A Historical Perspective of the Law of Attraction

If someone were to tell you they knew one simple thing that could change your life, you'd ask them for a track record of success. As it turns out, the methods to influence the Law of Attraction have been around for a very long time, and there is a long list of individuals in human history that have made use of the principles outlined in The Secret to make their intentions become what we now study as the illustrious past. These examples from antiquity illustrate the massive potential of the power of thought to achieve unlimited success and influence.

Throughout history, some of the most famous and successful individuals actively practiced the principles of the Law of Attraction, though it is not likely that any of them knew it as such. While a comprehensive list would prove exhaustive and difficult to prove without doubt, there are many figures whose exploits seem to fit the pattern of powerful thought influencing the world around them to encourage the sort of success that clearly cuts through the mists of time.

Some of the most ancient records with any detail of monarchs and their doings come from Ancient Egypt where, nearly 5,000 years ago, one man had the foresight and burning desire to unite two powerful kingdoms into the most enduring nations the world has ever known.

When Narmer (sometimes called Menes), the first Pharaoh, wore the red and white double crown of a unified Upper and Lower Egypt in 3080 BC, he is said to have done so because he believed that was how the land was meant to be, despite the land having been divided for over 2000 years. Throughout his adult life, he never wavered from the goal of creating a stable kingdom where resources could be administered for a common good. Egypt became so prosperous under the influence of Narmer's example and decedents, the country never bothered expanding beyond its borders, being content as a source of high-end tradable goods from the African continent on their way to the Middle East.

The Pharaoh's #1 job was to make sure the flood came every year so there was enough grain for the next year. Of course, they didn't just hope the floods would come. Being Pharaoh also made you high priests of the state religion, responsible for practicing rites and rituals that might sound very familiar.

He (and sometimes she) gave thanks to the appropriate family of gods for every little aspect the royal family and the country could be grateful for. Then the outcome of a fruitful harvest was imagined aloud while the Pharaoh pictured it in his (her) mind's eye. To follow up, an incredibly vast bureaucracy of holy hydrologists were sent throughout the Nile Valley to look for the signs that would allow the ruler to act in the best interest of the river and the grain supply.

From humble beginnings as the prince of the tiny region of Macedonia in far Eastern Europe, Alexander (soon to be termed "the Great," as he is most commonly known nearly 2,500 years later), Alexander conquered much of the world known to him at the time with a small band of Greek soldiers. First, he became the conqueror of what Greek City States remained after the protracted wars between Athens and Sparta, in the 4th century BC. After the dust settled, he said he saw them as free men and granted them all their previous rights and privileges as citizens, asking them to assist him in defeating the Persians for their sack of Athens just a few decades earlier.

He was a man of vision, going over each campaign incessantly in his head. Like a modern Olympic athlete, he tried to imagine every detail and contingency. As a result, he was never once defeated in battle. His armies marched on and won incredible and decisive victories wherever they went.

Though he died early in life, it was from a fever, not defeat. However, as soon as his vision and leadership was removed from the equation (and he gave a final cryptic remark that the strongest of his Generals should succeed him), the empire as it existed – stretching from Egypt to India as a result of 9 years' campaign – was divided up and eventually frittered away under the generals' incestuous offspring.

Nearly 2,500 years later, Albert Einstein and his first wife (the former) Mileva Meric, were visionaries in the midst of what has been arguably the most exciting time in modern physics. Both were doctoral students at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. At the turn of the 20th century, before the pair of World Wars would ravage the populations of the entire continent, the Universities of northern and eastern Europe were hot beds of revolutionary thinking in physics. Undergraduates and professors alike were doing truly staggering work. The atmosphere was electric and grand ideas about the very origin of the Universe itself were being openly discussed by dozens of men and one young woman.

As an inseparable pair of mathematicians desperately in love, they would will images into their minds about the nature of dimensionality, time, space, energy and matter during long afternoons spent together skipping classes. They then would talk 'til the small hours about how to make it happen within the rigorous confines of higher mathematics.

Later in life, when the innocent joy of those summers before the first Great War was long gone and the relationship soured, the system that triggered such brilliance a few years earlier broke down. It became impossible for Herr Einstein to find a theory to gulf the bridge between relativity and quantum mechanics. He wound up spending the last 40 years of his life on this fruitless quest. He'd forgotten to give credit where it was due, lost the ability to visualize as he'd done with a happy heart and, after a long while, the search became narrowly focused in the wrong area of investigation.

Clearly, those in history with the capacity for highly directed and creative thought – those who were brave enough to accept responsibility for their own vision of the world – have sought to influence the world around them. By visualizing a successful endgame and paying attention to where opportunities are popping up, some very dynamic and undeniably successful people have shaped our world by first shaping their own minds.