Is Success Always Guaranteed with Positive Thinking?
“The business world is teeming with self-proclaimed experts, gurus, and influencers who claim that success can be achieved through manifestation,” according to Dr. Lucas Dixon. This belief is often reiterated in sales and business, urging individuals to visualize, feel, and believe in their desired outcomes to make them a reality. However, some researchers argue that this approach carries risks and has led people to engage in speculative financial investments and even face bankruptcy.
To examine whether mere belief can truly lead to success, Dr. Lucas Dixon from the University of Queensland’s Business School conducted a project to explore this relationship. The project aimed to create a “Manifestation Scale” to measure the effectiveness of manifestation practices. Despite the confidence and optimism reported by those who practice manifestation, the study failed to find objective evidence supporting its effectiveness.
The term “manifestation belief” refers to the idea of turning thoughts and desires into reality. It encompasses a set of ideas and principles that revolve around the concept of manifesting one’s goals through focused thoughts, intentions, and actions. These beliefs are often associated with the New Age and self-help movements, with the core belief that thoughts and emotions can influence the physical world.
One well-known manifestation belief is the Law of Attraction, which suggests that positive thoughts and emotions will attract positive experiences, while negative thoughts will attract negative experiences. Practitioners of the Law of Attraction often use techniques like visualization and positive affirmations to manifest their desires. Another manifestation belief is the Power of Positive Thinking, which emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive mindset to achieve goals.
The success rate of manifestation believers was measured through three studies involving 1,023 participants. Over a third of the participants were found to be believers in manifestation. The researchers discovered that those with higher scores on the manifestation scale perceived themselves as more successful and had stronger aspirations for success. However, they were also more likely to be drawn to risky investments, have experienced bankruptcy, and unrealistically believed they could achieve success quickly.
Based on the Manifestation Scale, the study found that high manifestation belief did not necessarily correlate with actual levels of success. However, those with high manifestation belief tended to maintain a positive view of themselves and their financial future. These individuals remained optimistic even when there was a gap between their goals and current situation, indicating either overoptimism or overconfidence. Furthermore, compared to non-believers, manifestation believers were more likely to achieve high levels of success in shorter periods of time. This group also had a greater tendency to believe they could get rich quickly, potentially leading them to overlook the risks of get-rich-quick schemes.
In conclusion, more research is needed to examine the influence of manifestation influencers who promise success in areas like career and financial decision-making, particularly in high-stakes situations.
Source link
