By Owen Waters

The movie-documentary, "The Secret," skillfully promotes the Law of Attraction and the idea that thoughts become things. The more you pay attention to things, the more they are encouraged to manifest.

Almost as an afterthought, near the end of "The Secret," it is mentioned that - oh, by the way - you also have to work hard in order to make the grandest of dreams come true.

Much of the focus of "The Secret" is on financial abundance, which is one part of the complete principle of abundance. Abundance, in its natural, unrestricted state of flow, applies to everything in your life. Abundance in love, laughter, health, joy and material comfort is perfectly natural and desirable. If a person is financially poor when they could choose abundance, then they probably have some issue inside that is blocking the natural flow.

"Follow your inner joy" may sound like an overused cliche, but it is actually the key to abundance.

My own secret of material abundance recognizes that work is necessary, but it makes the work easy. Here it my secret:

If you spend your time doing work that you love, you will find such work absorbing. When you are absorbed by work that you love, it seems like no effort at all. As time passes, because your attention is absorbed by your work, you naturally become highly skilled, even adept, at what you do. Then, you become valuable to employers or, in business, to your own customers. You then, by default, become highly paid or highly rewarded.

"Follow your inner joy" may sound like an overused cliche, but it is actually the key to abundance. It all starts with this key question:

Ask yourself, "What is the most exciting thing that I could possibly be doing right now to enhance my long-term, inner joy?"

The state of regular, conscious thinking often contains self-limiting filters like skepticism, fears, or a lack of self-esteem. So, for the most inspired and imaginative results, ask that key question near the end of a deep, 20-minute meditation session. That way, your inner possibilities can come forward into your consciousness without being filtered.

Then, find a way to do that most exciting possibility. And, when you have finished doing that, ask yourself the same question again. Usually, the answer will be something in the same direction as your first act, although not always.