Maybe it's just me, but I have a problem with people telling me how to live when it doesn't look like they can do what they suggest the rest of us should do.
Let's take for example Dr. Wayne Dyer's There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem.' Wasn't there a spiritual solution to prevent any of his three marriages from ending in divorce? Or didn't he think divorce was a problem? I'm assuming he took the same vows all married people take, the ones that include 'Until death do us part.' Don't those vows apply to him? Instead of writing Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life,' maybe he should've written 'Change Your Mind, Change Your Wife.'
Wayne Dyer leads the self-help brigade appearing on the highly regarded PBS channel. PBS, which stands for PUBLIC Broadcasting System means that your donations help fund his programs. In addition to what he gets paid to appear in the studio, he gets to promulgate his products during breaks in the program.
"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into," says Dr. Dyer. How we do that is something of a mystery. What is obvious, however, is that if you can write a fluffy inspirational book packed with maxims sans substance, you can make a bundle. Just open up and let the universe send you its abundance. "Successful people make money," he says. "It's not that people who make money become successful, but that successful people attract money. They bring success to what they do."
Is money the only barometer of success? Does anyone really understand how to "attract money?" Doesn't that sound a little passive to you? If you want money, I always thought you had to work for it. But that concept isn't going to sell any books, tapes, CDs, DVDs, or tickets to speaking engagements.
How much money do you think we spend for self-help advice? "Americans spend upward of $8 billion every year on self-help programs and products," says one industry expert. American pop psychology and pseudo spirituality is an industry that offers a quick fix to whatever ails us, but never actually delivers the payoff. One book, after another CD, after another DVD comes out restating essentially the same message: "If you follow my program, you'll achieve a life beyond your wildest dreams." I see a lot of people buying the products, but not many living a life beyond their wildest dreams.
Am I saying that people like Dr. Dyer do more harm than good? Not necessarily. What I'm saying is that there's no quick fix, no shortcut to living the life of your dreams. It requires a little luck and a lot of hard work. No one can tell you the meaning of life. The purpose of your life is the purpose you give it. Don't rely on a self-help guru to neatly package a solution to your individual problems. That's your job. If you're successful, even if you never utter a word or write a book, how you live will speak volumes about you.
As Dr. Wayne Dyer says, "Your children will see what you're all about by what you live rather than what you say."