Saturday, May 12, 2007

Does The Law of Attraction Work?


For years self-help guru’s have taught about The Law of Attraction – the idea that you can get what you want simply by creating a clear mental picture of what you desire and using your imagination to see it with your mind’s eye. It all sounds very tempting doesn’t it – but is there really any such thing as the Law of Attraction? Well, I would like to share with you a little about my own experience learning about and then using this principle.

It all began one day when I was driving along listening to a tape; and, although I had heard the basic message many times before, on this occasion, it really struck home. I remember hearing the words, ‘ … how can you achieve a goal you have not even set … ‘

And for once those words found real resonance within me. I thought to myself, ‘if I were to set some really big goals, and if those goals did not come to pass, only I would know; and so there would be no reason to not give the process a try. It was the little push I needed at the time.

So I took myself off to Clevedon and sat at the end of the pier with a flask of soup, a notebook – the old-fashioned paper-type - and pen. I was there for about three or four hours asking myself those deep questions about what my own life is about and what is most important to me. At the end of the session, I had quantified four really big goals; the first of which was to become a Personal Development consultant within three years.

Now my career had, up until that time, been in IT; and I had no idea how to change not just my job, but my career, but this is what happened …

The company I was working for at the time was taken over by a larger organization and I felt the new company did not really understand my role; which was in pre-sales support; so I started looking around for another opportunity. I saw a company advertising for a Technical Author; and I thought it might help me to hone my writing skills – which would be an important aspect of achieving my goal – so I applied and I got invited for an interview.

There I was sitting in the interview being interviewed by two people and one of them asked me a pretty standard interview question,

‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’

Now I don’t know how I would have answered prior to doing all that thinking, but what I said was,

‘Well … I see myself as a writer (still trying to get the job) and by that time I would like to think I will have written a successful book.’

He asked what subject I would be writing about; and I had no hesitation in explaining all about my passion for Personal Development.

“That’s very interesting he replied!”

He left the room; returning a few minutes later with three course outline documents which he showed me.

“We are just diversifying into that field ourselves – could you teach these courses?”, he asked.

Well I nearly fell of my chair! Here he was offering me the opportunity to do exactly what I wanted and had imagined back there in Clevedon only a few months earlier.

To cut a long story short: I got the job. I started immediately after working out my notice and so began my new career as a Personal Development Consultant. It still amazes me today to think about how it all happened – but it did!

My own belief is that opportunity surrounds us every day of our lives but we tend to miss most of it simply because of what are minds are focused on. That is the power of creating your vision and imagining it as fulfilled.

And that was how I proved to myself that the Law of Attraction really does work.