Wayne Dyer was one of the most beloved spiritual teachers of our time. He was my teacher and my mentor and since he passed, he has become my guide in spirit.
In this special episode, I’m joined by my dear friend Lauren Rainbow, a gifted psychic medium who has channeled Wayne for me many times in private readings. We walk through five of Wayne’s most powerful spiritual lessons. Then, together, Lauren and I channel his message about each one, as it relates to the world we’re living in today.
Lesson 1: When You Change the Way You Look at Things, the Things You Look at Change
This is one of Wayne’s most famous teachings, and it might be the most foundational.
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” — Wayne Dyer
Wayne used to point back to Albert Einstein’s question: do you live in a friendly universe or a hostile one? Because whichever one you decide is true, that’s the one you’ll experience. See a world full of hostility and anger, and that’s exactly what you’ll create for yourself. See a world that’s fundamentally on your side, and you start building evidence for that instead.
Living This Lesson in a World That’s Changing Fast
Channeled message: We’re living through a moment where change feels constant and fast, faster than maybe any of us have experienced before. The lesson right now isn’t to control that pace. It’s to stay fluid with it. Be like water. Let change move through you instead of fighting to hold everything in place.
This is also a time of collective awakening, and awakening is uncomfortable by nature. The discomfort isn’t a sign something’s wrong, it’s often exactly where the shift happens. The perceptual change we need has to start with each of us individually. We can’t wait for someone else to be the one who changes first. We have to be the ones who shift our own perception, because that’s the only lever any of us actually has.
Lesson 2: Have a Mind That’s Open to Everything and Attached to Nothing
“Have a mind that’s open to everything and attached to nothing.” — Wayne Dyer
Wayne taught that you came into this life with nothing, and you’ll leave it with nothing. Your life is a parenthesis in eternity, so live inside it without gripping so tightly to outcomes.
When we let go of expectation, we’re able to receive exactly what’s in front of us, as it is, instead of measuring it against what we thought we wanted. There’s less disappointment in that. There’s more room to be surprised by what actually shows up, and often it’s more than what we would have asked for ourselves.
Why Constant Distraction Blocks Your Manifestations
Channeled message: Here’s the part of this lesson that feels the most relevant to right now. We’re living with more distraction than any generation before us. Phones, notifications, constant comparison, constant measuring of our lives against everyone else’s. That noise is what blocks manifestation, not a lack of effort or a wrong frequency.
The antidote isn’t complicated. It’s nature. It’s slowing down enough to breathe. It’s creating conscious space for alignment, so that when the noise clears, you’re back in attunement with the deeper part of yourself that already knows what it’s doing. When you clear that space, you can take good, orderly direction (GOD) again, instead of reacting to every ping and every comparison trap in front of you.
Lesson 3: You Don’t Attract What You Want, You Attract Who You Are
This might be my favorite of Wayne’s teachings, and it’s one I come back to constantly in my own work.
“You don’t attract what you want. You attract who you are.” — Wayne Dyer
Manifestation is about becoming, on the inside, the person whose life already looks like the one you’re picturing. Now, more than ever, we need to honor who we are, uniquely, rather than trying to copy someone else’s path or someone else’s spiritual gifts.
Finding Your Way Back to Your Authentic Truth
Channeled message: So how do you actually manifest who you are? You spend more time in your authentic truth. Truth is the highest calibration of energy there is. When you’re in it, you’re in alignment. You’re not performing, you’re not in fear, you’re not stuck replaying the past or spinning out about the future.
Practically, that might look like spending time with close friends. Dancing. Writing. Moving your body. Whatever specific thing brings you into your own truth is worth protecting time for, because that’s the real practice, not a technique you perform once and forget about.
And if you’re not sure what that looks like for you, follow the joy. Joy is often the clearest signpost pointing back to your authentic self, whatever form it takes for you.
Lesson 4: You’ll See It When You Believe It
Wayne wrote a book with this exact title, flipping the far more common phrase “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“You’ll see it when you believe it.” — Wayne Dyer
Belief has to come first. You assume you already are what you want to be, and then you live by faith in that assumption, rather than waiting for proof to show up before you’re willing to believe it’s possible.
Follow Your Heart
Channeled Message: Belief is the seed that plants the desire, and it’s the root that holds everything up. This means believing in who you are, right now, not just in the future version of yourself you’re hoping to become. Even if you don’t have all the tools yet. Even if you don’t know exactly where you’re going. Believing in your own worth, as you are today, clears the space for what comes next.
If your own core beliefs about yourself have been damaged along the way, they don’t need to be forced or overridden. They need to be forgiven and nurtured, so the truer belief underneath, the one about your own worthiness, has room to come through. And if you’re wondering what to actually trust right now, the simplest answer is your own heart. When something feels true to you, whether it’s a song, a book, or a conversation like this one, that’s your heart telling you what’s real for you.
Lesson 5: Don’t Die With Your Music Still in You
This is the final lesson, and for me, it’s the one that hits hardest every single time.
“Don’t die with your music still in you.” — Wayne Dyer
Wayne taught that so many people wonder what their purpose is, without realizing that the very act of wondering is the purpose trying to reconnect with them. Inside every one of us is a presence of infinite possibility, a kind of music that has to be expressed. Without expressing it, we keep looking and looking and never feel satisfied. The moment we start expressing it, we stop searching and start actually living.
What It Means to Live in Your Music
Your music isn’t your job title, and it isn’t your list of accomplishments. It’s the full, embodied expression of whatever is uniquely yours to give, whether that comes through creative work, through raising children, through stillness, through purpose-driven work in the world, or through something as simple as a kind word to a stranger.
You don’t get to control how it lands for other people, and that’s not the point anyway. Someone out there needs exactly what you have to give, and you’ll never know who that is until you actually let it out. Don’t wait for permission. Don’t wait until it feels perfect. Let your music play.
Resources
I recommend Wayne’s Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life here.
To develop your own channeling abilities I recommend Lauren Rainbow’s Mediumship Training Card Deck.
You might also like my book The Universe Has Your Back.
Want to go deeper? Join me for Dear Guides Live on Nov 21 in NYC for a day dedicated to connecting to your angels and spirit guides. Get all the details here.
Get my free manifesting meditation
About Gabby
Gabrielle Bernstein is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, motivational speaker, and host of the Dear Guides podcast. She has spent more than two decades helping people heal, connect with a power greater than themselves, and recognize the love that’s been guiding them all along.