What is the real secret to success?

Give me 3 minutes and I’ll reveal the answer to you.

Because who else wants to know how you can have your bank vaults bursting with cash? You, that’s who.

And you’d be a real idiot not to listen to what I have to tell you.

There Is No Secret

If you’ve done any copywriting, you’d have recognized the classic lines I used above. They’re classic because they’ve been proven to do one thing: to grab and hold your attention enough to make a sale.

I want you to remember that: to grab and hold your attention enough to make a sale.

If you’ve ever talked to me about The Secret, you’ll know I’ve never been a big fan of it. While I do believe that thoughts have power, and directed thoughts have even more power, the idea that people attract everything including hurricanes and the kitchen sink into their lives because of their ‘vibrational frequency’ just strikes me as…weak.

In fact, after reading Connie’s The Wrath of the Secretrons (a cool in-depth review of The Secret) and her hilarious but insightful blog Whirled Musings I’m feeling more than a little self-conscious…and decided I had to spill the beans on what I’ve discovered after more than a decade of devouring self-help books.

(By the way, don’t visit Connie’s blog if you’re a die-hard New Ager who’s not prepared to have your beliefs shaken, it’ll blow your mind and I won’t take responsibility.)

What I’ve discovered after truckloads of books, audio programs and seminars is that there really is a lot of good stuff out there that works - but there’s also so much more fluff that’s designed to do only one thing - separate you from your hard-earned cash.

How Do You Find What Really Works - So You Don’t Get Ripped Off?

Pay me S$99 for an hour of coaching and I’ll tell you.

Just kidding!

There is no easy answer really. But here’s the good news; the stuff that has always worked has always been around. It’s the real simple things, like treating people well, doing your best at any given job, staying positive, that work and take a lifetime to master.

The danger lies in our need to have the Next Big Thing come in our life. It’s the danger of ‘If Only’ - ‘If Only I had the Next Big Thing then I could really succeed, have the relationship I want and burst my bank accounts’.

The quest to grow and improve ourselves is a noble one - the hero’s journey always has been and always will. But there will also always be those who aren’t above making a quick buck from people’s ignorance - they are the ones who will feed you the get-rich-quick schemes and promise to make you enlightened overnight - all for a quick fee of course.

They are the ones who will say anything to grab and hold your attention enough to make a sale. They are the ones you have to watch out for as you continue to grow and learn. And sometimes they’re not even malicious - they’re doing their best to make sense out of this world same as you and I - some of them just might not have the best answers for you.

The other danger lies in our tendency to swing to the opposite extreme - cynicism. While there is a lot of snake-oil out there, there’s also a lot of good work - not all of it necessarily from the self-help section (I enjoy learning about people and life from fiction books too like Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood). But if you react to everything with cynicism, you won’t be able to reap the benefits of these good works.

If you really want a way to save your money and get results, I’d say realize the areas you want to work on first - then buy the book, audio program or seminar. Do you want to go further in your career, to become a better man or be more productive? Never become a self-help information junkie who refuses to take action until he’s read it all, because the amount of information available is more than you could ever finish digesting.

Just take what is useful, discard what is useless, refine it so it works best for you and move on from there. Realize that there has never been and never will be an ultimate answer for everything, or a perfect plan for living your live. Just learn, grow and enjoy.

P.S. I touched on these ’secrets’ more and gave 3 specific suggestions to handle them in The Real Secret Behind Secrets.

P.P.S. In case you’re wondering, the books that have really good material to help you go further in your career, become a better man and be more productive are Never Eat Alone, The Way Of The Superior Man and Getting Things Done, respectively.

P.P.P.S. Yes, the above are affiliate links. I’m totally for making a buck - on recommending quality material.