Greatness Without Genies: The Law Of Attraction For Realists
December 2nd, 2008
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What lets ordinary people tap into unlimited strength, peace, health, and abundance? The Secret.
What offers the same benefits, without asking you to believe in the supernatural? Greatness Without Genies.
As you may have guessed, I am now unveiling my latest ebook, Greatness Without Genies: The Law of Attraction for Realists.
Ever since The Secret came out, people have waged wars over the law of attraction. Choose your side: is the law of attraction the unquestioned lord and master of the universe, or is it a complete fantasy?
I’d like to offer a third perspective. There’s a middle ground. Well, there are many middle grounds, but specifically, you can dramatically improve your life with your thoughts, and you don’t need to believe in a genie to do so. That’s what this ebook is about.
Look, I liked The Secret, despite it having some pretty serious flaws. But many people just don’t want to go near anything that says a genie is going to give you the Midas touch. For years, the realists have been looked down on by people who proclaim that obviously you could move Fort Knox into your basement, if only you would put out the right frequency and get it to vibrate properly. You lazy bum, why won’t you vibrate?
For God’s sake, can’t someone deliver the benefits of the law of attraction without the mystical hype? Why yes, thank you for asking. Instead of just accepting or rejecting The Secret as is, I rewrote it from scratch, creating a new interpretation of the law of attraction. (And I actually refer to it as the principle of attraction as it’s not a scientific law. These details matter.)
You see, we really do have tremendous control over our lives, far more than we realize. I’d hate to see someone miss out on this just because they don’t like the way The Secret was presented. If you like The Secret, fine, so do I (at least the book version). But for the people who need real explanations (not pseudoscience or circular logic) and practical steps (not wishin’ and hopin’), you finally have something for you.
Last week in my Steve Pavlina interview, Steve said something about the law of attraction that I thought was right on the money:
“[The law of attraction] can be so effective for people, but it’s also missing some key aspects, which is why it often fails to work…The LoA is a step in the right direction, but it’s too inaccurate and flawed to work well in all situations. You can get some interesting results with the LoA…but the flaws in that model often leave people with little or nothing to show for their efforts. Holding clear intentions is still important and useful, but that’s only one piece of the larger puzzle.”
I agree, holding clear intentions is just one piece of the larger puzzle. If you’re ready to move beyond that first piece, order Greatness Without Genies: The Law of Attraction for Realists, and see the bigger picture of how you can realistically turn your thoughts into reality.
This ebook is $27, with a 50% affiliate payout. Genie sold separately, but not by me.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:31 am
I associate myself a realist, not an optimist or pessimist, so the title of your article called my name. Though, after reading it, I’m unsure how I’d benefit. I also don’t know what you mean at the end by “realistically turning your thoughts into reality.”
Ari Herzog´s last blog post..How to Increase Readers and Comments to Your Blog
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:12 am
@ Ari, thanks for your comment. This is a challenging one for me to answer, but let me start with what I mean by “realistically turning your thoughts into reality.”
I’m not sure if you’ve read “The Secret,” but the idea is that you start with some thought, say, making a million dollars. You’d like to turn that thought into reality. The mechanism for this happening is that you simply ask for the million dollars, believe that you’re going to receive it, and be ready to receive it. You don’t need to be concerned with how.
Behind the scenes, things vibrate, the genie comes, and he brings the million dollars to you, without effort on your part. What I mean by realistically turning your thoughts into reality is replacing the magical vibration and genie with actionable steps and a logical understanding of how intentions manifest. Some people will prefer the genie, but others will want the practical view.
I plan to write a post about features vs. benefits soon, and I hope you’ll stop by to share your thoughts. I think this is a very interesting issue, and one that I just don’t get at all. But let me address your question the best I can for now.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but benefits are highly subjective, right? If we look at a steak, one person might benefit from the taste. Another person might benefit from the energy. Another person might benefit from the sensation of being full. Another person might experience a large negative benefit by being a vegetarian. Another person might think a steak is the perfect doorstop. We have no idea what the benefit is until we consider the specific person.
For me, I just like ebooks. I like blog posts, and ebooks are better because much more goes into them. So when I see an ebook, I tend to buy it unless something is specifically wrong with it. (This would usually mean that it’s about a topic I don’t care for, or it’s overpriced, or I don’t like the person’s writing, or I just don’t have time for ebooks at the moment.) In general, ebooks are good. I don’t care to identify a specific benefit up front. I’ll figure out the benefits while reading it, if I even care to. For me, benefits just don’t enter the picture at all. Just like I know that a steak is a steak, I know that an ebook is an ebook. And I like ebooks (unless something is wrong with them).
Now, when it comes to the benefits my ebook would have for you, I’d have to say that I have no idea. I’ve read some of your posts and tweets, but I don’t know enough about what motivates you to make an informed comment here. When you look at your life, and think about what you want, what comes to mind? Do you want to start a business, lose weight, get married, improve your athletic performance, get better marketing results, or what? I have no idea if these things even apply to you, but any and all of them could be benefits. It’s all up to what motivates you. If you already have everything you want, then I’d have to say there’s no benefit for you in this ebook. (Or anything else, for that matter. You’ve achieved nirvana–congratulations!)
But does that make sense? Aren’t the benefits to you completely up to you, and not me? Maybe you just need an affiliate product to promote, I don’t know. The benefit to you could be anything. It’s like asking what are the benefits of food or oxygen? Whatever the other person wants them to be.
On another note, I saw that you called yourself a realist, not an optimist or pessimist. I guess I’ve never really thought about this much, but I’ve never known someone to say they’re neither an optimist nor pessimist. I switch back and forth, but I try to be an optimist.
I don’t have any stats in front of me, but I heard that realistic optimism gives the best results. Meaning that you’re well grounded, but you also have a positive attitude. (This might come from Martin Seligman’s research, but don’t quote me on that.)
Dave Navarro strikes me as a realistic optimist. He has described himself as a realist, but he seems optimistic to me. The whole “turning lemons into lemonade” thing. To be neither optimist nor pessimist seems a bit unusual to me. Does that mean that you don’t get emotionally involved in life? Do you feel that things are going well, or poorly, or are you indifferent?
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:39 am
I have just come across your blog on BWAB and I am glad I found you. I like your posts and this one is particularly interesting. I do see some flaws in the Secret movie, yes. To a degree the movie gave the impression that all you need to do is ask and then without any action on your part, your desires are brought to you.
I can see how some people could have understood it that way. Hopefully this book will fill in the gaps.
The trouble is there are so many books out there- sort of jumping on the bandwagon and which seem to want to ‘reveal’ the missing thing in the secret. Amongst all these products there are of course scams and good products. The danger is that people will not know which is which, but the likelihood is that anything associated with the Secret is going to be seen as a scam.
What do you think Natural?
sharon´s last blog post..One Easy Way to Get Your Feelings to Match Your Desire
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
Oh, nice, you are back to comments! (A long one at that!)
Akemi – Yes to Me´s last blog post..Living Your Life Purpose
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:22 am
The optimist-pessimist analogy is best described with the glass of water analogy: one says it’s half full and the other says it’s half empty. To me, the water is water and it doesn’t matter if it’s full or empty so why bother yourself over its measurement?
As for ‘The Secret,’ I heard of it but never read the title. It goes contrary to my belief in fate. Everything happens for a reason so you can huff and puff and pray for this and that (which I do sometimes) but ultimately the fat lady at the end of the game will decide which road you walk.
Ari Herzog´s last blog post..Do You Send Business to Your Competition?
December 2nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
@ Sharon, I haven’t read any other LoA books, but my understanding is that they’re all in the same vein. Like Abraham-Hicks talks about 68 seconds of pure thought. That’s more detail than The Secret goes into, but it’s still about the universe manifesting stuff for you. (And I like that, but it’s not for everyone.)
I’d say that what makes mine different is that it avoids the wu-wu factor. I don’t see anyone else doing that.
@ Akemi, yeah, I’m wondering if that’s my longest comment ever!
@ Ari, good point, I’ll have to revisit the water glass in another post!
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Sounds like my type of ebook. I have read the secret several times and still find it quite mystifying. They spend so much time trying to convince you that the methods work and then don’t really show you how to do it. I like clear explanations and guidelines. Hope sales are good!
Amber´s last blog post..I Quit
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Sounds like a great book! I have watched The Secret and read another book (different author) about LOA but never knew how it really done, how to practice it and how to overcome common mind barriers and thoughts of doubt and failure. I hope your book fills in the blanks.
Carla´s last blog post..I am sick of “green”
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 pm
@ Amber, yeah, that’s mystifying to a lot of people. I think it’s fine if you treat The Secret as just a motivational book, but many people want something they can really put to use in everyday life and feel confident about.
@ Carla, yup, it’s a big blank filler!
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:19 am
I am thinking about your post and ebook and the SECRET…we called it the Mary Principle at my house, because my Aunt Mary would just set her mind to finding the perfect parking spot and she always got one that was perfect for her – each trip.
I can usually manifest many good optimistic ideas and get great results for other people, but as my Tarot cards always say – I think I must be “stung by a bee” to get the results I want. And I believe I must work extremely hard to achieve anything…and that perception always manifests.
I have completed Jack Canfield’s Success program and coaching and he is a heavy believer…and I wrote a post about a list my husband and I made – were were supposed to get to 100 items, but were interrupted by baby needs…and only got to 88…when we moved 10 years later we had manifested all 88 items on the list – even the funny ones…even though the list had been put aside and forgotten.
I am trying to believe I will have blogging success and make some money in my lifetime….I am trying but nothing is manifesting right now….except my love of writing.
I would love to put an affiliates sticker on my site for you…but apparently I am a paypal failure at this moment…hmmm
How do I manifest that success?
Patricia´s last blog post..Chug, Chug, Toot, Toot
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:17 am
Congratulations on completing the ebook. I will definitely be adding it as a Someday-Curing Affiliate when I tweak my site in the next month or so. I’m a firm believer that what makes the LoA (although I like your Principle idea) effective is following up thought with action. Without action on the right things, things just don’t happen on their own.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..Success Comes from Slow Change: Leo Babauta Interview
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:39 am
It took me almost a year to convince certain family members that The Secret (which I also liked) failed to mention that positive thoughts need to be backed up with inspired ACTION.
Although I think The Secret was a step in the right direction for many people, I’m afraid it left a lot of them staring at their vision boards with butts planted firmly on the couch, waiting for said Genie to make them rich.
Not gonna happen.
I like your blog and I’m going to subscribe.
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Hi Hunter – I think your book is a great idea. As you know, I do believe in the Law of Attraction but the Secret really dumbed it down to mislead the masses.
And I suppose I do believe in a lot of things that many people would find difficult to swallow. But as you say – why should these people miss out, when they can still get the things they want, without believing in genies? I think you’re giving them a wonderful opportunity to improve their lives.
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
[...] a comment on my post Greatness Without Genies: The Law of Attraction for Realists, Ari Herzog described [...]
December 4th, 2008 at 1:00 am
@ Patricia, do you mean how to manifest success with PayPal, or success with blogging? Success with PayPal – just tell me what it’s doing to you. Success with blogging – that’s a little harder to come by!
@ Alex, I think the biggest problem with The Secret is that if you take it too literally, you’ll think that action isn’t needed. I think some things can happen without action, such as improving your mood, but most things require tons of action.
@ Susanne, exactly. It’s a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t take things far enough. Vision boards are great, but sorry, you gotta work to make them come true!
@ Cath, I believe in a lot of hard to swallow things too. Or maybe I don’t necessarily believe something, but I don’t disbelieve it either. I’m pretty open-minded since I figure that there’s so much we just don’t know. But I can certainly understand that not everyone is comfortable with genies.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Hunter, thank you for your comments in return, I am here to clarify…I can get an affiliate link on my site for Traffic – Rush (SU tutorial from Caroline Middlebrook) if I can get signed up on Paypal…but every time I attempt to sign up there for an account, I complete everything and nothing shows up in my email and nothing happens…5 attempts now….so I am assuming if I put your ebook on my site then I would need Paypal also? So I feel stuck at this point…and need some help. My techie is in the middle of Master’s Thesis and Finals…I don’t dare ask more of her right now…
I am immersed in three tutorials right now attempting to be a successful writer and blogger so I think that is all that I can handle right now…
But I am wondering why only about 3 men have made any comments on my blog over the 8 months I have been blogging? and am wondering if that is a Secret to more success as a blogger? I seem to be getting a lot of traffic yet still only a few comments, which is fine, but I am wondering if nothing I write appeals to men?
Hope that is clarifying? I think I do need a Genie or two …or my guardian angels are on vacation?
December 5th, 2008 at 2:06 am
@ Patricia, yes, my affiliate program uses PayPal, so you couldn’t use it without a PayPal account. The only thing I can think of is that maybe when PayPal tries to email you, it bounces back for some reason. PayPal support might be able to help.
For a long time, I had very few male commenters and I didn’t know why. And I also get very few comments relative to my subscriber count. I can’t explain either of those! One “secret” I’ve discovered recently is Twitter. Once I started becoming active on Twitter, it quickly became one of my top traffic sources.
December 5th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Thank you Hunter, it is nice to know I am not alone, I am getting a huge subscription count and that feels good. I will keep working on Paypal….Stumble Upon is getting me about 45 hits a day right now and I seem to be a Twitter failure too?.. SEO is still in the lead for connects with about 49 a day…Step by Step but I sure would like to get your affiliate sticker on my site….your ebook sounds very good.
I actually made some blog money this past month…4cents from Ad source and $10.14 from amazon….this is just the beginning!…Thank you for your nice reply and good and helpful responses.
Patricia´s last blog post..Hey Santa Could You Send a Few Things My Way?
December 5th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Congratulations on publishing your e-book!
Everyone talks about The Secret, but before that there was Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking (i.e., it was never a secret). Not something that works for me, though. I’ve never been able to make myself beileve something that I don’t already believe.
Dot´s last blog post..Weird Tip Tuesday – Eat Less Butter
December 6th, 2008 at 3:06 am
@ Patricia, $10.14 from Amazon is awfully good, because their commission percentages are really low. You must have written some very persuasive book reviews.
@ Dot, I have a section in the ebook about what’s wrong with The Secret, and the very first point is that The Secret wasn’t a secret!
However, I don’t understand this: “I’ve never been able to make myself believe something that I don’t already believe.” Surely there were things you didn’t believe at birth that you do now, like gravity.
December 17th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
[...] be selective. Recently I was a bit upset because I had to decide not to purchase my good friend Hunter Nuttall’s new book on the Law of Attraction. Although it was not expensive, and I am sure that the quality was great, I just knew that right [...]