Does anyone have any experiences of THE SECRET working for them?

Question

You may have read the book THE SECRET or seen the dvd or perhaps saw it talked about on Oprah. Has believing in this law of attraction worked positively for you in any way. Do you believe in this concept? How do you include the theory that you attract the sort of energy you put out into the universe into your everyday life?

Answer 1

Someone who USES the 'Law of Attraction' is the LEAST able to determine whether it is working or not. Let me explain why:

There is a very well-known psychological principle called 'expectation'. When you are expecting something to happen, your brain becomes hypersensistive to it. So if you're waiting at a bus stop and reading a book, you may not hear anything that sounds like a bus coming (even if one does) until you start actually expecting your bus to arrive. Then, because you become more and more sensitive, you may hear more and more things that 'sound' like a bus and cause you to look up, even though there is no difference in the actual traffic passing by. If your bus is actually late, almost anything might start to sound like a bus. This is also very common for people with phobias - they begin to see the object of their fear almost anywhere and see spiders in dust bunnies and snakes in electrical wires.

So if you're trying really hard to 'attract' things by being positive and waiting for all this good to just start pouring in, then you are building up your expectation. OF COURSE it will SEEM like a lot of good things suddenly start happening to you when they didn't before. It's actually the same number of things - you just notice them more (and see good things even when they're not really there).

This is how the 'Law of Attraction' works. It's not magic.

Don't get me wrong, though... even this can be a very good thing. Sometimes how you expect something to be can very much change how it turns out (this is also a common psychological concept, sometimes called 'the Pygmalion Effect'). If you're grumpy to someone because you don't think they're going to be nice to you, then obviously they really ARE less likely to be nice. And if you're nice because you're expecting good things from them, you can cause them to be nice back. So in this way, the 'Law of Attraction' may actually work to really get you good things.

Again, it's not magic. You're getting the good things because you're making them happen. You could have always done this. And you can still receive these benefits WITHOUT any kind of 'secret' if you're just nice to people whether or not you expect anything from them.

If you account for these two factors, I'd be greatly surprised if there was much left for strange, unseen and unmeasured energy balances to do at all. It's a nice story, and it would be nice if it were true, but I am skeptical that there's anything there that can't be easily explained with other, simpler well-known phenomenon.

Answer 2

The secret about The Secret...
When truly focused, as in a single task moving then to the next task, I notice what is available that fits with what I specifically need at the time. I am quite certain that for many of these miracles, I would not have noticed a particular something, at another time.

In each example, behind the task was a purpose that was greater than myself and was the driving force for a positive outcome.

Then, along comes a book called, "The Secret" (sic: underlined).

In retrospect, the activities in-between the miracles did continue as before, but were not the focus of attention.

The other commonality between miracles, in retrospect, again, was that I actually did what my self-talk said to do, at that very time, not some put-off until later. The put-off until later part just did not occur to me...not at all. I was completely certain that what I was doing was both good and right.

That is the path of least resistance (from myself).

So while the "law of attraction" is one way to describe life working, "paying attention" is another.

Most of these concepts have been around for a long, long time, using different descriptors. The sentences here may contain what should be quotes, but since I have internalized these concepts, this writing comes from me.

That is what the author of "The Secret" did: Internalized, communicated to self, established vocabulary, then communicated to others through forms of media.

Answer 3

Well I'm glad that someone have taken the saying of "what you see, is what you get," and turned it into a philosophical theory of "The Law of Attraction." The "secret" was never a secret, it's just that no one knew how to make MILLIONS off of a saying and have it published to sell millions of copies.

The secret is not the "Law of Attraction," but the "Law of ACTION." After all, we can be attracted to many things in life, it's how we act upon them that will make the attraction fulfilling to the eyes.

Answer 4

Well, I try to keep my thoughts only about positive things. This can be somewhat difficult at first, but it gets easier as you continue with it.

I have noticed a handful of things happen that were just really out of the blue and stuff I had been thinking about (like it says in the book - thoughts become things -- that can be good or that can be bad -- depends what kind of thoughts you have).

I am also in the middle of interviewing and being offered a really good job that I wasn't even specifically looking for, so I have to think that I may have attracted it.

Keep in mind, I have just started this journey, so things haven't just really taken off in every direction yet.

If you have read this book though, I suspect you have seen something that rang true with you. Follow that feeling. Keep trying to improve things and they will improve. Don't let that negativity in. Yes, you may have negative thoughts, but catch them and replace them with something good.f

BTW, I have known other people who use this too and they have become quite proficient at it.

Use it, it works!

Answer 5

I have always had beliefs along this vein of thinking, but never had a firm concept of it to grasp onto and make into a definite and tangible belief system.
When I was a child, my father was a handyman and junk dealer. When we needed something, he would tell us all to think about getting it. We invariably received the item, whatever it was, within a month. It really is quite amazing.

Answer 6

Yes, on several occasions, but I still have trouble believing that this is really what is happening.

I guess it must not matter if you believe it will work or not.

I realize that this goes against what the book says but it has been my experience.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 7

ah in life there is plenty of bullsh** to sift through and this didnt make it. sorry this was qualified as bs(from my view). i did however give it a chance even though i suspected bs from the beginning

Answer 8

well to sum up a long paragraph explanation i could type out for you.....................no.