Rhonda Byrne was inspired to write The Secret after reading The Science of Getting Rich. The latter was written by Wallace Wattles. Rhonda Byrne read it during a difficult time in her life. Deeply influenced, she conducted an in-depth study of what modern thinkers had to say about how the universe is governed. In her book, she concludes that there is a natural Law of Attraction. The book claims that everybody and everything in the universe has a certain frequency. The law of attraction ensures that an individual automatically attracts events, situations and other people who come within the same frequency range.

In The Secret, Rhonda Byrne says that understanding this Law of Attraction can help us improve our lives. She emphasizes the power of positive thinking. The power to think positively at all times will automatically attract positive events, situations and people in our lives. Thus, people who feel that their life is going out of control should modify their thoughts to think positively. Think that you are rich and you will become rich. Think you are happy and you will be happy. This kind of thinking, the book says, will bring desirable outcomes in life vis-à-vis health, happiness and wealth.

General Reception and Other Adaptations

Translated into 44 languages and with more than 19 million copies worldwide, it was preceded by a low-budget documentary film of the same name that was released on DVD. The DVD sales soared and Rhonda Byrne became a well-known name after renowned TV host Oprah Winfrey recommended the book on her show. Buoyed by the success of the movie, Rhonda Byrne came out with a book The Secret within eight months. It was followed by several follow up books including The Power. The book was on The New York Times best seller list for 146 weeks.

About the Author
Rhonda Byrne started her career as a radio producer in Australia before moving on to television. Her television production company is known as Prime Time Productions and has won several industry awards. In 2004, she was in emotional turmoil after the death of her father and relationship problems. That is when she started work on The Secret.

Rhonda Byrne was selected as one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in the year 2007. She has also made it to the Forbes Celebrity 100 list.