Inspired thinking: the good doctor reveals The Secret to his success

Dr John DeMartini shot to fame when he was featured in Rhonda Byrne's bestselling movie and book, The Secret . The self-help guru was recently in Dubai for his 194th workshop and found time to speak with Emirates Business in a somewhat emotional interview. Can you share the 'Secret'? Every human being has an inner magnificence – an absolute amazing capacity to embrace the world. I would call it the power of their pure intentions. If you concentrate on honing that power, you can actually bring it out into the real world and live the life of your choosing. All you have to do is plan in your mind what you want to create and believe in it. So, the 'Secret' is actually the power of positive thinking repackaged? I would actually call it the power of thinking, because not everyone can be positive all the time. I would prefer to refer to it as inspired thinking. Positive and negative are polar opposites, but inspired thoughts embrace everything – the good and bad. Apply that theory to a relationship and you'll realise sometimes you love the person and sometimes you don't. It's accepting both extremes. How did you realise this philosophy? I was 17 at the time when an amazing teacher taught me everything I know. He taught me to say to myself and preach to myself the things that I really love. At the time I was living in Hawaii and had almost died of strychnine [plant] poisoning. During recovery, I saw a flyer featuring special guest speaker Paul C Bragg. He spoke for 45 minutes about the body, mind and spirit, saying the body must be guided by the mind and the mind must be guided by the soul. We want to set goals for ourselves, our families, our nation, our neighbourhood, our world and beyond. Never give up on your dream. That's how Bragg introduced me to the 'Secret'. How does your life philosophy fit in with corporate culture? I have worked with major companies over the years and if there is one thing that I have noticed, it's that everybody has a set of values. Workers have to be inspired from within to go after things. But as they go down the value list, where some values take priority over others, you need more motivation from the outside world to achieve things that don't hold much importance in their life. Finding out what values work for people is essential because you are giving them job responsibilities linked with their values. When did you decide that it was your turn to impart that knowledge? I sat with Bragg one night and told him that I wanted to be a healer, a teacher and a philosopher. I wanted to share my findings and teach people about life. My first student was a 375-pound woman: I was in college at the time and was performing yoga in the library. In the middle of my shoulder and headstands, this lady came up to me and said: 'Can you teach me that?' I was never able to get her to do any postures but she was interested in philosophy; I taught her what I knew. Didn't you drop out of school for a period before joining college? Yes. My first grade teacher told me that I would never be able to read, write or communicate and that kind of stuck with me. I suffered from dyslexia and didn't read my first book until I was 17. So at the age of 14, I decided to drop out of school and live my life. But Paul Bragg changed all that. I finally decided to buy a dictionary and started memorising words every day. My vocabulary increased and I moved back to Texas and took the GED test (college entrance test) and passed. How many books have you written? If you put all the manuscripts together, then it is well over 250. However, if you count the self-help books, then it is 40. How do you handle cynics? For every gullible person who doesn't stand on his own thinking, there's a sceptic to counterbalance the gullible. You never get one without the other. If you are sceptical, you give me insight to make sure I do my due diligence and present something that sells. Do you often work with celebrities? I do, but you sign confidentiality agreements before working with them so I can't reveal any names. Is there any one person you consider your greatest achievement? This one 14-year-old boy came to me once who had nine brothers and sisters. He was raising the family himself while living in a shack. He was making only $200 [Dh734] a year, and he had to pay $15 day to have someone watch his siblings while he went out to work everyday. He came to this talk I once did and was inspired. Within the first year, he put $20 down for a house, even if it was a shack with a single light bulb and a leaky roof. Does your work ever get you down? Never. I'm not tired of what I do, but travelling tires me out. I think people deserve to look into the mirror everyday and tell themselves: 'Thank you, I love you'. Dr John DeMartini Teacher, healer and philosopher When Dr John DeMartini was a young boy, he came across a homeless man who offered to buy him coffee and take him to the library. That homeless man turned out to be Hollywood producer/direc