Having just read “The Secret of The Secret” by Karen Kelly (see Who We’re Lovin’) my belief in the Law of Attraction is wavering. I think there is some truth in it, but I don’t think it’s as simple as the book and the film make out. I also think it has more to do with your general attitude and your brain, than waves transmitted into the universe by our thoughts. In the Kelly book, Alan Sokal says that quantum physicists often talk metaphorically because the content of their subject is generally beyond the regular non-quantum-educated persons understanding. He explained that during the movie he used a metaphor to explain how thoughts work, but that what he had said in the film was not technically true to quantum science.
It seems that a lot of people in the world of self development have used these metaphors to explain how people can change their lives by expecting to receive the things that they want. In NLP, we use the term “Acting as if” this means that you think in your mind and feel in your body, how you would be thinking and feeling if you already had the things that you wanted- e.g. having more money in the bank (and in NLP you would be specific about how much you wanted as more money could mean that you find an extra 10p.)
This acting as if is useful to do for a number of reasons:
1) If there are any negative emotions that surface whilst acting as if (such as feeling you don’t deserve more money), you can deal with these issues so that when you are actually coming into more money, you do not sabotage your efforts as a result of an identified negative emotion related to the past.
2) You are allowing your unconscious to practice being the way you want to be, and in doing so it is more open to noticing the hints and indicators that will take you towards the goal of having more money (e.g. the action you need to take.)
3) When acting as if you are more likely to see and notice money around you due to a part of your mind called the RAS (reticular activating system) which is a radar for what you are thinking about. It brings into your awareness that which you are focusing on. If you are focusing your thinking on money you can expect to see it around you more. That’s not necessarily the same as your mind sending out a thought wave to the universe and the universe responding with the gifts that you ask for. Surely that’s just the way your brain works.
Now where does belief come into all of this? Could believing in the Law of Attraction cause you to get the money that you wish to have, even if the Law of Attraction is not actually real? If your belief is real, is that enough? A bit like the placebo effect. (You can answer this one at the bottom of the article in the comments box on the PB website- I’m interested to know your thoughts!)
As for my own personal successes, I’d say that has had to do with lots of action and effort. Working hard (although it is also always fun) and at times, having faith in myself and remembering that even the things that don’t work out as I wanted, happened for the right reasons. And in my opinion, that’s how you use the Law of Attraction to manifest money.
The Law of Attraction does indeed work, and used correctly is an incredibly powerful tool. The movie “The Secret” is simply one representation of the Law of Attraction, which was purposefully simplified and sensationalized to appeal to as many people as possible and to spread the word to as many people as possible. “The Secret” is just a collection of different theorists, promoters and self-help “gurus” who use the Law of Attraction in their work. Rhonda Byrne simply took the ideas of all of these theorists and “experts” and presented her interpretation of the Law of Attraction in the movie. (the book by the way is simply a spin off of the movie itself). So the representation of the Law of Attraction is simply Rhonda Byrne’s interpretation, she is not a self-help guru, or a teacher, she is simply a TV producer who made a documentary. The final representation of the Law of Attraction in the film is not one that is shared by all of the “Secret Teachers” , in fact pretty much all of the experts that contributed to the film disagree with at least one aspect, if not many aspects of how Byrne presented the Law of Attraction in the film. And indeed, most of the “Secret Teachers” that featured in the film do not share the same ideas or beliefs as each other. Some favour Byrne’s approach of sensationalizing and making the Law of Attraction appear almost magical. This is not as dishonest as it may first appear, many authors, including one of the most famous (Wallace D Wattles) deliberately created a sense of magic around the concept to appeal to the masses… the idea being that by creating the illusion of something simple, magical and powerful people would be more likely to give it a go, and put it into practise (strange as it may seem).
Other “teachers” featured in the film mix the concept with that of Christianity. While many of them explain the idea (which most people actually believe to be the real explanation), as a tool to direct an incredibly powerful tool … the subconscious mind. And many of them have criticized Byrne since the release of the film, as she failed to leave out the most important part of the Law, which is of course ACTION.
I could write so much more, but basically what I am trying to say is that you have to seperate The Law of Attraction from the movie The Secret, they are not the same thing.
The Secret was flawed in many ways, but many people will benefit from it, if they use it as a springboard for further reading on the subject.
Doofus you should check out the podcast that went with this http://peoplebuilding.mypodcast.com