Yes, this seems to be widely accepted in the fields of psychology and
spirituality. In my experience, as soon as an opportunity comes to
screw up something that you've been worrying about, the odds you will
do so are very high. Especially where anxiety becomes a factor in that
moment. It's easier said than done, but if anxiety is a factor, I
think you have to get really clear on exactly what it will mean to
focus on what you want, or at least to avoid focusing on what you
don't want. And you have to commit to doing that prior to whatever
event and then remember to do it.

I've experienced this in what seems like the most direct way possible
in my meditation. After using a biofeedback device, I developed an
anxiety response to trying to relax. I mean the heart-pounding kind.
This would not normally happen. I'm just anxiety prone to begin with.

This type of anxiety is very difficut to get rid of once it gets
established. I think the reason is that unlike most anxiety, you can't
get any feedback from the environment. There was no comfort in
delaying it's onset. I was never like "out of the woods."

It took me about a year to get it under control. During that time, I
had periods where some technique would work, but no technique ever
worked more than three times in a row. Usually they were good only
once. In the real world, just one of these techniques probably would
have gotten me past it.

The thing that ultimately did it was to completely get rid of not
wanting it to happen. I couldn't just tell this to myself. I had to
come to the conclusion that I was now on a different path and the only
way to get back to where I was would be to make the anxiety completely
OK. The problem was, wanting to meditate and trying to get that result
meant wanting for something not to happen - the anxiety. I think
that's another thing that made it more difficult than usual. So I had
to get rid of any desire to control the outcome with no expectations
that this would get me anywhere.

As soon as I was able to do that, the anxiety all but went away. It
happened all in one session. The reaction would happen, but at a very
low level compared to where it was. This was enough to get me into a
meditative state, which was what I wanted.

A couple of times I would find myself going in the wrong direction
with it and it would take me at least a couple of days to resolve to
stop wanting or trying to get a result. Then in the following
sessions, it would be easy to do.

Once I started getting the result for a while, I would naturally go
back to seeking it. It's such an intensely pleasurable experience that
it would be a constant struggle to avoid doing this all the time.
Eventually I could allow myself to do this without it causing a
problem. I think I can get away with this because the technology (see
my previous post) actually pulls me into a meditative state even if
I'm putting up a resistance to it by seeking it. It's the paradox of
meditation - you can't really get there by seeking it.