Personal Development's Dirty Little Secret

SM040 Personal Development’s Dirty Little Secret

(Thursday, June 24, 2021)

Welcome to the Second Mix Podcast where we reflect, revise, and remix our lives. My name is Matthew Bennett. At the end of this episode there’s going to be a call to action - a call to take a little step to remix your life – please join the Facebook group Ideas and Concepts so we can continue the discussion. The link is in the description.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

The Five Love Languages

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

The Seven Decisions

The 48 Laws of Power

I was having a conversation with a coaching client the other day, and he was talking about a book he read that talked about six specific High Performance Habits, and he asked me, in light of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, if the author missed a habit, or if Stephen Covey added a habit that was really unnecessary. 

I think most of us, including my client know the answer to the question, but it’s not easy to put into words – we just understand that it’s different. I decided to take the time to break it down in a simple and explainable way. I really do believe we all know this, but it is great and helpful for everyone to be able to take an ambiguous thought process and bring it forward into complete clarity, and it can help our education and self-improvement process. 

When an author or speaker has a heart for helping people, they have in general tried to do the work on themselves, and tweaked it to some capacity. So they will read the books or take the seminars from others, find valuable information and then categorize it in a new way that makes more sense to themselves. In this way they are able to absorb and use the information. When they are really passionate about the way they’ve organized their information and their lives, they turn it into a repeatable process so they are able to easily share it with people. 

That’s how we end up with 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Seven Laws of Success, 15 Laws of Growth, and the like. 

There is no way to perfectly organize a life. You just can’t do it. You can try, but inevitably you’re going to find something that fits into many categories or end up with a list of categories that don’t really fit together. Essentially, you just have to find a system that works for you. Some people are okay with working through other people’s systems, and some people want to create their own. Many who create their own have a need to share their system. 

And that’s all it is – a framework to help you try to organize, at least a little bit, that which cannot be organized. I believe that it mostly acts as a reminder to us of the habits we say we want to build, and the things we want to do in life. 

It is very difficult to get anywhere without some sort of a framework. Some or simple, some are more detailed. The amount of books out there with frameworks is incredible, and each one has been proven effective by at least one person – the author – but usually more people. This is a good thing, because in doing so they open up these concepts to a whole new group of people who don’t have the thought process necessary to do this for themselves. Which means that each new paradigm reaches more people. I want to see hundreds or thousands of working frameworks so that people can take their pick, or make their own. 

And here’s the dirty little secret you’ve been waiting for. There is nothing new under the sun. These concepts have been taught and carried on for at least 5000 years that we know of, probably even longer. These are fundamentals about how to treat other people, and how to get the life you want. If anyone out there is saying there is a new thing or a new way to do this, that should trigger some suspicion in you that it’s just not true. There is no new thing, there is no new way. 

As Jim Rohn always said, “You’ve got to be suspicious of the guy that says he’s manufacturing antiques.” You can’t manufacture antiques; all you can do is pass them on. 

I’ve come up with my own system and I’m writing the book – Cycles of Complexity, Six Steps To Get Through Life’s Challenges. A lot of the content from the book is here in this podcast, released in 26 episodes over a few months time. 

If that framework works for you, use it. If you like Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, use it. If you like another one, use it. If you want to create your own, do it. 

But really, really do it. Find the framework that fits you, do the work it takes to find out, and then make it work for you. I have the faith that if you begin to fit your habits, thoughts, tasks, and goals into a framework, you will begin to see results like you’ve never expected. 

In the next weeks, I’ll be taking about a different framework – The Six Life Assets from the book Get Rich In 5 Hours, by Joe Herbert. Joe has a different take, and a much different angle from the book I’m writing, and it’s packed with super valuable information. It’s available on Amazon, but if you want a signed copy, I’d love to get you one – just email me at Matt@SecondMix.net. 

What system or framework are you currently using? Is it working for you and getting results, or is it time to shake things up a little bit? Let me know in the Ideas and Concepts Facebook group – the link is in the description. I’ve seen many frameworks and I’m confident I can help you find one that works for you. 

Thanks for listening to the Second Mix Podcast, once again, I am Matthew Bennett. You can grab this transcript on the blog at secondmix.net. If you have any questions send me an email at matt@secondmix.net, I would love to hear from you! Please give me 5 stars whenever and wherever you can , subscribe to get notified about the latest episodes – and if you haven’t yet, please leave me a really nice review.  Once If you know anyone who might find this information helpful, please tell them about this show – I do this to help people.  I’m gonna be here every Monday and Thursday until Storm Troopers learn how to shoot. (That one came from Ideas and concepts member Polina Pak. Thanks for making me laugh, Polina!

Take steps that will make your week incredible.  I’ll be back on Monday –  this weekend continue reflecting, revising and remixing your life. I’ll see you soon!