This rule has nothing to do with how long you can wait before eating something that has fallen on the floor.  But it is a good way to think about the importance of the 17-seconds mark when it comes to the law of attraction.  Let’s rewind a bit before we get to that.  If you haven’t heard of the five-seconds rule (or the three-seconds rule among the more hygiene-conscious), it states that if you drop a french-fry or fork or grape on the floor, it won’t be contaminated by bacteria until after five (or three) seconds.  Therefore as long as you pick it up before time is up, you can still eat/use it.  (Don’t take this for fact!  People say all kinds of things; doesn’t make them right.)  Now maybe you’re thinking I’m just really hungry and getting off track, but I promise this is relevant to the law of attraction.  Here’s how.

According to Abraham, 17 seconds of pure focus on a thought is all it takes for it to become your active vibrational signal.  That’s the amount of time it takes to attract another thought similar to it.  Together, they make your vibrational signal stronger, ten times stronger in fact by the end of the next 17 seconds.  You can expand on this idea and see why more and more thoughts of a similar nature join the party and how your signal grows clearer and more powerful with each addition.  So basically 17 seconds is the amount of time you have before the law of attraction kicks in and the situation snowballs.

Going back to our food example.  Just like when you drop your slice of pizza on the floor and the three-/five-seconds rule gives you some wiggle room, the 17-seconds rule gives you time to fix your thinking.  This is great news!  It means you don’t have to freak out when you think about something you don’t want.  You have 17 whole seconds to stop thinking about it.  You know how much time that is?  More than enough time to drop an entire pizza and pick it up slice by slice.

The cool thing is it’s even easier than that.  You don’t have to stop thinking the thought.  At least not in the sense of sitting there gritting your teeth and forcing yourself not to thinking it.  All you have to do is think about something else.  That’s it.  It can be as simple as getting distracted by a pretty bird outside your window or planning tomorrow’s breakfast or daydreaming about who you would want to throw you a surprise birthday party.

So that’s all you need to remember to keep your vibrational signal clean.  Seventeen seconds.  And now that you know the connection between the law of attraction and this important segment of time, the gears in your head might be turning.  Maybe you’re getting ideas for how to squeeze the most out of your hours.  Good.  You’re on the right track.  This little baby is potent and it can take you everywhere.  More on that later.  But you keep on cogitating and most importantly, stay on your toes, stay nimble, stay open so that you are able to switch gears at the drop of a pizza.  Or at least within the next 17 seconds.