Have you ever had a moment when you pondered how to achieve the system-defined concept of "success"? If so, it can be assumed that at least once or twice you caught yourself browsing through various motivational online content created by coaching content creators, who with full conviction in their voice told you what you should change in your "sad, losing life" to get closer to that success every day. If so, you better think twice about how much these tips will help and how much they will send you to the hospital, psychiatrist, or morgue.
To begin with, it is worth mentioning that the criticism in this text is directed solely at coaching related to business, aimed mainly at ordinary people wanting to achieve financial stability. I do not deny the positive aspects of other forms of coaching, such as those related to a healthy lifestyle, as long as they are conducted by qualified specialists.
Business coaching, contrary to popular opinion, is not a remedy or even a kind of signpost on how to survive in the system. It is merely an idealized representation of all the imperfections of capitalism in a form accessible to people dissatisfied with life or highly desperate. It is a specific form of liberal propaganda, where a specific coaching speaker—most often a representative of the higher social structures—shifts all the difficulties resulting from the system onto the shoulders of individuals lost in reality, while presenting their wisdom as a remedy. If he succeeded, why shouldn't someone else? Well, there are many reasons.
"Wake Up Early in the Morning"
A sample quote from Robin Sharma: "Waking up early is not just a matter of discipline, but also strategy. When you wake up before dawn, you gain valuable time for reflection, planning, and achieving your goals. This is the moment when the world is quiet, and your thoughts are clearest. Use this time to build the foundations of your success."
This advice has become a meme among internet users, especially considering that it is often followed by examples of billionaires like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. Despite numerous jokes, this advice is taken deadly seriously among coaches. However, there are certain absurdities here that expose its irrationality and potential harm.
Every employee is forced into a certain form of "self-discipline" resulting from working hours. Most services operate from morning to afternoon, which forces early rising. Does waking up even earlier make sense for someone who is not a rentier? Let's be realistic—don't look at life through the prism of wealthy people who can afford to experiment with sleep. For a worker or physical laborer, sleep is not a luxury resulting from laziness, but a biological necessity for regeneration.
Such advice can be harmful to health. According to psychoneuroendocrinological studies (S. Edwards et al., Association Between Time of Awakening and Diurnal Cortisol Secretory Activity, 2001), forced early rising increases the secretion of cortisol—the stress hormone. Dr. Paul Kelley also proved that adjusting activity hours to the natural circadian rhythm (shifting the start of school to 10:00) improves academic performance by 20%.
Since people have different chronotypes (daily activity preferences), what is the point of listening to a coach who, on the one hand, says "don't follow the crowd," and on the other, imposes the dictatorship of "early birds"?
"Surround Yourself with Businessmen and Successful People"
Steve Siebold wrote: "Before I started doing well, I moved to a neighborhood I couldn't afford. I wanted to be around rich people (...) to learn their thinking."
Is narrowing relationships to a wealthy group self-improvement or classism? The belief that you can't learn anything from "workers" or "corporate rats" is destructive. Closing yourself off in a bubble of people with the same status leads to intellectual impoverishment. Scott Page from the University of Michigan proved that diverse groups achieve better results in problem-solving than homogeneous groups.
Poorer social strata often show higher life resourcefulness and determination. A rich person relies on paid services; a non-wealthy person must adapt to difficult conditions.
Moreover, the pressure to adapt to an environment where you don't fit in ("fake it till you make it") leads to stress and psychological problems. The business environment can be toxic and based on competition rather than solidarity. Studies (Babiak, Hare) even suggest that corporate business is a natural environment for psychopathic individuals. The risk of being manipulated is therefore high.
"Is It Hard for You? Quit Everything and Start a Business!"
Sir John Whitmore and many other gurus motivate people to quit their jobs and start a business, omitting the risk. This is manipulation through selective presentation of information. A vision of a "liberal utopia" is presented, where everyone is an entrepreneur.
Reality? According to data, about 20% of companies fail in the first year, and 50% within five years. Staying in the market does not guarantee high earnings. "Stepping out of the comfort zone" for someone without financial backing can end in debt and family tragedy. This advice makes sense only for someone who has a financial cushion ("banana youth" or rentiers), not for the average worker.
If the coaches' vision were true and everyone were an entrepreneur, the economy would collapse. It is the workers who are an essential element of the system's functioning, not just the owners of capital.
"Count Every Penny, Don't Overspend Your Paycheck!"
Suze Orman: "Don't buy things you can't afford to impress people you don't like."
Saving makes sense, but the logic of coaching often distorts this idea. Calling the purchase of better quality food "overspending the paycheck" is absurd. A varied diet and products without preservatives are an investment in health. Saving on food (cheap alternatives) leads to diseases whose treatment will consume the saved pennies.
Similarly with clothes—cheap products quickly wear out (Vimes' boots paradox). Often recommended asceticism ("suffer now to be rich later") is a trap of postponing life for an eternal "later."
"Watch, Read, Listen, and Talk About Personal Development"
This is the moment when marketing becomes advice: "pay us." People wanting to get out of poverty spend their last money on premium guides, falling into a vicious circle.
The mechanism is simple: in case of success—the method works. In case of failure—"you didn't try hard enough, buy another course." This structure resembles a cult: there is a guru, there is specific slang, there is a group of followers, and there is blaming the victim for the failure of the doctrine. There is no objective measure of the effectiveness of this advice, and anecdotal evidence is confused with scientific evidence.
In Conclusion
My personal advice, as someone with similar qualifications to most "self-improvement" people: if you have a problem with self-acceptance, don't listen to parasites feeding on your insecurity. Go to a specialist.
To understand the sources of your financial problems, it is better than coaching to seek knowledge about the specifics of the capitalist system. The concept of exploitation was explained by Marx in "Capital," and alternatives were outlined by Oskar Lange or Thomas Piketty. Understanding political economy provides better tools for navigating reality than empty phrases about "winner mentality."
