When you are faced with someone successful in your industry you have two choices: get inspired, or get jealous.
If you meet someone that is exactly where you want to be, your best bet is to learn from them and follow in their footsteps. But in the Internet Marketing industry, all too often what we see instead is a bad case of Guru-Envy.
How do you know if you have it? Scan over this quick list of 7 symptoms and see if any of these apply to you...
1. You flame/bash Guru's in public forums without giving a good reason. (thats pointless really, there are plenty of good reasons)
2. You follow Guru's around like a lost puppy at Internet Marketing events.
3. You really want a product that could help you make more money online, but you refuse to buy it because you dont want to contribute to the success of the seller.
4. You wont even try a particular tip or strategy because you already know you cant achieve the same results as the "Guru" - so you dont even bother.
5. You dislike a Guru only because they are successful.
6. You spend an hour and a half of your valuable time searching their websites for mistakes or bad practices just to see if you can "catch them at something".
7. You roll your eyes every time you see an email from them arrive in your Inbox... yet you continue to stay subscribed.
Quick Remedy
Do you find that you have a bad case of Guru-Envy? Even a mild case is dangerous, and also highly contagious. Never fear - there's an easy cure!
Stop watching and start doing. Instead of concerning yourself with someone else's success, concern yourself with your own. Decide what you want to do. Set the goal. Get what you need to get the job done. And start doing it.
Best,
P.S. There is a 20-step program for those of you that find your success crippled by Guru-Envy, complete with a thriving support & accountability group. If you need serious help, click here.
About Lynn Terry
Don't have no guru envy here!
Heyz Lynn, two words for you. Great Post. For me, I think no. 3 is the personal killer for many of the internet marketers. They seem to forget what goes around comes around. What if they were doing an affiliate business and their potential customers thought the exact same thing as they did before? I hope your post will be helping many others realise that ugly fact.
Cheers.
I came face to face with my own guru envy years ago... it has a root in self-doubt and low self esteem.
You look at someone who is where you want to be - and you see that you have a lot in common with them - so you spot their faults (your faults) and almost can't resist taking shots at them.
You think:
'They're nothing special' (you're nothing special)
'They're not so smart' (you're not that smart)
'They haven't accomplished anything great' (y0u haven't accomplished anything great)
The underlying thoughts are all about you and can probably be traced back to the messages you heard a lot when you were young.
If you have strong self esteem and believe in yourself, it won't bother you to see someone like you succeeding.
Deep huh?
Lynn you've got the solution right in this post. Shake off the negative self talk and DO something.
Great points, Kelly!
Oh so true. I've suffered with it to some degree in the past. Not the hateful bashing or not buying products...etc...but simply feeling sorry for myself.
Like you mentioned stop watching and start doing. If you occupy yourself with building your own empire you won't have the same amount of time to just sit around and feel sorry bad about somebody else's success.
Great post as always!
I tend to be very inspired by true gurus - people like yourself, Lynn, and Willie Crawford and Ken Evoy to name a few. When I'm feeling negative, it's usually when certain people give me the feeling they really aren't as successful as they pretend to be. I can't say I never feel envious of successful people, but I'm also conscious there's a learning curve I need to get past, and that very successful people NEVER get there overnight - in my humble opinion, anyway.
You're right - they dont. I should think it would be VERY interesting to see a movie or read a book on the *real* details of the start-up days and the process that the successful Internet Marketers went through to get where they are today. It would be a real eye-opener, I believe...
Lynn I agree with you on these points. Yes most people simply hate the word 'guru' and real GURUS based on hate and envy.
I think it is nothing but failure mentality.
Lynn,
I really like your blog layout and content. It is fresh, uncluttered, and very easy on the eyes.
I also enjoyed your Easy 7-Step Fast Cash Strategy. I'm busy executing your strategy as quickly as I can.
Sincerely,
Kevin Simon
I can admit I've had it, but I wouldn't say I necessarily qualify for any of the points except maybe #2. And it wasn't so much that I follow them around at events, but more so that I buy everything they recommend because I figure if they, who I look up to so much, recommends it then it must be worth it. The problem is, 9 times out of 10, I then don't do anything with it. 🙁
Great question!
Thank you, Kevin 🙂
Shannon - Why do you think that is? Lack of time, lack of interest, distraction? I would be interested to know, as you arent the only one I've heard that from...
It's definitely not lack of interest. I would say mostly feeling overwhelmed due to lack of time and maybe knowledge. The self-doubt that I'll even be able to implement whatever it is that the particular product is promoting.
It appears as if you do have some accomplishments under your belt though - your own site and blog set up, for starters.
If there is anything I can personally help you with, dont hesitate to pop by my forum and ask! The link is:
http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/forum/
~ Lynn