The Law of Attraction

I saw a great example of the law of attraction in a movie a few years ago. It showed a nine year old boy who wanted a bicycle. The boy didn’t want just any bicycle but one he specifically picked out from a catalog. He cut out a picture from a catalog and taped it to his wall so he would see it every day when he woke up and went to bed.

He talked about the bicycle all the time to anyone who would listen. He started asking his parents, grandparents and neighbors if there were any odd jobs he could do to earn extra money. All the money he earned went into a jar labeled “bike.”

A few months into his money making journey the doorbell rang. The boy opened the front door to find his grandfather standing there with the very bicycle he had been saving up for.

The law of attraction worked; the boy attracted the bike to himself.

Some of you might think that was just the love of a grandfather. I agree that the grandfather’s love motivated him to buy the bike for his grandson, but I will also argue that the boy’s actions attracted the bike to him.

If the boy hadn’t talked about it so often his grandfather wouldn’t have known that he wanted it. Had the boy not worked so hard, the grandfather wouldn’t have known how desperately he wanted it. Sure, it was the love for his grandson that caused him to purchase the bicycle, but the boy attracted the end result through his words and actions.

Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know?” Most of us get our job opportunities from the people we know. Your spouse most likely came from a group of friends that you knew, or an organization you worked for or were a part of.

The more you talk about what you want the more the people around you understand what you are looking for and will help you find it. If I have a friend that wants to sell cars and run across someone looking for a car salesman I will go out of my way to connect the two. We naturally help people we like.

There is another facet to the law of attraction. The more you talk about what you want the more you will notice opportunities to achieve that goal. When I decided to become an executive coach I suddenly started picking up on conversations around me where people were frustrated and looking for something better.

I began to hand out my card to those people, and even though all of them did not sign up for my coaching services, many of them did. The more I talked about coaching the more referrals people sent my way; again, friends want to help friends, but they have to know how to help you!

Sometimes the law of attraction isn’t so direct. Eighteen months ago I set a goal: I wanted to work from anywhere in the world from my iPad and iPhone. I wanted to be able to go wherever God told me to go and do whatever He told me to do. I didn’t want work to get in the way, so I thought taking work with me would be easier.

I had another goal: I wanted to earn enough money to take my children on a mission trip without having to raise the entire amount. I spoke both of these goals out loud repeatedly. I had no idea how I would achieve them, but I had a five year time limit on them.

I am typing the column from 30,000 feet in the air on my way to Uruguay with my oldest son, John Mark. I will be coaching my clients via email on my iPad and on the vonage app on my iPhone through a wifi connection when we are in Uruguay.

It didn’t take five years, it only took eighteen months! I didn’t set fourteen little goals to reach these two larger goals, but when job opportunities ended and others began, I naturally went in the direction of my spoken goals.

What are the goals you have wanted to achieve all these years but haven’t found the time to make happen? I dare you to write them down and speak them out loud at least once a day. If you do, I am willing to bet you will achieve them! What have you got to lose?