SEDUCED INTO BELIEVING OUR MORAL WORTH IS DETERMINED BY OUR PURCHASING CHOICES
Monopolising the neoliberal construction of self and the alienation born out of Covid-19, personal development coaches have burgeoned during the pandemic. Their incessant advertising, with promises of making everyone millionaires, finding their soulmates, the freedom to have great sex, getting them to be the best versions of themselves and enhancing body and beauty bear testimony to this.
I became a student of Mindvalley University in June last year. On account of being “grounded” by Covid-19, I had the time and was curious to understand what the personal development industry was about. I also thought I might become a better version of myself that the quest promised.
With the first quest that I took in June 2020, I was selected as a Mindvalley ambassador. I enjoyed the quest offered by Vishen Lakhiani, the founder and CEO of Mindvalley, and played full-out. Although its values of unity, connectedness and transformation resonated with me, as I did other quests I became increasingly aware of Mindvalley’s underlying neoliberal agenda, fierce competitiveness and its drive to create Empire.
I had difficulty with some of the quests’ emphasis on material abundance, the lack of consideration of structural constraints on people’s lives, the unethical and unfounded claims to provide instant cures for a range of illnesses and personal life challenges, and the neoliberal individualistic construction of self.
In one of his several online marketing feats in June, Lakhiani offers quests such as Hypnotherapy for Confidence and Power; Connecting and Meeting your Spirit Guides; Turning Your Home Into a Vision Board; and Journalling as a Tool to Become a Millionaire.
Speaking of abundance, he drops comments such as: “In fact, you will lose money by not getting into MV.” Mindvalley is a deregulated enterprise with no accreditation, quality control, assessments, a hodgepodge of questionable quests and no degree offerings. Yet, Lakhiani has threatened to get rid of universities and to outsmart institutions like Harvard.
I continued with Mindvalley and did a few other masterclasses to fathom why millions of people are taking such courses. If our education and faith-based institutions paid more attention to mastery for personal and professional capabilities, human connectedness and solidarity, would there be less of such neoliberal appropriation of human development?
Their persistent advertisements are skilfully crafted to manipulate the consciousness of people, based on the premise that we are not good enough and, therefore, need [MV] to become better versions of ourselves. They regrettably prey on people’s vulnerabilities.
I enjoy Robin Sharma’s books. Sharma, who is a popular personal development coach, is also a teacher on MV, where I did his Hero, Genius, Legend quest. I subsequently did one of his masterclasses and I was thereafter bombarded with inbox messages, telling me that if I did not take his courses I would live a life of sadness and regrets.
In his and other personal mastery adverts, I am addressed by name, so the messages come across as irresistibly personalised, with messages of love. He tells me: “You know how quickly life passes. You definitely don’t want to be one of those people who are old and filled with sadness over all the things they could have done, but didn’t.”
Despite my heightened awareness, I did wonder, at times, if I would be missing out if I didn’t take up the offer. The power of words to control our consciousness! I gave up what many see as a position of honour – the Mindvalley ambassador role. In May, I joined an online masterclass offered by Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi, where the selling focused on unleashing the power of the internet and deregulated markets to become a millionaire. I am forever receiving messages with promises of abundance and happiness – and with subtle threats.
After not responding to the emails, I received ones that included the following from Graziosi: “If you’re satisfied with where your life is … I need to warn you how dangerous that can be,” and, “It is easy to tell yourself you should be happy with what you have.” The irony of a personal development guru wanting to sell me happiness and telling me that I ought not to be happy with what I have!
Dr Vishanthie Sewpaul Emeritus Professor, University
of KwaZulu-Natal
I had difficulty with some of the quests’ emphasis on material abundance … and the neoliberal individualistic construction of self