The Law of Attraction has become a buzzword in business and personal development over the last few years, and there many different interpretations of this principle, ranging from the very sensible, to the more radical, "out there" ideas of some new age "gurus."

Personally, I was first introduced to this approach by the writings of world-famous psychologist Albert Ellis who never actually used the term "Law of Attraction," but was in fact describing the same phenomena.

Ellis shook the psychological world on its head by proclaiming "You are what you think about." His work has been nothing short of groundbreaking; one recent survey by the APA (American Psychological Association) showed Ellis to be the second-most influential psychologist of all time (ahead of even Freud!, and second only by humanist pioneer Carl Rogers).

So my belief in attraction is based more on the clinical and observable than wild-eyed conjecture, and the more I have studied this philosophy, the more my life has improved--every area of my life, including my former anxiety problem.

So what is the Law of Attraction? At its core, it is based on the scientific principle that "like molecules tend to attract," or more simply "like attracts like." This is not conjecture; scientists have understood this basic principle of nature for ages.

But the Law of Attraction takes this one step further: to the level of thought. In other words, your thoughts attract or repel just as molecules do; you have literally attracted everything that is in your life to you based on your habitual way of thinking. Or as Albert Ellis described it, "You become what you think about."

Right about now, you might be thinking, "wait a minute Jon; are you telling me I attracted my anxiety and/or panic attacks into my life?"

The short answer is, yes. Your habitual way of thinking has attracted anxiety and panic into your life. And when you change your habitual way of thinking, you will change what you are attracting--including the anxiety.

Now some people are very uncomfortable with this thought. It places the responsibility squarely on the individual, and many people would rather not accept this responsibility. It's easier in some ways to assume the cause of our difficulties is outside of us, not based on what we are doing (and thinking). But in the end, this "victim" approach is unsatisfying.

Without accepting your role in creating the anxiety, you will never overcome it. Step #1 is always accepting that YOU are responsible for the anxiety--every bit of it. There can be no further progress until this concept is both understood and accepted.

Step #2 is learning to attract peace of mind into your life and to stop focusing on things that cause anxiety, or in fact, anything related to anxiety. This is achieved by becoming aware of what you give your attention to in your day-to-day life. I call this "being an effective gatekeeper of your mind."

What it all comes down to is this: you can't attract peace of mind and happiness into your life by focusing on anxiety and problems. It just doesn't work that way. You must learn to focus your attention exclusively on good things in order to attract good things. And this is not nearly as difficult as you might think.

Once you become aware of what is "on your radar" on a daily basis, it gets easier and easier to shift your attention to other things that feel better, and produce better results.

Remember it's all about what you are consistently giving your attention to. You really do "become what you think about," so stop giving your attention to things you don't want in your life.