Well I’m sure your aware of the new craze or at least the rise in popularity of the ‘law of attraction’ and other self-improvement buzz phrases. It seems strange that something that has been around for so long should suddenly start to rise to prominence so dramatically. Indeed I have a book on my shelf called ‘The Secret of the Ages’ by Robert Collier dated 1948 so it’s certainly all nothing new. I’m talking about the explosion in self-improvement products and such like. There have been recent shows on Oprah, CNN and not to mention the hit movie ‘The Secret’ all raising the profile of this so called law.
However I do find all this publicity a bit off-key and potentially dangerous especially when it seems to me that the message being put across is really not correct and can be more than a little mis-leading. In fact I would go so far as to say the new marketing of this type of material is not helping anyone…apart from people cashing the cheques!
The reason for my concern is that while it is fine to say that focussing your thoughts on a particular object of your desire will then lead to more thoughts on a similar subject and because thoughts charged with emotion held in the mind contiuosly will eventually materialise in the world in one way or another…. it is certainly not some kind of magic wand or formula that means that day dreaming will suddenly make you rich or solve all your financial problems. In fact it is quite the opposite. If you sit around all day imagining and dreaming about what you want to achieve that will get you absolutley no-where! That’s right all the imagining and focusing of thoughts will produce you nothing and you will more likely become demotivated and frustrated by your efforts than achieving your desires…not to mention wasting your time.
You see there is a missing ingredient. Did you ever catch a rich person sitting around doing nothing for long. Have you ever known a successful sports person not to be constantly training and refining their diet and competition strategies and so on. No of course not. It is not that they don’t use mind power or the ‘law of attraction’ it is just the fact that they back up their efforts at harnessing the power of the mind and the law of attraction with consistent physical efforts towards their goals and desires on an everyday basis.
The mental thoughts provide the guidance for the body to follow. The thoughts alone will not do all the work, you have to put in the time and effort to turn the thoughts in to reality yourself in the vast majority of occassions.
True at times ‘co-incidence’ and ‘chance’ may seem to run on your side but more often than not this is a result of the knock-on or ripple effects of your actions.
So in short do not be a day dreamer but back up your positive thoughts with a written plan that you can physically follow that will allow your thoughts and ideas to really materialise in the world. Do not kid yourself that no effort is involved…it is!
More lessons on the Law of attraction available at by clicking Power of Positive Thinking now.
I think it’s silly to assume that people are implying what you claim they are implying with good thoughts. I have never read or heard anyone say that sitting around all day thinking good things will make them happen. It’s my understanding that the point is to think positively and see yourself doing the things you wish to accomplish – as a mode of motivating yourself to action. Motivation to action is key – and by believing in yourself, and visualizing the positive things happening, you are more likely to get off the couch, stand up, and work towards those goals. But action without positive direction and motivation will only get you frustrated and disappointed. So they go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other. And I know that’s your point. But I think you’re making the same point that others are, but you’re calling them ignorant and incorrectly assuming what they’re trying to get across. Maybe. Maybe not.
Yeah I take your point. I guess I was just frustrated with some of the sales letters I’d seen floating around recently making daft claims about some magical inner thought process that could change your life effortlessly and was just trying to level the balance a bit in my own way. No I’m not meaning to call anyone ignorant, but I don’t like the thought of anyone being mis-led about any success being effortless, just doesn’t seem to be the right message to send out. I’m told Tiger Woods is big on mind psychology but he also spends hours and hours on the golf course practising also
like you say: ‘hand in hand’ 
Greetings!
Admittedly, I have one of those sales letters that you may be frustrated with.
Your point is well taken, AND I agree, however I’d ask you to consider this: As a marketer, one of the first lessons I learned was: to SELL people what they WANT; and GIVE them what they NEED. Because if everyone bought what they needed, everyone would be thin, healthy and rich.
The secret and the ‘do nothing but think’ concept gets people who wouldn’t have normally listened to this type of thinking to open their minds to it.
I ‘get people in’ by selling them the ‘have what you want in 90 days’ idea, but in the product, I let them know that this is just the tip of the LoA iceberg.
I get them involved in the spiritual side as well. But you have to admit, that if we as LoA “New” thought, practitioners went around telling people about the REAL power they have within them, it would scare them to death and they wouldn’t listen.
things…
1. If I had to sum the entire thing up, it’s that the Law of Attraction
is all about alignment. You’ve got to do the “work” if you want to
bring something info your life.
This is where I think people mess up, which gives the entire thing the
“MLM/Amway” kind of vibe. You can’t just sit around eating junk food
and watching reruns and expect to live on the beach…regardless of what
the infomercials say.
People like Joe Vitale are out working. Bob Proctor is out working.
James Ray is out working.
2. I found a FREE book (yes, FREE) that helped me figure out all of
this. http://www.receivethebook.com/ has it and it’s well worth the read.
And like I said, it’s FREE. So you can’t argue that the guy is trying
to take advantage of people looking for a “magic pill” or whatever else
I’ve been hearing over the last 2-3 weeks since this thing hit Oprah.
http://www.receivethebook.com/
Two things…
1. If I had to sum the entire thing up, it’s that the Law of Attraction
is all about alignment. You’ve got to do the “work” if you want to
bring something info your life.
This is where I think people mess up, which gives the entire thing the
“MLM/Amway” kind of vibe. You can’t just sit around eating junk food
and watching reruns and expect to live on the beach…regardless of what
the infomercials say.
People like Joe Vitale are out working. Bob Proctor is out working.
James Ray is out working.
2. I found a FREE book (yes, FREE) that helped me figure out all of
this. http://www.receivethebook.com/ has it and it’s well worth the read.
And like I said, it’s FREE. So you can’t argue that the guy is trying
to take advantage of people looking for a “magic pill” or whatever else
I’ve been hearing over the last 2-3 weeks since this thing hit Oprah.
http://www.receivethebook.com/