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‘The Secret’ mentioned in this book supposedly leads you in the direction of achieving anything that you put your mind to. This book by Rhondy Byrne was suggested to me by a close friend. And when I was given the opportunity to write the book review, I felt so excited because there is so much that I want to say about this book.
The Secret is a self-help book that discusses the Law of Attraction. From what I have learned so far, the Law of Attraction is based on three strong pillars of Ask, Believe, and Receive. The book emphasizes on directing your thoughts in a direction that leads you to achieve all your goals. The book also urges you to believe in your thoughts and your potential to achieve whatever you aspire for.
But like most of the other books, it has some pros and cons, some benefits and downsides.
To keep my review on an optimistic side, I would like to discuss the pros or the benefits of this book first.
1.Motivation
I personally felt that The Secret gives a generous amount of motivation to those who wish to achieve anything, whether small or big. If you want a dose of motivation, this book next to perfect. In fact, it urges us to maintain a goal-oriented mindset as it revolves around the idea that you attract whatever you focus your energy and thoughts on.
This book also shares some insights and effectual strategies that can be put to use. The best thing about the book, according to me, is that it is full of examples that make it easy for us to understand. The examples are quite relatable as well.
2. Empowerment
Why do you think that 1 percent of the population earns around 96 percent of all the money that's being earned? Do you think that's an accident? It's designed that way. They understand something. They understand The Secret, and now you are being introduced to The Secret.
These words by Bob Proctor are quoted from page no 6 of The Secret. These words are stuck in my head and they are very correct, according to me. The author further explained this by stating that wealthy people are wealthy because they think about wealth and abundance all the time. They do not allow controversies, negativity, or self-doubt to creep in their heads. They are clear about what they want and chase it tirelessly.
This particular excerpt from the book was very empowering for me. In fact, it urges you to believe in yourself and to believe in what you want, which is crucial for attaining your aim. They scream, “If they can, you too can.” It delivers the message that you can achieve anything if you really put your mind and soul to it.
You are the most powerful magnet in the Universe! You contain a magnetic power within you that is more powerful than anything in this world, and this unfathomable magnetic power is emitted through your thoughts.
These words from page no 7 also felt empowering as they make us realize our existence, uniqueness, and might in the universe. It also reflects how powerful our thoughts can be if we direct them in a constructive direction.
3. Like Attracts Like
The Law of Attraction, the principle of this book, states that you attract whatever you focus your energy on (good or bad). This works with every aspect of life like relationships, possessions, goals, and anything else you are able to focus on—even your own health. There are various examples in the book to support this.
But the most relatable for me was the one that highlighted the fact that our mood and our thoughts are affected by simple things like the type of music we listen to. If we are feeling low, sometimes we prefer slow and rather sad melodies over the happy ones. In turn, we feel even more terrible by the sad lyrics and the slow music. This is because we attract more sadness.
Know more about the Law of Attraction in this video
4. Visualization of the Goals
The best thing about The Secret, according to me, is how it accentuates us to visualize our goals in order to achieve them. It points out that it's not always a straight line between where you are and where you want to go. Furthermore, we can't always detect when things will turn around, but perseverance and a belief in oneself is the key.
In fact, some people often struggle with achieving even short term goals. This might be because they unconsciously not clear about what they want. They might be in an elusion that they’re clear about their goals but this isn’t always the case. If you’re clear about what you want and believe in yourself, then no one can stop you from achieving what you wish for.
Positivity has no meaning without negativity, pros cannot be defined without cons and benefits never come without downsides.
So, I found some downsides to this book as well. These are as per my understanding and my point of view.
1. More About Thoughts and Less About Action
The major downside of The Secret, according to me, is that it talks more of thoughts and less of action. It states that we can also gain expensive cars, enormous house, and wealth just by putting out minds on it. So according to this argument, we can achieve anything and everything by simply sitting on a couch and thinking hard about all the materialistic things. Gaining these things obviously need actions, hard work to be specific.
This is another downside of this book. It talks so much about materialistic things and little about the internal rewards of our goals.
2. Rejection And Loss
This book focuses so much on the power of thoughts and it claims that one can attract whatever he/she wants. But there are some things which he simply can’t attract no matter how hard we think about it.
For example, we lose our loved ones. We grieve deeply and we want them back with us at any cost. But no one returns from the dead and that’s a fact. We simply can’t have them back with us.
There is another example. Many people get rejected in love. They think about that person 24/7 and they want them so badly. They even imagine their ‘happily ever after’ with them even after getting rejected. But just imagining these stories is of often no use.
3. No Credit Given to Failures
The author seems to believe that we can build million-dollar businesses just by thinking hard about it. A firm belief is obviously important. But in order for a business to survive, top-notch and clever business strategies are equally important. Innovation is another important factor that determines whether a business can stand the test of time or not.
Conclusion
The Secret by Rhondy Byrne is an exceptional self-help book for the people who know how to put their thoughts into action. But if someone fails to capture the true essence of this book, this can be as a justification of laziness and lack of action.
Read about more amazing Non-Fiction Books.
Written By - Neha Kundu
Edited By - Kashish Chadha