By Sharon Worsley  » Books have been written about it, motivational speakers everywhere expound on the subject and we all want to know what is the secret of success in life. Many agree that success comes down to two principles: the Law of Attraction and the Law of Correspondence.

The Law of Attraction says that like attracts like – in other words, you are a living magnet. Whatever you seek is exactly what you find. Have you noticed that sometimes what you need comes to you from what seems to be out of nowhere? Have you ever received a phone call or bumped into someone on the street that you had only been thinking about days before? This is the law at work.

You set an expectation in your mind and your mind gets to work on responding. This law delivers both what is wanted and what is unwanted. This last part is important to remember, because you really do have a say in your personal success. When you think positive thoughts, you tend to attract positive circumstances and people to you. On the flip side, should you choose to think negatively, watch out for what you bring forth in your life.

Before I watched the documentary The Secret for the first time, I must have been in contact with about 30 different individuals that had already seen the movie, and yet somehow I was not aware of this growing phenomenon.

The Secret is a 119 minute movie that was originally only available for purchase off the internet but has since made its way into the mainstream after being released on DVD. It has been featured on a number of respected shows including Oprah and Larry King Live.

When I did get around to watching it, I found that The Secret was all about the ‘Law of Attraction’. This was something that I had already believed in previously but my knowledge of this universal law deepened the more I watched the DVD and read the book.

Here are some of the thoughts I recorded as I watched:

• Most people think about what they don’t want and that is exactly what they get.
• You can attract everything you need in life.
• Be careful not to contradict yourself in what you want.
• For relationships to work, we need to focus on what we appreciate in the other person.
• Don’t talk or focus on what is wrong in your life, as what you focus on expands.
• Your thoughts and feelings create your life. Whatever you are thinking or today will create your future.

Jack Canfield, creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and one of the presenters in The Secret suggests picking a goal that is so incredible that when it happens you would know that it was due to the Law of Attraction. He says that once you pick the goal, it is not up to you to work out the details – the universe would make it happen.

I decided that I would test this out. The goal I picked was that the next time I ate pizza it would be at a specific time, on a specific date, in Venice, Italy. I then released this wish out to the universe and didn’t worry about how it would happen. Instead I did my part by telling friends, family and colleagues what the goal was.

One day, after just returning from a holiday, I opened my email to find a British Airways itinerary staring up at me from my computer screen. Someone, upon hearing my goal, decided to purchase my ticket so that my dream could come true. This person, a casual acquaintance, freely gave me this gift with no strings attached, as he believed in the power of the law.

I am delighted to tell you that I spent three days in Venice, where I broke a pizza fast of seven months on the exact day and at the exact time that I had set for myself! (As an aside, a letter detailing my trip along with a picture of me eating pizza at a café along the main canal found its way into Jack Canfield’s hands through an aquaintance).

The Law of Correspondence states ‘as within, so without’. Simply stated, your outer world is a mirror, which will reflect back to you what is going on inside you. This applies on both a conscious and subconscious level.

Think about how when you are in a positive frame of mind and exhibiting an optimistic attitude you generally attract other people who are similarly cheerful, but when you are in a bad mood and being pessimistic, those around you are also complaining about their life, family, job etc.

So what does this all have to do with being successful in life? If you have set some goals for yourself and sincerely desire to achieve them, then the Law of Attraction will help you understand how to attract more into your life of what you do want and what you wish to avoid.

By using the Law of Correspondence you can believe on a conscious level that you will attain these goals while visualizing in your mind a picture of the goals. Should you do this long and hard enough, eventually your outer world will correspond.

Guard your thoughts carefully. Be sure that you are attracting only those things you want in your life.  

• _{Sharon Worsley, CEO of Live With Intent, is a personal leadership coach and motivational speaker. Her signature keynote ‘Live By Choice, Not By Chance’ assists individuals and organizations to become clear on how they can ensure the quality of their life or organization. To receive her monthly e-zine, send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with subscribe in the subject line.}