Is the Law of Attraction For Real?

Hello. In the last post I said I would write more about the Law of Attraction, and it seems like an opportune moment right now.

A lot of people of heard of this concept, but they may be wondering, Is the Law of Attraction for Real? How can I know?

I have found a lot of great value in the concept. Let me define it first, and then I’ll take on a common misunderstanding.

What is the Law of Attraction?

I don’t know if there is a standard exact definition of the Law of Attraction, which seems to have been around for a long time. Although it was popularized by a book and movie called “The Secret”. The movie came out first in 2006, and the book the following year. However, many previous books used the same concepts, such as the very popular Think and Grow Rich, written by Napoleon Hill over many years and published in 1937. Also, The Power of Positive Thinking, 1952, by Norman Vincent Peale, and You Can Heal Your Life, 1984, by Louise Hay.

The Law of Attraction is the idea that you create your own reality, that you attract good or bad things into your life based on your thoughts and your mindset. As your thoughts control your actions, your actions shape your reality, I really don’t see why the concept is so controversial.

What the Law of Attraction is Not

First of all, the Law of Attraction is not magic.

 

When we talk about attracting good things, we are not saying that you do magic or that you get to be free of all trouble and suffering just by having positive thoughts. It is not a violation of the Law of Attraction if someone who says daily positive affirmations has a car accident, for instance. That was something totally out of that person’s control. The Law of Attraction is about expanding your understanding of what you can control, but it doesn’t make you control everything.

But there are a lot of areas in your life where your thinking and your attitude do affect the results

Is It a PseudoScience?

It’s true that it is commonly labeled as a pseudoscience, even the prominent encyclopedia website Wikipedia labels it as that. But I regard it as a serious misunderstanding. In order to be a Pseudoscience, there are 2 requirements – first it has to be false, and second it has to claim to be a science. I regard both of these as false when applied to the Law of Attraction.

 

It is common for scientists and learned people to label any idea that scares or challenges them as the only source of true knowledge, as a pseudoscience. But this rests on a very popular fallacy.

It is fallacious to believe that all truth has to be provable by a scientific method. The scientists who claim to have proven there is no God have fallen into this same fallacy.

As someone who is a person of faith, I think it is ridiculous to claim that something is not proven and think that puts the issue to rest. I regard my religious beliefs as being just as true, just as important, more important perhaps, as scientific laws because they give meaning and purpose to my life where knowing how gravity works does not.

The word Law does not by itself establish this as a false science either – the word Law is commonly used in Theology as well.

I also don’t care if some proponents do claim it is science. There is no central organization that controls the term, and what other people do with the concept is not binding on what I understand about it.

What matters to me, is, Does this Law work? Is it true? Does it help people? All the rest of it is a distraction from what really matters.

I am Still Studying the Law of Attraction

I can’t give a definitive statement at this time whether it is “true” or not. I am still studying the Law of Attraction, and applying it to many areas of my life. But I do find value in the mindset changes, the paradigm shift I am already having.

I am finding it to be valuable. I would recommend you study it too.

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I want to say, I was cynical about the idea myself until about a month ago. I guess I thought it was a claim of magical powers too. But in my religion we do believe that all humans have divine potential within us, so this idea really “attracts” me because of that. But someone I really respect, who is doing very well in online business put me onto the idea and I haven’t looked back.

I did have certain ideas I had already accepted that laid some groundwork for me to accept this concept.

For instance, I had already read Stephen R Covey, and also Robert Kiyosaki, who in Rich Dad Poor Dad talked about mindset as well. He said if you say “I can’t do this” you are making it be true. If you say “How can I do this?” you unlock your creativity and imagination to find new ideas.

I find it to be true of my own life that I have limited myself in the past by not believing I could do things that I really wanted. I have lots of possibilities that I have never explored. And now for the first time I believe they are possible, and I am determined to get there.

I never thought I could make a living doing something I loved, for instance. Now I do. I didn’t think I could make money from online business, I didn’t think I could overcome various personal failings. Now I am sure that I can do all of these things. I have already benefited from the Law of Attraction.

How Do You Put It Into Effect?

I have a new morning routine, which I learned from Bob Proctor, one of the top experts in the Law of Attraction. He is a very successful motivational speaker and business growth expert, and he still at age 85 is doing these routines every day.

Bob teaches gratitude as a big part of the mindset you need to succeed in any endeavor.

He recommends a process of writing down 10 things you’re grateful for, and then he writes a paragraph about spiritual DNA with his left hand (this is an example of trying something different in order to change your paradigm).

Let me define what the paradigm is. This is an overall high-level picture of where things are, Stephen R Covey often talked of paradigms too. Wiktionary calls it “A system of beliefs, ideas, values, and habits that is a way of thinking about the real world.” But as Bob Proctor defines it, it is a collection of habitual behavior that lies in your subconscious mind, formed at a very early age, which shapes your behavior and controls what direction your life goes. You can CHOOSE to change your paradigm.

So this simple routine is how I start my day. I also play or speak positive affirmations before I start working on my business every day.

I have a lot of work to change all the negative beliefs I held for so many years. If you struggle with this issue too I highly recommend morning and daily affirmations as well.

An affirmation Bob uses is: “I am so happy and grateful now that money comes to me in increasing quantities, through multiple sources, on a continuous basis.” This illustrates the form you want to use – state what you want to happen as though it were already happening, and write it down, and repeat it out loud. I am also enjoying the “mirror work” of talking to myself, sometimes in the mirror, in positive and encouraging ways. There is a lot of information about this on Louise Hay’s website, which continues her great work after her death.

Truths I am Sure About

Here are the aspects of the Law of Attraction that I am sure are true.

Your beliefs do affect your behavior. Your choices and your behavior do have a critical role in determining whether you achieve your goals and dreams. While there is not a magic force at work here, I do believe that learning about this has improved my life so much that the amount of improvement can’t be measured. Therefore, It can’t be proven or disproven by science. But I am glad I learned it, and I plan to keep studying it for the rest of my life.

I hope you will join me in this study.