Do-It-Yourself Not Always Best

Today I received an e-mail from a woman in the Midwest who purchased a feng shui system from another feng shui consultant to learn how to become a feng shui consultant herself. In her e-mail she said that she is no closer to understanding feng shui and is just frustrated and confused.

I was sorry to hear that the program wasn't working for her and at the same time not surprised. Think about a terrific mechanic you know, or accountant, or doctor, etc. Just because they're good at their job doesn't mean they're good at teaching others what they do. That's a completely different skill from their main profession and the two don't always go hand in hand.

Another challenge is that not everyone can write. I know a woman who is extremely successful in her consulting and she's written a couple of books. The writing is very technical, hard to follow and doesn't make sense. Yet when she talks she's very clear. There's just a complete disconnect between her written and spoken words. Needless to say her books have not sold well.

Then there's the issue of wanting to learn something professionally and wanting to learn it as a hobby. If you're going to take on a new career you need to know what you're doing and most books aren't detailed enough for that. There's just too much information to cram into a book that's only one or two hundred pages long.

If you're looking to learn feng shui in order to be able to do it for other people it's best to study with a feng shui consultant in person because you will learn considerably more, you will be able to ask questions, you'll get to hear other people's questions which will in turn help you and you'll hear more than you would if you tried to learn it on your own. You'll even get to practice what you learn which is even more beneficial.

Think about it. Could you learn massage from a book and become a professional massage therapist? Or study weather maps at home and become a meteorologist? No of course not.

Home study courses are great for learning a new hobby and for do-it-yourself projects, including feng shui. But to really understand it and be able to help other people its best to study with someone who can teach you the ropes.