Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April 2014 | Page 17

UPFRONT
making it difficult to distinguish the real gurus from
those who are simply selling information.

Do you really need a guru?
Why would anyone really need a guru? The reality
is that in the information age, we are swamped with
information, but in dire need of knowledge and insight.
The real gurus are those who have relevant expertise
and real-life experience and have packaged this into
must-have knowledge and practical systems. By
tapping into their knowledge and systems, followers
can avoid reinventing the wheel or learning by
trial-and-error at the “University of Hard Knocks”
– a process that can be costly, time-consuming,
demoralising and, often, financially fatal.
Essentially, a guru can help you understand the playing
field, set realistic goals, see opportunities and avoid
pitfalls. A guru has years of experience and has
fine-tuned his/her system or approach down to the
smallest detail.
Because this system has been honed and tweaked over
many years of experience, a guru should be able to pass
on a tried-and-tested method of achieving a certain
outcome. Those who follow this system should be able
to replicate the results achieved by the guru quickly
and easily. They are essentially paying a guru to teach
them the best and most efficient way to achieve a
certain result, thereby fast tracking their own success
by circumventing the need to learn by time-consuming
and often costly real life experience.
A quote f rom wel l-k now n A mer ica n g u r u,
Buc k m i nster Fu l ler, who w a s a n a rc h itec t ,
mathematician, author, cosmologist, scientist, inventor
and philosopher encapsulates the essence of how gurus
become experts in their fields: “The reason I know so
much is because I have made so many mistakes.”

American guru Buckminster Fuller
For this reason, I am considered a real estate ‘guru’
myself, although I prefer the term ‘expert’ to describe
the in-depth knowledge, insights and experience I have
gained over so many years and so many property deals.
Much of what I have learnt at the coal-face, through
hard experience, is not taught at traditional educational
institutions, nor can this information be found in the
general media.
Nevertheless, I have acquired invaluable insights and
often great inspiration and motivation from many gurus
at seminars and conferences. Having interacted with so
many of these gurus, I have also come to understand the
modus operandi of different kinds of gurus, and how
they acquire their knowledge and distribute it to their
followers. As such, I can offer some insights regarding
how to distinguish the real gurus from the rest.

Top of the heap
Stephen Covey, Zig Ziglar, Napoleon Hill and Jim
Rohn - all of whom have now passed away - were all
top gurus in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, the top local

Finding a true guru
I have personally attended more than 100 personal
development and real estate seminars over the last 20 years
and interviewed almost 500 world achievers and experts
to uncover their patterns and best practices. I have applied
these different methods myself and have invested in more
than 70 property transactions (buy and sell).
www.reimag.co.za

REALE ESTATE BUSINESS DIRECTORY

THERE ARE THREE ISSUES THAT MUST BE
CONSIDERED IN RESPECT OF GURUS:

1 Selecting a true guru with genuine experience
and knowledge
guru’s system
2 Judging whether the results promised will
realistically produce the

3 Your willingness to commit 10 0% to
implementing the system
April 2014 SA Real Estate Investor

15