Not very. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This is the very reason (one main reason, anyway) that the warm and fuzzy<\/em> side of personal and spiritual development continues to be perpetuated<\/span> by NEW marketers entering this area!<\/p>\n Not only do they think<\/em> it’s the cool, hip, in-crowd thing to do, they actually think<\/em> (without a lot of authentic, honest self-talk and contemplation, by the way) that their recycled, surface-level, me-too content actually serves a purpose beyond spoon-feeding the masses the very \u201cfix\u201d that treats the symptoms and NOT the cause.<\/p>\n World-famous copywriter, Bob Bly<\/a>, recently commented on how this phenomenon \u2014 of being enamored with fluff, fads, and molding your personality to “crowd mentality” \u2014 applies to marketing:<\/p>\n “…blogging, social networking sites, bulletin boards, forums \u2014 all that is well and good. But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to sell something or you’re just wasting your time.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yup, we hear ya, Bob… it’s a crazy thing, isn’t it<\/strong>? As we’ve been saying in a hard and heavy way over the past year on this blog:<\/p>\n When it’s your belief (your self-identity) that you’re always or mostly one way (i.e., loving, caring, enlightened); that you’re put here to be a messenger for something profoundly intangible (i.e., like bliss, happiness or love); that you’re supposed to always socialize or give away things BEFORE you can sell something you have of value… you go into cognitive dissonance<\/a> when your behavior doesn’t fit the self-identity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yet, the majority, regardless of how personally unfruitful or non-productive it is, will always protect their self-identity at all costs.<\/p>\n Several days ago, we started our first post about “happiness” \u2014 how when you use your common-sense and ground your fluffy emotions, you’ll realize that not only can you not strive to find it around you, but it’s really something else you’re after. Many “Thank You’s” for everybody in our community who participated.<\/p>\n However, there’s one community member,\u00a0 Azam Khan , who we feel said it best, as it applies to what THIS post is about:<\/p>\n Being transparent<\/strong>, holding yourself accountable <\/strong>for what you experience (or don’t experience), and not pretending <\/strong>to be something you’re really not.<\/p>\n In response to the I Don’t Want To be Happy<\/em> post<\/a>, Azam adds:<\/p>\n “It is refreshing to hear a clearly defined distinction between superficial happiness and true fulfillment. I have known many people who go through life wearing fake plastic smiles to make themselves appear more pleasant or personable, but are emotional wrecks inside, or totally numb.<\/p>\n “I believe the whole spectrum of the human emotional experience needs to be felt and acknowledged in order to be genuinely whole<\/strong>. And that is to never repress the shadow of our anger, resentment or negativity, but to truly feel and acknowledge them, and in some cases where appropriate, express them.<\/p>\n “It is true that the pursuit of happiness is something that can cause unhappiness. We live in a world which can generally be an awesome place too\u2026 but we are also subject to an infrastructure of forced social adaptation that is governed by advertising and collective trends. As human animals with an inherent need to belong and be part of a collective, it is easy to fall prey to socio-cultural definitions of happiness and success, and aimlessly pursue them to maintain appearances and status.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And, this is a perfect transition to the event I’m leading off on June 6th<\/span><\/strong>. Kinda like Bill Hicks (we’ll talk about him soon) warming up for George Carlin, I’ll be starting off some rants and giving my direct, let’s-keep-it-real commentary to a “Personal Development Raw” event.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n = = = = =<\/p>\n Personal Development Raw<\/em><\/strong><\/span> is only being offered, at this time, to a private, somewhat select group of students who have progressed through some no-nonsense, hard-core training by a friend of mine who is doing some pretty snazzy habit-busting things for his people.<\/p>\n Ya know the ol’ saying: “Insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.”<\/p>\n Well, my friend, who shall go unnamed until I get my hands on the recording and\/or can direct you to the Personal Development Raw series he’s putting together, is ensuring his students don’t go insane.<\/p>\n Like Heather and I, he completely understands how the self-improvement, spiritual growth, manifestation \/ LOA niche attracts a lot of people (the majority) who are in a constant state of delusion (yep, a strong assertion… yet, we’ve dived deep enough to be able to say that<\/a><\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n In our friend’s words:<\/p>\n “The truth of the matter is, you are NOT willing to realize your faults, your mistakes or how you are constantly lying to yourself. Please don’t stop reading; if I have offended you, I’m sorry. But, I really think it’s time that a personal development professional begins to tell you what you need to hear, instead of hyping it up with philosophy and what you THINK you need to hear.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, my request of you is this<\/strong><\/span>:<\/p>\n WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO COVER ?<\/strong><\/p>\n I mean, come on, I can obviously sit, talk, and elaborate on everything we’ve been revealing, exposing, and being critically direct about on this blog…<\/p>\n …<\/strong> like self-help teachers who have an\u00a0 identity crisis with “marketing” and “teaching.”<\/p>\n …<\/strong> like how some of the most fragile, neurotic egos come out of the woodwork when we confront their hazy, cryptic, single-minded, over-analytical views of what The Secret means (or should mean) to them.<\/p>\n … <\/strong>like how certain marketers\/publishers claim they’re trying to dig deeply and be intelligent researchers, impartial reporters, or scientists, yet when they get an expert on the phone turn the whole thing into an adoring gush-fest.<\/p>\n So, you get the drift:\u00a0 What RAW things \u2014 things that you wouldn’t want your grandma to hear \u2014 do you want me to talk about?<\/p>\n Name it (by commenting on this post)… nothing is out of bounds for this call I’ll be conducting on June 6th.<\/p>\n ———————————————————————–<\/p>\n And, yes, by the way, I WILL be strong-arming (aggressively cajoling) my friend to create a book out of the Personal Development Raw<\/em> series he’s creating.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Simply because, in an age where the MASSES fool themselves every day by believing in mainstream propaganda (or at least, not questioning it or turning over the rock) and striving to perfect their game (the game called “personal accomplishment”) from hollow, lame, and Utopian practices, it’s NEEDED!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And, least I not forget!<\/strong><\/p>\n I can’t begin to tell you how many of our readers have submitted tickets about wanting to write a book or make comments here on our LWL blog about “one day” being an author.<\/p>\n TRULY, if that’s you, there’s no damn excuse.<\/p>\n Have a dream of writing your own book?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, well, we do (did) too \u2014 we’re in the process<\/em> of writing three of them, actually.<\/p>\n We got off our ass and are doing it. So can you.<\/p>\n Research tells us that 82% of people believe they have a book inside them. However, sadly 99.9% of people will go to their grave with their book still inside them. But don\u2019t despair.<\/p>\n Don’t let that be you!<\/p>\n By accessing this F<\/a>REE 68 Minute Audio and 43\u2013page Publishing Guide<\/a><\/strong>, valued at over $147, you\u2019ll discover a proven way to become a best-selling author\u2026<\/p>\n Yup, watch out J.K. Rowling… Dale Beaumont, the publisher of this AMAZING publishing guide, has published 15 books over the past three years \u2013 selling over a quarter of a million copies. As he keeps up the pace, he’ll be right on your tail \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"file:\/\/\/C:\/Users\/ADMINI~1\/AppData\/Local\/Temp\/moz-screenshot-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"