What's All The Fuss About 'The Secret'?

There's a lot of buzz in the world about The Secret — but is it real? At best, it's a marketing ploy by an author who has big ambitions. With claims that one could "learn how to attract anything in life" and "live your best life" with a few simple changes, this book is certain to sell. And while their study on human behavior may have some merit, they don't say anything new to what you can learn from other self-help books without selling expensive cups of coffee or sacrificing time on your fitness regimen.

In the same way we simplify our life by simplifying our thinking, The Secret authors want you to change your thinking so that life appears easier to you.

The authors don't like to be called miracle workers, or even spiritual leaders. Instead, they prefer to be referred to as "partners" in the "great transformation." We are led to believe that this great transformation isn't just an arbitrary sales pitch for a product. It's also a movement on a global scale through which we can learn how "to attract anything in life" and live our best lives now.

The Secret isn't a new age philosophy book telling us that materialism is bad and living more in tune with the spirit is good. It's a self-help book that tells us that what we think and feel in present time, over the entire course of our life, shapes our entire lives. Or in the words of the authors:

"Whatever you are thinking and feeling is creating your future at this very moment."

How does this make any sense? Just because a person has good intentions for becoming more positive doesn't mean their mindset will determine their outcome. If this were true, then it would be true for everyone; and if it were untrue, then nobody would be good or bad. Either way, a perfect world without suffering would erupt from this philosophy being widely accepted; which doesn't seem to be the case. If this philosophy were true, then everyone would be positive (on paper), and if it were false, all people would be negative.

If The Secret is truly about attracting something in your life as a result of what you believe and feel, then it's also likely to work for anyone who believes and feels the same things, whether or not they purchase their books. But that isn't what we're told.

In their book The Secret , the authors tell us that "nothing" can occur in our lives if we are not thinking the thoughts they want us to think — even when we are. This is why they're giving us a special "energy" they call The Secret to help us become wealthy, famous, or successful. You can also become healthy or spiritual by shifting your thinking in the same way.

In this sense, The Secret is an old-fashioned self-help book that tells you how to think that will give you what you want in your life. It's not about changing the world for the better; it's about changing your mind for the better to attract more money and power into your life so you can eventually change the world for yourself in a way that makes it easier for you to avoid suffering.

The Secret is not new to the scene. It's been around for decades, and Hollywood has made a fortune off of its popularity with celebrities who endorse it. Oprah Winfrey's best-selling book, The Secret , helped make her a household name. Lest we forget, this success was very possible in part because she used her wealth to change the world for herself. Ultimately, the marketing money that made Oprah rich also allowed her to change many people's lives for the better by changing their minds in 7 days with little more than a thought-changing book and a few spa sessions.

To be clear, the thoughts we have from day to day do shape our lives whether or not we try to change them. It's impossible to think of something without it being formed in our minds first. But in this case, the authors want you to change your thinking so that you can attract more wealth, health, love, and power into your life. This is where The Secret fails. But before we move on too far let's look at what The Secret actually is and how it might help you before deciding how much you care about its teachings.

The Secret is divided into three sections. In the first section, the authors tell us how to change our thinking. In the second section, they tell us that we can get whatever we want by using The Secret as a tool to change our thinking — and finally, in the third section of their book, they give us examples of people who have used The Secret to achieve success.

Sounds good, doesn't it? It all sounds very scientific. One might think that the authors were just scientists looking at a study of human behavior (which actually is true), and yet this isn't something new. It's been going on for years, and you can buy the same book for less than $10 from any bookstore.

You should also realize that although The Secret shares common traits with older self-help books — including The Secret — we're lead to believe that it's something new and different. And on top of this, there are countless other products from many other brands which claim to be able to help you achieve success or attract anything in life through positive thinking or "like attracts like.

But does The Secret work? The obvious answer is yes. It's a best-selling book for a reason. But the real question is whether or not it can do what the authors claim. It can't, which makes it no different from the hundreds of other self-help books on the market claiming you can learn how to attract wealth, love, and success by achieving a positive mindset. The Secret merely claims that you can achieve anything you want through positive thinking, and your money will follow.

So, how does The Secret make this claim? How exactly do the authors explain the concept of "like attracts like" to their readers?

It's a simple concept, which basically states that if two objects are physically identical, they will attract each other regardless of their internal differences. In other words, if you believe in something enough, it becomes reality. But this isn't new in the slightest. It's been around for a very long time. "Like attracts like" is also known as the Law of Attraction (or LOA).

Conclusion

The Law of Attraction (or LOA) is the belief that we attract into our lives the things that we think about most, and what we give our attention and passion to will ultimately determine who or what we are. In other words, if you believe in something enough, it becomes reality.

When this concept first hit the scene years ago, it was known as the Science of Getting Rich . This concept was then refined by Rhonda Byrne in The Secret , which became a bestselling book and spawned a movie of the same name.