After confronting the harsh reality of her financial struggles, Marianne turned to a different kind of book.

“The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne advocates for using positive thinking and the law of attraction to manifest desires. Though Marianne initially viewed it as delusional, many people claimed it changed their lives, and a small part of her sought a magical solution to her problems.

While the book didn’t make her problems vanish, it did impact Marianne in some ways, both positively and negatively.

The key message is that “The Secret” prompted Marianne to reconsider her ideal life but also disrupted her newly formed financial habits.

Encouraged by a waitress who had read the book, Marianne created a vision board with images representing her perfect life. Starting with a mansion in Los Angeles, she realized it didn’t truly represent her. This led Marianne to redefine her vision, focusing on being healthy, content, practicing yoga, having a partner, friends, and the freedom to travel.

Although she remained skeptical about “The Secret,” a surprising coincidence occurred when her editor asked her to write about kale and yoga just four days after she added those images to her vision board. This made her consider the possibility that there might be something to it.

Recognizing a need for financial improvement, Marianne followed the book’s advice, visualizing money coming into her life and even writing herself a check for $120,000. However, after just a week of committing to better money habits, she stopped tracking her finances and fell behind on her freelance work.