Somehow books offering less than 10 things to remember appeal to me. Numerologically there are nine numbers as 10 is really one plus zero making one again. Plus there is the idea that the conscious mind absorbs seven plus or minus two pieces of information.

Deepak Chopra seems to like the number seven: I have just finished reading The Ultimate Happiness Prescription: 7 Keys to Joy and Enlightenment, also by him. So I picked up this book just to see what Deepak had to say on the fulfilment of Dreams.

It is the perfect handbag sized book to read in the chaos of the morning rush on the tube. The novice spiritual explore may find Deepak’s books long on jargon but he makes up for this with the use of metaphors that make the more complex propositions easier to understand.

Deepak’s vast library of books are his interpretation of basic spiritual concepts, but he dresses them up with science so they typically appeal to a certain type of reader. One thing I have learned after all these years reading different spiritual development books is that they are all variations on the same few themes.

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, which Deepak says could just as easily be called The Seven Spiritual Laws of Life, summarises the basic principles needed for self mastery. A chapter a day, should make me eloquent and heading for success in a week.

The principles behind the vernacular are simple. Even on first reading, they do actually make sense to anyone wanting to make their wishes come true and create success in all areas of their lives.

Deepak takes pains in the introduction to define success as the continued expansion of happiness and progressive realisation of worthy goals. He talks of success as effortless, which is easy on the ear when so many of us struggle in our daily lives to be successful.

His idea is that success flows towards you when you take a spiritual approach to it. While success includes material wealth, Deepak explains that success also includes good health, energy, enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well being and peace of mind.

The seven laws are: the Law of Pure Potentiality; the Law of Giving; the Law of Karma; the Law of Least Effort; the Law of Intention and Desire; the Law of Detachment; and the Law of Dharma.

The book is short, the chapters themselves are short and each section is explained clearly. At the end of each chapter, Deepak shows how to apply the seven laws in everyday life to make the changes happen. If on first reading the laws themselves felt a little complicated, the summary, which applies the seven laws to any cell in the human body, is the perfect metaphor.