The Secret

Isnt this just being a bit physic? Ie you see things happening in advance, rather than you making it happen?

Poster of a certain age might remember the Polices last album "Synchronicity" and the (first) title track ...

A connecting principle,
Linked to the invisible
Almost imperceptible
Something inexpressible.
Science insusceptible
Logic so inflexible
Causally connectable

It only works for material things.

Material things are sometimes nice, but don’t bring happiness.

There’s something really awful about having every “thing” you want come to you.

I do like it and there is another one called the magic which is a 28 day practice but its not just wishful thinking (this is where people go wrong) it's about taking actions to achieve what you want too. But a positive mindset does help and improve things for you.

I read it years ago as a student and did give it a try as I desperately wanted to get on a postgraduate course. I tried applying two years in a row, I made a whole vision board that used to hang on the back of my bedroom door about what my life would be like if I got on this course and the future career and life I'd have. Didn't work. I got rejected second year running.

But ...I was so fed up after the second time and so upset that it didn't work, I decided to do something completely different. I looked for jobs abroad, applied for and got a job working with an NGO in a country I'd never even been to, up and moved half way around the world a couple months later. It was the happiest and most exciting time of my life. I met dh (who was also working there) about two months after I arrived. I eventually got on a different postgrad course (much better fit for me) and have had a really fulfilling career and life has turned out much better than I think it would have if all my plans had worked out.

I think maybe sometimes the universe knows better than you do, no matter how much you want to influence it to do what you want.

Yes it does work. I have manifested all sorts of things. It’s really crazy but true!

Actions hold you accountable to act on them.
Visions don't.
You'd need a tremendous drive to achieve just on a vision.

But a vision can (and should) lead to milestones and actions.
If I think "I wanna be a painter and be exposed at the Tate" thats a nice vision but unlikely to happen if I don't start by breaking down that goal into achievable actions (go the art shop / follow a fine art online class / etc...)

The psychology behind target setting is quite sound. But there have been studies that show 'action boards' rather than 'vision boards' are more likely to help people achieve goals

Yes, I read a study on college students and it looked at their job/career goals. The ones who spent most time thinking about their dream job were LESS likely to have achieved it and had taken LESS action to achieve it. The researchers suggested this was because imagining being in their dream job made them feel happy and reduced their motivation to work towards it because they already felt happy. A bit of fear of failure can be a powerful motivator if it causes you work hard for what you want.

I think the 'growth' mindset approach is probably more helpful.

Because a book called Blindingly Obvious wouldn't have sold as many copies?

Daisy May Cooper is a believer in this, in a magazine interview she said 'I’ve attracted all of this from LOA, 100%. I’ve met some really famous actors – and my first question for them is always “do you believe in LOA?”. Every single one says yes, that that’s why they’re where they are today.'

All you guys saying ' it works' seem to be describing is setting achievable goals and working hard towards them.

Why is the fact that this means you are more likely to achieve stuff, a Secret? Rather than blindingly obvious?

The psychology behind target setting is quite sound. But there have been studies that show 'action boards' rather than 'vision boards' are more likely to help people achieve goals. The Secret just wraps it all up in magic and mysticism.

It's confirmation bias, isn't it?

I think so too.

Like when we got an orange and white cocker spaniel (not a very common colour) - suddenly everywhere we wen we saw orange and white cocker spaniels.

One woman not only had an orange and white one, but a black one, like our other cocker (difference was the sexes were reversed - we've got a black bitch and an O/W dog, and hers were the opposite).

Who is the author of The Secret?I'm trying to look for it.

Oh don’t know what happened there
Missed out my example.

It’s not all about positive thinking though.
A lot of it is about a counterintuitive ‘fake it to make it’ mentality.
For instance. Which seems quite effective.

People who believe nothing believe anything.

Napoleon is reputed to have believed in it. When choosing generals he would ask “Has he luck?”

[quote DGRossetti]If you like Derren Brown he also has spoken a lot about this, in one of his books.

He did an entire show on it - about making your own luck and whether there were "lucky" and "unlucky" people. Had a hilarious scene where an self-diagnosed "unlucky" person managed to miss a lorry with a billboard with his name on it drive past him which sort of proved the point.

They also invented a "tradition" to see if peoples belief in luck could actually make a difference.

amazingly it's available in full - someones lucky day !

Brilliant, thanks @DGRossetti

He also gave me a little exercise to do, a visualisation exercise, to imagine how I'd like my life to be in 6 to 12 months, how does it look like? How do I feel? Where am I?

I can barely envisage where I could be in the next 6 to12 hours . . .

Reminds me of a Derren Brown thing where he tried to make someone lucky by literally putting money on the floor in front of them but the guy was in a negative mindset so didn't even notice. Would like to see that one again