In this video Aaron Doughty introduces the "law of subtraction," a principle he claims is more powerful than the law of attraction. He explains that the degree to which one can let go of old self‑images, outcomes, attachments, and meanings determines how much one can receive. Using vivid metaphors—such as a cluttered closet that has no room for new clothes—he illustrates how holding onto past identities blocks new experiences. He shares personal stories: his former 9‑to‑5 shoe‑selling job that felt safe but limited his growth, his early YouTube journey where obsession with subscriber numbers stifled passion, and a forgiveness breakthrough with his ex‑stepmom that cleared a pattern in his life. Doughty links the process of letting go to the Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono, offering a four‑step mantra ("I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you") and a 21‑day group meditation challenge. Throughout, he emphasizes becoming empty, releasing meaning, and allowing the universe to bring in more abundant outcomes. The video ends with a call to action for viewers to comment, like, and subscribe while committing to the Ho’oponopono practice.
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I found something that is more powerful than the law of attraction, and this explains why a lot of the law of attraction may not work for people. People may have intentions, they may set affirmations, they may be doing things that reprogram their mind, but if they don't experience the results, many times this is the key. Now, when it comes to this, think of the process that's more powerful. It's snowing right now in Sedona, by the way. So I was like, okay, I'm going to film the video outside. Rather than inside. It's nice being here. There's seasons in Sedona. There's no seasons in Vegas. It doesn't snow like this in Vegas. It did one time when I was younger, but, or a couple of times, but that's it. The law of subtraction. The law of subtraction is that the degree to which you can let go is the degree to which you will receive. Now, the challenge with a lot of people having and wanting to attract what they want is they think of what they want. They think of what they want and The challenge is that they haven't let go of something to then allow that thing in. Imagine this, imagine that you want new energetically, imagine that you want new clothes. I'm gonna go over to my closet right now. Imagine you want new clothes and imagine that your closet is so stuffed full that you don't even have space for new clothes. So what happens is we're saying to ourselves, this is my closet right here. So let's say that it's completely full of stuff. Like it's not, it's like I have to imagine, but imagine that it's just stuffed of stuff, stuff everywhere. It looks like this everywhere you go. And there's literally no room for anything new. Well, in a way, energetically, I don't even have the space for it. So what happens is I'm blocking those things from coming into my life because I'm not willing to let go of certain things that are here. So when you think of this, the law of subtraction, the law of subtraction is that when you let go and especially like of clothes that no longer serve you, that you're never gonna wear again, then what you do is you allow space to come in to create something new. So think of it like this as well. If you want to create for yourself and go full-time doing what you love, When I used to work that 9 to 5 job selling women's shoes, it was challenging for me to let go of that because of the safety I got from making, from selling shoes, for selling shoes for so many years. I made $50,000, $60,000 a year. I thought I was happy with that, but at the same, I wasn't really happy with that. I knew I was meant for more and I was comfortable though. I was, it was sick. I knew what was coming in every month. And I felt safe with that 'cause I like to make, you know, at least that amount. So the challenge though is that I saw myself as a 9 to 5 job goer. I was bought into that. And even though I knew I wanted to be on YouTube making videos, it was hard for me to actually make that jump because my cup was already full. I wasn't letting go of the prior self-image. So that's why for this process, the law of subtraction is that when you let go of something, then you can allow something new to come in, then you can receive. But the first thing is you must become aware of it and then let it go. Now, this doesn't mean that if you wanna go full-time doing what you love, that you have to quit your job right away and let that go. What it means though is you have to let go. Dang, yeah, a little bit ago. This is pretty crazy, right? Wow, it's just, it's getting more and more snowy. But you, it's about, it's about becoming aware and letting go of the self-image you have to then wire in a new self-image. So it's all about the name of the game with the law of attraction. It's letting go and wiring in. Now I will tell you that when you let go of outcome, you allow way more magical things to come into your life. When I was originally getting on YouTube and I was obsessive about numbers, I was like, trying to manifest 100,000, then 1 million subscribers, and I was so focused on that, it took the passion out of what I was doing first off, because then I wasn't doing something because I enjoyed it, I was doing it because of the results. I was doing it for, it's like when people do things for money versus doing it 'cause you're passionate, it's a very different energy. It's rare that I'd say that a lot of people get on YouTube that just want subscribers that do well. There must also be an intention of helping people or of something that you're passionate about. So when it comes to this, what I realized is that I had to let go of the prior version of myself and I had then could wire in me making daily videos, me taking action in that way. But if you don't allow space for it, there's no way that that can actually come in. Now when I was talking about the numbers of YouTube, that's where I was going with that. So, um, when I would assess out the numbers and if I'd want videos to go viral because I'm trying to control it, I would resist it. It wouldn't actually do well. The times I would actually let go and really let go of outcome are when amazing things would happen. I remember one time I was making a video on starseeds. I was really scared to put that video out because it was so out of the normal videos I was making, but I just let go of caring what people thought. I was passionate about making the video and I just let it go. When I let it go, that video brought in— I think we went from like 500,000 to 700,000 subs within a couple months, and that was a big— that topic started doing really well on my channel. And it came from letting go of what other people thought and also letting go of the outcome. I was like, whatever happens with this style of videos is what happens. But in every area of my life, when I have let go of the outcome, when I have let go of attachment, and that has been the trigger point to allowing new and more amazing things in. So also it's letting, you know, I let go of that job, allowed something new to come in. It wasn't even I let go of the job, I let go of my reaction to it. I was watching something the other day and it talked about how forgiveness, what it really forgiveness is, is forgiveness is a letting go of meaning. So imagine the thoughts you're thinking that you're giving a lot of power. If you forgive someone else, you're letting go of the meaning that somebody else did something bad to you. You let go of that energy pattern. When I forgave my ex-stepmom back in 2012, the people in my life that were reflective of the old pattern of my ex-stepmom also left. I had a manager that was just like my ex-stepmom. Couldn't get her fired for years and all of a sudden she got fired. It's because I forgave my ex-stepmom. I realized that she didn't know what she was doing. She was just acting out the patterns of her dad. And because I forgave her, I let go of that meaning. That meaning then left my life. So when we talk about the law of subtraction, it is about letting go of outcome. It is about letting go of attachment. It is about letting go of meaning and forgiving. That's why ho'oponopono could be such a powerful process. I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you. 4 simple words, it's letting go of meaning, it's letting go of the need to be right. So for this process, the more empty you become, the more you will allow in. A lot of times we hold onto things because by holding onto it, we feel secure, we feel safe. The challenge with that though is that we may feel safe, but we may be continuing to create the same things over and over again. If you think the same thoughts every day, feel the same emotions every day, and do the same things every day, you get the same results. That might feel safe, but the key to this is letting go of that old identity, that way of viewing yourself, and then being more present to the moment, doing things for an end of itself. But if you let go of outcome, you are allowing the universe to bring it to you. Imagine the universe could bring something even more amazing to you, but you're limiting it because your ego mind is trying to control every aspect of it. But when you let go and you become empty, it is phenomenal the kind of things that come in. Anytime I've been like trying to control things, feeling a lot of resistance, and then I let go, is big influx just comes in. It is incredible. But the key to this is letting go more than anything else. So what is the law of subtraction? It is realizing that the reason it's hard for you to wire something in is because you haven't actually let go of the old first. You haven't let go of the old self-image, the old story, Maybe you have a story that says, I'm not abundant, or I don't deserve this. You gotta let this go to then allow in. It's like going into a closet that is stuffed, packed full, and then wanting to receive new clothes but having nowhere to put them. So why would the universe send it to you? But instead, if you start letting go of the clothes, and some of those clothes will have meaning to you, but you have to realize that maybe the meaning no longer serves you. You can say, well, this person gave me this shirt, even though this shirt is something that reminds you of something very negative or something else, and then there's trouble letting that go. It's 'cause of the reasons that keep you attached. Letting go is easy. You just have to make the choice to do it. You have to let go of the meaning you've given to it. Maybe your parents give you hand-me-down clothes and that's been keeping you in a certain reality. Now, of course, this is a metaphor for beliefs, but realize that when you make room and you clear out your closet, you can then allow something new to come in. And one of the best ways to clear that out is a simple 4-step process called Ho'oponopono. I have a video on it with an exercise, you do that, do that for 21 days, watch what happens. You can do that towards any area of your life, towards love, towards abundance, towards anything, money. As you do it, what you notice is that you begin to feel lighter. And as you feel lighter, you feel more empty. You feel more empty in a good way. And then you allow and you receive in a very powerful way. Let's all right now commit to the next 21 days of that Ho'oponopono meditation. Let's do it as a group and let's watch how powerful this is. Comment below and say, I'm in. Like this video if that's something you're going to be a part of, and subscribe if you haven't already, and we can all do it together. So with that being said, peace, much love, and namaste.
