Am I Anti-Guru or Just Jealous?

I've been asking myself a question that makes me uncomfortable. Maybe it'll make you uncomfortable too.

Do I hate "gurus" and "thought leaders" because their methods are wrong, or because they're more successful than me?

It's the kind of question that sits in your stomach like bad coffee. The kind you don't want to examine too closely because you might not like what you find.

The Easy Answer vs. The True Answer

The easy answer is clean. I hate gurus because they lie. They overpromise. They sell snake oil. They teach from a place of success instead of remembering what the beginning felt like.

All of that is true. I've seen enough "make $10K in 30 days" courses to know the pattern. Promise transformation, deliver tactics, blame the customer when it doesn't work.

But the harder truth? Sometimes I catch myself scrolling through their success posts and feeling that familiar twist of envy. The big house. The testimonials. The certainty that radiates from every perfectly crafted post.

And I wonder: Am I principled, or am I just bitter?

The Jealousy Test

Here's how you know if your anti-guru stance is principle or envy.

Ask yourself: If a creator you respect started making serious money using methods you disagree with, how would you feel?

If your first thought is "good for them," you're operating from principle.

If your first thought is "they sold out," you might be operating from jealousy.

I've been on both sides of this. I've celebrated creator friends who built sustainable businesses. I've also felt that bitter taste when someone I thought was "authentic" started launching high-ticket courses.

The difference wasn't their behavior. It was my bank account.

What Real Success Actually Looks Like

Here's what I've learned building my own thing from 0 to 213 subscribers (not exactly guru numbers, but real numbers): Success isn't just money.

Real success looks like getting an email from someone your post helped. Building something you're proud to put your name on. Making enough money to fund your next project without compromising what you believe in.

The gurus aren't wrong because they make money. They're wrong because they make money by lying.

There's a difference between "I'll teach you what worked for me" and "I'll guarantee you'll get the same results I got." One is honest sharing. The other is manipulation.

The Anti-Guru Trap

But here's where the anti-guru position gets dangerous. If you're not careful, it becomes anti-success.

You start believing that making money means selling out. That growing your audience means compromising your values. That wanting more subscribers makes you just as bad as the people you criticize.

That's not principle. That's self-sabotage with a moral justification.

I've caught myself doing this. Holding back from promoting my work because I didn't want to seem "salesy." Keeping my prices low because charging more felt "guru-ish." Acting like financial success and authentic creation couldn't coexist.

Bullshit. They can and should.

The Honest Middle Ground

The truth is messier than either extreme.

You can want success and maintain integrity. You can charge fair prices for valuable work. You can grow your audience without manipulation.

You can also admit that seeing other people's success triggers something in you that isn't entirely noble.

The difference between principled creators and gurus isn't success level. It's method.

Principled creators solve real problems for real people. They share what actually worked, including what didn't. They build trust over time instead of manufacturing urgency.

Gurus promise transformation they can't deliver. They teach from a place they can't remember. They optimize for sales metrics over human outcomes.

The Better Question

Instead of asking "Am I jealous or principled?" ask this: "What would I do if I had their success?"

Would you keep helping people the same way, just at a larger scale? Or would you start promising things you couldn't deliver?

Would you remember what it felt like to be at 213 subscribers? Or would you teach from the mountaintop?

Would you stay honest about what worked and what didn't? Or would you craft a cleaner story that sold better?

That's the real test. Not whether you want success, but what you'd do with it.

The Path Forward

I'm building toward a subscriber base of 10K+ and a full-time income of at least $50K a year. I'm not hiding from that goal anymore.

But I'm building it as a helper, not a guru. Someone who shares what works, admits what doesn't, and remembers what the beginning felt like.

Because the world doesn't need fewer successful creators. It needs more successful creators who stayed human.

Success isn't the enemy. Dishonesty is.

The question isn't whether you want to be successful. It's whether you're willing to stay honest when you get there.

What would you do with guru-level success? The answer tells you everything about whether your anti-guru stance is principle or envy.