The Law of Attraction: Does Manifesting your Destiny Work?
Some things just seem to good to be true
Recently, there have been hundreds of techniques that people have shared claiming that doing the techniques will get you whatever you want. You can manifest a thousand dollars, that new job, a house, and a good test score. The possibilities seem endless.
But do they actually work?
To me, I feel like they do. But maybe not for the same reasons people think they do. I always want to believe that the Universe is looking out for my best interests, but the scientific nerd in me always feels the need to counter any hypothetical with a fact. So today, let’s explore how manifesting your destiny actually works based on what I’ve gathered.
There are countless ways, as I said before. But the most common one is the Law of Attraction.
What is the Law of Attraction?
According to Wikipedia, the Law of Attraction is “the belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person’s life”.
So say you want to get a certain job. To manifest this you have to do the following steps:
- You have to tell the Universe you want this job. Be specific.
- Next tell the Universe that you will put in the work to get this job and do the work. You’ll prep for your interview, create a solid resume, and be confident. You have to make sure to put in the work to get what you want.
- Last, you have to keep positive thoughts through the whole process. Tell yourself that you deserve the job and you will get it because of your great qualifications. By putting positive energy into the Universe, you will get positive experiences in return.
By doing all of this, the Law of Attraction seems to promise that you will get your job.
Now for all my fellow skeptics out there, you probably questioned this the second you heard it. I did too. It seemed such like a perfect way of getting whenever you want, and it seemed too easy.
However, once I started to think about it more, I realized that it actually seems possible when you start to look away from the perfect ideals of it. Let’s break it down.
Step 1: Tell the Universe specifically what you want to achieve.
By telling yourself the Universe is hearing you and listening to your goals, you convince yourself that there is someone else determining your fate. You subconsciously start to believe that the future is completely out of your hands as now only the Universe is controlling the future.
When your mind is convinced of this, you feel less stressed about the goal. You realize something else is in charge now, and all you have to do is the work to support that leader.
Additionally when you tell the Universe your goals, you convince yourself that someone is holding you accountable for your goals. It makes you want to do the work in order to please whoever is granting you your fate.
This is the first step in helping you achieve what you want, but it isn’t really the Universe that’s changing — it’s that way your brain starts to think about the goal that’s changing.
Step 2: Do the work to get what you want.
This, I think is the central piece to every manifesting technique. You have to do the work to get what you want — almost every video about the Law of Attraction has emphasized this. You have to show the Universe that you are working hard to obtain your goal.
Because you already think the Universe is watching you because of Step 1, you feel more motivated to do the work to get what you want. Say it’s for the new job — you start creating a solid resume, practicing interview techniques, gaining others interview tips, and practicing with friends and family.
Because you think the Universe will not give you want if you don’t put in the work, you push yourself to work even harder. I think this is what makes the Law of Attraction work. It forces you to do the work that increases your probability of getting what you want — it doesn’t just directly give you what you want.
Putting in the work to get what you want is simply just an act of reality, not universal ideals. However, the Law of Attraction allows you to believe that it is a greater power that is controlling your fate which causes you to feel more motivated and less stressed about the reality of what’s happening. I feel that this is the central piece of the Law of Attraction.
Think about it — you will most likely do better on a test if you study for it. If studying for it in order to please the Universe comes from the Law of Attraction, you ended up studying and probably doing better than had you not studied at all. Now maybe the Universe wasn’t actually attracting anything, but the Law pushed you do to the real work you needed to do to obtain that goal.
Step 3: Channel positive thoughts.
This step helps you gain your confidence, and gaining your confidence will help you perform better in whatever it is you want to do.
By putting out “positive energy” into the Universe, you are allowing yourself to feel more happy and confident about your goal. It helps decrease any stress you had surrounding the goal, which will help you perform better.
In the job scenario again, for example, confidence is key. You’ll probably do better in the interview if you’re positive and confident rather than defeated and negative. The Law of Attraction helps you gain this confidence by subconsciously letting you think that the Universe will reward if you stay positive.
So, what do I think? I think the Law of Attraction works because of the way it subconsciously motivates you to work hard and pushes you to be more confident. I don’t think it necessarily works because the Universe is rewarding things to you — I think it pushes you to do the work that rewards you.
If the Law of Attraction pushes you to study for a test you want to do well on, you’re probably going to do well on it because you studied for it, not because the Universe made all of your answers correct on the test.
If the Law of Attraction causes you to be more confident and positive for a job interview that you want to nail, you’re probably going to have a great interview because of your confidence, not because the Universe convinced your interviewer that you were the perfect candidate.
So did I mean for this article to ruin the fun of magic and manifesting your destiny? No.
Instead I hope this article helps you realize that you determine your own fate most of the time. It’s for this reason why I believe in things like Karma — you bring your own fate upon you, good or bad. If the Law of Attraction pushes you to do better than you are getting what you want because of the things that you did, not the Universe. If the Law of Attraction works for you, continue to use it. If any other manifesting technique works for you, use it.
But just remember — you are just as capable as the Universe of achieving the things you want without help. You got this.
“To manifest you hearts desires, you must be what your heart desires” — Joy Page
