Myth Busters, Neuroscience Edition: Does The Law Of Attraction Actually Work?

The law of attraction is a universal law that says setting positive intentions can help you manifest your dreams and bring your goals into reality. It sounds pretty enticing—but is it too good to be true?

According to Swart, intention is everything. Deciding what you really want to achieve is the first step to actually manifesting anything. "Sometimes people approach the law of attraction a bit vaguely," she tells mbg, "but it's really important to pinpoint the thing(s) you would like in your life.

And lastly, there's value tagging, which, according to Swart, is the brain's way of taking the things you've put your attention on and "tagging" them in order of importance. "There are two halves to this," she says. "One is logical, things like 'I need to earn this much money to pay my bills, and my rent, and put food on the table.' And then there's the emotional half, which is, 'These are the things I really want in my life. This is what makes me happy and brings me joy.'"

This is where people can struggle a bit, she says, because the brain is geared for survival. "It's much more worried about getting rid of things that might hurt you than it is about looking for those big long-term rewards," she notes.

Once you've aligned your brain with your goals, you'll have cultivated something Swart calls "magnetic desire." She says this happens when "your emotions are really aligned to this thing you want"—something that "fires up your brain with positive emotions that keep you abundant and keep you motivated," she adds.

Once your magnetic desire kicks in, you might find yourself beginning to take more actions, large or small, to call in your new reality. To help motivate you through this more active part of the manifesting process, Swart highly recommends starting an action board. Another iteration of a vision board, your action board can help remind you to take, well, action on the opportunities that your brain has now been primed to notice.

"However small," she adds, "it's about doing something every day to move toward those goals, like networking, or dating. It's about acting and keeping with what you put on your board."

This is an important reminder that manifesting and the law of attraction can work—but not necessarily overnight. Achieving your goals takes consistent work, practice, and a dash of luck, and some factors will always be out of our control.

"Be patient," Swart says. "Understand there are some things you can control, and you can make those things become real. That starts a cumulative effect of other things falling into place."