How To Think Independently In A World Of Scams

The self-help industry needs fixing.

She’s in prison now. But the reason she’s in there in the first place is due to her scamming many patients over the years.

She believed that she was helping people with her medical company. At least that’s what she told people who invested in her company. She was convincing and had a promising product which is why she managed to get $700 million USD from private investors and venture capitalists.

Her company was valued in the billions as a result.

The company folded almost a decade ago after a journalist and medical scientist looked into the company’s claims and in January 2022, she was convicted of wire fraud, conspiracy, and fraud.

But leading up to that point, many people were on the fence about whether she was wrong or not. Whether she truly deceived people and mislead investors or whether she tried to get her start-up going and simply failed.

Elizabeth Holmes is similar to a self-help guru these days. She wanted to offer help and created a business around it. But instead of offering solid advice, she offered blood tests.

Regardless of what the defendants claimed Holmes intentions were, she scammed people.

And her actions sparked a chain reaction that we are still experiencing. It’s to the point that we can say we live in an age of scammers and grifting. After all, we have yet another scammer on trial right now. One of the biggest of our time.

And over the past decade we had crypto, NFTs for a brief period, and now AI.

Obviously Elizabeth Holmes isn’t the one to spark all of those things. But it’s her along with many other grifters in the past and in the present that began this chain reaction. It’s to a point now where people are convinced crypto will be the next legitimate currency. It’s to the point that even with Trump facing felony charges, people want him to be the next president of the United States.

It’s to the point that a lot of this stuff has seeped into other industries.

I won’t pretend that the self-help industry was flawless up to this point. It’s reported that buying a self-help book improves our mood, though only a small percentage of us read them to their entirety. Most manage to only get through the first 20 pages if at all.

I wouldn’t call that a scam, however these overall sentiments make it ripe to create scams for people in the first place. Ever since the start, self-help has had this running theme to it.

And it’s understanding this theme that can allow us to be more independent and navigate this world where so many gurus want you to buy into their next AI course or cure loneliness thanks to their AI girlfriend.

Fold Back The Hype

To start, gurus prefer overpromising results rather than being realistic with people.

I get it.

The truth hurts. And being practical and grounded in reality is boring when the industry from the start has a more fantastical vibe to it.

I mean, it’s a realm where people believe crystals have a lot of power, that you can “attract” everything you want in your life through your mind. This is despite everyone being totally clueless.

It’s pretty wild.

And when you mix in things like crypto or NFTs, it makes us think we can be instant successes. Especially since so many other industries conditioned us to think of getting everything we want by yesterday.

The overpromising tactics are much the same and it’s learning to work past that where we can start to peel back the veil and begin to extract useful information and tactics.

It leads to us relying more on studies and things grounded in more research. To critically think about what is being said to us.

Ask What’s In It For Me?

Often this is a piece of writing advice that’s used to ensure that an article has a message to it. It’s appeared here and there in other contexts as well beyond that. But I think it’s very apt in the face of a self-help guru offering a product or service to you.

It’s at a time where they made the pitch, they show you what you get out of it, and the price as well.

On the surface, asking that question right then and there makes it clear what you get. But in a world where gurus try to oversell and overpromise their results, it puts into question their intentions and what something is actually worth in your mind.

It reminds me of the case of Robert Kiyosaki charging $45,000 for his “training services” where he would train you to build a real estate company. That $45,000 ask was not until the end, after you spent some time with Kiyosaki as well as spending $500 for more training.

And it’s these kinds of scenarios where I think it’s important to ask:

What’s in it for me?

While Kiyosaki is an extreme example, there are others charging hundreds or thousands of dollars for products and services. And that same level of scrutiny should be warranted.

If you’re spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a Tony Robbins coaching seminar or event, you want to be able to walk away with good connections and a strategy to help you recoup those costs. If you’re not able to do that, then it’s worth considering finding another alternative rather than buying into more of Robbins stuff.

The same is the case with Kiyosaki. I mentioned in the article that if you spent that much money on a course, you better get more than a powerpoint presentation or some video calls. With a price tag like that, Kiyosaki should invest that money into a property of your choice so you can start earning that money back.

Depending on the price tag, you always want to compare it to what you’re getting and what you consider is worthwhile.

Remember To Think Outside The Box

The final thing that can help you is to remember to think outside of the box. Self-help gurus, me, and you are all clueless as I mentioned above.

We are going through life purely on guesses and making decisions on all kinds of things.

I don’t fully know what is best for you nor does any guru out there. But what advice givers can do is provide some new perspectives for you to consider. To look at a problem or a concept a little bit differently than before.

The only issue is that for so many gurus out there, their focus is to provide you with what they think is the best solution and sell that to you hard.

They don’t really care about your problem unless that problem gives them money because you happen to buy into their course or products or whatever.

And that’s really the unfortunate state of the industry. There are more people who care about profit rather than genuinely helping people. And so one way to break away from that and reinforce a more independent thinking is to recognize that what people are presenting is their view.

And that it’s alright to take bits and pieces that agree with your own view and have that shape you.

Because in the end, you know what is the best answer for yourself.

The self-help industry needs some serious fixing, though I doubt much will change unfortunately. Still, people are carving out their own niches and doing their own good and I’d say lesser known groups and people are on the right track towards self-help being more practical.

Though the hype aspect will likely be a staple of self-help since it’s much easier to sell and is far more energizing.

But I’d argue that the search for something practical within the industry is worth it. Because you’ll find it will make you happier. Especially when it solves your problems and connects you with people who are working to be their best selves. Truly.

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