It is so tempting to believe the promise of those who say... 

“Follow my exact same steps and all your dreams will come true”

Or  

“I have been there and done it.  I have a proven strategy / process / formula that works!”

There is no shortage of such advice and offers, many of which make sense on the surface.  Why work everything out for yourself when you can follow a path taken by an expert whose already been there.

Yet if all sales pitches were as good as they are claimed to be we would all be millionaires by now, and in double quick time.  

A cursory glance around your peer group would tell a different story.  

Despite all the courses and programmes they have invested in, it is clear that they are not in a dramatically different place than before.

So why do such poor results persist?

There are two main reasons for this:

No. 1 - Rigidity of Approach - to what is essentially a very individual context.

No. 2 - Lack of Time.  

These two factors tend to interact and compound difficulties, often creating deep frustration.

1. Rigidity of Approach

When we “stand on the shoulders of others” as Isaac Newton once said, we can progress faster.  But if you follow someone else’s exact steps, the best you will  achieve is the same horizon as theirs - no further.  

What worked for them in the past probably will not work nearly as well for you in your present, in your situation and specific business today.

What is more, the distillation of all that experience from the past - repackaged as a magic process - will not include all the years of experience that underpinned the end result.  

Sometimes there will even be those who advocate the exact steps who haven’t even taken those steps themselves: instead they learnt it second hand from someone else.

When you try and follow a set formula more often than not, parts of it will not feel right, will sit at odds with your own values, and may even feel unethical.  

Yet the advice will remain “stick to the program: don’t deviate from the proven path to success.”  

The consequences of deviation provide an easy excuse in favour of the lavish guarantees that often go with such programmes.

2. Lack of Time

We are all busy people.  Lack of time makes those programmes that are marketed on “instant success” very attractive, because let’s face it we are all suckers for the quick fix, the easy win and the big bucks.  

Often it easier to sell a high dollar short course because of the perceived value it will generate.  

The problem is that the insights from the course may indeed lead you to a different way of thinking which in turn will lead to greater success, but the results only come after implementation, adaptation and improvement over time.    

Success is a long haul destination.  

That is very much up to you.  It is not the proven formula.

You have shoulders too - use them

Without doubt it is important to learn from others who have more experience and training behind them.  

The trick is to learn from people who can teach you the principles and then work with you to adapt those principles to suit your needs, your business and your aspirations.  

This is harder to do of course, because the provider has to listen as well teach and has to have a wide experience from which to draw the most pertinent insights from.

It also makes sense to look at layers of training and support.  

By all means take an accelerator programme to understand the key principles so you can get the foundations of your business building right, but also invest in longer term support either in a mastermind group or more affordably in a membership programme, so you get the steady flow of insights, reminders and accountability to keep you on track and keep you inspired.

The most successful businesses create their own unique path and implement consistently over the long haul.  

You can do the same and reap the results that will indeed follow.