Rhonda Byrne is the Australian creator and executive producer of the film The Secret and the author of the book of the same name, which her official biography says is available in more than 50 languages. [1] Her other books include The Power, The Magic, Hero and The Greatest Secret. [1]
Who is Rhonda Byrne?
Rhonda was born in Australia and began her career as a radio producer before moving into television production. [1] She now lives in California. [2]
In 2006 she released the documentary film The Secret, which was viewed by millions, followed by the book. [1] Her biography says the book spent more than 200 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. [1] In 2007 she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show with four of the film’s teachers, and TIME magazine named her one of “The People Who Shape Our World.” [1]
She followed with The Power in 2010, The Magic in 2012 and Hero in 2013, then How The Secret Changed My Life, a collection of readers’ stories, in 2016. [1] Her 2020 book The Greatest Secret “takes her readers beyond the material world and into the spiritual realm.” [1] She was also a producer on the 2020 film The Secret: Dare to Dream, starring Katie Holmes. [1]
Today she shares her teachings in regular live Q&A sessions on The Secret’s YouTube channel, answering questions sent in by readers from around the world. [3] [4]
Her approach in brief
- Think about what you want. Not what you don’t want.
- Practise gratitude daily. Remember yesterday’s blessings.
- Ask, then let go. Doubt pulls you back.
- Ask, “Am I aware?” Come back to the present.
At a glance
Known for: The Secret
Topics: Law of attraction, gratitude, awareness
Format: Books, films, live Q&As
Books: The Secret, The Power, The Magic, Hero, The Greatest Secret
YouTube: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Good fit if
You’re curious about the law of attraction, you want a simple daily gratitude habit, or you’re drawn to spiritual ideas about presence and awareness.Our take
The woman behind The Secret, with gentle, practical habits of gratitude and awareness. Start with her seven-minute gratitude video.Rhonda Byrne’s practices
These practices come from her books and live sessions, explained in her own words. Tap a card to read more.
How she found The Secret
Rhonda describes 2004 as a very hard year. Her father died suddenly in March, she was sleeping on edit suite floors making a difficult TV series, and her family was in grief. [3]
On the night of 9 September 2004, after two upsetting phone calls, she went out to her balcony in Melbourne and broke down. Her eldest daughter came out with a photocopied book and said, “Read this, it’ll help.” [3]
It was Wallace Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich, written 100 years earlier. “I went from absolute despair, to like, exhilaration,” she says. For the next three months she “researched nonstop,” reading Wattles’ mentor, then that person’s mentor, and so on “back through time.” [3] That research became The Secret.
Think in a certain way
Rhonda sums up the central idea she took from Wattles in simple terms: “thinking in a certain way means to think about what you want and not what you don’t want.” [3]
The partner idea is “acting in a certain way,” which she explains as “act in accordance with your thought of what you want. So don’t let your actions contradict what you want.” [3]
She also likes his advice to be “creative and not competitive,” and to notice each small win: “every time you complete a task in the day, to acknowledge the fact that you completed a task.” [3] And the biggest chapter of the book, she points out, is on gratitude. [3]
Remember The Magic
Rhonda’s favourite practice from The Magic, her book of 28 gratitude practices, is called Remember The Magic. [5] [4]
- Go back over yesterday. Start from when you woke up and recall the morning, afternoon and evening. [5]
- Ask a question. “What are the good things that happened yesterday?” [5]
- Write them down. Small or big, “it’s not about the size of the blessings.” [5]
- Say thank you for each one. [5]
Because “every day is different,” she says, “you never get bored.” You can mix it up, writing the list some days and saying it aloud on others. [5] She also suggests sending text messages of thanks to people you’re grateful for. [5]
Ask, then let go
Readers often ask Rhonda whether to ask for something once or visualise it every day. Her answer is that “by rights you should only need to ask once.” [3]
The tricky part, she explains, is that we cancel it out “by having the thought, where is it? It’s not here yet.” So if you have doubts, you may need to repeat it, but asking “over and over again is saying you don’t have it.” [3]
Her advice to one long-time reader was to “visualize it one more time in a different way. And then let it go completely,” and to “get on with your life.” [3]
She also offers a simple morning affirmation: “Today, wherever I go, whoever I’m with, and whatever I’m doing, I’m going to look for happiness and joy.” [3]
Am I aware?
In The Greatest Secret, Rhonda moves beyond the law of attraction to awareness. To be aware, she says, “is like being alert and present.” You are unaware “when you were listening to thoughts in your head and responding with more thoughts.” [4]
Her practice is one question: “Am I aware?” When you ask it, “notice that just for a trillionth of a second, the mind stops.” You can also ask, “Am I present?” or “Am I conscious?” [4]
To stay aware for longer, she suggests pausing when you notice it, observing the sounds and sensations around you, and looking at “the space between objects,” since “the mind is only looking at objects.” [4]
The Welcoming practice
The Welcoming practice, also from The Greatest Secret, is about allowing feelings rather than fighting them. [4]
She explains it in steps. “Sit comfortably and relax and open your attention wide” so you are not focused on anything. Then welcome the feeling, and even welcome wanting to get rid of it. [4] She often holds her palms up, “because when you’re welcoming somebody, you do kind of, you open your body up.” [4]
The aim is to “allow the feelings to be present without trying to push them away,” while not focusing into them either. Alongside it, she suggests doing “some gratitude every single day.” [4]
Videos with Rhonda Byrne
Hand-picked from The Secret’s official channel and her interviews, and checked one by one: gratitude, her story, awareness and talks with other teachers.
Start here
Gratitude
Her story and teachings
Awareness
Conversations
Articles about Rhonda Byrne
Rhonda Byrne’s books
Rhonda’s books, in the order she wrote them.
Find her books in your country: US · UK · Canada · Australia · India.
Where to learn from her
Rhonda’s live Q&As are free on The Secret’s YouTube channel, and the official website offers a free email newsletter called The Secret Scrolls. [3]
Her books are published worldwide, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and India, and The Secret is available in more than 50 languages. [1]
What the Research Shows
Two practices Rhonda teaches, gratitude and being present, have also been studied by psychologists.
- Gratitude. People who regularly wrote down what they were grateful for reported higher wellbeing and more optimism than comparison groups. [6]
- Being present. People were happier in the moments when their attention was on what they were doing. [7]
See: Rhonda Byrne on Instagram
Here are two posts from the official Instagram account of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne’s book and brand.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Frequently asked questions
Who is Rhonda Byrne?
The Australian creator of the film The Secret and author of the book, plus The Power, The Magic and The Greatest Secret.
When did The Secret come out?
The film came out in 2006, followed by the book.
How did she discover The Secret?
In 2004 her daughter gave her Wallace Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich, and she spent months researching the teachers behind it.
What is Remember The Magic?
Her favourite gratitude practice: list the good things from yesterday and say thank you for each.
What is The Greatest Secret about?
Awareness. Her main practice is to ask yourself, “Am I aware?”
Where does she live?
She was born in Australia and now lives in California.
Where should I start?
Her seven-minute gratitude video, then her live Q&A on how she discovered The Secret.
Sources
- The Secret: Rhonda Byrne's Biography
- The Secret: The Greatest Secret
- The Secret: The Discovery of The Secret, Live Q&A
- The Secret: Are You Aware? Q&A with Rhonda Byrne
- The Secret: Do You Believe in Magic? The Power of Gratitude
- Emmons and McCullough, Counting Blessings Versus Burdens, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Killingsworth and Gilbert, A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind, Science 2010
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