Beware ‘Guru’ addiction

Yes, good advice is priceless!

A good mentor can be life changing (no question about it) but, like everything, ’too much can be a bad thing’.

Too much listening, reading too many articles, doing too many courses, watching too many webinars etc can just make you more confused, more uncertain.

In the age of social media it is just too easy to put off ’doing’.

It’s the ultimate in procrastination.

You collect links to videos you never get round to watching, courses you paid for but never started, inspirational quotes you thought you needed but will never remember and articles you meant to read but probably never will.

When I was young

When I was in my 20’s, 30’s and 40’s you had to work hard to seek out advice and knowledge. It involved standing for hours in a bookshop trying to find some clues. It was a less complicated time; there was less choice and less guidance on hand to point you in the right direction.

Too much, too much

Today there is too much information, too much advice, and too many gurus at your fingertips. Too much of everything, except time!

We’re not listening we’re collecting

With too much information we risk becoming ‘collectors’ instead of ‘doers’.

We watch other people’s success looking for the ultimate answer but it never comes.

As long as we’re ‘collecting’ we convince ourselves we are getting somewhere, but we’re most probably not.

Masters of the universe

More choice brings more pressure. It becomes harder to avoid bad advice, shallow advice and misguided advice.

Everywhere we turn online entrepreneurs, coaching consultants, business strategists, Facebook experts, webinar masters and marketing gurus are telling us how successful they are, how many followers they have, how many millions they earn, how quickly they earned it, and that we should be doing the same.

These self-professed gurus talk fast, they talk loud, they talk about ‘hustle’, they shout at you, they do impromptu fast talking Snapchats, live Instagram and Facebook video’s whilst in a taxi on the way to their private jet, on the way to their next sold–out conference.

They are the rock stars of ‘hustle’ and they are all ‘super pumped’ and ‘super excited’, to be talking to you and they just want to remind you unless you have forgotten, their new book is coming out next week so “don’t forget to buy it”.

It’s exhausting.

All this can overwhelm and undermine us, leaving us feeling completely inadequate instead of motivated and inspired.

So what can you do?

#1 Stop following ‘gurus’ and start taking action.

#2 Have a bit more faith in yourself. You know more than you think you know.

#3 Don’t undervalue what you’re already good at – just get better at it.

#4 Stop telling yourself you’re not ready yet.

#5 Stop ‘collecting’, start doing

#6 Seek advice along the way (with the emphasis on ‘along the way’)

#7 Stop reading motivational quotes – you’ve already read more than you will ever remember

#8 Don’t be afraid to make some mistakes

# 9 Don’t wait for perfect. – It’s never going to happen

#10 Beware of ‘Guru’ addiction