10.6. PARALLELS BETWEEN TEACHINGS

There are beautiful parallels between Ed Seykota's teachings and the teachings of those who are not necessarily focused in the world of investments, including notable authors like Eckhart Tolle, Esther Hicks, Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, and Wallace D. Wattles, whose books we have read and put into practice. Documentaries such as The Secret, What the Bleep? and Moses Code also make excellent resources. These teachings are not about proselytizing others to your world view or your way of doing things. In fact, proselytizing has no place here, since that would be about converting someone to your belief system or faith, and telling people what they should believe. These teachings are not a belief system but a process to help people reach their highest potential and to develop their own beliefs. To the extent that the teachings themselves become a belief system, and people try to convert others to it, these teachings no longer serve their original intention.

That said, we have all seen ludicrous amounts of advertisements and spam that promise to make people rich or fulfilled through various techniques. The best techniques give honest, useful advice. So if readers have not read any of the books or visited any of the web sites mentioned in this chapter before, then they should read works by some of the authors mentioned in this chapter. The key is to put the learning into practice. Don't fall into the trap of becoming a book and seminar junkie. Some people love buying and reading these books because they make them feel good, and they love going to the seminars where they can be inspired, yet for some reason, they are often not much better off in the future, financially, emotionally, or spiritually.

We remember a William O'Neil + Company, Inc workshop that we were conducting with Bill O'Neil in New York City back in 2001. We thought to ourselves as we scanned the audience, which numbered about 800, that probably only a tiny handful would make consistent and diligent use of this information. To make proper use of the information we were teaching, required learning, doing, having discipline, and being diligent, not just for a few months, but indefinitely. Most people fall short of this. The key is to take consistent action permanently, not just over the short or long term, by putting the knowledge to good use. It can be easy to make big commitments at these seminars when energy levels are running high, but the real test is in the months and years that lie ahead.