Summary: “What is your understanding of the Law of Attraction?” I asked Joe Vitale. He has become a good friend who I really love and admire. He and his wife Nerissa had traveled from their home in Texas to visit my wife Shelly and me for the weekend. Over dinner one night we talked about a wide variety of topics, including Internet marketing, spirituality, and relationships. I asked this specific question because I knew that Joe had written extensively on the Law of Attraction (LOA) and I wanted to hear his thoughts. Over the years I have gone from totally believing in the LOA to thinking it is absolute nonsense. I thought it was time to finally resolve my position on the issue. (http://www.mortylefkoe.com/wp-content/uploads/Morty-and-Joe-V-at-Muir-Woods-102112-298x300.jpg) Joe started by explaining that he did not accept what many LOA teachers claim, which is that all you need to do is focus on what you want with enough emotion and it will “show up” in your life. Joe contended that merely sitting in a room focusing on a goal would not produce results; action was required. Moreover, he argued, your intention can be totally stopped if you have beliefs in the way. I agreed wholeheartedly and added that getting rid of beliefs actually opens up possibilities that hadn’t existed before. After a fascinating give and take, I think Joe agrees with me on the essentials, but he is going to write a blog post today on his version of what happened. I can’t wait to read his post and see if we do fully agree on what the LOA actually is and is not. Here’s my current position that resulted from our discussion. The following description of how the LOA works makes more sense to me than any I’ve ever seen. Create a clear vision of what you want First, create a vision. In order to have an effective vision you need to distinguish between a vision and a goal. A goal is something specific you want to have happen; it is measurable. A vision is like a direction you want to go in; it is a process; it is never ending. Wanting to teach something specific to 100 people in a workshop is an example of a goal. Wanting to help as many people as possible improve their lives in any way you can, is a vision. You can achieve a vision and still have more to do the next day. Once a goal is achieved, there is nothing more to do. Be passionate about your vision Second, you need to be passionate about your vision. You have to be so excited about your vision that you constantly look for ways to achieve it. You need a vision that you really are passionate about having or doing or being. This is not the same as holding a vision strongly and with emotion, as some teachers have recommended. As you will see in a moment, it’s not having emotion as such that is important, it is about really caring about your vision. Get rid of beliefs that will sabotage your vision Third, eliminate any beliefs that are inconsistent with your vision. If you don’t, the beliefs will likely foreclose the possibility of getting what you want. For example, if you focus on the vision of having a great relationship (as distinct from the goal of having a relationship with a specific person) and you believe Relationships don’t work, I’m not loveable, and Men/women can’t be trusted, you probably will find it difficult to have a good, long term, nurturing relationship. Here’s why. Our beliefs are the primary determinant for the meaning we give events moment to moment, and that meaning determines our behavior and emotions. For example, assume you had the beliefs I just listed above. You now meet someone you like and a relationship is forming. The meaning you give to everything your new girl/boyfriend does and says is directly affected by these beliefs. Imagine your girl/boyfriend doesn’t call when promised. Given these three and other similar beliefs his/her behavior will likely occur to you as: He/she has probably just been stringing me along.
