In the classic manifestation book How to Get What You Want, written by Orison Swett Marden in 1923 and referenced countless times in New Thought teachings, Marden tells us,
“Men and women are human magnets. Just as a steel magnet drawn through a pile of rubbish will pull out only the things which have an affinity for it, so we are constantly drawing to us, establishing relations with, the things and the people that respond to our thoughts and ideals. Our environment, our associates, our general condition are the result of our mental attraction. These things have come to us on the physical plane because we have concentrated upon them, have related ourselves to them mentally; they are our affinities, and will remain with us as long as the affinity for them continues to exist in our minds.
“Your thoughts, your viewpoints, your conception of what your status and position in life will be, your ideal of your future, will draw you exactly to that plane like a lodestone. Focus your mind, your predictions, your expectations on poverty, failure and wretchedness; banish ambition, hope, expectation of good things, and give full sway in your mentality to fear, worry, doubt, anticipation of evil, and the ego magnet will draw you unerringly to squalid surroundings, to an inferior position, to association with persons of a lower order of mind on a meaner social plane.
“The great trouble with all of us who are struggling with unhappy or unfortunate conditions is that we have separated ourselves in some way from the great magnetic center of creation. We are not thinking right, and so we are not attracting the right things. “Think the things you want.” The profoundest philosophy is locked up in these few words. Think of them clearly, persistently, concentrating upon them with all the force and might of your mind, and struggle toward them with all your energy. This is the way to make yourself a magnet for the things you want. But the moment you begin to doubt, to worry, to fear, you demagnetize yourself, and the things you desire flee from you. You drive them away by your mental attitude. They cannot come near you while you are deliberately separating yourself from them. You are going in one direction, and the things you want are going in the opposite direction.”
What can we do about this disconnect that is so prevalent in our experience? The obvious solution is to start going in the same direction mentally as your desires are going. We don’t run after what we want–we don’t chase our dreams–all of that turns out to be wrong advice from people who simply did not understand the laws of the human mind. Instead, we focus on a clear image of what we desire, and we magnetize it to our lives by thinking about it and feeling that it is already true. The difference is immense, and when you start practicing this process — think it–feel it–hold it steady while you magnetize–make it welcome — you will begin calling to you all that you want to enjoy in life including peace of mind, love and prosperity.