Change Your Life with the Law of Attraction

What is the Law of Attraction?

Imagine if having your heart's desire was as simple as wishing for it to happen. According to the Law of Attraction, it is. Made popular by the 2006 film and bestselling book, called The Secret, this spiritual philosophy hit the media spotlight in the Noughties, with US television host Oprah Winfrey devoting two episodes of her talk show to it. But the idea actually dates back to the spiritual New Thought Movement of the early 20th century. Based on the principle that positivity attracts more positivity, and negativity attracts negativity, it claims to be a method through which you can, literally, think your way to success.

The Law of Attraction says that your thoughts create your reality. Sounds complicated, but it simply means that the thoughts you have can become your experience of life. So if you dwell on negative thoughts, such as:
'I can't get that job'
'I'm not worthy of love'
'I'll never have a family'

This becomes how other people perceive you, how you see yourself and so, eventually, becomes your reality. Equally, according to the Law of Attraction, like attracts like, so if you constantly think about how everything might go wrong in your life or that bad things, like illness, accidents or misfortune could happen - you may be attracting them. This is a controversial viewpoint for some people but spiritual ideas are often meant to be challenging.

Make it work for you

To work with the Law of Attraction, you need to believe good things will happen. But it's a step further than just positive thinking. Some spiritual teachers call it 'conscious creating'. You have to change your old negative beliefs, breaking away from thought patterns that hold you back from achieving success. But you are not just 'hoping' for the best to happen but you are wholeheartedly 'expecting' it to become reality. This is the tricky part. For the Law of Attraction to work, you have to believe you deserve success, which can be difficult for some people. It requires a total shift in your mindset from limiting your scope to revealing the limitless possibilities open to you.

So instead of thinking:
'I'm never going to achieve anything.' A person following the Law of Attraction would think: 'I expect to achieve y and z. Today I'm going to do X to start my path towards this goal.'

For example:
Old thinking: 'I'm worried I will become ill'
Law of Attraction: 'My health is good. I will continue to eat healthy foods and exercise regularly'

Old thinking: 'I'll never have enough money'
Law of Attraction: 'I expect money to flow into my life. I will be a success in my work and earn more money'

Old thinking: 'I'm not as successful as my friends'
Law of Attraction: 'My friends respect and care about me. Who has the most money or a better job is irrelevant to a true friendship'

Be a magnet for Success with the Law of Attraction

Focus on what you want
The more you focus on your goal, the more real it will become. So if you want to increase your confidence: behave as if you are confident. If you want a particular promotion: start thinking about what you would do in the role. By believing that you will achieve your goal, the Law of Attraction says you will draw this positive outcome to you and make it real.

Forget your fears
This is not an invitation to behave recklessly, rather it means you should stop thinking about all those niggling, pointless worries that people tend to obsess over.
For example:
*Your pet is in perfect health but you know she'll get sick in the future and it's something you worry about constantly.
*Your work colleague has always been polite but you worry she secretly dislikes you.
*No mention has been made of redundancies at work, but you can't stop worrying that it could happen to you.
Stop thinking negative thoughts! Negativity attracts more negativity. In examples like the ones above, negative thinking is pointless and damaging. The Law of Attraction tells us to focus on the positives in each situation and the negatives will fall away.

Create happiness
Even if you feel as if life is giving you a rough ride at the moment, don't dwell on disappointments and setbacks. Deal with practical problems quickly then move on. Focus on imagining your life as you would like it to be. Take ten minutes at the end of each day to visualise yourself living your dream life. By doing this, you are consciously creating happiness in your mind. The Law of Attraction states that when you think and believe in your ideal life, it will become much more likely to happen in reality.