But it really does work. I know it to be true because I’ve done it myself. And believe me, I’m a natural skeptic who doesn’t believe in the Law of Attraction or anything based on “faith”.

A year ago, I set myself a goal to emigrate exactly one year later. And I’ve achieved that. Now I’ve set myself a new goal to put a big deposit down on a house in 2 years from now and to earn close to $100,000 by the end of the year.

So set yourself a goal today. And really believe that you can achieve it. Most people are just resigned to being “realistic”. And this attitude is the key reason why they fail, not due to so-called “uncontrollable events” or other lame reasons.

It was not so long ago that men could only expect to live to their 30s and disease or some other accident would lead to their death.

Now, don’t get me wrong. As impulsive as I am, I do realise the value of planning for the long term. I read recently that a quarter of us will reach the age of 70 so it would be pretty stupid to not plan at all for the future.

But I have noticed that we all take far less risks than perhaps we should.

In every walk of life, those who take risks will get rewards. Whether it’s a man trying to attract a woman or a sportman competing for a title, if you don’t revel in taking risks then you will not succeed highly.

This is an area of my own life that I radically need to improve on. I’m not sure what prevents me. I am a naturally risk averse person and I try to avoid taking risks. But at other times I will take seemingly stupid risks.

For instance, I ride my bicycle without a helmet and I enjoy actively weaving around cars and finding the greatest speed. I have had a couple of close shaves where I have thought to myself “stupid!” but nevertheless I have not changed my style.

And yet in other areas of my life, I don’t take enough risks.

Here’s another example – the English football team have long underachieved. A great reason for that of late is the culture of always “playing it safe”. This leads to what many people call a “one dimensional” style. Compare this to teams from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and beyond. Nearly all of them play with what I call “guile”. Dekes, fakes, whatever you want to call them – they are a key feature of the style of play from these countries.

Someone new to the game might think that they are taking unnecessary risks. But the reality is that when you take risks and profit despite them, you become more and more confident in your ability and the risks actually diminish.

So what is the best way to improve yourself to take more risks and get more out of life. I honestly don’t know the answer to that one. It is clearly a mindset that has been formed by upbringing and experience but I don’t believe that genetics plays a part. Hypnosis, I think, could definitely offer one possible easy route.

What are your own thoughts on risk taking and success in life?

For years I heard about this on some self development forums that I hang out on. But with a bizarre name like this, I took no interest in it at all.

Then by accident I decided to look into it further. I figured out that it is a huge field of self development with many followers.

So What Exactly Is It?

It is all based on one book. I’ve attached a free download for you below.

Download link: Think and Grow Rich

Think And Grow Rich

Think And Grow Rich is a book that was written in 1937 by a man named Napoleon Hill. This chap was an associate of Andrew Carnegie, the famous American Industrialist who suggested that he write the book.

Remember that all this was in the midst of The Great Depression, the worst economic slump that the world has ever seen.

By the way, because this book is now so old, it is in the public domain and anyone can read it for free. Supposedly it is one of the best selling books of all time.

So What’s It About? Why The Huge Following?

It reads as some kind of story of how to become successful based on the experiences of other great industrialists. At first, while I was reading this I thought to myself how great a read this was going to be. To learn from the experiences of some of the richest men in American business history is surely priceless!

But lazy as I am, I decided to investigate the book on the internet.

It turns out that there is no real scientific basis in this book. What Hill talks about is a “secret” that you are supposed to “get” while reading this book, but without him actually telling you!

I thought this sounded ridiculous so I was determined to cheat and get the answer to the “secret” from someone else!

In fact, I found that some entrepreneurial people have even written books to tell you what this supposed secret is! Luckily, there are still plenty of people telling you for free.

What Is The Secret?

- Have a burning desire for your goal
- Sometimes you must take action based on faith
- Be thankful for what you have
- Visualise your success and it will happen
- and more…

At least, these are people’s interpretations of what “the secret” is.

Now if you look at the above, then a lot of it makes sense. Visualisation is used by many successful people such as entrepreneurs and sportsmen, gratitude is always good, a burning desire can help you overcome inevitable hurdles…but faith?

I find this last point difficult to grasp. There is no scientific basis for it. I am non-religious and I find it difficult to do anything that is based on faith. This will become clearly shortly when I tell you about “The Secret”.

The Secret – The Book

This is a book that was featured heavily on Oprah, gained a lot of notoriety and became a bestseller.

I haven’t read the book but I have seen the DVD.

Let me first tell you that this product and all others out there are just a rip off of the free original, Think and Grow Rich.

The DVD is easy to watch, it is basically a motivational DVD, a series of interviews with many people who claim that “The Secret” has changed their lives.

I have to admit to liking this DVD – real people telling you about their experiences can hit home. Here are some of their tips which you’ll notice are similar to the original book:

- Be thankful
- Visualise your success
- Will it and it will happen

This last point I had a lot of trouble fathoming. Most of this DVD was about having a positive attitude and a great desire for success. But the last point seemed to be the most important one and yet the most incredulous.

You are supposed to wish for success and have faith. And then they try to convince you that the universe will realign and make it happen! Obviously, there is not a shred of scientific evidence to support this theory! Even though many people on the DVD swore blind by it.

Amazing Stories

There were a couple of amazing stories on there.

For instance, one guy was in a car crash and almost totally paralyzed. But he blinked out a message and claimed that he would walk out of the hospital by Christmas. Incredibly he did!! An amazing story!

But there was also a lady who said that she had contracted cancer. But several months later, the cancer had disappeared – without any other assistance! Now as amazing as this story was, I have to say that I was a little disconcerted and the thought of someone denying themselves cancer treatment such as chemo and radiotherapy and putting all their efforts into “The Secret”, and “wishing” themselves to get better. How do we know that this woman was not just lucky and there are thousands of people who have done the same and failed? Personally, I would like to know more about these cases, from a scientific point of view.

The Law Of Attraction

All of these themes above are what followers call “The Law Of Attraction”. The tenets that originated from the book, “Think and Grow Rich”, and have been ripped off by hundreds of book writers and DVD makers since are the same:

If you wish for something and believe in it then the universe will realign itself to make it happen for you. Through your attitude, you will effectively “attract” success.

As you can see, the fundamentals of this require a belief that desire will be rewarded. There is no scientific basis for it!

According to followers, what we may see as a coincidence or good luck, they put down to “The Law Of Attraction”! And, naturally, if you don’t get success then they say “you aren’t doing it properly”!!

Who is right? Technically, nobody is right or wrong, whether you are a supporter or a disbeliever. It cannot be proven either way. But myself coming from a scientific background, this faith based belief is akin to a religion and I have great difficulty believing in something that there is no evidence for, despite any mental benefits that it may bring.

Further Reading

If you’re interested in getting an unbiased viewpoint of The Law Of Attraction, including criticism, then check out the extensive Wikipedia article here: The Secret (2006 film) – Wikipedia.

Your Thoughts

So what do you think of all this? Fact or fiction? Has it helped you? Can you really say that it works, that the universe changes? How do you justify your blind faith in this? How do you know it was not just good luck or coincidence? I’d love to hear from you, whatever your thoughts, please leave a comment below!