You may have heard a lot of news stories in the media this past year about one of the most talked about books and videos to come in several years, "The Secret." What is the big deal about "The Secret", and why has it been flying off store shelves? Why is Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, and other prime time news programs dedicating so many stories about this groundbreaking book and video? Why are there suddenly a host of critics talking about how "The Secret" is a fallacy and dangerous to those who read it? Why are there so many people who swear by the principles of "The Secret" and crediting it for improving their lives in vast ways?

More importantly, what the heck is "The Secret?"

If you haven't read or viewed "The Secret", you may want to stop reading this article right now, but for those who have or those who just don't want to shell out money for the book or DVD, the big secret of "The Secret" has to do with the law of attraction. In other words, you attract all the things in your life that you think about, whether they be positive or negative. This isn't exactly a new concept; the author of "The Secret" even states that she discovered this "secret" after reading the book "The Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace Wattles, which was published over a century ago. In that book, Mr. Wattles said that all of creation began with thought, and that our thoughts are creative and have much power. So in order to improve our conditions in life, we need to change our thoughts. He wasn't the only author to address the the thought/prosperity connection; this was also expanded on by famous authors like Napoleon Hill, Robert Collier, Joseph Murphy, Charles F. Haanel, Norman Vincent Peale, and Dale Carnegie, and it continues to be taught today through the books and videos of Anthony Robbins, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, and T. Harv Eker.

So can you really get rich just by thinking about getting rich?

The law of attraction states that everything is attracted to itself in like manner, and when you apply this principle, you will attract what your thoughts are focused on. It's often called manifestation, and when you think about a concept long enough, it will usually manifest itself in your life. For example, if you think about a getting a delicious cheeseburger, you may find yourself walking by a McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's or Carl's Jr. and suddenly have the urge to go into the restaurant and buy a cheeseburger. This may be a lame example, but it's not far from the truth. Many of the most successful people on the planet have obtained great wealth by focusing on becoming wealthy and not letting go of that thought until they achieved their dreams. Oprah Winfrey rose from extreme poverty and ugly family situations to become one the most powerful and famous women on Earth because she believed in her heart that she could become wealthy and famous as a child. Donald Trump thought about becoming one the richest real estate developers in New York City ever since he was kid, and sure enough, he is one of the biggest and wealthiest real estate developers in the nation. J.K. Rowling was living in a tenement slum in the seedy part of London and receiving welfare during the early 1990s when she decided to put her non-stop thoughts about a young wizard who goes to a school for magicians onto paper, and it led to her creating the Harry Potter book series, one of the most successful series of children's books of our time, not to mention generating massive amounts of wealth for her.

However, one of biggest complaints from critics about "The Secret" is that it implies that people who are less fortunate became that way because they thought about being poor and destitute. They claim that the author of "The Secret" implies that the suffering in Iraq, Darfur, and the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina was created by the people themselves thinking about getting driven out of their homes by war, disease, or natural disasters. This is a more extreme accusation, but the truth is not that far from that. Just as thinking about being wealthy will more likely bring wealth to that person thinking about it, thoughts of lack, poverty, and scarcity will keep a person mired in less than ideal conditions. For example, if you constantly think about being unable to pay your mortgage or other bills, you may find yourself in great financial difficulty later on. Worse yet, you are blocking your mind from being able to find a creative solution for getting out of your financial woes. Even when you say you don't want to be poor, by focusing so much attention on poverty and lack, you will bring more of that into your life. While the victims In Iraq, Darfur, and New Orleans didn't individually wish to be made homeless and have family members die, the fact that groups of people collectively ignored or willfully violated the needs of the people living in those regions to better their circumstances probably led to the massive amounts of suffering in those regions. Having said that, the problem of most people manifesting their desires to get rich is that they either subconsciously sabotage their their desires by thinking in terms of lack, or they aim too low in manifesting their dreams. It's okay to think about receiving enough money to pay your bills and then getting that money somehow, but if you can do that, why not aim higher? Think big! Seek to make as much as Bill Gates, and while you may or may not make the amount of money he does, you just may become a millionaire.

As for using your thoughts to get rich, you can program your mind to think thoughts of prosperity, but don't expect money to magically appear from thin air. Your thoughts are creative, but you must take action in order for your thoughts to manifest themselves in your life. Pay attention to what you think about, and your subconscious mind will lead you to do the appropriate steps and the right people to improve your situation. For example, if you would like to move into your dream home, start by thinking about how your dream home is going to look like, and then make a first step towards getting that dream home by either purchasing something you may want to put in it, or looking through real estate listings, driving through neighborhoods where your dream home may be located, checking your credit rating, going to a home improvement store, whatever; just take that first step and keep focusing your thought on achieving that dream home until you one day find yourself in your dream home. If you want that dream job, first think about what your ideal job will be like, what title you will have, how much money you will make, how many people you will help, etc., and then take the first step to getting that job and repeating that until you make that dream position for yourself. This is exactly how people have improved their lives and created happiness for themselves for centuries, and that, my friend, is no secret.