Wednesday 18 March 2009

Was The Secret Wrong About Goal Achievement?

Have you seen the movie The Secret?

If you have you'll know that it practically became the goal-achievement 'bible' overnight due to it's very simple, yet very powerful message about how you can be, do and have practically anything in life that you want as long as you do one or two key things.

They are:

1. Think about what you want on a regular basis
2. Think about it positively

That was it really. That was the 'secret' of The Secret!

Now, I'm not knocking this at all, far from it. First off, most people (myself included) can be really unfocused and unclear about what they want and spending any time focusing has got to be really beneficial, right?

And thinking positive, well, that's just obvious isn't it? After all, going through life with a dark cloud over your head is not really going to help you feel good about even STARTING your goals, let alone achieving them is it?

So I've no real problems with the advice that The Secret shares, it makes sense and, truth be told, thousands of people have already gone on to achieve great things as a result of following this simple advice, but again, there are a lot of people who couldn't seem to make it work for them and are now dismissive of the who goal achievement 'thing'.

Maybe you're one of them?

I certainly used to be.

I had already tried the whole positive thinking thing and holding my goals uppermost in my thoughts but still, the bills piled up and the same old hassles that were always in my life before were still there so I did what most people would do. I gave up the whole goal-setting thing as a waste of time and, for a time at least, focused on plain old fashioned hard work.

And it was just that.

HARD work!

Sure, I got results after a fashion but the work I put in always seemed to be greater than the results I'd get back. I know you know that feeling!

Then one day in the shower it hit me.

Most of what I'd been told about goal achievement was wrong!

In fact, I suddenly realised that although it was a nice sentiment, thoughts DON'T become things, but rather, they can become things if they're used correctly, but that thoughts themselves are pretty powerless.

I figured that that if thoughts really did automatically become things
then most teenage boys would materialise pretty young girls into their bedrooms. After all, this is what's on their minds most of the time, right? : )

Sounds funny, I know, but if you think about it, it's true. After all, if thinking clearly of something that's important to you, holding it in your mind and thinking about it a lot works to bring goals to life, then it should work, right?

The MAGIC Hundred Goal Achievement Program



And as to thinking positive...

I'd always been told that thinking positive was a critical step to making your goals come to life, but again I realised that this couldn't really be true. After all, if being positive made your goals come to life you should be able to sit in the middle of a busy road, smile and say 'I won't get hit, I won't get hit, I won't get hit" and sure enough, all the trucks will completely miss you.

Not a strategy that I think I'd like to try : )

The MAGIC Hundred Goal Achievement Program



It all makes sense doesn't it?

The idea that you can't just put on a happy face, think about your goals and have them come to life?

I think so anyway : )

So what's the real 'secret' to goal achievement?

Well, I guess it's simply that there isn't one. Not as in one hidden thing that once exposed will bring your goals to life. It's more a case of having a strategy that is proven to work rather than relying on hope or wishful thinking.

What's the strategy?

It's coming... I promise!

I'll tell you tomorrow : )

Dax Moy
www.themagichundred.com

P.S - What do YOU think are the not-so-secret secrets to achieving success? Go on, add your thoughts on this... I dare ya!









LEGAL STUFF

The Secret(R) is a registered trademark of TS Production LLC.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I think the "Secret" made it sound all too easy and did not take into account that opportunities and social context play a huge role in achieving your dreams. However, we can start at the individual level by living in our bodies rather then in our heads and working towards our needs - our needs vary depending on the person and each one of us needs to work towards breaking down disempowering relationships...once the doors open and you approach one another with an open heart then that is half the battle won - at least from my point of view..being self-aware is key...I like the fact that Dax, you say that we can all take baby steps in getting there and that the work has to be done..showing up to yourself is important..and to others as your authentic self..

Lisa said...

I think the "secret" gave a starting point. Think about it, get a clear picture of what you want, and believe that it is possible to achieve. But then it stopped! It left out the part about look at your goal, and look at where you are now and figure out the steps required to get from where you are to where you want to be. That step is huge, but even bigger is once you have your action plan you have to follow it. You also need to keep mini goals and large goals in mind and the end result and keep believing you can get there or you will stop doing the WORK I think that is where most people go wrong. They hit one little set back and stop believing instead of re-evaluating the process and continuing to move forward. If there were some not hidden secret I think it would be persistence.

Unknown said...

Excellent post Dax

The Secret was produced by a film maker and not an expert in quantum physics or personal/professional development. So she taught the world 'her' understanding of a complex topic.

She took heat for this fact....the movie did a lot of good for people - teaching people to appreciate their thoughts....but it also dropped the ball and didnt tell people to HOW take ACTION.

Yeah they forgot to tell you about the 'work your ass off' part!

Although, truthfully, it is better than 90% of the crap thats on TV

There is a sequel coming out soon and its all about this 'taking action' component because a lot of people complained about that.

Dax made a great point that thoughts CAN become things...thank goodness they all dont or I too would have become a sexy blonde cheerleader or even Ozzy!

Thoughts that are congruent with feelings and consistent action is the key, I have found.

Also associating or reading from other people who get results, like Dax, is critical.

Daniel Munday said...

Great post Dax.

I've really noticed the difference since using the Magic Hundred and actually taking action rather then just thinking positive thoughts.

You'd be crazy not to have this program as part of your success arsenal.

That is how powerful it is.

cheers,
Daniel Munday
http://www.danielmunday.com

Claudia said...

I think the Secret is one of the reasons the US is in such a huge financial bind right now.

And your thoughts about this continue to cement my admiration for you.

Keiko said...

It's way past "tomorrow", it's almost next week!

Kenny said...

Wow this is really great stuff. I'm currently a sophomore student at a bilingual school in Taiwan, and recently our English class has been reading Emerson, and naturally this has to lead to some mention about the Secret. Now, at firs I decided to give this Secret a shot, and so far it's actually worked pretty much most of the time for me, but due to the habit of constantly questioning everything around me and what I believe in, I've decided to play devil's advocate and try to pick out the flaws of the Secret and have had some trouble actually putting it into words. I have a general idea of what's wrong with it, It's just kind of hard for em to actually put it into words. Do you think you could reply to me and sort of explain what the most basic flaws are and how they make the Secret a rather unstable belief? Much appreciated.