We were discussing the book “The Secret” a couple of nights ago, and some people related how they thought it was all fluff. To a certain degree I understood their point from a certain perspective. Getting what you want in life takes more than just thinking about it and waiting for it to manifest itself. We are constantly reminded as we are growing up that life is tough and you need to put in a lot of hard-work to make a place for yourself in the world. I do not dispute this statement in any way. I do believe that it is only through hard-work and dedication that we actually achieve things in life. However, it does leave you wondering when you start thinking about it in greater depth. If I work hard doing just about anything, will I achieve my goals and be happy? I realize this is a simplistic example, but it is what the youth take from that statement.

I believe we need to start providing the younger generation with the ability to explore their passions, likes and dislikes from a very young age. Instead of repeating the mantra of study hard in school and university and then get a good job, start by asking them to explore their personal preferences. In the end we will only get what we want in life…if we know what it is that we are looking for. We cannot begin the journey blindly and take the ‘come what may’ attitude, that only confuses us further. As a parent, brother, sister, friend or teacher we have to get the younger generation thinking about what they want, instead of telling them what we want for them. It is only natural that we want the best for them, at the same time we want them to have all the things that we did not have. That in itself could be a good education, the ability to travel, learn more about the arts or anything else that we would have liked to have done when we were younger.

Each one of us is unique. We each have a set of strengths and weaknesses and we need to figure out how best to use them. This process requires introspection, creativity and a channel to allow for expression. I do think we have to get the thinking process started at a young age to determine what interests us, excites us and gets us out of bed in the morning. I can tell you for a fact, that for me it was not my early morning math classes at school! However, I would be up bright and early working on entrepreneurship modules at universities. I am still developing my goals list about the things I want in life. This begins the process of the law of the attraction that is talked about in The Secret. It is the starting point, that first step that we all need to take in order to get what we truly want.

We should not leave this to chance and to what others think we want in life. We need to make a concentrated effort and take time out to map all we want, and then work towards planning to achieve that.