The Law of Attraction is BS

Author's Note: If you have placed all your hopes of success in the Law of Attraction, you may be troubled by what you read. In this article, I express my personal opinion, with a pinch of self-irony.

"The Secret" was an indisputable literary success having sold millions of copies around the globe.

The "secret" spoken of in the book is the Law of Attraction: a principle that states your thoughts come true. That is, you are able to attract what you think about.

Therefore, if you focus enough on the desire to get rich, you will attract wealth.

Not bad, right?

Yet, I have a "slight" suspicion that this cosmic law, as described in the book, has worked great for only one person: Rhonda Byrne, the author.

There are people who are much more experienced on the subject than me, so it is not my intention to discuss the Law of Attraction in detail.

In this article, I simply want to explain to you why I think "The Secret" is BS, and yet, read in the right light, it could prove extremely useful to achieve your goals.

My First Impression

The first impression I got when reading the book was: "these are marketing geniuses!".

The promise to make all your dreams come true with just one thought, an aura of mystery and secret, all seasoned with pseudo-scientific explanations, and POOF!

A best-seller is born.

Trying to rationalize what didn't convince me about the Law of Attraction, I unearthed these three points:

1. It is not a law.

According to the philosopher of science Karl Popper:

A proposition, to have scientific value, must be falsifiable, that is, at least one experiment of it must be conceivably capable of proving (if it does not give the expected result) that it is false.

2. There are no convincing examples.

The success stories listed in the book are pretty much identical to what you'd expect to hear on an infomercial early Sunday morning.

3. One element is missing.

In the three-step Law of Attraction (1. Ask, 2. Believe, 3. Receive), there is the shadow of the most fundamental step to achieve your dreams: ACTION.

How The Secret Can Work

Criticism aside, reading Rhonda Byrne's bestseller was stimulating and some concepts deserve to be explored.

In particular, with regard to the three key steps of the Law of Attraction, I was struck by the first two:

• Ask: define a goal clearly
• Believe: maintain an acute focus on this goal.

In my experience, these two actions were not enough to transform a desire or goal into reality, but they represented the two necessary conditions to transform what really makes your dreams come true: acting in a consistent manner.

The Law of Practical Attraction

Since the Law of Attraction, as stated, does not convince me very much, I thought of a formulation of the Law of Attraction relative to my practical style without pseudo-scientific frills.

Here is the Law of Practical Attraction in its 5 steps:

1. Clearly define your goal.

If you know what you want, when you want it, and how you intend to get it, you have just taken the first concrete step to make your dream come true.

2. Listen to the world around you.

Having set a goal, you have to hone your skills in grasping the messages and opportunities offered to you by the environment around you.

3. Don't wait for strange cosmic vibrations to make your dreams come true.

Stop waiting for all conditions to be perfect - you can decide to take action to make your dreams come true now.

4. Focus on your goal.

The human brain has the capacity to multi-task. However, you must choose whether to use your focus for stupid things or on things that really matter in your life.

5. And above all, don't forget to be consistent in your actions.

You can write great goals, constantly visualize them, keep reading personal growth books, but if you don't act consistently, your dreams will continue to remain just dreams.