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Oh, but where to begin?

So many books, courses, seminars, tapes; all with but one purpose - to show dimwits like you and me how to make money.

They might call it success or wealth or achievement or happiness even. But they all come down to the same basic formula. A “proven” prescription for getting whatever it is you want - which is usually money.

Now just to set some context, I’m talking here about the kind of glossy material you find in airport book stalls. Not the low-life “earn easy money” scams that litter the internet.

The latter exist purely to lighten your wallet then slink into the night, whereas the former frequently claim to reveal fundamental and lasting truths about human nature and ancient secrets to the ways of the world.

Some History

Your average “how to be successful” formula is based on variants of the following elements:

• Deciding upon a specific objective or set of goals;
• Formulating a plan to achieve the objective;
• Setting a timeframe to achieve the objective;
• Writing it all down;
• Monitoring progress and making corrections as necessary;
• Visualizing the end result and other means of reinforcing belief in the objective.

If this looks familiar (and not just because you’ve read whole forests worth of these books) that’s because it’s pretty much how things get done in the Corporate world.

This stuff all dates back to the Fifties when Peter Drucker and others laid out the principles of Management by Objectives.

There’s even a snazzy acronym that goes along with it,  S.M.A.R.T.:

• Specific - don’t be vague, be very clear about the objective;
• Measurable - you need to know if you’re achieving it or not;
• Achievable - it has to be something you actually can do;
• Relevant - it has to be related to you or resources you control in some way;
• Time based - decide by when the objective must be achieved.

But it actually goes back further still. Many credit Frenchman Henri Fayol as the founder of Corporatism.

During the First World War Fayol was charged with increasing production from his coal mines but without expending additional resources (i.e. manpower). The purpose obviously being to thus increase steel production and so manufacture more weapons and ammunition.

He later boiled it all down to:

• Planning;
• Organizing;
• Leading (an amalgamation of commanding & coordinating);
• Controlling (monitoring and making adjustments).

Corporate Management and Self-Help?

Yep. If you buy self-help you’re being sold Corporate Management.

That’s why it all seems so comfortable and reasonable. You’re probably quite accustomed to it from daily life.

And here’s a thing. You can apply Corporate Management to just about anything. The word itself is derived from the Latin corpus meaning simply, a body.

I’ve seen it used, for example, to improve reading skills where reading speed and retention of information can easily be permanently doubled over a surprisingly short space of time.

Now, if you can regard written text as a “body” to be managed and yield superior results, then presumably there’s no reason you can’t manage yourself in a similar way to attain your personal objectives.

And indeed there isn’t, in principle.

But Management and Leadership are Not the Same Thing

So why does it work very effectively for running corporations or optimizing specific activities but fails to transfer successfully when applied to your own personal goals?

The first part of the answer lies in the “Leading” element of the procedure. Once someone has decided that production of White Widgets should be doubled within 4 months then the whole management-by-objectives apparatus can be deployed to ensure success.

But the management procedure itself can’t actually determine what the objective should be; only that it is achieved.

Deciding that you want to become wealthy is not an objective. It’s more akin to a Corporate Mission Statement - vague, fluffy and of little discernible use.

You need to exercise Leadership by deciding what specific things you will do that will cause your wealth to increase. Corporate Management assumes the presence of Leadership - some person(s) making decisions about what to do.

Strategy if you like. And in this instance it is you that has to supply it. If you won’t or can’t then frankly a one-legged drunk in an arse-kicking contest has a better chance of a successful outcome than you do.

Who Said Anyone Can Do It Anyway?

The second part of the answer is simply that it is difficult to do. Without being patronizing, the truth is that the average Joe and Joanne are going to struggle not only with issues of basic Leadership but also maintaining focus and constantly monitoring and adjusting things.

They’re quite likely to lose heart very quickly, become distracted and forget about the whole idea. At least until the next “Success is Within You” or similarly titled book catches their eye.

That’s why there tends to be much drivel about the author’s idyllic lifestyle and emphasis on visualization and writing stuff down. It’s an attempt to instil some willpower and commitment into the proceedings. You don’t see this in a real corporation and that’s because there’s a crucial difference between a corporation and the average individual.

In a real corporation, it is a good bet that your boss is more focused and determined than you, and that his is more so than him and so on until you get to the hard-assed bastard beneath whose hide of granite beats a heart of pure stone and who ultimately calls the shots.

Such people are by definition thin on the ground, but their position atop a corporation means they can impose their leadership on everyone below them and so production of White Widgets will double in 4 months even though, left to themselves, most of the staff couldn’t give a rat’s arse about Widgets of any shade.

If you’re like most people, you don’t possess the sheer drive and determination necessary to lead either a corporation or, when it comes to it, yourself.

And that is the primary reason, pure and simple, that techniques for achieving success modelled on corporate management (as most in this genre tend to be) are so remorselessly ineffective when applied to the vast majority of individuals.

Something to think on next time idle musings such as “I could quit my job and start a business” float into your brain?

The 7 Habits of Personal Development Authors

There is an interesting sub-genre of the How to Achieve sector of the Self-Help industry.

These are the books that consider unquestionably successful individuals and seek to uncover what makes them so. One of the best known of course is Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

It’s very good. Well written and insightful and certainly worth adding to your bookshelf if it’s not already there.

However, for anyone starting from zero, it’s about as practical as, say, trying to learn to play tennis by studying The 7 Habits of Top Tennis Players. There’s nothing at all incorrect in the information: 1. Constantly move your feet; 2. Prepare your shot early; 3. Commit to your shot decision; 4. Gain control of the ball rather than respond to it; 5….

You will find these are all ingrained habits of Roger Federer and if you too want to play at the top of the tennis game they will have to become your habits also.

But “knowing” this is no substitute for getting onto a court and finding out for yourself that even a couple of minutes constantly moving your feet is exhausting and that the natural human inclination is to respond to whatever comes over the net, late and typically after much dithering.

In other words, it’s good to know what it is you should be concentrating on, but there’s no shortcut as regards “doing” it. It’s hard, grinding work.

The 1 Habit of A Very, Very Rich Man

One of the few books I have come across that told me anything at all honest, interesting or helpful about making money is Felix Dennis’ mischievously titled How To Get Rich.

It is in fact his own highly engaging story of how he got so impressively rich and is vastly more revealing about what is involved in tackling such a pursuit than anything the Self-Help brigade have collectively penned.

It is also something of a cautionary tale. You may, if you pay attention, come to wonder whether the light is truly worth the candle.

Oh yes, and unlike most of the drearily earnest practioners in this field, Felix has spent decades gleefully hosing away hundreds of millions in determined pursuit of wine, women and whatever else the point of it all probably is.

That’s my kind of life-style guru.

If I were permitted to keep just one nugget of Felix’s words of wisdom gleaned from his years of hard experience, it would be this:

You will never start unless you start NOW!

Get Rich and Lose Weight at the Same Time!

Diets and recipes for getting rich have much in common.

Not least that neither deliver what they claim on the tin.

They both operate a “repeat custom” business model. If you fail (as you will) to become rich or thin, then it’s your fault. You didn’t do it right or stick at it long enough. But that’s alright because another one (the word “new” seems inappropriate here) is bound to appear at any moment.

The fundamentals behind losing weight or gaining wealth are not rocket science. The former requires only that you burn off more energy than you intake, the latter that you provide something of value to others and retain the earnings.

That’s it. Eat less, do more; offer value, recoup the returns.

But, not unlike rocket science itself (fill pointy tube with fuel, light bottom end) it’s easy enough to prattle on about but hard to accomplish.

It requires effort and foregoing familiar comforts and invariably throws up setbacks. The whole business is uncomfortable, unsettling and tiring and it’s so easy to just slide back into the warm and inviting ways of old.

That’s where the literature steps in. Glossing over the unpalatable realities and serving up attractive looking distractions and aids, it seduces people into believing that, yes, thank God, there is another way. An easy way. A path to slimness and/or wealth that is both assured and fun too!

It plays on well understood human psychological traits, notably the tendency to focus on the pleasant and ignore the unappealing.

So you can amuse yourself reading the material, visualizing your wonderful slim/wealthy future and following along with the prescribed exercises, all the while doing precisely nothing that actually gets you anywhere.

Feel The Need Or Be Left Wanting

Still, at least you “felt” you were doing something. At the time anyway.

But here’s a hard fact. Nobody ever achieves anything unless they “need” to.

The need can take any form: lose weight or die; attract a special guy/gal; keep the roof over your head; prove you’re powerful; put your kids through college. Not all work for all people and some are interchangeable. Many men pursue wealth in favour of a six-pack in order to attract women, and there are plenty of folk for whom death seems to be a remarkably feeble deterrent.

Unless you possess a genuine need, a burning desire rather than some vague whim, you can read weight-loss and get-rich books till the sky falls in because nothing in them can alter your sense of purpose (or lack thereof).

Assume I’ve written a book called How To Conquer Everest. It contains an accurate step-by-step route map, sound advice on dealing with common pitfalls (avalanches, storms, altitude sickness, Sherpas striking for more money, etc) and motivational snippets from others who have knocked the bastard off and lived to recount their experiences.

There is nothing incorrect in this book. It just misses a fundamental point.

The point being that even if you (like me) harbour a fascination for high peaks such as Mt. Everest, you are most unlikely to get past the basic steps of a) getting fit enough to survive the attempt b) getting your butt over to Nepal or Tibet c) hauling said butt even as far as base camp.

And that’s because people who actually do things (like climb mountains or amass wealth) don’t read books about how to do it. They just get on and do it. And the exact opposite also holds true.

How To Conquer Everest If That’s What You Want Really To Do and You Can Summon Up The Monumental Effort Required To Do So. That would be a more honest if less commercial title.

The Self-Help Paradox

So, all these guides to wealth, success, whatever you want to call it – they both work and don’t work? Correct.

They (mostly) contain (mostly) sound, if somewhat stale, advice tarted up to appear fresh and appealing. But they can do nothing in the slightest to motivate anyone to actually act on the advice.

I can tell you in great detail, having done it, how to go through all the music grades for piano, complete with all the scales, fingering, dynamics and everything else necessary. The only thing you need to do is ensure access to a piano and practice an hour or more every day for somewhere in the region of five to ten years.

That’s it. No secrets, no catches. Some will find it easier than others, but absolutely anyone can do it.

Perhaps I should jazz things up by recommending recordings to listen to for further inspiration (and a quick boost to my affiliate sales). Suggest you visualize yourself sat before a polished Steinway as you prepare to dazzle the packed audience with a medley of Beethoven sonatas. Or maybe get you to write down your short / medium / long term music goals in a particular format and consult this daily while repeating to yourself “I am an accomplished piano player”.

You might faff about with this other stuff for a day or two, but you’re still going to do diddly squat about the hard basics - practice; doing it. And there I can help you no more than any other self-proclaimed guru.

At the end of the day, the proof is everywhere about you. If “How to Achieve Success” literature actually worked then:

1. there would be evidence in the form of obviously successful consumers of this stuff;
2. everyone else would quickly catch on and follow suit;
3. the playing field would return to equilibrium and the advantage conveyed by the material would cease to have any effect (like walking upright, pretty soon we’d all be doing it).

It’s a Catch-22. If these books were at all effective then that in itself would swiftly render them ineffective. It is precisely because they don’t work that bookstalls constantly groan under the weight of this relentless gibberish.

I think the entire genre deserves to be re-labelled Manuals for Losers. What do you think?

Falling for the “How to Get Rich” self-help game is but one of several well established fool’s errands just looking for another fool. Check out others to avoid with How NOT to Make Money, Online or Anywhere Else.