Many people who have read The Secret audiobook or seen the DVD of the same name report that their lives have changed completely because of this book. The idea behind The Secret is to bring to the masses the secret of happiness and success in everything you do. Most self-help books are not like this because they generally focus on one thing—doing well in business, overcoming depression or having a good relationship with your significant other, for example. The Secret, however, claims that it can give you everything that you want and also that the answer is really simple and has been known by great people throughout the centuries.
Rhonda Byrne claims that all great people have practiced the method she promotes in The Secret and she gets people who are well-known in their fields to talk about their rise to success. So The Secret is largely made up of quotes from people who have been successful in their chosen occupations. Some of these examples are really interesting, like the one of Jack Canfield who made $100,000 by making a fake $100,000 bill (just adding more zeros to a $1 bill) and pasting it on the ceiling above his bed. Every morning when he woke up, he would see the bill, close his eyes and visualize having that $100,000 per year lifestyle. Finally, after a month, an idea came to him and he ended up making $92,327 that year.
In another example, John Assaraf had just moved to a new house and was unpacking when his son came in and asked what was in a certain box. That box contained Assaraf's vision boards where he would put up pictures of the things he wanted in his life so as to attract them to him. Assaraf opened a box to show his son and while he was looking at an old vision board where he had pasted a picture of a house, he realized that he had bought the very same house and just moved into it.
So what exactly is the method that The Secret is trying to promote? Basically, The Secret claims that everything in life works according to the law of attraction. If you visualize good things happening to you, they do happen and if you visualize bad things happening to you, that's what happens. If you're a happy and cheerful person, more reasons to be happy and cheerful will come to you and if you're anxious or depressed, you invite negative things into your life. Fortunately, it's possible to change your thoughts, to deliberately think positive thoughts and visualize wonderful things happening, either by just closing your eyes and living them in your mind or using physical reminders like vision boards.
The writer of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne is an Australian radio and TV producer. She initially produced a DVD of "The Secret" and later wrote the book as well, which was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey. She has also written "The Power" and "The Magic". The Secret was on the New York Times bestseller list for 190 weeks and Rhonda Byrne was named one of TIME magazine's top 100 People Who Shape Our World in 2007. Rhonda says that the idea about writing The Secret came to her when she was at a really dark point in her life. She had worked herself into exhaustion, her father had died suddenly and her relationships with people were all suffering. At this time, she was given a copy of The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles and this changed her life, giving her the idea for The Secret. After that, she found that she saw the secret in many other places and realized that it had been present throughout history.
"This book has helped me SO MUCH! Every time I am in the car I re-listen to the chapters I think I need more assistance with. Rhonda Byrne has the most pleasant voice to soothe even the most anxious of minds. This will definitely be something I listen to on a daily basis to help me find the true potential in my own self. Thank you thank you!"
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syzygytno1 (5 out of 5 stars)