It’s difficult enough for most people to sort out the diet and exercise gurus, let alone all the “success gurus” that are out there today. A lot of people even wonder whether you need a success “guru” in the first place or if the whole self help and positive thinking movement is a bunch of baloney. Opinions are very polarized on the subject and range from “Transformed my life,” to “It’s just common sense,” to “A bunch of phonies”…
The word guru has its roots in spiritual traditions and the firstdefinition you find in the dictionary reflects that: A teacherand guide in spiritual or philosophical matters.
The second definition is: A trusted counselor and advisor; a mentor
I like the word “mentor.” I like the word “coach” too.
Whatever you call it, I believe that if you want to achieve thehighest level of success possible, as quickly as possible, in ANYarea of your life, then you will will benefit from a mentor.
You cannot bypass the steps and the work that are necessaryto be successful, but a mentor can help you accelerate your climband stumble less often.
A coach or mentor sees the potential in you that you do not seein yourself yet.
A coach or mentor can light a desire fire under your butt andhelp you set your sights for bigger and better things when youwere going to sell yourself short.
A coach or mentor provides you with accountability which helps you stay on track.
A coach or mentor also provides what Napoleon Hill said wasa prerequisite for success – specialized knowledge.
But if having a coach or mentor is so important, then why do theysometimes get bad press and why do so many people say negative thingsabout personal development gurus, books, tapes, seminars and so on?
Well, for sure, there is bad advice in the self improvementfield just as there is bad advice in the diet and exercise field,in the Investment field and every other field.
But sometimes even the best advice is unjustly criticized…Criticism is often a way people attack others because it makesthem feel better about their own lack of success and feelings ofinferiority. Easier to knock someone else down than build yourselfup, right?
Not long ago, a critic – who shall remain unnamed – wrote a book abouthow the entire personal development industry is one giant scam, preyingon people who continue to buy the next big thing in “self help”just like dieters keep buying the next big thing in fat loss.
Well, as Teddy Roosevelt said in his famous and oft-quoted line,”It’s not the critic who counts…”
Ignore the critics and avoid the pessimists. If you listen to and hangout with losers, you will become one yoursef.
I can honestly tell you that studying personal success and improvementinformation – right alongside my studies of nutrition and exercise science -has transformed my life in ways I cannot even begin to descibe in a shortblog entry.
The information I have learned – combined with the fact that I took whatI learned and ACTED ON is a big part of why I am where I am today.
And thats an important point — ACTION trumps everything else.
There’s a lot of talk these days in the personal improvement worldabout attraction, manifesting, intention, visualization and of course,positive thinking.
I believe in all those things. But I think theres a misconception that if you just “think positive”and then sit back and wait then success will be mysteriously”attracted” to you or to “manifest” out of thin air.
Success is achieved through action + attraction. There are two sides to the coin.
Affirmations are wonderful, but as Jim Rohn once said,”affirmationwithout action is the beginning of delusion,” or as the old Quakersaying goes, “Pray, but move your feet!”
Some people will listen to a few minutes of an audio or read the firstfew pages of a self-improvement book and theyre tempted to say, “I already know that.”
Other people will criticize personal improvement information by saying…”This is just common sense.”
To the former, I say GOOD! repetition is the mother of learning.
To the latter, I say, YES it is common sense. Are you taking actionand applying this “common sense” wisdom in your own life today?
Have you read the book about fat loss and yet you refuse to change youreating habits? Have you bought the book about financial success and yetyou spend more than you save and you don’t increase your value to youremployer or customers?
If you are not as healthy, wealthy, or successful as you want to be yet, then I’d say that those “common sense” messages that you have “heard before” haven’t quite sunk in yet have they? If they had, your results would show it. As the proverb goes, “By their fruits you will know them.”Maybe you need a mentor to help you with the application of things.
So get mentors! Keep studying… and keep applying, and taking action.Even after you’ve “made it,” don’t ever stop because your awareness ofand ability to use and apply the laws of success will continue to expand.
Nothing beats a personal mentor or coaching program, but a place we canall get started is to seek mentors in self improvement books. That’s where I started.
Here’s a short list of some of the great ones.
Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz
Think and grow rich by napoleon hill
the Seven habits of highy effective people by Steven covery
As Man Thinketh By James Allen
Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins
You’ll See it when you Believe it by Dr. Wayne Dyer
You were Born rich by Bob Proctor
The strangest secret by earl Nightingale
the Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy
Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy
The psychology of Winning by Denis Waitley
7 strategies for wealth and happiness by Jim Rohn
The magic Of Thinkig Big by david Schwartz
The Magic Of Believing by claude Bristol
My apologies go to all those I did not list because I couldgo on and on listing pages and pages of great books and then pages and pages more of audio and video programs.
I narrowed down my list specifically, because these aresome of the classic books that fell into my hands and influencedme the most when I first started on this path.
My Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle Book, for example, was veryinfluenced by many of these authors as I weaved principles ofsuccess psychology throughout its pages, and the entire firstchapter of Burn Fat Fat is all about goals, self image, motivationand how to program your subconscious mind. I KNOW this has a lotto do with why the program has been so successful for so manythousands of people.
If you’re interested in seeing a much more exhaustivelisting of success, motivation and personal improvement books,and especially if youre confused and not sure where to start,another book I recommend is David riklan’s Self Improvement:The Top 101 Experts.
101 experts is a reference manual that catalogs the top101 self improvement experts and summarizes who they are,what they have to say, what books and products they have andhow to contact them.
You could call it a “mentor-finder” because ithelps you to locate the mentors who are most appropriatefor your personal desires, wants, and needs and what areasyou want to improve the most. It also includes a copy of Think And Grow Rich…
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill by the way, is probablyresponsible for the increased success of more men and womenover the last 100 years than any other book outside of the bible.
The website for the 101 experts book is:
www.self-improvement-101.com
One final thought: Some people say that they are not so concernedabout their own personal success and that they would liketo improve the world, serve others and contribute to society. Those are noble and admirable intentions, but hard to do if you haven’t started with yourself first.
Someone very wise said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”It all starts with SELF-improvement.
Train Hard and Expect Success,
tom Venuto
PS Feel welcome to post your comments and opinions or list some of your own favorite self improvement books andhow they have influenced you.

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