Is Taking The Easy Route Truly Worth It?

The foregoing article was originally written in September of 2012:

The year 2012 has been one in which I’ve been hearing a lot of people cry “SCAM!” It’s natural to be sympathetic towards those that have gotten themselves caught up in a fraudulent situation. But at the same time, we’ve got to use the word that a lot of people seem be afraid of. What’s that word? It is: RESPONSIBILITY. We can sit here all day and talk about scam artists, but in a lot of the cases I’ve heard, some people just need to admit that it was their own failure to employ logic and critical thinking that made them victims in the first place. Many individuals are looking for the easy way out. Personally, I’ve come to realize that there are some things setup in this world to punish those who try to take the easy way out.

I always tell people…there’s no substitute for hard work and accurate knowledge. Going along with these so-called pre-built systems is a recipe for disaster. I actually feel like a lot of this “easy success” stuff is created to punish people who try to skip having to do the work. Not just in business, but in practically every facet of life. In our society, a lot of people have made a lot of money selling products that promises easy results with little or no work. At one point in time, I used to be mad at those people. But now, I have no issues with them. They’re simply filling a need — a need that people have to avoid hard work and look for the easy way. In my opinion, they’re giving people exactly what they want. Should people fail when using their products, its their own fault, in my opinion. Maybe then they’ll see that there are no shortcuts to the top.

Right now, there’s a huge story taking place concerning a group called “The Global Information Network (GIN),” which was founded by TV Pitchman Kevin Trudeau. I'd written previous about that falling out. In that particular situation, lots of people are mad at Kevin Trudeau and their anger is justified. BUT…the GIN scheme would not have been possible if it weren’t for people looking for a shortcut to the top. GIN promised its members that they could use the Law of Attraction to manifest their wishes. GIN promised to put them in contact with prominent members of societies who’d help them build their fortunes. GIN promised them access to all the “secrets” of building wealth that no one else supposedly had access to. None of which was actually delivered. A lot of people were burned by this organization, but I hope they learned their lesson…a very expensive lesson at that. I hope they learned that there are no shortcuts to the top! The kinds of money some people invested in GIN (reaching $75k-100k in some cases), could have been used to launch a few successful enterprises. But instead, they used that money looking for a shortcut.

In my field, Derivatives Trading, some people suffer from the same state of mind…that of trying to go the easy route. Thankfully, I never got caught up in the hype when learning to trade. Part of that can be attributed to the fact that I was brought into the game by a successful trader who provided an extensive book list to me that recommended nothing but information-based books. That, by the way, is really key. None of the books offered a pre-made system. They were instead information-based. The combination of books provided explained how the markets, the economy and human psychology works from an objective viewpoint, which would enable me to absorb the information and create my own system. There would be plenty of trial and error in the process though. But that’s the thing! If you aren’t willing to get your hands dirty and make a few mistakes, then you aren’t serious about wanting to succeed in whatever you’re attempting to do. They have products for people like that (those that want to avoid mistakes)….those products we described earlier. The funny thing about those kind of products is this — people buy them, attempt to use them, fall flat on their face and repeat the process a few times until they finally realize there are no shortcuts (unfortunately, some people never realize it). They then spend more time trying to undo the damage done by trying to take the shortcut.

Make no mistake about it — the same type of fraudulent schemes are present in trading as well (as I alluded to in the previous paragraph). There are lots of fly by night companies who set themselves up as Proprietary Trading firms, offering to teach individuals how to trade profitably. Not only do they claim to teach you how to trade profitably, they claim to let you use their money to do it! I’ve seen people spends thousands of dollars on those types of programs, sometimes even tens of thousands, only for the program to either run off with their money or provide them with some useless information. Think about this — trading is hard work! If a person has come up with a highly profitable system, they aren’t going to share it with you. That’s their punishment for not reading a few books on trading, which I can assure you would have cost a hell of a lot less than they paid for these programs. They could have bought a few books, downloading a paper trading software and had some money left over to actually trade, which had the potential to make them money. But instead, they got burned looking for the easy way.

I’ve talked primarily about looking for shortcuts when it comes to making money, but make no mistake about it, the same thing rings true all across the board. People look for shortcuts for their health, their intellectual studies…practically anything that requires learning and effort. When I was dealing with my weight issues and made it through that successfully, it amazed me how many people would ask me for advice and would get upset with me because the system I used wouldn’t provide the results they sought overnight. Some people even accused me of lying to them when I’d tell them that I followed a restricted eating plan for almost 6 months that required strong discipline. What’s crazy is that these people SAW me do it and still don’t believe that its not an overnight process.

Conclusion: Nothing in this world that is worth having comes easy nor are there any guarantees. If you’re looking for a quick fix with a guaranteed outcome, there are plenty of people who’d love to provide one, but at a cost. That’s the price you pay when trying to avoid doing the work. I’ve seen lots of “how to” programs over the years that have claimed to provide a fast and easy method to success, and I’ve seen people praise these programs. But not once have I ever saw any of the praisers state that they’ve USED any of those programs and got what was promised.

Thanks for reading!

Sean Tudor Carter

“We live in deeds, not years. In thoughts not breaths, in feelings, not in figures on a dial.”

Sean Tudor Carter is an experienced investor, entrepreneur, research and writer for the Young & Opulent Group, a company formed to serve the needs of up and coming entrepreneurs, investors, and scholars who wish to reach opulent goals and stay consciously afloat in these fast changing times.