Motivation & self help

There are many books, articles and YouTube videos on motivation and self help, most of them encouraging you to part with your money in exchange for a quick fix, a guaranteed way or ultimate success. But the only quick fixes, guaranteed way or ultimate success is for the author & their bank account. If it was as easy as the hundreds & hundreds of books would have you believe then we would all be strong, ripped, rich & successful. If you have ever read any of these books or listened to any of the motivational speakers, they will try to convince you that it is your fault you have not achieved some form of perceived success and all you have to do to remedy this perceived failure is to follow some simple rules, that usually finish with you handing them more money for the next lot of help which will really help. But, of course, this just leads to you handing over more & more money in the constant pursuit of the quick fix that never comes.

Unfortunately, it is easy to be sucked in by these so called experts, as they are often mildly successful and have achieved a small amount of fame, so people assume that they must be an expert on success, which is reinforced by them telling everyone that they are an expert on success. Unfortunately, what they don’t tell you is that they have reached the limit of their abilities in their chosen field and now their success lies in them selling themselves as some form of commodity.

What is worse is they specifically prey on vulnerable people who are looking for help, support & guidance. They act very much like cults or religion, by offering to take away all need for critical thinking, all your problems solved in exchange for your hard earned money. It is great when someone offers to fix all your problems, when they offer a way to solve your difficulties, when they promise unlimited success. It is very hard to not listen to a larger than life character who tells you how successful they are and how easy it is going to be for you. They love to wrap meaningless bullshit in big words and flowery sentences, this they believe makes them look intelligent & wise, plus the audience doesn’t want to feel stupid so nod along knowingly at the wisdom handed down.

They all follow the same basic rules, this will include, a small amount of truth, they tell you how successful they are, how they created this or were the first to do that, they present you with a problem & how only they have the solution. They may vary the order of these statements but they will all be there in their sales pitch to you. By this point you are either drawn in or calling bullshit, unfortunately we are often drawn in to this type of salesmanship when we are at our most vulnerable, so it can be difficult to realise we have been conned or we don’t want admit to ourselves we have been conned.

Sometimes it’s harder to spot these sales tactics, sometimes you may find the initial information useful, with the very best self marketers you will not realise until you have been fully drawn in that it is all a con. But there are certain things to look out for, trigger phrases to be aware of, some are obvious such as “click on the link to download the free E-book” this is email fishing & a foot in the door. Next would be “click on part 2 of this video”, this is to draw you in & often there is a part 3. A major warning sign should be as soon as they say “affirmation” or what they are really saying is wishing for stuff, this is favourite among motivational speakers because it is easy to convince someone that it works if by coincidence something good happens. But affirmation, wishing or prayer will not make you rich, nor will it make you fit, ripped & successful. Finally, you have the seminar, where you get to meet & worship this great person who wants to help you personally face-to-face (along with the hundreds of other people there).

If somebody becomes successful after reading one of these books, watching a video or going to a seminar, then they have done it in-spite of it, not because of it. Successful, motivated people are born not created, if you need constant motivation to be successful you’re never going to succeed.

If you need motivation to be wealthy, then you have never been poor enough. If you need motivation to be healthy, then you have never been sick enough.

Motivation is not about inspiration it is about determination, it is about getting off your arse every day and doing what it takes to achieve your goals. There are no excuses, no quick fixes, no short cuts & no guarantees, just hard work and a bit of luck.

We all have it within us to be the best we can be, so start today & everyday with the determination to be best person you can be.

John Nelson

Personal trainer & martial arts instructor