Rhonda Byrne’s Law Of Greedy Attraction
The secret of Rhonda’s success
[Rhonda Byrne’s] lawyers had just sued two of the very people who were instrumental in launching her book and film The Secret to phenomenal success. Drew Heriot, the Australian director of the movie, and Dan Hollings, an Arizona internet consultant whose “viral marketing” helped propel Byrne to global fame via Oprah, had both been demanding that Byrne pay them a share of the estimated $US300 million ($340 million) revenue they claim she’d promised them. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, Byrne’s lawyers had counter-attacked by launching legal actions against both men in jurisdictions far from their homes, a tactic one judge has since described as vexatious and harassing.
This is no surprise.
— via Get Happy, Be Happy, Stay Happy
Previously here:
Quote: Rob May
Self-Confidence Vs. Self-Delusion
Defensive Pessimism: Part Of The Real Secret
At the old blog:
Redundant Search Terms
The Secret: I Can’t Finish Reading It!
The Secret: OMG! NYPL Has It For Me!
The Secret: Another Bit Of The Real Secret
Quote Of The Day
Another Note About The Secret: Victor Hugo
The Secret: Don’t Be A Sucker
This Is One Part Of The Secret — The Real Secret
Last Night I Saw The Secret On DVD
The Secret Is That They Count On You To Be Stupid
The Secret: Suckers!
The Secret: Law Of (Mal-)Attraction
More On The Secret
Mike Cane 2008 
August 31, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Right on… The Secret is the latest and by far the worst example of a HIGHLY profitable trend where self-help gurus with fabricated new age titles and little relevant education, credentials or legitimate expertise brainwash us into believing that they know what is best for us, our marriages and our families.
Often their only contribution to society is introducing some exotic sounding, new age philosophy. However, they often cleverly form an incestuous group of like-minded “experts” who cross-promote each other by swearing their success is due to following the beliefs of another member of their “cult!” All the while, they ply the airwaves jockeying for an ever-larger audience by appearing in the national media to garner third-party endorsements.
The Self-Help Movement has become the Self-Destruct Movement by diminishing or destroying our critical thinking skills to choose and evolve on our own. We have given up the freedom to build healthy lives, marriages and families based on our unique history and life experience. Instead many victims, blinded to the value of their own life experiences, are attracted to the latest secret in self-help, in an attempt to find out what they should think, feel and how they should act… this is the definition of a cult.
The solution is a return to our (common) senses! The best way out of this learned “self-helplessness” is to go cold turkey. Stop following ALL self-help gurus now. Begin, instead, to reclaim your natural, God-given ability to think for yourself. The common sense that was once readily available to all of us is still there free of charge and waiting to be applied to just about any challenge we might face in life… all you have to do is use it.
Please, let’s all work together to stop the flock of “sheepeople” who blindly move from one UNPROVEN concept to the next, looking for the answers to life’s challenges that you already possess and that is the OBVIOUS!
September 3, 2008 at 10:51 am
John Curtis wrote:
“Right on… The Secret is the latest and by far the worst example of a HIGHLY profitable trend where self-help gurus with fabricated new age titles and little relevant education, credentials or legitimate expertise brainwash us into believing that they know what is best for us, our marriages and our families.”
Good comment, John. For some reason it’s those false credentials — those phony Ph.D.’s and the like — that bug me as much as anything else.
http://tinyurl.com/6kswpf
Take “Dr.” Joe Vitale, for example. He received his phony doctorates from two unaccredited schools that are on the ‘illegal’ list in the state of Texas (where “Dr.” Vitale resides). Among other things, it’s illegal (a Class B misdemeanor) to use “credentials” from these schools to promote a business. (In Texas a Class B misdemeanor is punishable by “(1) a fine not to exceed $2,000; (2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed 180 days; or (3) both such fine and confinement.”)
Other “Secret” teachers such as Dr.” John Gray of Mars-and-Venus fame also have fake or questionable credentials. And even the “Secret” teachers and other self-help stars who have real credentials (e.g., Deepak Chopra, who has an M.D.) have made millions advising people in areas that are irrelevant to their formal training.
It’s not that I believe formal credentials are a guarantee of wisdom or true expertise, and it’s not that I believe that lack of formal credentials in a given topic mean that a person isn’t worth listening to. But, as John implied, as a society we seem all too willing to listen to and follow people who claim expertise in areas they know nothing about. (The ones who give relationship advice when their own personal lives are a train wreck REALLY bug me.)
At least Rhonda Byrne didn’t try to claim she’s a Ph.D….but then again, since she seems to be taking credit for creating The Secret singlehandedly (in conjunction with The Universe), her offenses are even worse.
Thanks for providing these links and helping to spread the word, Mike.
November 21, 2008 at 12:38 am
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October 4, 2009 at 7:55 pm
We must be conscious of these charlatans who thrive on ignorance of the people to make profits by using stylish speech, things they want to hear, and pseudo-science, etc but no REAL knownledge. People need to not only read critically, but watch, listen, study critically as well, and spot fallacies in logic made by those who claim to hold the keys to life such as the author of the Secret. But this is expected considering people who are moving away from God and trying to seek the meaning of life through materialism, so they will wonder blinding until they come back to their original creator: God(Allah)
October 27, 2014 at 6:24 pm
I’m writing today at many blogs to let you know about something really wrong with Rhonda Byrne. Two years ago I did an Android app entitled “The Secret Unofficial App” and published in some places, except on Google Play because copyright. My app was free, its functionality was very similar to “The secret Gadget for Windows”, showing the Secret Daily Messages except that I added an “Oracle mode”, so that a random message could be showed for you. “Someone??” reported me, not only my app, and my app was removed from the lists. I couldn’t believe, and I still can’t. I know they sell their apps, but I was very clear about the title “Unofficial app”. It was hard for me to take it at that time, I could not buy the app because I was unabled to get a credit card and I thought other peoples could be in my situation. Well, really, for me The Secret is a lie, they don’t do what they say. Oh, she wants to bring joy to billions, right? So, maybe Rhonda can re-think about colaboration and begin to act as the nature does. Maybe this way, she may be sucessfull.