The Secret of The Secret
If Peter Pan ever wrote a book on how to achieve a life of wealth, health, and happiness, he would’ve written The Secret. It’d at least explain the ideology behind the book’s fantastical proposition. But no, Peter didn’t write it. A charlatan named Rhonda Bryne, did. The irony is that this “groundbreaking” self-help book reads like a quixotic Disney story; It’s an utterly grandiose delusion packaged as ultimate salvation.
This isn’t a review of The Secret in a traditional sense (it’s too shallow to merit an actual in-depth analysis), rather, a kickback to its outrageous claims by an author whose real secret was duping over 30 million people into buying her book for around $20 a pop. Much of the book’s success was driven by marketing how it possessed the single greatest undiscovered secret in the universe. Unsurprisingly, the actual content or “enlightening insight” of The Secret resolved to be nothing more than Westernized snake oil. Additional profits compounded for Rhonda when she introduced peripherals, like online workshops, training courses and supplemental literature—not including the movie the book is based on. Collectively, The Secret has become a billion-dollar franchise. In comparison, we must ask, how many people has The Secret actually made wealthy? Spoiler alert: Zero.
Nothing sells more than quick and easy wealth schemes. Contrarily, hard work has become misconstrued for failure. It’s unconscionable.
The movie/documentary of The Secret was a torture to watch. Its entirety was mostly interviews of randoms claiming they “Peter Panned” their way to glory and riches through the power of thought; Manifestation. What’s troubling and embarrassing is that the book’s absurd ideology was never outright recognized or rejected as laughable nonsense. Instead, it boomed into a wildly praised “revelation.” Rhonda Bryne somehow managed to indoctrinate millions of people against sensibility and realism while banking enormously. It begs to question, how did The Secret pull this off? Simple; Dangle money on an stick just out of the reach of the needy.
There isn’t applicable data surrounding who particularly purchased The Secret, but demographic deduction heavily implicates the book’s phenomenon is/was entirely perpetuated by people financially struggling (middle and lower class). I challenge anyone to prove otherwise. Interestingly enough, it reflects who mostly plays the lottery as well. Its become a lucrative business selling easy wealth to underprivileged people. And it usually takes the form of “one simple thing”, or, just follow these “3 easy steps.” Lazy prosperity has grown ubiquitous online and remains overwhelming across all Social Medias.
Exploitation and pseudo-psychology is at the heart of The Secret. The “Law of Attraction” never wields itself to edify anything or anyone. It’s narcissism and delusion.
The Secret’s dogma is a witless offensive against the pedigree of human achievement and progress. Just consider everyone in history who has toiled, sacrificed, and worked immeasurably hard to provide food, shelter, clothing, and a future for their children — through thick and thin. Think of all the brave men and women who fought in wars throughout the centuries — whether to defend against a hostile enemy or for independence — and paid the ultimate price. Observe those you see every day, like engineers, firefighters, artists, doctors, police, scientists, and inventors; Their arduous journeys to get to where they are while maintain growing responsibilities, yet still manage to push forward. And yourself. Everything you’ve endured and continue to strive for. If only you and the rest of humanity throughout all of time knew that the only thing necessary to achieve and obtain everything needed and desired in life was to simply project positive thoughts into the universe. The Secret’s proposal is blasphemous; offensive gaslighting.
If only this man leveraged “The Law of Attraction” to change his fortune. Photographed by Jubei Raziel
The world is filled with famine, disease, poverty, death, addiction, child sex trafficking, oppression, etc., but The Secret never addresses any of these, nor a means on how to help anyone other than oneself. It’s incredibly shallow and narcissistic. Acquiring wealth, success, health and happiness through the power of the mind is something you’d figure governments, countries, world leaders, and the greatest minds would wield to great lengths. But they don’t. This alone should spark doubt about the credence of the book (it strangely hasn’t amongst fans). Still, let’s pretend The Secret were true even towards the improvement of just a single percent of any of the aforementioned; Nope, no global authority or civil figure is weaponizing The Secret to any extent.
Never underestimate greed and deception. There is no depth they will not reach.
For those who purchased The Secret, you’ve enriched Rhonda Bryne, but what of yourself? Ask if positive thinking has granted you the success and wealth you were sold would surely happen. This isn’t about having a positive outlook on life either. The Secret explicitly assured everyone would get everything their heart desired as a matter of fact. But the truth is life hasn’t changed, has it? You’re not alone. Everyone who went bat-shit crazy (or still does) over The Secret are all…well, pretty much in the same place they were then, or, delusional about reality now (By the way, it’s same for those who became “enlightened” from reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and similar type books). The Secret’s dopamine inducing fantasia is short-lived because its indoctrination deteriorates in the presence of veracity.
Commitment, perseverance, strength, integrity; These are the building blocks for not only achieving a significant and fulfilling life. But most importantly living a life of love…the truest and greatest success one can ever achieve. Anyone trying to sell you anything quick and easy are guaranteeing you a lie. Life is hard. And you don’t get the rewards of years of hard work and sacrifice by way of hedonistic daydreaming.
Books like The Secret aren’t novel, nor exclusive to literature. Promises of overnight fame and wealth are a dime a dozen these days on every medium. Shamefully, their propaganda are nearly inescapable, worse, sell tremendously well. But they’re all devised to insult your greatest quality as a human: The ability to become extraordinary through pain, suffering, and sacrifice.
Giving all that you are for the amelioration of even a single life is the stuff mythologies are built on and why such fables are told and remembered throughout all of time. The question is, will you be another consumer constantly buying empty self-help hype that only makes other people rich, or, will you take the road less traveled and become something worth memorializing?
There’s no clout or profit in truth, only in selling fantasy.