If you search for New Age scams, it’s STUNNING how few listings show up in Google.
What is the New Age, you may ask? The New Age is both a social and religious movement. It mixes groupthink with utopia. It’s teachings are used quite extensively in the self help and personal development industry.
Ironically, the New Age is based on the Old Age. It’s loosely based on the far-Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. And these religions have been around since the beginning of time. Some say they’re the oldest religions ever, permeated with mysticism and pantheism.
It’s easy to convince most to buy into the New Age promises as we live in an never-ending world of chaos, hard economic times, food shortages and crisis.
This naturally gets people looking for solutions to their problems. And since most people are lazy, the New Age is quite appetizing.
Who wouldn’t want to channel themselves into a utopian world – it sounds fantastic. And for those selling us these do-it-yourself self-help powers, it’s the shiny magic bullet everyone begs to obtain.
Pushers of the New Age couldn’t have asked for a better product to sell – millions and millions of people clamoring for a solution and it costs hardly nothin’ to deliver the solution (via a book or a CD/DVD). Selling the New Age is an amazing profit center.
Think it + repeat it = magical outcomes
No matter what you call it, the principle is always the same… the New Age offers us a mindset to convince the average person that they can produce their own magic and produce ‘spiritual’ miracles by simply thinking about it. All one needs to do ideally is “manifest” perfected outcomes of particular problems blocking your path and if you do it just right, solutions appear magically in front of your eyes.
Manifesting gives anyone with faith to “CYOR” (create your own reality) through visualization, positive thinking, goal setting and affirmations (a declaration of an oath – usually repeating a desired outcome over and over again).
In simple speak, if you see an outcome in your mind’s eye and think about it over and over again, it’s going to come true through the power of positive thinking. But…
Being negative is NOT an option and highly forbidden. Negative thinking and the New Age are like oil and water… they just don’t mix.
Eliminate the word “coincidence” from the dictionary
When you enter the world of self help, suspending self preservation skills and eliminating basic logic is essential.
The New Age offers us an endless parade of anecdotal “evidence” proving the validity of this mind magic. The stories of social proof are never ending and abundant… for example:
A real estate agent was going through a year-long drought. She couldn’t list or sell a single house. But after arming herself with the “5 Levels of Manifesting”, she affirmed in her mind the idea of closing a deal sometime this week. Three days later, an ‘Agreement of Sale’ floated onto her desk and a commission check was cut on the spot.
I could go on and on and on with similar stories of proof. The self-help industry mastered the art of story telling.
When it comes to the New Age, there is no such thing as coincidence. And there’s no room for luck, being in the right place at the right time or having opportunity fall into your lap…
… Nope, because when you master the art of “visualization”, it arms you with the tools to manufacture your own Pollyanna-esque dream world notions, a.k.a. – coincidences.
(Note to self: Can blind people use “visualization” to manifest their own destinies? Scratch that – can’t anyone take a joke anymore… Surely hellbound for even thinking out loud like that.)
Meet Oprah Winfrey, the undisputed Queen of the New Age movement
The New Age surfaced here in the States over 100 years ago, but it’s been heavily pushed only recently as our evolved New World Order religion.
Yes, I said religion. Because the New Age is really a twist on the Old Age… based on the oldest religion ever created: Hinduism.
It’s new in the sense that just 20 years ago, there were barely a few book shelves selling any New Age offerings. Yet today, this represents a HUGE section of any bookstore.
Many are involved in the New Age, but no one pushes it harder or more convincingly than Oprah Winfrey. Just about every New Ager “guru” or “expert” is linked to this Queen of media.
A cult of personality surfaces when a nation’s widely recognizable celebrity, who is considered to be a leader, uses hypnotic mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. Oprah Winfrey conveniently fits the bill for this. Tens of millions of dreamy-eyed fans (mostly women) have been galvanized to follow her across the country, live by her words and literally worship the airwaves she’s seen on. That’s why Oprah has authorized a very long time ago (specifically on her September 18, 1987 broadcast about the New Age) to make this new religion a must-be-part-of their agenda.
Oprah Winfrey has done her job well. For multiple decades she’s enthusiastically and consistently pushed and exponentially multiplies her New Age beliefs through countless New Age authors…
… Some of the most well-known business “gurus” that got noticed because of Oprah include:
– Deepak Choprah
– Seth Godin
– John Assaraf
– Joe Vitale
– Randy Gage
– Bob Proctor
– Earl Nightengale
– Normal Vincent Peale
– Eben Pagan
– Tony Robbins
– Jim Rohn
– Maxwell Maltz
– Echart Tolle
– Brian Tracy
– Zig Ziglar
– Napoleon Hill
New Age golden nuggets
In order to pull off any scam, you have to throw some gold nuggets into the mix. And the New Age certainly does this.
There’s no doubt thinking where you want to be in life is a great start to your achieve success (or fixing a problem that needs solving).
For example, if I want to live a life off the grid, free as a bird and only work 4 hour weekdays, I need to THINK about the finish line. For me, that requires $180,000 a year in income. Knowing what my wife earns helps me calculate what additional income I need to bring in. So that’s a great New Age tactic — think about where you need to be and work backward…
… So if I need $100,000 a year in extra income to live the internet lifestyle, I can work through the math and calculate I need to bank $274 a day. That means I need to sell x amount of online marketing courses and sign up x amount of new members to my secret marketing club. It’s really that simple.
But here’s the abrasive rub. And it’s something hardly any New Age “guru” or “expert” dispenses: You need to TAKE ACTION to make your goals come true. They fail to mention this because action takes sweat and energy… magic doesn’t. And when given the choice between the two, almost everyone takes the magic option (and are willing to pay hundreds or even thousands for it).
I went all “woo woo” for more than a year!
As title holder of the world’s most skeptical person (I’m 100% guilty of this), you might be surprised to know I actually tried manifesting, visualization and affirmations. Of course, it was in the spirit of scientific experiment testing (and for giggles).
I posted pictures of my favorite car (the Infiniti FX50S) all over the place. Even a desktop background picture. I even created a Twitter account about it… posting a link to a new YouTube video about my “new car.”
Every single day, I stared at that 390 horsepower work of art for more than a year. Every day I imagined myself driving in it as wind flowed through my long, blonde locks of hair and hot chicks froze in their tracks to unconrollably imagine riding in the passenger seat beside me…
… But the reality is I have short, cropped auburn hair… women are repulsed by my dry, wicked sense of humor (imagine that)… and the agine 1996 Toyota RAV4 continued to reside in my driveway. Oh, and that Twitter account about my dream car? It’s long gone. (Actually, Twitter deleted it – claiming I was a spammer).
The bottom line is: Visualizing my dream car was nothing more than a sick exercise in mental masturbation…
Is the New Age really a scam in disguise?
So am I saying the New Age is a scam… or even a hoax?
There is a difference between these seemingly similar words:
A scam is a dishonest “scheme.”
A hoax is a fraud.
So I’m thinking the New Age is really a sort of perverted combination of the two… a “scoax” (I just made that up… don’t steal it or you’ll have bad Karma the rest of your life).
Introducing my 7-step formula to success and happiness
Many of us are guilty for looking to the easy way out of our problems. We long for the path to success without bumps. Most truly believe the power of positive thinking is the path to realizing a better life.
But for me, I find taking action… actually doing something (not mind hocus pocus) offers the surefire way to success and freedom.
Over the years, I’ve created a sort of homespun formula to success and happiness…
Set low expectations – I’ve interviewed a lot of “successful”, set-the-bar-to-the-max people. These were self-starter entrepreneurs that can afford to retire today and live without worry for the rest of their lives…
… And with just one exception, they were are all gawd-awful MISERABLE. Most even admitted this.
The pressures of high expectations drove them virtually insane. They worked all kinds of crazy hours… sold themselves to the devil multiple times and always worried about makin’ more money.
They never had a finish line.
(By the way, the one person who told me he was happy being rich turned out to be a liar. He was never rich to begin with.)
I roll the opposite way. I set my expectations low.
While everyone is swinging for the fences trying to hit home runs, I choose to be “the Pete Rose of internet marketing” and string together a bunch of singles. And it’s working quite well for me (thank you very much).
One thing is for sure, I’ll never be super rich. But I am super free. And I LOVE it that way.
Fail fast – Failure is a necessary evil to your path to success (and/or solving your problems).
In business, the most successful people fail the vast majority of the time. The difference is they fail fast. They learn from their mistakes. Then they improve. And they look at failure as the needed step to reaching their finish line.
Think about the best bowlers. They didn’t score a perfect 300 game the first time they bowled. In fact, I bet they bowled thousands of times before they got their first perfect game. That’s thousands of failures before achieving a single success.
We’ve all heard the story of how often Thomas Edison failed before perfecting the light bulb, right? Edison’s a prime example of relentless action, never giving up and ultimately pursuing success.
I could go on and on and on with the rags to riches stories.
Just do it – Whatever you think about Tiger Woods, you have to admire his putting abilities. He almost NEVER putts short of the hole…
… Every time Tiger strokes the ball, he gives himself the opportunity to drain each putt. Most golfers do the opposite and leave the ball short of the hole… scared the ball might roll past the cup. And when this happens, it’s IMPOSSIBLE for the ball to land in the cup.
Most business failures occur because of the lack of taking action.
As Gary Halbert’s protege Doberman Dan Gallapoo likes to remind his members, “Motion beats meditation.” It’s true. Thinking and dreaming about success doesn’t bring in success. Taking action (even if you fail, flat on your face) is ultimately going to bring you closer to meeting your goals. Because you have to fail fast in order to slowly succeed.
5-minute rule – When I’m not exactly in the mood to get things done, but need a psychological kick in the pants, I force myself to work on something for at least 5 minutes.
This little mind trick moves me away from procrastinating and gets me working on productive stuff. What’s interesting is I’ve never quit after just 5 minutes.
Skip the money myth – They say it takes money to make money. I say that’s total crap.
In fact, people with money take MUCH longer to fail than those who don’t. Having money to fail with is almost always more expensive than having no money.
That’s one of the reasons why I don’t have lines of credit to tap into… I found that anytime I had money to blow, my failures happened much too S L O W L Y.
It doesn’t take money to make money. Really.
Just say no – Think about all of the time you waste talking on the phone, reading emails, posting on Facebook and gossiping. This is a TREMENDOUS drain. And when you’re distracted, you’re not taking action.
The most successful people refuse to answer their own phones… they check their email just once or twice per day, and chit chat only when all of their work is complete as their reward.
Rub elbows with successful people – They say you earn the average income of your 5 closest friends. That’s why I hang out with success people weekly. I met with them every Thursday afternoon for a virtual lunch (see below how you can hang with my friends, too).
Mentor with secret successes – Unlike phony gurus, I find the most successful people I know hide under the radar and keep to themselves.
These successes avoid the limelight. They’re often shy. And they’ve got nothing to sell us.
But the good news is these secret successes are happy to pass along their wisdom as their legacy.
Unlike the gurus, these success aren’t going to promise to make you rich. Instead, they just get tremendous satisfaction out of helping you make your first sale… showing you how to fail fast and helping you get to the next level of growing your business.
All of my adult life, I’ve been meeting up with these under-the-radar successes. And I’ve convinced them to hang out with me and share their pearls of wisdom…
…. If you’re in business for yourself, there’s no reason for you to struggle and look to the New Age for help. If you’re ready to turn your business from good to great starting right now, got to AMZing Marketing
… For less than the cost of half a Dunkin Donuts’ cup of coffee a day, you get inside secrets to help find you as many customers as you desire.
Most of my members add a zero to their business bank account within weeks of joining. Plus it’s just darn fun rubbing elbows with other successful marketing junkies dotted all throughout the world.
But the best part is joining my club doesn’t require any manifesting, purple stones or chanting with palms open. Instead, we just brainstorm business-building ideas to attain success and freedom.
Are you interested in rubbing elbows with us?
