When we start something new we need a guiding hand. There is no doubt in my mind about that. Starting something new, as an example making money online is a good one, we can feel overwhelmed and have no idea where to start. To make matters worse we live in a society where making mistakes can be seen as a Very Bad Thing and speed is of the utmost importance. With that in mind taking the path of least resistance can seem like and excellent idea. That path usually involves a guru, or two or three, or...you get the idea, I'm sure.

You're after someone to give you an idea of what has worked and has not worked for them in order to give you a leg up. But in taking their advice it's good to remember not to give up your own reasoning in the process. I'll be giving an example of why I believe this below, along with some examples for you to ponder. I'm not doing this with an axe to grind, and I am not naming names, but rather to illustrate a point.

Let's go on, shall we?

Have you ever read Influence by Robert B. Cialdini? If you haven't get thee to a bookshop or a library and start reading. Pronto. I'll sit here and wait while you get to the chapter on authority figures and how they use this type of influence to market their wares to an unsuspecting audience.

That audience is you.

One thing many of us are taught from a young age is to respect the authority figure. It doesn't matter if they are your parents or your teacher or your boss, what they say matters, and what they say cannot be disputed. Just listen to the language of the next political speech you hear, and listen to how they convey that message. You are meant to believe what they are saying without questioning. Some of us go all our lives never questioning what authority figures say, and that includes what marketers and gurus say.

Step back for a minute and see the big picture. You deserve to give yourself this chance. Don't take someone's word just because of the language it's couched in.

A while back I decided to have a crack at making money online. The truth be known I had no idea where to start or what to do. I did what any sensible person would do and started to research. Ask anybody who's been naive enough to do this and they'll tell you it's like putting your big toe into a piranha's pool and expecting it to come out unscathed.

Eventually, I found myself on a paid site, which wasn't a great match for me. Now, this paid site was great for beginners, and it gave me a lot of ideas, even though it was geared towards people who were looking to get into pay per click (PPC) advertising, combined with affiliate marketing. There was one other great draw to this site - its messageboard, and the local guru who seemed to Know It All. Oh, the excitement of it all.

To cut a long story short I joined this guy's mailing list and he was quite a character. All of what he said made perfect sense, as far as it went. I could not understand what he was doing on this paid site, and it didn't click for a while since I was mindlessly absorbing what he was saying...until the first time I caught him out in a deception. It was just a screencap of earnings that didn't match up to a statement, with that screencap also on another page on the same site, trying to mean something different. Hmn maybe not quite as honest as I thought. Or probably a mistake (yeah, you all say)

Anyway, while researching yet another product that I wished to buy I went to a blog attached to a site and started reading. As with all things internet marketing the big talkers all know one another, or have had contact, and he mentioned the missing piece to the puzzle as to why this guy would be on a PPC site when he advocates another method. He uses PPC to gather his data in order to decide which way to go. Something he never mentioned on the mailing list or at the messageboard.

Ever have that 'clunk' moment when all the pieces fall into place? That was the clunk moment for me. My guru, who knew all, had feet of clay. He wasn't a bad person per se, he just left one very important piece of information out, which is entirely his choice. I unsubbed from his mailing list, after deciding I'd learnt enough from him for now, and haven't looked back.

There's no blame intended in the telling of this tale, but rather a word of warning not to let your reasoning abilities be switched off by anyone willing to give you a guiding hand.

We often use the guru or a mentor as a way to find the pitfalls and use their experience to help us skip ahead. They've already made the mistakes so that we don't have to. It's wonderful in theory.

The thing is when you decide to do something new you are entering uncharted waters, because there's no one else like you and no one that thinks in precisely the same way you do. You'll find other unique sidetracks and potholes and maybe a few rivers and lakes to cross as well. Don't expect your mentor or your guru to do the thinking for you. They also lack the experience of your particular journey. Lack of experience can be a good thing, if you use it the right way.

Take the advice of your gurus in moderation, and never, ever, turn off your own brain .After all, it's your greatest asset.