Around the year 2007, an online “success mentoring program” took the internet by storm. It was called “Success University” and it was founded by a guy from South Africa named Matt Morris. Having been deeply immersed in the study of internet marketing at that time, I joined, just out of curiosity, to see what these guys had to offer.
The cost was a bit hefty – about 50 US dollars per month, but I must admit that they did have some good advice and materials in there. On the other hand, their business model was not viable.
It was as if Matt Morris and his “Success Mentoring Team” couldn’t see that their Pyramid Scheme Marketing Structure was bound to collapse after a time.
I remember looking at the glamorous cover of one of Success University’s magazines and it read “Inside: What You Didn’t Learn In School”. Of course, Matt Morris was referring to the “Secret Law of Attraction”, as he sums it up “what you are today is a sum of all your thoughts”.
Of course, I don’t doubt that there may be some merits to this positive thinking movement, but on the other hand, I don’t think that it is Gospel Truth.
But if Matt Morris knew this, I can’t help but wonder, what was he “thinking” when Success University failed?
Success University encouraged its students, or members to “dream big” which I don’t think is a bad idea; as long as you remember to “keep your feet firmly planted in the ground whenever you reach for the stars”.
Related: The Power of Starting Small
I remember one story about Matt Morris bragging about going to some great Resort in South Africa for his honeymoon, that was far more luxurious than any such place he had seen in America.
And I remember two guys getting expelled from an Indian University for promoting Success University there.
Every month that I was a member, Success University would send me some really great magazines containing “success” advice: advice on how to succeed in Multi Level Marketing and just about any other thing you put your hands to. I must admit that it was a great read, and well written material. They would also send videos of speeches by “the world’s greatest minds”, mostly videos encouraging you to “do with all your might what your hands find to do”. I enjoyed these too.
Then Success University had its “money making program” where you encourage people to join, and you make money through an MLM compensation structure. Within the first six months, I managed to get six people under me; but I found I wasn’t making a penny, so I called customer support and the girl on the other end, sounding a bit timid, told me something about needing to get at least 4 people on both the right and left leg for any given month, and I only had people on the left leg. That was enough to frustrate anyone.
I can’t remember if I quit Success University before it was shut down by the South African authorities for being illegal due to its “Ponzi” nature or if I was still a member at the time when it shut down. All in all, I got the best of Success University before it failed; and success university sure got the best of my wallet before it failed.
Interestingly, I’m still getting emails from Matt Morris, the self proclaimed “Unemployed Millionaire” encouraging me to buy this and that. I found he still has his personal website selling all kinds of get-rich programs claiming to teach people how to become just like him.
The Price of a Cup of Coffee
I still remember the words on the Success University sales page “for less than a cup of coffee a day, you could learn from the biggest minds in the world” or something like that. Trust me, a cup of coffee a day really adds up at the end of the month; and I wouldn’t trade the joy of sipping a wonderful cup of coffee for the world; especially on a cool morning when I’m looking across the table to the beautiful smile of a girl I really love. I guess in life there are some things money can’t buy; for everything else there’s MasterCard….
