It is promoted as a way of obtaining all the good things you want by “manifesting” them into your life from the “abundant Universe”.
It got to be a really big deal a few years ago when the movie “the Secret” was released on-line and attracted enough paying viewers to make its producers wealthy to the power of 10.
As a critic of personal development as it is done today I’ve come to notice that there is one universal direction that vendors in this industry all move in. They all want to change the way their clients see themselves. In other words, what they think of themselves. Their belief level.
I don’t have a problem with that.
To accomplish this change in thinking the Personal Development (PD) gurus try to give people a boost in the belief department. For a short time it almost always works. But then, just as the client has left the very positive and supportive atmosphere of the counseling room or seminar, it happens.
It starts to fall apart.
I won’t guess at the numbers but I’ll bet the recidivism rate is high. As easily as the self-belief was suggested into existence it’s wings of gossamer break like those of a bird hitting a window. Pumped up for now they go back to their lives. But the hardness of existence is far more real than the fuzzy echoing of affirmations (“you can do it”) they are encouraged to embrace.