Chapter 20 And 'The Secret' Is . . . .

Greetings from rural Australia.

The secret is this.

Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! And nothing again! Ever happens until you get off your derriere and take action.

What’s The Secret I’m referring to?

It’s the concept and book and DVD The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

The synopsis is this.

Think positive thoughts, send those thoughts out into the universe, and good fortune, wealth, happiness and nothing but good tidings will come your way forever.

It’s both the guardian angel and fairy godmother waving their wands over your life to create copious quantities of fame, fortune and unbridled wealth, without you having to do anything other than send out positive thoughts into the universe.

You wish! And I wish! It was that easy.

And so many people have been taken in by this concept. Including Oprah Winfrey, who ranks as one of the most take action oriented people in the world.

My good friend, Jill Weeks, the co-author of the bestseller, ‘Where to Retire’, and I exchange a lot of business information that we think might please each other. And especially anything to do with marketing, as we’re both interested in the subject.

She recently emailed me information about the successful marketing campaign behind The Secret.

I couldn’t help myself. This is my reply to her email.

JILL,

Thank you for this.

The marketing plan for The Secret is very interesting. But they forgot to mention one thing. The whole success behind The Secret is the myth behind the message that you can get anything you want just by wishing for it. It was embraced because it was like getting paid for doing nothing. That was the engine driver behind its success.

Their media campaign was very extensive, but can you imagine it being that successful if the message was this: - To be successful, you have to get off your derriere and put in some seriously hard work by taking action. No action, no riches.

Instead of, you can sit on your derriere like a couch potato, send your wishes off into the universe and enjoy the spoils.

Sorry, Jill. The Secret drives me to the edge of distraction. Just like over pampered, mollycoddled children.

Take care,

CAROL

And that’s the problem in a nutshell.

Rhonda Byrne has convinced people they don’t need to do anything to achieve their goals other than wish and dream.

Because that’s such an easy option, isn’t it? When faced with a choice, we always want to take the easy way out.

One of her stories is about John Assaraf and his dream home.

Who’s John Assaraf?

He’s an internationally best selling author and co-founder of OneCoach, a highly effective small business growth program.

About 8 years ago, he did a storyboard of his future life. And part of that storyboard was a picture of a house he saw in a magazine that he decided would be his ideal future home.

And yes, 8 years down the track, when he had amassed a significant fortune, he tripped across that house while looking for a place to relocate. Purchased it and now lives very happily in it with his wife and son Keenan.

What’s missing here?

The hard work he put into the intervening 8 years that brought him his great fortune.

It didn’t fall out of the sky.

He set up quite a few businesses in those years, worked hard to make sure they were successful, and when they met his goal, on sold them for a profit.

And when he had enough money invested and the time was right, he went on a house hunting spree to find his dream home.

In other words, his dream home is the result of 8 years of hard work.

Eight years of John Assaraf getting off his derriere and putting in the hard yards to achieve his goal.

John is very quick to correct any misapprehension people have that his dream home and significant wealth came from just dreaming.

As he says, you need to have the dream.

But the dream doesn’t come true without putting into place all the tools and skills you need to bring it to life.

And that’s still not enough.

Once the dream, the tools and the skills are in place, you need to take action and do things to bring the dream alive and keep it alive.

But knowing he wanted a dream home in the future was an important first step for John.

So that part of The Secret is true.

You must recognise and articulate what you want to achieve.

But that’s the only part of The Secret that will help you.

And it’s interesting to note that Rhonda Byrne is now involved in a $15 million lawsuit brought against her by one of her collaborators for breach of contract.

What does this mean?

She didn’t take the right action to tie up the loose ends. She obviously didn’t dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s’ in her negotiations. There were too many loose ends that created a loophole for someone to be able to bring a lawsuit. Whether she wins or loses, she has a messy few years ahead of her.

The Secret isn’t exactly going to her plan.

Frank Rumbauskas of Never Cold Call Again is also in anti The Secret mode.

This is a snippet from an email he sent out the end of May. It’s an email he received from a customer praising his program and book regarding Never Cold Call Again. And a portion of his response.

QUOTE

Ashley thanked her for her praise and told her she is the kind of customer we really appreciate - someone who actually puts the information into action, explaining that people who return the product under the 30-day trial seem to think that leads will magically appear on their desks the next morning (in other words, they need to go back to reading magic books instead of my book).

The customer went on to say,

"I can see that. 'The Secret' has ruined everyone. Salespeople all now believe they can just sit back and wish for the things they want without having to do any work to get them."

She, on the other hand, applied the material and signed a six-figure contract (and got a fat commission check for it) only 10 days later. And then repeated the process. I'm sure she'll continue to do that over and over again.

This is what happens when you decide to get into ACTION and actually DO something to make your future happen for you, instead of sitting around being lazy, only hoping and dreaming but not DOING.

END QUOTE

Are you convinced yet?

So what are you going to do now?

Still hold onto the myth that your dreams will come true just because you want them to?

Or take a reality check and understand that your dreams are just the first step. An all important first step.

But if you want to be able to fly your plane, you need to get into the cockpit, learn the controls, learn how planes operate, learn safety standards, then get up in the sky and practice, practice, practice, until you’re a skilled pilot.

All that takes thousands of hours of work, work, work. And again, remember this. The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary.

What’s your preference?

Your dream?

Or the better, more worthy reality that you bring your dream to life as soon as you start to put in the hard yards?

And you keep your dream alive and moving forward by doing over and over and over again all those things that make your dream come true.

Only a few will opt for the latter. Which is why only 5% of people are truly successful.

Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett are two of the world’s finest actors. Not only because they had a dream to be the best. But because they both have put in the multitude of hard yards to get where they are today.

The fact they’re Australian and not in the mainstream of celebritydom makes their achievements all the more significant.

You know what? I’m an experienced Guerrilla From The Bush and I know that taking action and putting in the hard yards is the only true path to success. Once in a blue moon you strike it lucky and things fall into place with little effort. But believe me when I tell you this. It’s a rare occurrence.

Do you agree? Or disagree?

I’d love you to post your comments and let’s see if we can help each other. Your expertise and wealth of experience is wasted if you don’t share it with others.


Take care,

CAROL

Carol Jones
Director
Interface Pty Ltd
Ilford NSW 2850 Australia
Designers of The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover
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Read the story of how our business began on The Ironing Board Cover Lady. No sales hype. Just a down home story about how we started our business on the dining room table of our rural property, driving on ‘L’ Plates, without an instructor.



A comment about LinkedIn. If you’re not a member of LinkedIn, when you click View Full Profile, you’ll be asked to join. It’s free and the option is yours. There are benefits to joining. Once you’re a member, you can key in the name of any person you do business with. If they’ve taken the trouble to complete a Profile, you’ll be able to assess their background, their capabilities and the calibre of person they are. You might be, as I am, often pleasantly surprised. So go have a look.




COMMENT From Jill Weeks June 23, 2008 9:57 AM

If it's a secret, why tell everyone!?

Jill