Tue 26 May 2009
The Law of Focused Action
Posted by author under Being Unreasonable, Execution, law of attraction, Leadership, StrategyEveryone wants to be more successful, but often, hard work seems just too hard. Some people turn to the Law of Attraction for help, so I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
Hey, you know what? All hoopla aside, I like the LOA. And why not? It’s a cool idea, and if the choice is between focusing my mind on things I want versus focusing on things I don’t want, I’d rather spend my mental energy on things I want.
But here’s the question: Is “just” thinking, and emoting, and visualizing, and meditating, and yes, praying, about things I want going to bring them into my life?
LOA gurus say yes and offer proof like a garage full of fast cars, a big house, weight loss…
I don’t believe it.
If all you do is think, emote, visualize, meditate and pray, you may feel better, but all by themselves, those things aren’t going to make your house bigger or your cars faster. And if you think about being thin, and keep eating, well, as they say, the proof IS in the pudding…
If it did work, everyone reading The Secret would be rich. And while a few are, most are not.
But here’s what does happen…
When you sharply focus your internal self on what you want as directed by the LOA, you are going to see many subtle things you might otherwise have missed. You’ll also see some obvious things your previous blinders kept from view.
It’s also going to help you stop sabotaging yourself in whatever ways you’ve spent a lifetime mastering. (Everyone’s an expert at their own version of this.)
It may even make you more “attractive” to people who can help you, because you’ve become a more positive, pleasant, less whiny person to be around, and perhaps more fun, besides.
In all these ways, practicing the law of attraction can make a huge difference.
But here’s one more very important point…
You see, in the physical world, where most of us live, if you want something to happen, you’ve got to move things around. Whether it’s atoms or bits, things still have to move around. And that takes action.
The good news is that your LOA-driven focus can to cause you to DO THINGS, large and small, that you otherwise might have delayed, or blown off entirely, or done badly, which you will now do well. In other words, your LOA mindset can cause you to TAKE ACTION. And not only any action, but the right action. FOCUSED ACTION.
Is there something spiritual at work here? I can’t say, I’m not an expert. But I can tell you this: If you don’t have that last bit – the part about taking focused action? Not much is going to happen.
But if you consistently take Focused Action, doing the right things, day in and day out, you can make miracles happen.
So I’ve a proposal. The Law of Attraction is fine, but if you want really want to heat up your business and your life, apply the Law of Focused Action.
Be Unreasonable. Sharpen your mental focus using LOA. Then put the Law of Focused Action to work. Get busy with the things that will make a difference. Now.
P.S. My apologies to anyone else who’s written recently about any similar subject. When a lot of great minds think alike, that’s the LOA in action. Right?
Put the Law of Focused Action to work and add your comments below.




May 26th, 2009 at 7:00 am
If I can add to that Paul; Malcolm Gladwell in \\"Blink\\" goes into lots of details on why \\"intuition\\" works. The right brain to work his magic has to be fed. Lots of actions related to the LOA will do that. When your right brain gives you hint and you put the Law of Focused Action into gear, the results should be amazing (and sometime come as a surprise)
May 26th, 2009 at 7:05 am
I know that Law of Attraction works, but it only works when I do. The biggest benefits of the LOA for me are that I become more focused on finding opportunities and more open to the opportunities I find. Ultimately, though, it is all about Focused Action.
Great post, Paul. Thanks for always providing good food for thought.
May 26th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Paul,
You hit it right on the nail! Focussed action is IMO much more powerful. LOA can be used as a tool, but it doesn’t work by itself.
Cheers
Fred Wiersma
May 26th, 2009 at 9:29 am
LOA helps get the mindset right to the extent that it is in your power to change things. But the lack of emphasis in The Secret – with the exception of Joe Vitale – was very concerning.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I completely agree with you, Paul.
I believe in the LOA, but I look at it as a foundation. I helps get my thoughts and words in line with the results I want.
And when my thoughts and words are in line with what I want, the actions I take will also be in line with what I want.
You can waste a lot of time on unfocused action. I’ve wasted way too many hours to even count!
I believe there IS a spiritual component to the LOA because we’re spiritual beings who happen to live in a physical world.
Here’s something that took me a LONG time to “get”: Every thought, every word, every action is a prayer. As Paul the Apostle says, “pray without ceasing.”
The question is not WHETHER we are praying… it’s WHAT we are praying for. “Whatever is right, whatever is good, if anything be excellent or praiseworthy. Think on these things.” -Paul the Apostle
Great post!
Yours in Spirit,
Joshua Aaron Stanley
May 26th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Paul,
Great way to start the week after a holiday weekend. Your are in good company “anyone else who’s written recently about any similar subject. When a lot of great minds think alike, that’s the LOA in action” I’m simply summarizing Marlon’s message that is along the lines of THE LAW OF FOCUSED ACTION.
1. KNOW HOW TO SHIFT PRIORITY ORDER: Every day new things that you want to do pop up. New possibilities and opportunities arise.
2. ASSIGN PRIORITY: You must have a way to assign priorities that takes into account multiple factors.
Importance x Probability
a. Ranking importance of the RESULT
b. Ranking probability of SUCCESS
3. PROJECT FOCUS CATEGORIZATION You must dump your “to do” list and move to a project focus with sequence action items
For each item on your to do list, do you know:
a. What you’re doing
b. Where it fits in the bigger picture (based on project)
c. The payoff you expect
d. The probability of getting that pay off
e. Why you’re doing that thing instead of some other thing.
Action Item: Pick the one outcome you want. Examine that outcome and see if there’s any other outcome that would be more valuable to obtain.
Assess your options in terms of the probability. Now create your action steps in reverse from that point so that if you follow them in sequence you GET the outcome or the end result. This becomes your Game Plan.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherrie Rose
The Love Linguist
@sherrierose on Twitter
May 26th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I agree, Paul.
And my favorite definition of faith is ‘believing & obeying the word of God’. If we really believe then we’ll take action on those beliefs. Our faith isn’t complete without action.
Looking forward to reading your book!
Cheers,
Brenda
May 26th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Very good post, Paul.
We are fortunate that we don’t get “stuff” automatically from wishing, thinking, praying. That would be a very big mess.
I think you are spot on. Allowing it to happen is not enough in most cases, you need to MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Bedtime here on the east-side
of the Atlantic.
Thanks for the post.
Good night.
May 26th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I think your point is a good one. Yes, people need to be very clear about the goals and visions they set for themselves, but it’s all meaningless without the focused action to get results.
Thornton Prayer
Whole Life Coaching
@ThorntonPrayer on Twitter
May 26th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
We have very similar views on LOA. Some people view it as a mystical force, but I take the practical approach and think of it as more of a catalyst for action. The key to LOA is once you know what you want it’s a helluva lot easier to get it.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
A good post Paul. The Secret is interesting and can be useful up to that tipping point where you start thinking that LOA means you can do nothing but fast cars and women will be knocking on your door.
In terms of motivation, thinking positively, organising your thoughts, LOA is interesting.
Focused action is always good in my books
May 26th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Law of Attraction works quite well… but there is a caveat. You must go within and be aware of when you are self-sabotaging. For instance, if you think positively about how much you DO want the car in the garage, but you find internal chatter stating \"I don\’t deserve it\" or \"I have never had something that nice so it can never happen for me\" or you have more anger or resentment over how that has been unavailable to you in the past or present…. you now have a big problem.
The \"Bow and Arrow Theory of Manifestation\" (described in the book \’Shift: 12 Keys to Shift Your Life\’) describes how powerfully we create with the strongest (emotional) intention to create the thought we are focusing on. An example would be a person who states a desire to lose weight (\"I want to lose 10#!\"). Unfortunately, when the same person walks into their work break room and finds the triple layer chocolate brownie cake and thinks with intent desire \"I WANT the chocolate cake!!\", they are now much more powerfully sending out the intention of desiring the cake rather than the less intense desire to lose weight.
When there are conflicting intentions, the most powerful one will win out.
Regards!
Tracy Latz, M.D.
http://www.12keystoshift.com
@TracyLatz on Twitter
May 26th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I’ve despised LoA ever since I heard of it. While there is a lot to be said about the life changing benefits of positive thinking, just think is not enough, you’re right you also need to take action and open the doors for those things to come into your life, opening your mind is just one of many doors that will present themselves.
May 26th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
I couldn\’t agree more! Would love your thoughts on my new blog…The proof is in the puddin\’ and action is the only true key to results!
May 27th, 2009 at 6:05 am
I really enjoyed reading your beautiful piece on
the law of attraction.
I believe that when it is well practised, it can
yield very good and fruitful results.
I shall appreciate receiving more of such pieces
in the future.
Stay blessed.
Tom Appiah
May 27th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Paul,
Upon reading your piece… it is obvious that you have a very shallow knowledge about what LOA really is… go do an indepth study on the field about LOA as offered by Jerry & Esther Hicks at http://www.abraham-hicks.com before you start making conclusions or start captitalizing on the subject just to prove your own beliefs!
If you belief its an action oriented world then it is… if belief it is not, then it is also not. The mind always will find evidence to prove whatever it believes to be!
If you change the way you think… everything else changes!
All is well… cheers!
May 27th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Your article nailed it. This is the best I have ever heard the LOA explained. Miracles are nice but they happen quicker when we do the right things. Thanks Paul.
Denise Sanger
May 27th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
thousand thanks for your wonderful articles they always do wonders! hope you a happy and fresh time as your articles as I`ve majored in such fields, I`ve been always interested.
many thanks again and waiting get anything from you,
parvaneh keivanfar
May 27th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I’ve been “coaching” the implementation of the LOA for over 30 years; to major corporations. It’s easy. So easy, you forget to use it…
1. Start with the End in mind.
2. Know where you are Now.
3. Think backwards from the End position to the Now position.
4. Turn the backwards path around, and follow it.
There’s a LOT more to this, but this is the essence.
May 27th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I have to agree…… do nothing…… and the laws of physics dictate that nothing happens. ( Inertia ) Do something, and the worst that can happen is you make a mistake and have to start again.
May 28th, 2009 at 2:36 am
It is shame the “modern” Secret Gurus left out the Most Important element of Charles Haanel’s (the father of the Law of Attraction)The Master Key…
he Application of Massive Focused effort.
No one would be interested if they Thought WORK was involved.
I have been following Hannel’s principles since 1960 and found LOA very beneficial with Focused ACTION.
Our community, The Focus Society Mastermind, enjoys the Comfortable benefits the development of these Lifestyle skills.
Thank you for being another enlightened Student of principles possessed by all, USED by a FEW.
Chuck
May 28th, 2009 at 5:46 am
Great post! I couldn\\\’t agree more.
I have been thinking about the law of attraction a great deal lately as well and how pointless it is without action.
I created this image in my head of a race between LOA people and Action people. The gun goes off and the LOA people all start thinking about the universe bringing the finish line to them. The Action people look at the LOA guys like they are crazy and run to the finish line, winning the race.
If I had any drawing talent that cartoon would be prominent on my website.
Reading \\"The Secret\\" actually made me quite frustrated. My own site is all about action setting, and using actions to move forward in my life. I recently wrote my manifesto which talks about similar ideas that you have put here.
As you said, great minds think alike. Thanks for the great post!
May 28th, 2009 at 5:54 am
Nice post. I agree that action needs to be a part of any change. I’d even go further. Action is what living is all about. When we’re doing things we’re living. So, while thinking, meditating and praying are all important (and part of a healthy balanced diet) we need to follow them with action if we are to live. Recently I wrote an article about this using a modified version of the Harvard Change Model.
Thanks Paul!
Kevin Stirtz
May 28th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Exactly right. We live in a three dimensional universe of tangible things. If we want tangible results – action is required.
And if we are scattered or moving in many directions (picture a silly chicken) then LOA cannot match us with much of Anything!
Focus and action are very important keys – add attitude, gratitude and trust and it’s a great formula.
May 30th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
HiPaul
As one of the teachers in the Secret who has had some pretty amazing experiences and success with the LOA, I can say without a doubt that you are right on the money.
The last six letters of Attraction are Action. And as you point out, it must be the right type of focused action.
The is another point from quantum physics that is very releavant here and that is we must have conscious and subconsicous patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions match up in order to really achieve the coherence pattern of success. Sorry if this is to technical but, its the way we think it works so far.
All my best and congrats on the great work you are doing.
May 30th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Focus is the thing we lack most!
Dr. Letitia Wright
The Wright Place TV Show
http://wrightplacetv.com
http://www.twitter.com/drwright1
June 1st, 2009 at 6:33 am
Thanks Paul. I’m just back from vacation and I needed some words to get me back in the momentum. This blog and the comments hit the spot.