So whilst at an event a wee while ago, after I had finished presenting, I was asked to sign a few books afterwards and naturally was approached by a few people in the audience who had questions and so on… As you’d expect at these events.
One comment, not untypical of others I have had in the past went something like this:
“I really enjoyed your presentation, I am really into this kind of thing, hypnosis, law of attraction and all that.”
Hmmmm.
I kept my mouth shut. I have written before about how people group hypnotherapists in with all kinds of unrelated subjects, so I am not going to labour that issue here today. Instead, I want to look a little closer at the law of attraction… Ideally making sure any connection to this field is firmly severed.
So yes, I am tackling that subject… As typified by the work of Rhonda Byrne and the Secret…
Basically, according to the Law of Attraction, in order to have everything you’ve ever wanted, you just need to think happy thoughts about it; then police your mind and make sure that you never have any negative unwanted thoughts which may well bring those things in to your life too.
This is the premise of Rhonda Byrne’s 2006 book and movie, both titled The Secret. So if I want huge wads of £50.00 notes to sleep upon instead of a bed, I just need to keep thinking about getting money and the Law of Attraction is going to deliver it to me.
Please no-one get me wrong here… I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking; in a way that keeps me driven, motivated and having fun in my life. As a way of enriching my day-to-day experience of life. I have written about it, I advocate it. I think it is important for me to think positively, for example, to make sure I put in the right amount of effort into my personal life and my professional life to achieve the outcomes I want. Is Rhonda Byrne telling me that I do not need to exert such levels of effort? Is there an easier route to glory for me?
Oprah Winfrey helped get it off the ground and championed it. According to official statistics, 4 million DVDs sold in the first year and over 15 million copies of The Secret (the book) have been sold to date. Blimey, that is impressive. This does not include all the related merchandise. Rhonda Byrne has clearly been doing well out of the Secret. I wonder if anyone else is doing as well?
(Incidentally, her new book, The Power, at the time of writing this is riding very high in the New York Times bestseller list, so she is going to be doing a lot better too).
What is it that makes so many people consume this stuff and virtually live by it… Yet others find the ideas verging on ridiculous?
Ok, I tend to think that the contents of The Secret were and are just the same message that many motivational speaker’s have espoused time after time over recent decades. I have sat in audiences and listened to tapes and CDs of the likes of Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracey, Jim Rohn and read books and texts about Napoleon Hill and Andrew Carnegie for example, all giving the message that thinking positively is the way to get results in life.
Rhonda Byrne, then very cleverly made it look like some kind of ancient wisdom that has been passed down through centuries by wise people, famous philanthropists and great leaders such as Buddha, Plato, Sir Isaac Newton, Martin Luther King Jr., and even our very own Winston Churchill! Though I don’t understand how it is that these people lived their lives long before the “Law of Attraction” was invented, and I can’t seem to find any evidence that any of them ever used it. Maybe that is because it was such a secret?
This use of the authority of these great others (e.g., leaders and ancient philosophers) to reinforce the assertions of the book is a clever tactic. Also, one of the things that does tend to get our juices flowing is the notion that ‘ancient wisdom’ is incredibly powerful and clever. So using these ancient figures too, really does make this all very appealing to many.
The Secret takes the previously mentioned basic premise much further though… It claims that if you wish for things hard enough and in the right way, you can recover from severe illness and that pot of gold will arrive on your doorstep… Delivered by that really hot girl you always fancied who now loves you and wants to have your babies.
The flip side of this is that our focus, if placed upon fears, worries or negative thoughts will also cause those unwanted things to happen as well…. Oh no! So whatever you focus on, you get, good or bad.
Opinion is divided. If you look at the customer reviews of the book at Amazon or another online book store, you’ll see that there are many, many 5 star ratings. There are also loads of 1 star ratings. It is either loved, or disliked… The marmite effect!
During recent times, The Secret has received criticism from many figures in many fields. Let me offer up some of those criticisms:
1. I see discussed in forums and debated in places; the common criticism about victims always being to blame for whatever happens to them. This gets a lot of people filled with rage. What if you are a rape victim? You made that happen? What about sufferers of huge natural disasters? They made that happen? We could go on with the list of victims who would rightly feel aggrieved by this notion taught in The Secret that they brought it upon themselves with their own negative thoughts.
2. Though not exactly always the most exemplary citizens themselves, many religious leaders state The Secret as being unethical for these claims that victims are always to blame. They probably also get a bit miffed when people are told they can be equal to God, Buddha, Abraham or Allah just by wishing it in the right way.
3. Financial experts and financial advisors have suggested that is dangerous to put so much faith in wishing for your finances to be organised by the cosmic order of the universe.
4. The medical community, with doctors often leading the line criticise The Secret for suggesting that this brand of positive thinking is any kind of substitute for proper medical care when you have serious illness of some kind. I’d be hauled over the coals for ever suggesting that hypnosis or hypnotherapy could cure cancer, so I understand the reactions when people suggest that the law of attraction is capable of doing the same.
These things said, anything that enjoys as much success as The Secret has had, is going to receive some scrutiny, isn’t it? We’d expect that. What’s more, all the above groups have vested interests in preserving their own fields accordingly. I see that.
5. Many have suggested that Rhonda Byrne exploits a powerful human weakness… That idea that we can get something for nothing. People love an easy option, as sad as it makes me to write it.
In my experience, (this is by no means scientific folks, I realise that) I have tended to find that the vast majority of the people on Earth have had to work for what they got. Sure, there are exceptions, such as those born into wealth, or those who got lucky, or lottery winners and the winners of reality TV shows… Those shows do tend to perpetuate the myth that you can be that one in a million person, don’t they?
(I do get a bit irritated when people on reality shows say ‘this means everything to me‘ and ‘this is my only chance to really make something of myself and help my family have a better life‘ which I think is incorrect. They could have done all kinds of other things and apply themselves in the same way so many other people do without considering being the one single winner of the X-Factor as the only way for a better life.)
Now I am no scientist, but Rhonda Byrne uses the language of science to add credibility to the claims she makes. In articles of hers that I have read, she refers often to magnetic properties and some sort of energy…. What? There is a connection to hypnosis after all? Is she somehow referring to Mesmer’s animal magnetism? Sadly, I can find no reference to Mesmer within her work, sorry… *pushes out bottom lip and offers disappointed look*
There is also the reference to quantum physics that she uses a great deal. She suggests that this Law of Attraction is an actual physical force in the same ilk of the Law of Gravity. Like I said, I am no scientist, but I’d love to see the actual scientific evidence to support these ideas…. Though lets be honest, she does not need to, because millions of people accept the law of attraction without needing evidence of this kind.
Who, out of these millions of people feels qualified to argue against quantum physics? It must be true!
The Secret says that thoughts have energy, and similar energies are attracted to each other. That’s the quantum physics part of the claims. Really, that is it. You don’t need any level of expertise in the field to understand the premise being offered up.
The issue that arguers against The Secret have encountered is that the law of attraction is dealing with “thought energy” which is all part of the world of metaphysics and not conventional science. Metaphysics is a philosophical creation with no connection to the actual scientific field of physics, whether that is quantum or classical. As a result, Rhonda Byrne is able to say whatever she chooses and it is virtually impossible to respond to it scientifically.
Now forgive me if it seems like I am belittling the intelligence of The Secret‘s fans with this next paragraph… It is not my intention… The Secret does appeal to the layperson’s tendency to accept scientific sounding terminology without question. Some people (probably the same guys who ousted Gillian McKeith about the authenticity of her doctorate) researched Rhonda Byrne’s background in quantum physics. You’ll find that she has no such background. In fact her background is film and television, which speaks volumes about the bestselling DVD, book and media phenomenon that is The Secret.
Rhonda Byrne also uses other laws of persuasion beautifully. She has reigned in that idea whereby people believe in thoughts effecting the real world, like that idea of “I was thinking about my Mum and later that day she phoned me!!” Thus, more subjective proof of the law of attraction.
I do want to say here, that the people I meet who think positively and have a progressive attitude tend to be happier and more agreeable. These are people I like to have as friends. As I have mentioned here time after time, those with negative attitudes do seem to turn into fun vampires who drain all the fun and joy out of those that they encounter. There really is nothing wrong with positive thinking. I promote it. I advocate it. I like positive thinking. I do it myself… (Most of the time!)
Are the people who truly believe in the law of attraction and the ideas presented in The Secret generally healthier or wealthier than anybody else? They’re not, are they? I have not read about multi millionaires who used The Secret (author and contributing authors aside) to get their wealth and no-one in the Times Rich list is quoting it.
Please do all you can to be a wonderful and positive person, but believing that thought materialises into physical possessions or actions may not be the best route to getting it. There are less lazy ways to get that stuff, while still harnessing your positive thinking and keeping your positive outcomes in mind. It is something I promote; to stop unwanted or negative cognitions. It forms part of my therapeutic work. It is healthy to get a grip on your unwanted thoughts, for sure.
If people just gave in and admitted that perhaps they are not going to be famous, wealthy or have the right relationships and levels of health, then that would seem like a futile and meaningless existence to some of them, I guess… So I like that people get hope from these kinds of things. It is healthy to feel inspired to think positively. I just think that the time spent wishing your dreams to come true could be spent in ways more effective at making that happen.
I actually think it is good for people to have an idea of how they want their lives to be and get that into their minds. But surely there is more to it than that, no? It is no good just enhancing the desire for that outcome without enhancing the abilities to do it, or the readiness to do what it takes to get that, to gain the knowledge and resources and so on. There is a journey to be had working towards that outcome, just thinking about it and expecting it to happen, is a tad absurd, isn’t it?
Hypnosis has nothing to do with the Law of Attraction and though I’ll probably continue to keep my mouth shut at speaking events when small-talking after my speaking slot… I’ll perhaps consider telling them to read this blog entry…
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Thanks Adam for writing about this and I share with you the same philosophy. Sadly, in my opinion, people are mixing between what is true and what is shiny and polished. Everything “self-help” and “spirituality” became commercialized as much as Milk is. Seems like somnambulism is rising among the majority of people who are attracted to slogans, wishy-washy ideas and promises of the-easy-way-out.
I work with money blocks in my practice and I do come across of people who want me to “activate their Law of Attraction”. I take considerable amount of time to educate them that my work with them has nothing to do with that. Money blocks has to do with belief systems, etc. Some of them get it and the rest are “hypnotized” by the fancy books, big promises and great marketing machines. Whatever!
Said that, I do believe that as we help our clients change their subconscious thoughts, beliefs and behavior patterns, they started project a different personality to the world. A personality that allow different circumstances to be “attracted” to them. Some of my clients LOVE this way of explaining “Law of Attraction” to them. I make sure to let them know that visualization and wishing all day long will get them NO WHERE. Changing their internal “programs” and taking cognitive and deliberate action at the same time will take them places.
Peace!
Thanks, Adam, that pretty much sums up what I think, only in a more measured and less dismissive way than I could probably manage.
A lovely hypnotherapy colleague of mine, who I have a great deal of time for, gave me the DVD of The Secret as a gift. I couldn’t get through more than 20 minutes of it, sadly. Especially since so much of the emphasis is on “attracting” superficial goods like wealth, rather than on building character and inner worth.
Basically it takes a somewhat true idea – that what you think about influences what you get in life – and elevates it to an infallible law of physics. Uh, no.
Thanks for that Mike, I concur with you 🙂
Mazen, my thanks to you also for your contribution here… I found your way of explaining the LOA enjoyable to read.
Appreciated, Adam.
Quote from your blog:
”The Secret says that thoughts have energy, and similar energies are attracted to each other”.
This, in fact, is true. The Law of Resonance dictates that it is so.
I could do a lengthy explanation, but it’s late, and I am sure you understand this anyway :0)
As you believe, so it is. That about sums ‘The Law of Attraction’ up, I think.
But wishing, wanting and REALLY believing are two very different things, and there is the crux of the matter.
Here is the link with Hypnotherapy.
Change your beliefs from a deeper subconcious level with hypnotherapy….OR experience something first hand that is emotionally profound and you can change your beliefs.
Then you will find that what you believe in becomes real in your life, because you MAKE IT SO.
Enterprise over and out for now :o)
Elaine xx
Elaine, you may well be one of my favourite people on the planet… But I have to take you up on this ‘Law of Resonance’ thing and this notion of ‘energy’.
What kind of energy is it, and how is it stored?
In much of New Age culture, which many people seem to include hypnotherapy in (and I believe should not be so) this “energy” is considered to be something that actually exists and that special practitioners can manipulate, draw upon, and wield to help others.
In real-life terms, “energy” is a measurement of something’s ability to perform work. That is what it actually means.
So if we then use the term in its actual real-life way, when various therapists/practitioners/healers (etc) talk about this kind of energy (or chi or whatever) or your body’s energy fields, they’re not actually saying anything that’s very meaningful.
We all tend to know about Einstein’s equation and scientific theory about energy; E=mc2. That is translated to mean energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.
Speed can be measured in miles per hour, for example, and mass can be measured in pounds and ounces, though I should probably be less imperial and more metric with my examples! Therefore, the energy of any object is the amount of work it takes to move a few pounds a few miles in a few hours. That is something we can measure and quantify, isn’t it?
Energy is really a measurement of that work. I cannot find in any of Einstein’s work, or anyone else of his ilk in similar fields discussing fields of mystical power generated by human spirits.
For me, when people refer to this ‘energy’ as some powerful force, I just require some clarification. I would like the person telling me about it, to define it for me.
Energy itself is not the thing being measured: energy is the measurement of work performed or of potential.
For claims made by law of attraction proponents to have some credibility, surely someone needs to explain how this energy is being stored or manifested, right? Is it like the potential energy within fat cells that we store in our body? Is it heat that can spread through the body? When there is all that talk of magnetic forces, is it a measurable amount of electromagnetism? If it cannot be measured and quantified, can we actually call it energy? I don’t think so.
I assure you I do remain open minded and do readily listen to people discussing energy, but I personally like to apply some modicum of critical thinking to it.
Thank you for your continued contribution Elaine, I really do appreciate it, promise! 🙂 A.
OK so you want to rubbish ‘The secret”
The video bellow changed my life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc3nIoiOUEk
Michael, I take it all back… That video changed my life too.
Ps. That is hilarious, made me laugh out loud…!! 🙂
Hi Adam,
Great blog – interesting subject. I really understand your point of view on this — but think what is missing is that and in fact was missing in the secret, was the idea that you have to take inspired action — fantasizing about a pile of money delivered by a dumptruck to your house isn’t going to ‘manifest’ itself in your life — it’s not magic afterall.
I disagree with it not being connected in some measure with Hypnotherapy. As a therapist (and why I named my practice Building Belief) is that it’s not about the thoughts you keep in your mind at any given time, it’s the core, unconscious beliefs that are really driving the car in your life to where you are going. You can think all the happy, abudance thoughts you want, but if you have unconscious limiting beliefs, it will, well, limit you.
I work with clients to first and foremost understand their limiting beliefs about their concern and once this is neutralised, it’s easier to teach them to focus on what they want, instead of what they want to avoid. When we keep in mind what we want (or what we don’t want for that matter) these thoughts affect the way we feel and subsequently, our next actions.
Obviously it’s more resourceful to think about what you want so your consciousness (your awareness) is tuned into the positive possibilities for yourself so you can take the next inspired action towards your goal. Otherwise, you are thinking about what you don’t want or want to avoid — and you can never find your solution there.
Joe Vitale (one of the speakers in the secret) did a great follow up to it called ‘the missing secret’ which goes into what the secret misses which is the unconcious beliefs and inspired action. As well, Napolean Hill is all about inspired action… Guess my point is that it’s easy to see all the flaws in the secret — and then to say the Law of Attraction as merely a manipulation to line the pockets of those who feed on people who want change… but it obviously got people thinking… and a lot of the negativity about the concept of LOA is about personal responsibility — and it’s right to question how bad things can happen to good people (eg rape, murder)… These are questions which could be considered as perhaps the person has some unconscious belief about how dangerous the world is… but I will leave you with the thought that if you believe it to be true it is for you, there is no right or wrong beliefs — moreso, is that belief resource for you?
You obviously realise that when you think about what you do not want firstly you feel bad… So by changing your thoughts to something you want, you feel better and are in a better position to take inspired action towards what you want (instead of away from what you want to avoid).
So regardless of whether you buy into the hype of LOA, your core beliefs, your cognitions (thoughts) and your feelings lead you to the next step of action (or inaction) in your life, giving you the results you want. Believe in it or not — call it what you will, as long as it serves you. =)
Now we’re talking! Brenda… Thank you for that considered and brilliant contribution.
I absolutely share your thoughts about beliefs. And indeed, the Secret does not address that at all.
Joe Vitale wrote the foreword to one of my books and I am very aware of his work. He does certainly offer some more elements of actual strategy than those offered up in the Secret. But they are not correlated with the Law of Attraction per sé.
One of my favourite books ever is ‘As A Man Thinketh’ by James Allen (which incidentally if anyone wants a copy of, it is in the public domain and I am happy to email you an electronic copy) which is exclusively about thinking the right kind of thoughts and could easily be the bible for the law of attraction.
And you are quite right… It gets people thinking. It certainly has me.
The reason for me saying all these things here? …
Someone recently suggested that I was closed minded for not embracing the law of attraction as offered up by the proponents of the Secret.
I’d just like to say that this blog entry was a chance for me (and my regular readers) to think critically about the subject. Critical thinking about a subject before (potentially blindly) accepting it, is far more open minded, in my opinion.
There are elements of the Secret that have use and convey positive messages. But I think it is problematic to use it as a panacea and to not recognise it has some flaws.
Thanks again Brenda 🙂
The Law Of Attraction works, but not in the way ‘The Secret’ suggests
(OK so you are now expecting some yin yangs personal monologue … but hang in there just a moment longer … you might like this peek thru my lens)
Its a fact: We are exposed to more information in an average day than folks from centuries past experienced in a lifetime. Im sure you agree.
All our waking hours, our 5 senses are bombarded with input. We are by nature adaptive creatures, & this modern challenge has forced us to develop robust ‘filters’ to keep out what would otherwise be the *literally* maddening white noise of constant multi-sensory input
When our concious mind focuses on something, we ‘punch thru’ said filter and LET IN relevant input … that WAS THERE ANYWAY
Example: You are told your ex has just bought a white Lexus. Guess what, you now see white Lexus everywhere.
Heres the thing … they were always going to be in our line of sight anyway, but would not have gotten thru the filter as they meant nothing
I hold that we “attract” into our lives that which we focus on, not by function of some cosmic transmitter (Gawd) but far more likely because we let already existing information / situations / people THRU THE FILTER we just punched a hole in via concious thought
Same result, doesn’t invalidate the ‘attract what you focus on’ schtick, but removes the mysticism & voodoo element
Waddya think?
Hi again Adam :O)
Energy.
cellular respiration
n.
The series of metabolic processes by which living cells produce energy through the oxidation of organic substances.
Within the EM spectrum there is an interesting band in the infra-red, from about 700 nm to 1000 nm, where absorption by enzymes within the intracellular respiratory chain can take place.
Apart from that,
We are all electromagnetic beings:
The human body grounds electromagnetic radiation in the environment because of the electrical conductivity of our body. It is attracted to us. We generate it.
All living systems are based on electromagnetic energy. Every cell in your body is generating an electromagnetic field, every plant, every rock, the planet itself, the whole universe is made up of energy.
You wouldnt get a shock from static electricity if you weren’t carrying it in your body.
I know that you cant see it yet, but talking to you personally may help me to show you what ”energy” is as opposed to your view that it is just, well, energy that we all have inside us and we use it to power our muscles etc.
See you monday 🙂
love
Elaine xx
I am not sure what the electromagnetic spectrum has to do with the law of attraction. Are you suggesting that the law of attraction works on a particular EM frequency? I hope this isn’t as Gamma rays…they can be nasty.
All matter has energy potential and the energy can released… or more accurately transformed into kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, elastic and electromagnetic energy. Each form can be measured by science. As Adam suggests claims about energy need to be back up by evidence otherwise they are effectively meaningless.
Quote ”The Secret says that thoughts have energy, and similar energies are attracted to each other”.
This, in fact, is true. The Law of Resonance dictates that it is so. Unquote
Can you explain how similar energies are attracted to each other?
I couldn’t find any scientific papers on the Law of resonance. Good ol’ wikipedia had a page on Resonance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resonance but I don’t see the connection.