my #NAC2011 tweets have generated me a bit of flack, my comments on twitter have generated reaction as though my views are unreasonable, how on earth could I make these negative comments, I have been asked why aren’t I getting something out of this, but why would I?  It’s like being in a glorified AMWAY seminar or a cult with everyone promising you a better life if you part with your cash, it is the promise of something better but when it fails to deliver it is because you didn’t go at it at 110%, it is one of these things where they can take your money and pass the blame for their process not working squarely back at you, yes they have probably had some successes but if these magic get rich quick formulas actually worked there would be a lot more millionaires endorsing these events, the sheer lack of them and the blatant greed of the speakers selling their wares has left me battered and bruised. 

I have to admit, seeing Lord Sugar at the event was a bonus, it was refreshing when he said you have to work hard, there is no such thing as a quick buck which went totally against the other speakers so far who have all been spouting get rich quick schemes, that made me smile and was probably a bit close to the knuckle for the event organizers. 

The thing that bothered me though was that I couldn’t work out what he was there for, it was incongruent, why was he speaking at an event and wasn’t one of the people selling to us, well I guess it is because he was hired to speak there (http://www.parliamentspeakers.com/Speaker/Lord+Alan+Sugar) just to provide a little bit of credibility to the event, it would have only cost the organizers £55K - £75K to get him to speak but probably enabled them to sell far more in tickets, cheap at the price when you consider the number of people who were suckered in.

Then came the hard sell, we had T. Harv Eker come out to start shouting at us.  First up he asked if anyone had attended one of his seminars before and whole group of people started whooping and clapping.  So if T. Harv is so great at what he does why are these people enjoying their new millionaire lifestyles, why were so many in the cheap seats?  Why were so many excited about being sold at by him again?  Who knows but to me it was hardly a great endorsement of success if they haven’t turned themselves into millionaires, now of course they could all be millionaires but I didn’t get that feeling as I looked round the room.

According to T. Harv, apparently we all have a blueprint that limits the amount of money we can earn, this blueprint prevents us from becoming rich, we have a fixed limit but guess what….?? if you sign up to his course he can change your blueprint for a fee, funny that eh?  It was as the hard sell was building that I decided to leave, I had had enough of this shit, I am sorry, I am usually quite a positive person but I can only take so much of being bullshitted at. 

I had to walk out of this farce, it was getting too much for me, I found a group of like minded individuals outside who were of the same opinion, they could see through the charade, they could see the sales pattern and do you know what, each of them is a successful business owner already, people who are actual achievers, here and now and have become successful through hard work, none of them by a get rich quick scheme.  They were there at the event because they thought it was going to be a seminar with successful people speaking, not this hard sell crap, we had all had enough.

Being told that I won’t have wealth unless I do what the hard sell speakers say is immoral and just exploiting basic human emotions. They hype up the room, create peer groups which in turn creates peer pressure, all to sell their shitty courses.  It reminded me of this poster http://www.despair.com/secret.html

The only people that make money are the speakers and the event organizers, I have not met anyone who has done one of these get rich quick courses that has got rich quick!

Ironically I feel I am probably one of the wealthiest people in the room, wealth isn’t just about money, its about what you have and what is of value to you.  I have the best wife and kids on the planet, I have a four bedroom house in a lovely part of the country, I have my dream car, I do what I want, when I want, I have freedom, I am happy, I donate considerable time and money to charity, see I am very wealthy even though I am not a millionaire yet.  Wealth isn’t about money, but according to the speakers you can’t have happiness unless you are financially wealthy, all bollocks, they are selling a dream that most will never obtain.

I have decided that I am NOT going to bother attending tomorrow, the only thing worth attending will be to see Richard Branson but is it worth me taking a day off?  Nope, I am sorry, it is not going to be worth it at all, I have a lot of respect for Richard Branson and think he has had an incredible career, he is an inspirational business leader but is it worth my time to see Michael Burke interview him, no, I have read his books, I don’t think I will get anything more out of it and it will be a day of further hard sell and I could be out there doing something for me and my clients.  It also means I can see my kids early, something that is far more valuable to me.

So all in all I feel like I have been mugged, not only mugged but a queue of muggers all lined up, all wanting to have a go at what is left after the previous one has finished!  I used to feel like I was intelligent but I feel suckered, that awful feeling when you realize that you have been so stupid not to see something for what it is, well I am holding my hand up, yep I am stupid, I have been suckered, well one thing I have learned from this weekend is to see through the hype, to see it for what it is and to not see it as better than it is.