I know that you’re rolling your eyes right now, asking yourself, “Seriously, how can a scientist believe this mumbo jumbo?”. For those of you who are not rolling your eyes, thank you. The law of attraction (LOA) is a popular philosophy by William Walker Atkinson suggesting that positive thoughts bring positive results into a person’s life, while negative thoughts bring negative outcomes. There are 3 “simple” steps to follow the LOA:

1. Ask the universe for what you want
2. Believe you’ll get what you want
3. Receive what you want

Amidst the Covid-19 lockdown level 5 in March 2020, I came across a book called The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne. This was the first time I was introduced to LOA or manifesting and honestly…I LOVED it. I realised how I had dug myself into deeper holes in the past by constantly dwelling on the negative thoughts, I’m going to fail, I’m not worthy of this person/award, I hate my life and so on. From that point onwards, my perspective on life had changed, I became more open, kind-hearted and most of all GRATEFUL for the life I was living.

Fast forward a couple of months, and guess what? I actually “manifested” something. It wasn’t exactly how I “saw” it happening, but it still happened anyway. I was definitely impressed by my ability to manifest, and it was something I now dedicated my life to.

Now if you’re familiar or have tried the LOA, the easiest step is of course no. 1 (ask the universe for what you want), the tricky part is no. 2 (believe you’ll get what you want). Excuse me, how do I believe that I am a billionaire? How do I believe that I am currently living in my dream home in my dream country? HELP! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is when my LOA journey ended, and my mental health issues started. I obsessed about making my manifestations happen, I would make sure I had positive thoughts in every moment, and any negative thought would be forcefully shoved away. I didn’t let myself breathe. Added to that, was my belief that every little inconvenience in my life was MY fault, because of my “energy and thoughts”. I can still remember my tipping point clearly. I had just found out that something I had been manifesting for a couple of months, wasn’t going to happen (stone-cold rejection). I got in my car, turned off the music, and cried relentlessly. For me, using the LOA caused me to spiral down and I knew that I needed to stop applying it in my daily life.

After this incident, I stopped using LOA and just…lived my normal life and at the beginning of this year I decided that I actually liked some of the habits that I once had, such as being grateful for what you have, being in the present instead of worrying about the future (and oh boy do I obsess about my future!), being a better human being and simply having faith in myself and the bigger picture. So, I started feeling the waters again. But this time, I made my own steps:

1. Ask the universe for what you want
2. Believe that you are worthy of what it is that you want
3. Take a step in making this desire happen, plan or execute (work towards it)
4. Allow yourself to know that it MIGHT NOT happen for you, and that’s okay
5. Keep believing in yourself and being grateful for what’s in front of you right now

I’ve found that many people go through the same experience that I’ve had, I think that it is crazy to remain positive and have unwavering faith in yourself or dreams ALL THE TIME. For me, it just wasn’t possible. But I do believe that some of the habits that one may develop from LOA are healthy and lead to a more wholesome life. So, where do you stand on LOA?