Self-Improvement

Understanding the Law of Attraction

Your thoughts really can have an impact on how things turn out

By

Elizabeth Scott, PhD

Updated on January 30, 2024

Reviewed by

Rachel Goldman, PhD, FTOS

Print
Verywell / Laura Porter

Table of Contents

 The 3 Laws

 How to Use It

 Impact

 Tips

 Potential Pitfalls

 History

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The law of attraction is a philosophy suggesting that positive thoughts bring positive results into a
person's life, while negative thoughts bring negative outcomes. In other words, a positive mindset
will attract more success and happiness than a negative one. And this "law" applies to all areas of life
including health, finances, and relationships.

Based on these lofty promises, it begs the question: Is the law of attraction real? The law of
attraction has generated lots of attention in the past decade or more due to books like "The Secret,"
by Rhonda Byrne but it's worth investigating further—it's not some magical energy bringing you good
fortune, it's all about psychology and your mindset.

The Laws of Attraction

How does the law of attraction work? Essentially, the energy of your thoughts manifest your
experiences. So positive thoughts manifest positive experiences and vice versa. Advocates suggest
there are central universal principles that make up the law of attraction:

 Like attracts like: This law suggests that similar things are attracted to one another. It means
that people tend to attract people who are similar to them—but it also suggests that
people's thoughts tend to attract similar results. Negative thinking is believed to attract
negative experiences, while positive thinking is believed to produce desirable experiences.

 Nature abhors a vacuum: This law of attraction suggests that removing negative things from
your life can make space for more positive things to take their place. It is based on the notion
that it is impossible to have a completely empty space in your mind and in your life. Since
something will always fill this space, it is important to fill that space with positivity,
proponents of this philosophy say.

 The present is always perfect: This law focuses on the idea that there are always things you
can do to improve the present moment. While it might always seem like the present is
somehow flawed, this law proposes that, rather than feeling dread or unhappiness, you
 should focus your energy on finding ways to make the present moment the best that it can
be.

How to Use the Law of Attraction

So how do you get started with the law of attraction? According to this philosophy, you create your
own reality. What you focus on is what you draw into your life. It suggests that what you believe will
happen in your life is what does happen.

Some things that you can do to incorporate the law of attraction into your own life include:

 Be grateful

 Visualize your goals

 Look for the positives in a situation

 Learn how to identify negative thinking

 Use positive affirmations

 Reframe negative events in a more positive way

While the law of attraction may not be an immediate solution for all of life's challenges, it can help
you learn to cultivate a more optimistic outlook on life. It may also help you stay motivated to
continue working toward your goals.

Relationships

You can use some elements of the law of attraction to work toward your relationship goals. One way
to do this is to become more aware of the things that might be holding you back when it comes to
allowing love in your life.

If you notice that issues like a fear of vulnerability keep you from forging strong romantic
connections, you can start taking steps to overcome those fears. Approaching your relationships with
positivity may help you form healthier relationships.

Work

The law of attraction can also be useful for achieving your professional goals. While people
sometimes mistakenly believe that simply thinking positively about your career aspirations will
manifest positive changes, the key is to use your long-term goals to make specific, concrete changes
in the present that will help you take steps toward your goals.

For example, simply hoping for higher pay isn't enough. Taking actions such as acquiring marketable
skills, seeking promotions, or even pursuing a new position are steps you can take that will pay off in
the future. According to the law of attraction, focusing your energy in positive ways will bring positive
changes to your life in the future.

Money

Manifesting financial changes in your life requires small steps and steady progress. Instead of simply
wishing for more, it's important to assess your financial life and set goals for what you want to
achieve both now and in the future.

The law of attraction encourages people to shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.
Instead of focusing on what you lack, practice feeling gratitude for what you have. In doing so, you'll
be better prepared as you work toward your financial goals and take advantage of the opportunities
presented.

How to Use Positive Affirmations

Impact of the Law of Attraction

While the law of attraction lacks scientific support, proponents suggest that it can produce positive
changes in a person's life. Some reasons why people may experience benefits from this philosophy
include:

Spiritual Effects

The law of attraction may produce results because it taps into people's spirituality. Spirituality itself
is connected to a variety of health benefits including reduced stress, better health, lower depression,
and better overall well-being.1

Many people believe that this philosophy works by aligning God or the universe with our wishes. This
notion suggests that people are all made of energy, and this energy operates at different frequencies.
Because of this, it is important to change the frequency of energy with positive thoughts, especially
gratitude for what we already have.

By using grateful, positive thoughts and feelings and by focusing on our dreams rather than our
frustrations, we can change the frequency of our energy, and the law of attraction brings positive
things into our lives. What we attract depends on where and how we focus our attention, but we
must believe that it’s already ours or soon will be.

Better Well-Being

Utilizing the law of attraction may also bring about positive impacts on mental well-being. By
focusing on attaining a new reality, and by believing it is possible, we tend to take more risks, notice
more opportunities, and open ourselves up to new possibilities. Conversely, when we don’t believe
that something is in the realm of possibilities for us, we tend to let opportunities pass by unnoticed.

When we believe we don’t deserve good things, we behave in ways that sabotage our chances of
happiness. By changing our self-talk and feelings about life, we reverse the negative patterns in our
lives and create more positive, productive, and healthy ones. One good thing leads to another, and
the direction of a life can shift from a downward spiral to an upward ascent.

"Our thoughts influence our emotions and behaviors, so we need to be mindful of the words we use
when speaking to ourselves. Our self-talk can become our reality," says Rachel Goldman, PhD

Research on optimism shows that optimists enjoy better health, greater happiness, and more success
in life. They possess traits that allow them to focus their thoughts on their successes and mentally
minimize their failures.2

One of the foundations of many types of therapy is that changing your self-talk can change your life
in a positive direction. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), a widely used and effective treatment for
many conditions, is based on the idea that identifying and changing automatic negative thoughts can
produce positive effects and help people achieve better mental well-being.

Golman continues, "And if we are feeling good, that shows! When we feel good about ourselves, we
present ourselves differently and we become like a magnet and attract others with similar energy."

Tips for Practicing the Law of Attraction

 Journaling: Writing down your thoughts can help you better learn to recognize your habitual
thought patterns to see whether you tend toward optimism or pessimism and learn more
about changing negative patterns of thought.

 Make a mood board: Create a visual reminder that helps you maintain a positive mindset,
stay motivated, and focus on your goals.

 Practice acceptance: Instead of focusing on what is wrong about the present or what needs
to be changed, work on accepting things as they are. This doesn't mean that you won't
continue to work toward a better future, it just means that you won't get bogged down by
wishing for things to be different right now.

 Practice positive self-talk: If you struggle with being overly self-critical, set a goal to engage
in positive self-talk each day. Over time, this may come much more easily and you may find
that it is harder to maintain a negative mindset.

Reducing Stress With Positive Energy

Potential Pitfalls of the Law of Attraction

One problem with books such as "The Secret" as well as with some people's interpretation of the law
of attraction is that it suggests it's the belief that good things will come to us that will bring us all that
we desire, without any sort of action behind that belief.

It is the optimistic viewpoint that drives proactive behaviors that, in turn, bring optimists such great
results in their lives. Optimists don't receive their benefits from their attitudes alone—it's
the behavior the attitudes inspire that creates real change.

In order for beliefs to affect behavior, it is important to also have things such as:

 Goals

 Mindfulness

 Commitment

 Motivation

 Timelines

 Challenges

 Support

Critics of "The Secret" and other books about the law of attraction also point out the very real
concern that people may start to blame themselves for negative events that are outside their
control, such as accidents and injuries, layoffs due to a financial downturn, or major illnesses.

We can't always control our circumstances, but we can control our responses to them. In this vein,
the law of attraction can provide the optimism and proactive attitude associated with resilience in
difficult situations, but it must not be used as a tool of self-blame.
Your responses to the challenges you face can make you stronger. In that way, the law of attraction
can be useful when it encourages such strength. However, it should not be applied negatively or it
can be more destructive than helpful.

History

While the law of attraction has received quite a bit of attention in recent years, the concept is not
exactly new. These ideas have philosophical roots that date back to the early 19th-century approach
known as "New Thought."

There was a resurgence of interest in the idea during the 20th century, particularly with the 2006
release of the film "The Secret," which was then later developed into the best-selling book of the
same title and its 2010 sequel "The Power."