THE SECRET

 

Have You Read The Secret and Have A Story to Share?

Millions of

Have You Read The Secret and Have A Story to Share?

Millions of people from around the world have read The Secret an

Every generation in the past century has had a breakout self-help book that sells a bazillion copies and bulldozes through a few million people’s wallets. Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich¹ did it first in 1936. Then it was Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking² about 20 years later. Then Tony Robbins’ Awaken the Giant Within³ came along in the ’90s. This last go-round, it’s been Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret,⁴ a short and pithy read that describes the (in)famous “Law of Attraction.”⁵

The funny thing about all of these books is that they all more or less say the same thing: mind your own thoughts, stay positive and focused on your goals, ignore self-doubt and criticism, visualize and concentrate on what you want and you will eventually have it.

Each book brings its own generational edge to the same fundamental idea. Hill’s book, launched immediately after The Great Depression, focused intently on making money and getting rich. Peale’s work, launched after World War II, focused on creating a calm and happy domestic life with good relationships. Robbins’ book, the bible of baby boomer mid-life crises in the ’90s, focused on self-actualization and living up to one’s potential.

It’s not surprising then that Byrne’s work, launched amid the social media/smartphone age, brings a harrowing narcissism⁶ and an “I’m the center of the universe” angle to the same old ideas. And yet, while all of the previous books offer decent or even quite good advice for stretches, The Secret is full of misplaced clichés, silly quotes, and superstitious drivel. It’s a playbook for entitlement and self-absorption and I think that anybody who reads it and implements its advice in any serious way will likely make themselves worse off in the long run.

d have shared their story.