The Law of Attention

In practice, the Law of Attraction is really the Law of Attention. We put our attention on that which we fear and that which we want. If you feel as if you “must” win, at some point failure is going to be so scary that your attention will start to fixate on some obstacle and while you are hung up on that you will most likely fail to do something else properly.

“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk–and to act.” Andre Malraux (French Historian, Novelist and Statesman 1901-1976)

The freer you are with focusing and refocusing your attention, the faster and more accurately you can calculate, predict, decide, act, adjust, and get your desired result. It’s the same as driving a car while talking on the phone, doing your makeup or eating a cheeseburger (not recommended!), then getting to the destination and not even remembering what route was traveled. It can be effortless, even though the reality is that you are careening down the road at 60 mph with a two-foot margin of error, driving on a two-lane road with cars coming at you at the same speed. That is 120 mph closing speed! Yet we don’t think twice about doing this.

By comparison, if a person falls off of a building they can ultimately reach the same speed of about 120 mph in free fall in what is called terminal velocity. We get completely numb and frozen by this risk, yet it’s the same level of threat as driving the car.

While growing up, you had to learn to walk and you (typically) had to learn to drive. Now that you have done it and done it and done it, you are now relatively fearless in these areas. Success in anything works the same way. You will have some things to learn, but you will learn them. But if you take it all too seriously, your attention will be hard to control and that is where the effort comes in.

The true effort is in controlling your attention, not in what you are doing.

This is even true in physical activities such as weight lifting. When you feel like you are on top of the world it feels good to push the body to its limits and you are actually stronger and more capable. You are more successful.

Consider another aspect to the Law of Attention. Let’s explore a diet mentality and the attempt to control dietary cravings. You can attempt to not give the craving any attention, but this can be much easier said than done. Ultimately everything is about results, and nothing succeeds like success. Ignoring something is not the same as conquering it.

EXERCISE:

The next time you are craving something, take a moment to locate the exact location of the craving in the physical universe. Try to find it. Where is it exactly? Somewhere in your body? In your environment? Write down exactly where it is.

Repeat this as often as you have this particular craving. Every time you have this craving write down where you can locate it. As you continue to do this you will discover that the amount of impact the craving has will diminish and extinguish by itself. Eventually you will experience a wonderful, curious realization: there is no more craving!

This works for any craving you experience.