Gurus, Coaches, Motivators, Speakers ... do they teach you anything?

Your life is your own. It belongs to you and to no one else. Don’t let anyone rule your life. Take charge of your life and take responsibility for your successes and your failures.

We all know that right? We’ve heard it a million times from coaches and motivators. We listen and we say “Aye, Aye”, and we clap when we attend conferences on taking your life in your own hands. We get all fired up and cheer and swear we will not let anyone boss us around. So why as soon as we leave the meeting room and go back to our normal life and our office, we succumb to our family or boss’s wishes? Yes, honey, here is your dinner, honey, I’m sorry I didn’t’ buy your favorite whiskey”; “ I’m sorry for being late boss, I will make it up, I will leave later this evening”. What happened to all the resolutions we made while listening to our coach? Weren’t we supposed to be more assertive? Where did all our strength and toughness go? We promised we would listen to our coach and use our free will. But it looks like we left our free will in the meeting room, because all we’re doing now is accommodating other people’s will.

These conferences don’t come cheap. There may be some free webinars or videos on the web, but, in my experience, they are never fully satisfying. I always get frustrated because the speakers there never get to the point. They whet your appetite, they give you a little tip here and there, then at the very end they finish up by saying “for more information buy my book here….and they give you a link to their page. Or they may say go to my website and learn how to get hold of your life, again you click on the link, only to find out that if you want to learn, you need to pay. That’s why it’s best, whenever possible, to go personally to a motivational meeting or conference. You pay your money for registration and attendance but at least you get something tangible. You don’t get sent around like a headless chicken to links here ad there which, in the long run, are useless for you. Good things don’t come free so if you want good and strong motivational, “how-to” advice you have  to pay a bit. In general, you will not come out empty-handed from these live meetings. Not only because you will meet people who like you need help and advice and you will make friends, but also because you might get a chance to actually speak to the “coach”, the guru. Depending on the number of people, you might get some personal advice from him, get to know him over lunch, have your picture taken with him. This alone will already boost your self-esteem. Just think of it – you can post the picture on your Facebook page and  your friends will turn green with envy.

Well, I hope this is not the main reason why you attended the seminar. It would be preferable that what drove you to the meeting was a sincere wish to get a hold of your life, learn when to say yes and when to say no, and to learn how to be a better person.