The Buzz on "The Secret"

For my birthday last month I received a copy of "The Secret" (both book and DVD), which is quickly becoming a worldwide marketing phenomenon. A #1 best-seller, this self-help book has already gone over 5 million prints, and the DVD has sold over 2 million copies. However, before you go rushing out to get yours, I'd be careful.


First, you have to know that "The Secret" itself is basically one of positive thinking: relying on a universal "law of attraction," it espouses that you can achieve (or acquire) anything in life simply by continually thinking positive thoughts about it. Honestly, I had to struggle through the book, and I have yet to watch the 90-minute video.

Why? Well, I was actually following the arguments in the beginning, since I also believe that you can't achieve anything worthwhile in life without dedicating yourself to the effort. However, I kept waiting for the next [what I thought] logical step in the reasoning: if you continually think positive thoughts about your goals, then you are much more likely to take some actions toward achieving those goals.

[NOTE: I once read an insightful quote from Mark Cuban (and I'm paraphrasing here), "If you catch yourself daydreaming about the life you'd like to lead, stop and ask yourself what you've done today to turn that life into a reality."]

However, that next step never came. I couldn't believe that this book actually proposes that "The Secret" to lifelong happiness is to simply *think* about what would make you happy. Worse, millions of people around the world were (quite literally) buying into this notion!

Then again, I guess I'm not alone in my critique. As with most phenomena of this sort, it seems like the backlash against "The Secret" is almost as furious as the mad rush to support it. In a frustrating paradoxical cycle, that criticism also fuels more sales.

So, after reading this post you're probably going to buy your own copy anyway, right? ;-)