The Secret - Rhonda Byrne

"As you learn The Secret, you will come to know how you can have, be, or do anything you want. You will come to know who you really are. You will come to know the true magnificence that awaits you in life"
- author Rhonda Byrne in the introduction.

"You hold in your hands a great Secret..." - Thus begins this book that could very well go down the pages of history as the book of the millennium. Author Rhonda Byrne, like each one of us, has been on her own journey of discovery. Along the way, she brought together an impeccable team of intellectuals to bring forth The Secret to the world, and through her vision, bring joy to the millions.To effectively give an impartial opinion on such a phenomenon is almost close to impossible. However, what I would like to present here is an honest opinion on what it feels after reading it and the new dimension that it gives to the subject.

What do I say? At first thought, it seems that it's going to be not so easy to write about but on retrospection, there's a lot that this book has got to offer. What is so astounding about it is that it's so lucid and unassuming in which none of the pompous dramatizations that dot others find way. To being with, The Secret has been passed down through the ages, highly coveted and hidden. It can be used in every aspect of our life- money, health, relationships and happiness.

The book beings with a chapter on what the secret is, which one later finds out is nothing but as simple as the power of attraction. Various quotes by eminent people who had researched into this makes the opening very interactive, quite different from the mundane introductions that we, as avid readers, very often come across. Another clear advantage is the wise use of anecdotes to bring in the reader's attention and also as a powerful tool to put across the point. Surprisingly though, it is very convincing in the first few pages attributable much to the powerful words of some of the best orators. It elucidates about the power of thoughts and the absolute possibility of attracting whatever one want just through the thought process. "Thoughts become things" - that summarizes it. To all those supposedly hip-hop, (to whom all this might sound like wishful thinking) quantum physicist, Dr. Fred Alan Wolf, comes to the rescue by agreeing to this truth with an underlying scientific principle.

The next few chapters goes on to convince the reader of the power of thought. It talks about one's feelings as a powerful way to attract. It stresses extensively on the importance of feeling good. The crux lies in the fact that every thought of ours is associated with a frequency, and the more we intensify the signal, the closer we are to receiving it. In this regard, the author proclaims that the feeling of love is the highest frequency one can emit. What one has first gets manifested as thought and subsequently becomes a reality. If one can have faith in the Universe and believe with such fervour, one is bound to receive in abundance.However, there lies one condition: one should not question the how. It is astonishing to realize that what we had always been doing was actually in stark contrast to what we had actually been wanting. As with others, faith, belief and love are the basic tenants upon which the Secret works. The latter half of the book takes on specific issues and describes how one can use the Secret to fulfill ourselves in terms of money, health, relationships and happiness.

This one is truly a phenomenon. Apart from being interactive, the words exude such power that it infuses passion into the uninitiated. When one is in the last few pages, one would be thoroughly convinced about the power of the Secret. The Secret Summaries provided at the end of each chapter only goes to ensure that this all-pervading lesson gets engraved into our gray cells. The book, being replete with personal experiences on the benefits of this secret, although sounding magical to the reader, comes out as The One that effectively provides the elixir of life. In this regard, it would befit the situation to admit the fact that it had really worked for me in small instances, when I had put it to test- skeptical that I am. There would be people calling it co-incidences, but this book would prove it wrong. The language is simple and powerful. It has the grip of a fiction novel. The only black dot would be the feebly monotonous ending that it carries. But the lessons more than make up for it.

Last Word: It has worked for me, it will work for every skeptic out there. For people looking to improve their life in almost magical ways, here is the answer. Even if one doesn't believe in this, one can give it a try and reap its benefits. As one of the orators in the book point out that one need not understand electricity to enjoy its benefits. So true. This book is not about rules. It is about the things that we already know but one that we failed to acknowledge. It is about the power that a simple thought could bring about. A conscious read and I assure you of a life-changing experience.

My Rating: A perfect 10.

Mercedes and the Missing Clock

The lessons that Anuj Khare, author of Mercedes and The Missing Clock, teaches, contain a profound vision to improve quality of life by creating time in life for what really matters. Being touted the world's youngest ever motivational speaker, the author shatters conventional wisdom on time management simultaneously replacing it with the new self-transforming philosophy of time mastery.

Written in the format of a fable, the book opens with an Utopian like world 'The Atlantis' where there is supposedly complete harmony between humans and the various elements of the Universe. However, the story almost instantaneously steers to portraying one of life's stark realities- the constant struggle to manage personal and professional life successfully.

The reader would get a grasp on the extent to which the ideas are out of the box in the first few pages where the protagonist having undergone a massive transformation, apparently the result of attending a seminar with his family, teaches his subordinate during a seven day training programme, on the very same principles that changed his life. The real wisdom opens with a stark difference between time management and time mastery. In the author's words, 'time mastery is a vision to improve the quality of life by creating more time in life for what really matters'. Many of the rantings in this book are like the above mentioned phrase: one that already existed in abundance around us but one that was also often ignored. This leaves a lot of scope for self retrospection, which I guess, is one of the strong points of this piece of work.

As already said, this book shatters many myths. The author engraves into the mind of the reader that time is just an entity that a clock measures (which means time is just a measurement) and should not be allowed to control our lives. At this point, without any practical suggestion on improving the quality of life, the book seems to drag along. However, this dry phase soon opens up to what the author has titled 'The Basic Rules'.This gives the right mix of practical suggestions coupled with a totally new perspective on the issue. This is the portion where one has to really concentrate and work upon as they contain, as the author says, the ground rules for time mastery. It is here that the author differentiates between being the best in the filed and being perfect and the important, non-urgent work that requires most attention.

With the usual emphasis on planning things ahead,especially on outcome-oriented plans, the protagonist also touches upon the importance of execution and discipline and value oriented prioritizing. This is where the entire philosophy of time mastery seems quite intangible with tips on behavioural changes dominating the pages. It is also equally pleasantly surprising that spirituality has got anything to do with mastering our life which forms the last minuscule part, although equally important, of the fable.

Considering the applicability of the wisdom in the 100 odd pages, we could well get an impression of a mixed outcome. There are things that can be easily accommodated into our schedule and there are also things that seem intangible. However, as the author rightfully points out, time mastery is more of a behavioural and attitudinal change that comes with constant practice over a considerable period of time. It has been a commendable effort from the part of the author to break free from the clutches of conventional ideas of time management and bring forth such a radical change in the mindset of the people. The book also has an inherent advantage of having its essence taken from real life situations, which makes it more palatable to the general audience. However, for an avid-reader on self-help and management books, the lessons described here would seem strikingly familiar. It also has some disadvantage of dwelling more on the intangible part of the implementation, which, given the patience levels of the present generation, may not find immediate favour.

Final Word: Definitely Worth a Try. First timers to the concept of time management should experience the kind of techniques that has been brought forth. Promises to be quite an antidote to get yourselves free from the hustle and bustle of daily life,although at your own cost!

My Rating: 7.5/10.