So, you might have already heard about the law of attraction. It’s one of those newer philosophical ideas floating around on the internet, and especially Instagram influencer’s ‘inspirational’ captions. In that case, you probably like me dismissed it as a fad, or assumed it was some fanciful nonsense that you couldn’t apply to your actual real-life issues. At least that’s what I did. Only recently when the new year rolled around and I was all caught up thinking of new years resolutions, did I turn to this idea again.
You probably dismissed it before because it does sound pretty pretentious, and so I guess to clear that up, what the ‘Law of Attraction’ basically boils down to is the idea that you attract the energy you put out into the world. If you think positive thoughts and practice positive energy towards a situation, essentially in theory, this should mean positive things happen to you. And likewise, if you’re focusing all your time into negative thoughts, you can inevitably expect the same to come your way. Now I’m not going to lie, it still sounds pretty pretentious. Talking about energy, and vibes and how good things are only a thought away is maybe a little naïve, and yes it’s true that the law of attraction has no scientific proof, and this probably means scientifically- it isn’t foolproof.
But, that doesn’t mean it’s a fools errand either. Thinking about it logically, all this ‘law’ is preaching to you is that it is harder for things to go your way if you are constantly willing them to go the opposite. How many times has someone said to you to go into something with a positive mindset for a positive outcome? And it really makes a lot of sense- if you approach a situation believing the best outcome isn’t in sight for you, how can you ever really expect it to come to fruition? The brain is a powerful thing, and it’s amazing how much we can trick ourselves into believing things are the way they are because of everything but our own mindset. When in reality, how we feel and think about something is half the job’s work.
Take the idea of a New Year’s Resolution, for example. So many people dismiss it as a pointless endeavor before the New Year even begins, believing it to be a commercial oversold nonsensical notion, to set resolutions for ourselves. And let’s be honest, a lot of the times it might be. But if you go into the new year with the mindset that it is a waste of time to try and make small changes in your life, then you are setting yourself up to fail even more. Of course, we know deep down there is no real reason why the clock striking midnight should make anything different, but it’s approaching it with the belief that it is an opportunity to try and make things different that is the important part.
And to me, that’s all the law of attraction really is when you actually implement it. It isn’t about some kind of spiritual energy or anything like that, and it isn’t necessarily wishing the good into existence, because as you probably know from experience, that doesn’t always work. What living by this law really means is approaching situations with the mentality that it will work out for you, or at least it can work out for you if you are willing to give it a try. It seems easier breaking it down into a few stages:
- Be honest with yourself about what it is you want: It’s hard to know how to be successful in what you’re doing if you have no idea where you’re going. So, the first step here is really to pin down your ambitions, in any corner of your life.
- Think about the best outcome and worst outcome: I’m not saying by being positive you have to go into things blindly ignoring the negative. Take time when approaching a situation to consider all the outcomes; this is how you can reinforce the best outcome, whilst realizing the worst isn’t as daunting as it seems.
- Choose to try: The law of attraction isn’t foolproof. You can’t make things always go your way by believing they will, but you stand a much better chance if you believe things can work then if you shut yourself off immediately. Usually this comes from a place of fear, and the only way to combat that is to dive headfirst into whatever it is that’s so scary.
To be honest, I think all of these points go hand in hand, because usually the scariest part of doing something is admitting you want it, and then admitting that you believe you can do it. We’re told a lot to believe in ourselves, and yet it always feels quite embarrassing to do so. So, I guess believing in the law of attraction really means just having the confidence to believe that you deserve the good and are willing to put in the exterior and interior effort to get there.