Vlad: Action is the common denominator in success, I believe.

Tony: “I think it was Henry Ford who said “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” That sums up the LoA quite well for me – if you don’t have the belief you won’t do the activity required to manifest it.” Beautifully said, Tony. Beautifully said.

Karen: Wow am I glad I finally got to your comment, Karen. Wonderful information and Goddard just made my swipe file as something I need to research further. Thank you.

CathD: LOL. That’s just too funny.

Writer Dads last blog post..Petals Papered Our Lives Walls

Think I need a shower now… aargh, all that slime!

CathDs last blog post..Future Directions: Who Decides?

About six months or a year (can’t remember) before The Secret went mainstream a spiritual teacher recommended I read The Power of Awareness by Goddard. Most of his books are out of print and hard to find, but I got my hands on a copy and read it. For me, that got the ball rolling. When I finally saw The Secret I, like many, was disappointed at the focus on materialism and wishful thinking. The movie misses the mark on three key LosA essentials, and this first is a huge one:

* Detach from the outcome. Goddard teaches to “set and forget” your intention. That’s pretty difficult for someone trying to manifest a paid-off mortgage or luxury car to do, let alone someone living on their last $1. The lost lesson is the more you obsess about what you want, the more resistance to it you create because YOU are trying to control the process vs. letting the natural flow of the universe deliver. So too much “wishful thinking” actually undoes the LofA. Surrender is a key element I found missing in the movie.

*The law of proportion. A mere conscious thought about an open parking space might manifest one in a few seconds, but it won’t make a Porsche appear out of thin air or heal a damaged relationship overnight. Bigger things take not only more time, but more action, the third missing piece. The laws of physical reality still apply. The matrix is complex and many parts may need to shift into place before “bigger things” can manifest in the physical day-to-day. In short, the Secret gives equal weight to all intentions which is not only misleading, but ridiculous.

*The critical importance of action. Others said it in spades here, wishful thinking won’t cut it. “Set and forget” doesn’t mean sitting back and sipping a pina colada while you wait for your wish to be magically fulfilled by doing nothing. If you don’t follow intention with action the universe has no visible signal that you really want it to deliver. It doesn’t matter which action you take toward your intention/goal as much as it matters that you take consistent action toward it. You don’t even have to know what the “right action” (a la Eckhart Tolle) is, just try stuff. Without movement FROM YOU how can anything move FOR YOU?

Most people can’t or won’t master the LofA before going through a surrendering process and learning how to persist in the face of their inner critic, self-doubt, lack of evidence and fear. It took me a couple of months, a few personal disasters and a huge surrendering process to get the hang of it all, but when the tide turned it was palpable. Even so I consider a couple of months lightspeed. Still, an inner transformation was needed, mere knowledge and awareness of the principles wasn’t enough.

Shame on The Secret for barely skimming the LofA surface. My belief is, of course we create our own realities – we manifest them moment by moment. Those realities might stem from a thought but there’s plenty that goes into manifestation between thought and physical reality. The Secret implies you can move from “A” to “D” through intention alone and conveniently skips over “B” and “C” – yeah, those parts where the real work gets done.

I’d sure like to see some decent, grounded teaching on the LofA that makes it to the mainstream like The Secret did. But you know how people are. Everyone loves the quick fix!

On the LoA, I have a (more positive) view. I think to a very large extent we do create our own reality. I have seen that so many times in very practical contexts.

It’s a complicated thing though, and tied in to belief systems. If you don’t believe you can be rich, you never will be, if you don’t believe you can make a living as an artist you never will. If you believe you don’t have the ability you write a book you won’t.

I think it was Henry Ford who said “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” That sums up the LoA quite well for me – if you don’t have the belief you won’t do the activity required to manifest it.

So, for a month before the championships, I wrote down 16 times a day: “I, Vlad Dolezal, will win WOC 2007.”

Long story short, I ended up 8th. Out of over 70 participants. So, I placed a lot higher than I would expect, based on my skill level and international playing experience (or, rather, inexperience :p). But I didn’t win either.

Thus, here’s my testimonial for LoA:

“Law of attraction works. Sort of. Sometimes. But taking action towards your goals is more important.”

Vlad Dolezals last blog post..IR Goggles

Stacey / Create a Balances last blog post..Carnival of Personal Development – March 23, 2009