I am about to do two things.
First, I am going to expose the Fake Law of Attraction (FLoA) that’s been sold to the naive public by a great number of conscious and unconscious charlatans.
Then, I am going to present the REAL Law of Attraction (RLoA) (don’t expect magic).
According to the FLoA, you can essentially manifest/create things in your life by using your mind. In other words, you can imagine your way to whatever goal you have.
The common recommendation is to make visual slides of what you want to acquire, and one day (if you do this “correctly”) your dream will become a reality. If you don’t get what you want, you didn’t do the program the right way.
The LoA sellers put a strong emphasis on the motto that thoughts become things. This isn’t entirely false but extremely IMPORTANT factors are purposefully omitted from the EQUATION to the point where the entire thing becomes criminally inaccurate.
It Just Doesn’t Work
The brutal truth is that the law of attraction in its commercialized form simply does not work.
Why?
Because physics.
Let’s say that you are a natural bodybuilder who wants to get bigger via the law of attraction and begin daydreaming of a physique that requires roids. Your belief in the law is super strong – as strong as physically possible.
Do you know what’s going to happen? Nothing.
Now take a random man from the street, tell them to imagine themselves getting smaller and smaller, and put them on a solid steroid cycle for months.
Do you know what’s going to happen? He’s gonna get bigger muscles regardless of what he believes in.
It feels almost retarded that I have to explain this, but the masses are that lost.
In the first case, the person is trying to bridge a physical gap via thoughts and dreams that cannot trigger the necessary physiological mechanism for the change to occur.
In the second case, the person is triggering the needed changes physically and therefore doesn’t need the dreams and thoughts.
That person could imagine himself getting smaller and smaller, and yet he will get bigger and bigger.
Ironically, Arnold can be used as an example. It’s been said that he relied on visualization and imagined that his biceps were as big as mountains. Mentally challenged dreamers bought this nonsense.
If you remove all the steroids that Arnold took, you will get an aesthetic but skinny fella who isn’t competitive regardless of his imaginary mountains.
The “Successful” Examples Are Always Questionable
Virtually all successful examples of the LoA working are either inconsequential or uncertain at their core.
One cannot be sure whether they are an outcome that would’ve happened regardless of what you believed in or a result of the law.
Let’s say that you need 500 bucks and start dreaming of them. Then, one month later your grandparents give you 500 bucks for your birthday.
Did you manifest that money or was it coming your way regardless of your delusions?
Another example would be the manifestation of a text from someone who has ghosted you.
You meet a girl. You talk to her. And suddenly she disappears. Then you use the LoA to manifest a text from her. 2 weeks later, she sends you a picture of her sleeping cat.
So, did she send that picture because of your mental gymnastics or because of another event (e.g., the guy she was planning to replace you with ghosted her)? You can’t know.
I will believe in this nonsense when I see unequivocal proof that it’s the source of the change.
For example, I would like to see this – a short average man who can’t get even a single match on a dating app discovers the LoA and suddenly manifests a ton of hot girls in his life. His finances are the same as before and so are his looks.
If you can make that happen, I’d believe it.
But let’s get hostile.
Imagine that you jump on stage next to one of the many motivational coaches who promote that stuff and break their arm. Then politely ask them to manifest their bones going back into place and healing in a week or two.
Why not? Didn’t they say that everything is possible? If it’s not, why are they lying?
Brain Activation For The Win
The fact that your thoughts cannot become a reality is a wonderful thing as humans have a ton of disturbing thoughts every single day.
Also, if everyone’s imagination could manifest we would have a pretty chaotic world. Don’t you think?
The truth is that those gurus are relying on the undeniable fact that we LOVE LIES.
People love lies more than a sugar addict loves cake.
Lies. Lies. Lies.
Lies always attract, and the truth always detracts. Hence people continue to overestimate how much muscle can be gained naturally. And that will never end.
But if you activate your brain for a second, you will realize the absurdity behind the LoA in the form that it’s presented to you.
And just when you are about to ask the logical question “How”, the teacher tells you to forget the “how” and live in the “wish fulfilled”.
In other words, you are expected to mute the logical question that comes to you and use your imaginary system to put yourself in a state where your wish is a reality.
This method is beneficial in some situations, but it’s not universal. For instance, it’s 100% non-applicable in cases requiring immediate action.
Imagine that you get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and instead of replacing it, you begin imagining how the tire is fixed and you are once again driving your car normally.
This wish-fulfilled stuff works only when the mechanism required to trigger the desired result is already in motion and extra interference will result in the opposite result.
Sometimes we fail because we try too hard and press things that should not be pressed. In all other cases, however, good luck getting what you want by ignoring the how.
You just can’t.
Arnold didn’t live in the wish fulfilled without asking how. He planned, injected, trained…etc.
When you take your car to a mechanic, you don’t expect him to get it fixed via meditation. He has to know HOW or find out a way.
Making It Work (The Real Law Of Attraction)
Here’s how the real LoA works.
First, your desire/goal/event has to be within the physical possibilities for YOU. In other words, the reality that you want to manifest has to be physically capable of existing in your life.
For example, if you are 45 years old, and you want to become a pro football player, you are starting a little too early. Wait for the next life as you missed the train in this one.
The good news is that in many cases the possibilities are fairly large, just not as large as the sellers of hope want you to think. Many of them say that “anything is possible”, but it simply isn’t the case.
After choosing a goal, your mind will immediately start filtering the world around you using the “keyword” that you have selected.
For example, if you have chosen to search for more money, your mind will be open to suggestions on how to make more money.
If you want to learn how to ride a motorcycle, you will start seeing driving schools.
If you want to lose fat, you will start noticing gyms and diet articles.
As they say, your focus determines your reality. And once you have a mission, your mind naturally starts looking for a way to make it possible.
The mind is looking for the HOW since you can’t get something for nothing regardless of what the dreamers might think.
And you start seeing opportunities that have always been there and yet invisible to you because your focus was different.
After your conscious and subconscious mind have had enough time to scan the surroundings, you have to commit to a plan.
There is no other way. How the plan will work depends on many factors. More than likely, it won’t be perfect, but it will be an acceptable start.
Let’s say that you want massive muscles and start lifting. Eventually, you will realize the limitations of natural bodybuilding and start scanning for people who have overcome them.
Obviously, those would be the pinners around you. And you will have to make a choice – join or not. The same schema applies to other goals too. You follow a path until it works and then you make a decision where to go.
None of this is magical…or accidental. The only magic is the STRONG intent that you gotta have if you want the change. Many people only wish to change, but never transform their desire into an intent that later leads to actions and results in the 3D world.
Detachment From The Old Self
Another important ingredient besides having a real goal and a logical plan is to DETACH from the old self and attach to the new.
To become a new person, the old has to die, at least partially. If you keep swimming mentally and physically in the old sea, you won’t get out because you keep resurrecting your old universe.
Look For Levers, Not Miracles
A lever is a tool that amplifies your effort. Without leverage, every task becomes close to impossible. The greater the leverage, the better.
Finding and securing leverage is the heart of any transformation (in the gym or outside).
You have to find your own and use it no matter how small it is in comparison to what others have.
The external world will always try to steal your leverage.
Summary Of The True LoA
- Select a goal within the physical possibilities in front of you. It can be difficult, but it can’t be insane.
- Allow your mind to search for a plan without forcing it.
- Follow the plan that gives you decent leverage.
- Focus on the new self and let the old one take a walk.
- After a while, evaluate your results and choose a new path (or keep following the old one if it’s working).
That’s it.
It’s not fancy at all. But it certainly works better than visualizing a change while doing practically nothing.
Ultimately, to achieve something, the mind and the body have to work in a union. The mind is where the plan is born. The body is the doer.
Feelings are a LIAR
Feelings are one of the biggest liars in this universe.
They are subject to misinterpretation, and manipulation because they aren’t based on concrete evidence. Many people who stand behind the fake LoA do so based on how they feel.
They watch the videos, read the fancy quotes, and convince themselves that it’s all real. Then, a happy and yet delusional feeling arises within them telling them all sorts of lies.
And that’s not always bad. Sometimes we need those lies to stabilize ourselves in a difficult situation. If used correctly, they are good painkillers. But don’t forget that painkillers can mask an underlying issue and allow it to develop into something even scarier.
In the long term, delusions always lead to big losses in the so-called real world.
The brutal truth is that your gut needs evidence occasionally for it to work accurately. If your feelings are the only compass of your intuition, it can’t be accurate. It needs to periodically receive “material feedback” that something is working (or not). Otherwise, your intuition will not be calibrated properly in regard to the specific task/event.
The Power Of The Mind
It would be foolish on my part to deny the fact that the mind can influence the material.
You can positively and negatively affect your life via your thought process, but not to the point where you “bend the 3D world” to your liking. You can’t fight physics, sorry.
I’d say that ideally, you will be balanced – not too positive (the higher you are, the harder the fall) but also not too negative. Negativity destroys even the beautiful things in your life and kill opportunities.
A Word On Destiny
One of the many reasons why you can’t always manifest things in your life (whether you follow the fake or real LoA) is karma+destiny.
You can choose not to believe in destiny, but I will not be joining you as I have concrete evidence of pre-determinism/destiny in my life.
What is my evidence? Many years ago, a fortune teller predicted many events in the life of my parents that turned out to be true. I realize this sounds a bit crazy, but it’s also the reality.
That woman predicted things that you can’t just “guess”. And I can’t ignore that. Also, I have no incentive to make things up.
You don’t have to believe me. And I understand why you wouldn’t. But I can’t ignore this fact, myself.
I’ve never met people with similar skills nor would I go to one as I think most are scammers. But there are also rare ones who have that ability for better or worse. IMO, the fortune tellers who have real skills don’t ask for money, and you meet them unexpectedly. I don’t recommend actively seeking similar services. In the case of my parents, my father was a good friend with the son of the fortune teller before meeting the woman.
Why am I saying this?
Because the predictions of that woman are a strong indication that there is some form of pre-determinism in life. And if there is such a thing, it will actively prevent you from manifesting the things that you want. In other words, you can dream, but you can’t overcome the karmic DNA that your life holds.
I also have a strong indication that our destiny is loaded with lessons that we have to go through whether we like it or not.
That said, you have to live life as if it’s not predetermined. And that isn’t all that difficult because most of us don’t know what the future holds anyway.
- Natty
Good job…thank’s teacher…
The LOA works, man.
The reason it doesn’t work for you is because you don’t really believe it’s true or want it badly enough.
/sarcasm (just in case)
Good article
Curiously, I just bought the Hater’s Synthesis pack yesterday and read some mentions of this “law of attraction” (and the real one most people ignore) in the initial chapters. Not sure if you already covered this topic in the past on other public content, but it was nice to see it fully fleshed out.
The mainstream LoA is just a substitute of naive/misguided religious faith for the pampered masses. The idea of God might be “dead” in the Westernized world, but people desperately look for a replacement (mesianic political ideologies, “Science”, new age spiritualism, etc).
BTW, I’m enjoying a HS so far. The style is more cynical than what I’m used to see in the blog. Don’t know if you did it on purpose as some sort of black comedy, or if you started it during a part of your life where you were genuinely bitter, but it is quite well written.
Thank you for the support, Jose.
AHS 1 was the first book and written in 2016. I guess I’ve become slightly less aggressive since then. I know what you mean. Sometimes when I read the older stuff, I can feel the difference myself.
I think this is a great thing. You have a chance to see how you have changed over the years, by going through your writings. I feel bad about the fact that I never saw much importance in journaling / writing your thing / thoughts down. It would be great to go through that stuff now, but sadly I didn’t do it. It would probably even retain memory well.
I’m not really an advocate of watching a lot of movies etc. but what is a bit similar is that when you watch a movie / tv-series that you really like at one point in your life and then come back to it later, preferably a lot later. It will hit differently in different situations in your life. You’re still probably going to like it, but it will be different. This happened to me especially since my kid was born.
incredible, your philosophical articles are always the best, you are a very wise person, thank you for writing your thoughts, you are great bro
” 2 weeks later, she sends you a picture of her sleeping cat.” This got me 😀 I don’t know if the following is going to be about the subject of the article, but at least close to it. Although there’s nothing wrong with it, I hate to admit it but, in my youth, I had this phase when I was consuming a lot of self-help stuff. When you’re into that, it’s pretty much a universal law that eventually you’re going to bump into Tony Robbins.
I’m not really a man of stories and sayings, they just don’t stick with me, and I often just can’t focus if someone is telling a story about something (but the good ones are worth of focusing). But some of that stuff does stay with me. Robbins is probably full of shit very often, but I still remember some of his things from decades ago, and at the time when I was going through that material, the material was already a couple of decades old. One credit I must give him is that I’ve never come across a self-help idea that he hasn’t introduced yet. Maybe that’s the secret behind his success, he just pours so much shit out that at least some of it is going to be right. And of course he’s been wrong plenty of times. But yeah, here are a few things that come into my mind that are related to this article.
Robbins often talked about the importance of acting versus thinking and wishing. One of the simple stupid examples was weed in the garden. If you have weeds in the garden, you can think in your mind that “there’s no weed in the garden” and hope for the best, but there’s a great chance that nothing is going to happen. Then again, you can just go and pull the suckers out. He also had a similar philosophy to what you have described in the “Summay of The True LoA”-section of this article. From what I remember it went like this:
1, Decide what you want (intent)
2, Take action to get there
3, Measure you results to see if your actions are working
4, Change you approach if you’re not seeing results
Then just rinse and repeat until you get it. But his additional tip was that if you want to speed up this process, you go and find someone who already has achieved the thing you want and then do the similar things he / she did to get there. Partly this is a good tip, partly not. Because if you want to be big and muscular and you follow Arnie’s actions, you’re never going to be there, unless you take the gear. Probably not even then. Then again, those goals must be realistic.
I’m that some of what Tony Robbins says is useful, but i really suspect that the most useful stuff he says isn’t all that revelatory to those even slightly above average in terms of “success”, it just amounts to life and work skills a parent or mentor would teach you. So perhaps that’s his base – he’s useful to people who haven’t been taught, or haven’t absorbed, or simply weren’t intelligent enough to figure out, some of the finer skills one needs to navigate the world by setting goals and working toward them. If this is the case, then fine, but I’m not sure it’s worth $1000 a day workshops and the like.
I dont agree. If you want to get big and trying to materialize it through thinking you will sooner or later get to steroids somehow. Maybe if you think about getting smaller and you get on cycle you will first get big and after that you will get sick or injured and you will get smaller. I think law of attraction is not straight forward. If you think that you are going to be a bird and learn how to fly you will maybe get a pilot license and fly a plane or you will start paragliding. Its almost what you wanted but not exactly the same as you wanted it. Just my opinion how it could work. Also it doesnt matter why the girl sent you a picture. But she send it to you and thats what you materialized. What led to it from her perspective doenst matter in the end.
Dude. The “LOA”, “visualization” etc….it’s all just a Mumbo Jumbo way of describing the process of articulating a goal and then mapping out the steps you need to take to get there. A basic life skill. It’s that simple. There’s no laws or rules or magic. Successful people do it instinctively.
I dont agree with that but thank you for your perspective.
Likewise. Good luck to you, anonymous internet friend.
“I will believe in this nonsense when I see unequivocal proof that it’s the source of the change”
It would be a simple proof too. All these charlatans would have to do is have an independent party run a prospective study on them, much like a clinical trial. Enrolling each new client sequentially and documenting their objectives and what they want to get out of the course. If the charlatan agrees to the client’s objectives, the study party tracks the client, checking in on them once or twice a year for a few years to see how they are doing relative to their objectives.
Hell, to start with I’d accept just an independent audit of their client files, just to see what % of them achieved their goal.
The fact that they don’t do this, while serious formal services such as medicine, law, accountancy etc all self-regulate and have some degree of transparency, tell you everything you need to know.
Please please please never take your foot off the pedal with these types of articles…Thanks again for all the years of good content sir salute!