Everyone is Selling Something it’s Sickening

And they say let me help you be more blah blah blah…

How I lost 18 pounds in 28 days and how you could too!

You click on that article and read 5 minutes of BS only to find that you have to buy that book or take the course to or join the workshop to find out the ‘secret’!

Each article is slowly beginning to feel like bait to a hidden product/course/workshop.

Many so-called self-help gurus are milking people’s gullibility and vulnerability in the name of self-improvement.

It seems like everyone is selling something in the garb of being helpful.

Earlier, they were selling tangible things. Then people got a little smarter. So now they are selling intangible things.

I am not against investing in ourselves. I myself have subscribed to the following services/premium memberships:

Waking Up by Sam Harris
The School of Life by Alain De Botton
Readwise
And of course the Medium membership

And I think these are justified. These add real value to my overall well-being.

But buying every course or membership to learn how to blah blah blah gets over the top. Why?

Because your body and mind already know the answer to many ‘Hows’.

Like how to lose weight, it’s simple you have to burn more calories. And that will happen by exercising or playing or swimming or the likes.

Everyone knows that but still, we spend $$$ to find out the ‘secret’.

Actually, why we spend $$$ is because we want some shortcut or cheat code that will make our lives easier, better, and more comfortable without breaking a sweat.

We want to become a better writer by buying books or taking courses. But not by putting in the hours actually writing.

We want to lose weight but taking courses, masterclasses, and attending workshops. But not by putting in the hours actually exercising.

And so on.

And ‘they’ know that, our fallibility for quick fixes. So, they milk it.

How to find out who really cares

The truth is most don’t want to really help you. They just want to make money off of you, by exploiting your weaknesses.

Try to find creators —

who gives you the option of free premium membership if you can’t afford it, like the Waking Up app by Sam Harris.
who donate their profits to charities, like Derek Sivers.

who allows you to re-publish their content for free, without any copyrights, like Leo Babauta, founder of Zen Habits.

and others…

P.S.: I am not against making money by doing what you love. But I am against making money by exploiting the vulnerabilities of humans. All the above writers, creators, and organizations are making money but you know how…

Maria Popova, founder of The Marginalian is also earning her livelihood but not by coercing people into submission. She accepts donations and so does the AEON+Psyche publication.

All their super-useful articles are free and open for everyone to read.

This is how I wish to earn my livelihood as well — writing for everyone as a form of service and keeping it open and free for everyone and accepting donations or subscriptions from people who are willing to pay.

Something related I wrote on my personal blog 👇