[GREED] A Bad Habit of Successful Self-Help Experts

I remember being in a discussion some time ago at a function where the topic of personal development and self-help came up.

The host had introduced me to a small group of people who he knew didn’t really believe in self-help and said that even me, with my strong beliefs and track record of real success with self-help from a personal perspective (Read: Failed woefully in business 3 times in a row when I quit my 9-5 in 1995 to taken the path less followed) and as a recognized expert in personal development and self-help, that even I would find these guys a challenge to have a discussion with about personal development and self-help.

And it was no surprise that when I introduced myself as an expert in the field of personal development, self-improvement and self-help, Rick, one of the guys in the small group responded with…


I was a bit confused because I didn’t catch on to what he was saying. Was he talking about what someone else had told him? Who was he referring to?

“Isn’t that what you guys tell people you say to yourself each morning when you wake up?” Rick asked.

Then I 'got it.'

Even though he was kidding, he was being sarcastic about personal development gurus and self-help experts.

What I’m going to mention next is going to freak some people in this part of the forum out. I can see the anti-self-help haters rubbing their hands together even as I create this post.

But that’s not going to help you leverage your self-help knowledge, so screw them.


Here’s the 'straight dope' on this topic.

Wanting to make and have money, lots of it too, through creating and selling (Yes, requiring people to give you their hard-earned money) self-help products and programs to people who need the results the kinds of products and programs you offer can deliver - so not only do they benefit, but you make so much money you can do anything you choose to do in life, without having to worry about money, is considered by many outside and inside the personal development and self-help world, as being GREEDY.

*SIDEBAR: Trust me on this. I've worked with coaches on growing their business for more than a decade, and I still do - the mindset is still very common!

But back to our thread...

You expect people to pay you when you could help people for free.

You've chosen to ask for money in exchange for what you know or what you've paid to learn to become who you are.

You want people to pay you, at times having to dig deep to pay you before you share your life experiences and learned knowledge.

Isn't that greed?

Reality check my fellow self-help colleague...

If YOU Think Money Is The Root Of All Evil, You’re Unlikely To Ever Get Your Hands On Any.

...and you're highly unlikely to help anyone else get their hands on some either, no matter how hard you try and no matter how authentic you are in what you do.

That’s my message, my “straight dope” as the son of a neighbor of mine articulately put it when I asked her to review this write-up as an objective and smart reviewer.


I don’t know why it is, but that object called 'MONEY' can tell when you’re allergic to it. If you are, it stays away. (That’s proof positive that money is not a domestic house cat.).

Now, make sure you absolutely understand what I’m saying here.

I’m not telling you to “be greedy” as a self improvement or self-help expert and I don’t mean “be an unfeeling, unethical ratbag” either.

The best and most fun way for you to make money, easily and authentically, in ways that allow you to show appreciation to God or the universe for what you’ve discovered through your own life experience and learning, is by helping other people and helping them a lot.

While I do believe some elements of the Secret and philosophies on abundance and prosperity, I’m also not saying to you that money is somehow going to be ‘mystically’ attracted to you if you change your mindset alone.

Spoiler Alert: “The “Secret” for you to really experience financial success as a personal development and self-help expert normally tends to include work. Plenty of it, and not some form of magical pseudo-laws.

Even though there might be books, courses offered by gurus, publications, movies and reality shows here in the US on the topic of millionaires, there are no accidental millionaires.

Lottery winners are the closest we have, and if you don't already know it, go do some research on what happens to the majority of them...


So, my recommendation to you for consideration, as someone interested in personal development and self-help as a way to help people by sharing your life experience and knowledge is this.


If that doesn’t make you feel good about yourself and what you can do to help people as a self-improvement and self-help expert, if you still think it’s greedy to want to make serious amounts of money by helping others, then think of this.
You can always give part or all of the money you make through your self-help activities away to someone who you feel needs it more badly than you do.

But you’ve got to earn it first!


BAYO