Can the Law of Attraction stop repeated failure?

Often when you are stuck in a creative rut, a lot of that energy comes in the form of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Most people get sucked into thinking about their past failures and low and behold, they fail again. The principles of the Law of Attraction can help you break free from that cycle while propelling you forth to bigger and better creative writing successes.

In 11th grade, I made a commitment to stay in Hebrew school despite my ever escalating busy schedule. I spoke with the head of religious studies about a way that I could remain a student while taking as few classes as possible. She brought up the idea of an independent study. She said that if I picked a book from a list that related to the year’s curriculum and wrote a paper on it, I would get credit for the year. An entire year of credit for just reading a book and writing about it?! I signed up immediately and chose the mammoth book The Source by James Michener.

The Source is an amazing book and I was excited to plow through it, however, my time continued to dwindle. My year got busier and busier and whenever the book and Hebrew school came up, the same thought kept crossing my mind. “There is no way I am going to finish this." And gee golly, I was right. I failed to get past page 300 out of 1100 and I did not receive any kind of credit for Hebrew school my last two years of high school.

In the summer between my freshmen and sophomore years of college, I picked The Source back up.

I said to myself, “Bryan, you should have read this a long time ago. And now, you will actually read it."

I decided to start back from the beginning and make up for my mistakes several years earlier. I had gotten about fifty pages farther than my previous attempt, when I started to falter a bit. I began to think about how I hadn’t finished it the last time and that made me falter even more! I put down the book for three years. Another failed attempt.

A year out of college I failed to read it again! It seemed I was destined never to finish a good book and avenge my previous shortcoming.

From our youth onward, we accumulate a series of ideas, creative works, etc. that we have started but never finished. When we pick them back up we feel ready to do them justice. You think to yourself, “this time is different, I’m a few years older, wiser, better. This is the time I was destined to finish this!" You start strong and motivated and then all of a sudden, your head of steam runs into a brick wall, and you throw it back into the pile of disappointment. Why can’t you get it done? Is it the task itself? Is it you?

The answer lies in the thoughts and feelings that accompany that initial failure. Thinking about that previous let down is causing you to relive the past.

For those of you who do not know (and I am often surprised by how many don’t), the Law of Attraction is the principal that states that people's thoughts create their realities. The Law of Attraction is referring both to conscious and unconscious thoughts. Another way it is interpreted is that you ask the Universe for what you want and the Universe will give it to you. Now, a lot of people have the immediate reaction that this principal is full of crap. “I’ve thought about having a million dollars before, so where the heck is my money?" The explanation of the law gets a little new-agey at this point.

When I began reading about the Law it spoke about how to align myself with the things that I wanted. It talked about being grateful for the things I have and about generally feeling good about the world. I was told to really picture myself receiving what I wanted and projecting the emotions I would feel when it happened. I found articles about breaking down small barriers between myself and what I wanted like getting used to having more money in my pocket than usual and not feeling weird about it. I read about the positive effects of visualization on Olympic Athletes and various peoples’ experiences with it outside of sports. After all of that, I came to a conclusion.

“It doesn’t sound that crazy. What the hell. I’ll give it a try."

What followed for me was a series of challenges that I completed in record fashion. I had an idea for a screenplay that had been banging around my head. I visualized the completed script and my feeling of accomplishment. Bang! I finished it in two days. I wanted to make major progress on the web series I had written a pilot for. I saw the set, the actors and the audience reaction. Bang! I recruited a surprisingly adept team of writers and made some major headway with investment capital. And lastly…I finally finished the 1100 page The Source, which had been plaguing me for nearly seven years. Wait for it...

Bang!

I know that the Law of Attraction seems kind of crazy. Hell, there’s a woman named Esther Hicks who goes to conferences channeling an other-worldly being known as Abraham and talks about the benefits of this law. Most people I know would be weirded out by that sort of stuff. But as for me, and other various folks on the Internet, this philosophy has made my life better. I have taken on greater and greater challenges and I have become more at peace with the world around me.

That novel that you’ve only written a chapter of? Visualize it as being completed and feel the sense of fulfillment. The collaboration you talked about with that crazy friend of yours? See the two of you working together and making something magical. The Universe won’t drop those things into your lap, but if you really believe that you can get them done, it will provide you with a path to success.

You don’t have to change your entire life, philosophy and religion or anything like that. But I do suggest that you give the Law of Attraction a shot. I mean, really, what do you have to lose?