Does the world need another faux self-help guru? Are you even equipped for the task?
When you're 20-something, chances are, you know nothing about life. Most of you think you know everything but "experience" is the best teacher and you have none of that.
I find it annoying, yet hilarious that young adults who have just hit their 20s are acting as if they are self-help gurus. They posture like they are in some position to give advice to others.
Our darling faux self-help gurus start their little YouTube channel following all the algorithmic rules for subscriber growth. They post consistently, edit their videos to perfection, and even have beautiful thumbnails. They have everything except wisdom.
The mission of this wannabe self-help guru fights itself. It becomes a detriment to the community it wishes to serve. Mostly because it will give others theoretical advice or subjective advice (not lived experience). These Gerber-baby YouTubers will pass on bad advice to viewers who need sage advice.
As someone who is a consultant to startup founders and mentors men, I can tell you that you can't help anyone. You can only open their minds to finding ways to help themselves.
There is a rush of excitement we all get when we find new information. The novice is quick to tell everyone about their new discovery. The sagacious monk lets it settle into his subconscious mind over time until merges with other ideas and emerges with impeccable profundity and timing at a later date.
Do you see someone who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for them.
Proverbs 29:20
Much of the young self-help guru space, including the spiritual spaces, is ego-driven. The spiritual spaces warn others of the ego yet their motives are fueled by their ego. Their aura pulsates with pretension and pomposity. You will find that these people are the most judgemental.
Helping others requires forgiveness. You must teach them how to forgive themselves for past mistakes and you must not judge them for these mistakes.
Now that we've established that it is a bad idea to become a self-help guru in your 20s let's show you what to do. And I find it more effective and way more profitable than being a self-help guru.
Document your journey. Instead of telling others how to live their life, live yours the way you believe life should be lived and record it. Then share it with others.
Allow others to grab the lessons from watching you instead of you trying to be another pontificator.
Let them see your triumphs and your failures. Transparency is what will make them fall in love with you. Your viewers will be inspired to join you on this journey and many others will support you in many ways. Put yourself out there.
People do not need more information they need more inspiration. We are in the information age. Information is ubiquitous. However, few are inspired to investigate the information or act on it. Inspire them to seek and they will seek.
A child doesn't do as you say, they do as you do. Demonstration beats explication all the time. There are lessons your audience will learn from watching you that you could never provide with your rhetoric.
Don't speak, BE. If you're in your 20s you haven't even begun to live your life. You might even think you know who you are. Or you're trying to "find yourself."
Newsflash: you never find yourself. Discovering oneself is a journey that takes multiple lifetimes.
People don't need another guru. They need to find the guru within. If you are not leading them to this then you wish to enslave them under your rule.
The first thing a guru must tell his audience is that compared to the knowledge in the universe he knows nothing. When you’re young "you know." Then you get older and just think you know. Then you get older and realize you know nothing.
A follower of mine said their father told them, "the more you learn the less you know."
If you think you know then you know nothing. If you know you know nothing then you know something.
Lead people inwards by documenting your own journey inward. This is the most profitable path forward for a man in their 20s.
