Book SummaryThe Secret, by Rhonda Byrne

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Secret

When The Secret author Rhonda Byrne found out the business she built over ten years was going under, she feared what would become of her life. She had no prospects for income to save it. Then, she remembered a book her daughter had given her, a book that contained the elements of what would become The Secret. After using these principles to draw abundance to her life and save her business, she decided to bring this process to the world.

What is The Secret?

The basis of The Secret is the Law of Attraction—use your thoughts to attract the things you want. Everyone is a creator. The power of your mind is akin to the power of a magnet. When you look at your current life, you can trace everything back to one thought or a series of thoughts. Your life is a reflection of your thoughts, and you can use them to create your future self.

What’s Your Frequency?

Think of yourself as a transmission tower, like the ones used to broadcast signals to your television. Those signals become pictures on the screen. If you don’t like the show you’re watching, you change the channel to a new frequency. A new picture is broadcast. Through a similar process, your thoughts create a frequency that signals the universe, and the Law of Attraction broadcasts that signal back to you as the pictures of your life.

The Law of Attraction is infallible. Like the law of gravity, it is always at play, whether you believe it or not. Your thoughts are always creating frequency signals, and the universe is always conspiring to return that frequency to your life. Being intentional about what you’re thinking and focusing on positive thoughts will put you on the right frequency to create the right changes.

The Creative Process at Work

Harnessing the power of the Law of Attraction involves three steps, known as the Creative Process. You can use this process to bring about a change to any aspect of your life. You can improve relationships, find the perfect partner, get a great body, improve your health, age gracefully, and help inspire goodness in the world.

Step 1: Ask — The Law of Attraction is similar to your very own genie in a bottle. Each time you rub the bottle, the genie pops out and says, “Your wish is my command.”

The same is true for the Law of Attraction. Like the genie, the Law of Attraction never questions your thoughts. If you think it, no matter how big or small, the Law of Attraction will begin the process of making your wish come true.

When you ask for something, **you...

The Secret Summary Shortform Introduction

Throughout this summary, you may come to understand the logic of The Secret as something akin to “Think good thoughts, get good things.” Yet, there is more nuance to the principles and how to approach them.

Critics of The Secret likely see the concept as “wishful thinking.” For example, one might say, “Well, I wished for a Ferrari, but I still drive a Buick” or “I can wish I had a million dollars all day, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t.”

One reason for this criticism is that much of The Secret revolves around the idea of faith. The ability to believe in your power to change the universe is a hard concept for some to buy into. Also, the tone Rhonda Byrne uses throughout the text feels...

The Secret Summary Chapter 1: The Relationship Between Thoughts and the Law of Attraction

At the heart of The Secret is the concept of the Law of Attraction—use your thoughts to attract the things you want. Every person alive is a creator within the universe. What you create in your life traces back to what you think about. If you focus on thoughts about who you want to be or what you want in life, you will attract those ideas and things back as your life experience.

Understanding this relationship is the key to changing your life, one thought at a time. To see the result of this relationship, trace the current state of your life back to your previous thoughts. Every action, every event started with a thought.

• For example, you might be in a job you hate and have no prospects for change. If you think about the thoughts you’ve had since starting that job, you can see how they’ve helped create your current predicament. Likely, you often sat at your desk thinking how boring your job is. You may have thought the job was a dead end. You may have thought about how stuck you feel or how you don’t have the skills needed for a better job.
• Those thoughts, based on the Law of Attraction, created a reality where your job was boring. Because you thought...

Shortform Exercise: Taking Control of Your Thoughts

Changing your thought frequency may seem like a difficult task. But becoming aware of negative thoughts and their power helps you understand what you can do to change them.

Think of a persistent negative thought you live with. Maybe it’s something you’ve been thinking for years or something that’s come up recently. What is the thought?

The Secret Summary Chapter 2: The Infallibility of the Law of Attraction

Just because you may not fully understand or believe in the Law of Attraction doesn’t mean it isn’t working. The Law of Attraction is at play at all times, with or without your consent or knowledge. You are always thinking; therefore, you are always signaling the universe.

• When you toss a rock in the air and it comes back down, you understand that gravity is the cause. Whether or not you understand how gravity works doesn’t stop it from existing everywhere at all times.
• Likewise, you may not understand how the Law of Attraction works, but it doesn’t mean your thoughts are not creating your life.
• There is no...

Shortform Exercise: The Power of Your Thoughts at Work

Understanding that your thoughts are powerful is only half the challenge. Knowing how certain thoughts lead to certain outcomes can help you gear them toward what you want.

If you found a bottle with a genie inside, what is one wish you would make?

The Secret Summary Chapter 3: Preparing Yourself for the Life You Want

You must love yourself before you can bring good things to your life. If you don’t love yourself or your life, you will be stuck at a negative baseline. Nothing good can come into an unloved life. Once you learn to find self-love, you will be ready to harness the power of the Law of Attraction to its fullest benefit.

Why Self-Love is Important

Showing love to everyone and everything is essential, but the most important feeling of love you can have is for yourself. You can’t feel good when you don’t love you.

Remember the Golden Rule to treat others the way you want to be treated? Self-love is the reverse of that. When you don’t treat yourself the way you want others to treat you, you are creating a powerful message: “I am not worthy. I am not deserving.”

• If you don’t love yourself, it means you think you aren’t lovable or worthy of love.
• If you don’t treat yourself well, it means you think you don’t deserve to be treated well.

You will broadcast those messages to the world, and more people, situations, or events will be attracted to emulate those thoughts.

When you feel bad about yourself, you’ve boxed yourself in with negativity. All the good...

Shortform Exercise: Love to Love You

It’s easy enough to say, “I love myself.” But what does that mean? What does self-love look and feel like? By being intentional about how we think about ourselves, the path to self-love will become more clear.

Do you hold a grudge about something from the past? Do you think about it often? Describe what the resentment is about.

The Secret Summary Chapter 4: Harnessing Your Power of Creation through the Creative Process

The process of bringing what you want to your life is called the Creative Process. The Creative Process is a three-step guideline for using your thoughts to create the life you want. Think of the Creative Process as super-sizing your ability to harness the Law of Attraction. Although the law is always working, following these steps will make sure it’s working exactly how you want it to.

Step 1: Ask for What You Want

The act of asking for what you want helps you become clear about what you want. Being clear in your own mind is required for the universe to get a clear signal. If you are not clear, you will send out mixed frequencies. If the universe picks up mixed frequencies, you will attract mixed results. Being specific and clear about your desires sends specific and clear signals into the universe.

• For example, if you simply say, “I want a different life,” the universe doesn’t have much to go on. A different life could mean winning the lottery, but it could also mean losing your home or job.
• If you ask for what you want to be different, such as “I want a job that allows me to use my artistic talents,” the universe will conspire to bring you that...

Shortform Exercise: Use the Creative Process to Get What You Want

Now that you can be, have, or do anything you want, without exception, it’s time to get clear on what that is.

What could you ask for that would make your immediate life better? Be specific.

The Secret Summary Chapter 5: The Importance of Feelings

Feeling good feelings is the fastest way to thinking good thoughts.

You know how feelings play a part in the Creative Process. But your feelings are more than just a tool to express happiness about receiving. Your feelings are a gauge for your thoughts.

Think of the relationship between your thoughts and feelings as a cause and effect. Your thoughts cause the effect of how you feel. Understanding what you’re feeling tells you what you’ve been thinking.

• It is not possible to feel good and be thinking bad thoughts. The opposite is also true. You can’t feel bad if your thoughts are positive.
• When you can pinpoint what you are feeling, you will understand what frequency your thoughts are on.
  • For example, if you’re thinking about that dream Porsche, your thoughts are likely positive. You see yourself zipping around turns on a dime. You feel the wind in your hair. There’s no way your thinking these thoughts and feeling bad about not having a Porsche. You are on a positive frequency.
  • Likewise, if you’re lamenting how old and broke down your current car is, you are not feeling good about your dream car. If you do think about your dream...

Shortform Exercise: Turning Your Frown Upside Down

We all have crummy days when something happens that dampens our mood. It can be hard to shake things off when we’re feeling low. Getting in touch with our feelings and intentionally changing them is a good habit to begin.

What’s something that happened in your life recently that caused you to feel bad? What were your thoughts surrounding what happened?

The Secret Summary Chapter 6: Mindsets to Increase the Law of Attraction

You now know the Creative Process and how it works to harness the power of your thoughts. But your thoughts are likely not always connected to wanting something. In those moments between asking, believing, and receiving, you can still put your thoughts to work to benefit your life. By strengthening the following mindsets, you can make the most of your thoughts to strengthen the Law of Attraction.

Awareness

If your thoughts are power, then being aware of your thoughts gives you control over your power. When you control of your power, you can wield it to your advantage.

When you are purposefully aware, you are present in your consciousness. From this position, you can choose to think or feel however you want. However, when you’re unaware of your thoughts, you relinquish your power.

• Your mind can get away from you at times. All your thoughts seem to be caught in a tornado. If all you focus on is the wind and your inability to calm your mind, you will continue to be swept away.
• When your thoughts are stuck in a whirlwind, stop and ask, “What am I thinking now? What am I feeling now?”
• The moment you ask, you become aware because you have...

Shortform Exercise: Using Your Thoughts to Shape Your Day

We are never stuck with the way things are. If we don’t like how something is going, making small adjustments in how we envision the day ahead is a good start to changing it.

Think about your day. Was there an event or situation you wish had gone differently? What was it? What was wrong with it?

The Secret Summary Chapter 7: Behaviors to Increase the Law of Attraction

What you do in life is as important as what you think. Now that your mind is geared toward strengthening the Creative Process in your life, you can add appropriate behaviors to boost your success.

Be Grateful

Show gratitude for each day as it begins, as though everything you want to happen already has. Gratitude is the cousin of expectation. Showing gratitude for what is to come is linked to setting your expectations.

• When you are grateful for the day ahead, you set the expectation for a great day. This expectation creates the frequency of a great day, and a great day you shall have.
• Not showing gratitude for the day ahead means you are content to wake up and passively hope for a great day. You will wander from one action and event to another without any thought or control over how things will turn out.

Byrne says that by the time she is ready to face the day, she has said “Thank you” hundreds of times. Through this action, she is showing gratitude for the day ahead, powerfully setting her expectations for what her day will look like.

• (Shortform note: Gratitude is so important that Byrne says if you only take one thing from reading _The...

Shortform Exercise: Visualize Your Ideal Life

Since visualization is more than just a static picture, you can think of the act of visualizing as making a moving picture of your life.

Think of something you want really badly. Create a picture of that thing in your life. What does it look like, in detail?

The Secret Summary Chapter 8: Your Body, Health, and the Law of Attraction

You now know what the Law of Attraction is and how to use it to bring about the life you want. You know how to shape your thoughts and behaviors to enhance the Law of Attraction. Now, let’s look at practical applications of the Law of Attraction toward specific ends, such as your body and health.

(Shortform caveat: Diagnoses of health conditions should not be trifled with. Don’t put your health at risk by rejecting treatments and only using positive thinking. We recommend following the recommendations of your medical professional, in addition to gaining positivity about yourself as described below.)

Getting the Body You Want

If you want the perfect body, hold thoughts of the perfect body in your mind. If you focus on whatever the perfect body is for you, you will receive that perfection.

Only you can define what your perfect weight is. Whatever that is to you is perfect for you. No one else’s opinion matters.

If your thoughts are of needing to lose weight, the Law of Attraction has no choice but to attract the experience of needing to lose weight.

• When you diet or start a weightloss program, the dominant thoughts behind those actions revolve around being...

The Secret Summary Chapter 9: Wealth and the Law of Attraction

By now you understand the power of the Creative Process, and how they apply to your body and health. The same principles apply to money and creating wealth in your life.

Focus on Money

To attract money, you must focus on money. To bring money to you, you must create a new thought message of wealth.

When you focus on a lack of money or the consequences of not having enough, you are blocking all the money waiting for you with your thoughts. If your thoughts are on not having enough, you will never have enough.

• The Law of Attraction will bring back those pictures of not having enough as experiences.
• For example, when you have bills stacking up and don’t know where the money to pay them will come from, focusing on those bills will only attract more bills.
• Even though it’s hard, focusing on abundance, despite the bills, will send out the proper signal. Say, “These bills will be paid. Life is abundant, and something will come through.” Then believe it and feel the relief of it coming true.

You can’t attract money if you feel bad about money. It makes sense that when you do not have enough money, money becomes a stressor. Your thoughts around it...

Shortform Exercise: Write Your Dream Check

You know that acting as if bolsters your thoughts. When money is involved, acting as if can be very powerful. On the website for The Secret, Byrne provides a blank check from the universe. The check is for you to make out to yourself with the amount of money you want to receive.

What amount of money would you fill out to cover everything you needed?

The Secret Summary Chapter 10: Relationships and the Law of Attraction

More than health and money, people tend to crave affection and harmonious relationships. The Law of Attraction works for calling forth love and healthy relationships into your life.

Finding a Life Partner

You can have whatever relationship you want by calling it forth with your thoughts. Think about the type of partner you want. Visualize what that partner looks like. Think about what qualities that partner has. Feel what life with that partner feels like. Believe this partner exists in the world. Believe you have summoned them to you through your thoughts and feelings.

If your thoughts are about how lonely you feel, the Law of Attraction will mirror that loneliness back. You will block the love you want with your thoughts of not having love.

• For example, if every Friday night you watch movies and lament not having a date, the signal you are sending the universe is, “I never have a date on Friday night.”
• If you can change your thoughts to, “It will be nice when I have a partner to share Friday nights with,” you’ll experience a good feeling, and the Law of Attraction will send back pictures that emulate that nice feeling.

Make sure your actions match your...

Shortform Exercise: Think Positive About Relationships

Think about relationships with positivity, and you’ll get positive relationships in return.

What are three things your partner did recently that made you feel happy? If you don’t currently have a partner, what are three things your ideal partner would do to make you happy?

The Secret Summary Chapter 11: The World and Your Role In It

You’ve learned how the Law of Attraction can help improve your personal life and well-being. But your personal life takes place in a public sphere. You can use the Law of Attraction to improve the world around you as you have to improve your life.

You may believe you are insignificant and have no power in the world, but that belief is a fallacy. Your thoughts shape the world. Rather than feeling powerless to change the world, use your power of creation to bring about the positive you want to see.

Everything around you was created through a thought. Some things continue to gain power as more and more people see them and turn their thoughts toward them, good or bad.

Focusing on the negative aspects of the world will not help. Not only will your negative thoughts add power to the thing you don’t like, but they also put you on a personal negative frequency, attracting more negativity to your life.

• If you constantly worry about violence and anger, the Law of Attraction must bring back people, situations, or events that reflect violence or make you angry.
  • Instead, focus on a world where everyone feels love and joy.
• If you are disheartened by poverty and...

The Secret Summary Chapter 12: Pulling It All Together for a Better Future

The more you practice the Law of Attraction and experience it bringing things to you, the greater your faith will be. The stronger faith you have, the greater the magnet you’ll become. As you start to change your thoughts, you start to change your life.

Using the principles of The Secret is like driving a car at night on a dark highway. The headlights will only show you so much of what is in front of you. But you believe that someone made the road. You trust that you can keep driving and keep finding road to drive on. You trust that you will have enough road to make it to your destination. This is the same trust you need to have with the Law of Attraction.

If you use your thoughts to create but the outcome isn’t what you wanted, you’re not stuck with it. Change the thought to create a new frequency. Get a new result. As long as you exist, you have the ability to think your life into existence.

• As we learned earlier, the future version of you already exists.
• Any delay you experience in creating your new life is not an issue with the Law of Attraction. It is an issue with your thoughts.
• A delay in believing, knowing, and feeling you have received...

Shortform Exercise: The Meaning of The Secret in Your Life

Now that you have the power of The Secret in your mind, consider how you think and feel about what you’ve learned.

What aspect of The Secret most resonated with you? Why do you think this is?