Motivational Books and Speakers: A Waste of Time and Money

Are Motivational Books and Speeches Truly Effective?

“If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men’s cottages princes palaces.” Shakespeare

After reading tens of motivational books and listening to hundreds of motivational speakers, I learned something special I will share with you.

The thing I learned is:

I learned nothing. You will learn nothing. Don’t read motivational books. Don’t listen to motivational speakers. There is nothing in their superfluous books and empty speeches. They are just a waste of time and money.

Why did I stop Reading and listening to Motivational content?

Simply put, I got nothing from them.

After listening to Qasim Ali Shah’s lengthy motivational gibberish about becoming Bill Gates and Elon Musk, I didn’t become Bill Gates or Elon Musk. Hammad Safi failed to make me a better human being.
Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” led me to think high but couldn’t make me rich. Still, I am thinking big with an empty pocket.

“How to Win Friends and Influence People” didn’t help me win a single friend. I haven’t influenced anyone. When I tried to practically apply Dale Carnegie’s tips to win a stranger’s heart and make her my girlfriend, she gave me a long, grim, suspicious look, rebuked me, and walked away. The formula didn’t work, and I remained single.

“Power of Habits” and “Atomic Habit” only reinforced the English proverb ‘Old habits die hard,’ quite literally.

Stephen Covey failed to expand my ‘circle of influence,’ make me ‘proactive,’ or install his ‘principle-centred leadership’ qualities in me.

I spent hours and hours listening to Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, Sandeep Maheshwari, Robin Sharma, and many others. But they all failed to instill long-term opium in me. The temporary drunken state of mind vanished very soon. They have no neurochemicals that alter the entire system.
That is why I stopped reading and listening to motivational stuff.

Why does motivational content prove futile?

When you read a self-help book or watch motivational speakers, you get a temporary boost, and they encourage you to build castles in the air. Alcohol or even marijuana can provide a similar fleeting feeling. Honestly, I’d prefer a drink.

Now, the question is, why can’t they change your life once and for all? Simply, they don’t put themselves in your shoes or understand your circumstances.

Everyone is born with a different mindset in a specific family, society, and country. Our natures vary. Our instincts, emotions, upbringing, deeply ingrained behaviours, habits, geography, and culture all play pivotal roles in making and shaping us. We’re not like machines that can be controlled by someone’s command.

As Rousseau once said, ‘Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.’ These chains exist both internally and externally. We’re slaves to our own emotions, instincts, behaviours, and mental inclinations. We’re also bound by geographical realities, social structures, economic conditions, opportunities, etc.

Motivational books and speakers don’t consider these realities, so they often fail. They’re destined to fail. A motivational speaker might tell you to ‘Fly like an eagle’ without bothering to see whether you have legs, let alone wings.

Their tactics include false hope, oversimplification of complex problems, wordplay, creating dependency, offering unrealistic and impractical solutions to intricate issues, and selective anecdotes.

They won’t mention how many individuals attempted to emulate Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mukesh Ambani, and Malik Riaz and failed. They only highlight a few exceptional cases to make their arguments.

Furthermore, motivational content fosters a pseudo-psychology that relies on an external force to push you. If someone lacks goals or an understanding of their aptitude and life’s purpose, they live in the utopia of motivational speakers, indulging in daydreams.

An article rightly argues:
“If a motivational speaker puts you up and without him, you’re down, then one day the same speaker becomes your biggest weakness. Like if you can’t move by yourself, then how will you grow and learn from your past all by yourself?”

Do Motivational Books and Speeches Really Work?

If they had worked, everyone in my country and my friend circle would have become a business tycoon, a civil servant, or at least a motivational speaker. Believe me, they do have some success as motivational speakers. In the context of Pakistan, it is an emerging industry.

That’s why you can find at least one motivational speaker in every city, town, and village. They teach people how to become successful and rich, even though they themselves are neither successful nor wealthy. They make a living by selling stories of successful people from the past and painting a bright future for their audiences.

I once encountered a motivational speaker. He was saying:
“I tried to become a civil servant, but I failed the CSS exam. I applied for other government jobs, but I couldn’t succeed. I even tried my hand at business, but it collapsed. Then I entered the motivational industry, and I became successful. The lesson here is: Don’t give up.”

The audience applauded, but no one asked a simple question: If you are such a mess, how on earth would you make us big men? And if passing the CSS or running a business was as easy as you make it sound, why didn’t you succeed?

This oversimplification is like telling someone to go to Eden, portraying its beautiful gardens and luxurious lifestyle, without providing a roadmap, just saying, “I failed to get there, but you will succeed.” How can you lead me to that lofty destination if you’ve never been there and don’t know the path?

It also brings to mind a joke about motivational speakers.

A motivational speaker was training a group of followers on catching dinosaurs. He told them that dinosaurs have diamonds in their abdomens, and their lives will change forever if they catch one. After the training, they scattered to catch dinosaurs, but none succeeded. They returned to their trainer empty-handed and complained.
With all his grandeur, the motivational speaker said, “Oh, you silly people. Dinosaurs are long-extinct creatures. Instead of looking for them, you should teach more people how to catch dinosaurs and get the diamonds.”

Thus, the trainees learned and earned.

Can Motivational Content Lead to Long-Term Transformation?

I keep emphasizing that motivational content cannot lead to long-term transformation. There’s no magic wand in it. It provides a temporary boost, and then you return to your old habits, instincts, circumstances, and the harsh realities of life.

Dale Carnegie tried to defend this short-term boost with the statement:
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last, well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it every day.”

No, my lord, this comparison doesn’t quite match. Even if we force this example, there are still holes. For instance, some people don’t bathe for months due to chilly geographical conditions, while others simply don’t see bathing as a necessity. Like me, many are too lazy to visit the washroom; some have diseases or wounds. A few are content with their lives without daily bathing.

On the other hand, people like Carnegie bathe every day; they are self-motivated bathers. If they get dirty, they feel it themselves and don’t need any Dale Carnegie to remind them to bathe daily.

Motivational content often presents fictional information, knowledge, and mere theories. If someone possesses all the knowledge in the world, what will they do with it? Knowledge alone is insufficient.

If it were enough, Francis Bacon wouldn’t have emphasized empiricism so much and earned the title of the founder of the modern scientific method.

A traditional proverb goes: ‘You will never learn how to swim without getting your feet wet.’ Now, here’s another humorous anecdote:

Once, a Sardar had learned all the techniques of swimming. He had acquired knowledge about swimming and diving. However, when he jumped into a pool, he ended up drowning. The trainer had to rescue him with incredible difficulty. After his breathing was restored, the Sardar passed down this historical judgment:

“I will never put my feet in the water again until I’ve properly learned how to swim.”

One has to learn things, but mere learning is insufficient. Practical steps are a must. After watching a large number of videos and reading articles about driving, would you drive a car? Not at all. You will learn on the dingy road, fumble, fall, hit, and steadily become a driver. The motivational speaker will tell you the story of a racer who won an Olympic motorsport competition. He will ignore the point that you can only drive a wheelbarrow.

Alternatives: WHAT TO DO INSTEAD?

In society, we find two distinct groups of people:

1. Those who are content with a normal, conventional life. They embrace the status quo and have no desire to challenge established norms. For them, having a home, a family, and a means of livelihood is enough. They feel secure and satisfied within their comfort zones. In the words of Dostoevsky, they are ordinary individuals.
2. Then there are those who rebel against the norm. They aspire to bring about change, first in their own lives and then in the lives of others. They seek to break free from their comfort zones and overcome barriers. A burning desire for transformation sets them apart, making them extraordinary.

These two categories reveal a simple truth—they do not require excessive motivation. If they do, rest assured, they draw it from living examples. They do not rely on self-help books or motivational speakers for guidance.

The first group may indulge in motivational content, experiencing a temporary boost, only to return to their usual routines. They find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle.

The second group gets inspiration from everyone, from street vendors to business magnates. They embody the spirit of individuals like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Moreover, their motivation originates from within; external factors play a minor role. Their past struggles fuel their grand visions—an enduring source of inspiration.
I once asked a friend who exhibited all the qualities praised by motivational speakers and self-help books how he acquired these traits without ever reading or listening to Carnegie, Stephen Covey, or similar figures.

His response was enlightening: “To a discerning eye, everything can serve as a source of inspiration. When I encounter a stranger with a positive attitude, I mirror it. When a waiter treats me with kindness, when a vendor adeptly sells his products, when an officer carries out his duties professionally, and when a TV host or guest remains composed in adversity despite provocation, I learn from them all. I internalize these experiences, incorporating them into my own personality. Life itself is the most profound teacher.”

I began this article with a quote from Shakespeare’s masterpiece, ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ The wise Portia adds,