Why I Refuse to Be Your Guru

I spent 2024 burning through thousands of dollars chasing guru promises.

Courses that would "transform my business in 90 days." Masterminds that guaranteed "six-figure breakthroughs." Programs that promised to turn me into an "industry thought leader."

You know what I got for my money?

Burnout. Frustration. And a very expensive education in how the guru machine actually works.

Here's the thing about gurus: they're not selling you a product. They're selling you a dream. And dreams, it turns out, are very profitable when you're the one doing the selling.

The Guru Pyramid

The guru economy is essentially a pyramid scheme with better marketing.

At the top, you have the big names. The ones with millions of followers who sell $2,000 courses about "building your personal brand." Below them are the "success stories" who made money by selling the guru's methods to other people. And at the bottom? Everyone else, paying for promises that can't possibly be kept.

The math doesn't work. If everyone could build a seven-figure business in 12 months using the same template, then no one would have a seven-figure business. Success isn't scalable like that.

But the gurus don't tell you that part.

The False Promise Factory

I've seen it all this year:

"Replace your income in 90 days or get your money back!" (Spoiler: getting your money back requires jumping through hoops designed to make you give up.)

"I went from broke to millionaire using this one weird trick!" (The trick is selling courses about going from broke to millionaire.)

"Join my exclusive mastermind and unlock your potential!" (Translation: pay me $5,000 to join a Facebook group where I occasionally post motivational quotes.)

"Send me $2 in a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope and I'll teach you how to get anyone to send you $2!" (Okay, I saw that one in the back of a tabloid classified in 1996, but that tells you how long this has been going on.)

These people prey on your dreams. They know you're frustrated with your current situation. They know you want something better. They know you need more money than you currently have. And they package hope in a way that feels urgent and exclusive.

The worst part? When their methods don't work for you, they blame you for not "implementing hard enough" or "believing enough" or "taking massive action."

That's right... they gaslight you like you wouldn't believe.

It's never the system that's broken. It's always you.

What I Actually Learned

After my expensive education in guru nonsense, I figured out what actually works:

Small, consistent action beats massive action spurts. You don't need to rebuild your entire life in 90 days. You need to make tiny improvements every day for 900 days.

Boring systems beat sexy strategies. The gurus sell you on revolutionary new methods. Reality is simpler: write helpful content, build genuine relationships, solve real problems. Over and over.

Your timeline matters more than their timeline. Maybe you can't replace your income in 90 days. Maybe it takes you two years. So what? You're still building something real instead of chasing someone else's fantasy.

Process beats promises. I can't promise you'll make six figures. I can show you the process I use to create content, build an audience, and sell products. Whether that leads to six figures depends on you, your market, and about fifty other variables I can't control.

My Anti-Guru Approach

Yes, I write books. Yes, I have a membership site. Yes, I'll help coach people for money.

But here's what I won't do:

I won't promise you'll replace your income by Christmas. I won't claim my system is revolutionary or exclusive. I won't create false urgency with countdown timers and "limited spots available."

Instead, I'll tell you exactly what worked for me, what didn't, and what I'm still figuring out. I'll give you frameworks, not formulas. I'll show you the process, not promise you the outcome.

Because the outcome depends on you.

And that's not gaslighting. That's just the truth.

The Long Road

The alternative to the guru path is longer. It's messier. It doesn't come with guarantees or refund policies.

But it works.

Instead of spending your time looking for shortcuts, you spend it building skills. Instead of chasing the next big thing, you get better at the fundamentals. Instead of hoping for transformation, you create improvement.

Month by month. Post by post. Reader by reader.

It's not sexy. It doesn't fit in a Facebook ad. You can't sell it with urgency and scarcity.

But it's honest. And it's sustainable.

The Real Secret

Here's the secret the gurus don't want you to know: there is no secret.

Success is boring. It's showing up consistently. It's helping people solve real problems. It's getting a little better at your craft every day.

The gurus sell you complexity disguised as simplicity. They give you 47-step frameworks and call them "simple systems." They create problems you didn't know you had so they can sell you solutions you don't actually need.

The real work is simpler and harder: figure out what you're good at, find people who need that thing, and help them consistently over time.

That's it.

No funnels. No masterminds. No transformation promises.

Just useful work, shared honestly, with people who appreciate it.

A Different Way

I'm not trying to be your guru. I'm trying to be your guide, your battle buddy in the creator economy war.

Someone who's made the mistakes, learned from them, and wants to help you skip the expensive parts of the education I got.

If you're tired of guru promises and ready for honest guidance, I write about this stuff every week. No hype. No false promises. Just real insights from someone who's been through the machine and came out the other side.

The path is longer than they promised. But it actually leads somewhere real.

And you know what's at the end of it, if you do the work?

Those dreams you've been chasing.

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