Curious about The Law of Attraction? Here's what you need to know

What is the Law of Attraction?

Where does the term come from?

How can I make it work for me?

You will find untold articles on the internet about ‘The Law of Attraction’. It has become a big money maker in the Personal Development and Self-Help industry.

Here’s a little History: 

The concept is believed to have originated in the United States back in the early 1800s by a guy called Phineas Quimby, who led something called the ‘New Thought Movement’ of that time. And the term itself appeared in print for the first time in a book written by a Russian occultist called Helena Blavatsky – she used it in a context alluding to an attracting power existing between elements of spirit.

But the person who first articulated the Law as a general principle was Prentice Mulford, who was a central figure in the development of New Thought thinking. He discussed it in his essay ‘The Law of Success’ published 1886-1887. In the 20^th century it became a much larger topic with many people talking about it, and growing the concept further, two significant books being: Think and Grow Rich (1937) by Napoleon Hill & You Can Heal Your Life (1984) by Louise Hay.

Louise Hay certainly took it to new heights by starting a publishing company, Hay House Publishing, which publishes exclusively self-help, personal development, inspirational and transformational books, courses and products.

The ‘Law’ itself is simple. Here’s a few cliché descriptions: 

You get out what you put in

What you give is what you get

Like attracts like

You reap what you sow 

Yes, all of those are speaking about this concept.

And you can read endless books and even watch films (such as The Secret) which expand on the concept, and pull it apart and try and make it scientific. But the fundamental basis is that you create your own reality by what you think and how you perceive the world around you. 

‘Reality is a projection of your thoughts or the things you habitually think about.’ - Stephen Richards 

If you feel unhappy about elements in your life (work home, relationships) and think about all the things that make you unhappy all the time, you are going to find even more things that make you unhappy. And the reverse is true: If there are lots of things that make you happy in your life and you spend a lot of time thinking about the things that make you happy, you will find more things to make you happy. Either way you will be inspired to search for more of the same whether consciously or not. 

“Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in your life.” - Tony Robbins 

Take for example my stepfather, who believed that Friday the 13^th was an unlucky day, because he had a car accident on that day and date. So every Friday the 13^th he believed that something bad was going to happen, so all day he looked for that bad thing. He was physically tense and uncomfortable all day, and any tiny thing, like dropping something or making a mistake, became larger than normal and he became super focused on it. He was looking for bad things to happen, so they did. He was distracted enough by this that he had another car accident on that date – despite it being minor. This fed his belief that it was an ‘unlucky’ day. 

‘Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.’- Henry Fonda 

There is a saying ‘you create your own luck’ and what this means is, if you are confident and sure you can achieve something, and have commitment and determination to achieve it, then you will. You will see any problems or obstacles as challenges and lessons. Continued persistence will result in success. Whereas, if you are uncertain and not sure it’s what you want, and at the first difficult step stop and give up, it won’t be successful. It doesn’t mean you are unlucky, it means that you chose not to continue to pursue it. 

‘The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.’ - Stephen Richards 

In terms of ‘the Law of Attraction’ the concept talks about ‘energy’ and ‘vibration’, putting it out to receive the same. I see that as our intention and commitment we set in our minds or speak out loud when we decide on something we want.

A lot of the books use the term ‘abundance’, which means success in money, work, love, or anything you desire. They use the term ‘lack of scarcity’ to express when we spend too much time thinking about what we don’t have or have not yet achieved. The idea being that if we spend too much of our ‘energy’ thinking about what we don’t have, we will only see those things and thus ‘bring’ into our lives – meaning that if we constantly think ‘I don’t have all this’ we create a negative feeling about it (despair, hopelessness, depression) and that will not help us, and may lead us to give up trying to gain them – a sort of negative spiral of thought.

Whereas focusing and seeing what we do have – the whole ‘being grateful’ and ‘living in gratitude’ that it spoken about in these same books – will bring positive feelings and thoughts about what we have in our lives, whether big or small. And the more we look at what we have, the more we feel we have. 

‘Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals. If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more?’ - Roy T. Bennett 

Then there is the Law of Attraction concept that applies to the experience of the negative person.

Most people don’t like being around someone who only has negative things to say, and complains about their lives: relationships, work, home. Trust me, I have been that person. They can’t be helped, anything anyone says is turned into a negative point. It puts people off. Their ‘negative energy’ contributes to the problem: people don’t want to be around them. So if they feel bad about themselves or lonely and isolated, they will only feel more of the same, as people find them toxic or unpleasant company and move away from them.

Whereas someone who is always happy, and always has something good to say, is welcomed by the people around them. They don’t have to be super bubbly or excessive about it, but if they are calm and positive about what they talk about – even with things that might not be great in their lives, people won’t turn away from them. Their mood or energy is attractive. People will return and want them in their company. 

‘When you are joyful, when you say yes to life and have fun and project positivity all around you, you become a sun in the centre of every constellation, and people want to be near you.’ - Shannon L. Alder 

All of this applies to ‘The Law of Attraction’.

No matter how esoteric this concept may seem, or how elusive, this is the fundamental basis of the concept. And it comes down to changing your thoughts to enhance the life you create for yourself.