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Lewis HowesCREATOR of “THE SECRET” Reveals How The LAW of ATTRACTION Actually Works! 🤯 | Rhonda Byrne
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EVERY SPOKEN WORD
75 min read · 15,227 words- 0:00 – 2:37
Intro
- RBRhonda Byrne
Every human being is a creator, and they are creating their life. So it's not that our thoughts are powerful, it's that we are powerful. And so when we focus on a thought, and we really hold that focus, that thought will manifest in our life.
- SPSpeaker
You are always being moved toward magnificence, even when we're in breakdown stress and feel like we're suffering. How are we on track when we're in that moment?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Well, we are, and that night that I talked about where everything collapsed in a heap, and I, I was going to be broke, my health was really bad, my relationships were in a mess.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
My father had died really suddenly, he was young. But if any of those things hadn't happened, I would never, ever have discovered The Secret.
- SPSpeaker
Should we be thinking more about our thoughts or our feelings when it comes to manifesting-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Both
- SPSpeaker
... and attracting abundance?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Good question. You know what I would say? I would say...
- SPSpeaker
I think you gotta have a dream. The School of Greatness. Really? [laughs] Yeah. Please welcome Lewis Howes. Welcome back, everyone, to The School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have the inspiring Rhonda Byrne in the house.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Mm.
- SPSpeaker
I'm so grateful that you're here.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh, thank you so much for having me here. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
We were just talking about this, um, right before, that you have sold, with The Secret, almost 34 million copies are in print around the world, translated in over 50 languages. Um, and I believe this is one of your first sit-down interviews in person since you did Oprah about 16 years ago.
- RBRhonda Byrne
That's true. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
You've done a few virtual interviews over Zoom.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Uh-huh.
- SPSpeaker
We did one that got millions of views around the world. And, um, and you are back in person. I'm so grateful that you're here, because there's definitely an energy about you in person that brings a different element.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Aw.
- SPSpeaker
And I'm excited to talk about the things, some things that we covered in the previous interview-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... but even more, because you have this incredible piece of art that you've come out with called these manifestation cards, uh, The Secret Manifestation cards, which are beautiful, and I want to go through a number of these today and talk about this. But you have received so much celebration over the last 16 years since The Secret came out.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
But you've also had criticism of The Secret and what this is.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
And so for people that don't know what The Secret is-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Ah
- SPSpeaker
... if they didn't see our previous interview, and this is their first time hearing about you-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right, right
- SPSpeaker
... and it's their first time seeing what is the Law of Attraction and The Secret-
- 2:37 – 8:23
The Law of Attraction explained
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right
- SPSpeaker
... can you explain what the Law of Attraction and manifesting actually is in simple terms before we dive in deeper?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Sure. [laughs] Gee, it'll be interesting to see what... interesting to see how I describe it now-
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm
- RBRhonda Byrne
... after all these years. Um, basically every... Not basically, actually every human being is a creator.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And they are creating their life. And we don't know, for many of us, we did not know that that was the case, and we are creating our life through our thoughts. So it's not that our thoughts are powerful, it's that we are powerful. And so when we focus on a thought, and we really hold that focus, that thought will manifest in our life. And so we create our own life through our thoughts and through the mind. The mind, our mind is super, super, super powerful.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
For good or for worse.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yes. So for example, um, we can talk about what we want, and we will manifest that, you know? And so some people, they just see the abundance in the world, you know, that's all that they see. They don't, they don't see any lack. They just see abundance, and everything seems to go right for them. Everything falls into place for them. They invest in this, and it skyrockets, and they, they buy a house in this place, and that suburb goes crazy, and it's like everything they touch turns to gold. But it's because they have the mindset that is toward wealth and abundance, and they don't have a mindset toward lack. And we have a lack mindset when we say things like, "I'm broke, I don't have enough, um, I don't have enough to pay my bills." And you see, whatever we say is what our life will be. And so if we are saying, "I don't have enough money," then by law of attraction, we will not have enough money. We will continue to not have enough money. So what we have to do is we need to speak about what we want, and we need to talk about, for example, if it's money or if it's health or if we're not feeling really great, then we can talk about what it feels like to be really well instead of talking about not being well. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right? Because if we're talking about not being well, we're attracting more of that, more of that, more of that.
- SPSpeaker
Right.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And so that's basically law of attraction. I mean, it is so wonderful, and it's so intricate, and the more that you... the more that it becomes a part of your life, the more you see the little kind of twists and turns and-
- SPSpeaker
Synchronicities
- RBRhonda Byrne
... yeah, like for, for example, if, if, if you're saying, you know, "I'm so overwhelmed, there's just so much going on at the moment, and I can't get on top of things, and I'm just overwhelmed," guess what? Guess what's coming?
- SPSpeaker
[laughs]
- RBRhonda Byrne
[laughs] More overwhelm and-
- SPSpeaker
Right
- RBRhonda Byrne
... more, you know, as-
- SPSpeaker
So when we speak about things that are frustrating us, that are overwhelming, that are stressing us out, that we're in lack of-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... when we speak about them-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... or we're constantly in a loop of thinking of those thoughts and then speaking them to ourselves or to others-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Mm-hmm
- SPSpeaker
... what I'm hearing you say is it's gonna be a lot harder to get beyond those struggles than to speak in a different way or think in a different way. Is that what I'm hearing you say?
- RBRhonda Byrne
That's what it... That's the case. And in fact, until we think differently, it won't change.
- SPSpeaker
Really?
- 8:23 – 11:30
The price of inconsistency
- SPSpeaker
When people talk about what they don't want consistently-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... what typically happens?
- RBRhonda Byrne
They get that. That's what they get. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
More of what they don't want.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah, yeah. They get more of what they don't want. If we could just talk about what we want, our life would be incredible. Incredible. Amazing. Spectacular. [laughs] That's it. Just to talk about... But we are so... We have a world that's very, um, beautiful, but orientated towards drama and, you know, news is negative. And, uh, so, you know, it's, it's challenging for people, but we're all in it together.
- SPSpeaker
Yes.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Because we're all dealing with the mind, and the mind that might be delivering a whole lot of negative thoughts. But not one of us, it's not harder for one or easier for another. We all have this mind that can be like a flatmate and chatter, chatter, chatter, nonstop chatter, keep going on, you know. Um, so we all... We're all dealing with that, and the mind, it's just a, uh, it's just a program.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
It's not an entity. It's just a program. And so through, I think, because certainly through my experience, through The Secret, we... You can to- totally train your mind to be positive so that it is not leaning toward the negative all of the time. And positive is just what you want.
- SPSpeaker
Right.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right?
- SPSpeaker
When someone is thinking or speaking about what they want, does that mean that they are in lack of it? Or how do they speak about it where it's not from a place of lack?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right. Um, it's a good question because-
- SPSpeaker
You know what I mean? If I'm like-
- RBRhonda Byrne
... it's a fine line
- SPSpeaker
... "I want this, I want this, but I don't have it." So how do we speak about it where we're in gratitude and positive around it, as opposed to, "I really want this thing, but it's not in my life right now, but I really want it"?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah, but the problem is you just canceled out the manifestation when you said, "But it's not in my life right now."
- SPSpeaker
Ah.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. Because if you, if you're saying that I, you know, I... Well, you could say it like this: "I would really love to have this." It's a little bit softer, right, than I want. But you... But to manifest something that you... To deliberately manifest, you have to want it, but then you can't have any thoughts of, "Well, it's not here yet." Because the moment you say, "It's not here yet," what does law of attraction do? It's not here yet.
- SPSpeaker
Mm. And it's constantly not here yet.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
So-
- RBRhonda Byrne
So
- SPSpeaker
... say this, so say this again. How do we really manifest something? We, we put it out there. We speak it or we think it, but then we detach from it?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. And you know, here's the thing. We so don't realize our own amazing power, that we can just ask for something, and it will be given to us.
- 11:30 – 18:44
The power of manifestation
- SPSpeaker
Now, here's what, here's what the criticism online is for The Secret-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Okay
- SPSpeaker
... or the Law of Attraction-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Okay
- SPSpeaker
... or anyone talking about manifesting.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Okay.
- SPSpeaker
This is what I'll see people, and this is-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Okay
- SPSpeaker
... typically people in lack, or maybe people with more of a negative frustration because they don't have what they want. They will say, or these are comments that I'll see, "You can't just think something and expect it to appear without putting in the hard work, without action, without consistency. It just, the world just doesn't work like that." When you see comments like that, or people say this-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Ooh
- SPSpeaker
How would you respond to someone saying, uh, thinking that or saying that?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Well, I don't, um, I always kind of feel that everybody has the right to think what they want and believe what they want, and I, I know it's not the case. Um, I remember Lester Levinson said something so incredible. He was a wonderful teacher. He's not alive anymore, um, but he was very simple in the way that he talked, and he, he told these students that if you want something, I could lock you up in a room and padlock that room, and you ask for that, and you know you have it, right? You know you have it now, and it will come.
- SPSpeaker
Really?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. It will come, and nothing in this world can stop it. So-
- SPSpeaker
Wow
- RBRhonda Byrne
... right?
- SPSpeaker
What are some examples in your life where you've, you've thought or spoken about something you've desired or wanted, and it has come effortlessly? And... Or maybe an example of people that have written about their success stories. Is there anything you can think of?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right. Um-
- SPSpeaker
Where maybe for a long time they'd struggled in manifesting or attracting what they wanted, but-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right
- SPSpeaker
... they started to apply this, and really believed it, and that thing came to them.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right. Well, when I did a book signing, um, and I had... I got to talk to all of these different people, and every single person at that book signing told me about how their life had completely changed.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And what was amazing was, s- so somebody would say that they wanted to have, they were working, I don't know, cleaning a bank or something, and they wanted to have their own sound studio, and that is what they decided to manifest, and they visualized and visualized, and they felt it, and they wouldn't allow any thoughts of doubt to enter their mind. And they are now running one of the top sound studios in LA.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
But not just that, they met their perfect partner. They bought their dream house. They have, you know, two children, or they travel. Every, every single thing that they wanted they received, and that was what was so amazing about all of these people when I was signing books. It wasn't just one thing in their life, but these people were amazing. They did gratitude all of the time, or they did affirmations all of the time, and they had a complete change within themselves, you know, to be kind, you know, to other people. And so they would think positively. They were aware when negative thoughts came, and they would stop them in their tracks. And so for me, I think the biggest manifestation for me was The Secret.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Because I wa- I was, um, a mother of two children in Melbourne, Australia. I had this night where Henny Penny, the sky fell in. Everything in my life-
- SPSpeaker
[laughs]
- RBRhonda Byrne
... completely collapsed, right? And I had a huge awakening that night, [clears throat] pardon me, and realized how... I realized all of this, and how incredible we are, and what we can do, and what mastery we have over the world. And there and then, I, I looked out at the world and I'm like, "No one knows this. No one knows this." And so I was determined that I would find a way to take this to the world. I had no idea what shape or form it would take or, or... But that night I determined that that is what I would do. And so eventually a whole team were gathered. I had a production company at that point, and everybody might think, "Oh, if you had a production company, it's so easy for you to make a documentary." Aha, but let me tell you, ah, there's a snag. I was $2 million in debt.
- 18:44 – 23:57
How to stay on track when life is full of struggle
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yes.
- SPSpeaker
So why are we moved toward magnificence even when we're in breakdown stress and feel like we're suffering? How are we on track when we're in that moment?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Well, we are, though. We are. And, um, I mean, my... If, if, if I use myself as an example, and sometimes excuse me for doing that, but that night that I talked about where everything collapsed in a heap, and I, I was going to be broke. My health was really bad. My relationships-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- RBRhonda Byrne
... were in a mess. My father had died really suddenly. He was young, and he had died really suddenly, and my parents just had the love affair that I've... most beautiful love affair I've ever seen. So my mother was in terrible grief. And so I had all of these things, and then I was going to be bust in 30, 30 days.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
So I was able to turn all of that around, and if that hadn't happened that night, and I've thought about all of the things that led up to that night, and, you know, I was making six doc- documentary films about murder. Can you imagine?
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. A subject like... And it was heart-wrenching because these were unsolved murders-
- SPSpeaker
Oh
- RBRhonda Byrne
... and talking to the families and everything like that. But it was perfection the way that all of these things lined up, that I was making these movies, and then that I plummeted into grief with my father, that I was so stressed about my mother, and all of these things led to this incredible night on the 9th of September at 9:30 at night-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- RBRhonda Byrne
... and where everything fell in a heap. And I... We could all say, "Oh, but that was so terrible all those things happened." And not long before that, you know, years before that, I'd been fired and never imagined I'd ever get fired. But if any of those things hadn't happened, I would never, ever have discovered The Secret. And so, and I've been through lots of tough things since, you know. They're-
- SPSpeaker
It hasn't been perfect?
- RBRhonda Byrne
When... No.
- SPSpeaker
[laughs]
- RBRhonda Byrne
When we're human, you know we're going to have things, um, we're going to have things that will come that will have us go further, reach further, be more magnificent, be more understanding, be more compassionate. You know, when you lose somebody really close to you-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- RBRhonda Byrne
... you become very compassionate. You know? It helps to in- instill all of that. And so absolutely I say that we are all on track. The first thing people always ask me is, "What do you feel about the world? Do you know, oh, my gosh, it's a mess." And I just say, "Everything's unfolding perfectly."
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
It really and truly is.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- RBRhonda Byrne
It's unfolding perfectly. And the same for everybody, and somebody might be going through a really rough diagnosis, but from where I am, there's no end for any of us.
- SPSpeaker
Really?
- RBRhonda Byrne
No.
- SPSpeaker
This-
- RBRhonda Byrne
We are c- we are consciousness. There's no end.
- SPSpeaker
Right. Right.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
So it's not gonna end even if there's a bad diagnosis in our-
- 23:57 – 28:30
How to be grateful during tough times
- SPSpeaker
bankrupt? How can we empower people to be grateful for their challenges when there's so much pain and suffering in their life?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Because being grateful is what will change their lives. And so the difficulties that they're facing, I mean, I, we, we have a lot of stories on our website about people with health challenges and how those, those health challenges just disappeared with love and gratitude, so, and just being grateful. Um, being grateful is, I mean, that, that is just number one. That's the fastest way for anybody to change their life. And I think if, if you went out and asked most people, they would be... They would say, "Oh, yeah. I, you know, I know it's important to be grateful." I think most people would agree with that. And grateful isn't spiritual or, you know, it's just being grateful, and I, I just... If you wanna see the power that you have to change your life really fast, then start doing gratitude, and it will just blow your mind.
- SPSpeaker
It changes everything. Again-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... the next card, I just turned to it-
- RBRhonda Byrne
[laughs]
- SPSpeaker
... is, "Gratitude is the great multiplier. Set the universal forces in your favor for tomorrow. Tonight, before you fall asleep, go back over your whole day in your mind and replay each good moment, feeling genuine gratitude for each one. This practice ensures the universe will make your tomorrow a day filled with good moments, and plenty to be grateful for for the next day as well."
- RBRhonda Byrne
Absolutely.
- SPSpeaker
And when we are ungrateful, when we are not in appreciation-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... for the good, the bad, the ugly-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... what happens in our lives when we lack gratitude?
- RBRhonda Byrne
We're taking things for granted, which means things will be taken from us.
- SPSpeaker
Oh.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. Yeah. When we take things for granted, they, they get taken from us. Yeah. Gratitude will hold absolutely everything to us in our life.
- SPSpeaker
But what are-
- RBRhonda Byrne
It will just, it will stick everything to us.
- SPSpeaker
How do we be grateful when we're in suffering or sadness or loss?
- RBRhonda Byrne
I know it's really hard, but there's, I guess there's like, there's like suffering, sadness, and loss, um, that continues in that way, or there's suffering with gratitude, and the suffering gets easier.
- SPSpeaker
Right.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Or there's sadness with gratitude, and the sadness begins to lift.
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Or the loss with gratitude. Um, I know because of my mother was so grief-stricken with my father having died, and what brought my mother right out of it was gratitude.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
She was just so grateful that they got to have all of the years together that they had, that they had five children. There are five of us, and they had five children, that they had an incredible life, that they loved, they loved each other. It was love at first sight, and they loved and adored each other until the last moment. And she was so glad that he didn't suffer.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Her gra- she just found so many things to be grateful for.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And this was the love of her life, but from doing that gratitude, she just lifted herself up and began to live a new life, you know? So, so what happened was she reduced the, you know, reduced the-
- 28:30 – 31:36
What holds people back from manifesting and attracting?
- SPSpeaker
And if we-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... if we hold on to resentment or lack of forgiveness in our life-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... are we able to manifest and attract beautiful things if we hold on to resentment and anger and don't forgive?
- RBRhonda Byrne
I think we can still, because we're attracting every day, so I think we can still attract things, but will those things bring us peace and happiness? Not when your heart is full of resentment. Because if, if, if you're full of resentment, you, what you will attract is more people, circumstances, and events that will cause resentment.
- SPSpeaker
Oh, my gosh.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
And, uh-
- RBRhonda Byrne
And that's just to show you that there's something to let go of. You know, everything's very beautiful.
- SPSpeaker
Interesting. What do-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Every- everything's beautiful
- SPSpeaker
... can you explain that? What does that mean, something to let go of?
- RBRhonda Byrne
So it's time to let go of that resentment. That, 'cause that original resentment is attached to some story or another that we have about somebody did something to us. And, and, and isn't it crazy that maybe somebody did, but, but then that we would carry that for years.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And by carrying it, we keep attracting more of and more and more of it. So that just, it just shows you how all of those religious texts and everything, they got it really right. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, of course.
- RBRhonda Byrne
When they said not to, you know, love thy enemy, and all of those things that were said, all of those things make total sense. Don't carry those things-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- RBRhonda Byrne
... with you.
- SPSpeaker
Well, that lack of forgiveness, that resentment is- ... an energetic force that's almost attracting more of those things and resisting the abundance-
- RBRhonda Byrne
It is
- SPSpeaker
... of peace and harmony.
- RBRhonda Byrne
It is.
- SPSpeaker
When you're carrying and holding onto that anger, you're resisting peace.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
This is another card, again, I'm just in the flow right here, that says, "Feelings are powerful manifestors. Remember that worry attracts more worry." Just what you said. "Unhappiness attracts more unhappiness. Fear attracts more fear. And remember that joy attracts more joy, happiness attracts more happiness, love attracts more love."
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
And it's the, the times, what I'm hearing you say, the times when it feels like it's the hardest is the times when it's the most important-
- RBRhonda Byrne
That's right
- 31:36 – 43:41
Thoughts vs Feelings
- SPSpeaker
Do we... Should we be thinking more about our thoughts or our feelings when it comes to manifesting-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... and attracting abundance?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Good question. Um, you know what I would say, I would say for people to choose whatever's easiest for them. Uh, I did thoughts. I became very aware of my thoughts, but too, I have to say, I also became super, super sensitive to what I was feeling, so much so that if I wasn't feeling good, I would not open my computer or any emails.
- SPSpeaker
Why is that?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Because if I'm on a frequency, if I'm on a frequency of frustration, when I open up those emails, in comes frustration.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
In comes problems. And so I wouldn't answer my phone if I wasn't feeling good. And in fact, the whole Secret team knows very well-
- SPSpeaker
If you can't get a hold of Rhonda [laughs]
- RBRhonda Byrne
... if, if... No. For them, I told, I said to them, "If, if you don't feel well, please don't touch The Secret. And if you had an argument with your spouse or you got really, you know, fell out of bed the wrong way, take the day off. Don't touch The Secret."
- SPSpeaker
Unless you can shift out of it quickly.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
If you're unable to shift-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Which they, which they all can now.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, of course.
- RBRhonda Byrne
But this was early days.
- SPSpeaker
Right.
- RBRhonda Byrne
So yeah, so I, I was really, really careful to... So feeling good, um, I guess if you ask people how do th- they feel, they might say, "Oh, yeah, I feel, you know, I feel pretty good." Or they... But what I want to know is, do you feel happy?
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Because if you're not feeling happy, then you're unhappy.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Like, we could say there's just two, you know, two emotions.
- SPSpeaker
It's black and white.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right?
- SPSpeaker
Happy or not happy.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Exactly. Yeah. And so if you're not feeling... And if you think about a time in your life when you felt happy, and I don't mean overexcited or... What I mean is just happy, you know, just feeling full and happy, and it's a great day, and you're really positive and friendly to everybody. Yeah, that's happy, and the other, that kind of numb feeling or, you know, it's another day, kind of, that's unhappiness.
- SPSpeaker
I will say, Rhonda, I, I d- I grew up not thinking that I was very smart or intelligent. I struggled in school. And so I had this belief that I wasn't smart enough-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right
- SPSpeaker
... for really anyone or anything.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right.
- 43:41 – 50:41
Why you are worthy of great things
- SPSpeaker
How does someone believe they are worthy of great things the way you have been able to do great things in your life-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... and impact the world in such a magnitude that you have done? How can someone know and trust that something is destined for them? Maybe it's not at this level, but something as great is destined for them. How do they know that? And did you know this your entire life leading up to this, that something like this was supposed to happen?
- RBRhonda Byrne
No, I didn't.
- SPSpeaker
Really?
- RBRhonda Byrne
No. But the moment I discovered it, I knew it. I absolutely knew it. I knew this is why I was here. I just knew it with every fiber of my being. Yeah, so but prior to that, I didn't. I was, um, really ambitious.
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm
- RBRhonda Byrne
Okay? But-
- SPSpeaker
You were driven. You had a business
- RBRhonda Byrne
I was driven.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- RBRhonda Byrne
But when I say ambitious, I was only wanting to perfect, be great myself. I wasn't in competition with anybody. I wasn't trying to be better than that person, or I just wanted to be the best that I could be. Uh, and so I, I didn't, but after I discovered The Secret and my whole life turned completely around, 360, I look back on my life and I saw that every single thing in my life was leading to this.
- SPSpeaker
Really?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yes, because just even things like I worked in the newsroom for, in a radio station, and, um, and so when The Secret went crazy, like crazy, and I just had every news media outlet in the world in every country coming at us, and I did very little and because I knew that what happens, what can happen is that the media will build you up-
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm
- RBRhonda Byrne
... to tear you down.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And I knew that because I had worked in news, and I'd worked in media, and so-
- SPSpeaker
You'd seen it
- RBRhonda Byrne
I had seen it. And-
- SPSpeaker
Is that why you did very... You did Oprah, and that was really it
- RBRhonda Byrne
I did Oprah, and I did Oprah because I knew Oprah lived this.
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And you see, I didn't want to go onto anything where I didn't want to have arguments with people because-
- SPSpeaker
Right. [laughs]
- RBRhonda Byrne
... I'm not trying to convince you to do anything. I discovered something, and I wanted to share it, and if you find that it's incredible for your life, then I'm so happy. If you, if you don't want to hear about it, that's fine, too. So I didn't want to get into situations with people where they're like, "Oh, this is, you know, as if the mind can do this." This is all there is, is mind. You know, they don't even realize. Like, it'll be hundreds of years before, before it is realized what the substance of the universe really, really is, but right now, we can use this knowledge to completely create the life we deserve to have.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- RBRhonda Byrne
And what you were talking about, about being this great greatness, I think some of us were born to do something like this, but then there are others, and I think about this with my mother, right? My mother stopped working when she was, like, 19 years old, and she had five children, but my mother achieved greatness because she was an incredible mother, and she was an incredible wife. And so her l- her level was different. And I think, you know, what you did or what I did, not everybody is prepared to take the risk.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
You took risks.
- 50:41 – 53:35
Navigating the pressure of success
- SPSpeaker
How did you navigate the success and not let that weight or pressure break you?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Ah.
- SPSpeaker
Because some people want the impact, the s- the success, but then they're not ready for it. How did you prepare yourself, and was that a conscious decision not to do a lot of interviews after that to not be picked at or try to be pulled down in certain ways like you mentioned?
- RBRhonda Byrne
That was a conscious decision. It was. Um, but-
- SPSpeaker
Like, did you feel ready for the success? Did you feel prepared, or, or did you feel like this was a little overwhelming?
- RBRhonda Byrne
You know what? I never, I never felt it was me.
- SPSpeaker
What do you mean?
- RBRhonda Byrne
I just, I just... It was the message.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
That was the star.
- SPSpeaker
Interesting.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And I never felt that it was me. Like, even writing The Secret book, I absolutely knew that... And making the documentary, like, it was a miracle what happened making that documentary, the way everything that we ever needed just landed right at our feet. I, it wa- it was so spectacu- It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen, and I just knew the universe, you know, just putting that in that m- most affectionate way, I knew the universe was with us. And so, and writing the book, it was the same thing. Like, I felt such a rush, uh, in writing that book. I couldn't write it fast enough, all the things that I'd learned and practiced, and I wanted to share with people. Um, but you know, I had like, I got a burst blood vessel in one of my eyes. I had my feet got all cracked. Um, all the skin on my feet got cracked from the high frequency in writing that book.
- SPSpeaker
Really?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
'Cause you said, you were telling me before off-camera that you wrote this book in Santa Monica in an apartment-
- RBRhonda Byrne
I did. I did
- SPSpeaker
... just a few miles from here.
- RBRhonda Byrne
With my laptop on my lap.
- SPSpeaker
With your laptop on your lap in a small little apartment.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Were you on the beach? Were you off the beach? Were you, uh, what was your environment like?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Off the beach. It was a very simple little corporate apartment. Um, the documentary had been released, and, and I was writing the book, and I had, I... It wa- it was just the perfect situation. I knew exactly everything that I wanted to say. It was really just rushing through me. And, uh, and-
- SPSpeaker
And because of the frequency, you had li- You know, so you had, your body was feeling the-
- RBRhonda Byrne
My body really... Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
That is fascinating.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And after it, I was a wipeout.
- SPSpeaker
You were, like, exhausted.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh.
- SPSpeaker
You were, like-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- 53:35 – 57:33
The story behind The Secret
- RBRhonda Byrne
all.
- SPSpeaker
Right.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
But, but were you a writer before this? Did you-
- RBRhonda Byrne
No. Do you know what? [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
This w- Was this your first book?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
The Secret is your first book, and you sold 34 million copies. That is crazy.
- RBRhonda Byrne
I know, right? [laughs] I remember when, um, Beyond Words, uh, contacted me and said, "We want you to do The Secret book." Well, I knew there'd be a Secret book 'cause I'd seen it in bookstores in my mind all around the world.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
In the front window, I'd seen it. I didn't know what it looked like, but I could feel the book. And, and I said, "Yes!" Like, I knew there'd be a Secret book. And, and I said, "Okay." And they said, "And we want you to write it." And I said, "I'm not a writer." And guess what? I heard those words, and I'm like, "Yes, I am."
- SPSpeaker
Mm. You switched it.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Because-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- RBRhonda Byrne
... because I'm not a writer means that you will not be a writer, right? And I'm like, "Yes, I am," because I can do anything- That I put my mind to. You, a- and you, everybody can do anything they put their mind to. And so, I, and, and so I wrote. And I, I was very specific. I wanted to write to people as though I was just talking to them.
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And not, you know, any kind of incredible huge words or anything like that. I just, I wanted it to be super, super simple.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Because law of attraction was a hard concept to get your head around at that time. It's a lot... It's understood a little more-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- RBRhonda Byrne
... these days, but...
- SPSpeaker
And this is, this is what I love about what you did because you first said you saw it in your mind, and you felt the book in bookstores.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Right? You felt it.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
So you were connecting the thought, the visualization of what you saw in your mind, and the feeling. You had those two things connected it sounded like. And this is where I think some people get wrong about the law of attraction, or the secret, is they... You know, you had those two things, the thoughts and the feelings, as if it was already happening, but then you took action. You wrote the book. You didn't just say, "It's magically going to, like, be in bookstores." There had to be some action-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah, but-
- SPSpeaker
... somewhere, whether it was you or someone else.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah, but I had the publisher come to me to say, "You're gonna write the book."
- SPSpeaker
You drew it in.
- 57:33 – 1:01:35
What's the difference between believing and knowing?
- SPSpeaker
What's the difference between believing and knowing?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Because one... Because knowing is the highest you can get. It's actually, knowing is beyond the mind, but believe... But you can manifest with believing too. So I didn't just believe this had happened. I absolutely knew it.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And I knew it, and I knew what it was going to do, and I, I... How can I, um... It felt... I knew it so much that I felt like I had already lived the entire journey of making it and it coming out, and that I had such a great time that I was reliving it.
- SPSpeaker
[laughs] Oh, that's pretty cool.
- RBRhonda Byrne
That's how, that's how it felt.
- SPSpeaker
This is, this is fascinating what you just said. This unlocked something for me. Um, the difference between believing and knowing.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
I grew up in a religion, uh, the religion of Christian Science, which was all about healing-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... and applying healing thinking, and applying the mind to the material world, but really there is no material world. Anyways, but one of the things that I would hear over and over again, when I felt like something was off in my life, or I felt like I was feeling a pain, or something physical in my body was off, out of alignment, we would have Christian Science practitioners, spiritual practitioners-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Mm-hmm
- SPSpeaker
... that would give us, um, prescriptions, but they weren't medications. They were spiritual medications, essentially. Right?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Gotcha.
- SPSpeaker
And it was... And they were always called truths. And they would always say, "Know the truths." They didn't say, "Believe this." They would say, "Know the truths, and when you know it, it is true, and it, it is a reality." And it was hard, it was confusing as a kid, 'cause I was like, well, but I feel this thing, and there's this pain, but how can I know it? But what I'm hearing you say is believing can, can really help you in a big way, but knowing is what unlocks manifestation into another level.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah, knowing it's just done. I mean, there have been times for everybody when they knew something, they absolutely knew something was going to happen before it happened. So let's say-
- SPSpeaker
And how do they know that?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yes. How did you know that? And you don't know how you knew it.
- SPSpeaker
It's like an intuition-
- RBRhonda Byrne
But you knew it
- SPSpeaker
... or a feeling or something, right?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah, right? You knew it. Like, somebody's having a baby and they don't know what sex it is, but you're like, "Oh, I know it's a girl. I absolutely know it's a girl." And everybody thinks you're just guessing like everybody else. No, you're like, "I know it. I know it's a girl." Or there's a spinning wheel, and you all of a sudden, you're like, "I know it's gonna be number 11. I know it." And it's number 11. But you knew it.
- SPSpeaker
How does that-
- RBRhonda Byrne
You absolutely knew it
- SPSpeaker
... how does that happen?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. 'Cause it's above the mind.
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
It's above the mind. So you, you, you definitely know it. So you [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
That's crazy. How, how-
- RBRhonda Byrne
So you don't have to be at knowing-
- 1:01:35 – 1:07:24
Manifestation doesn't work for me. What now?
- SPSpeaker
if there's a example in your life personally or something you've seen from a friend or someone who's read the book, where they were like, "Man, I've been waiting for this to happen. It's been 10 years. I feel like it's supposed to happen. I'm believing it's happening, but I haven't got the thing that I've wanted yet," or haven't... It hasn't happened yet, hasn't come to fruition yet.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right.
- SPSpeaker
Should I have more patience in manifesting? Should I expect it's already here now? What should I do?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Okay. So I've definitely had some people do that, one in particular. She was wanting to have a baby and get pregnant. She had visualized, visualized, visualized, visualized getting pregnant. She had been doing affirmations. She'd been grateful-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- RBRhonda Byrne
... that she was getting pregnant, and she's like, still I'm not pregnant. Now, I just... And I think she'd even done IVF, and-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- RBRhonda Byrne
... that hadn't worked, and so she'd sort of given up.
- SPSpeaker
Tried lots of things.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. And, and I just knew that for a woman who can't get pregnant, getting pregnant has a lot of resistance around it. Because when you've not been able to get pregnant, get pregnant, get pregnant, there's like real resistance around that getting pregnant, and so much so that the resistance was outweighing her vi- her resistance that I'm not pregnant yet was outweighing her visualization and all the other things. So I said to her, "I don't want you to visualize that. I want you to visualize holding the baby," because that's the outcome, right?
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm.
- RBRhonda Byrne
That's the end result. You don't wanna be pregnant for the rest of your life.
- SPSpeaker
Right. [laughs]
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right? You wanna be holding the baby. So I said to her, "I want you to visualize holding the baby. I want you to hear the baby. I want you to feel it in your arms."
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Pregnant in a month.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And I've done that with a lot of women.
- SPSpeaker
This is... You know, even you saying that, I'm not a woman, but it's like imagining, you know-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... a, a child coming into my life from my partner, and f- hearing the baby, having the baby against my chest, being born. You know, feeling the heartbeat of the child-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... next to my heartbeat. Having this beautiful moment, like I'm already seeing the future happening now-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... by experiencing that feeling, as opposed to like I'm feeling it-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh, I know. You better be care-
- SPSpeaker
... it's going to happen. You know what I mean? I don't... [laughs]
- RBRhonda Byrne
You, you better be careful. [laughs] You better be careful.
- SPSpeaker
I know, right? But, uh-
- RBRhonda Byrne
You, do you want to have children now? Because-
- 1:07:24 – 1:16:05
Use your ego to your advantage
- SPSpeaker
How do we navigate the ego when, when, let's say, when success comes our way? You know, whether these girls who win the gold medal, uh, you know, an athlete, you selling millions of copies in the first year or months or whatever and getting all these opportunities. How do we navigate the ego from not consuming us-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... but success actually allowing us to multiply into greater success?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. Really good question because-
- SPSpeaker
Like, how did you navigate that?
- RBRhonda Byrne
You just, you certainly have to remain humble, you know? And, um, humble and grateful, and I think we've all seen people that have had success and then just rob- f- just find themselves in the most awful drama of, you know, terrible situation where they made one mistake and just everything, you know, the whole world turned against them. So you have to remain humble, otherwise truly, you're just, you're in for a really rough ride. And you could visualize all the most wonderful things, and you could, you know, achieve all of that and manifest all of that, but if you don't remain humble... Because if, if you look at it any way, you never did it on your own. Like, even if you just look at physically in the world, I mean, I knew we had the universe behind us. I felt it with every step that we took. But, but even... I've got the most incredible team. I mean, we did intentions meetings at 11:00 every morning, and where we intended, and in those meetings we were celebrating The Secret having swept the world and having become a global phenomenon. That's what we did in those meetings.
- SPSpeaker
Before the book came out?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh, yeah. But we danced and we celebrated that. That's what you've got to do. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
You had the feeling of joy and excitement and gratitude.
- RBRhonda Byrne
That it was already done.
- SPSpeaker
Wow.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. If you wanna go traveling, if you wanna see the world and you're like, "I don't have any money. How will I ever go traveling?" Straight away, law of attraction says, "Okay, done." You know, I don't have any money or... But if you wanna go traveling, get out your suitcase.
- SPSpeaker
This is the funniest thing you said, is 'cause my, my fiancee, um, Martha, she's Mexican and grew up in this Mexican traditions. And over the holidays, I don't know, this never happened to me growing up in America, but over the holidays they would do this thing around Christmas and New Year's, her family. And I believe this is a Mexican tradition. Uh, but her family, they'll all get out suitcases during the holidays-
- RBRhonda Byrne
[laughs]
- SPSpeaker
... and say, "Where do you wanna go next year?" And then we leave the house with the suitcase and say, "We're going to Japan." We walk out and we skip down the sidewalk with a suitcase, me and Martha did, and then each family member does this and tells the experience of where they went. I'm going here, and this is where it's gonna feel like, and the experience, and it's this joy and excitement talking about the trip. And we take the suitcase out the door, and then we come back and we tell the experience. And we said this this last year, Japan. And now I, I believe, we literally just booked our trip to Japan happening in, like, a month. So-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh, I was gonna say, you are going to Japan.
- SPSpeaker
It's happening. Yeah, it's happening. No, it's happening.
- RBRhonda Byrne
I mean, yeah.
- SPSpeaker
We've already booked it.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Wow.
- SPSpeaker
But, but even though I didn't know when or how at the end of last year, we set an intention.
- RBRhonda Byrne
You did.
- SPSpeaker
We celebrated it. We talked about it, and we allowed the universe to open up to see when is this possible, how is this possible, what are we gonna be doing, right? And things are coming to us-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... in a way that's gonna create a beautiful, magical experience.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh, so fantastic.
- SPSpeaker
But we took our luggage out.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Great story.
- SPSpeaker
And so I don't know if this is, like, a Mexican tradition, but it's just-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh, this is amazing
- 1:16:05 – 1:24:33
Navigating negativity
- SPSpeaker
is a, this is a card you talk about with negative thoughts. How do we... When we want something, how do we learn to navigate the negative thoughts that come and go? Because not all of us, you know, are gonna be able to have perfect, positive thoughts all day long, especially when there's challenge or breakdown or maybe some financial strain or, or, or pain, physical pain.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
So how do we navigate negative thoughts based on what you've talked about?
- RBRhonda Byrne
The secret really is to become more aware of what's going on in your mind. And, and you might, to begin with, just become aware of your feelings, you know, and all of a sudden you're not feeling very good. And I, I promise you, if you're not feeling very good, it's because you've had a whole lot of negative thoughts that you've been giving your attention to, and that's why you don't feel very good. And so you need to be more, become more aware. And so-
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm
- RBRhonda Byrne
... um, I just had somebody yesterday say to me that they spiraled downward in, in a particular situation, and then they kind of came out of it and they were like, "Why did I do that? Why did I let all of those thoughts get me down like that?" And I, and I said to her, "But you know what? Y- you, what you did is amazing because you saw it. You know, even if you went down with it, you still saw it. You came out of it and you're like, 'Look what happened.'"
- SPSpeaker
Yes.
- RBRhonda Byrne
"That was all negative thoughts." So it's-
- SPSpeaker
But you caught it.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
You were aware of it.
- RBRhonda Byrne
You caught it.
- SPSpeaker
You caught it.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And so for me-
- SPSpeaker
Right
- RBRhonda Byrne
... like really early on, um, you know, I would only realize a couple of days later or... But the more that you do it, the faster that you catch it. And a negative thought feels so alien now, or negative thoughts feel so alien that-
- SPSpeaker
They're foreign to you now.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Well, most people it's negative thoughts are so familiar-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... because that's like all they know is-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yes
- SPSpeaker
... negative thinking.
- RBRhonda Byrne
I know.
- SPSpeaker
You get in a, a trap or in a cycle of thinking.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Mm.
- SPSpeaker
You wake up negative, you wake up frustrated, resentful, and you follow through and you go to sleep frustrated and negative thinking, and it is a familiar feeling.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
I've been there in the past. It just becomes a familiarity of just everything is against me, the world is against me, this person is trying to take advantage of me. Negative, negative, negative.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- 1:24:33 – 1:29:26
What's Next?
- SPSpeaker
of lives. What do you see is next for you, you know, beyond this? Do you have a vision of what you're trying to create in the future, or is it more you stay very present and you allow things to come to you at this stage? Where are you at currently in your life?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Um, I certainly, uh, certainly I allow myself to be guided, and I don't kind of make up my mind. There's a book I've been thinking about for a while, and, um, for the last year, and I've been doing some research on that, so that might happen. We've been doing apps Um, and so I've been enjoying doing that with the team as well. My... I just, all I want to do is keep, keep creating in the hope that to reach more people and to help more people have better lives.
- SPSpeaker
Yes.
- RBRhonda Byrne
That's... And so I don't even mind what shape or form that comes in, um, just as long as it, just as long as it reaches people.
- SPSpeaker
Yes.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah. And it just... I mean, that's just what you live for, and I'm sure that is the case for you too.
- SPSpeaker
That's what I'm doing, yeah.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Right. When you get that feedback, it's just absolutely amazing, and then you're like, "I knew this is what I was meant to do."
- SPSpeaker
Yes.
- RBRhonda Byrne
And isn't it a total feeling of serving is a real feeling of that, is it not?
- SPSpeaker
100%.
- RBRhonda Byrne
You know? Isn't it? Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
And that's where we get a lot of fulfillment, when we're in service.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah, of course.
- SPSpeaker
You know?
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
That's beautiful.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
I'm so excited. Well, we're here to support you, spread the message whenever you have the next book or project.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Thank you. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
So we're, we're here to do more of this.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Thank you. Amazing.
- SPSpeaker
I asked you this question the last time.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh.
- SPSpeaker
It's what I ask everyone towards the end of my interviews, and I'm curious if it's the same or if it's different.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh.
- SPSpeaker
And we'll have to go back and hear the previous interview-
- RBRhonda Byrne
Yeah, yeah. [laughs]
- SPSpeaker
... to see where it's at. But this question is called the three truths. So imagine a hypothetical scenario. You get to live as long as you want in this physical world, but it's the last day for you. Somewhere in the future, it's the last day, and you get to continue to create all the books, the apps, the projects, or whatever you manifest in the future. It all comes true, as it has for you in the last, you know, 15, 20 years. But for whatever reason in this hypothetical scenario, you have to take everything with you. So no one has access to The Manifestation Cards. They don't have access to the movie, The Secret, the book, or anything you've ever created.
- RBRhonda Byrne
Oh.
Episode duration: 1:29:32
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Transcript of episode 5ypFjAkwVZ4
