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Are you frustrated by information overload? I was, too, for a time – one that reminds me The Simpsons The episode in which Mr. Burns offers his trademark, “Great!”, but when asked what he meant by that, replies emphatically, “the opposite of anything that came before.”
That’s how I feel about most business gurus today, and I’m sick of the amount of nonsense I had to ignore and wade through just to find a little glimmer of gold in a pile of dirt.
Some discoveries I made on the way to this realization:
1. Just because someone is successful doesn’t mean they can teach others to be
I’m not saying all business gurus are bad. Some of them are smart and know what they are talking about, but many are just repeating what others have said without understanding the concepts themselves.
Here’s an example: Many people will tell you that you need to hire a coach to help you succeed in business. I’ve even seen coaches say this themselves, but let’s think about it for a moment: If you want to learn to swim, would it make sense for me – someone who knows nothing about swimming – to teach you? Of course not!
This is exactly why so many business owners hire trainers who have never been in their country before, only to be disappointed when they don’t know what they’re doing. So listening to Tony Robbins or other more lifestyle-minded experts when the specific need is for advice on how to build a business may not always be the best idea.
2. Success rarely comes from following someone else’s playbook
I know that’s not what most people want to hear – we all want to find out what works for others and then copy it. It’s tempting to think you’ll get the same results if you do this, but here’s the problem with this approach: it doesn’t work.
We’ve all heard success stories of tweaking someone else’s formula until it worked for them, but really these situations are so rare that—while they can make for great anecdotes—they’re poor business advice. If you’re looking to be an entrepreneur or start your own business, there are better ways to get started than to simply copy what worked for someone else, especially if that someone is in a different industry or market.
Connected: Take the road less traveled to unlock your full potential
3. The One Hit Wonder Guru Trap.
I’m sure you’ve seen headlines like, “How I made $100,000 by the age of 27” or “How I fired my boss and started my own business.” These articles are everywhere, but very often they are stories from people who are not actually successful and/or written by those who want to be in the limelight for a brief moment before fading into obscurity. They want their 15 minutes of fame but don’t have any real advice to offer.
It probably won’t surprise you, but most of these gurus are also marketers who sell courses or books that teach how to make money. In short, they have no interest in helping you succeed as long as they can sell you something.
The truth is that most people are not inclined to run Theirs businesses – especially if they are just starting out and don’t yet have the right skills or experience. The result is that you can easily spend thousands of dollars on a course only to find out that it doesn’t work for you at all.
4. Mirages on the Podcast
I’m a huge fan of podcasts, and favorites include The Tim Ferriss Show AND The James Altucher Show, but there is one type of podcast I don’t listen to, and I’m not alone in this preference. In a Top Rank Marketing review and analysis of recent surveys, one statistic stood out to me: Only 4% of respondents indicated they listen to business podcasts.
Why? Because most of them are boring… long, rambling and full of gibberish about the details of running a company. There’s nothing wrong with being passionate about your work, but the resulting accounts tend to be unexciting to anyone but the entrepreneurs themselves.
Of course, there are exceptions: Noah Kagan presents it’s fun because Kagan talks about his personal experiences as an entrepreneur—telling stories rather than giving advice.
Connected: The perfect work-life balance starts with saying no
5. What happens without noise
I used to be a sponge for the wisdom of the world’s best entrepreneurs and business leaders – I would consume every word in their books, blogs, podcasts and videos. I listened to their interviews while I cooked dinner and ran around the block – I even listened to them while I slept! But over time, all that listening made me feel like something was missing. It became noise rather than signal—noise from people who were trying to sell me something or who had a perspective wildly different from mine. So one day, I decided to stop listening to business gurus and this is what happened:
• I began to think more clearly about my goals
• My productivity went through the roof
• My creativity blossomed
6. Gurus Likely Don’t Know Squat for Your Industry
We’ve all been there: You’re at a conference and you’re forced to listen to someone talk about how they made millions of dollars selling their product or service. You can’t help but think, “Wow, if I had this idea, I’d be rich.”
The problem is that he or she probably knows nothing about your industry, but instead has a single answer for everything, and that’s because these guys are often generalists—they don’t specialize in anything. So why should you listen to them? The answer is that you probably shouldn’t.
And you know what? If it works for them, great, but it likely won’t work for you because you’re different than them (and everyone else). You have unique challenges and opportunities that only require a unique approach you can create.
Cut your way
After years of following the advice of experts and trying to emulate their success, I decided there was a better way to achieve it. By creating your own model, you’re focusing on the only things that really matter—finding your voice, telling your story, and making sure your customers know you exist. Focus on these three things, and the rest will take care of itself.
Connected: How to create your own way in business
