Another Objective Opinion from the-answer-is-simple

the-answer-is-simple said...

Thank you, Inside Investigator!

I'm heading to the MMI in Seattle, this
weekend. As I always do (at least) a little research before attending/ involving
myself in anything, I am grateful for coming across your blog. I found your
experience to be spot-on with my expectations.

Thank you for taking the
time, I appreciate your openness and 'objective opinion.' =)
Your analytical
review and journalistic style will hopefully assist many in examining all sides
of their interactions (and not just with Peak Potentials). It's unfortunate that
the FACT that peak potentials is a CORPORATION will fall on many deaf ears...
maybe these people can only believe what they see. (And should watch the movie
'The Corporation!') ;)

When I first met Harv I got this feeling... it's
really hard to explain in words: he has amazing energy - - you just want to be
around him, maybe in hope that some of it will rub off on you. So many people
can feel the energy when it’s around them, but don’t know how to create the
energy in their own lives. And Harv apparently does a poor job at helping people
with this - - another customer service issue I gather. So it sounds like many
people follow up with the seminars in an attempt to relive their high. (Sounds
like “chasing the dragon” to me.) Unfortunately, ‘bringing you up to a 10’ is
not something that is easy to maintain… it takes a lot of work and most people
are looking for a quick fix: a ‘secret’ they can learn over a weekend, or for a
few grand. Fortunately, most people (in first world countries) already have the
answers and can easily obtain them. They truly do, just need to take action.

Harv also has this arrogance; like when he says, "whether or not you buy
the book, it will not affect my standard of living." (More on this below…)

I've read the book and I'm looking forward to taking in the event with
my husband and pulling some value out of the haystack! I'm not one to stop
reading and do an exercise either, so the weekend will allow me to put the time
aside to do them. My husband is a skeptic and is not a 'self-help' reader... so
the intensive will 'force' him to examine his ‘beliefs/inaction' too.

As
with every book, I have my criticisms, the book isn't perfect, no book is, and
some of Harv's suggestions have to be modified for certain people and their
priorities/ circumstances. But all-in-all Harv's book has found a place with
other 'classics' which I refer to regularly.

For you critics out there,
let me qualify my post with the following: I am very wealthy already, I do not
need to attend the MMI for the 'money secrets'... my interest is more
'professional' than 'personal'.

As no one can truly separate themselves
from their ‘work’, I try to use the 'personal' experience as part of my
research... if you want to put a label on me, you can consider me a
'psychologist' too.

But I am first and foremost a person… so for the
record, I've personally decided I'm not going to buy any additional seminars
this weekend (although I'm very intrigued - - professionally - - by the 'Train
the Trainer' after reading your review, II. One day I'd love to read more about
what you found so 'VERY enlightening.') I know myself well enough to know that
sleep and nutritional deprivation are my worst enemies...(there is a reason
these are ‘the basics’ on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) so let’s see if my snack
and H2O arsenal will be enough to help me stick to my guns!

I do have a
couple of additional red flags… A couple of criticisms, or shall I call them
'discrepancies' or 'contradictions'!?!

First, Harv is very good at
laying out a very simple tidbit of information... but the information isn't new.
Much of what he says in his book is reminiscent of Kiyosaki's (Rick Dad, Poor
Dad) work; as well as other authors. Harv has simply assembled, organized and
added 'personal' anecdotes and explanations to it. In fact his main premise can
be summed up in the "The Essence of Destiny" blurb, by the makers of
promotional/inspirational merchandise (available at www.successories.com) which
reads "Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they
become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your
habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it
becomes your destiny." I’ve had this ‘poster’ on my wall for nearly 10years now.

But isn't that the nature of things, we learn, we grow, we learn some
more...
Just like science, where one scientist adds to the years of work
that came before him/her... so do 'self-help' gurus, I guess.

All this
is to say, YES Harv does provide value.

So, where’s my beef? If it’s not
with Harv’s paraphrasing and elaborating?

I suppose I too have found
other books and programs in Harv’s area(s) of expertise that have far more
substance. (Maybe that is also their downfall? Are people today really that
shallow?) I also find it disheartening that Harv is mentioned in the same
sentence as Tony Robbins, et all.

Tony doesn't seem to have lost sight
of his original vision... (Maybe it was Tony's slower ascent to 'fame'? ) Tony
provides great suggestions for ‘bringing yourself to a “level 10” and
maintaining the energy. Tony’s ‘Get the Edge’ program has great suggestions, but
again people think they are too simple and don’t follow them!

Harv on
the other hand seems to be a walking, talking contradiction. He is controlling
the very “Wealth File” he promotes in his book to persuade MMI attendees to
purchase additional seminars at his events. I am referencing “Wealth File #10 –
Rich people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.”

He
knows full well that the ‘poor people’ who attend his event for free will not
feel ‘worthy’. They believe they are ‘taking’ without ‘giving anything back.’
Harv is playing on your psychological need for balance - an eye for an eye.
Don’t discount yourself! You are giving 3 days of your time! You don’t have to
buy a seminar to ‘create balance’! Independence is a myth; equality is not
something that humans can quantify, there are too many factors. We are all
dependent/ connected: we share the same sun, water, air…
Harv says, “Nature
is totally abundant but not discriminating… exactly the way it works with money.
There’s plenty of it…” And Harv seems to have enough of it now, as ‘He doesn’t
care if we buy the book or not!’ =)

One might also argue that he
exploits “Wealth File #6 – Rich people admire other rich and successful people.
Poor people resent rich and successful people.” When he tells us we can make a
purchase without lining his pockets further, some of us ‘poor people’ might not
dislike him as much… and buy his book, while thinking “I’m just one person, what
difference will it make really?!?”

Finally, I am disgusted that Harv has
become so greedy he no longer upholds his original pillars: (1) that no one
should go into debt to attend any of his seminars. (2) that each of us has the
answers within us, and we alone can make our success happen.

- - As II
and others have said, the money dance, Ch-ing! of the register and the promotion
of plastic are disturbing. Get the book from the library, do the exercises or
buy the book and attend the MMI if you want (for free). If you dont have the
money now, leave the plastic at home!

- - Every ‘self-help’ Guru says
this in their own way. Harv say’s “The number one reason most people don’t get
what they want is that they don’t know what they want.”
People are too busy
watching the next episode of LOST (such an appropriate title for the state of
our society), downloading music for their new iPod, or slogging away at a job
they HATE to buy the new wardrobe, car, boat, house… that they don’t ever stop
to examine themselves. I applaud Peak Potentials and any other group out there
for ‘enabling’ people to take some time out of their life and ‘think’! HOWEVER,
more seminars or coaching is not going to ‘fix’ the problem.

Harv has
accomplished so much. Yet, his sales tactics now seem to be taking advantage of
the same people he was trying to help!

You ‘poor people’ out there, ask
yourself this: if you aren’t willing to dedicate the next year, maybe 2 years of
your life to financial freedom then you will never ‘get it’. Buy another lottery
ticket or go to the casino instead!

I said earlier that each of us
already know the answers and have access to them.
But you probably want me
to spell them out for you, right?

Well here they are! Summed up in two
sentences, for FREE! There are books, tapes and movies on these secrets… yet
most people find them ‘too simple’ and so they don’t follow them.

What’s
the secret to energy?
“Eat only foods that were available 100 years ago;
exercise; read something educational/inspirational; and reward your successes,
everyday.”

What’s the secret to wealth?
“Know yourself, focus on
what is important to you (priorities) and do what you love!”
That’s it.

Now you’ve got the secrets, what are you going to do with them?