The law of attraction: what it is and how to use it

What is the law of attraction?

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The law of attraction is a belief from the New Thought movement that your thoughts and feelings shape what shows up in your life. The core idea is “like attracts like”: focus on what you want, feel it as real, and you'll draw more of it in. Focus on what you fear, and you'll draw that in instead.

In practice it's a mindset and a set of habits: getting clear on what you want, visualizing it, using affirmations, practicing gratitude and acting on the opportunities you notice.

Where the law of attraction comes from

• 1855: the phrase “law of attraction” first appears in Andrew Jackson Davis's The Great Harmonia.
• 1886–87: Prentice Mulford describes it as a general principle in his essay “The Law of Success.”
• 1906: William Walker Atkinson publishes Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World.
• 1910: Wallace D. Wattles publishes The Science of Getting Rich.
• 1937: Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich becomes one of the best-selling books of all time.
• 2006: Rhonda Byrne's The Secret brings it to a global audience: the book has sold more than 30 million copies in 50 languages.
• 2008: Esther and Jerry Hicks's Money and the Law of Attraction reaches the New York Times Best Seller list.

How to use the law of attraction (for beginners)

1. Get clear. Decide exactly what you want. Write it down in one sentence.
2. Write it in the present tense. “I earn $5,000 a month doing work I love,” not “I want more money.”
3. Visualize and feel it. Picture it as already yours for a minute or two, and notice how it feels.
4. Use affirmations daily. Read a few out loud each morning, or let the affirmation generator give you a list.
5. Practice gratitude. Thank life for what you already have, and for what's on its way.
6. Picture the obstacle too, then plan for it. Ask what might get in the way, and decide what you'll do when it does.
7. Take inspired action. Do one real step toward it every day, then let go of how and when.

Law of attraction for money

Focus on abundance rather than lack: notice money coming in, however small, and thank it. Use money affirmations each morning, and pair them with 888 Hz, the abundance tone. Then act: ask for the raise, pitch the client, start the side project.

Law of attraction for love

Start with how you treat yourself, since you can't control another person. Use self-love affirmations, picture how it feels to be loved and at ease, and play 639 Hz, the tone linked with connection. Then show up where the people you'd like to meet actually are.

Law of attraction for health

Picture yourself rested, strong and full of energy, and back it with healthy habits. The 528 Hz tone and the health affirmations in the affirmation generator make a calm daily routine. For anything medical, see a doctor.

Law of attraction vs law of assumption

They're close cousins. The law of attraction says you attract what you focus on and feel. The law of assumption, from Neville Goddard, goes further: assume the feeling of your wish already fulfilled, and live from that feeling. His best-known method is SATS, imagining the wish fulfilled as you fall asleep.

Law of attraction meditation

A law of attraction meditation is a few quiet minutes spent picturing what you want as already real. Start the meditation above: a steady 528 Hz tone plays while affirmations appear one at a time. Read each slowly, picture it, and notice the feeling.

For a full-body version, try the chakra alignment, which moves through seven tones from root to crown.

Best law of attraction books

• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (1937)
• The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles (1910)
• Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World by William Walker Atkinson (1906)
• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (2006)
• Money and the Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks (2008)

Is the law of attraction real?

Ask the people who practice it and many will tell you yes. They've watched what they focused on show up in their lives: money, travel, the right person at the right time. It works in reverse too: dwell on anger or conflict and it tends to find you. Those experiences are real to the people who live them, and no one else gets to say they didn't happen.

It also isn't magic thinking. Wanting something and sitting still rarely works; intention sets the direction, and alignment and action carry you there. Research points the same way: people who expect good things and act on them do better than people who only daydream about them (Oettingen & Mayer, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002).

Everyone's intentions and path are different, so the best way to know is to try it for yourself: get clear, feel it, act on it and notice what changes.