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Writer's pictureJohn Brandt

The truth about gurus

I got a bit of a bone to pick today with gurus.


One of the gurus I used to follow resubscribed me to their email (after years of being unsubscribed) to bore me to death with his “vAlUe BoMbS,” which as I’m sure you can guess were useless at best and dangerous at worst. 


Why?


Well, the hustle porn culture all of these gurus were born in is just that: 


Porn. 


Here’s how I define this:


Something that robs the art out of something in order for cheap, short-lived dopamine hits. 


Take how a guru approaches reading as an example: 


They don’t read to read, they read to hack their life in some way. This means they don’t think deeply or critically. Every piece of content they interact with—whether books, articles, social media, podcasts, what have you—has an ulterior goal: Help them “optimize” a certain area of their life. 


They then lead their massive audiences down this rabbit hole of objectifying reading to gain “value” from it. And they teach what they’ve learned in these books, but without having the full context that used to come with reading, their teachings are just above an AI generated summary. 


They then trick both themselves and their audience that have it all figured out. That their summaries and lessons from their favorite Hustle Culture books are valuable. 


The great Jim Clair sums it up perfectly with this passage:


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“The books are deemed nutritious, but because they’re so bloated with platitude filler, in reality, they’re as nutritious as Twinkies.


And sadly, it’s all too common for reading to slip into a personal badge that signals self-worth—a badge signaling busyness and hustle. Crudely stated, reading and learning turn into a dick-measuring contest.”


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And you know what? 


This is exactly what a guru does. 


Sure, they may have created a 9 or 10 figure business. 


But could they do it again—in today’s world versus the world of when they got most of their success?


Some gurus can and have. Russell Brunson comes to mind. He’s as guru-y as they come, but he’s built his entire empire off the back of a potato launcher. 


But most of them, especially the ones most addicted to the Hustle Culture porn?


I have my doubts. 


This, in turn, leads to shitty writing. 


You can’t be a great writer without being a great reader.


But being a great reader means more than swipe files, Hustle Culture listicles, and copywriting formulas. These gurus who think of themselves as thought leaders (as barf-inducing a noun could be) can’t actually think. Which means they can’t actually write. Which means they say things in their writings like “this will be really helpful” or  “all in the hopes it can provide a moment of value for you wherever you're at.” 


But they don’t explain how it will be helpful. They think their “9 books you must read if you want a successful business” is helpful, not realizing they are as “valuable” as a ChatGPT-written summary. 


Anyway, what’s the point of this rant?


Well, I’m not totally sure I have one, besides this:


Be careful who you get your advice from. 


Most gurus aren’t copywriters. Nor readers. 


And yet, they’re always the ones who think they’re top-tier copywriters and readers. 


Rarely, if ever, is this the case. 


Alright, enough of this. 


If you want to make more from every email you send (without making your audience cringe and unsubscribe faster than a Tesla goes from zero to sixty), hit reply, and let’s chat. 


John

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