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Imagine that you have a dream to be a great person who are willing to help the others living a happier life. You tell yourself that you will going to be that guy you wish to be. Every morning you remind yourself of that. Slowly your behavior starts to change. The universe guides you through your ambition. Now you have become the person you wish to be, thanks to the universe. Bam, happily ever after.
Now, let’s take you are in alternate universe. You dream to be a great person who are willing to help the others living a happier life. You wake up every morning, you create a list of small actions that could help you achieve your said dream. By the end of the day, you barely completed the lists. It is okay to not get all those things done. Next morning you do the same and keep working to complete your wish list. With the small efforts you make to be a better person every day, now you have achieve your dream. Congratulations!
First situation is described by Napoleon Hill as Law of Attraction in his book Think and Grow Rich. Second situation is an example of Law of Affection in Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. Nothing wrong with those two laws, but I believe there is a fundamental difference between two of them.
In Law of Attraction, the universe is supposed to guide you through your life. If the universe said that it is not your time, you will not be able to achieve it. It’s okay, you did nothing wrong. It just the universe who decide for you.
Contrary in Law of Affection, you are the driver of your own life. Affection here refers to the meaning of the verb "affect", which is "to act on; produce an effect or change in". As the driver, you need to take action of your own dream, one small step at a time.
In my opinion, Law of Affection is more practical to me. I found that taking control of your own life would yield a better result. This is because we can have a greater vision of what to come based on our small actions. We could shape the future, through the power we have in present moment. As Epictetus said, we can control the choices we make right now.
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own . . .”
— Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4–5
