The law of attraction according to psychologists
What Is the Law of Attraction?
The law of attraction is a philosophy suggesting that positive thoughts bring positive results into a person’s life, while negative thoughts bring negative outcomes. It is based on the belief that thoughts are a form of energy and that positive energy attracts success in all areas of life, including health, finances, and relationships.
Based on these lofty promises, it begs the question: Is the law of attraction real? While the law of attraction has generated attention in recent years due to books like “The Secret,” it lacks scientific evidence for its claims and is generally viewed as a pseudoscience.
The Laws of Attraction
How does the law of attraction work? Essentially, the energy of your thoughts manifest your experiences. So positive thoughts manifest positive experiences and vice versa. Advocates suggest there are central universal principles that make up the law of attraction:
- Like attracts like: This law suggests that similar things are attracted to one another. It means that people tend to attract people who are similar to them—but it also suggests that people’s thoughts tend to attract similar results. Negative thinking is believed to attract negative experiences, while positive thinking is believed to produce desirable experiences.
- Nature abhors a vacuum: This law of attraction suggests that removing negative things from your life can make space for more positive things to take their place. It is based on the notion that it is impossible to have a completely empty space in your mind and in your life. Since something will always fill this space, it is important to fill that space with positivity, proponents of this philosophy say.
- The present is always perfect: This law focuses on the idea that there are always things you can do to improve the present moment. While it might always seem like the present is somehow flawed, this law proposes that, rather than feeling dread or unhappiness, you should focus your energy on finding ways to make the present moment the best that it can be.
What Is the Law of Attraction?
The law of attraction is a philosophy suggesting that positive thoughts bring positive results into a person’s life, while negative thoughts bring negative outcomes. It is based on the belief that thoughts are a form of energy and that positive energy attracts success in all areas of life, including health, finances, and relationships.
Based on these lofty promises, it begs the question: Is the law of attraction real? While the law of attraction has generated attention in recent years due to books like “The Secret,” it lacks scientific evidence for its claims and is generally viewed as a pseudoscience.
The Laws of Attraction
How does the law of attraction work? Essentially, the energy of your thoughts manifest your experiences. So positive thoughts manifest positive experiences and vice versa. Advocates suggest there are central universal principles that make up the law of attraction:
- Like attracts like: This law suggests that similar things are attracted to one another. It means that people tend to attract people who are similar to them—but it also suggests that people’s thoughts tend to attract similar results. Negative thinking is believed to attract negative experiences, while positive thinking is believed to produce desirable experiences.
- Nature abhors a vacuum: This law of attraction suggests that removing negative things from your life can make space for more positive things to take their place. It is based on the notion that it is impossible to have a completely empty space in your mind and in your life. Since something will always fill this space, it is important to fill that space with positivity, proponents of this philosophy say.
- The present is always perfect: This law focuses on the idea that there are always things you can do to improve the present moment. While it might always seem like the present is somehow flawed, this law proposes that, rather than feeling dread or unhappiness, you should focus your energy on finding ways to make the present moment the best that it can be.
How to Use the Law of Attraction
So how do you get started with the law of attraction? According to this philosophy, you create your own reality. What you focus on is what you draw into your life. It suggests that what you believe will happen in your life is what does happen.
Some things that you can do to incorporate the law of attraction into your own life include:
- Be grateful
- Visualize your goals
- Look for the positives in a situation
- Learn how to identify negative thinking
- Use positive affirmations
- Reframe negative events in a more positive way
While the law of attraction may not be an immediate solution for all of life’s challenges, it can help you learn to cultivate a more optimistic outlook on life. It may also help you stay motivated to continue working toward your goals.
Relationships
You can use some elements of the law of attraction to work toward your relationship goals. One way to do this is to become more aware of the things that might be holding you back when it comes to allowing love in your life.
If you notice that issues like a fear of vulnerability keep you from forging strong romantic connections, you can start taking steps to overcome those fears. Approaching your relationships with positivity may help you form healthier relationships.
Work
The law of attraction can also be useful for achieving your professional goals. While people sometimes mistakenly believe that simply thinking positively about your career aspirations will manifest positive changes, the key is to use your long-term goals to make specific, concrete changes in the present that will help you take steps toward your goals.
For example, simply hoping for higher pay isn’t enough. Taking actions such as acquiring marketable skills, seeking promotions, or even pursuing a new position are steps you can take that will pay off in the future. According to the law of attraction, focusing your energy in positive ways will bring positive changes to your life in the future.
Money
Manifesting financial changes in your life requires small steps and steady progress. Instead of simply wishing for more, it’s important to assess your financial life and set goals for what you want to achieve both now and in the future.
The law of attraction encourages people to shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. Instead of focusing on what you lack, practice feeling gratitude for what you have. In doing so, you’ll be better prepared as you work toward your financial goals and take advantage of the opportunities presented.
The law of attraction according to Islam
Ever since the release of the book “The Secret” in 2006, there has been growing fame for the Law of Attraction, which very simply can be defined as “Like always attracts like”(Farber, 2016)(1) –
So, a positive thought attracts positive consequences and vice versa. The law extends beyond simple generalizations; rather, according to it, anything you put enough thought into will manifest.
The presumed way through which the Law of Attraction works is through a three-step process:
1) Ask – meaning to specify what you want.
2) Believe – meaning to believe you will get what you want and to act as the thing has come to you.
3) Receive – to open yourself to opportunities of receiving what you have asked for. The Law of Attraction does not necessitate that you strive towards what you want; it assumes this three-step process as sufficient.
The Truth About the Law of Attraction
Given how appealing this law is. How it guarantees one their wants through a simple process, it is important to ask:
Does it actually work?
Indeed, in science, any claim needs to be evidenced. Without sufficient proof to back up the assertation, it cannot be deemed true. The primary sources of proof are sensory inputs, reason, and reports (namely divine). Without evidence that pertains to at least one of those sources, a claim is, more likely than not, false.
Actually, anecdotal evidence, which are claims relying only on personal observation, is secondary. It means that they can be useful but one can not rely on them alone. It should not be taken out of context to support a claim.
In the book, Rhonda Byrne relies largely on anecdotal evidence, mostly through storytelling, to assert the truthfulness of the law by mentioning success stories. In addition to what has been discussed regarding the validity of anecdotal evidence, exclusively discussing stories where the law worked when “properly” used demonstrates a classic case of confirmation bias, which is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.
Is the law scientifically proven?
There is also an attempt throughout the book to make the law scientific by relating it to natural sciences, namely quantum physics, by using terms like waves, magnetic fields, and energy. However, scientists view this law as, at best, metaphysical pseudoscience that is based on unfounded and incorrect assumptions (Farber, 2016).
The Law of Attraction and Divine Decree
Even if we do assume that the law is scientifically valid (which it is not), then it in no way can be accepted under Islamic legislation. In the book, the author claims that the law knows no divine decree (“The law of attraction is the law of creation”)
In fact, the essence of the law lies in magnifying human power (“you are God in a physical body”). The former very clearly contradicts the fundamental Islamic belief that nothing happens in the world except with the will of God. It is narrated in a prophetic saying:
“And know that what has passed you by [and you have failed to attain] was not going to befall you, and what has befallen you was not going to pass you by [Ahmad]”. (2)
The latter throws human power way out of proportion and opposes the notion that, as humans, we have no power or will except through God. Actually we are inherently weak,
And Allah wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak” [An-nisa: 28](3).
Also, there is evidence in the Qu’ran that contradicts the essence of the Law of Attraction. In Chapter As-Shura, God says:
And it is He who sends down the rain after they had despaired and spreads His mercy. And He is the Protector, the Praiseworthy” [Ash-shuraa: 28](4),
To clarify, the ayah shows how a negative thought (i.e., despair) actually resulted in a positive consequence (i.e., rain and mercy).
Also, the same idea applies to verse 110 in Chapter Yusuf:
[They continued] until, when the Messengers despaired and were certain that they had been denied, there came to them Our victory, and whoever We willed was saved. And Our punishment cannot be repelled from the people who are criminals.” [Qur’an, 12: 110] (5)
The Real Secret
While I do not promise a three-step process that is fail-proof or results that you manifest through thought, I do promise a process that is purposeful, actionable, mindful, and that does not blame you when things do not work out how you want them to.
“Adhere to that which is beneficial for you. Keep asking Allah for help and do not refrain from it. If you are afflicted in any way, do not say: ‘If I had taken this or that step, it would have resulted into such and such,’ but say only: ‘Allah so determined and did as He willed.’ For the word ‘if’ opens the gates of satanic thoughts” [Muslim] (6)
Thus, adhere to that which is beneficial for you. Exert your best effort. Frankly, the world is not a perfect place where things simply come about only because we thought of them. Success is not guaranteed always, even when we work our best towards achieving it.
Keep asking Allah for help
Moreover, your control is limited, God’s is not. You are not meant to have any supernatural powers – you are merely a human.
Do not refrain from it
To conclude, do not stop trying. The things you want will only ever be if you work towards them, not according to the law of attraction. If you are afflicted in any way, do not say: ‘If I had taken this or that step, it would have resulted into such and such,’ but say only: ‘Allah so determined and did as He willed.’ If things did not go your way, then rest and assured it is for a purpose, and not necessarily because of a shortcoming. Islam is more attractive really!