James Arthur Ray, from "The Secret" said on the Oprah show, if you sit around and visualize, they'll come and take your furniture!  While John Demartini (from "The Secret" and Larry King Live) said, if you're really ill, start medical treatment while you explore alternatives, like thinking yourself well.  

What they mean, is yes, the Law of Attraction does work and our thoughts do create our reality, but the rest of the world is going to keep moving forward whether you stop to create your reality or not.  You are still working on other people's time tables - the people you pay your mortgage to, your own body's cells that need healing, your husband who wants a divorce, your pet that needs to see the vet, etc.  So sometimes you need to take significant actions in the world, while you pursue creating your own reality on the side.

For example, if you develop a serious, life-threatening, heart condition, don't rely entirely on the power of your thoughts for healing yourself, especially if you're new to the practice - your thoughts do have the power to heal you entirely, but do you really want to risk the time it might take to do it that way instead of changing to a healthier diet immediately and using the power of your thoughts at the same time?  When people say that your thoughts create your reality, part of what they mean is that thought occurs to you to take action toward your goal (not just that your thoughts will attract what you want to you without you doing anything).  So when you keep having that thought of "maybe I should start eating healthier," act on it, don't ignore it by telling yourself you'll just think yourself healthy - your thoughts are trying to help you get healthy and your ignoring their message!  That is part of your thoughts creating your reality and healing your body.  Think about it from a future perspective, after you've changed your diet and your heart is healthy again... you look back wondering if your thoughts created your reality, and you realize, if you hadn't had that thought to change you diet while others were telling you to either have surgery or to think yourself healed, you wouldn't be where you are today - your thought did create your reality!

That's also what James Arthur Ray meant on the Oprah show when he offered a woman in the audience advice on getting out of debt.  He told her to set up automatic bill paying so that she could live without thinking about her debt.  This is the action that MUST accompany her new positive thoughts and feelings about being financially free.  You cannot think yourself out of debt if your regular actions signal your debt to you!  You can relax and forget about your debt by knowing all of your bills are being paid on time and automatically... this will allow you to create your reality with your thoughts - to start feeling the feelings of already being financially free.  But you need to do both kinds of actions to get out of debt - if you set up the automatic payments and don't change your thinking, you'll continue to attract debt by the Law of Attraction, and if you change your conscious thoughts without setting up the automatic payments, you'll continually be reminded of your debt and feel feelings of debt when you have to pay your bills manually, which will undo your positive thoughts about financial freedom.

Remember, when you have inspired thought, act on it!  Don't try to think the world into the existence that you want - go with the flow and use your thoughts to create your personal reality as you continue to function in the world with others.  Make time in your life to use the tools and methods from "The Secret" such as visualizing, making a vision board, saying affirmations, journaling, etc.  But don't put your life on hold to do it.