The law of attraction states that you attract what you focus on. The law of assumption states that persistent assumption shapes reality.
Both techniques are aimed at making your dreams — big and small — come true; both involve getting clear on what you want, visualization, and consistency.
However, attraction is more about working with the world and connecting the dots so you can get what you want; assumption requires you to suspend judgment and directly create what you want.
Now, a quick note before we dive in:
Because both “laws” refer to quite abstract concepts, and because they have a lot to do with psychology and spirituality rather than gross matter, there is never a standard definition of each.
We see the same with similar concepts/topics such as non-duality, precognition, enlightenment, etc. Not everything can be measured; not everything can be defined.
Also, anything that goes beyond the tangible world — from synchronicity to actual mystical states — is a totally subjective experience, as subjective as one’s dreams. It cannot be observed; it can only be felt.
As a result, there is often a lot of confusion when people talk about the law of assumption, attraction, resonance, correspondence, etc. The basic idea is the same for everyone, but there are endless interpretations.
The following would be, in short, my definitions of the laws. I’ll briefly describe each and then try to compare the two.
The law of assumption in a nutshell
What you assume usually becomes real.
In this case “assumption” means strong belief linked to equally strong feelings, that must occur repeatedly until the desired outcome is reached.
You can think of the law of assumption as the law of “faith”. Persistent faith in what you want to experience in the material world eventually leads to its realization.
Lucid dreaming is a good analogy. In lucid dreams, you realize that you are dreaming, and that your mind is creating the dream. This is empowering as it allows you to shape what you experience in the dream.
According to the law of assumption, what we call the physical world is, surprisingly, the same. Only, there will be a delay between your own assumption and what you see in the material world.
In other words, you don’t just meditate and visualize a certain experience and “manifest” it overnight. It takes longer to shape the material world.
But while most people see the delay as proof that the mind and the world are separate, those who know and apply the law are not discouraged by it; they are “faithful”.
The law of attraction in a nutshell
You usually attract what you are.
Notice how I have used the word usually for both definitions. This is why I don’t like to think of assumption and attraction as laws — they are certainly powerful, but nothing is ever guaranteed.
Either way, the “law” basically states that you tend to attract, experience, and/or perceive what matches your own state of mind/being.
This is where, I believe, there is confusion — some say it’s about what you think most of the time, some say it’s your vibration, some believe it’s nothing but “fake it till you make it”.
What we do know is that people end up experiencing, in one way or another, what they think of (focus on) most of the time and with the most intensity.
For example, the person who is in love sees love. Someone who has been blessed with wealth and abundance sees abundance. Or, more specifically, you buy a new car and see the same model everywhere all of a sudden.
Now, here’s the downside — it doesn’t just apply to positive things. Sadly, we humans are programmed to fear and avoid what we dislike, and this triggers very intense thoughts and feelings.
For example, we fear poverty and illness. Unfortunately, the law of attraction doesn’t care if it’s positive or negative — the stronger our feelings, the more we’ll attract it.
So in reality, we all “use” the law whether we realize it or not. The trick, then, is to be aware of the law and choose what we think about and focus on most of the time, to deliberately have more of it in our life.
Law of assumption vs law of attraction
- According to the law of attraction, you are basically a magnet. This means you should carefully choose what to attract
- According to the law of assumption, you shape your reality. This means you should carefully choose what to assume
This is the fundamental difference. Whereas attraction is about drawing people and things closer to you, assumption takes it further as it suggests you can directly “create” what you want.
In this sense, the law of attraction is still limited to whatever goes on in the tangible world, whereas assumption allows for the possibility that true manifestation does exist.
With the law of assumption, the world is seen as a dream; an illusion that is real and feels real only because we are in it.
And just like dreams have their own dimension and their own rules (e.g. if you wake up, the dream ends), reality also has rules (e.g. the laws of physics) but everything else can be changed if you have faith.
That is, the persistent assumption/belief that you are already experiencing what you want, right now, as well as the feelings and emotions that you would feel.
Other differences/implications
- The law of attraction is about attracting what’s usually already out there; the law of assumption is about creating a certain situation that doesn’t necessarily exist in the present moment
- Whereas the law of attraction allows for a higher order or intelligence that brings similar people/things closer to each other, the law of assumption suggests that our own imagination is the order itself
- The law of attraction is usually faster, that is, if you already are in the state that attracts whatever you may desire; with assumption, on the other hand, you have to wait for reality to change
- Whereas with the law of attraction you can consciously try to influence reality, the law of assumption suggests you suspend judgment, surrender to your own imagination, and forget about the “how”
- Whereas with the law of attraction you “work” with the real world, the law of assumption implies that you should in some way deny it and instead stick to your own belief (faith)
Similarities
Both laws…
- Are empowering, but also imply responsibility, as they both suggest that true change starts within and that you are in control
- Cannot be measured or proven scientifically (though modern psychology does offer explanations for them, at least superficially)
- Teach that what you think and what you feel, regardless of your circumstances, influences your world, though it may be too subtle to notice
- Teach that all we really have is the ability to choose — choose our mindset, how we react to things and how we interpret events in our life, choose what to assume and what to attract
- Require you to get really clear on what you want in life; in other words, to “wake up” and make your desires conscious rather than subconscious or unconscious
