A weekly thought for leaders with the courage to introspect.
Gurus? Don't let anyone fool you!
I was on the train to Enschede. Opposite me was a lady in a summer dress, loudly talking on the phone.
She had discovered a new guru. Martijn.
Martijn had enchanted her with Lifestyle Design.
โTotally turn your life around!โ she squealed into her phone.
I sat there and listened to it.
With crooked toes.
Let me say it right away:
I have little patience for self-proclaimed gurus.
(And yes, I spell it with an apostrophe. Gurus sounds like a group of rare rodents.)
Gurus, then.
What was once an honorary title for people with knowledge has now been reduced to:
Misty treetops. Singing bowls. Men with buns in sneakers. Microphone on the cheek. Stirring arm gestures.
โFollow me and you will be happy.โ
โOnly today with a discount.โ
The modern guru sells everything.
Happiness. Freedom. Peace. Success.
And maybe soon, oxygen.
Everything is for sale. For those willing to pay.
Martijn understood that well.
I knew him from before. In fact, I once lent him money for his train ticket home.
After an extremely successful event.
Maybe he is filthy rich now. With his packages of happiness and freedom in a luxurious wrapping.
But don't let anyone fool you.
Lifestyle Design that the lady on the train was talking about so enthusiastically is not Martijn's invention.
The term comes from Tim Ferriss's The 4-hour Workweek.
And Tim learned it again from Tony Robbins.
Fine. Knowledge may travel. Ideas may grow.
But your life doesn't have to be turned upside down.
In fact, major changes usually lead to unhappiness.
It's the small adjustments that have a huge impact.
Lifestyle Design has been around since Adam and Eve left paradise.
Organizing your life around the things and people you love is the essence.
Not because a guru shouts so on a stage.
Not because you pay for it.
But because it's yours.
Real life doesn't require tickets to an event.
Real life requires choices. Small steps.
Realistic. Authentic.
And a little common sense.
So: beware of the gurus.
Beware of anyone who tells you that you are not โthere yet.โ
Beware of the glittery promises.
Because you already have everything within you to design your life.
Free of charge.
As it should be.
The space between the words is where insight arises.
Until next week when our thoughts touch again.
Hans Ruinemans,
The Boardroom Monk โฏ๏ธ