Have you ever read the book or seen the movie called The Secret? Then you know it’s based on a new age philosophy called the Law of Attraction. Its basic premise is that that when you think positive thoughts, you bring good things into your life. As Wikipedia explains:
The belief is based on the idea that people and their thoughts are both made from pure energy, and that through the process of like energy attracting like energy a person can improve their own health, wealth, and personal relationships.
The key is to visualize your desired outcome as if it has already occurred. That means seeing yourself working in that new job or living in that new home or spending time with that new significant other. Through your positive thoughts, outlook and emotions, you’ll be able to attract the positive experiences and opportunities you seek.
Wait a second, isn’t the Law of Attraction a bunch of hooey?
The Law of Attraction is as new age as it gets and while many people believe in the Law, there are just as many who see it as nothing more than wishful thinking. My take: Just like you attract more flies with honey, you’re more likely to have a positive outcome when you have a positive outlook. When you truly believe things will work out for the best, they usually do.
The idea behind the Law is touched on in the new book Where Did You Go? A Life-Changing Journey to Connect with Those We’ve Lost, by Christina Rasmussen. As the title implies, the book is primarily about communicating with our deceased loved ones (story to come.) But there’s also a fascinating chapter about creating your future, or in the author’s words, “choosing your version of infinite outcomes.”
Rasmussen writes that there are an endless number of paths we can take in the future, but they boil down to 3 primary options. She labels them the Average Outcome Universe, the Survivor Outcome Universe and the Miraculous Universe. With Rasmussen’s guidance, let me explain:
The Average Outcome Universe is the status quo. Picture the elements that make up your life now and fast forward 10 years. Everything in your life continues in the same trajectory, meaning you can pretty easily predict what will happen. You’ll live in the same city or not too far away. You’ll have a similar job. You might have the same partner. You’ll have the same core group of friends. There’s nothing wrong with the status quo. If you’re truly happy.
The Survivor Outcome Universe reflects your doubts and fears. For some people, this is their default position. If this is you, you worry on a daily basis about keeping your job, your relationship, the roof over your head and everything else. As Rasmussen states, “this is a dangerous place to be.” Fear is such a strong emotion it can overpower everything else in your life and even attract negative outcomes. The only way to overcome fear is to get your mind to work for you, not against you. It takes more energy to worry about your future than it takes to plan for it.
The Miraculous Outcome Universe is life full of possibilities. This is the world where your dreams come true, where you find the things you want in life whether it’s joy or love or success. The first step to getting these things is to visualize them in your head, as in the Law of Attraction. However, Rasmussen has a slightly different approach to making this happen, using a unique thought exercise. Here’s a streamlined version of the exercise here:
-
Make sure you’re totally relaxed. Sit in a comfortable chair in as quiet a place as you can find. Clear your mind through breath work (which can be as simple as taking a half-dozen deep breaths) or a quick meditation session. Once you’re in a relaxed state, raise your thinking to the highest possible frequency.
-
Picture yourself passing through a door and crossing its threshold—or walking along a path and coming to a clearing. In front of you is a horizon that contains three distinct areas: the Average Outcome, the Survivor Outcome and the Miraculous Outcome. If it helps you visualize, think of the outcomes as three homes sitting on the horizon with the Miraculous Outcome in the center and the other outcomes to either side.
-
Look at the fear-based Survivor Outcome first, but only briefly. Think of it as a worn and rickety structure that houses the doubts and worries you have now. Scan through them quickly and then move your thoughts away from that area. In Rasmussen’s words “collapse it” so that your fears are dissolved from your thoughts. Once they are gone, two homes/areas remain.
-
Now take a few minutes to observe the Average Outcome area. (Which may resemble the home you live in now.) Think of your future there, “your relationships, your work, your life. Feel the feelings that come with this life.” Are you heading in the right direction? Are you on a path to getting the things you want from life? What’s missing? Now move away or collapse this area until one “home” is standing.
-
What remains is the Miraculous Outcome. Rasmussen refers to this place as “the Temple,” but it could be a palace or any beautiful expansive home. Walk through the doors of the temple and you’ll “see that you have everything you’ve ever wanted. You have the perfect people with you. You have work that you love.” The Temple is the place where “your potential lives” and “anything is possible.” Dream big.
-
On the following days, repeat the process, moving briskly through steps 3 and 4 right into “the Temple.” Walk through its doors and see what is revealed there. To quote Rasmussen, “This is where you go to pray, to create, to see what’s in your future.” Afterward, write down what you saw and how you felt there. Describe this experience to a friend. “Bring forth your memory of the journey and replay it over and over again.”
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”
The line above is from Napoleon Hill and his long-time best-seller Think and Grow Rich. Hill studied the lives of scores of successful businesspeople, and came to the conclusion that their success was predicated on the core belief they would succeed, even envisioning that success before it happened.
Hill’s conclusions can be summed up in the following passage, written almost 70 years before The Secret was published. In the original text, Hill uses the word “money,” though you might want to replace it with another word in its place that captures your deepest desire.
If you truly desire <money> so keenly that your desire is an obsession, you will have no difficulty in convincing yourself that you will acquire it. The object is to want <money>, and to be so determined to have it that you convince yourself that you will have it. You may as well know, right here, that you can never have what you want unless you work yourself into a white heat of desire for <money>, and actually believe you will possess it.
Happy visualizing!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In