There will come a time after your “self improvement honeymoon” when things just don’t seem to be the way they used to.
When you first started out on your self improvement journey, everything was fresh and exciting.
The books pumped you up. The tapes you listened to on your way to work pumped you up. The seminars you went to on the weekends really did a number on you.
The sky was the limit. The information was all out there. It was gold. You just had to learn it ALL to improve yourself and set and achieve goals.
But then something happened.
You discovered after a while that the books, tapes, seminars just didn’t cut it for you anymore.
You didn’t get that “high” anymore.
It’s as if you developed some kind of immunity to it because you got so used to it.
So you keep on looking for that next high, going deeper and deeper but seemingly going nowhere at the same time.
You read, read, read, looking for that next high to put you into action but can’t find it.
You need stronger and stronger stimuli but nothing happens.
Why?
Because you’ve read enough of those books to the point where you realize they all say the same things.
It’s all in front of you.
Persistence, focus, believe, achieve, set goals, write, etc., yet you can’t seem to make any headway with all that information.
All this information but no action.
Why?
You can’t put your finger on it.
There’s something there.
Something that’s holding you back.
You don’t know what it us, until now.
Here it is.
Finally.
Once and for all.
The problem with 99.9% of all the self improvement information out there is that it’s simply just a bunch of ideas.
THERE IS NO SYSTEM.
99.9% of all the self improvement information is IDEA BASED and it usually presents itself in this kind of format.
10 Qualities All Successful People Have in Common
The 24 Principles You Need to Master Success.
The Top 5 Characteristics of People Who Set and Achieve Goals.
0.1% of the information is SYSTEM Based.
And the great thing about SYSTEMS is that it TAKES ALL THOSE IDEAS AND PUTS THEM IN LOGICAL ORDER TO MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU TO TAKE ACTION AND APPLY THEM.
It’s when you put all those ideas in the right system that everything “clicks” into place and you no longer have to go search for your next high or feel the need to read every last book to find that missing idea because THERE IS NO MISSING IDEA.
You were just missing THE SYSTEM.
You have too many ideas and no system to make sense of all of it.
Think of it like this.
All your life, you thought you couldn’t build a house.
But one day, an inspirational speech makes you think you can. An inspirational book. A motivational speaker.
“Yes you can!” - they all proclaim to you.
So you read the books.
The books say you need x, y, z to build a house.
Concrete, nails, wood, hammers, drills, plans for the house, nuts, bolts, etc.
So you get all that but you want to make sure you have EVERYTHING.
So you read some more books and sure enough you found you’ve missed some things.
Pipes, paint, glass, etc.
And you repeat this until you’ve amassed pretty much all the materials you need.
Now it’s time to start building.
But you don’t know how.
You don’t know how to start.
To just do it.
To just take action and build the freaking house.
You have all these materials around you, but you just can’t get into action.
You can’t build the house.
So you go back to your books again, but all they’re telling you is you need x, y, z.
But you already know and have x, y, z.
And you’re stuck.
Can you see the correlation here?
All the books are telling you that you need to be focused, persistent, you need to believe, etc.
That’s great and all, but those ideas can only take you up to a certain point.
Beyond that, they’re of no use, UNTIL THEY CAN BE ARRANGED INTO A SYSTEM.
The materials you have to build the house are of no use, until they are arranged into a system.
A system like:
You get the architecture plans for the house.
You dig a hole for the foundation with bulldozers and shovels.
You pour the concrete with a concrete truck.
You let it dry.
You do the framing with the wood and nails you have.
You install the windows with the glass you have.
You do the roofing.
You do the electrical work.
You do the plumbing, the HVAC.
You insulate, put up drywall, paint the walls.
You do the carpet and flooring, etc., etc., etc.
Now granted some self improvement books do manage to put some ideas into a system, but not into the MAIN SYSTEM.
It’s a SUBSYSTEM like doing the roofing or the electrical work.
And moreover, people apply that subsystem, but in the wrong order of the MAIN SYSTEM.
A classic example is the idea of thinking big and the subsystem to do it.
It’s a great idea.
Think big. Sounds cool.
And here’s the system to do it:
Think of a huge goal that’s way out there. Shoot for the moon because if you miss, at least you’re among the stars is the phrase most commonly used to justify it.
Write it down. Visualize. Tell other people about it yada yada yada.
That’s the subsystem.
But the problem is they put it in the beginning of the main system.
I won’t go into detail as to why that subsystem should not be in the beginning of the main system of achieving goals as I’ve already covered it in a previous article entitled The Myth of Thinking Big.
There’s all these ideas, but no system.
And even if some books wise up and try to arrange ideas into a system, they create subsystems at best and put those subsystems in the wrong order of the main system.
This is the “thing” people are missing, the “thing” that they can’t quite put their finger on, but the “thing” they know is responsible for their lack of progress.
- Responsible for their constant reading but never applying.
- Responsible for their addiction to reading everything on self improvement.
- Responsible for their quest to find that missing “idea” that will do it all.
But therein lies the problem.
It’s not ONE idea.
The magic pill is not one idea.
It’s a SYSTEM.
A system that takes all the ideas and puts them all in the right order and makes it easy to take action and apply them all.
If you read my books, you’ll see they are NOT just about a collection of ideas.
Anybody in the world can do that.
It takes something else to get to the next level up and arrange them all into a system.
And it’s when you do that, that you transcend everything that’s out there.
It’s what I did with The Hidden Secret in Think and Grow Rich.
It took all of Hill’s ideas and PUT THEM INTO A SYSTEM:
The NATURAL Process of Goal Achievement.
Here’s an email I got from a reader who read it recently and applied what he learned to make great progress with it because he learned the SYSTEM - The Natural System, or Process of Goal Achievement.
“First I just wanted to say thanks for your site. You have inspired me more than most “gurus” out there. I love your style of writing and all your knowledge.
I love The Hidden Secret in Think and Grow, it really is pure genius Brian. I have read Think and Grow Rich 4 times and I could not find the secret. I found your book by accident while surfing the net. I bought it immediately because I was going through a dry spell in my personal development journey and I love Napoleon Hill’s work. So I thought your book would be a fresh take on it. The Hidden Secret in Think and Grow Rich gave me a huge, jolt of motivation and inspiration to get back on track and start a weight loss coaching business that I have been procrastinating on, and to be perfectly honest with you, have feared to start.
Your book connected me to your website which has helped me immensely! Your style of writing is what I’ve been searching for, and the articles you write, well, let’s just say you motivate and inspire more than Anthony Robbins and Joe Vitale on energy drinks. I now have a successful weight loss coaching business thanks to you, and I now am in the process of going online with it. That is the challenging part, but I will prevail.
Seriously, not to puff you up or anything, but you are an inspiration. My personal growth has soared since I read your book and articles. I look forward to more of your work as it helps me to better serve my clients.
Anyways, thank you for all your hard work. You are an inspiration to say the least.”
- Efrain E. Guerrero
It’s not enough to write about ideas.
The next level is SYSTEMS and that’s what makes all the difference in the world and that’s exactly what The Hidden Secret in Think and Grow Rich does.
It gives you the natural system, the natural process of goal achievement.
When you read about it, you’ll realize you’ve used it too to achieve past goals without even realizing it because it WAS the natural system in the first place.
When you have a system, it’s easier to start, to DO, to get things done, to grow and in Efrain’s case, to start and get to the point where he now has a successful weight loss coaching business that he had previously been procrastinating on and feared to start.
If there is no system, all you’re left is a bunch of materials and tools around you.
And you can’t build anything.
It’s the case of many who read but never apply.
The tools are out there. They just can’t seem to pick them up and use them to build something tangible.
Because they lack the system.
It’s why people get stuck, always read think looking for that one secret idea that they can just focus on.
That one secret idea for some might be “positive thinking”m but we all know just by thinking positive nothing will happen.
You can do it till the day you die – nothing will happen.
It’s an IDEA, one that’s useful, but only one that is useful WITHIN a SYSTEM among many other ideas, carefully arranged and put in the right order that makes sense and makes it easy for the reader to take action and apply.
It’s no wonder why so many people who get into self improvement fall into that trap of always reading, never applying, looking for that secret idea that will pump them up, that will unlock it ALL.
It’s not the idea they should be looking for because it doesn’t even exist.
It’s the SYSTEM they should’ve been looking for in the first place.
