Have you ever read an email or piece of sales copy that begins…

“You've been lied to…”

or “It's not your fault…”

Chances are that email or sales letter will then go on to tell you that the reason you're not as dazzlingly successful as the author is not for want of hard work. Nor is it that you're not smart enough.

Nope. The “real” reason is that you just don't know the “secrets” that they do. The magic shortcuts to whatever wonders they're promising you.

Of course, it sounds ludicrous when I put it like that. Who would fall for that?

But of course, we all do.

We all wish there was some simple way we could achieve our wildest dreams without hard work, without having to be brilliant or learn a difficult skill.

So when someone tells us the reason we're not doing as well as we'd like is simply because there's a secret we're not privvy to, and that knowing the secret could unlock something we truly desire without taking a ton of hard work we're typically all ears.

We shouldn't be. We should run a mile.

I don't know anyone who's built a successful business that hasn't had to work hard at it. Even the guys I know who've built big businesses “in their pyjamas” on the web have worked (and studied) incredibly hard.

Now I'm not saying shortcuts don't exist. They absolutely do. 

But shortcuts make things easier, not easy.

I wish I could say that the “you've been lied to…” and “it's not your fault…” peddlers aren't successful in the long run but sadly many are.

They make their money by targeting the weak and needy. The people who desperately want to hear the message that it'll be easy once they know the secrets. All they need to do is fork over their cash to learn them.

We're all weak and needy sometimes. So make sure you immunise yourself and don't fall for these lines.

And of course, make sure you don't use them yourself.