Money
The 3 Things Fake Wealth Guru’s Won’t Tell You
We have all been there. All we wanted to do was watch a funny video on YouTube, and then another advert pops up. I find it interesting that the majority of these adverts are now wealth gurus. They are either trying to sell you a course or a method they used to make $100,000 in a month.
They are all very intriguing, but have you ever noticed it all starts the same? The first step is to lure you in with a stupid amount of money. Then, they break down their hidden secrets. Finally, they tell you they are going to give you a special offer. Or they will give it to you for free if you sign up.
Most of us probably skip over these adverts because it is too good to be true. But being young and broke can tempt you to look into it further. I never had the finances to spend thousands of pounds on a course. But I did take on a few that were within my budget.
And to no surprise, many of the promises they sell you in their advert are false. Now you might think I should have known that from the start. But, these people know who they are targeting.
They target students and others who need the money. Thankfully, some of them were not false and offered good advice. But from doing numerous courses, I have noticed a pattern amongst the fake gurus who are just trying to grab your money.
All of them tend to miss out on subtle information that at first appear unnecessary. But, as time goes on, you start asking yourself these questions. And the person teaching you has no answers at all.
Young people are the most at threat when it comes to being led away by fake guru’s. There is a lot of pressure on us to succeed, and we do not have that much money. So, anything that offers us a dream overnight is mouthwatering.
As I said before, some of these guru’s did offer me good advice. Most of the good courses were free. But, if you are seeking to trust one of these “wealth teachers”, you should at least question it.
I do not take these courses anymore, but I have learned from the experience. So, here are the three things fake wealth guru’s leave out of their pitch to sell to you.
Their Process of Learning
With everything in life, we need to start somewhere. And that often begins with learning. What I find interesting is that many of these fake guru’s have a negative attitude towards school. But some tell you to read tonnes of books.
That is quite contradictory. Someone who says that school is pointless advises you to start at the same place education puts you. That is reading and absorbing knowledge.
You should be wary of people who have a negative attitude towards education in general. Those who do not value education tend to look for shortcuts in everything. And are probably not persistent in anything. I say this because education can teach us something called grit. Which is the ability to stick with long term goals.
In the field of psychology, grit is a massive indicator of success in anything. That could be making tonnes of money or becoming a great artist. Lazy individuals tend to have less grit and are more likely to give up on long term goals.
So, trust me, you probably do not want to be learning from someone who hates education. But the question remains as to how they learned all of that stuff?
Some make claims like, “Education does not teach you what you need for life.” In other words, the school does not teach you how to make money and grow wealth. And that is 100% true. But the big question you should be asking yourself is how they got access to all their information?
Many of these wealth guru’s have no educational backing for their courses. And a lot of them do not even base it on facts. I don’t know about you, but I would not hire someone who has not demonstrated at least some level of competency in the field.
We are so slow to question this because we are blinded by the money. When someone tells you they are making $100,000 a month and have been doing it for a year. It makes you forget about where the person comes from or who they are. You just want to know how they do it.
So, it is a very sneaky way of making you go straight into buying their course for the how without asking who. So before getting sucked into buying, ask this:
Does this person have anything to show for their competency in the topic?
I am not saying they need to have a degree. But they should at least be able to show you a learning process they went through that is accredited and recognised.
Yes, ten years of experience is great. And I agree, you can be self-taught. But most decent people, before teaching someone else, would ensure they have some sort of qualification. It shows professionalism and is a stamp of trust to those who are learning.
So, think about that before you consider going further.
What to Do with All That Money
You might think that this is up to you. And in one sense, you are right. Once you make all the millions the person has promised you, then they have served their purpose. They delivered on their promises, and now they can leave you to it.
But the reason why you are asking this question is to see if they are true. The reality is if you are taking one of these courses, we can assume two things:
- You do not know how to make loads of money: If you did know, you would not be listening to the advert. Plus, you probably never even thought it was possible to do so.
- You have never managed loads of money: You probably would not know where to start if you woke up to a great amount of money in your account.
Managing money is extremely difficult. Making it is one thing, but understanding where to put it and how to use it is another. The saying, “more money, more problems.” does not exist for no reason. We can all accept that money becomes more of a problem the more you have.
So, if the plan after these guru’s course is to make loads of money, they must know what to do with it all. I found that many of these guru’s in their courses never mentioned how they managed their bank accounts.
Did they have an accountant?
How did they sort their taxes?
Where were they putting their money?
What did they invest in?
All of these are questions that you would need to answer having making a massive amount of money. And if your guru can not help with that, then I would be questioning if they are actually making that much.
Time Is Your Greatest Asset
You might be thinking that they do tell you this. By saying things like, “Time is money” and “Work smart, not hard”. These two phrases embody one thing. And that is that we should do our best to not waste time because it is precious and finite.
We would all agree that time is something that we can never get back. So, we should try our best to make the most of it. Every day we spend on this Earth is a day closer to our end. And although that is a sad way of seeing it, it is the truth. So, we should make the most of it.
Many of these wealth guru’s will tell you that you are wasting your time in a 9–5. And that you could have an abundance of time to do whatever you want if you take their program. Now, who wouldn’t want more time to do the things they love. Everyone wants that.
But, what they do not tell you is that time is yours. When we say, “stop wasting time.” What we really mean is, start using your time more effectively.
How we use our time is up to us, and it is the greatest asset we will ever have. You are not in your 9–5 because you are being forced. You are choosing to use your time in that way. And who is this random person on an advert to decide that it is a waste of YOUR time?
They know nothing about you, and most importantly, they have no authority over your time. Apart from the 5 seconds, they took from you on youtube. But also, knowing that time is your greatest asset. Would you willingly wish to give it to someone you do not know and who has no expertise?
Most fake wealth gurus will not tell that you could know as much as they know with a few clicks. If you invest your time wisely, you could start growing your wealth within a few hours by learning and taking a few action steps.
The problem is, many of us do not allocate our time wisely. And fake wealth gurus know this, so they grab your attention in five seconds to sit through a three-hour course.
So before you check the price of the course and think of paying, do your research and think. Is this course or person really worth my time? I learned that many of these courses have content in there that I could have found by myself.
By reading an article or watching a free youtube video, you could learn everything they were going to tell you. And probably for less time, and certainly less money.
So, think in terms of time instead of money. They are good enough to convince you it is worth your money. But I am sure they will find it harder to convince you it worth your time.
Closing Thoughts
Now you know the three things fake wealth gurus won’t tell you, here are three steps you can take to start helping yourself. And they all come from the three things the fake wealth gurus leave out.
- Educate yourself: There are so many free courses run by universities online that could help you learn more about money and finance. You would probably know more than the fake wealth guru when you finish. Here is a link to some I have been taking.
- Seek practical advice on money management: Reading articles from consultancy firms and online blogs are the best. They put links to apps and websites that can help your development. Here is an article I read today on investing.
- Trade your time: I have started thinking in terms of time instead of money. When we use our time effectively and efficiently, we can do more. And in doing so, we can become more productive and make more money. So think in terms of time.