There’s a lot of hype (and mystery) out there about what the law of attraction is and how it can change your life. After reams of research and real-life experimentation, I’ve figured out what’s real and what you can ignore. In this article, I’ll highlight some of the key concepts of the law of attraction and how you can use them to improve your life. For more in-depth information and a host of exercises and meditations you can use to implement what you learn, check out my latest book, The Mindful Guide to the Law of Attraction.
After reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne years ago, the main concept that stuck with me was the idea of focusing my thoughts on what I wanted. I thought that if I just thought about what I wanted (over and over), it would magically appear in my life. Needless to say, it didn’t happen. There’s a lot more to the law of attraction than that. Feeling frustrated, I dug deeper.
The Power of Your Thoughts
My analytical mind had a hard time incorporating the other aspects of the law of attraction that were necessary to manifest what I wanted. Feelings. Vibrations. Belief. I wasn’t sure how, but I knew I had to figure out how to use these to complete the picture.
[Quotes in this article are from my book, The Mindful Guide to the Law of Attraction.]
“What is the law of attraction? At its core, it’s a universal law that connects awareness to outcome: what we choose to focus on and believe, in turn, becomes our reality. Perhaps you have heard of “like attracts like” or “energy goes where attention flows.” These are common sayings that get at the truth of this law, that where we put our attention affects the realities we experience in our everyday lives.
The challenge that most of us face is that we aren’t aware of our own thought patterns and habits and how these might contribute to unwanted results. Both the beauty and the challenge of the law of attraction is that it’s always in a state of creation. For better and for worse, you can’t turn “off” your thoughts. The question then becomes: What will you do with them with awareness that they’re always “on?” This is the basis of the saying (and the title of one of Wayne Dyer’s books) “Change your thoughts. Change your life.””
Beliefs and Affirmations
One of the reasons that affirmations don’t work for so many is that there’s usually a lack of belief in the affirmation that you keep repeating. “I’m happy.” “I’m rich.” It’s hard to believe things like that when you’re depressed and poor.
It wasn’t until I started combining what I learned about mindfulness with what I learned about the law of attraction that it started to come together for me. Mindfulness helped me to notice what was really going on in my head – what my monkey mind was screeching that was so unhelpful. So often, the problem is that we believe what our monkeys are screeching at us, then we try to placate that with positive affirmations. We forget that the monkey isn’t us. Our True Self has the ability to watch the monkey’s antics, wait for him to calm down, then get on with our lives, focusing on what’s best for us.
It’s our True Self that knows what’s best for us, not the monkey. When we understand that the monkey (that we all have) is a diversion, we can use the law of attraction to focus our true intentions and feelings on what we want. With that focus and intention, we start to believe that we can achieve what we want. It’s the monkey that casts doubt and tells us that we’re not worthy, that we’ll never get what we want.
When you know that you (your True Self) are not your monkey, the magic begins.
“This brings us deeper into the connection between the law of attraction and mindfulness. You might already know that mindfulness is the process of noticing without judgment. It is a moment-by-moment awareness available to everyone about what is happening within and around us, right now. And now. And now. This often goes against our habitual, lifelong patterns of judging what we see and experience. Yet, mindfulness creates openings to pause and objectively witness what is, without having to have an opinion or desire to change anything. It is in this witnessing that we can pause and make choices about how to give energy to the thoughts and beliefs that will serve us.
Practicing mindfulness brings awareness to negative or scattered thought patterns. By observing these habits (or rabbit holes), we can better examine the source of the life we’ve created. Whether conscious or subconscious, daily or a single moment, we’re constantly using our minds to manifest new outcomes. Mindfulness opens the door to making the changes necessary to achieve more of what we want.”
What You Focus on Grows
With an understanding of how you may have allowed your monkey to create your life so far, it’s time to focus on what you can do to shift things and put your True Self in the driver’s seat.
“You may not have realized it, but you’ve been using the law of attraction your entire life. Whatever you have focused on with your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings has become the reality you are living today. You might say, “But this isn’t what I wanted!” or “That was out of my control!” Mindfulness can help you objectively examine your present situation to become aware of what you were focusing on in the past that might have played a role in creating your present (a deep dive into the things you can control). You can then apply this practice to today, examining what you are currently focusing on to better understand what your future will hold. Yesterday’s actions created today’s outcome. Today’s actions create your future. No matter what platitude you stick to, the same principle remains: Your thoughts shape your reality.”
Simple Steps
Spend some time journaling about your habitual thoughts. What do you regularly tell yourself? What thoughts constantly spin in your head? How are you making little choices throughout your day, every day, based on these thoughts? How would your choices change if your thoughts changed? How would your reality change if your choices changed?
What if you believed that you were enough? What if you asked for what you truly wanted without worrying about what others (or your monkey mind) might think? What if you acted, with confidence, like your True Self? What if you chose with your heart instead of your head or your fears?
“It takes three core elements—desire, attention, and permission—to begin to actualize the law of attraction. More specifically, it follows these steps:
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- Identify what you desire in as much detail as possible. Visualize it and feel what it’s like to already have it.
- Focus your positive attention on achieving it. Look for opportunities that you can exploit to move you closer to your desire, and act on them.
- Give yourself permission to receive it. This is where negative self-talk can prevent you from manifesting what you want. Know that you are worthy of receiving what you desire.”
While the law of attraction has certainly been sensationalized, it’s a timeless law that can be used to create the life you want. Using the principles of mindfulness to better understand where you’re focusing your energy, you can use the law of attraction to bring more of what you want into your life.
The Mindful Guide
The book includes a collection of 45 meditations and exercises that help you get clear on what you want, ensuring that your energies are focused on what is right for you so you can attract more of what you want into your life.
The biggest secret I have learned throughout my own personal development journey is that the power to change our outcomes, to find a sense of inner peace, is inside of us right now. My goal in writing this book is to give you the tools to shine a light on what has been hidden inside you so that you can achieve what you have been seeking. The meditations ground the tough work of your inner practice, and in the end, help you experience new realities in health, wealth, and matters of the heart. You can initiate change from the inside out.
You can find this book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Indigo.
Please do me a little favor and share this article with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them as well.