My mother gave me a copy of the CD of The Secret for Christmas last year, as I had never heard of it. I just put it away and forgot about it. Later this year when looking for a book to read I was browsing the best sellers list and saw a book that had been in the chart for hundreds of weeks, I was just about to place an order when my son reminded me that I had a copy already.

I drive to work and spend more than four hours a day in the car so I started listening to the CD’s everyday. I got more and more excited. I had always believed that there was something wrong with the premise that you had to work hard to become rich. I had met people who had lots of money who were neither hard working or particularly exceptional and wondered how they had achieved all that they had. Also at times when my life should have been difficult I had never worried as I always expected that things would get better, and they always did.

At the end of last year I was very depressed about my job and tired from working 70 hour weeks, and I had been thinking what I need is a break, and I did an awful thing and imagined that I would get an illness which would stop me working for a number of months and then I would recover. Well as The Secret tells us what we ask for we get. I hurt my back and was off work for 5 months unable to move and in terrible pain. While I was ill I imagined that I would get better and although the doctors did not hold out a lot of hope for a cure they did everything they could to help me. I have been better for the last eight months and the specialist says that my recovery is nothing short of miraculous.

So, back to The Secret… When I started listening to the CD, things that I had understood but never put into words where confirmed to me. Suddenly what I had done from time to time in my life was made clear and I was given the tools to actively make decisions about what I wanted and really imagine these things. I am overweight and have wanted a gastric band operation, however I live in England and there are many hurdles and long waiting lists before you can get this treatment.

Three weeks ago I decided that I would have the operation next year and I started to visualise that I would have the operation. Two days later, unexpectedly, I had an appointment at the diet clinic. At the consultation the doctor started talking to me about diets, then he suddenly stopped and asked what I wanted and I said a gastric band operation. He then told me that my case would need to go to a clinician’s panel for evaluation, but then stopped again and said I am going to ask the surgeon if he can see you today, which he did and I am expecting the operation early in 2010. How impossible this would normally be is only known to people who live in the UK but believe me this is amazing.

And another thing I found out was that I had over paid my builder more than £7,000 last year and he is to send me a refund which will arrive in the post in the form of a cheque.

Finally the thing I am most excited about is that although I have always wanted to start my own company something has always held me back, but by using The Secret I have been inspired with a wonderful idea which I expect to put into practice as soon a Christmas is over.