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Bryant Duhon's avatar

So much this. Find a handful of goo-roos (they aren't all bad) or at least folks who know what they're doing and focus on them. Absolutely dump the get rich "quick and easy" ones.

You can drown in the ocean of overlapping advice out there -- and it ALL overlaps.

I'll take your analogy one step further -- folks want the bolt tightened, they don't want the wrench.

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Joe Forrest's avatar

I definitely don’t think all the gurus out there are “bad.” I’ve seen some very good advice from many and used it to varying results.

My anti-guru stance comes for the ones you mention, the “get rich quick” scam artists and conmen, and the trend that seems to happen when someone latches on to a cult of personality and lets that do all their thinking for them.

And it definitely overlaps, because there are some universal truths that can’t be escaped when doing this kind of thing.

I like that analogy. Very appropriate.

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Bryant Duhon's avatar

Didn't mean to imply that you think all goo-roos are bad! But, yeah, the "it's easy" crowd is . . . bad.

Thanks, I ripped it off from the drill/hole in wall example -- which you probably already knew!

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Joe Forrest's avatar

Nah, you didn’t imply that. I was stating it mostly to clarify my stance on gurus. And the regular gurus get pretty bad too, especially when they come to like the smell of their own farts and think it’s roses all the time.

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Bryant Duhon's avatar

It takes some self-awareness to guard against the constant stream of smoke blown up one's backside when you hit a position of "authority."

As an editor, I knew I had no freaking clue how the tech I covered worked (one of the main reasons I shifted focus from speeds n' feeds to why someone should care, but anyway), but vendors doing pitches always seemed to think my every utterance was as if Moses were hand-delivering additional instructions.

Started asking stupid shit just to see who would push back -- listened to them in future, ignored the others.

Was a lesson some of the folks I worked under never got -- "No, you aren't saying anything revelatory or even very smart, you're an exec in the association and they want access to our members via you." Couple of them huffed their own farts so much pretty sure it lead to oxygen deprivation (at least judging by some of the decisions made).

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Chris Humphrey's avatar

What's that line from The Mandalorian?

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Joe Forrest's avatar

"The spice shall flow!!"

Wait... that's not it.

"Beam me up, Scotty!"

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Nathan Rodgers's avatar

Thanks for recommending my newsletter! I'm humbled you consider it one of the best you subscribe to.

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Joe Forrest's avatar

My criteria is getting something useful out of most of what hits my inbox. Yours exceeds that criteria. It's a great read.

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Graham Saxby's avatar

Now that’s a realistic and worthwhile challenge

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Joe Forrest's avatar

I like me some realistic and worthwhile. It's what makes the world go 'round.

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