By Dawn Norton

The Law of Cause and Effect is a pretty straightforward principle. For every effect, there is a cause—and for every cause, there’s an effect. It’s obvious in everyday life. If you step off a cliff, you’re going to fall. If you punch your brother, odds are he’ll punch you back—maybe harder. Throw a rock at a window? It’s going to break.

If you pour milk without a cup underneath, it’ll go everywhere. Leave your car light on without an auto shut-off? Your battery will likely die. We could come up with hundreds—thousands—of examples like this. But what about the less visible parts of life? Is there a cause-and-effect relationship at play in our daily circumstances?

Is there a reason we always seem to choose the slowest line?

Is there an explanation for why the same frustrating people keep showing up?

Why isn’t our health where we want it to be?

Why do we keep running out of month before we run out of money?

Why do some people seem to have it easier? Why do they seem so lucky?

Just like the obvious physical examples, there’s absolutely a cause behind the experiences we face each day—even if that cause isn’t immediately obvious. One of my favorite passages from As a Man Thinketh by James Allen really brings this home:

“Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of 'fighting against circumstances'? It means that a man is continually revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart.
That cause may take the form of a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls aloud for remedy.
Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set...
Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a strong and well-poised life?”

James Allen is saying that it’s not just our outward actions that shape our lives, but the intentions and thoughts rooted deep in our hearts. If we want to understand how we ended up where we are, he suggests tracing our thoughts backward to find the source—the cause. That’s not easy work. In fact, changing how we think may be some of the hardest work there is.

And it doesn’t stop with discovering our thoughts. Once we find the faulty thinking, we’re then tasked with creating new thoughts and forming new habits—ones that will lead to outcomes we’d actually choose. That process can take time. It often looks messier before it looks better.

Take deep cleaning, for example. I usually start with a clear picture in my mind of how great it’ll feel when everything is in order. But if my husband walks in halfway through, it looks more like a tornado hit the room than a cleaning project. There are piles, trash bags, donation boxes everywhere. But once the process is complete, the transformation is obvious.

Changing our thoughts is the same. If I decide I want to let go of road rage, it doesn’t happen instantly. It might be two steps forward, three steps back. Rage might turn into anger, then irritation, then tolerance—and eventually peace. That’s the progression. And we can do that in every area of our lives, if we’re willing to face it head-on.

There is only benefit in applying the Law of Cause and Effect to our personal lives. It’s not just useful—it’s entirely possible.

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