Do you believe manifestation and Law of Attraction are a thing?

[Greyador]

So this might just be me but in recent years I've seen an explosion of books on manifestation or law of attraction?
It seems to be a hot topic on social media, along with spirituality.

I may be niave here, but I've always thought that working on your goals, having a loose life plan was this sort of thing...

Do you believe in manifestation and law of attraction?
I've found myself intrigued by it all....

Try it and then you'll know for yourself.
Though I have a friend who believes in it despite it never working for her. She sometimes calls me and talks to me in an odd way. I then realise she's telling me all this stuff in order to manifest it.
Honestly, it's never come true.

There is more to it than what people are saying here. It’s not working towards a goal.

Basically, the idea is that our unconscious/subconscious has expectations which set limits to what we ‘allow in’.

An example, someone I am close to had a very negative mindset at one point - it was delusional how badly they expected things to go. A fair amount of conflict and crap happened to them, and I believe it was largely as a result of this negative mindset. At one point I was even offering them a sum of money, no strings, which was ‘all they needed’, and it was like they couldn’t even hear what I was saying, as though the voice in their head reinterpreting my words was louder than anything I said.

Sometimes there is the person or thing there, right next to you, with the answer you need, but you don’t even notice it, you are so wrapped up in negative expectations.

The law of attraction is more about learning to not repel what you seek, to be open and willing to receive it, rather than about ‘attracting’ it.

Yes. We get what we believe and what we focus on.

but what we believe deep down, not what’s on the surface.

eg if you have low self worth, you’ll find / attract romantic partners that reflect that back. If you meet someone who wants to treat you well, you’ll find a reason they’re not right for you, as how they see you doesn’t match how you see yourself.

can see the above in my own love life until I leaned about this stuff and changed my fundamental beliefs in my late 20s.

i ran into a guy I knew at university recently. I was lonely and miserable then and wanted a lovely boyfriend. He adored me, and was kind and handsome. I adored him too, but found surface reasons why it couldn’t be.

looking back I realise the real reason was I didn’t feel worthy of him.

Heartbreaking really, I spent the next 10 years dating emotionally unavailable men and feeling worse and worse about myself.

Meanwhile I’ve always had strong self belief at work, and I’ve been successful at a number of different things.

Oh goodness, from one of these social media entrepreneurs?

Absolutely believe it.

You have to be careful to look for the right teachers. Abraham Hicks is the real deal - loads of free talks on YouTube. Oprah talks about it but in a waffley way showing she doesn’t really understand it. Avoid that kind of thing.

We all manifest every day - you wake up and think you’d like breakfast and you make it happen. You’ve called a thought into being.

The difficult stuff is where your feelings/unconscious beliefs hold you back from actually getting what you want. Typically money, love etc. Then you have to get out of your way to achieve what you want.

There’s a lot of crossover with psychology. I think if you’ve had a reasonable childhood where you’ve generally learned to acknowledge your feelings and regulate yourself you prob won’t get it or see the need for it because you live it automatically.

I just looked her up, I don't understand is she Esther and Abraham?

Of course but that's life not manifestation surely.

My best friend won €50,000 in the lottery using the Law of Attraction theory. Not a joke. I didn't believe it until it happened

It’s a way of parting the gullible and/or desperate from their money by selling them books or getting them to watch social media where the content creator makes advertising revenue.

I believe Geri H has done this in her life - she was apparently on a ‘course’ with a friend of mine who has achieved some crazily ambitious goals in her personal life.

Another friend of mine started a Pinterest vision board/s a good few years ago & she’s now got it all…

Someone upthread said the confident & well adjusted do it informally & subconsciously. True

No. Complete bollocks.

The law of attraction and manifestation are absolutely a thing. Spicy psychology.

It's definitely intertwined with spirituality but it's essentially focusing on a goal so intently that you believe it'll happen and it leaves you open to actively working toward that goal, spotting opportunities to do so and acting in accordance with achieving the goal.

Is it magic? No. But it's a nice name for focusing and achieving.

Raising your vibration is another spicy psychology thing.

You essentially live within happiness and positivity and seek out things and people that are good for you, work on yourself etc in order to work toward goals in a more productive fashion and manifest them into existence.

It's all self development, really and it does work, but it's whether you believe in the additional faith and spirituality elements or if you can take what you need from it and use it.

If you believe that something WILL happen, with every fibre of your being, then, so often, you’ll ‘make it so’. Obvs within reason.

It’s surprisingly difficult to eliminate ALL self doubt.

I think many successful people DO this. What’s best to read on it?

Victoria Beckham famously says ‘I don’t do negativity’. It puts you in a position of strength ‘ power.

It really depends what you mean. But dreaming about success and putting post-its on your mirror telling yourself you'll make it if you believe in it make no difference at all. Millions do not roll from that.

In my career I've had ups and downs - I've been made redundant twice and walked out of a role once - at a very senior level.

I've been a CEO in different settings since I was 40. The only reason why was because I worked hard, stepped in to run or sort out difficult projects and found solutions, I built trusting relationships and was a good member of a team. No prayers, no manifesting, no post-its and lots of challenging times. I am ambitious but intellectually ambitious to face the next big brain problem. I could do some mad workshops on manifesting but none would teach me as much as I learn on a daily basis. I'm 60 next year and still learning - I pick out the most insightful and clever people in my organisation or sector and set out to learn and challenge my own thinking. And I stay humble about my many mistakes.

Thank you all so much, wonderful insights!

Lots of food for thought!

Interesting about GH!

Of course. Try it tomorrow. Decide you're going to have a good or bad day, then watch and see how your day manifests

It has a horrible negative side, whereby if you don't get something it's because you didn't manifest it hard enough, so it's all about victim blaming - there's no acceptance of things like bad luck, privilege, etc.

I have a friend who is heavily into it, but she's enormously privileged, was also incredibly lucky and then with all that abundance has now decided she 'manifested' it. She knows something more than hard work contributed to her success (she works in an intellectual field and isn't that bright, which she used to acknowledge prior to getting into manifesting). The friendship is somewhat strained at the moment because rather than accepting the role luck played in her success (which would have involved a little humility and honesty), she has decided it was wholly down to her 'manifesting' it, which somehow makes her better than the rest of us who are just not wishing hard enough. Her ego has been allowed free rein (in manifesting terms, she has removed all 'blockages'/obstacles), and honestly she's insufferable.

It is like cult thinking, because she has to block out the realities of life - luck, good health, chance, being in the right (or wrong) place at the right time, being white, slim, blonde, coming from a wealthy background, having a supportive partner. None of these factor in her understanding of how she's come to be where she is.

The worst is that her response to anyone having a tough time is to send them articles on manifesting, which is rather like sending articles on personal safety to someone who has just been raped. Not helpful, not compassionate.

I have practiced it for many years and it has totally worked for me. A friend lent me the Secret when I had a lot of bad things going on in my life. I started talking to the Universe (it is a bit like praying but you also need to talk about gratitude as well as asking for what you need), and everything turned around for me. I would not say it is luck, the things I have asked for have been very specific and it has never let me down. It is too much of a coincidence for it not to be real in my mind. Mostly it has been around jobs, housing, school choices and money that I have focussed on. You should try it, there is nothing to lose.

Interesting, do you have an unwavering belief it will come to pass? Do you doubt at all?

I know exactly what you mean & know someone similar. They mean well. A sort of reverse imposter syndrome.

She won it because she bought a ticket and because of the law of chance. Although statistically your chance of winning is very low it is possible.
Unless you buy a ticket no amount of manifesting will result in a win. Buying a ticket is a deliberate conscious act.
Also she may have increased her odds by buying 10000 tickets. That is not manifesting or law of attraction.

I think perceiving things from a point of social privilege hierarchies is almost the opposite of the mindset you need to manifest what you want

This mindset is constantly perceiving barriers and justifications as to why things can’t happen. It offers a short-term high of being judgemental, maybe envious, or even spiteful, and it offers a feeling of comfort through hopelessness of being stuck.

In life we have no control over what we are born into, our residence, our sex, our skin colour, our parents, our education, our wealth, our early experiences. It makes perfect sense to look at inequality from a 100% material perspective- in a kind of Marxist way - shit start in life leads to shit outcomes. But there is something else that comes with a shit start in life which is not material and this has a much less ‘clockwork’ nature than material reality.

I think of it as a ‘poverty of expectation’. It is totally natural to expect ‘more of the same’, it’s fundamental to how we learn to survive. “I burnt myself the last time I touched it, I won’t do that again”. So if someone had shit things happen during their formative years (or later), they are going to expect and try to avoid further shit things and this will make up the narrative of their life. If someone had good, supportive, generous and loving things happen during their formative years, they will expect more of the same and have a more open, trusting demeanour and this will attract further good things.

Exactly !
Otherwise it can become victim-blaming.
If a child's born with a disability - is that because they didn't 'manifest health' NO If a woman is raped by a man is it because she didn't 'manifest a safe route' NO

You can attempt to 'manifest luck' in life by working steadfastly towards your goals & helping others along the way (which spreads goodness into the world).