I also did an hour long teleseminar with Michael Lovitch of Hypnosis Network where we talk about coercive leaders, mind control, The Secret, the need for critical thinking and much more. It is a much more detailed discussion of coercion and unethical persuasion, it is very much worth the listen.

I just wrote a long post about Tom Cruise, Scientology, and Andrew Morton as they relate to mass persuasion (and delusion, you have to watch the video of Tom Cruise). You'll find  the post and here:

http://boldapproach.typepad.com/bold/2008/01/tom-cruise-scie.html

Ok, if you haven't seen this video spoofing The Secret yet it is a must watch.

Now, I know that we set out to use logic and rationale and good taste to provide another view of The Secret, but this is really funny.

Whoever cast this video did a phenomenal job of finding great likenesses.

And if you find yourself agreeing just a little with the way we think, you'll really enjoy this book.

One of my big criticisms of The Secret is that idea that devastated people attract their lot in life. People in third world countries attracted their hardships, disease etc. I was just watching A&E and there was a program on that said that 50% of disease in the world could be eliminated if people had clean drinking water.

That is amazing to me.

I want to show you a place where people who need a chance around the world who are taking action to create a better life for themselves are getting that chance is it at Kiva.org.

Kiva is a non-profit microlender that allows you to loan directly to a person you choose who has requested a loan and here is what is mind blowing. People are asking for loans of $250 to $1000 and that will utterly change their life.

What is cool is that you can donate as little as $25.00 to help these people out. This is one of my personal favorite ways of helping and I can't begin to describe how good it feels to help. I'm currently helping a number of people who are committed to getting ahead, saving their families and making a life for themselves. They are not attracting a better life, they are "actioning" a better life. They are taking responsibility and making it happen.

And guess what, Kiva has so far had 100% repayment of loans. You can get your money back or you can roll it into a loan for someone else.

Go take a look at the profiles on Kiva of people who need loans now, if you are feeling especially charitable, donate $25 or more and make a real difference in someone's life. That's less than it costs to buy a copy of The Secret and you'll make a lifetime of difference for the person you help.

That's just one way the law of attractioners could help rather than looking the other way so they don't attract the same fate.

Rhonda Byrne, the producer of The Secret has agreed to come out of hiding and do a final interview for the year on April 10th. Of course rather than coming out on television where she might mangle more questions, she's coming out online (where her fortunes began) and answering all of your most pressing quesitons about The Secret. This is likely to be the biggest softball interview ever.

In just a minute, I'll share the email that will be going out to millions. It is interesting to see what they have in store, of course The Secret II but they'll be answering many more quesitons, this should be something to hear.

This will definately increase the frenzy around The Secret and many more people will become even more imbued with the power as a result.

I got an advance copy of the email that will be sent to millions, the links are live so you can see their pages and here is what it says:

I'm sure you've heard of the wildly popular film and best-
selling book, The Secret, by now.

The stars of the show have appeared everywhere from CNN to
Oprah, Larry King to Show Biz Tonight and The New York Times.

But what nobody has shared yet is the REAL story.

So when I found out my friends at Healthy Wealthy nWise were
providing an authorized, intimate portrait with creator and
executive producer, Rhonda Byrne, I had to check it out. By the
way, they're calling it The Story Behind The Secret.

Rhonda is using this interview to share her side of the story
about The Secret and the way it is gaining massive momentum on
the way to bringing Joy to Billions. Just as she and her team
intended it would back in 2004.

What you haven't heard in all the media frenzy is Rhonda
Byrne's intimate REAL story behind The Secret that must be told.

In this heart-felt one-on-one interview, Marci Shimoff (co-
author of the mega-best-seller Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul
& star of The Secret) will ask Rhonda many of your burning
questions that weren't asked in the mainstream media.

If you wanted to know ...
• the inside story behind the creation and unfolding of The
      Secret that the other guys glossed over...

• the unique never-before-revealed way she used the principles
      of The Secret herself to turn The Secret into a global
      phenomenon (6 million people in Ghana, Africa who would
never have been able to experience this wisdom were able to
watch the secret for FREE because of this principle...)

• about the surprising plans for The Secret II…

      Then this interview is a must.

So here is the really great part, when I talked to my friends
over at Healthy Wealthy nWise and they told me I could invite
you to attend the LIVE Story Behind The Secret Interview as my
guest - for no charge!

Your ticket is waiting for you here . . .

Now the publicity for this interview is massive so space is
very limited. With millions of promotional emails going out and
a massive publicity campaign rolling out, the capacity for the
call will be maxed out fast.

So to collect your ticket and secure your seat to the Live
Story Behind The Secret interview go to

Log-in with your name and email address and follow the simple
instructions.

To your greatest success,

PS - This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be on the line
LIVE with Rhonda Byrne, the Creator of the wildly popular film
and best-selling book, The Secret. I've arranged for you to
attend as my guest, and you can pick up your complimentary
ticket at

http://tinyurl.com/28k5mr

One of the questions I've been asked regularly lately is if I'm still friends with the people I know featured in The Secret.

The answer is unequivocablly yes, I didn't give up friendships because we disagree about something. We simply agreed to disagree. It would be a real shame to lose a friend over something like this . . . though I acknowledge that it happens regularly. But, until they tell me that they don't care for me anymore I'll continue to consider them friends. And, if they do change their opinion, I'll still care about them.

The point of the roundtable was to get people to think and to practice compassion.

Both of those things remain good and powerful goals to me.

The second most frequent question is are we going to talk more about this. I think that the answer (without speaking with Kevin, Blair, and Bob) is yes. We'll have a lot more to say about it as time goes on. So, my strongest suggestion is to subscribe to this blog's feed or simply book mark it and come back regularly.

And, have some fun, respond to the posts, educate us, help us think and explore.

That is the key to understanding big ideas.

Dave

Download The Audio Here

PC Users - Right click the link above and choose "save target as" then choose where to save the file on your PC. This file is nearly 20mb so it will take a few minutes to download.

Mac Users - Hold your mouse button down and choose where to save the file on your computer.

On March 21st, 2007, Kevin Hogan, Dave Lakhani, Blair Warren and Bob Beverly did a round table discussion about the movie and the book The Secret.

The purpose of the discussion was to take on some of the real innaccuracies that were presented as fact in the movie and the book. Some of those ideas that were presented as fact:

• The Secret is a law like gravity
• The people of Rwanda are subconsciously attracting genocide because they have a fear based mindset
• That children invite their rape and murder subconsciously
• That looking at fat people makes you fat and that if you don't believe food will make you fat you can eat all you want and it won't
• That the major minds of the world Einstein, Emmerson, and many more knew The Secret and practiced it

The round table had more than 775 people on the live call and we had more than scores of questions that we could not answer. As time allows we may post and answer questions on this blog.

Here is an overview of the four speakers on the call:

Dr. Kevin Hogan - www.kevinhogan.com - Psychologist, author of The Psychology of Persuasion and Covert Persuasion. Regularly featured as an expert on television, radio and print on the topics of persuasion and body language.

Dave Lakhani - www.boldapproach.com - Dave Lakhani was raised in a cult and is now considered one of the nation's top experts on ethical and unethical cult creation and proliferation. He is the author of Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want

Blair Warren - www.blairwarren.com - Television Producer, Author of numerous persuasion books and articles. Widely considered an expert on persuasion and media influence.

Pastor Dr. Bob Beverly - A psychologist and ordained minister. Dr. Beverly is the author of How To Be A Christian And Still Be Sane.