The Law Of Attraction: How To Use It To Your Favor
March 13, 2009 by akemi · 24 Comments
The Law of Attraction has been attacked by many, including many personal development bloggers. It looks to me that the easiest way to prove you are “smart” is to disagree with the Law of Attraction. If that is what you want, you probably don’t need this article. If you want to improve your life effortlessly, please read on. (Photo by Trader Doc)
Misunderstanding the Law of Attraction
To understand misunderstanding, we first need to define the Law of Attraction. For now, we will say “Like energy attracts like energy.” We will explore the deeper meaning of this law later.
There are a lot of misunderstanding going around about the Law of Attraction, discouraging people to use it to their favor.
1. Magnets don’t attract the same, they attracts the opposites. So the theory of Law of Attraction is flawed.
One end of a magnet attracts the opposite end of another magnet so that as a whole, the magnetic energy flows through in one way. Magnets attract magnets, not woods. It is indeed attracting the like energy.
2. The Law of Attraction is not a law because it is not proven. Plus the whole quantum physics stuff is BS.
Did the law of gravity become the law when Newton theorized it? Or was it working from the beginning of time?
Regarding the quantum physics – what I gather from Greatness Without Genies: The Law of Attraction for Realists is that this area of physics is still in debate and neither proven nor defeated. We just don’t know if the quantum physics is real, and if so, to what level of existence it applies, nor how it is related to the Law of Attraction. So let’s give it a benefit of doubt. (By the way, this eBook is an interesting read if you disliked the Secret. Especially if you disliked the Secret but still feel the pull of the Law of Attraction 
)
3. The Law of Attraction doesn’t work because I couldn’t attract what I wanted.
Ah, but did you use it properly? For example, if you wanted to be financially well, did you focus on abundance or did you focus on you being broke? If it’s the latter, the Law of Attraction worked perfectly – you got more broke. I feel for you, but don’t use your failure as a proof of the Law of Attraction not working. It’s a case of operator error.
The final point leads to the point of how to use the Law of Attraction correctly.
Is it the thoughts or the feelings that attract?
Many Law of Attraction books tell you that your thoughts attract the very thing you think about, that thoughts become things. Well, kind of.
Are you aware there are two kinds of thoughts?
- Logical thoughts (or non-ego thoughts)
- Ego thoughts
Typical example of logical thoughts is when you think about math. How do you know the total sum of all inner angles of a triangle is 180 degrees? There are several ways to prove this.
While you are thinking about triangles, parallel lines, or vector, you are thinking hard, but you don’t attract more triangles. Because your feeling is neutral. (I’m talking about pure mathematical thoughts, not your fear of failing the math test.)
On the other hand, we spend a lot of time and energy doing ego thoughts. What will the economy be like? Will I be able to keep my job? Will I have to take a paycut? Will I be able to afford the vacation this year? And if I can’t, what would my friends think about me? OMG, and . . .
Ego thoughts use tons of emotional energy. And it’s usually negative thoughts based on fear. And bam, don’t you know you get a layoff when you spend sufficient time and energy thinking this way?
The energy of emotions
When the Law of Attraction teachers say you attract the things you think about, they are talking about thoughts, or images, that are supported by plenty of feelings, the energy of emotions. Thoughts are energies as well, but compared to the energies of emotions, thought energy alone is pretty small.
In order to use the Law of Attraction to your favor, you need to think in a way that causes you lots of positive feelings. You can do this in both kinds of thinking. One, you can manipulate your own ego thoughts to aim the things you want, rather than the things you don’t want. For example, tons of money. This way you can stimulate your greed and cause “positive” feelings of joy and excitement of having it.
This approach works, and some people have become quite good at it. However, I don’t recommend it. Because it can whack your sense of peace and harmony. When you base your joy on greed, you need more and more things to satisfy your greed, and the state of just being happy with what you have become further and further away. To me, this sounds like hell than heaven. Having more and more, but never really satisfied.
So the better approach is to use your logical thinking and add feelings. For the same objective to attract money, you think of money and what money can buy in that logical neutral way, for yourself and others, and then be inspired to have positive feelings such as joy and gratitude.
Better. But isn’t there an even better way to utilize the energy of emotions?
The problem of thought-based feelings
There are two kinds of feelings:
- Feelings that are caused by specific thoughts
- Feelings that come from your core, unrelated to specific thoughts you may be having
We are familiar with the first kind of feelings, and this is also what the Law of Attraction advocates teach us to utilize. They teach us to use emotions as a guide of your thoughts. Thoughts on what you desire cause positive feelings. Thoughts on what you don’t desire cause negative feelings. Watch your feelings to monitor your thoughts.
When you do this, you notice your feelings are very unstable. Having and not having something is like the sides of a coin and it can flip so easily. One moment you are feeling great thinking about getting a raise – you are inflated in your emotions – the next moment, the thought of missing the raise crosses your mind and you are deflated miserably. Up and down, up and down. It takes lots of discipline to manage this process and disallow negative ideas to enter your mind.
And this is the biggest challenge those who try to use the Law of Attraction face even when they so believe in it. They mix up thoughts and feelings, and the positive and negative energies negate each other. Results: no clear results.
You’ve seen these people, or maybe you are one of them. Are you afraid of thinking negative thoughts? To the point you are afraid of using “bad words” like debt or loss? When you try to direct your thoughts to “good” things you desire, you know (oh, damn you know!) there is a flip side. The bigger your desire, the bigger your fear of not having it.
And if you are so afraid, of course, that is what you attract: More fear and more situations that cause you fear.
Enough about playing between the polarities.
Emotions without thoughts
You don’t need thoughts to have feelings.
When I wake up after a good night sleep, I feel wonderful. I’m full of excitement and gratitude for the new day. It’s not about being excited about specific things I plan to do. These days, I hardly have any plans. I have a natural routine and maybe I have some phone sessions scheduled, but my good feeling is not about these things. It’s about being alive and another beautiful day. Little me having another day!
When I sip coffee watching the trees and coffee, I feel wonderful. I’m filled with joy, wonderment, and contentment. I’m not thinking about anything particular – I just like relaxing with coffee and looking at trees.
And what is this good feeling doing in my life?
My life is pretty good. My business is growing, I have great friends, and I’m healthy. Hmm. I guess I could be happier with a boyfriend. But then, there are hardly times I feel lonely. So maybe I’m doing just fine.
So the most effective way to utilize the Law of Attraction, that is also the most effortless, is:
Cultivate the good feeling that comes from being yourself
Aaaagh, so simple. . .
The fundamental good feelings of life in the Law of Attraction
You may think it’s difficult to cultivate this fundamental good feelings about life and yourself. However, once you have it, it’s pretty solid. It’s not based on external conditions. You realize that you are loved and supported in all ways, that you are special and valuable, and that the universe is a wonderful and friendly place to live and play.
From there, you live your life, and of course, you think.
So I live in good feelings majority of the time. Then I occasionally think – let’s say thinking about my business. Perhaps the most frequent thought is “Well, I enjoy doing the reading and clearing, and I know this is the foundation of my service, but this new coaching is so much fun I want to put more focus on this. And I’d like to free up some time to do more writing, too.” My business is developing exactly this way.
So thoughts have their place in the Law of Attraction. But not necessarily a big place. The majority of the energy is based on emotions, and thoughts only give directions to the energy. And again, the easiest and surest way to have lots of good feelings is to base the feelings on who you are, not on external situations or your thoughts.
Cultivate the good feeling that comes from being yourself. Then think some to direct the energy.
Where does action fit in the picture?
There are people who say something in the line of, “The Law of Attraction works because it promotes positive thinking that motivates people to take actions. It’s not a spiritual law, and there is no mystery to it. Now go do your work.”
And what kind of action are we talking about? Actions that come naturally that you hardly think you are making “efforts” or actions that you toil and loathe?
The latter has indeed nothing to do with the Law of Attraction. Do action A to cause result B. Use whatever motivation to get to action, including positive thinking or “psyching up”. Or a whip. I mean, it’s the action that causes the result. Motivation is not directly related to the result.
The kind of action we want to be aware of in using the Law of Attraction is the first kind.
Beings is not about sitting on a stone and doing nothing. Being involves doing things you like and doing things that interest you. Watch small kids. Being kids, they are almost always moving and doing things. Jumping on the couch. Swirling around the chair. Running outside. And when they find something interesting, they just go ahead and explore it.
The action that matter in the Law of Attraction may be doing the things that you so love to do always or taking special inspired action. Or it may take no action.
Manifestations without action
You’ve never seen people attracting great life without no particular action?
My former hairdresser in Tennessee more than doubled her clients list overnight doing nothing. She was leasing a booth in a small hair salon. The owner was the other hairdresser and his wife. They wanted a baby for a long time and finally decided to adopt one. They were delighted to have a beautiful baby girl. So happy to the point that first, the wife decided to stay at home full time. So she split her customers to her husband and my hairdresser. After a few months, and the baby growing ever so charming, the husband also decided to stay home. They figured they could live on rent income alone for awhile. So my hairdresser got his client list.
What did she do? Just being a happy great hairdresser. I always enjoyed visiting her salon because not only was she good at haircut but she was so fun to talk with.
Another example. I know a retired school teacher who travels the world, going to some of the most secret spots. No, she doesn’t have the money. She got acquainted to a wealthy widow who loved to travel. She asked my friend to accompany her because traveling alone is no fun. The widow pays for everything. My friend just carries her pocket money. And both are happy.
What did she do? I have no idea. Being a teacher, I guess she has the basic interpersonal skills. And she has time and willingness to travel. The last time I talked with her, they were planning to visit Galapagos.
Summary: How to use the Law of Attraction to your favor
- Cultivate the good feeling that comes from being yourself.
This is the first and paramount step. The rest may or may not be necessary. - Think some to direct the energy.
- Live your life doing what you love and what you are inspired to do.
You don’t have to think specific thoughts to use the Law of Attraction. What you ultimately want to manifest is the good feelings, to feel even better in the coming reality you are creating, and you can just feel your way with our without specific thoughts.
When you do think, think it clearly but not necessarily specifically. Attachment to specifics is about your ego. Envision the new reality you are creating and know it is there. It’s almost like taking it for granted, but with gratitude for it. (Some people call this believing. I don’t personally like the word believing because it implies there is a discrepancy between what you believe and what it is.)
Ego thoughts have little to do with this process. As I wrote, our ego is brings in mostly fear, which is counterproductive in using the Law of Attraction to your favor. Our ego also makes judgments and try to dictate the process and outcome of manifestation, which is again counterproductive. Your ego only knows what you have experienced or heard so far, and it badly limits the boundless possibilities.
And with Ascension process going on, we are dropping the ego anyway.
Our power to create
That is the how. Now the why. Why does the Law of Attraction work? I’ve seen many arguments why it doesn’t work, but not arguments why it does indeed work.
Because we are God. Some express the same saying we are children of God, or we are connected to the Source energy. Really the same thing. If we are children of God, we are growing up to be God. If we are connected to the Source, we have the same energy the Source has. And just like God created the universe, we can create our lives. Smaller scale, but the same working of the energy.
I know it’s hard to accept we are God. If it’s easy, we have absolutely no problem using the Law of Attraction. Our awareness hasn’t grown up to that level yet, so at this time, it’s easier to think that something outside of us, be it genie, the universe, or God, would give us what we want.
However, I want to point out that the more we realize our own divine power to create, the better the Law of Attraction works. If your mindset is like “If I beg, God or genie may give me what I want.”, you are disempowering yourself. So while it’s okay to believe in external power sources, please do start raising your awareness of your own creative power.
“The Law of Attraction” is a somewhat misleading term. It is called so because on the energetic level, like energies attract like energies. It is NOT about the object of your desire getting attracted and coming closer and closer to you. Nothing is really outside of you. You are creating your reality. The Law of Attraction is really the way we create.
Review: Living The Law Of Attraction
November 17, 2008 by akemi · 15 Comments
De-mystifying the Law of Attraction
I can hardly believe there are still people in this 21st century who don’t use the Law of Attraction. Is it that scary to have your dreams come true? Does it frighten you to realize you have the power to create? Are you so narrow-minded to accept what you don’t completely understand?
Living the Law of Attraction: Real Stories of People Manifesting Health, Wealth, and Happiness
There is this guy who lost his investment business due to the dot com crash and manifested his dream business as spiritual teacher instead. Another guy received equal custody of his child when the male parent’s right was not well established, especially in unmarried relationship. Another raked in deals totaling $20 million in six months, big accomplishment even for a real estate guy.
As an immigrant myself, I felt for the guy who wanted to immigrate to the US. He was first conned by immigration “agency” and lost his life saving. From there, he used visualization and affirmations and in two years, legally moved his family from South Africa to America.
Then there are people who gained better health, like my friend Jenny Mannion, whose story is in this book. I also like stories like manifesting flowers or surprise presents . . . small things that nonetheless make us so happy.
You can learn to utilize the Law of Attraction
Reading these stories is a great way to learn how really you can utilize the Law of Attraction. Some uses vision board. Some pray. Some are so confident in their own power to manifest that they just start looking for what they want.
But in case you want more clearly defined instruction on how to utilize the Law of Attraction, the book suggests the following steps (the notes under each step is my own interpretation):
Step 1: Feel Good
You need to be feeling good if you want to attract good things. When you are in negativity, you are attracting the lack of what you want. So start your day with gratitude. Meditate. Exercise. These are solid ways to raise your mood – your vibration.
People who mistrust the Law of Attraction seem to have trouble right here. They prefer to stay in their cynical, smart-ass little hole and say something like, “Oh, the Law of Attraction, that’s for stupid people. Look, life is tough. Anyone smarter than Pollyanna knows this. And they insist of feeling good and having positive thoughts.”
Well, you don’t have to feel good if you don’t want to create happiness. That is totally your choice, and I respect that. If, however, you want to create some positive outcomes in your life, you do need to figure out how to feel good. And the good news is that this is a learnable skill.
Step 2: Set Forth the Intention
Don’t expect the Universe or your spirit guides to read your mind. Be clear and specific about your intention. And dare to dream big.
Step 3: Take Inspired Action
“You can’t spell attraction without action!”
This is another point of big misunderstanding. On one end of the spectrum, there are people who think their dreams just gets done by the genie with zero involvement of their own. On the other side of the spectrum, there are people who can’t tell the difference between inspired action and any action, and runs around like crazy doing, doing, and doing more.
Both are mistaken. You do need to take action because you are the one with the physical body and therefore can move move things around. The Universe or the spirit guides can bring opportunities but you need to go get it. This, however, doesn’t mean any action brings results. You need to take inspired actions.
How do you know what your inspired actions are? Well, when you are tuned in, you will know – it is inspiring.
Step 4: Release the “How”
How is not your job. The Universe takes care of it. Your job is, again, to take inspired actions.
Step 5: Be a”Yes” to Life
Have faith that it is working. Your life is working even when it may not look so to you. So stay positive.
Step 6: The Intention Manifests
Why the Law of Attraction works
As you can see, it takes faith to work the Law of Attraction. You need to set your intention regardless of your current situation. You need to take inspired actions – whether you can comprehend its meaning or not. And you need to stay in that positive mode. In short, you need to work from inside out, to live as a conscious being with intention, paying less attention to superficial ebbs and flows of outside world.
And that is the hint of why the Law of Attraction works. As Dr. Brian Weiss pointed out, we are souls incarnated in the physical body. Our souls incarnated with purpose. While each of us have our own unique purpose and lessons, there is also a big purpose that all souls live by, and that is to experience love, joy, and abundance in the substantial way in this physical world.
This is my current understanding: When we were the Source, the pure energy itself, we were love, joy and abundance. There was no lack, nothing that was not love, joy, abundance. This was wonderful, but we also wanted to try out something different. So we created this physical world, in which, by its very nature of being physical, things are distributed unevenly. I don’t just mean the social inequality – even in nature, there are unevenness.
There are mountains, oceans, farmlands, cities. Then there are barren lands. We might plant trees in the areas that have been long neglected, which is an act of love, and thus witness the abundance of this world. This brings joy.
The illusion of individuality in the physical world
While we are incarnated as physical beings, we have the illusion of separate individuals. This may cause us to fight, to exploit others, or to feel jealous, angry, and depressed. So there are opportunities we come back to love, joy and true abundance.
In this physical world, we can learn love, joy and abundance in a way that is not possible as the complete, perfect, pure energy we were. (And in fact, we still are the Source in essence.) To make sure this happens, the Divinity has designed a system. And this system is the Law of Attraction. We think of something we want, we desire and intend, and we attract it. We play out the rags to riches story. Or we can steer to negativity, which will bring negative things and events, letting us know something is wrong.
The question, then, is: Are you using the Law of Attraction to learn love, joy and abundance?
How the Law of Attraction is working for ME
A while ago, I decided to attract publicity. My Akashic Record Reading service is growing and, while more and more orders are certainly nice, I thought publicity would be even nicer at this young stage of my business development.
Last Friday, I found that the article I contributed to Pick The Brain went on to The Huffington Post. Pretty cool. I think this may be the beginning of my great publicity. (Just in case you may not be familiar – The Huffington Post is the world’s largest news blog site.)
Join us in the Intention Game
I will be starting the new Intention Game on my Gratitude Friday series (next edition is due Friday next week). Join us and see what happens!
Update: I’m renaming my Gratitude Friday to Online Gratitude Journal. It is biweekly now, so I think this fits better.
