What You Need to Know About ‘The Secret’ Book

If you could change your life for the better, would you? If you had the chance to get anything you ever wanted, would you? If success, money, fame and good health were at your fingertips, would you reach out and grab it?

According to author Rhonda Byrne, all of this is possible. Now, you may be thinking that the actions in this book require you to work hard and have a little luck. But, this isn’t the case. Instead, this secret book dictates that every wish you’ve ever had can be achieved by simply thinking about it. It is The Secret.

In 2006, The Secret came out. It quickly spread like wildfire across the globe as the idea of easy success and money is universally appealing.

The book became a bestseller and appeared on several best book lists in many countries. It seemed as if the secret to success was finally out. How had this strategy been hidden for so long? And how, exactly, does this secret work, or does it even work?

Background Of The Secret Book

To understand the Secret book, Byrne says you need to understand the history of it.

According to Byrne, the secret to success has been used by people for hundreds of years. Some of the greatest thinkers of our time used the secret, and it helped them pave the way to their achievements in life. Famous figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Plato knew what it was — and they used it every day.

The book explains that the United States was founded on this ideal. After all, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is directly quoted in the Declaration of Independence. Americans aren’t the only ones to have used this secret, either. Even Buddha knew about this strategy for happiness!

How The Secret Works

You may be wondering how a self-help book shocked the world and became one of the best-selling books of the year. After all, aren’t all those self-help books scams? Maybe — but apparently, if people are being sold their hopes and dreams, they don’t care.

To enact the secret, you only need to use your mind. You think of whatever you want. It could be success at your job. It could be a new car. It could even be better health. Focusing all your positive energy on accomplishing your goal is all you need. Literally. That’s it. You think of whatever you want and keep that in your mind’s eye.

Byrne falls back on pseudoscience and claims that, following the law of attraction, your energy will eventually get you what you want. If you constantly think about positive things, then positive things will enter your life. If you dwell on negative things in your life, then negative experiences will be attracted to you. Essentially, you have complete control over your life.

This is an empowering concept and the secret book hooked people in with this idea — and it’s always good to give people hope.

Positive Results

While the secret book makes outlandish claims, it’s hard to argue with all the positive things this school of thought brings. First and foremost, The Secret brings hope that the future will get better. Everybody has bad days. Everybody has days where they think they won’t be able to escape their current situation. If people follow this positive thinking adage, then they’re given hope.

The book also promotes the idea that you’re in control. So many times, people get bogged down in life’s situations. Life is unpredictable, and it’s nice to embrace the possibility that you have some sort of control over it. People need to feel they have a little bit of control.

While these are positives of following the strategies in the secret book, criticisms of the book also make a strong argument.

Negative Results

As stated above, life is unpredictable. And, while wanting to have some sort of control, it’s also healthy to realize that you can’t control everything in your life. With the positive thinking, the book promotes the idea that everything in your life is dictated on you. So, when something bad inevitably happens, you feel bad. You feel as if you did something wrong or didn’t think positively enough. This is false, but you don’t see it if you fully believe in the secret.

The philosophy of the law of attraction also propagates laziness. The Secret says that all you need to do is wish and the universe will align itself to you. Hard work isn’t a factor in your success. While positive thinking is a great concept on its own, it’ll only work when combined with hard work. Telling people to simply sit back and think positively won’t really help them.

So, Does It Work?

Ultimately, whether it works or not is up to the participant. It looks as if a healthy combination of the positives and negatives is the healthiest way to go. A positive outlook and some elbow grease will take you a long way.