Self Help Gurus

Author: Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Year Published: 1995
Rating:
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In The Aladdin Factor, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen of Chicken Soup for the Soul fame lay out a framework for asking for and receiving what you want. You may know Jack Canfield as one of the teachers of The Secret or the Law of Attraction. Unlike with The Secret, The Aladdin Factor isn’t concerned with the metaphysical (for instance, all you have to do is ask the Universe for what you want and wait for it to happen.) Rather, it takes the much more direct approach: become clear about what you want then ask people who have the means to help you to guide you towards your goals. continue

A number of commentators featured in the The Secret movie and book are doing free interviews once per week at MastersOfTheSecret.com. It’s free to sign up and to listen.

In the first interview, Joe Vitale discusses what he considers his secret to life. If you’ve never heard of Joe Vitale, he’s well known in internet marketing circles as a great copywriter. (His website is MrFire.com.) He’s known for having written a number of books including The Attractor Factor, Zero Limits, Life’s Missing Instruction Manual, Hypnotic Writing, Buying Trances, and How to Write and Publish Your Own eBook in as Little as 7 Days. continue

In case you missed it, Rhonda Byrne did a telecast tonight with the folks at HealthyWealthynWise.com. Not surprisingly, this was a feel good interview that focused on joy, gratitude, and visualization – the primary topics The Secret movie and book covered – rather than addressing some of the criticisms and concerns that have been brought up recently.

I joined the webcast rather than the conference call and had a few access problems, so I didn’t quite catch the first few minutes. Luckily, the connection soon steadied and I was able to listen to the rest of the call without problems.

Rhonda came across as a very positive and loving woman who really does want to spread love and joy throughout the world. I’ve seen her on Oprah and in The Secret movie, but in this interview, she opened up to fellow Secret star and Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul author, Marci Shimoff. Perhaps that’s because she knew Marci wouldn’t be asking the difficult questions. continue

If you hang out on YouTube at all, you’ll find all sorts of interesting clips. Today, I was searching for some stuff on Esther Hicks. I came across a handful that were extremely well done – here’s one where she talks about why thoughts matter more than actions. She doesn’t actually state that she opposes action. Here point is that you are clear about what you want, you’ll have to take less actions to get there than if you were unclear. (She’s speaking as “Abraham” here.) continue

Recently, Bob Proctor and Jack Canfield have released a new program and affiliate system based on the principles of Wallace Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich. (You can download a copy of the Wattles’ book by joining my mailing list on the intro page of my site.)

If you’ve been following the launch, they came out with this program for $2000 and created what they consider a “generous” affiliate program. When I first saw it, red sirens went off in my head screaming things like “multi-level scam” and “snake oil salesmen”.

It didn’t really surprise me that they would have created this type of program. After all, both guys are serious marketers, so they know how to milk a product for all it’s worth. Canfield has something like 80 different flavors of the Chicken Soul for the Soul books out there. Bob Proctor’s been speaking on the motivational/get rich circuit for quite some time. continue

Of all of The Secret teachers, James Arthur Ray is probably the one I agree with most. Yes, I have some points of differentiation when he gets into his pseudo-quantum stuff (just because we may all be made up of “energy” doesn’t mean we attract things on our own “vibrational” level), but I’m willing to overlook that. At least he’s trying. continue

by Jack Canfield
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Best known for his Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise of books, Jack Canfield is a well known motivational speaker and success coach. Most recently, he’s one of the official teachers of The Secret home study course.

In The Success Principles, Jack Canfield shifts from his “ask… believe… achieve” philosophy of The Secret to focus on taking action. continue

by John F. Demartini
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I recently took an Executive Coaching class at the University of Pennsylvania. In it, we did a number of exercises designed to help us discover and clarify what our core passions and energizers were. By the end, we had a framework for making life decisions based on our core values – and we put together a purpose statement for our lives.

Most people never take the time to really think about what it is that energizes them. I know from working with numerous clients that few people can answer with clarity what their strengths and passions are. Most don’t really understand the question because they’ve never taken the time to think about what it is they want from life. continue

When The Secret first came out, Esther Hicks played a huge role in narrating the docu-drama. So it was surprising that in the latest version, all her bits are cut out. A number of the original viewers were curious why she’d opt out just as the movie started becoming popular. continue