The core components of LoA teachings are beliefs, desires, thoughts, and feelings, with reality/manifestations the outcome or byproduct of these.
To simplify it further: our beliefs describe how we think reality IS. Our desires describe how we think reality SHOULD BE.
“Should” is ambiguous, but in the case of desire it refers to our own pleasure or happiness.
In essence, part of our human nature is always tirelessly working out what would bring us more pleasure or happiness in life. The sum of all these preferences is a model of our ideal reality.
So within us we have a model of how reality is and a model of how reality should be for our greatest happiness and pleasure. Our current happiness is determined by how much our belief model contradicts or accords with our desire model.
The purpose of LoA material is to help us soothe and soften our model of how reality is, so that it becomes more amenable to our model of how reality should be.
We feel better when we believe our desires are possible or likely to occur; at the same time, when we are focused on how reality should be and what would bring us the most happiness and pleasure, we are immediately more inclined to experience these desires in our reality.
I don’t find the term “law of attraction” compelling, I would rather say that my reality reflects what I am focused on. But either way, believing reality is fluid and responsive to what we think, desire, and believe, is the first step in opening up to our model of how reality should be.