A few years ago a big movement started with the launching of the movie “The Secret”
According to Jack Canfield
“Simply put, the Law of Attraction states that you will attract into your life whatever you focus on. Whatever you give your energy and attention to will come back to you. So, if you stay focused on the good and positive things in your life, you will automatically attract more good and positive things into your life.”
Doesn’t that sound good? And relatively easy to do right? But something is wrong here and it is not obvious.
First, this sounds like one of those New Age platitudes. A broad generalized statement informing us about something. (I don’t even want to start analyzing it with the NLP Meta Model folks, or we’ll be here until tomorrow).
It sounds like affirmations. Nice, beautiful statements which do… errr… Actually what do affirmations do again? Oh, I remember now – they serve to (hopefully) change your beliefs if you happen to be one of those who do them religiously for several months. People hypnotized themselves into believing they’re mediocre and no good. This is why they need affirmations to tell them that’s not so.
But then why don’t you do Time Line Therapy® Limiting Decisions process to change the belief that’s bothering you in 10 minutes? But that’s another question.
Back to the Law of Attraction. Is it correct? I think it is. It works and the NLP Model of Communication shows us that it could not be any other way. However, one essential element is missing and this is what’s wrong. Nowhere in the Law of Attraction is stated the fundamental step necessary – to take action and DO something. In fact, the way the Law of Attraction is stated, leads only to passivity.
“All right then, if I sit on the couch all day long and I focus on attracting better money in my life or the ideal relationship it will happen.” Oh yeah! And my name is Santa Claus! (Ho. Ho. Ho.)
Doing all of this Law of Attraction mechanically does not imply any doing, any investment of energy, and action at all. It’s about as effective as trying to move forward in an active ocean while sitting in a paper boat and paddling with a soup spoon.
Then two main concepts left out of the Law-of-Attraction-Secret-movie are:
- Doing something consciously about changing old beliefs that prevent one form achieving what one wants.
- Taking concrete action in that direction.
So, let’s make a difference between the “philosophic” concept and the factual results.
The philosophic concept is correct. People who focus on what they want are far more likely to achieve the desired results than people who focus on what they don’t want and with this basic concept we begin our NLP Practitioner Training. It is the basis of the NLP Communication Model.
However people who get the desired results are doing something else aside from focusing on what they want: they take action. They invest time and energy and work toward what they want.
At the same time, not understanding the basic concept of NLP of how information is received, deleted, distorted and generalized before it can even be analyzed consciously, one can assume that the people in very poor countries, dying of malnutrition and disease are focusing on what they don’t want and therefore they attract it. Based on the same simple way of understanding the Law of Attraction a geographic area hit by a devastating tornado or flooding must have a lot of people thinking a lot of negative thoughts.
And here we get into the hazy misunderstanding of something happening independently and something “attracted” by one’s thoughts. The possibility of both happening simultaneously does not occur because we’re all “oh-so-educated-to-thing-black-OR-white-with-no-shades-of-gray-in-between”. Paradoxical thinking where simultaneously different possibilities co-exist is a no-no. From the earliest pre-school years to post graduate level we’re basically indoctrinated with the model of “this VS that”. Nothing in between. We all must fit in the same box. Or else. It is the consensus reality box.
The idea that we can change our beliefs and values and eliminate the counterproductive ones (IE a reality) we don’t like does not enter anybody’s mind.
If your beliefs are of a positive nature, these in turn will create the necessary pulling force that drives you toward the achievement of your goals. It is your belief that creates the Law of Attraction not the other way around.
If Time Line Therapy® techniques can change your thoughts from negative to positive and eliminate those pesky Negative Emotions from the past, and that by doing this process you’ll get clarity in your beliefs about what you want…and you make this your truth IE your belief…and then you make it true in reality….then the Law of Attraction loses its magical meaning and becomes what it really is: a nice philosophical concept to explain our highs or lows in life.
People who are clear about their future and their beliefs about their ability to create it are by far more determined and act on them. They don’t sit in a room and wait for something to happen. They are taking action. But those who don’t want or feel they can’t take action anyway will take the Law of Attraction as a replacement for their inability and they’ll do absolutely nothing about what they want. Then they’ll say the Law of Attraction is a load of bull.
In large numbers of our students, the philosophy of the Law of Attraction is just a stepping stone – if they take action for themselves with the new skills they acquired, it becomes irrelevant. Or maybe it stays relevant only in as much as it is a platform from which they make things happen in their lives. The other minority, cling onto the Law of Attraction for more passivity. They wait on the couch. They think positive thoughts (for about 3 seconds at the time). They may even meditate. They re-think their positive thoughts (for another set of 3 seconds). And when nothing happens they reckon they did not think enough positive thoughts.
And from here on we’re just a step away from societal absolute thought control – you’re not allowed to think some thoughts – they’re bad for you and for society – but surely this is another issue and we’ll leave it for another article.
Until next time be well and take some action. Only YOU can make your dreams a reality.