But what does this really mean? The first link, from which I quote:
If you lack confidence it doesn't matter how much studying you do you won't be able to grow your business... The key to creating rock solid confidence is to develop your beliefs.So what are the "beliefs" that this author advocates?
- Trust MLM industry (by reading Robert "Rich Dad" Kiyosaki)
- Trust Your Company (by looking for the upside)
- Trust Your Products (by consuming them yourself)
- Trust Yourself (by telling yourself "I am the best")
Basically, all this confidence build tips means throwing "due diligence" out the window.
And that's very stupid.
Let's find out why.
Let us discuss the nuances in following the four Trusts to build your confidence.
Should You Trust the MLM Industry (by reading Kiyosaki)?
Okay, so you are a MLM marketer. So you should trust the industry. Right?
What has the MLM industry done to inspire your trust? When it no longer wants to prove it is selling anything? When its veteran lies about having created the most millionaires (and some veterans have been trying to bust this myth ever since)? When it had lied about it being "next big thing" for 25 years? When it lies about Harvard Business School taught MLM (and leaving other veterans to clean up this lie)? When it had to create new names for itself when the old names started to smell?
Also, About "Rich Dad"... Did you know Kiyosaki compared Rich Dad to Harry Potter, i.e. a myth that does not exist? Did you know Kiyosaki was in Amway, and thanked Amway distributors for his success, because he was making "teaching tapes" and teaching at Amway seminars before he was famous? Did you know Kiyosaki screwed over at least two of his business partners, including co-author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad"? Did you even realize by being a MLMer, you're really E or S, instead of B?
Perhaps you shouldn't trust the MLM industry as much as you did... at least, not by reading Kiyosaki. His success was from selling his advice to you, not by being a good salesperson for Amway.
Should you Trust Your Company (by looking for the upside)?
Okay, so you joined company X. You should trust it, right?
Should you trust company by its age? Probably not. Madoff ran his Ponzi schemes for almost two decades. FHTM lasted for over a decade too, as FHTM was founded in 2001 and died in 2013.
Should you trust company by its management? Probably not. They could have had a name change, or hiding behind "management team", "investment group", or other anonymous entities. In any case, did you Google the people first? Maybe they are fake? With fake signatures? When an entire school can be faked with stock photos, are you *sure* your company's real? Or is it just a Regus virtual office? Maybe a mailbox?
Should you trust review of the company by others? May not as they can be fake shill reviews, or reviewed by people already in it, and thus is subject to IKEA effect and other cognitive biases.
Should you trust the company because it throws such media extravaganzas? Maybe you need to listen to what happened to "Wake Up Now" as investigated by "This American Life" podcast/radio, with the caveat that Wake Up Now may be about to go under.
Perhaps you shouldn't trust the company as much as you did... at least, not without some real investigations.
Should you Trust Your Product (by consuming it)?
Okay, so you joined company X which is famous for its product Y.
Should you believe in the product by consuming it? No, because if you consumed it, you can't get a refund. And bad coaches will tell you you haven't lost money because you "enjoyed" the product.
Should you trust the product is pure and true? Maybe not, when MLM company itself didn't put enough of the "magic ingredient" in the product. And it'd likely would never been discovered until someone sent it to independent testing. Furthermore, New York AG's office recently found that even herbal supplements sold in Walgreens, GNC, Target, Walmart, and so on are often "faked"... 4 out of 5 products tested contains NO HERB as advertised. And that's out of dozens, perhaps HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of products retailed. If nationally distributed and regular retail products are that bad, how good do you think the no-name stuff from unheard-of companies claiming almost-magical ingredients are doing with their own products? Ingredients such as pond scum (in the ocean) and new age rose oil?
Should you trust the experts or celebrities endorsing the products? Maybe not, esp. when they are well known for pushing woo using bad science. Or when they are promoting something they apparently have NO expertise in, like a dermatologist promoting stem cell "enhancement" pills. Or even worse, a doctor who violated so many rules, he got sued by the company he endorsed because he became too much of a liability.
Perhaps you shouldn't trust the product as much as you did, and you certainly shouldn't take it just because you want to trust it.
Should you trust yourself (by affirmations) and your fellow workers?
Are you aware of the Ikea effect, in that once you are in, you are likely to love it no matter what? Once you are committed, loss aversion takes over, because you rationalize that you have to go on because you already put in this much effort.
Furthermore, some network marketing companies are known to "motivate" you through cult-like tactics (described as team-building), mainly by having a senior mentor shadowing you until you fall in line. In fact, you may be in a sales cult, and not know it. They will condition you to accept what they said without question.
If you don't assess yourself periodically, you may not even realized you've been conditioned into sacrificing yourself for the company with little to no return for your efforts, that you're not even TRYING to make money.
Perhaps you shouldn't be so sure of yourself, as it may make you reckless. And scammers know how to tease you just enough so you'd want to join, rather than they recruiting you.
Conclusion
Building confidence often was misused to dampen or eliminate voice of reasonable doubt, which is the only thing to save you from recklessness.
I leave you with this quote.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell, 1932Don't be stupid.
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