Ever watch the movie “The Secret”?

If you’re like me and every other dreamer on this planet, there’s 90% chance that you did.

If you haven’t, let me give you a 15 second summary.

If you want health, attract it by THINKING it. And the universe will somehow conspire a way to give you six pack… or at least a path to get you there.

If you want a good parking spot at a crowded mall parking lot, attract it by THINKING it. Somehow magically, a car near the entrance will pull out and you’ll get that rock star parking lot.

If you want wealth, attract it by THINKING it. And the universe will somehow conspire a way to give you million bucks.

Right.

Ok, i am not ragging on positive thinking.

Because if you can’t or don’t motivate yourself, who is going to do it for you?

The critics are always out to criticize your dreams… the naysayers are always trying to poo-poo on your business/product/service… so yes, positive thinking IS important.

But it becomes ridiculous when people start thinking that this is the only thing you gotta do.

Nice Concept, Here’s a Reality Check

I think as entrepreneurs, we look for things that are… well, self-serving.

Meaning, that if I’m in good mood, I tend to see things that are good in the world.

If I’m in bad mood, i look for what’s wrong. If we’re dreamers, we tend to look for things that are going to enhance what our dreams are.

I, for one, was a huge fan of law of attraction.

Think good things and good things will come.

But I noticed there’s something flawed with it.

Well, at least, how people interpret it.

Rich Dentist, Poor Dentist

I’ve been doing some dental marketing  and I have one customer who has the most vile mouth and probably one of the most negative outlook in terms of how he see’s the world. Yet this guy is doing 7 digit revenue with branches all over town.

According to law of attraction, he should’ve attracted nothing but anger, resentment, poverty, etc etc.

On a BIG contrast, I have a dentist friend who graduated from an ivy league dental school. He is one of the most morally correct, church going guys who never done anything bad in his life.

He even helps out with his parents who are struggling dry cleaners in NYC on weekends after working 60-70 hours a week at a clinic serving low-income medicare dental patients. (I even tried helping him buy a dental practice.)

Yet, he’s BARELY getting by.

Debt up to his eye balls, can barely eat out, etc. I know he’s a big believer of God (and law of attraction), … and I know he’s a very smart AND optimistic guy.. yet nothing is panning out for him.

So what’s the difference?

Did law of attraction not work?

Worse, did it work in REVERSE? Does he need the man by the river to give him a motivational talk?

(If you don’t get the reference, you’re either too young or you’ve never watched the funniest man in history of SNL.)

Use of Law of Effection, NOT Law of Attraction

MJ DeMarco (author of Millionaire Fast Lane) said it best… to get things in life, you cannot use law of attraction. Just by thinking it, it comes. If that were true, we’d all be rich, healthy/skinny, happy, etc etc. Instead, use law of effection.

Meaning… if you want a soulmate, you gotta EFFECT your way into finding one.

Imagine, if someone single who’s into law of attraction doesn’t feel confident about his ability to find his soulmate… the law of attraction would say that he would only draw in non-soulmates.. or no one at all.

How do you do this? Duh.

Go on lots of dates. Ask for referrals (just like you do with your dental clinics). Get on dating websites. Attend networking events. Go to church (if you want to date church goers). Hell, you can even do copywriting for your online dating profiles and do some A/B testing on it.

So do i believe that law of attraction is bull?

No. I think law of attraction.. correctly interpreted.. means that you SEE what your mind WANTS to see.

In another words, to have a positive outcome in life, you gotta have positive filter.

But did Michael Jordan become the best in basketball by having the most positive thinking?

No, he probably had the most practice out of anyone in the whole entire league.

(Hey Jeremy, see if you can get paid for this free Nike ad I just posted.)

Here are some of MJ’s nuggets of wisdom:

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot… when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.

My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.

Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

and my favorite one:

The key to success is failure 

He effected a changed in his life by taking action, deliberate practice, and of course, taking RISKS even if he failed again and again…

Takeaway

If you’re a marketer or an entrepreneur, don’t worry if you’re not feeling super good about your campaign, your product, your service… NO matter WHAT the law of attraction says and you’re worried that you’re gonna “attract” failure.

Get change by effecting it.