The Secret, a big YES + AND

The Secret – Yes, And, you need more to achieve your dreams
Than the Law of Attraction

The Secret is a book written by Rhonda Byrne. It’s a media darling of the moment having just been featured on Oprah, with a follow up planned. The book is stacked to the ceilings at bookstores around the country; it’s going to be a best seller. The Secret is about the Law of Attraction, and the book, mostly, is anecdotes about how well this Law of the Universe works, with some guiding principles. It’s an inspiring book. And it is not always enough, you need more than the Law of Attraction to achieve your hopes and dreams.

I believe in the Law of Attraction -- I think that this book is “true.” And I don’t want to pour cold water on people’s dreams, far from it, my dream is one of empowerment as well and I wish The Secret and it’s readers’ big success.

I fear, however, that The Secret does not go far enough with empowerment tools. It doesn’t tell you How, specifically, to achieve your dreams. It says, mostly, that you only need to wish for it, think about it, and visualize it. Wishing and visualization are good -- and the Law of Attraction is so powerful that sometimes people achieve results just by “putting it out there.” But for every success story of the boy who wished for no lines at Disney world and the dream came true, there are 500 other little boys who wished the same thing and it Did Not come true. The Secret only tells us the good things that happen and doesn’t say that a person can wish for something with all their heart and soul and still have that dream remain unfulfilled. What, they weren’t doing it right?

The Secret can lead to heartbreak -- the exact opposite intention of what Rhonda Byrne wishes for. People need more than The Secret, they need specific tools and techniques for achieving their dreams, they need Deliberate Creativity.

I think people should go ahead and read The Secret. Then they should also learn deliberate creative process, including these three key techniques:

1. How to Explore dreams with more than just visualizations and wishes. It’s a great start, but dreams and wishes become reality not just by the magic of “the universe” but also by good old-fashioned research. Some really wonderful magic happens when you pick up a book, do a Google search, or, God forbid, pick up the phone and make some phone calls. Further, people need to be really clear what it is they are after doing, they need to Frame the Challenge. A vague wish or dream is hard to achieve isn’t it? A specific one brings a wish into the world of reality.
2. How to Generate hundreds of ideas that solve problems and achieve wishes and dreams -- and not just wait for magic to happen. Magic happens when you use the Law of Attraction to Have A Lot of Ideas. The first idea that pops into your head is rarely the best one for what you are after doing. The best ideas, the breakthrough ones, happen when you keep asking your mind to give you answers. Eventually the right on will come, but only if you keep after it and make a long list. The Law of Attraction is best coupled with the principle of Quantity of Ideas. Together, they are powerful.
3. How to Take Action Steps that are exciting to you and others. Some of our best ideas for achieving our dreams and wishes are stopped cold by the response they get from other people. Or, from our own lack of action. The Secret only works when people DO SOMETHING.