Thanks for taking the time to pick apart his article like that! I see now how he can accomplish this through writing his articles like that (e.g. playing with your emotions). I have to admit, he is pretty successful at this. Or perhaps I'm just a gullible soul that needs a crash course in critical reading x_x I'll be keeping this in mind if I ever decide to read similar stuff. At least he did convince me that I want to (at least eventually) work for myself. Though probably not with that article alone.dispensers of for profit self-help can only profit on someone who has a deficiency they can provide a remedy for. What better way then to create that deficiency in the ready?
No doubt he is successful at this. A good demonstration of the power in persuasive writing. Don't feel too gullible. I own upwards of 30 books which would perhaps be classified as self-help spanning spiritual to psychological to motivational. For years I found myself thrown in different directions depending on what I was currently reading. Gullible doesn't begin to describe it. Luckily I have good friends who enjoy good discussions and are secure enough to challenge and be challenged. Slowly I'm learning to be less naive. :) But if something is compelling, like this article, that's a sign that there are useful nutrients which to be extracted. Even something that is 100% hand-wavy nonsense; if it is getting an emotional response that's a very valuable thing. That allows you to ask yourself, "How is this making me feel? Why?" For example I assert 3, 7, 8, and 10 all lack logical basis, but 3 and 10 were emotional push buttons for me; a way for my subconscious to speak. I do feel overly comfortable/lazy and irrationally cautious about making changes. Ignoring this does me no good. On the other hand 7 and 8 didn't evoke any response. I must be satisfied with my compensation and social life. Thanks for submitting this article, I've had a lot of fun in this discussion today.
Ahh yes, naive is the word. So you've read quite a bit of material already! Yeah discussions are very valuable, as I'm currently discovering. For me, many of Steve's articles evoke emotional responses. Next time I will pay attention to those emotions more closely, in stead of sucking in his every word like a sponge. My emotional push buttons from that list were 3, 9 and 10. No problem! I'm enjoying the discussion as well. And becoming slightly less naive in the process!