing Before You Know What You’re Preparing For
There’s another reason I like this approach. We don’t always know what we’re preparing ourselves for.
You might work on confidence because of something happening at work and later discover that your greater confidence changes how you handle an important relationship. You might strengthen your optimism during a difficult period, only to discover months later that it helps you recognize a possibility you once would have dismissed.
You might begin thinking more strategically because you’re trying to solve one problem and then find yourself using that same ability when a completely unexpected opportunity appears.
The inner resources we develop travel with us. And perhaps that’s one of the reasons success can sometimes look so sudden from the outside. Someone gets the opportunity. They recognize it. They say yes. They act on it. And suddenly their life seems to change. But perhaps it wasn’t sudden at all.
The moment we call success may simply be the moment all the preparation finally becomes visible.
Essential Pillars of Success
For a limited time, we’re making the complete Essential Pillars of Success album available for:
- $99 for downloadable MP3s
- $119 for physical CDs
The collection brings together nine different programs addressing the inner resources we repeatedly call upon as our lives, challenges and opportunities change.
And if you already own one or several of the programs, remember that at the special album price, it may still cost less to purchase the complete collection than it would to buy just the programs you’re missing individually. This is an opportunity to complete your InnerTalk toolbox and have these resources available whenever you need them.
Plus: we’re including I Believe as a free bonus. Because underneath all this preparation lies something even more fundamental: What do I believe? and What kind of life do I wish to create?
We can’t know exactly what opportunity will come next. But we can become the person who is ready when it does.
Warmly,
Ravinder Taylor
*Please note: this is a limited time special offer that expires at 11:59 PM Pacific Time on Monday, October 12, 2026.
“I have bought your Essential Pillars of Success and I love it! It has really helped me to focus in on my dreams and make them into a reality. I believe GOD brought these programs to my attention and I use them every day to further my success. Thank you!”
~ D. W.