The only people getting rich from the cornucopia of "millionaire" and "get-rich-quick" books on the market are the authors of them, according to American entrepreneur and businessman Keith Cunningham.
"I would say the authors of the books can't point to any student who has used their methodology and been successful. I believe in teaching what works," he says.
"The whole idea of passive income advocated in many of these books makes no sense. If you look at Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Michael Dell and Richard Branson, did any of them create or get to keep their wealth by being passive? Passive income makes as much sense to me as passive relationships. As soon as we start talking about putting in 50 per cent and hoping to get 100 per cent, putting in the least to get the most, it doesn't work," he says, before giving his Igniting Your Business seminar to 500 people in Dublin this week.
Another theory the author of the popular Keys to the Vault: Lessons from the Pros on Raising Money and Igniting Your Business debunks is the concept of working "on" your business rather than "in" it.
He notes that in the early years of Microsoft, Bill Gates personally reviewed and often rewrote every line of code the company shipped and that Michael Dell and Warren Buffet still regularly clock up 60-70+ hour work weeks.
Regarded as an authority of business turnaround, Cunningham has earned his stripes. Now 57, the straight-talking Texan started out in business at 11 with his own profitable door-to-door egg delivery service and went on to create a multimillion dollar business including a $150 million real estate company.
By 40 he had lost it all, his money, his wife, his kids - everything. "I got cocky. I think pride was my downfall. I got complacent."
He declared personal bankruptcy in 1991 and took an 18-month sabbatical. "I had stopped learning, stopped growing. I began re-evaluating who I am, what I stand for and what my life is about. I re-emerged with a commitment to mastery.
"Today my commitment is to be the best me I can possibly be. The most powerful thought I've heard is, for most people hell on earth would be to meet the person you could have been."
During his time out he met and mentored Robert Kiyosaki; it turns out that Kiyosaki is the original "Rich Dad" in the Rich Dad, Poor Dad international best-sellers.
Within three years of his return, Cunningham had rebuilt his net worth and, in recent years, he has mentored thousands of successful business people, sharing with them his mistakes and learnings of the past 35 years in business.The concept of mastery - "what you learn when you think you know it all" - which Cunningham teaches is about three things, he says.
"Firstly, you've got to decide what you want, what you stand for. Make a commitment. Without it, nothing is possible.
"Secondly, learning and practice. If you're unwilling to learn the critical skills and tools, it's unlikely you'll ever be successful.
"And thirdly, a commitment to correcting. Most people hate the idea of being wrong but if you look at Tiger Woods, he's the best in the world because of his commitment to correct, not protect."
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: start by being an apprentice. "We've lost the idea in the 20th and 21st century of being an apprentice under a master, someone who can teach the mistakes and things not to do."
And for the rest of the world - chief executives of their own lives - he throws a thought-provoking nugget. "Everything you want in your life lies outside of your comfort zones - it lies the other side of fear. We need to take risks in order not to fail. If you could have what you want by staying within [ your] comfort zone, you would already have it."
ENTREPRENEURS' THREE KEY MISTAKES
1. Believing the "idea" is the most important thing.
Success has very little to do with what we do and everything to do with how we do it. Look at the most successful people on the planet today - Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Richard Branson - and you'll find they did not get successful because of their idea; they got successful because of how they implemented that idea.
2. Focusing on financing the business.
A key point is to stop focusing on ways to raise money and instead work out a clear, sustainable path to profitability. That way raising money just got a lot easier.
3. Fixation on developing the business.
You need to concentrate on "how do I keep the business I have" and turning any customer into a fanatic who believes they would be mad to go to anybody else. The reason most people's businesses don't develop is because they are constantly looking for that new apple to put in their pocket. Too often as they put it in, two apples fall out of the hole in the pocket.
