Motivation Seminar Sound Off (Yes - Long post - worth a read

[AZ-G35]

So in the Vacation thread I was talking about going to this motivation seminar today, Tuesday.

Motivation seminar, Zig Ziglar, Paul Orfalea, Jerry Lewis, Tom Hopkins, Joe Montana
Honorary Speakers: General Tommy Franks + Rudolph Giuliani


At first I was really excited to go and see these people and hope to learn something useful, maybe learn some tricks to wealth building, and being a overall better person in my personal life and with work.

All I have to say to this is what a bunch of crap. I always wondered how people made money, like some serious cash, now I know all the secrets, it is what I have known for a long time.

I'll save you all from ever having to attend one of these if you just follow some simple advise. Learn how to sell "Ice to an Eskimo" and you are on your way to wealth beyond your wildest dreams.

I actually walked away from this with a totally different look on how the rich become rich. Sure there are those that work really hard, and sure those are those that inherit it. But the rest of them, these so called motivational speakers, these "Oh I started out only making $4000 a year and only a few years later I'm a millionaire". You all have seen that guy on late night/early morning infomercials pushing the I invested my money in realestate and now I'm making over $50,000 in a month. We all get those stupid business cards on our cars telling you you can earn up to $10,000 in a month from your own home.

Most of these people prey on those of us looking to make the quick buck, looking to go from zero to a billion dollars in 60 days. They all preach it because that is what we want to hear. How to be successful, how to be rich, how to be a star, how to be liked by everyone.

Humans are a sad bunch, but more over Americans are.

Look at the list of people above, every American can link to at least one of those people and how great it must be to be them.

I'm sad to say that the whole show was nothing more than a dog and pony show. First off I wasn't even sure I was at a motivational seminar or a freaking July 4th celebration or some sort of bad Great White concert waiting to go haywire. They had pyrotechnics happening on stage for every speaker. Four corners of the stage shooting fireworks and flares, firing confetti and streamers in the air all over the stage. When Joe Montana came out they even fired four large flames that shot about ten feet tall. I was sitting like maybe 40 to 50 feet from the stage and you can feel the heat hotter than the sun on your skin.

So great, they have these big names. Did they ever really tell you how they made their fortune? How they every got to be well off with their millions? Not exactly.

One speaker even showed a picture of a dot or ball on it. When asked people what they saw, the answer was a dot or a ball. Well his answer was a large white screen with something on it. He talked about the big picture. Well I think I saw the big picture.

The big picture - they got you to spend your money to come see them talk about qualities you already have, power you already possess at the same time trying to self promote themselves into your life while trying to get you to buy supplemental videos, books, tapes, software to make you even a more successful person. The more I listened to them the more I realized that I don't need them to make me a better person. The more I listened I realized that there is no easy, quick or sure fire way to get to your goal. There is no short cut. If there was don't you think everyone would be taking this short cut?

The one guy that was making $4000 a year that went to a million in a few short years, yeah, maybe he did but that is not the norm. The guy that made $333,000 in two months definately not the norm. Yet he was promoting software to help you get there. He showed fancy graphs, with telling you all the good inside tips to the stock market. Building you up. Telling you where to get the information and encouraged you to go to the web site and try it for free, hummm, all without actually giving you the web site, only to find out near the end that there is another seminar you need to go to, and you need to purchase this software in the back of the room for $495 to really be able to do it. He must have sold anywhere from say 500 to 1000 copies of this software. Evident from all the red bags I saw floating around from those that bought. Hey nice marketing gimmick, red bags. So anyway, like the fool that I am (no I didn't buy the software) I went home and tried to find this so called free site to check it out for myself. Unfortunately, it does not exist. The only way to even access the site, not even under the names he showed on the screen, was going to be through that software and log in. What people didn't realize is that for this dream to actually happen and get these large investments, ummmm ....you actually have to have money, I mean some serious money to invest in able to see any return. On top of all that you need to pay $199 every six months to be able to use their web site. So you really need to be making over $200 every six months with your investments to cover that cost.

Nothing but pure American greed. How can I get rich faster. You got to figure he made like $500,000 in about one hour of his time in selling software. Even if you bought it there is no guarantee that you are going to make money. In fact I would even bet that out of all the sales, if even 1% would make anything or even stick with the program long enough that would be optimistic.

So that is how it is done.

[BreaKaoss]

haha, you hit it right on. how to make a million dollars? start off with $999,999. give me some cash and i can turn it into a million dollars. it's getting the cash to be able to invest it. sorry you wasted your time tho.

[Hot Foot]

WOW AZ, that was quite an impressive summarization of your experience. Just one thing to add, most folks that attend these seminars do not actually pay for anything, their employer usually picks up the tab.

[jl9618]

LOL If there was a get rich quick scheme, wouldn't everyone be rich? It's always nice to experience something first hand before you discount it though.

[Jaylin]

Most people who purchased this software will realize that it takes time and effort and it will end up in a drawer somewhere.

[dholly]

Originally Posted by AZ-G35

One speaker even showed a picture of a dot or ball on it. When asked people what they saw, the answer was a dot or a ball. Well his answer was a large white screen with something on it. He talked about the big picture. Well I think I saw the big picture.

Lol. Yes indeed AZ, you are now seeing the "big picture". But hey, don't be so cynical. Not ALL motivational speakers/coaches/authors are snake-oil salesmen. The guy I quote below gets it too. Nothing is more imprtant than accepting personal responsibility. All the motivational speakers in the world will fail to succeed if the element of self-help is absent. Personal responsibility and an understanding of The Greatest Secret in The World* can be the simple, solid foundation of a formula for success...personal and financial.

Motivation Exposed!

What "They" Don't Want to to Know About Motivating Your Employees & Yourself

©2004 By Brian Norris


The truth about motivation is that the ONLY true motivation is internally created.

And yet, an entire industry of speakers, consultants and publishers purports otherwise. Know this, no external force—person, product, process or strategy —will motivate anyone to do anything that they don't want to do, can't do or aren't trained to do.

That's reality.

As an expert in motivation, I've put thousands of hours into researching the question of "How do I motivate people?"

I've tested all the things others in the motivation industry peddle. Most of the stuff doesn't work. Still the billion-dollar motivation industry continues to churn out new panaceas to desperate organizations and individuals.

Why doesn't the motivation industry come clean about the ineffectiveness of their wares? Their goal is obvious; Make a profit on their products and services. It's the overriding goal of any business. But to get those sales, these companies have to get you to believe that a poster or charismatic speaker will sufficiently increase sales.

That's unethical.

And since so many consumers (employees and otherwise) refuse to blame themselves for their conditions, the farce continues. Truth is, most people ENJOY being a victim. That's how they satisfy their need for recognition and attention.

And that's absurd!

You know I'm right. We've all fallen into the trap of the motivation industry. For instance, how many self-help books do even you have half-read, sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust? How many Rah-Rah sessions have you attended where you left feeling great, only to go back to your original state of misery in a few days?

Don't spend another cent on anything that claims to GIVE you bliss. Remember, that the only long-term changes in behavior must be made because a person WANTS to improve or change.

That's where your motivation focus has to be:

"How do I create the conditions in which a person will want to change, grow, improve their condition on their own, without me having to be a baby-sitter?"

Follow these 4 practical steps. They are all you really can do. The rest requires initiative on the part of the people who lack the motivation.

First, create awareness.

Second, present alternatives and describe cogent steps to approximate those alternatives.

Third, set tight deadlines that require a person (or group of people) to take tangible action steps that bring them closer to the outcomes that they think they want.

Fourth, follow up and present positive and negative consequences of taking action or the new behaviors.

These are the exact steps I use in my speaking and coaching business to influence morale and motivation in the workplace.

Attitude is totally dependent on internals. I focus instead on systems, behaviors and actions that get average, lackluster people to get tangible results, despite their horrible attitudes.

Present the alternative. Work at magnifying the awareness of those alternatives.

Since many workers at every level are content with being average or below average. You have to accept that these people NEED specific guidelines, training and strong consequences just so that they don't derail your profit and productivity objectives.

5 Motivation Realities "They" Don't Want You to Know

1. Motivation is a warm bath.

You feel good temporarily. But when you go back to move work and the euphoria wears off, you realize that nothing has changed and you still lack the tools to do your job or to run your life more effectively. What we need is that same dose of positive energy mixed with specific suggestions and techniques to integrate the message immediately.

2. Motivation is only good for people willing or ready to change.
I can't motivate you to stop being cynical or hateful or fat and out of shape (unless I threaten you). But I can inspire you to reevaluate who you are, your purpose and your passion. Motivational speakers and products are automatically put into a scenario where they are over-promising and under-delivering ... That's not a good place to be.

3. Many motivational speakers, books and products are generally full of ... hot air.

They say a lot of nothing, liberally borrowing stories from others and trying to pass them off as their own. Many are victims of buzzword overload, still referring to paradigm shifts, re-enginneering, cheese moving, FISH philosophies and other concepts made popular in the 80s and 90s.

Furthermore, how many times are you going to hear the one about the ship and the lighthouse or the boy and the starfish or the room full of fertilizer before you get sick to your stomach?

4. Motivational speakers and resource producers typically lack the skill or experience to give solid advice or focus on the fundamental realities that drive us to succeed more or work harder.

Again, they mean well, but fail to realize the importance of fusing soft skills AND hard skills. Words are powerful. Still, faith and positive intentions without works and physical actions is meaningless. Worse, telling someone to do something without teaching them ways to do it is a recipe for bankruptcy and high turnover.

5. Most motivational speakers really aspire to be celebrities.

Another motivational speaker looks at someone like Zig Ziglar, Stephen Covey, Tony Robins, or even Mark Victor Hansen and sees them getting tremendous speaking fees. It's natural to aspire to earning those fees. $50,000- $100,000 for a single presentation is sweet! What the typical "motivational speaker" fails to understand is that these guys get the fees because they've become best selling authors and become celebrities. The bulk of their income comes through product sales.

The most recognizable names aren't necessarily the best or most effective trainers. The ones who earn the most in this industry are the ones with the largest PR machines and the most back of the room product sales.

When the Ziglars of the world get invited to speak they aren't getting paid to train or even to motivate. They're getting paid to make the audience feel special by watching a live celebrity and being in their presence (as if being in the same room with them will transfer success via osmosis).

______________________________________

*The Greatest Secret in The World by Og Mandino; Bantam Pblishers; ISBN: 0553280384

Og Mandino was a U.S. pilot during World War II, and after the war he worked as a magazine editor. In 1968 he published The Greatest Salesman in the World, a parable with common sense advice on how to succeed in life. The book was a huge success and Mandino became one of the most popular motivational speakers in the U.S. He went on to write other self-help books, including The Greatest Secret in the World and A Better Way to Live. All told, Mandino has sold more than 30 million books.

If you want to know the Greatest Secret in The World, here it is backwards so as not to spoil the book...

.ylgnidrocca wollof lliw sseccus dna dworc eht evoba hgih flesruoy etavele dna etarapes lliw uoy ercoidem naht ertteb eb ot ylno evirts ylpmis uoy srovaedne yliad yuoy ni fI

[Jaylin]

.ylgnidrocca wollof lliw sseccus dna dworc eht evoba hgih flesruoy etavele dna etarapes lliw uoy ercoidem naht ertteb eb ot ylno evirts ylpmis uoy srovaedne yliad yuoy ni fI

If in your daily endeavors you simply strive only to be better than mediocre you will separate and elevate yourself high above the crowd and success will follow acordingly.

Easier to read now.

[dholly]

If you want to know the Greatest Secret in The World, here it is backwards so as not to spoil the book...

!ssakcaJ

[ironrice]

LOL. I spelled that backwards and it still spells LOL.

[Dizz]

AhahahahahA!!!

[Jaylin]

Originally Posted by dholly

!ssakcaJ

?syawyna koob taht daer ot ginog yllautca erew elpoep ynam woH

Show of hands!

[dholly]

Originally Posted by Jaylin

?syawyna koob taht daer ot ginog yllautca erew elpoep ynam woH

Who knows?

Perhaps the one person who otherwise might have been motivated to make the effort... and subsequently found it changed his/her entire outlook, behavior, self-confidence or even contributed to a lifetime of personal and financial success.

No big deal tho...

[Jaylin]

Originally Posted by dholly

Who knows?

Perhaps the one person who otherwise might have been motivated to make the effort... and subsequently found it changed his/her entire outlook, behavior, self-confidence or even contributed to a lifetime of personal and financial success.

No big deal tho...

...really...you're so understanding.

[AZ-G35]

So anyway to wrap this up, one of the guys my brother knows bought the software and then that Saturday he went to the 8 hour "free" siminar to learn how to use the program only to find out that you must attend these other siminars, which I guess the cheapest one is $4000. I guess this girl next to him bought the cheapest one and she got a box of 7 dvd's and a password to get on the system.

It just seems that they get you over and over..... Hell if I had the $4500 she already spent then I would have invested that.

Oh well.

DHolly,

I'm not down on all motivational speakers. Actually there were a couple there that didn't sell anything. They just talked and were inspirational.

There is actually a guy that rents some office space from my boss and his business is a motivational coach. Gets pretty good business and he has fun at it. He doesn't sell a product but helps people achieve their career goal by helping them work out their daily work problems. By the way he gets paid pretty well too.