Bre Brown
- Aug 8, 2021
- 7 min read

My Opinion of The Secret

Hello hello friends!

Today we are talking about the book and documentary, The Secret. If you haven’t seen it, I think it’s on Netflix and Amazon Prime if you’re interested in checking it out.

Operating in the world of manifestation, I get asked by a lot of people, “Oh, so manifestation is like what that movie is all about… that magical concept of just wanting something and getting it, right?”. Then, they look at me in disbelief.

Strap in because I have so many things to say about this!

First of all, I don’t dislike the movie, but I don’t love that it paints a very sexy picture of manifestation. Because of this, I consider The Secret to be the gateway drug to manifestation. It gives you a dose of all of the feel-good parts about manifesting. It’s like, “Hey girl! Do you want a better life? More money? You just have to want it. Just visualize it and you’ll get it. Join us. Be a manifester….” ;) Of course there is more to it, but you get where I’m going with this….

Admittedly, myself and thousands of others found out about manifestation BECAUSE OF The Secret, so I am not going to bash the movie. It served a purpose by getting a lot of us started down the right path. For that, I am thankful and I’m really glad the book and movie raised so much awareness. Or at the very least, got the conversation going. However, I think the movie led us astray a little bit and could have been elaborated on. For example, it oversimplifies the idea of manifestation and makes it really attractive by implying how easy and straight forward it all is. And, the book/documentary really only focuses on the Law of Attraction.

I’ll never forget when I first saw the movie, I was like, “Ok fine. I am manifesting a million dollars by next week. I’m visualizing it.”. When it didn’t happen, I was very suspicious of this whole concept. Who wouldn’t be?! The movie suggests that if you visualize and learn about the Law of Attraction, you can attract anything easily. So, I thought it was a bust but thankfully, I didn’t end my experimentation with it there, but a lot of people did. That’s where my aggravation with the documentary comes in. It focuses on one law, the Law of Attraction, and if you’re not sold on this or you have a bad experience trying to “make it work”, you’re unlikely to keep trying.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, a lot of people got excited after catching the documentary (for obvious reasons) and tried to attract things by thought alone. Many were successful in the short term with small manifestations, but when this stopped working because we weren’t actually growing, most people would chalk up the limited success they had… to coincidence. Then they would throw their hands up and say that manifestation doesn’t work. I’m sure we all know some of these people. I had a coworker once tell me, “Oh, I was into that for a while too….”. You know, as if it’s an exercise or a sport you do. 😂

All this to say that I wish the documentary had covered more. The Law of Attraction on its own is not enough to manifest the success you want. At the very least, only focusing on the Law of Attraction will keep your manifestations small; it’s limited thinking. And, solely focusing on this ONE law, like the movie suggests, cuts off our practical and logical friends because the thought of attraction alone is a little too ‘woo woo’ for the average person, but if you incorporate the other laws, like the law of action, correspondence, cause and effect, of rhythm, then most people would realize that manifestation is common sense. They’re likely already operating based on several of these laws intuitively. The documentary could have had a much more comprehensive view of manifestation to help bridge this gap.

Here is the thing friends… you can’t manifest the million-dollar business, the soulmate, the nice house, the beautiful car unless you’re vibrating differently, and vibrating differently means cultivating a more positive lifestyle. AND, most people can’t change their vibration, unless they’re doing the inner work. You attract what you’re vibrating at when you get to the core of who you are and who you’re being. THAT is why I talk so much more about mindset and personal development than anything else… it’s because THIS WORK, this personal growth, is what will help you manifest the big goals like money, career success, relationships, health, etc. I imagine if you’re tuning in weekly, you’re not here to manifest the small shit; You’ve probably already done that. You’re looking to up level your life and the only way to do that is to up level your mind.

Now for a moment of vulnerability here: this idea that the Law of Attraction SHOULD be the only thing I have to master as a manifestation expert crippled me for a long time (and it still sneaks up on me to be honest). Like, there are plenty of days where I can’t help but think, “How can I preach manifestation when I haven’t hit my million-dollar mark yet?!” Followed by the lovely thoughts of, “Should I even be teaching people about this concept?! Who am I to talk about mindset and manifestation when I don’t have my villa on the beach in Italy yet?! When I haven’t yet manifested my biggest goals?!”. Hmm, the side of our brain that fiercely wants to protect us is so bitter sweet.

And, side bar on perfectionism, when these thoughts come, it doesn’t matter how many times manifestation has proved itself to me because my perfectionistic tendencies were already stepping in—the habit of continuously raising the bar on myself, “Yes, I managed to manifest my first 5 figures in sales at 18, but it wasn’t 6…. Yes, I manifested 6 figures in sales in my early 20s, but it wasn’t 7… yes, I’m looking forward to 7 figures, but it’s not here YET…”. When does the habit of raising the bar stop? At 8 figures? 9? What do we have to achieve in order to stop raising the bar on ourselves? This is a dangerous way to ensure we never celebrate our success and I see it happening a lot in manifestation. That is why a practice of gratitude is so important for my fellow recovering perfectionists; it forces you to celebrate the small wins and realize that manifestation IS working FOR you.

Back to the documentary… I think my biggest disappointment is that the movie doesn’t mention that manifestation requires an entire identity shift. It is about becoming the version of you who vibrates at that million-dollar level that you want. I say version of you because there is an infinite number of possibilities that you can be in this life, so choose the one that has the success you want—however you define success. If making this vibrational change were easy, the Secret would have generated a massive wealth shift, but it didn’t because not everyone is WILLING to do the work it takes to manifest massive wealth. Not everyone is WILLING to work on the uncomfortable shit that creates internal change. Are you?

People have a tendency to love LEARNING about themselves, but few make the conscious choice to WORK on themselves and this makes all the difference. We love the Myers Briggs Personality tests, the Enneagram quiz, horoscopes, but how many of us take this information and use it implement change? We live in a society where so many people are hoarding knowledge, but how many of us are using this knowledge? Knowledge becomes wisdom when we implement change in our lives to reflect a new way of thinking. This wisdom has the power to change our identity.

You want to manifest more money? Great. Instead of creating a vision board, sit down and figure out what your limiting beliefs are about money. You want to manifest one of your soulmates? Awesome. Figure out what kind of person you need to be to attract the type of partner you want. You want to manifest a better life overall? Fantastic. Let’s dive into the deepest layers of you that have clung to your current situation out of survival. To manifest the big stuff that proves this shit isn’t a coincidence means getting into shadow work: working on childhood trauma, letting go of limiting beliefs, dismantling societal norms, building confidence, working through toxic behaviors, rewiring your brain by creating new healthier habits, etc. Manifesting bus success requires breaking free from the parts of you that no longer serve you and this could mean completely losing the old you. I ask you honestly, are you ready for that? And, it’s okay if you’re not.

To recap, while I like the movie The Secret, I think it leaves a lot to be desired. There was a lot of information that was omitted in an effort to paint a rosier picture of the concept OR to keep the movie shorter—I won’t pretend to know the intent behind leaving key points out. To that end, use The Secret for inspiration, but do not use it as a manifestation how-to or guide.

I appreciate you for reading! Have a fantastic rest of your week, and I will catch you next Monday. Until then, go out there and manifest some miracles.