Most reviews of The Go-Giver have been quite complimentary, but now and then we find one insisting that, while this all sounds very nice and everything, the real world just doesn’t work this way. For example, one reviewer wrote:
“Even the most credulous reader will have to supress a snicker at how quickly the karmic wheel turns in Joe’s favor, with what seems like remarkably little effort. Can it really be that simple? Generosity is well and good, but how many successful real-life businesspeople truly share the attitude of the (extremely fictional) Chairman.”
By “extremely fictional,” I guess the reviewer means, “not just made up, but really made up, in a way that could never, ever happen in real life.” Funny thing is, the Chairman is the least fictional character in the book: “Pindar” is a thinly disguised Bob Proctor—and Proctor in real life is every bit as amazing as Pindar on the page.
As to his question, “How many successful real-life businesspeople truly share Pindar’s attitude?”
Well, what does your experience say?
Okay – so maybe the turnaround on your “go-giving” investment isn’t a week – but maybe you’re looking so hard for your ROI you didn’t see the opportunity that came out of left field. Kind of like the watched pot not boiling, but the sushi sure would have been great if you hadn’t had your heart set on pasta.
I’ve always said, “Karma isn’t a one-to-one relationship.” You may never “repay” the people who helped you get where you are and some of the people you help may never “repay” you, but if you apply ALL FIVE Laws in order, you WILL achieve your dreams faster than you would have using any other “strategy.”
I can’t repay all the Pindars I’ve had in my life – many of them had passed on before I had enough “life collateral” to do so. But I have tried to honor their contribution by making contributions of my own, and I think that is the payment they wanted from me. On the other hand, they were all hugely successful people (by different measures of success) and I know their “go-giver’s path” brought them the dreams they realized just as surely as it is doing for me.
Well, what does your experience say?
When I read the book, Pindar reminded me immediately of an advisor I’ve worked with on a couple of recent online ventures. Perhaps not in his explicit philosophy, but in his generosity, his experience, and his bearing as a person — and (in the words of this critic) that he’s a “successful real-life” businessman.
So this criticism certainly misses the mark, for me. The critic also seems to somewhat miss the point of a parable, which is, in part, to portray exemplars of a given archetype.
I don’t know Bob Proctor (other than having seen him speak once) but I can imagine that he’s merely a more realized version of the kinds of business advisors who are commonly motivated to reach back and help younger entrepreneurs like myself achieve what they had achieved themselves.