Systems for Personal Growth

Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, your business success is directly tied to your personal growth potential. The ability of an entrepreneur to mature, take on new challenges, question the status quo and step forward with confidence will all impact your bottom line.

Of course, most people think that they just need a better marketing funnel or sales page so they ignore the most essential element of a business: you.

Personal development can get a bad rap because, when it’s done poorly, it’s little more than rah-rah cheerleading about confidence and chanting mantras. Any course or training or experience that leaves you feeling fired up and excited, but doesn’t create any actual change is no better than an amusement park roller coaster: Fun while it lasts but useless day to day.

Now, I don’t doubt that personal development teachers and coaches want their students to walk away changed but if you’re not equipped with a system to implement that change then it’s likely to be fleeting.

Human nature drives us to look for hacks. Shortcuts. An app that will change everything!

Tactics are not as important as your commitment.

I see this every week when I log into the sub-Reddit for readers /r/52books. It’s a collection of more than 20,000 people worldwide who set the goal to read 52 books in 52 weeks.

Every. Single. Week. there’s a new thread from someone asking, “how do I find time to read more?” and the answers are predictable and stupid. There’s no magic wand to expand time and shorten commutes. There’s no pill that allows you to stop doing the dishes or robots for your laundry.

If you don’t want to read a book a week, on average, you won’t. Simple as that.

So if the first thing you have to obtain is a commitment to your goal, what’s the point of a system?

Follow through.

How many times have you been “so motivated!” to do something – anything – only to completely fail to do that thing day after day?

Motivation combined with action is where results happen. When you add systems? Accelerated results.

Here’s how I see it:

• No motivation = No Action = No Results
• Motivation + No Action = No Results
• Motivation + Action = Results
• Motivation + Action + a System = Fast Results

So what kind of systems can you apply to personal development? I mean, it’s easy to think about the step-by-step of a newsletter or writing an email but how do you systematize growth in your personal life?

Here are three ways I’ve used action + systems in my own life:

1. Go from awareness to action – you might become aware of something in your life that needs changing. These could be personal or business related but they all relate to who you need to be in order to get the results you want to get. For example, spending an hour a day exercising so you can be the person who doesn’t get winded walking up a flight of stairs. Or replying to an email you’ve been ignoring so you can be the person who is known as reliable. Clarity about who you want to be and awareness of the action you need to take is a great first step. But the system is taking that clarity and your current motivation to schedule the action you need to take on your calendar.
2. Get reminders to reflect – part of the reason why we have moments of clarity sitting in a conference room or listening to a teacher is that nothing else is demanding our attention. Once you’re back in the real world and focused on life, it’s easy to let those lessons lapse. Systematize this with an app that forces you to stop and consider what you’ve been ignoring. One such app is Daylio – a micro diary app that checks in on your mood throughout the day. I also love Productive (for iPhone) which sets tasks to complete weekly, daily or several times a day. It’s easy to set goals to meditate daily but with a reminder to stop getting distracted by the internet and actually meditate, your chance of success implementing that goal skyrockets.
3. Ask for Accountability – while some people are comfortable announcing their goals all over social media, others rely on one or two people to hold them accountable. Do what works for you and share the specific steps you want to take. Don’t just ask someone to check in that you’ve been “happier” this week – let them know you’re committing to writing 5 things you’re grateful for in a journal every day. When I shared with some friends that I’m going to stop talking and start writing my next book after months stuck in Motivation + No Action = No Results I set a specific deadline to have a 25 page outline completed. Getting specific with your action steps has to come first, friends shouldn’t be the ones deciding how you’re going to reach your goal.

I don’t know what personal growth is in front of you but I do know that if you’re missing any of these essential pieces (motivation to change, action or a system for success) then your results are going to always be just out of reach. You’ll spend time and energy wondering why someone else who started after you is much further ahead. And, you’ll likely continue to chase cheap tactics, life hacks and shortcuts.

There is no app to make you care about becoming a better person. You cannot download this kind of change. But you can use systems to keep you focused on the work that needs to be done, day in and day out, until it becomes second nature.