What's the difference between The Law of Attraction and Manifesting?

You’ve made your vision boards, journaled your heart out, done the positive affirmations, and thought your happy thoughts but The Law of Attraction just doesn’t seem to be working for you and you’re not manifesting. Or maybe you seem to be attracting more of what you don't want! Sound familiar?

That’s because the Law of Attraction (LOA) and Manifestation are actually much different than many of the LOA and Manifestation “gurus” make it seem.

I’m also sure you have seen the posts on social media that lead you to believe that a person just closed their eyes, visualized the desire they had and then POOF their thoughts became things. 

I'm not saying things and opportunities don't just happen or show up seemingly out of nowhere once in a while or manifest like magic because they do. My goal with this post is to help you understand that if you have been consciously trying to use only the Law of Attraction to Manifest, there is a reason it may not be working as you'd expect.

The good news is, Manifestation is actually a lot simpler than you might think, and the way I teach it has nothing to do with the “wu” that so many people make you believe must be involved to make it work. And trust me, I am not against “wu” I’m actually a very spiritual person and have been a student of spirituality since I was very young.

So what is the main difference between the Law of Attraction (LOA) and Manifesting?

The Law of Attraction (LOA) is the belief that something outside of you like the Universe or God creates and provides for you that which you focus on with no action from you required. It states that we draw ourselves vibrationally to anything we focus on “like attracts like” and “thoughts become things”.

When I first heard about the secret (pardon the pun) of the LOA I was SO excited! I focused on the sweet mansion I wanted to live in and the sports cars I wanted to drive I asked the Universe to help bring them to me...but they never came?! My positive outlook started to fade and I just started to think I did something wrong. Maybe my vision board wasn’t good enough or I asked the Universe in the wrong way, maybe my faith wasn’t strong enough, or maybe that damn negative thought I had messed it all up!

I have been manifesting things since I was a little kid, I assumed it was magic because who wouldn't?! It wasn't until I started to study human behavior and the layers of the human mind that I realized that Manifestation is the internal processes of your brain and the reactions it creates within your nervous system.

It is the process and the actions that bring you the end result of the intentions you have set, it is the manifestation of your desire into your outer world...no magic required. 

This is how cool your brain and mind actually are...

I know I said I wasn’t getting into the steps of manifestation but I want to give you an example of how cool your mind is. 

Think of your brain as a computer and your mind is the operating system. Our mind is a powerful goal-seeking tool and it wants to help you manifest success. The challenge is, we aren’t really ever taught how to communicate with and access this amazing tool. 

One of the key elements required to start the Manifestation process is to create a focus or set an intention on what you desire. 

When you set your intention your mind activates its “spam filter” which in scientific terms is your reticular activating system (RAS) gets activated. It filters out the things/opportunities that are not in alignment with your intention.

Have you ever wanted to buy a new car and then suddenly you see that car EVERYWHERE...that’s your RAS doing its thing.

This is also why when you focus on the worry of something, you seem to attract more of the worry or negativity into your life.

Let’s have some fun

I want to show you how easy it is to activate your RAS when you have a set clear intention.

Before you keep reading this post I want you to go watch this video (don’t worry, it’s only a couple of minutes long).

As you watch the video I want you to FOCUS on how many BALL PASSES are made by the PEOPLE WEARING THE WHITE SHIRTS.


Crazy right?! Was it what you were expecting or did you watch it again without your focus on the white shirts to make sure you weren’t imagining things?

Of course, there is much more to the manifesting process than just setting an intention but the main point of this post was to help you see the differences between the Law of Attraction and Manifestation. 

Now that you know that the process of Manifestation takes place inside of YOU and isn’t dependent on Universal energy or anything else metaphysical….does it make you more excited to learn how to work with it?

And if you're curious about one of the processes I use to manifest check out my “My five steps for FLUFF FREE manifesting” podcast episode

Happy Manifesting!


50% Complete

Get instant access to my FREE resource library