Tony Michalski's Master Key Coaching

The Law of Attraction.

You’ve heard about it. Probably read about it. Maybe you’ve seen an infomercial or movie about it.

What is it?

Is it the secret to life, the universe, and everything? Is it the source of unlimited health, wealth, and happiness? Is it something that you should practice? Does it work as it’s been advertised?

In the past, I’ve been critical of the slew of movies and books that proclaim that the Law of Attraction is the secret to “life, the universe, and everything,” to borrow a line from Douglas Adams. I still am critical. I don’t buy – nor have I experienced or seen any positive evidence – that the Law of Attraction is the secret nor that the universe as we know it works in the way that many modern “gurus” and “teachers” describe.

That being said, though, the Law of Attraction is an important part of achieving what you want, especially if used properly and not in some pray-to-the-great-spaghetti-spirit-in-the-sky kind of fashion. When you understand what is truly going on with this idea that people have been calling the Law of Attraction, then you can really begin to utilize it without frustration or doubt.

This is how the Law of Attraction is presented and taught today by the various gurus, mystics, and movies. The movie and book The Secret set the formula as “Ask – Believe – Receive.” In other words, you pray, believe that what you want to happen will happen, then you get what you want. If what you are asking for is agreeable and your intentions are in “alignment,” then the Universe will bestow a “gift” upon you. “Like attracts like,” they say, “and as you think about what you want you will emit subatomic messengers that will attract to you what you desire.”

Any action on your part other than thinking is either optional or not necessary at all. While the old mantra used to be “Build it and they will come,” the new mantra is “Think it and it shall manifest.”

The gurus explain this process as scientifically sound because quantum physics proves it. What follows in their explanation is a somewhat brief and very incomplete – and more often than not inaccurate – presentation of quantum theory. Aspects of quantum theory are cherry-picked and misrepresented in order to back up what is taught. In short, they don’t present science; they present pseudoscience.

Luckily, most scientists who see movies such as The Secret and What the Bleep? agree and simply laugh at many of the preposterous notions. Even the quantum physicist who was highlighted in both films, Fred Alan Wolfe, disagrees in how his ideas were butchered and presented. From his blog -

There is a big difference between just thinking 1) “I want a big car” 2) “I am not good enough” or 3) “I am good” or 4) “I am ugly” or 5) “I am happy” and taking an appropriate action to do something about them. The LOA (Law of Attraction) seems to imply that merely thinking such thoughts will attract the object of those thoughts to you. I don’t think the universe works this way. When you think those thoughts you tend to act according to them and those actions will attract you to those objects and modify your behavior accordingly. There is no magic field “out there” or magic genii “out there” that will answer those thoughts by granting your wishes as the film seems to imply. That magic field or genii is yourself.

Now, does all this mean that the Law of Attraction doesn’t exist? That it doesn’t work? That it is a myth?

In my view, the Law of Attraction exists, but not in any way, shape, or form that it is currently being presented. I believe that it is being presented in a very poor and misleading way, either purposely or by folks who are innocently mistaken. On the one hand I see people who wish to sell to others a bill of goods rather than any goods themselves and they prey on peoples’ greed and gullibility. On the other hand, you have the people who take what they were taught about this “Law” on faith and simply repeat it because it has become part of their belief system.

To quote Fred Alan Wolfe again -

I give a lot of seminars, and I personally don’t teach people techniques for realizing their potentials and other such ideas as I have found that they simply don’t work and are in their own way spiritual “diet books” which may work for a while but in the end fail. Spiritual techniques advocated by people who have never made a serious study of spiritual teaching or base their books on quantum physics principles without studying the subject at length and who really don’t know enough to teach others techniques based upon these deeper “secrets” make me really wonder why such people write such books other than the obvious one to make some money.

With all that being said, on a psychological level – that level where your thoughts guide and influence your actions that then yield consequences – the Law of Attraction works perfectly and is of immense help to anyone with a goal to achieve or a dream to attain.

On a psychological level, rather than you attracting things into your life or altering reality to conform to your wishes, what happens is that as you imbue your subconscious mind with your goal and what you want, your subconscious guides your thoughts and actions in such a way that you move toward what you desire. Thus, you call people with whom you haven’t spoken in a while and end up making a good contact; you find yourself in different situations that benefit you; or you begin seeing opportunities where before you saw nothing.

That is why I refer to the Law of Attraction as the Law of Moving Toward.

Instead of you attracting things into your life, you are moving toward them. Instead of some cosmic genii or the Universe bestowing “gifts” upon you or you altering the cosmic fabric of reality in order to “manifest” what you desire, you are moving and working toward what you want and when you get it, you’ve earned it.

When you begin using the Law of Attraction this way rather than relying on the methods being espoused today, you will see yourself achieving your wants and goals. It will take persistence, determination, and knowing exactly what you want, but it does work and it will help you.

When you begin to look at the psychological aspects of this mind stuff and remove from it the dogmatic, pseudo-religious aspect, you will find yourself achieving, succeeding, and attaining more than you ever thought that you could. You will remove from your life the specter of cosmic chance and instead replace it with the certainty of cause and effect. You will take action and move forward. You will be more able to do what needs to be done because you will truly realize that nothing comes without cost. In other words, you will be more connected with the workings of life, your place in it, and how to achieve and attain.

When a person sees the basic psychology behind the Law of Attraction and has a realistic interpretation of how it works, then he is practically guaranteed to become a better, more positive, and action-oriented person. Gone will be faith in shibboleths and shadows and in their place will be reason and reality – a reality constantly being manipulated and molded by you because you are moving toward your goals rather than expecting them to materialize (or “manifest”) for you.

In other words, when you achieve something, you will know that your thoughts and actions yielded your results and that you earned what you attained. Likewise, if something bad should befall you, you won’t necessarily pummel yourself with useless questions about what thoughts of yours lead to such horrible results; you will realize that sometimes in the workings of life shit happens.

Now, imagine what you would like to accomplish. Think big! Think grand! Visualize it in all its glory.

With that image in mind, set yourself to work. It will take hard work, effort, time, and persistence to attain what you desire, but rest assured that you can do it. You can do it because the power that you may be seeking is not “out there,” it’s not a cosmic consciousness capriciously granting gifts.

The power is within you awaiting you to use it.

Yes, it all does begin with a thought. Without taking that thought further, though, you will be left with nothing. The real secret is to take that thought and act upon it. When you do, even if you do not ultimately get what you were after, you will be far richer than you could have ever imagined.

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In my area, there is a Japanese restaurant that I like a lot named Mira Kuya. (If you live is NEPA, then I highly recommend that you check it out. Let’s face it: There is nothing like an evening of sushi and saki!) This restaurant, even though specializing in Japanese food, is owned and operated by Chinese folks. We’ve become friendly over the years and along the way, I’ve been learning bits and pieces of the Chinese language.

You see, I love to learn new things and am always trying to pick up a language here and there. The difficult thing about learning a language is not so much the learning of the words, but the practicing of them with someone else who speaks the language. Even if one took the time and money to take a course or two in a community college, if one doesn’t have anyone with whom to speak it, then … Well, we all know how the things we learn get rusty when we don’t use them.

Anyway, I’ve learned a few basic words and phrases and I even went so far as to download a bunch of podcasts to help me learn. Now, even with all of this knowledge being thrown at me – the fine people at the restaurant, the podcasts, the written pages I’ve printed from the Internet – I am only able to speak the bare basics, such as hello and goodbye - and maybe a dirty word or two that were taught to me.

Why is that?

I answered that question one night when I was speaking with a waitress at the restaurant. This is what I said:

I should know more than I know now, but I haven’t made a commitment to sit down every night for a little while and study the language.

For every thing in life, the main thing one has to do in order to succeed is to make the commitment to do something. One has to say, “If I am going to do this, then this is what I need to do.” Once that die is cast, then one must follow through and do what must be done.

Haanel says the same thing, but in different words, in Week Four of The Master Key System.

If you do not intend to do a thing, do not start. If you do start, see it through even if the heavens fall; if you make up your mind to do something, do it; let nothing, no one interfere; the “I” in you has determined, the thing is settled; the die is cast, there is no longer any argument.

That, my friends, is what commitment is – and it really is the defining line betwixt success of any kind and absolute failure.

So, commit yourself to something and then follow through. Start small. Build up to the big things, because, as you’ll see, the big things are always composed of little things that work together in one amazing whole.

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I’ve been publishing, coaching, and writing about The Master Key System and Haanel’s philosophy of success for quite a while now. I’ve been reading and researching much, much longer. One thing I’ve noticed  is that when I say the words ‘hard work’, a veritable shit storm ensues. People fight me (and those words) with all of their being. Here are a few examples that you may have heard once or twice in the past.

“If you’re doing it right,” they say, “then you won’t need to work hard.” (In the meantime, this rocket scientist doesn’t have two nickels to rub together. I guess he’s not “doing it right”, whatever “it” is.)

“The only thing hard work ever got for my father was a sore back!” (And his pension. And the money for your college education. It probably got you and your family an annual vacation and a new car every few years. It put clothes on your back and an allowance into your pocket. In other words, if YOU would just STFU, then maybe – just maybe! – you’ll become half as successful as your father.)

“I don’t work hard … I work smart!” (So says the people who generally don’t work hard ever. And they really aren’t all that smart either.)

Now, when I say ‘hard work’, I’m not necessarily talking about digging ditches. (Although, if you need a ditch dug, then I guess it would apply.) I’m talking about the work and effort needed when accomplishing anything worth getting, such as starting a business, attaining a high degree of education, raising a family, learning a new skill, and other such tasks. 

In The Master Key System, Haanel asked a successful business man of his generation named James J. Hill what the ‘secret’ to his success was. Hill’s response was

“Work. Hard work. And more work.”

He is talking about all of the time, effort, thought, and skill he used to create his empire. Not to mention the physical aspect as well.

Even today, when you research the successful of whatever field, you will find that every one of them credits their success to hard work. 

Now, why do so many who read Haanel and other personal development books recoil from those words? 

Haanel’s philosophy in an nutshell is that all things come from first a thought of an individual, which when imbued with feeling compels the individual to action that manifests that thought (idea) into reality. I use the word ‘manifest’ here not in the bastardized sense it is used today by many gurus, the sense of something falling into reality through some sort of spontaneous genesis. I use it the way Haanel and other like minds use it: to bring one’s thoughts and ideas into reality – a form of expression much like if a person loves someone they might bring them flowers to show their feelings. 

In Haanel’s philosophy, though, there is a call to action – to take the plunge and perform hard work. In Week 23, Haanel asks

What is the first law of success?

His answer

Service.

Service is an action and usually entails hard work, whether that be mental or physical. Haanel makes the point that it’s the man who thinks the most and biggest and grandest thoughts and who takes the biggest and most onerous responsibilities that will reap the biggest rewards. You can read into that that the business of thinking is indeed hard work. 

So now I ask you, if you are one who recoils from those words ‘hard work’, then why is that? What leads you to believe that you can get what you desire by doing nothing other than reciting affirmations or something of the kind?

Having a positive mental attitude and a good mindset are important to have. What is more important, though, is your ability – your motivation – to get up and get the job done.

Now, I don’t know if we’re heading into tough economic times. I don’t pay much mind to things like that. I do what I gotta do – and it really is as simple as that. What I do know is that whether the times are tough or the living is easy, three things have never failed to make fortunes:

1. Hard work done intelligently
2. Getting the job done well
3. Serving the greatest number in whatever you do

By living those three basic tenets every day, you can for all intents and purposes recession-proof your life. The world always has room for people who aren’t afraid of rolling up their shirt sleeves and putting in a solid eight. And in every economy, good or bad, those people not only survive – they thrive!

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Accumulation is a central theme of The Master Key System and the philosophy of success as outlined by Haanel. Whether we desire more wealth or more health, we need to be successful in order to attain it. As we go through life, we all want to know the answer to one pressing question:

Are you destined to be a success or a failure?

While there are many factors that can influence the outcome, Haanel defined one main quality that can help you to answer this question. Haanel quoted James J. Hill, a very wealthy and famous industrialist of the time, to illustrate how just one trait can take a man from modest beginnings and bless him with almost unimaginable wealth.

Accumulation is the power to reserve and preserve a part of the supply that we are constantly receiving, so as to be in a position to take advantage of the larger opportunities that will come as soon as we are ready for them. Has it not been said, “To him that hath shall be given”? All successful business men have this quality well developed. James J. Hill, who died leaving an estate of over fifty-two million dollars, said, “If you want to know whether you are destined to be a success or failure in life, you can easily find out. The test is simple and it is infallible: Are you able to save money? If not, drop out. You will lose. You may think not, but you will lose as sure as you live. The seed of success is not in you.” This is very good so far as it goes, but anyone who knows the biography of James J. Hill knows that he acquired his fifty-two million dollars by following the exact methods we have given. In the first place, he started with nothing. He had to use his imagination to idealize the vast railroad that he projected across the western prairies. He then had to come into a recognition of the law of abundance in order to provide the ways and means for materializing it. Unless he had followed out this program, he would never had anything to save.

Accumulativeness acquires momentum: The more you accumulate, the more you desire; the more you desire, the more you accumulate; so that it is but a short time until the action and reaction acquire a momentum that cannot be stopped. It must, however, never be confounded with selfishness, miserliness, or penuriousness. They are perversions and will make any true progress impossible.

Every person whom I know who is wealthy says pretty much the same thing. We hear it echoed in many forms. If one but follows a few simple rules, one can be on the way to achieving wealth – perhaps even great wealth – because the principles are the same.

• Don’t spend more than you earn.
• Ten percent of whatever you earn is yours to keep. (In other words, save 10% of your income.)
• Stay out of debt. (Cut up those credit cards!)
• If you are in debt, then pay it off as quickly as possible.
• When you attain some money, invest it wisely.
• Always look for the best deal or a good bargain when purchasing something.
• Don’t be afraid to question a bill.
• If you believe a bill is in error – even for the smallest amount – stand your ground and fight for what is yours.
• When investing, don’t follow fads or get-rich-quick schemes; follow the tried and true investment techniques that have been producing millionaires for generations. (You can find these techniques online or in many a good book.)
• Live modestly and enjoy richly. (What’s the difference between a Lexus and a Toyota? About $20,000 – at least! Think about it.)
• Only buy what adds to your power and bottom line.

I hope that these tips help you. They’ve helped me. I’ve been in debt and consider it to be one of the biggest mistakes of my life. If you can, by all means avoid it! Nothing can crush the spirit or limit a person’s possibilities like debt. If you are in debt, then do everything you can to get from under it and begin accumulating wealth.

Too often, I see people frittering away what little they have on things they don’t need. Instead of gaining anything of value in this world, they have lots of trinkets that mean nothing. Much like the Indians who sold Manhattan island for some beads and shells, many people sell their lives for the name of a car, an HD TV, a pair of shoes, and much less.

I always question whatever I am going to buy. I ask myself how is this going to improve my life or increase my enjoyment of life. When I do that, I find myself saving my money and keeping it in my pocket instead of putting it into someone else’s.

Accumulating wealth is one of the biggest reasons people read The Master Key System. That’s great! By studying the System and using these techniques (many of which Haanel echoes in his works) you’ll find yourself becoming wealthy. Will it happen over night? Probably not. But always remember to look for the long term gain – it’s a race of endurance, not speed. By merely saving $5 per week, you can accumulate $250 over the course of a year. Is that a lot of money? No, but it can grow into a sizable chunk of change over time. Like Benjamin Franklin said: “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

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