Show of hands—who saw the original Star Wars movie? Technically it was Episode 4, but the first one to hit the big screen. Remember the scene where Ben rescues an unconscious Luke Skywalker and then reveals he’s really Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi? Remember how he put Luke through his wanna-be Jedi Knight paces?

That’s who you trust.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is an old-school guru. A teacher. A mentor. That’s who you want in your corner.

Obi-Wan tells you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it. She won’t pretend your idea is good just to avoid her own discomfort (or yours).

Obi-Wan doesn’t believe in spoon-feeding. She challenges you to do the work, because you won’t learn anything if someone else does it for you.

Obi-Wan warns you when you’re behaving like an arrogant ass, and lets you fail when you ignore his advice. Then, instead of saying, “I told you so,” he sits quietly while you lick your wounds and think about what you’ve done.

Obi-Wan shares the best of her experience. She helps you suss out the pros and cons and knows when to shut up and let you do your thinking. She teaches you to trust your instincts. She helps you learn how to learn.

Can you find all those things in one person? Don’t sweat it—you don’t have to. The great thing about the Internet is the incredible amount of information available. When you find a good mentor, you can connect with their network. You can ask for help. You can comparison shop until your eyes go square.

Reject the pseudo gurus and find your own Obi-Wan.

Obviously, ignoring the experts altogether isn’t a smart business strategy. There are intelligent people out there who are genuinely interested in buying trends, demographics and customer psychology. You can benefit greatly from their work.

On the other hand, chasing their advice like a tweenage groupie panting over the Jonas Brothers isn’t much of a plan, either.

You have to know why you’re following someone’s advice. You have to think carefully about whether or not it applies to you. When you ask a question, you need to make sure the right person answers it.

I once attended a workshop given by someone who was touted as an expert in my field. I paid the fee, took a day out of my studio schedule, and got exactly the wrong information. The expert operated at a completely different level, and (as I only discovered months later) didn’t understand my business at all. Eventually I got the right information by way of a customer. I found someone with the right information—the solution came in a five word sentence.

That, I suppose, would be irony.

There’s nothing wrong with following business gurus, or for that matter, gurus of any kind. You run into problems when you follow blindly.