The Law of Attraction actually works. But not in the way that most people think it does.
I recently got $1000 deposited into my bank account for no reason. That’s enough money to sustain me for an entire month.
However, I never asked for that to happen. It was freak luck. Nothing else. It was not the Law of Attraction that gave me that money.
Let me give you the neurological explanation for why the LoA works, as well as my personal strategy — the strategy that I have been practicing for a few years with incrementally improving results.
This is one of the core things that I practice daily, and it’s something that I believe to be essential for success in any area of life.
But first, let’s take a look at how most people think the Law of Attraction works.
The Common Interpretation of Law of Attraction
Here’s how it’s supposed to work, according to dumbed-down movies: you state your desires and wait for it to manifest.
You’ve probably heard the following catchphrase:
“I told the Universe I needed money… Suddenly checks arrived in my mail box instead of bills. It was like magic!”
But that’s bullshit.
It doesn’t matter if you’re the best person in the world at “manifesting your desires”– if you don’t know basic economics. You must provide value to get money.
Your life cannot change for the better — financially speaking — unless you find an efficient solution for helping other people achieve their goals. That’s economics 101, you provide a valuable service or product in exchange for money.
Point being: You don’t manifest shit. You make your own luck.
But, if you can find ways of getting your brain to keep focused on the right things it certainly helps you in making your own luck. Stay tuned til the end to find out what I mean.
Example: Stupid People on a Forum
Let’s take a closer look at how some people interpret the LoA. And just exactly how it fits into their lives…
Here are a number of funny messages that I stole from the Power of Attraction Forum from a thread about something called “RS” — Remote Seduction. These people are using their mind powers to get people to fall in love with them.
They begin by telling each other of their cool, supernatural experiences of making people of the opposite sex notice them. Then they get into a “highly scientific” discussion about how to use Remote Seduction and the LoA, trying to find their way towards a best practice:
[Note: My commentary is in normal text, the forum comments are in grey.]
“Maybe it helps to take a break of 1-2 days 
That’s how I do it.”
Peaceevrywhere
–Another user responds, reassuringly:
“I don’t do it every night.so i take break sometimes :)”
ava
–The first user responds:
“That’s good all I can say is stay positive and keep trying as you never know when the universe fulfills your desires 
“
Peaceevrywhere
–Just wait for the universe to fulfill your desires. Eventually your begging will reach the universal god and it will grant your wish, if it’s having a good day and feels like it.
This sounds like a smart plan: Don’t take any personal responsibility for making your desires come true.
Later, another user gives a more in-depth explanation for how the LoA should be used:
“The thing is that the process helps you believe that your desire will come true. It shouldn’t be used to bring your desire to you. By using RS in that way, you’re using it out of desperation or inpatience, sending a message of discomfort of your current lifestyle. REMEMBER: It’s not something you do X times and then you have your guy/girl by your side. Stay happy and that’s the most important thing that you need know!”
Coley915
–Did I understand correctly:
- This magic superpower should only be used for altruistic purposes?
- It has nothing to do with skill or practice, but works purely on random?
Some other user (I didn’t copy the comment) isn’t seeing any results from doing the Remote Seduction mental magic. She begins to wonder if something is wrong, and needs to reaffirm her beliefs. She has become insecure and skeptical. She lists some mundane occurences during the last days.
Another, more experienced, user responds to her:
“those are RS “Symptoms” you mentioned above! So KNOW that its working. My guy is acting soooo weird sometimes when he see’s me he smiles makes eye contact other times he freaks out! and looks confused or even scared(by his own emotions towards me) it’s like im dealing with TWO completely different people here…! is completely Logical for them to act this way.”
memo dissolvedboy
–Indeed. It must be working. Boyfriends that smile at their girlfriends is not at all standard behavior.
User Coley915 leaves another confused message.
“Lately I feel it’s hard to do RS. I just don’t have any energy to put into it. Some days I try and I just can’t. Other days I have really intense RS sessions. I guess part of me feels stupid that I am even trying to attract someone back by doing this in the first place. I’m torn because I love J so much and I miss him. I just want him to come back to me.”
Coley915
–Yes, Coley915, this will get you your man back. There is no more efficient way of accomplishing your goal. Especially not talking directly to him and trying to assert some personal influence.
You just keep thinking hard about how much you want him, and don’t do anything about it. Things should come to you effortlessly. Remember, if you exert any real effort, you must be using the LoA wrong!
—————————
I think you get the point.
These people don’t understand that they actually have to put in some intelligent effort to get what they desire.
They don’t believe in the Law of Compensation. They think they can get something for nothing.
They will do anything — including resorting to magic thinking — in order to avoid putting in any real effort. They can’t face the reality that they need to improve and become more competent before they can get the things they want in life.
It doesn’t matter how skilled at Remote Seduction a 300 lbs woman is. She still has to lose weight.
It doesn’t matter if you slap a suit and tie on a loser guy. He’s still a loser, and nothing will change that but hard work and action.
To clarify: I’m not talking down on wishing, doing affirmation, and formulating goals. But none of those things matter unless you purposely place yourself in situations that are conducive to help you achieve those things.
The Neurological Explanation for the LoA
Practice your brain’s pattern recognition.
When I first learned about the Law of Attraction I was highly skeptical to it. I am a critical thinker and I didn’t buy the dumbed-down explanations for how it worked. I saw that it was a marketing ploy to sell videotapes to the unthinking masses.
However, this actually impeded me, because it made me dismiss everything associated to the LoA. Including writing down my goals, stating my desires, and doing affirmations. I was unsure about those things for a long time — until I began seeing positive results from doing them.
Here’s the real explanation for how the LoA works. It has to do with using certain parts of your brain. And you can practice them regularly. Here are the main parts of the brain that are involved and what they do:
- The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is used to sustain attention at a task, or maintain a stream of thought. It’s with this part of the brain that you make decisions and associate with “wakeful consciousness”.
- The reticular activating system (RAS) together with the thalamus relay information to other parts of the brain. They then filter out all incoming stimuli except for the miniscule amount of information deemed as necessary to bring up to your immediate attention.
In combination, these processes allow human beings to set goals and find ways of achieving them by spotting unlikely opportunities:
PFC: Set goal X + repeat it by consistently focusing on it = sustained attention
RAS & Thamalus: Sustained attention on goal X filters out unnecessary information and helps you find what you’re looking for.
It’s not magic. It’s merely about telling your brain what to look for while you take a lot of action. That is intelligent effort.
Practical Example
Let’s say you run a business and your current goal is to build a sales team. You are now looking to recruit a sales person.
You go about your day and socialize with people.
As you go to your favorite lunch spot you hear a guy in the queue, in front of you, talk about how he sold his car. You listen in on the conversation a bit longer.
The guy starts talking about how he skillfully got the buyer to pay more for the car by using clever sales tactics he’d learned from a book. He then says to his friends that he’s got a new, much cooler car. He tells them he got it by getting several of his friends to make fake offers to the seller — and then got his friends to withdraw their bids in the last second to make his own, lower bid, become the last one left. This made the seller desperate, and he got the car cheaply.
At this point you butt into the conversation and ask the man what he does. You then talk him into taking a position in your sales force.
How did this happen?
Let’s break it down:
It’s highly unlikely that you would have even paid attention to this conversation unless you’d specifically told your brain to scout for candidates to your sales force.
And even if you had, you wouldn’t have made the appropriate connection and thought: “oh, I can use this event to my advantage. I gotta butt into their conversation and make it happen!” unless you were certain that it would help you in accomplishing your goal.
How to Practice Your Brain
If you do the following things your brain will let you notice opportunities to a higher extent, and you will find solutions and smart strategies that you otherwise would’ve missed if you had not told your brain to focus on finding them.
- Practice your concentration. Read books, meditate, visualize, exercise, do anything that is conducive to helping you focus for prolonged periods of time. (PFC practice).
- Go about your day looking for a specific thing. Limit your selection to just a few things. Your attention span can’t handle keeping more than a few important goals in your mind at once. (RAS & thalamus practice).
- Remind yourself what you are looking for. Do repetitions of various sorts. Tell yourself in your head “I’m looking to do X today!” many times throughout the day. Write down the objectives of the day on a note and look at it every hour.
Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.
— Ayn Rand —
Long-term readers also know that I am very keen on keeping a whiteboard and a commonplace. These are the most efficient ways I’ve found of keeping focused on the big picture of what I need to do.
What is your opinion on this? What do you think about the Law of Attraction?
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Very interesting points. I’m glad that you don’t buy into the traditional definition for the LOA. To me, it always seemed more like psuedo-science based on superstition. It’s like believing in a magic rock that will miraculously bring you luck.
yeah, that’s not what I go for.
I’m with you – make your own luck. Do the work necessary to make something happen.
I especially like what you said about the RAS. I’ve thought this for years – that if you keep something in the forefront of your mind, eventually you’ll spot it. You won’t filter it out with the rest of stuff. That’s why I’ve been so good at doing so many things i want to do. I keep them in the forefront of my mind so when the opportunity comes along, I take it. And I think that’s basically how the LOA actually works. If you concentrate on something enough, you’ll eventually find a path that leads you to it. It’s not the Universe giving it to you, it’s you giving it to yourself.
Steve, you mean to tell me that my magical rock has no effect?
No. No… NOO!
…..
“That’s why I’ve been so good at doing so many things i want to do. I keep them in the forefront of my mind so when the opportunity comes along, I take it.”
— Yeah. From some of the posts I’ve read on your blog, we seem to use a lot of similar strategies.
Really interesting. Every morning at the gym I diary three outcomes I want to get out of that day, and the practice helps me a ton in channeling my energy and focus into those three things.
I agree with you 100% that the only way to get results is to train your brain and put in the time and effort–way too many people expect to get results without putting in the work. If you want to have results, there’s absolutely no way to avoid the work.
It’s funny, a year or two ago a middle-aged man I worked with gave me a book on the Law of Attraction because he was into it, and I wrote it off as some hippy-dippy nonsense after I dove into it a bit more. There’s some incredible theory and science under the idea of the LoA, but I totally agree with you, that practical element is so often missing. You can’t expect much results without being practical or hard-working.
Chris,
“Every morning at the gym I diary three outcomes I want to get out of that day, ”
— This sounds brilliant. I do a similar thing. Before any relatively important event, I always write down what I will do and how I envision it going down. It usually goes very close to what I write down. I’ve made some creepy “predictions” with this. I think it serves as excellent mental rehearsal. Then when the time comes to do the deed, you already know what to do, so you just go through the motions almost.
Not only does the page look different, the “reply” buttons do not work for me.
But after I’ve posted using the “Speak Your Mind” form, the page looks normal and the Reply buttons are activated.
Very weird indeed. Gotta fix this.
Hey Ludvig,
Sometimes when I load up your website the banner looks wrong and the page also looks different from usual. I can take a screenshot if you would like. Is that intentional?
I can vouch for that.
Heathenwinds, Abgrund, and Jeremy:
— This is not intentional. It’s some CSS error causing the site to load its mobile version. I will fix this soon, it’s annoying the shit out of me. I have tried, but failed. I need some help with this one.
Also, can you see the admin bar at the top of the site at times?
That’s another strange recent error. However, it’s not harmful, unless you know my password and want to ruin my life.
Yes, I noticed that. I’m not gonna lie, I tried to click on your stuff to look around, haha. Was intending to inform you about it via email, along with the interview preview link! I’m almost done with it.
Jeremy,
I can understand that. I’d do the same thing out of curiosity.
That’s great news bro. I look forward to it!
Hi Ludvig,
I first read the ‘The Secret’ years ago when I found it helping out a relative to move house. I’ve never seen the film. I read the whole book and like you I was very skeptical. I started reading more books on the subject. With an very open mind I tested out the classic example of visually checks coming through the door. 3 months later I received a check from the government for £1300 because I had apparently paid to much tax for the last 3 years. I still have a open mind and except it could be coincidence, but hey, £1300 why complain!
I believe LoA will work better if you tap into your sub-conscious mind. You may be visualizing all day, but if your sub-conscious mind says “your lazy so this won’t work” then it won’t. How it works obviously hasn’t been outlined clearly or we would all be living the life we want. Many people don’t realize a few years before the The Secret was released America was hit with the great recession! What does that tell you!
Supposedly there are missing LoA laws that have never been released. There are 3 additional laws. The secret has 10 or 12 but there are supposed to be 13 or 15. I read these ‘so-called’ missing laws years ago. I’ve tried to search for a link for you but I can’t find anything useful, just more psycho forum users!
My theory is… universe or no universe, god or no god you have to act to make things happen and LoA is ONLY a additional part of the action process not the only part. A car can’t run with just an engine, it needs hundreds of other components it needs to run smoothly.
Naomi
Naomi,
“but hey, £1300 why complain!”
— Haha. Nice. You got more than me!
“Many people don’t realize a few years before the The Secret was released America was hit with the great recession!”
— Yeah it’s all about the mindset. So many people have a “recession-depression-mentality” and feel sorry about themselves instead of setting out to find what they’re looking for, and win.
Nice engine analogy!
Hi Ludwig,
First time finding your site. I really like it.
I used to not think anything of LoA, but then there are some things that are just too coincidental. Granted, (like you said), you didn’t do anything to get that $1000. But I think there’s a balance in there somewhere.
Being proactive about your dreams is definitely the side I’d lean towards. Because one can meditate all they want, and be an expert ‘thumb-twiddler’ for all I care, but if they don’t go out there and do something— then I doubt much would be attracted to them. Great post!
Aloha from Maui, Hawaii,
Robb
Hey Robb,
Glad you like the site. Your own site seems legit as well.
“But I think there’s a balance in there somewhere.”
— Hehe. Maybe my karma is good. I’ve been doing a lot of stuff lately. I’ve failed with most of the things, but a few things have gone very well.
Cheers from Lund, Sweden,
Ludvig
This one is a fun topic, and I think you laid it out well Ludvig. I had the same issue with the vast majority sales material on LOA, because it sounds like a load of hogwash. They really are cheating smart people out of the incredibly useful to tools of visualization, affirmations, and intentions, by dressing it in so much woo.
Well put, Unrogue!
Kind of like that movie “the number 23” with Jim Carey!
What ye seek, ye shall find. I know this works. Ever since i was young i would always try to calculate the business potential of a given situation, eg i would sit in a cafe and note what people ordered, guess an approximate bill, guess roughly how many customers had come induring the time i was there etc, guess overheads, and come up with a rought idea of whether or not the business made good cash.
This was all rough, as i said – the point being I see money everywhere now. It’s literally everywhere and in everything. EVERYTHING is a business, and if you train your mind to see it, there’s unlimited opportunity out there. As my boss recently taught me: even garbage is treasure (if you’re a waste management company haha).
I think this is what you’re getting at Ludvig. Well said again :)
G-Freedom,
“Kind of like that movie “the number 23″ with Jim Carey!”
Exactly like that, friend!
Very cool to hear about how you’ve practiced yourself into seeing money patterns. I got a post about “synergistic thinking” coming eventually, it’s a bit similar to what you describe. I talk about creating a big picture of what your life is going to be like, then categorizing it mentally, then seeing how these parts play along with each other and how you can create positive spilloers into as many of these areas of your life as possible.
Great post Ludwig, and an extremely insightful one for me. To me if I want something (sales, relationships etc.) I would consciously do things and train my brain to do it – just like your example of hiring a salesperson.
I’ve never heard of Remote Seduction but that forum sure sounds interesting! :)
Hey Aqilah,
I actually did this today in networking with some pretty famous people. Gotta always give orders.
Yeah I’ve never heard of Remote Seduction before. I just figured I’d do a google for a LoA forum to prove my point. I laughed my ass off reading that thread.
Thanks for reading & commenting!
I read everyday the LoA book which was the precursor of many LoA concepts – The Science of Getting Rich.
One of my favorite quotes is: “Do not try to “project” your thought in any mysterious or occult way, with the idea of having it go out and do things for you. That is wasted effort and will weaken your power to think with sanity.”
and another : “You must not rely upon thought alone, paying no attention to personal action.”
So the modern version of LoA is just the expression of nowadays tendency toward instant gratification.
The primal LoA was much closer to what you’ve described as “intelligent effort”.
Having said that I don’t buy the concept, that it all goes down to my brain. I experienced so tiny probabilities, that I just can’t believe that we all have such the power at our service.
“Once is an Accident, twice is a Coincidence, but three times is an friendly Deity action” ;)
Well said Michal!
I’ve read The Science of Getting Rich myself. My impression of that book was that it was written by a person obsessed with getting rich, making it his #1 aim in life.
“Having said that I don’t buy the concept, that it all goes down to my brain. I experienced so tiny probabilities, that I just can’t believe that we all have such the power at our service.
“Once is an Accident, twice is a Coincidence, but three times is an friendly Deity action” ;)”
— Maybe it’s not all about the brain. But even if not, it’s irrelevant. You can’t control or practice God’s will. But you can do what is in within your control to improve your brain.
“Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.”
– St. Ignatius Loyola
I haven’t read any books about so-called LoA, but I guess a big part of Think and Grow Rich is about this.
Things have started to make sense to me ever since I read Bold and Determined for the first time. (sorry for bringing him up all the time)
Victor says that the mindset is the key. There is no “Let’s just try and see how it goes”, only option is “I AM the authority, I DO make shit happen”.
However, when you challenge, when you try to get something, it’s not easy to have a mindset of a winner who knows he can get it.
So THAT’S where LoA comes in. You convince your brain that you REALLY want it, and you CAN ACTUALLY 100% have it, NO MATTER WHAT.
Then the brain believes that you actually can get it, and it pushes you into doing anything to get what you want.
It’s not magic, it’s not about magic, it’s about changing what you and your brain believe.
Takumi,
That’s fine. You bring up whatever you feel like.
“However, when you challenge, when you try to get something, it’s not easy to have a mindset of a winner who knows he can get it.”
–Victor is a cool guy, and I agree with him on many things. But I think he suffers the curse of knowledge a bit in this regard. Meaning that he’s a changed man, and doesn’t think the same way he did a few years ago. He’s got many reasons to be confident now.
“It’s not magic, it’s not about magic, it’s about changing what you and your brain believe.”
— This is an incredibly interesting thing. How to trick the brain into mental investment. If you go to college/high school, I would encourage you to read this post:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/powerful-mindhack-that-you-can-use-study-work-less-your-leisure.html
Ludwig – I get what you’re saying in that our minds become more conscious and aware when looking for answers so we are more alert and seek out what we are looking for. I’m not totally sold on loa (haha ok I am) but here’s how I’ve found it to work for me. It’s a combination of visualization and radiating positive energy. Visualization tends to work in other parts of our lives (for example, when you go for a job interview or visualize performance in competitions or sports) It’s visualizing what you want happening occurring.
Secondly, putting yourself in a positive place so you are exuding positive energy somehow attracts more positive energy and circumstances into my life.
Is this LOA who knows but it’s how I tend to believe in it and I can speak for the results. Of course, I am a big believer of action too which loa people don’t focus on that much. You actually have to do stuff for things to unfold in your life.
One of the key points Ludvig has shed some light on is why some people find it difficult to make a meaningful connection in their desired relationships and the source of some of the dysfunction we observe in our society and culture.
Vishnu,
What you’re saying doesn’t contradict me at all. It’s just communicated in a different terminology. We speak of the same thing, I just use different words and arguments.
I would call what you describe “mental rehearsal” or “visualization”. However, writing this comment makes me wonder about where I draw the line between the two… I will think about this.
I tend to think such stuff are bullshit too, until I decided to give my own meaning to LoA myself. Pretty much the way you’ve described it. It isn’t magic, but it works if you think of it this way.
Not too long ago, I was at an “energy clearing session” webinar by a healer from Mind Valley, one of the top personal development organisations apparently. I was my usual skeptical self but I decided to go for it anyway. I did whatever I was supposed to imagine in my head.
Well, I don’t feel any positive results, and I bet people will say all kinds of things like how I didn’t do it properly, how I needed to have faith and be not skeptical etc.. And I’m not swayed by testimonials which they provided at the end of the session. I do not have any trouble believing people will believe literally anything once they have set their minds to it. They’ll find even the tiniest improvements in their lives and attribute it to the session.
Haha Jeremy,
I agree with what you’re saying. The thing that pisses me off about it is that no one emphasizes that it’s practicable — and if they do, they’re always very, very vague about how to do it.
You got a thousand bucks for free? Lucky you,man! Ive never got anything for free.
Maybe it’s rightful owner will track me down and do something bad. If I don’t do a blog post next week you can guess what has happened.
Thanks for reading James.
The “Law of Attraction” gobbledygook is just a re-packaged (or rather, de-packaged) form of petitionary prayer. “Ask, and it shall be given unto you.” After two thousand years of experience to the contrary, vast numbers of people still believe they can get stuff by begging God for it. That’s easier than actually working for it, and takes away the uncertainty – if you don’t get what you want, it’s because God “had something else planned”, and the effort you didn’t make was doomed from the start. No effort, no responsibility, and no matter how badly things turn out it’s all for the best because it’s “God’s plan”.
Prayer, and magical thinking in general, helps people feel like they are involved, and less than totally helpless, when they are unable or unwilling to take meaningful action. A primitive rain dance, praying for a remission of cancer, staring at a TV screen trying to will a basketball into a net, and “remote seduction” are all ineffectual non-actions. But then, maybe so is posting comments on a blog…
Abgrund,
“staring at a TV screen trying to will a basketball into a net, and “remote seduction” are all ineffectual non-actions.”
— Yes. This is why it annoys me when sports fans scream at the TV and curse the referee, and mentally associate themselves with the team: (WE’RE WINNING!)
“But then, maybe so is posting comments on a blog…”
— That would depend on what you’re trying to achieve. The difference is that this is a two-way (or more) interaction. Screaming at a TV is not.
Ps:
“petitionary prayer” –> Great use of words.
It’s amusing to me how sports fans project themselves into the game so much that they feel like they’re on the team, but I suppose other people do much the same thing when reading fiction or watching a movie. You could call it the “Law of Distraction”.
Sure, you could pass it off as that.
It’s impossible not to generalize at times, but I feel confident when I say that sports fans identifying with their team are less productive/conducive to their life goals in the long-term, than reading fiction is.
The main argument for why I think this is that TV is a passive medium, that doesn’t require much effort on the viewer’s part. It doesn’t SELF-activate the brain. Reading does, and it practices your imagination.
Agreed.
Remote seduction. Haha! Well, know I know what type of forums you frequent ;)
Guilty as found, Liz!
I spend most of my days on LoA forums trying to learn new hidden tricks that I can use to improve my Remote Seduction.
Law of Attraction – new-agey “woo factor” = Bbeaking out of homeostasis seems to be the general theme.
Not sure I understand you, Heathenwinds.
If you’re saying that I’ve said this in BOOH, you’re right. But many readers haven’t read the book.
Ive never believed in the law of attraction. Just like you say, its a bunch of bullshit marketed to people who dont are too lazy to work for things.
still i think it was a good read.
Thanks Mike!
This way of thinking is pretty much what keeps religion going. The human brain has a remarkable ability of focusing on what you want to believe and to ignore everything else.
When you break it down, the law of attraction is simply the feeling that if you really want something… for some reason, you become closer to it…
Well, that’s pretty obvious. I want a chicken sandwich, so when I go into the kitchen and find my fridge filled with chicken and not, Oh I don’t know, crabmeat… it’s because a series of events led to that happening. It wasn’t magic or the universe.. it was me, some money and a shop.
Apparently, according to science, our brain cannot understand the concept of probability and chance. It’s completely man made and artbutrary, so when something happens which is lucky or is against ‘the odds’ we struggle to find a logical reason for it. We can’t fathom the maths of it, so we try to attribute it to something supernatural.
Jamie,
Yeah for sure.
“Apparently, according to science, our brain cannot understand the concept of probability and chance”
–What you’re saying applies to more things than just probility/chance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribution_%28psychology%29
I don’t like the idea of a pure LOA – think and you’ll get it like magic.
But like you said, if it’s used to guide ourself to focus on the right thing then do something about it – two thumbs up from me.
Although, I don’t know if effort and logic are included in the principles of LOA in its purest form(as practices by their ardent believers).
Thanks Wan!
“Although, I don’t know if effort and logic are included in the principles of LOA in its purest form”
–Honestly, I don’t know. There’s probably a bunch of different branches, like most religions ;)