. Groucho Marx must have known their kid.

When Groucho was invited to join a hoity-toity Hollywood

country club he replied, "I'm not interested in joining any
organization that would have me as a member." Funnyman Marx
spouted this self-deprecating line for a laugh, but Hyde will try to
instill this attitude in you as a roadblock between you and your
attempts to implement the system laid out in this guidebook.
Using defeatism, Hyde will try to con you into saying things
like: "Maybe this self-discipline program is good, but it probably
won't work for me." "I'm not smart enough to understand this
stuff." "I'm too smart to be helped by this lame stuff." "I'm too
old." "I'm too young." In other words, Hyde will try to convince
you that the fault lies within you personally; that you somehow
lack the ability to turn this system into a reality.
Hyde will attempt to drown your enthusiasm by pointing out
all your perceived shortcomings, then use them to trick you into
self-defeat. Hyde will use any perceived inadequacy to dredge up
feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem which will, of course,
lead to your either giving up on the system (in reality giving up
on yourself), or going about it so halfheartedly that all benefits
will be minimized.
20
2. Poisons & Antidotes

Defeatism continued...
Even though your intellect will tell you that lots of people
have prospered by using the techniques in this book, Hyde
will say: "But you're different." Then Hyde will furnish a
reason (or maybe a hundred reasons) that foster a why-Iwon't-
succeed attitude. Yes, Hyde will latch onto a personality
trait, a physical characteristic, or any other irrelevant quality
available, including your race, sex, or religion and turn it into
a tool for self-defeat.