Well, unless you're dead--you've heard about The Secret. It's on the best-seller's list, Oprah's done two shows on it and you can hardly open a magazine without stumbling on it.
While it is all the rage, The Secret is really nothing new at all. It is a repackaged and stunningly well marketed reminder that where we place the focus of our minds (thinking area of your Life Puzzle) is what we'll produce in our lives. Essentially--it is the Law of Attraction. It was shared in Norman Vincent Peale's book, The Power of Positive Thinking and the Prayer of Jabaz has had its run with this story too. All have made millions for their authors as they spread an age old wisdom that all of us know but too often forget!
That said, it is important for us all to remember that the "Law of Attraction" is but one of many of the "laws of the universe". It isn't the magic bullet, quick fix that will instantly transform your life and make it all come out great. It's good, its important but its not the end all be all.
And that's my concern as I watch this spread. Since we know that 90% of the population is operating from the 0-5 side of the Choosing Continuum--we can only attract to ourselves relative to the 'vision' or understanding about what it means to create a life. My experience is that most of us have the limited, 0-5 view that our culture provides--grow up, get a job, spouse, house, cars, kids, stuff. Thus when it comes to using the Law of Attraction that The Secret talks about--the end result is we're busy attracting primarily material/money and not 'whole and dynamic lives'.
Years of sharing the Life Puzzle model--I hear over and over again people saying "Wow, I never realized I had to take responsibility for all these areas of my life. It never occured to me to see my life as a 'whole I am becoming" vs. the "grow up, turn into an adult and wait for happily ever after!". And as one man said to me, I'd love to live 6-10 on the Choosing Continuum but I don't know how to do that! If he reads The Secret will he be able to just "attract" what he doesn't know how to do? Hmmmm.....
My concern with The Secret is that too many people are doing it from the 'grow up, turn into an adult--get the job, spouse, house, cars, kids and oh, okay, I can't 'wait' for happily ever after--I have to 'attract' it. But the "it" is stuck at 5....And 5 is only half the story. And sadly, as so many of my clients have proved--it isn't what makes people happy!
Where is the message in The Secret for a vision of the 6-10 whole? I don't see it. People are buying this up in droves and thinking they've found the quick fix, get me through this life answer. This isn't The Secret's "fault" per say--it isn't necessarily their responsibility to paint the picture of the whole. But after 10 years of working with Life Puzzle--I know that our culture needs to have this picture presented otherwise The Secret is going to be just one more passing phenomenom that leaves people lighter in their wallet but still wondering what happened as they rush off to the next "something" that's going to be the magical answer.
Life Puzzle makers know there's no quick fix...it's a piece at a time with the whole in mind. So, I would say the real secret is Life Puzzle-making--piece by piece and you discover you create and attract the peace you desire!
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