7 Things You Should Know Before Trying The Law Of Attraction, plus some exercises to sharpen your mental saw

It is possible to manifest your soul mate? That perfect person with whom to spend the rest of your life? It is possible to become wildly successful and financially abundant? It is possible to create anything you want and live a purpose-based life of happiness, joy, and total contentment? The answer is yes. Learning how to manifest what your heart truly desires can transform your life, if you let it, if you truly believe in it (very important) and if you practice it consistently.

Let's start with an irrefutable statement: what you put out into the universe is what you will get back. You can try to deny this but it is simply a fundamental building block: you reap what you sow. However, you can work hard for something and still not get it, and that's because you didn't focus on it with a belief that it would come to you. And you can believe in something and not get it, because that belief hasn't come from a place of love.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."

The universe doesn't care about your wants or needs. It doesn't care if you're hungry or thirsty, if you're lonely or scared, if you're in pain or happy. It just is. So don't expect the universe to serve up whatever it is that will make you happy — because it won't. Your job is to figure out how to get what makes YOU happy. The universe will give and take away based on your thoughts and beliefs about it, but only if those thoughts are in alignment with what's best for you.

The Law of Attraction - the belief that we create our own reality and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts we can attract those things into our lives - has been a popular belief system since the 1800s when it was first introduced by New Thought writer William Walker Atkinson.

Here are 8 things you should know before trying the Law of Attraction:

1. Everything is energy, and so is your vibration.

Everything around you, including your thoughts and beliefs, is energy. And because energy attracts like energy, you are continuously attracting people, events and situations into your experience based on the vibrational matches. The higher your vibration, the more you attract.

How do you raise your vibration? By raising your consciousness. Simply put: to raise your vibration, change your thoughts.

By seeing the world through a different lens – one that is filled with love and joy – a new reality is created by default. You will find that suddenly you can have anything you want because you're an energetic match for it! You will also realize that by changing your vibrational frequency, you can alter other people's realities as well (and it doesn't go just one way).

2. The universe is forever expanding and growing, but you can't add anything to it.

The universe is forever expanding and growing, but you can't add anything to it. If you think about the entire universe as a giant pie, then the belief that we can add more to it is just plain silly.

You can't create abundance by trying to make things scarce. You have to believe that there's enough for everyone and that's an almost impossible task if you're living in a scarcity-based reality.

The Law of Attraction states that like attracts like—like thoughts, like feelings, like actions—and science has proven that this is true (the law of attraction has been proven scientifically many times over the years). So if you're feeling lacking in any area of your life, you need to adjust your vision.

3. To manifest a dream, you have to be in a vibrational match with what you want to manifest.

The law of attraction isn't about getting what you want. It's about getting what you are. It's not that you can't have your dreams. You can have anything your heart desires, but it has to come from inside first. You have to already be the kind of person who has whatever it is you're wanting to attract.

If you aren't the right person, you'll achieve your goal, but only until something or someone more appropriate comes along and pushes you out of the way. That's because the law of attraction operates by matching vibration, and if you aren't vibrating as high as you need to be in order to manifest what you want, no matter how hard you try and no matter how much power you get from the outside, it just won't work for you

4. Nothing can exist without first being imagined in someones mind.

This is the simplest way to explain the Law of Attraction. It's about energy, like any other force in the Universe. And it's about focus, creating images in your mind of what you want to accomplish or acquire.

When you are able to visualize what you want and believe that you can accomplish it, then begin to take strategic steps towards it, you'll be amazed at how much you can achieve when you use the laws of attraction to manifest your dreams.

5. We are unlimited beings capable of having anything we want, but we must take action.

Everything we think and do is designed to attract more of what we don't want. We are unlimited beings capable of having anything we want, but we must take action to get what we want. We must discover what we want, or at least realize that all the things we don't want are a reflection of our feelings and thoughts about ourselves.

To be successful, you need to be consistent with your thoughts and feelings. You can't feel bad about not having money and ask for it at the same time. That's what attracts money; it's a feeling you must hold inside you before it comes to you.

You need to believe that you already have what you want, which is why most people go broke trying to accumulate wealth. They don't feel they deserve it, so they end up with nothing except a pile of debt and bills they can't pay on time.

The first step in using the laws of attraction is to feel good about yourself and your life right now without any money in your pocket. Feel good about your life even though there is plenty that needs doing and improving. If you can do this, a new world will unfold in front of you in which you attract everything you need easily, joyfully and effortlessly.

6. You can only manifest good things, not bad things (like disease).

The easiest way to get what you want is to ask for it. Whether that's a new job, a new car or a date with the person you have your eye on, there's no magic wand for instant results. But that doesn't mean you can't use the power of attraction to get close.

Here are some tips for using the law of attraction to manifest your dreams:

A) Expect good things. The universe does respond to expectations and desires, but, as with most things, it's all about balance. If you expect something negative, then you'd better be prepared for it, because it will probably come true. If you expect good things, then those positive thoughts will attract positive results.

B) Visualize daily. Close your eyes and picture yourself living your dream life. See yourself in the outfit you want, driving the car of your dreams, dating the person who excites you and doing every activity you enjoy. This visualization is so important because it helps raise your vibration and attract what you're picturing into your life.

C) Write down your dreams. Writing down your goals creates clarity and stirs up excitement. That excitement will help propel you forward -- so put in all the details.

7. Things may come into your life quickly if they already exist within you as an idea or a thought!

If you want to manifest your dreams into a reality, it is important to have a clear and positive picture of what you want to achieve. It is equally as important that you believe in yourself as well as understand that you are the only person who can make this happen. You have to see yourself achieving the goal already in order for it to become real.

The law of attraction is all about energy. Energy attracts like energy. If you want a new job, for example, you need to start visualizing yourself in that job, doing the things that come with that job, and seeing yourself succeed at it. If other thoughts enter your mind, such as "I don't know if I can do this," or "What if I fail?" or "Why should I trust myself?", then you're not feeling positive enough energy to attract your desired outcome. Instead of fixingate on the unwanted thoughts, turn your attention towards something else -- perhaps something creative or artistic -- until those thoughts go away completely and only positive thoughts remain. By doing this, you won't feel the need to get so worked up about attracting your desired outcome since there's no negativity within you saying otherwise.

In summary, the Law of Attraction is very simple. What you think of, you bring about. If you want to manifest more money into your life, focus on what you want and be specific. The more detailed you are, the more detailed your manifestation will be.

If you are having money problems, do not fear because the universe will send you money in some form or another if that is what you really desire. But don't just think about it, talk about it! Tell the universe what you want and keep thinking about it. Really feel what it would be like to have that money in your possession and keep focusing on that as much as possible.

Don't allow yourself any negative thoughts because they will only bring negative results! If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts, immediately stop yourself and think about something else for a while until those thoughts are gone from your mind. Then return to focusing on what you want again. You must remove all negative thoughts from your mind if you desire to see positive manifestations in your life!

All these methods work together to help you become engaged in the process of getting what it is that you desire so that you can start seeing results!

Some manifesting exercises

There are some exercises that can help you learn to put the law of attraction into practice in your own life. Some ideas include:

Journaling: Writing down your thoughts can help you better learn to recognize your habitual thought patterns to see whether you tend toward optimism or pessimism and learn more about changing negative patterns of thought.

Make a mood board: Create a visual reminder that helps you maintain a positive mindset, stay motivated, and focus on your goals.

Practice acceptance: Instead of focusing on what is wrong about the present or what needs to be changed, work on accepting things as they are. This doesn't mean that you won't continue to work toward a better future, it just means that you won't get bogged down by wishing for things to be different right now.

Practice positive self-talk: If you struggle with being overly self-critical, set a goal to engage in positive self-talk each day. Over time, this may come much more easily and you may find that it is harder to maintain a negative mindset.