Everyone is looking for a silver bullet. Everywhere. Almost everyone you know, including yourself, is probably highly deluded. And collectively we’ve created billion dollar industries around mere delusions, especially in the world’s most developed service-based economies.
You don’t believe it? Look at what advertising and marketing usually sell, and it will give you a good idea of what people want to hear and usually respond to.
Fast diets, overnight millionaires, Forex, enlightenment, earning from travelling. Everyone is looking for a distraction, an alternative, some relief – although temporary – from working their patient, slow and gradual way up to any results.
But look at how everything in nature works. Does a tree grow overnight? Can you both plant the seeds and harvest the same day? Can you build a skyscraper in a week? And if you consider much bigger projects, then you have to wonder: did the geological processes that enabled life on earth happen in a decade? Did evolution of species happen in one or two generations?
It is right there in your face: everything requires its time, no matter how much you expedite the process. And yet everyone routinely thinks that maybe there could be a better way. That’s when astute marketers come in and profit from your weaknesses. The only ones for whom silver bullets work are those who sell them, not the end consumers.
Be careful: I’m not just talking about visible, old-fashioned, get-rich-quick schemes here. I’m saying that a good chunk of our economy revolves around selling silver bullets, more or less in disguise.
Here are large areas of our entire economy, flooded with silver bullets that millions of people are buying into.
1) Online marketing
As we explained in this article, a large portion of the industry is nothing but a pyramid scheme. The online space is extremely saturated, there’s fierce competition in virtually any niche and so many players vying for consumers’ attention to this date.
And yet, everyday you see successful online marketers selling you their infoproduct and showing you proof of their profits. Ironically, their infoproduct is usually an overpriced general course on how to make money online, which seldom contains anything you can’t figure out for free with some research on Google.
The contents of such courses are ineffective in 90% of the cases, because whatever product or service you’re trying to sell is probably in an already hyper-competitive niche, with lots of offers, high cost-per-click and big players dominating the space and will require much more creativity to break into than the cookie-cutter solutions in the course.
So it’s no wonder that these ‘online riches’ usually don’t venture out in any of those niches but prefer to make money teaching how to make money. And once you give them your money, your cash will be the proof they show to the next batch.
Have you noticed that most of the profitable folks in the online space are in the business of selling you a silver bullet to success? The one funnel to a million dollar, the one trick to create a huge mailing list, the one system that you must follow to have a profitable business. Even when they tell you that ‘it takes time’, or there’s ‘no magic bullet’, they’re still not delivering much value beyond a magic bullet..
They can sell these courses because the market of desperate people is the biggest out there. And people are so desperate precisely because the market is tough and competitive. So why are they buying into any of the schemes? To avoid the harsh truth that whatever they plan to do will require blood, sweat and tears and comes with no guarantees of payback: in fact north of 90% of bloggers, affiliates, network marketers and such, make zero to little money, just to take a few examples.
2) Fitness and health
Probably one of the most outstanding examples. There’s billions of dollars on the table every year among infoproducts, subscriptions, books, programs, pills and the list goes on. Everyone seems to have figured out the new system every few months.
Similarly to online marketing, there’s definitely technical aspects that you need to know when working on your body, but you don’t need a PhD in nutrition or physiology just to clean up your diet and do some exercise. And nobody can sell you something so valuable that it can ultimately do the work for you!
This should be fairly obvious when it comes to a thing as concrete and evident as your own body and yet the delusion peaks in this sector! Millions of dollars are spent in diets even when evidence shows that those diets don’t work.
Marketing and fitness industry go hand in hand perfectly, to manufacture infinite versions of the silver bullet. Another shiny object to purchase as a substitute for the work.
3) Enlightenment and spirituality
This is another sector that’s fluffy enough to make space for any type of silver bullets. From mystical experiences, to divine connections, light, cosmic powers, loving compassion for all beings and the list goes on.
Notice that very few sell you on the idea of just feeling that itchiness in your butt, the pain in your shoulder, the frustration in your heart, your disturbing thoughts right in this moment and tell you: “that’s pretty much the menu in the house. No other restaurants in town, enlightenment’s right here on your plate sir. Enjoy”.
You want a (possibly quick) more seducing version of enlightenment, something that shoots you out to faraway galaxies, or makes you morally good, wise, surrounds you with an aura of light and beauty, makes your life amazing ever after. Perhaps something that can remove your existential anger and sorrow in one fell swoop.
So most people flock around flashy experiences or promises, hoping to attain one magical thing that will fix their lives. All the while, missing the obvious: “before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment chop wood and carry water”.
4) Business and consultants
One of the clearest examples in business is the spread of all these business-in-a-box offers and programs. Again it’s some basic business information repackaged and resold, that proves ineffective for 90% or more of the businesses.
Because the success of a business cannot hinge upon a step-by-step model applicable to all industries, stages of maturity, product categories, geographies etc. It’s just insane to think so.
If the success of a business simply lied in the method used to build it, then anyone could build up any business. But most importantly, why would the person who owns the method ever sell his only source of competitive advantage? He’d just keep using it to build thousands of businesses himself.
So even though it’s obvious that these cookie-cutter solutions can’t possibly work, how many entrepreneurs or managers buy into such programs every year? Are they plain dumb? Maybe a few, but the most obvious explanation is that they’re also deluding themselves and hoping for a silver bullet. Maybe business is not doing that great, maybe they have to tough it out for a long while and buying into the illusion will provide temporary relief.
Another example is consultants or ‘mentors’. While there’s legitimately valid consultants that bring to the table years of expertise in a particular niche or even do some of the work for you, in business at large, billions are spent in consulting, mentoring, masterminds, retreats that contain nothing more than a bunch of slides, some level of emotional support and the empty promise of a silver bullet.
After all these consulting sessions, you must go back to your life and still do the things that you had to do to begin with. Most of these offers are as useful as a trainer who just ‘motivates’ you verbally throughout the year while you do your squats and pull-ups.
5) Leadership training
Having been in the industry for one and a half decade, I’ve known leadership development circles very closely.
Leadership and how to develop good leaders is one of the favorite topics in the business world. From my experience, I can confidently say that 90-95% of the leadership courses and programs out there are a total waste of time.
Companies like to send their top-managers to courses and initiatives from which they return fundamentally unchanged. None of that stuff has the capacity to teach any leadership ability, again, it’s the illusion of another silver bullet.
Leadership is a buzzword and just another distraction from personal development and deep inner work. I’ve seen hundreds of so-called leaders: some overweight, some drinking too much, or totally neurotic, jealous of more talented subordinates, lacking authenticity, integrity, vision and the list goes on. These are all personal issues.
And they need to be addressed through slow, painful, constant personal development work, before these folks can even think about leadership and leading others. Where can you lead others and how can you manage people if you aren’t even able to manage your own body or weight? Or if you engage in personal behaviors that constitute a threat for your own health? Think about it.
The whole leadership thing has gone completely crazy. We think we can take a bunch of undeveloped individuals who somehow landed positions of power, who may need 10 years of deep inner work to unwire their own neuorisis and existential issues, and expect to send them to a 2-day leadership course, hoping they can return as enlightened, masterful leaders and inspire others through their behavior? Seriously?
If anything, a better start would be to attend a 10-day silent retreat, to put some real skin in the game of personal change and face one’s own neurosis.
Most of the leadership industry is talk, fluff, slides, new research and zero embodiment. Because embodying the qualities of a leader is goddamn difficult. And you do it every single day, by trying to reprogram your mind, habits, character, in spite of all the failures you encounter as your mind tries to repeatedly relapse back to homeostasis. A bunch of slides and some team building games won’t make anyone a leader.
6) Magical thinking
This shouldn’t even be mentioned in 2018, but how many people fall for modern-day con artists, cults, Youtube personalities and charismatic individuals claiming to have a superior power or understanding and open up their wallets for the promise of a better life?
It’s important to draw a line between open-mindedness and self-delusion. Keeping an open mind towards possibilities that science hasn’t accounted for is a good mentality, when accompanied by a healthy dose of skepticism. But buying amulets, courses to ‘manifest miracles’, or believing that another human being can sell you the tool or method to effortlessly obtain anything you want in life, sounds a lot like delusion.
Why do people believe it? Because magical thinking is the ultimate silver bullet. It is literally a ‘magic’ bullet.
7) Personal finances
Pretty much like the online world, financial markets are another field where millions of people are competing every single day, exchanging information in real time and using algorithms and technologies that you don’t even remotely have.
What makes the average housewife think that she can outsmart financial markets after taking a course pitched by some guru of online trading is a little beyond me.
There is no free lunch in the market. The information is there, everybody knows what the returns are for each security. You want more returns? You simply get more risk. There’s no reason to believe you can discover something special or a magic button (unless you put in insane amounts of due diligence or do insider trading…).
And yet, every year millions of people think they’re smarter, buy exotic securities, strange derivatives, over-the-counter stuff and hurt themselves.
More than 84% actively managed funds in the US underperform the index, but there’s never a shortage of people willing to try their luck in spite of all the evidence.
Actually, most people would be perfectly capable of making a million dollars through a relatively low-risk strategy, but what holds them back is precisely their impatience and constant chase for a silver bullet.
Why do you look for a silver bullet?
When is the last time that you’ve taken a long term project? Like learning a language, learning to play an instrument, expanding your business to five more countries? Losing 20 kg of weight?
How often do you take a 3-year, 5-year or even 10-year perspective when starting out on something, as opposed to working by the quarter, or by the month?
You see, our society of instant gratification repels the idea of long-term projects: quarterly profits, three-month-proven-results workout plans, instant books, profitable launches and the list goes on.
But everything that lasts needs a strong foundation first. So ask yourself a question:
why are you so desperate for quick results?
Most of the time it’s because you are running away from something as opposed to passionately working towards something.
Maybe you can’t stand your job anymore and need your business to take off rapidly, so that you can quit.
Maybe your self-esteem is so low that you need that diet to work fast. Maybe you’re so jealous of your friend that you want that extra money quickly so you can buy a fancy car too.
If you examine deeply, you’ll see that this urgency for results often stems from a deeply rooted sense of dissatisfaction towards something. And that is not the type of mindset that can pull you through the hurdles you inevitably encounter on the path to success.
How to stay motivated without delusions
Luckily there’s a better way. Pick projects that truly matter to your heart.
Does having that dream body truly matter to you? Or does mastering meditation matters more and you can live with an average body?
Does growing your business really matter? Is it about a slightly bigger dividend at the end of the year or is it about bringing something on earth that truly matters to you at a soul level?
Once you know the things that truly matter, why would it bother you whether they come in one, two, five or ten years?
Wouldn’t your business project still be worth it, if it takes five years instead of two? Wouldn’t your dream body be worth it, if it takes three years instead of one? Wouldn’t having your book published be worth it, even if it requires writing ten rejected books instead of one? Wouldn’t your peace of mind be worth it if it requires meditating for five years instead of attending a three month course?
You see, when you’re pulled by something truly meaningful, you realise there is no need for a silver bullet.
I feel you, working at something for years, seeing little to no results is extremely challenging. It can feel discouraging at times and if a shrewd salesman comes in at the right time (to make matters worse, Facebook, Google and co. ‘spy’ on us all the time and already know when is the right time!), it’s easy to give in and buy ourselves the temporary illusion that there’s a better way.
So next time you feel like that, save yourself the time and money. Give yourself a big hug and some self-compassion. And then just move on, one step at a time.
Also published on Medium.
