For a while I was a believer of the Secret, I believed that positive focused thinking would ultimately bring me the life-changing results I so desperately sought in my life. Two years ago I wrote an article for a campus magazine entitled ‘The Importance of a Positive Mental Attitude’ in which I discuss the importance of New Year’s Resolutions and whether or not they were appropriate for such a short breadth of time.

However, the more I think about it, the more I realize how futile this book actually is and how it has duped millions into believing that doing nothing will get them everything.  Now I’m not saying that a person’s thinking doesn’t affect their outcomes in life. I’ve seen people whose outlook on life is so poor that it ultimately holds them back from achieving their life goals.

Yet somewhere along the line the intended message of the book got blurred into the stuff of fairy tales. Unlike Cinderella, wishing for something no matter how focused will get you nothing if it comes at the cost of doing something to accomplishing those goals.

Whatever happened to actually working to achieve something in life? The fact is wishing will get you nowhere. In this era of self-help books and New Age fanaticism, I worry about the long-term consequences (not just to an individual’s success per se) but to the loss of productivity internationally if this is the primary mode of thinking that prevails in our culture.

If my ultimate goal in life is to get several novels published and become a bestselling author (which it is) it is not going to be achieved by wishing or thinking. The fact is I write an average of three hours a day. Over the past four years I’ve written two (as of yet unpublished) novels, twelve short stories, and twenty-four articles. This is not including the hour or so I read per day and my full-time job as an assistant editor of two automotive trade magazines. Would I be as successful as I am today had I simply wished for things to come my way instead actually writing? The answer is a resounding hell no.

While nothing is achieved overnight, the big successes in life are worth fighting for every day, that is if you want them badly enough. ‘The Secret’ is nice as an inspirational romp but in the end is nothing more than a pipedream at best, and anyone stupid enough to believe otherwise is kidding themselves into thinking that simply wishing will achieve anything.