How 'The Secret' Works

Psychology is one of my favourite subjects yet surprisingly my posts on here are quite lacking in topics of this nature.  I thought I would change this though so I thought the best place to start would be with something relevant and something that I am sure a lot of you may have come across online or in book shops.

This post follows on loosely from another post about luck.  There is a book called 'The Secret' which has been in circulation for a while and has been heralded by many celebrities including Oprah Winfrey who even included it in her book club which boosted sales and brought it to the world's attention.

Before I continue I must disclaim:

The Secret does indeed work, but not for the reasons it claims it does but for other reasons.  If you have used this book and it has improved your life do not read on, once you read what I have to say below and become aware of it then it will stop working.

Our first video is in order: It is 25 minutes Long, you really only need to watch the first 5, or skip it if you intend on reading the rest of this post.

The Secret does work, in a manner of speaking.  It does fulfil all the claims it makes for those who follow what it says and take it to heart.  It does not work however because of any grand design of the Universe or of any hidden power within it.  The book claims to utilise the law of attraction and it also claims that The Secret has been known throughout History and been covered up.  Well that's not entirely true, the reasons I will lay out below have been known throughout History and for the most part ignored by the populous at large.   As for the Law of Attraction, this does not apply to Humans in the manner the book claims.

First of all you must understand the distinction between knowing a truth and being aware of a truth.  These are two different things in terms of Psychology.  To know a truth is to simply possess the knowledge of that truth for example that 1 + 1 = 2.  To be aware of a truth is to know and understand a truth, that is to know that 1 + 1 = 2, know why 1 + 1 = 2 and ultimately to know when 1 + 1 is not equal to 2 [this IS possible as addition in other numeral bases changes the composition of mathematics and the truth of 1 + 1 = 10 can be defined e.g. in binary] the distinction herein is what defines the line between conscience and omniscience - knowing and knowing all.

In relevance to the Secret, to know of the Secret is to know its basic concepts: that what you think of, positive or negative is attracted to you by thought.  To think of things which are negative and bad for you is to attract these onto you.  Therefore the Secret says that you should only think about the positive things in life.  Do not dwell on your problems instead dwell on the solutions.  Think of the things you want in life and focus all your effort and you will receive what you think of by attracting it onto you.

To be fully aware of the Secret is not only to know what it is but to understand how it really works.  A few simple Psychological principles need to be grasped first.  Emotions are not completely out of our control.  We have significant influence over them and the most important emotions we have influence over are there of happiness and those of sadness and despair.  If you are Sad, you are sad because you choose to be, or you simply choose not to be happy.  At first most people take this statement as an insult and argue of the many things that happen to them that make their lives miserable etc.  I don't care.  That sounds harsh but it is true.  I don't care, and neither should you.

If you focus on the negative aspects of life your mentality will follow suit and your emotions too.  If you focus on the negatives in your life and drown out everything else you will become sad and depressed.  This is a very basic concept in Psychology, or specifically in Behavioural Psychology.  On the flip-side the inverse does hold true as well.  If you focus only on the positives then your mentality will again follow suit and your emotions too.  Think positive and you will be happy.  Think negative and you will be sad.

Now, once you have understood this you now need to understand a second principle - selective observation and recall.  You are probably familiar or at least have heard of the term 'selective memory', where in an argument with another person they will recall only certain things, usually points they believe help to sway the argument in their favour, often forgetting and outright denying the other points which contradict their argument.  This behaviour extends beyond recall it also extends into live observation.  A person who has something they would like to prove will search for points that back up their argument and they will gloss over those points that contradict themselves.  This is called selective observation.  We retain only that which we think is useful and more importantly that which we think is relevant.

Time for another video:  Watch the Video and answer the question:

If the video caught you off guard then now you should see perfectly well that you will ignore anything and everything that you are not looking for - in other words, you will ignore anything that doesn't promote your own interests.

Now in relation to the Secret, the basic principle states that you should focus only on positive thoughts, as the law of attraction supposedly does not distinguish between good and bad thoughts but instead is drawn to whatever occupies the most of your thoughts.  This puts into practice the principle of Psychology that says that when we think positive thoughts we are happy - this includes desires which fill us with hope and optimism.  This accounts for the increased elation and happiness followers of the secret who truly believe it works for them experience.  There is no rouse here though, this isn't a lie and the gains are real and can be beneficial.

However in terms of the aspects of the secret that state that you will receive what you focus and devote your energy to this is somewhat more clouded.  The belief in the law of attraction has to be strong in order for the secret to work, this is the mantra of the secret.  The reason this is the mantra is because this aspect of the secret invokes the principle of selective observation and selective recall.  When a person believes in this secret and devotes their energy to it they become blind to anything negative and anything that contradicts their belief.  They will recall the positive aspects only.  They may devote time to thinking of several desires over the course of a year, lets say 12 working on average as 1 per month.  Even if they achieve only two of their desires they will forget the 10 failed attempts and chalk it up to a weak desire.  Instead they will put emphasis on the desires that where fulfilled.

In talking to friends those who say the secret works for them will recall the times it worked, the times they got what they desired and neglect to tell their friends of the times it didn't work.  Even to the point where newly introduced followers whose desires are not fulfilled are fed the same line "your desire wasn't strong enough".

The final piece in the whole jigsaw puzzle falls onto one simple truth about the secret - if you are lazy it won't work.  A final principle of Psychology is involved here and it is the principle of unconscious suggestion.  The Secret uses language in an exquisite manner.  If said with rude and abhorrent bluntness the Secret would simply say "If you don't work for it you wont get it" - instead of being blunt the secret pans out to a few hundred pages the above statement using subtle nuances ultimately the core principle of the secret that thought attracts things to us is contradicted by the book itself although not in a direct manner, it is subtly suggested to the reader that they must put some conscious effort other than thought into fulfilling your desires.

Therein lies the ultimate lie - The Secret is a self-help book, at its core it is simply designed to give people the confidence to achieve their goals and to repress the negativity in their life and to focus on the positives.  Of course once you know this the Secret can never work for you as you know that the reality of the situation is that you are making your path alone.  The Universe is not guiding you and it is not helping you.

These principles of Psychology and the understanding of the self that makes the secret work have been known throughout history.  It has been known in various cultures in various ways through teachings whether they be religious teachings or old wives tales, folklore, myths and legends.  The great irony here is that the Secret does contain a Secret - the secret of how it really works.