“Man, Tim Ferris is just a scam artist who wants to steal your money. That stuff doesn’t work.”
“Man, Tony Robbins is just a scam artist who wants to steal your money. That stuff doesn’t work.”
“Man, this guru and that guru are scam artists who just want to steal your money. That stuff doesn’t work.”
Friends, I would like to share with you how I feel about self-help gurus.
Does reading self-help guru stuff work or is it a bunch of hogwash designed to steal your money?
I will say here and now that YES those types of books work. But they do not work in the traditional sense, or in the way most people think they are supposed to work.
Most people think that if they follow the method in The Four Hour Work Week they will become rich and work only 4 hours per week. That is incorrect. What you will get from the book (if, and only if, you are open to ideas) is MOTIVATION to go after your true calling. You will get ideas and you will get fired up. What you do not want to do is follow the method that the author, Tim Ferris, used. It worked for him but does not mean it will work for you. Especially now that the book is many years old. It’s a dinosaur in terms of internet marketing but it is still a MUST READ for hungry entrepreneurs.
The real beauty of guys like this, gurus if you wish, is their ability to motivate you to becoming something better. No, you really cannot do what Tony Robbins does. Only Tony Robbins can do what he does. You really cannot do what Tim Ferris does, only Tim Ferris can. But what you can do is read their work, let their infectious energy motivate you, grab an idea here or there and then get to work on your own project.
The books, self-help style entrepreneur books, are just motivation. They aren’t literal blueprints. There are people who understand that and there are people who don’t. The people who don’t get it are the people who take the books literally. The guy that doesn’t get it is the guy that says “No way you can work only four hours per week! That guy is a scam artist!”. Let me be the first to say “No shit you can’t work four hours per week!” That is EXPLICITLY stated in the book. The title is simply a motivator. You read these books to get motivated and to get ideas. Even if you get one idea from the book it was worth your money. One tiny little nugget of an idea is worth far more than the price of a book.
One day, a couple of years ago, I was browsing through a used bookstore and I found an old hardcover copy of The Four Hour Workweek. I remembered hearing about it a couple years before, the press and buzz about the book were enormous. At the time the book came out I had no intention of reading it, assuming it was some type of nonsense, baloney. I mean, who can really work four hours per week on a beach?
Well, for 7 bucks I picked up the book and read it in two sittings.
Was it worth it?
The Four Hour Workweek completely changed my life. Completely. It completely opened my mind to new ideas I would have never, ever thought of on my own. From the day I read it my life has never been the same. But do you know how much of the 4 hour method I follow? Zero! I follow absolutely none of the methods in the book. Sometimes blueprint methods are good and work, but when it comes to something big, your lifelong dreams and obsessions, then there is no blueprint you can follow. You will have to take ideas from here, take ideas from there, take ideas from everywhere and put them together until you have something special.
It’s not really about working 4 hours per week. It’s like what Tony Robbins says, it’s about unleashing Unlimited Power and Awakening the giant within.
Are these guys scam artists? Well, that depends on who you ask. Most people who read their books will DO NOTHING to better themselves and because they cannot fathom that anyone can become better they assume the books are ripoffs and scams. Or they will take the books literally and try and walk in the shadows rather than forging their own path.
My favorite blogger, Rick Schwartz, has written many times that a set of 20 Tony Robbins tapes he bought in 1994 completely changed his life. He listened to the first 4 tapes and never listened to the other 16. He was so fired up from the first 4 that they were all he needed to get started. Today he is a multi-millionaire domain investor.
You see, it’s not about the methods or blueprints in the books, it’s about opening your mind to the possibility that a giant lies within you. All you need to do is wake that giant up and get to work. It’s about motivation, it’s not about method.
Friends, some of you have giants within you. And some of you don’t. To those that don’t, I only have one thing to say to you: “Yeah, I’ll have fries with that“.
-Victor Pride
PS - I will guarantee you that my book BODY OF A SPARTAN is going to give you some phenomenal fitness and muscle building ideas. And heck, I’m even going to throw in some blueprint recipes for the guys just getting started in the weight room. It’s time to awaken the giant within. Or, as I call it, the Wolf within. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
I have much the same thoughts as you. I doubt anyone who has the motivation to set up a business that could be managed in just four hours a week would be interested in doing it anyway. By the time you have the motivation to get that done your also going to want to keep taking it to the next level. Or to start another project. Keep up the good work!
Here… Let me educate everyone on Tim Ferris…. Outsource all your work to India. THE END
Very eloquent. I completely agree.
You hit it right on! I was just trying to explain that very book to someone and in the end I knew he didn’t hear me, but it has changed my life. Not because I’m working his thing but because he showed me ideas and possibilities.
I like Jim Rohn. He used to be the mentor of Tony Robbins.
“Yeah, I’ll have fries with that” BURN! That killed me
Dear Victor,
I read these self-help gurus for about ten long years and read them repeatedly. I am a die hard fan of Jim Rohn and perhaps there is no other self help guru who can fire up audience more than him but I found some practical difficulties in implementing plus I had some issues for which I would like to read your candid remarks:
1. I agree that these self help people bank in on motivation as a key but many professions do not need motivation but attention for example a book editing company, a market research firm or a night college. I felt myself overmotivated for many times, which resulted in people reading my body language and assessing that I am willing to serve them, which resulted in low payoffs and exploitation. They make good and motivated servants.
2. Cold and balanced growth strategies, one-step-at-a-time, and playing safe and close to your skill set is normally a sure fire strategy for entrepreneurial maneuvers, which they never focus.
3. Most of self-help gurus are motivating but the sad fact is: they are liars—-Robert Kyosaki had no REAL rich dad or rich guru, Tim Ferris lied many times in his controversial work-the 4 hour mumbo jumbo, 10 people sustained injuries and burns when Tony Robbins did his drill “walk on fire” which makes no sense, Robert kyosaki declared bankruptcy last year, most of the working smart philosophies do not work or have no real significance, one minute manager philosophies are absolutely wrong, mind sciences gurus claim that a person’s eye color and hair color can change at will. So they lie and they are NOT REAL MEN. I read your blog because you do not lie and appreciate your contributions because they are sincere.
4. Most of them have a market in USA, UK and Europe, so their focus is people of these countries. I feel that most of these gurus actually do not want to mentor people of third world, developing world, and especially South Asia and Africa, where bankers do not trust entrepreneurs and governments are unfriendly towards businesses. WE NEED REAL SLEF HELP STUFF BECAUSE I AM A MAN LIVING IN PAKISTAN, TELL ME HOW TO GROW WHEN YOU SEE DEADBODIES, BLASTS, AND MILITANCY EVERYWHERE. They are targeting the people who only want to know how to manage their loan installments and those who already have a 401k retirement plan.
5. Saying is easy and demonstrating is totally another thing. Most of these gurus mainly earn through their books, CDs and lectures. None of them have earned remarkably from any other source.
6. There is a strange psychological phenomenon that people who read this stuff keep on reading this stuff and keep on hoping for the best. So it is a kind of sloth or slumber. People actually take refuge in these books because these books provide a sense of “Artificial Hope”. This artificial hope is just like using a vibrator rather than having real sex.
7. Stay positive philosophies are really helpful but almost all of them urge a person to shut his/her eyes from negative aspects or threats to his/her career, which is a dangerous thing to do. If an entrepreneur operates in a seasonal or uncertain market, he should figure out possible threats.
8. Impressing people with knife sharp words is easier and becoming the next Bill Gates takes knowledge [both technical as well as academic], planning [real organizational planning], financial insight, and marketing advantages. No self help guru is an inventor, technical expert or researcher.
9. Some philosophies become obsolete or they are found ineffective. For example some of the stuff sold by Dale Carnegie is no more valid or has no relevance to this time but they are still selling all that stuff. FOR GOD’S SAKE! SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND AND RECOMMEND ONLY THE HONEST AND THE MOST TRIED AND TESTED FINDINGS BECAUSE PEOPLE GET LIFE ONLY ONCE.
10. The social, mental, educational, and financial caliber of most of the self-help gurus is doubtful. What Tony Robbins could do if he hadn’t become a self-help author and speaker. Some good names for example Dr Wayne W Dyer and Professor David J Shawartz write this stuff and recommend good things but THEY CANNOT PRACTICALLY DEMONSTRATE MOST OF THE THINGS THEY PREACH. It is like teaching wrestling without entering the ring.
11. I have clearly felt the inclusion of ghost writers in these books. It is possible that the book you are admiring might actually be written by a student and not by your beloved guru.
12. There is very puny little existence of useful stuff in these books. For example Rhonda Burne has written many books after “The Secret” but they have not mentioned anything significant.
13. Exercises, tests, charts and questionnaires in these books is an open gimmickry that fools and flatters a person.
So, Vic, please do not recommend them because they DO NOT DESERVE IT. Life is a beautiful balance of positive and negative, right and wrong, good and evil, and profit/loss. Everything has its essence if you have eyes to see. These myopic gurus energize you but DO NOT REALLY HELP YOU. People are concerned about the money they spend on these books but I say that the time we spend on these books is more valuable and a person can spend it more productively.
I want your comments on it.
Regards!
Bilal Ahmed from Pakistan
Self help gurus are all charlatans. The stuff I talk about is for westerners - a non-westerner simply doesn’t have the opportunities. 4 hour work week is not a self-help quack book, and I recommend it because it actually did change my life and opened my eyes to the ability to travel and live abroad. How does that help a Pakistani? It doesn’t.
Hi Bilal,
Fantastic comment! And a very true one too!
Would you believe me that I know very wealthy people in Afghanistan? Did not make money from war or drugs. Good old fashioned stuff products and services. Real Afghanis living and making money there! I asked the richest of them ” How did you do it” Answer: Balls! In a country like mine you got to be willing to die and do everything to make it. His only advantage in life us a university degree from some university in Afghanistan.
I am not saying that it is easy or as easy as in the west. But it is doable. I am not a westerner (though I travel often to the west) and I know very rich people from 3rd world countries like Afganistan and Yemen than can rival russian oligarhs and western magnates in terms of wealth. Was it easy for them as it is for the average westerner? No, the average westerner can lose his money and social status by failing and thats about it. These guys that I know can lose their lives…theirs and that of their loved ones. One of them was a teacher who willingly gave his family hostage as a guarantee that he will do what he promised to do. If he would fail his family would go, if he would succeed he would be paid well. He took the gamble. succeeded and got the money and his family back. I am not recommending you should do that. But I am saying that the takeaway of all such books should be that you have got be willing to die or make it! Regardless of where you live! In some places death is more of a reality than in others..but the determination must be the same!
I have never trusted self help gurus…it is just an instinct…never read their books, tapes cd etc..I have seen them on youtube and that was enough to confirm my suspicions.
There is one book that probably deserves to be read…..How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis (he is one of the richest self made guys in the UK). If you read that book you will see that no matter where you are ..you have got be willing to die for what you want!
Hi Bilal,
It’s the sign of a healthy mind when one takes advice with a grain of salt. However, if you just learned one thing from all these self-help books and actually put it into ACTION then you, my friend, are way ahead of the game.
By the way, the most common trait I have seen in successful people is their ability to use foresight, and the best way to predict the future is to create your own.
Wayne Gretzky once said:
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
I hope the above makes sense to you, even though on the surface it may seem to contradict itself.
Fuck, you sir deserve to be as successful as you are.
Over the summer, I was visiting my friend in Medellin, Colombia who was also influenced by Tim’s book, the “Four Hour Work Week” a few years ago. He sold off his real estate, got a van, and took about six months to drive to Colombia, to try a lifestyle in a different country. His destination was actually Argentina, but his van broke down in Medellin and he liked it there, loved the Colombian women, and saw business opportunity. Three years later he is now the partner of a successful Real Estate firm selling to Foreigners, and an owner of a Restaurant franchise. He worked hard to get there, spent a few years of daily work with no income, but worked his ass off until things began to bloom.
While there, he got to meet other expats and he happened to meet Tim Ferris’s Lawyer, who set up a dinner for him and his partner to see Tim talk to a small group in Medellin. He said he didn’t get much of a chance to Talk to Tim, but he did get to know the lawyer very well, and the lawyer told my friend that Tim works very hard and many hours a day in order to be as well known and successful as he is. The concept of the Four Hour Work Week, is a solid principle. “Create a business that does not require your 9-5 presence so you can travel and do other things you enjoy and make money while you sleep.” I can see that Victor follows that exactly. But the catchy title is meant to entice us to want to learn more, as a best seller for consecutive months, we can say that he achieved his purpose. There are always going to be some that interpret his words literally and think he is spouting an idea for an Easy way to Success, Like when everyone was watching “The Secret” and thinking you could just think about something and it would appear. The smarter people knew you had to work and believe in the outcome at the same time. I agree we should not read an author we like, Tim, Tony Robbins, or even Vic, and expect every thing they say to fit perfectly into our life. We should read with an open mind, learn their point of view, and apply what we think will work for us. Paraphrasing Victor, it an easy copout to say someone is a scam artist or fake, when we read their book and are disappointed that our life is not changed as they claim it should be. Each person will have a slightly different approach, each result will be different, and oh yeah “you actually have to do what you learned!” Thanks for another insightful article.
Great comment, Don. Thanks for sharing.
I just finished reading Tims book last night. It definitely reinforced my ideas for my business. Even though I have a brick and mortar auto repair shop, I’m taking Tims ideas and placing people in place to do the jobs that I do. Thanks for the book suggestion Vic. It was a great read.
“Man, Tim Ferris is just a scam artist who wants to steal your money. That stuff doesn’t work.”
ha ha///what a joke…
i read tim’s books and i have paid not more than 40 $ for that…
i ve been reading hos blog for over 5 years now and which is absolutely free for kind your information.
Tim’s blog has absolutely changed my life.
If you think paying 40 $ to a person who has added so much value to my life is stealing money then god help you my dear friend.
If you really have the balls just honestly confess that you are trying to get good search rankings by attacking this authors. Very nice trick and hats off to people who agree with you.
And what different are you doing from these guys. If you dont like people who write and teach then why in world are you doing the same.
Its just that you dont have the balls to build your own credibilty and you have mention these ig names for better search rankings.
Very intelligent but absolutely stupid.
Build your own brand by adding genuine value and not by mocking at these superstar authors.
Pity on you..Forgot to mention your books cost more that all of the Tim Ferris’s Books..
ha ha
cheers,
sam
Sam, you’re a fucking moron and even though you can form sentences you are illiterate.
His system, does not work.
Millions have read the book, how many people have actually created a 4 hour work week business that provides solid income (I’m not talking $500 bucks per month t-shirt ecommerce site, I’m talking 6 figures or more)?
Very few.
Although I like his global outsourcing approach. No need to micro-manage everything, with today’s cheap global workforce you can much more in much less time and much less expenses.
There are better strategies for creating wealth.
And running a 4 hour work week should be the last thing on your mind.
“Millions have read the book, how many people have actually created a 4 hour work week business that provides solid income (I’m not talking $500 bucks per month t-shirt ecommerce site, I’m talking 6 figures or more)?”
If those millions are like you they are barely literate. The title “four hour work week” is a marketing gimmick, not an actual way to build a business - as clearly stated in the book.
hahahaha