I Waited 20 Years for Success After the Movie “The Secret.” Why is the “Law of Attraction” a Dangerous Self-delusion?
The Truth About "The Secret": Why the Law of Attraction Failed Me for 20 Years
“Just wish for it, and the Universe will give it to you.”
In 2006, my aunt brought us a tape she’d bought for a pretty penny at a success training course. It was a film called “The Secret.” That was the moment magic entered my life…
What’s the film about?
The premise of the film is simple and fantastical:
Whatever you dream of, the universe will give you, you just have to wish for it. The universe has limitless possibilities, and it will attract everything you dream of: whether you dream of love, health, money, or popularity.
The background shows a metaphor of a small plant growing through the earth. If it can do it, then so can you…
However, if you focus on the negative, you’ll attract it. The film says…
I also needed to create a vision board, look at it, and draw inspiration from it. Everything on that board will be attracted…
I watched it several times. I kept trying to understand how this could work. I made a vision board. But I always want something, and it doesn’t appear so easily.
Secret and Sect: My Interview
Six years later, when I was actively looking for a job, I was invited to an interview. I don’t remember the job posting anymore, but everything seemed normal. I was told: there would be three days of training, bring notepads and pens, business attire is required.
Day 1
I bought a blouse and a skirt and went to the first meeting and training. I realized I’d heard what they were talking about somewhere before. And I realized it was in the movie “The Secret.” A woman talks about how to attract success. I’m starting to wonder, what does work have to do with it? It’s completely unclear what I’m supposed to do there.
We’re supposed to meet in about an hour. They tell us we’ll continue tomorrow, and the homework is to approach three strangers on the street and compliment them to attract positive energy from the Universe. I thought it was weird, and of course, I didn’t do the assignment because I didn’t like it. But the next day I decided to come back.
Day 2
Another lecture, more lines from the movie “The Secret.” After the meeting, we were told to go to the manager, who would give us a training disc. The manager said we had to pay for it. I said I didn’t have any money.
-“What’s on the disc?” I asked.
-“It’s the movie ‘The Secret’! If you don’t have the money, leave your passport as a deposit. We’ll return it when you bring the money,” the manager replied.
I said I didn’t have a passport and that I’d seen a movie.
Then I had to say I needed to go to the bathroom to escape this group. I went out and drove away, and they started calling. I blocked them.
I never found out what the job entailed at that company. But it was most likely a pyramid scheme where they were looking for people to sell the movie to.
What’s wrong with “The Law of Attraction”?
This movie teaches that believing in something and not doing anything to achieve your dreams is bad. It gives hope to people who are not used to doing anything.
A dream will never come true until it becomes a goal.
And it will only become a goal when you start doing something, moving in that direction.
Secret: A positive attitude will keep bad people out of your way.
There was a movie about a man who was being insulted by his neighbors and colleagues. So he thought they should leave him alone, and everyone started treating him politely.
Rational explanation: Maybe he simply started reading psychology or seeing a therapist and learned to behave differently and deal with rude people?
The Secret: Think and You Will Heal
“The Secret” also showed how a girl cured herself by watching comedies, thinking positively, and repeating affirmations daily.
Dangerous Self-Deception: But the film forgot to mention that this can be dangerous without taking medication.
Secret: Wish for an abundance of money, and it will come.
Another story tells of a broke woman, and then she imagined checks starting to arrive in her mailbox. She began receiving money more often than she received payment notifications.
Rational explanation: It seems she started working more, or took a second job, so the pay increased, and over time, she paid off her loans, so the payment notifications decreased.
Another person allegedly earned $8,000 a year, and then he wondered how he could earn $80,000 a year. He came up with the idea to write a book, “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” He wrote it, and they offered to publish it, and the number of copies sold earned him about the same amount.
By the way, I wrote to their website, but they still didn’t accept my story…
My experience
Visualize or not, Medium doesn’t give you 100,000 subscribers and $10,000 a month… Yes, I tried. What? It’s free!
It doesn’t work. I’ve tried many times, on different topics. I can’t even attract a chocolate bar. So, just sitting there daydreaming doesn’t work.
Or you could say that I’m imagining it incorrectly or not clearly enough, or that I’m trying hard enough. But I watched the film several times in 2006, almost 20 years have passed, and there’s been no effect.
All these films, trainings, and books are pure magical thinking.
What works?
At the beginning of the article, I mentioned that I made a vision board. Actually, I had three. But I didn’t visualize; I followed what was on the board: I bought the things on the board or researched what could lead me to what I wanted. If these were certain cities, I eventually visited them.
But it’s not because some millionaire accidentally paid for my trip and bought me things from the vision board. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work.
Vision boards are goals you want to strive for. Either they motivate you to develop, and you work towards them, or they don’t. Then they’re not your goals, but ones imposed on you by someone else.
While some people wait for the universe to gift them a yacht, I’m focused on action: creating something cute. Maybe you’ll find something useful here? 🦝
Have you watched “The Secret” or believed in “The Law of Attraction”? What practical step has been the real secret to success in your career or personal life? What, in your opinion, turns a dream into a real, achievable goal?
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