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# I have been around a lot of people and a surprising array of different circumstances / events and the outcomes inherent within all of these different stages of life.  I’ve met people that were in the deepest pits of hell that could be imagined but years later are completely changed and successful (although the struggle never really ends with progress!).  

I’ve also seen people rising through the ranks of business, health and relationships slip down the terrible slope of stagnation and spiritual detachment.  I would say that that amply sums up my beginnings in the health and wellness industry.

One thing you always hear thrown about at success seminars and personal growth events is **The Law of Attraction**, which is was populized by Rhonda Byrne in her book “The Secret”.  

Immediately upon researching this book the usual human divisiveness that naturally follows anything controversial ensued.  The spiritual types heralded it and picked it up by the millions of copies, the more down-to-earth rational types sort of payed lip service and rolled their eyes as what they saw as just another fad book out to make a buck.  And make a few bucks it did.  It was a New York Times bestseller and is still flying off shelves.

I’ll admit I’ve only grazed through the book but I’m well aware of the *idea* of attracting what you want, or creating your own reality or whatever you would want to call it.  I’d prefer the term reflecting the world internally and created that world view externally.  If you’re always stressed and depressed on the inside these types of things will seem to “always happen to little old me”.  This **victim mentality** is very popular at the moment, of joining a group of “repressed people” and then basically virtue signaling to other people that “hey, the world has been really tough to me and I’m not happy about it and you should help me change that”.

The problem here is that this idea goes directly against universal law as I understand it.  

Here’s a few things that people are getting wrong on the so called “law of attraction” and how you can start moving in the right direction with different areas of life:

### 1) If you just think positively you will magically attract everything that you *want* instead of what you *need*

One of the frontline defenses on why the LOA is a sham is that it gives the impression that someone can simply sit in their house, meditate think about good things and they will magically just appear.  

There are certainly groups that much can be learned from or even joined around the world that at least lean in this direction of frugal happiness and spiritual self-improvement at all costs.  Tibetan monasteries come to mind, tucked away in remote areas of far away mountains (to me at least), where marathon meditation sessions and just the most basic of life’s necessities are fulfilled.  

But that may not be what people are looking for in *The West*.  Here that kind of attitude may land you homeless on the street with literally your basic needs not even being meant (security).  And hey, there are also many examples of people that simply shook all their possessions and achieved inner happiness living as nomads.  So there is nothing wrong with that at all!  

Is that really what you want though?  I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting some possessions and **other tools** like money, if you are going to use them for unselfish ways, and idea is where the problem lies with just sitting around thinking about *money and fame* and physical possessions.  Its selfish.  

Results typically require much more work than people are willing to admit, no matter what the obsession or project.  Successful business owners will drive themselves into the ground for years for success.  Physical fitness requires a near constant watchful eye.  Massive action is sometimes the only way.  Anyone trying to make any sort of living by writing is well aware of this!

What positive thinking *will* do for you though is give you an aura of confidence that is hard to fake.  When you approach a project or potential client or situation and you’re depressed and anxious on the inside you will probably find the same level of success if you were to at least *attempt* to feel confident and have a positive outlook on the outcome.  

Simply put, nobody likes a negative Nancy.  Thoughts can be controlled but this takes the same sort of work-ethic as starting a business does.  It can’t be done for fifteen minutes per day!  

**Strategy: Read and listen to Jim Rohn and study or meditate on his idea that we should all work on ourselves harder than we work on our jobs.**

### 2) The difference between thinking how you *want* something instead of imagining that you are simply *thanking the universe for already having it*

The main idea of the LOA is imagining that you already are what you want and you are simply thanking and becoming that version of yourself.

This concept is most excellently explained in this gem of a book by Neville Goddard.

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Admittedly nearly every chapter in the book says just about the same thing, albeit from a million different angles to potential punch the point through regardless of how the reader’s individual thought process works.  It is a beautifully written book and should be in anyone’s library lookin for personal growth.

There’s another way of saying that you *want* something and that is that you do not *have* it!  Think of the state of your mind portraying thoughts out into the global consciousness where what you seek is simply attracted to you.  You’re very thinking that you do not have something will be reflected externally.

Mental visualization is a great tool for this and every great success (especially athletic) shares this in common.  They are visualizing their success before it even happens.  The more developed the art of mental visualization becomes, the more you “feel” the event or outcome you desire.  This creates an emotional attachment.  Emotional frequencies are what form the collective world outlook, that’s where the law of attraction works.  

Esoterically this is what is meant by people’s intentions *from the heart* instead of the brain.  The heart is the physically most energetic part of the body.  Even science agrees that it gives out a very [measurable magnetic field](https://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/energetic-communication/) and this magnetic field is literally, well, **magnetic** meaning it attracts potentially other similar emotional frequencies to it.  

There are so many ways to describe this step.  “Fake it til you make it” is one example.  However if you really feel it from inside your heart and its your truth and your destiny then its really not “faking” anything.  If you’re acting fake then you’ll know it deep down inside and nobody but you can control that.  

**Strategy: Step into your greatness and feel that you are the person you want to become already.**

### 3) Holding onto previous limiting belief systems and patterns

We have a terrible habit of dragging around useless baggage and inefficient thought patterns here on earth.  Childhood emotional baggage and abuse, tragedies, and other psychological ticks that we never truly learned to go through; all of these impact the way we view ourselves later on.  

Thoughts of failure and again victimhood are the one thing that will halt progress in getting what we are seeking in life.  Operating out of fear (especially of failure) and holding on to emotional injustices that were done to us by people and things from decades ago.

The whole point of doing something different and pushing the limits is to get into an uncomfortable space that you will eventually grow into.  There will be growing pains accordingly, and massive failures at times.  No matter what you try and do which transcends normal life will have at times monumental setbacks.  You may even lose everything and have to start over.  There will also be the opposite, the feelings of triumph when you strike down your goals and are victorious.  

One of the biggest misconceptions about successful people are that they were never afraid, that they have something that *we don’t* and we are doomed to mediocrity.  Then, when you finally meet or hear that person you learn about all the struggles and failures along the way.  People rarely see the behind the scenes grind, just the social media victories.

There are so many different analogies, stories and parables about this subject of personal growth and change.  **The Pheonix** is the symbol of dying and rising again.  What this could mean is not literal “death” but the death of the old you and the rebirth through transformation.  The old version of yourself must not only be transcended but metaphorically destroyed, burnt and assimilated into the newer and greater version of yourself.  

#### In Conclusion

It seems that many of us are viewing this universal law of attraction and vibration the wrong way, although with positive intentions.  Then we are dismayed when it **didn’t work** but in reality we were doing a combination of these three things wrong.  Either we can’t let go of the past and it drags us down spiritually like a lead weight, or we focus on **not having** what we desire and are surprised when we don’t get it.  Or we think its just about sitting inside away from society, not being involved and that we can just meditate our way to fulfillment, when it is obvious that we must act and bravely so in the face of fears.

The trick is to literally imagine as deeply and emotionally as possible that which you want to be or represent here on earth.

***If you enjoy my writing on #Steemit, please like share and most importantly give your thoughts in the comments and find me on my main writing channel on #Medium: https://medium.com/@benhetzel***

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***If you’re looking to lose weight or have a health or fitness goal email me directly at: h24leanmachine@protonmail.com***