Is Life Coaching a scam? Apparently some people think so.
You know what? I actually don’t blame them for saying this. To the writer of the blog post on Reddit.com (“viowastaken”) and others who share his views, “Scam” is too nice a word for anything that steals their dreams and slams their best efforts to get ahead. There are, in fact, lots of folks out there – with best intentions or not – who do just that, i.e., steal people’s dreams. I have discovered 3 such categories of “Scam Artists” and will describe them for you here:
The FIRST Category of Scam Artists are who intentionally run a classic Zero-sum (Win-Lose) Scam for personal gain. I believe there is a special place in hell reserved for these people, and they should go there as quickly as possible. These are bad folks . . . worse than robbers, thieves, and muggers because they steal something priceless – something extremely difficult to recover, i.e., your self-worth and optimism.
The SECOND Category of so-called Scam Artists would be those who, with the best of intentions, give bad advice while thinking it is good. I must admit I’ve done that in the past and, if you are a go-getter and totally honest with yourself, I’ll bet you’ve done the same thing. Does this make us bad? No. Misguided? Yes, at least until we learn from our mistakes . . . and hopefully you and I both did that. If not, we’re either very slow learners . . . or making the decision to join those in the first category.
The THIRD category of so-called Scam Artists are those folks who actually believe they are selling or sharing good, powerful and effective products, services, and information. They have done the research to verify this is so, and know that many customers, clients, and users of this information, etc., have been helped, enriched, enlivened, or otherwise improved in some way because of buying this thing or getting this advice.
This third group of folks, however, suffer the slings and arrows of “Scam-dom” because they are both
- Visibly active in the marketplace, and
- Taking a stand for something they believe in.
They are “Scam Artists” for the simple reason that some people who hear their message have either been burned in the past by another scam artist, or let down by memories of their own experiences and failures. They have already lost their dream, and want to be “compassionate” enough to tell others that “it won’t work” so that they won’t fall prey to “Scams.”
Technically, however, if you fall in the third category, you cannot really be called a “Scam Artist” for the simple reason you are NOT “stealing dreams.” That distinction belongs to the first two categories. You can’t really “steal” a dream from someone who has lost theirs long ago! You can only remind them of this loss and the pain that goes with it. This is, by the way, why they hate you!
If you fall into this third category of so-called Scam Artists, congratulations. You have great company: Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, Frank Lloyd Wright, Steve Jobs, and many, many more. All have all contributed greatly to society and the world, in SPITE of the “Scams” they were running. If you look back and read what their critics were saying about them – and knew nothing else about history – you would be convinced these folks were evil incarnate!
One wise person (I forget who) once said “You don’t see others as THEY are . . . You see them as YOU are!” Wise words, and ones to live by. If you take no action, accomplish nothing, stay quiet and sit at home most of your life, you will never be accused of running a scam. At the same time, your life will be an empty shell and no one will remember you once you’re gone.
So will you join the ranks of us “Scam Artists” a.k.a., Life Coaches who are taking action to transform people’s lives? Or would you prefer to watch daytime reality TV shows?
Be careful, however. Make SURE you have the training, skills, high ethics and life experiences needed to offer others true VALUE in improving their lives. Otherwise, if you’re only doing this because you heard “life coaches can make a lot of money,” you will indeed be running a scam and that special place in hell will be waiting for you…
This is the ONE POINT where I’m in total agreement with the critical blog poster: Let NO ONE steal your dreams!! Agree? Disagree? Go ahead, leave a comment below…
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