Sophia Raziela

Is the Law Of Attraction just a load of New Age humbug?
Or is there really something to it?

Those who claim to have achieved great success with it, say it’s not only real, but a fantastic tool that anyone can use. 

The skeptics say the successes are nothing but coincidences, and that the only ones gaining from it are scammers and con artists.

But what is the Law Of Attraction really?
How does it supposedly work, and how can you work with it?

The Secret

You have probably heard about “The Secret”. Maybe you have even read the book, or watched the documentary. The message it delivers is crystal clear:

Everything that you want, can and will be yours, if only you follow this simple recipe: Ask – Believe – Receive.

That is the formula for success.

All you need to do is state what you want, visualize and believe that you already have it, feel good about it, and then it will come to you.

“Think happy thoughts and you’ll fly”, said Peter Pan.
Sounds almost the same, doesn’t it?

But maybe that is being superficial and judging too quickly.
Let’s dig a little deeper to find out what this is all about.

First, we will take a closer look at the formula.

ASK

If you want the bank to give you a loan, you have to ask. They are not going to throw one after you.

Sure, they might say no and maybe that is what you are afraid of. 
And let’s be honest…

Rejection sucks.

It doesn’t really help your self-confidence or self-esteem to be told ‘no’.
That your credit isn’t good enough, you don’t earn enough, you haven’t been employed long enough and so on.

What you are hearing is that you are not enough. That’s how it feels. And who wants to put themselves in that kind of situation willingly? 
​Who wants to take risks that can lead to disappointment and rejection?

You do.

Because if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.

If you think you can avoid the pain of rejection by not asking in the first place, you are wrong. Instead of others denying you occasionally, it will be like you saying NO to yourself every day. Share on X

That is constant rejection and self-denial.
Why would you want to treat yourself that way?

Maybe because you don’t really believe that you can succeed, or that you deserve to…

Which is why the second part of the formula is so important.

BELIEVE

If you don’t believe you can do, be or have something…
what are your chances of success?

Say you set yourself a goal of completing a marathon, which you have never done before, so you don’t actually know if you are capable of doing it.

You have seen others do it, even people in worse shape than you, so it does not seem impossible. But do you truly believe you can cross the finish line?

If you don’t know if you can run the course, or believe that you can either, then you are wasting your time. Even if you lay out a bulletproof plan to achieve it, with plenty of exercise, diet improvements, new running shoes and so on – you will fail.

You will find excuses to not go running, to cheat on your diet and in a million other ways – sabotage yourself.

On the day of the marathon you’ll suddenly get sick with the flu or a headache and decide to stay home. Or you will misplace your car keys and not make it to the start on time. Or you’ll show up, run for a few minutes, trip over yourself and quit because you’ve sprained an ankle or hurt your knee.

You get the idea.

I’m sure you have already experienced this at some point in your life. Where you have set yourself a goal, something that you really wanted, and you gave it your best shot. But at the same time you kept hearing this little voice in the back of your head saying, “Nah, that’s never going to happen.“

You got frustrated, told that negative little gremlin to take a long vacation in a hot place, and tried even harder. But no matter what you did, the results were not coming. And as time went on, the gremlin got louder. And slowly you started loosing your drive and energy, until finally – you gave up.

It has happened to all of us. Especially when trying to do something for the first time. But remember that just because you haven’t, doesn’t mean you can’t. After all, babies aren’t born knowing how to walk.

Now, if you can make it through the first two obstacles, asking and believing, there is one last hurdle that you have to jump over to get to where you want to go.

You have to be willing to receive.

RECEIVE

Can you put anything into a closed hand?

Receptivity is something that many adults find difficult. 
​Kids usually have no trouble receiving gifts, and zero problems asking for what they want. One reason is because they don’t understand the idea of entitlement, or having to earn something. 

If you get a bonus at work, you probably see it as a pat on the back for doing a good job. You don’t expect to get one whenever you want to, and for no good reason. 

If a kid gets an ice cream as a reward for cleaning their room, they don’t make that connection immediately. They will still ask, beg, scream for and demand ice cream, even if they have behaved horribly and their room looks like a nuclear test site.

The grown-ups then tell the kids they have no right to ask for things they’re not entitled to. They have to earn it first. Which sounds like great advice, because who wants spoiled kids?

The problem is that some of us keep this idea with us as adults as well. We don’t feel comfortable receiving anything that we don’t think we’ve earned. Share on X

We refuse gifts and help, saying that it is too much, we don’t really need it (even if we do) and that others deserve it more and so on.

Sometimes this is fair enough, but often it’s a sign that we lack self-esteem. That we don’t value ourselves. 

And the big question then becomes, who is it that decides what you deserve and are entitled to? 

Your mum (even in your 40’s?), your friends, husband or wife, your boss or co-workers, the Pope or the government? 

Who decides your value?  

This is a very heretical thought, but maybe it should be the one who knows you best.

That would be you.

And don’t be shy. 
Learn to appreciate yourself, so that whenever good stuff comes your way, you are able to receive it with gratitude. Share on X

In summary

Now, if we add it all up, the LOA recipe for success goes a little something like this:

In order to get what you want, you must believe that you are capable and worthy of achieving it, and have the courage to go for it. Share on X

That is the basic idea.
No voodoo or humbug there, just plain common sense.

But the formula is not all there is to the Law Of Attraction.
In the next article we will look at the three keys that make it work: your brain, your emotions and your actions.

© Sophia Raziela