These days, many methods are valid and valuable for helping one change behavior, habits, and outcomes. The internet, books, audiobooks, mentors, methodologies, coaches, therapists, and counselors are just a few tools to nudge a person forward without invalidation.
However, only some tools are beneficial and must be created equally.
There is no “one size fits all” because of our belief systems, core values, wisdom, experience, knowledge, understanding, and how we all process information differently. The critical goal is identifying the “why” and “understanding” and what the person wants to do, attain, or change that is not currently working or barely working.
So, how does one know which tool is right for them?
Have you heard of the line “Leave No Stone Unturned?” Let’s test ourselves for a moment. Imagine you are standing at the edge of an open stone field. You look into the stone field and count 20 medium-sized stones. Under each rock is an answer to a question you are looking for, “Which stone has the answer you need to change your current condition?”
Which stone do you turn over first? How many stones will it take to discover your answer?
Well, what is your answer? Is it the stone closest to you, to the left? At the other end of the field? The rocks in the middle of the area? There are a lot of choices to make. This process is called “data mining.”
Data mining is collecting all comparable data on a subject to form a collection of data to determine a potential hypothesis. Hypothesis testing would validate the idea and see if you are on the right track.
What did you try? If you chose to unturn all twenty stones, you would have all the data you need to make a sound decision. Here’s the rub, people get selective with the information they choose to mine and need to go deeper to make a good decision.
In my 30+ years of coaching, mentoring, and counseling experience, most data mining needs to be more profound. Before making a decision, there must be more than 1-2 pieces of data.
My question to you is, “Do you do this too?” If so, how is that working for you?
How do you measure if something is working for you or not? The best way is to look at your life and see what you are creating. Do you know what you like? Is it the life you want to live? “Kind of” is not an honest answer either; you are either living the life you wish to or are not.
Scale your honesty on a scale of 1 to 10. 1- I’m not living my best life, and 10- I’m living my best life.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how honest are you? Remember, you are reviewing your life in these four categories:
- Health
- Wealth
- Love
- Fulfillment
You can scale each of these areas from 1 to 5. One, no way, and five times yes! No one is perfect in all four categories, not even me!
So, what is the road map to personal success? First and foremost, remember that your roadmap is unique to you and is not compared to anyone else’s roadmap. The moment you reach out to someone, you will fail.
Let’s look at a process I created that does not have a “one size fits all.” It has six steps done one at a time, and each step has several mind-awakening tools done in sequence with specific awareness outcomes.
When a result has been reached, a new device is revealed within the stage, and this process continues until the phase is completed. Then it begins again in the following four steps. In Step 6, the tools can be used in any sequence as often as needed.
What is the reasoning for this? Most of us went to school in the U.S.A., right? We are mentally paralyzed by the amount of data we receive in a day at school and progress to the next lesson even if we do not understand the material. Over time, we get data overload, which decreases efficacy and understanding.
Getting data in smaller chunks increases our knowledge, and when our experience grows, it translates to improved results and true happiness. Mind mapping uses keywords to help trigger more content connected to other key ideas. I used this method in college, and it worked well for me.
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What are the six steps? In order of sequence:
- Data Collection
- Energy Drainers
- Energy Producers
- Energy Sorting
- Energy Blockers
- Energy Movers
As you navigated the stone field above, your job was to reveal something about yourself when the stone was unturned.
Step 1: Data Collection
Why is the first data collection step performed? Because data collection allows you to collect data on yourself, which begins to define your life’s path. A life without purpose, mission, and vision is like traveling in a boat on the ocean without a rudder.
Imagine building your house on quicksand. How long will it last? You are lost if you are not testing, measuring, and tweaking (TMT) your results daily!
Step 2: Energy Drainers
Step two “energy drainers” that drain your mental energy. Energy drainers come in all forms, such as car repairs, a job you don’t like, a person who is mean, kids, bills, not enough money, etc. You get the picture.
Another type of energy drainer is our negative thoughts, which get in the way as soon as we wake up and go about our day. These insidious thoughts drain us before we know it and get in the way of our progress and happiness. These negative thoughts make you live backward, and negative thoughts redirect and convert positive reviews into negative ones—brutal!
Related: How to Get Rid of Negative Thoughts?
I help people identify troublemakers (negative thoughts) and teach them how to deal with them so that they listen to you instead of you listening to them. In turn, they become your allies and warning signals.
Step 3: Energy Producers
The third step involves energy producers. Energy producers move you forward and create the world you want, and energy producers make a positive movement ahead with minimal mental distractions and distortions.
Once you have completed steps 1- data collection, 2- negative thoughts, and 3- energy producers, the next step is to organize the data and create an action plan called 4- energy sorting.
Step 4: Energy Sorting
Step four lets you set a specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timed goal. This goal-setting method keeps you focused on the plan with minimal distractions.
Related: 22 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is Important for Success
Step 5: Energy Blockers
Plans and goals are good to help you move forward, but remember, with every purpose and intent come unavoidable obstacles that will block, slow, or prevent you from continuing. How will you handle your obstacles? Will you stop? Go over or under? Or through them?
The key is to know what the barrier is and make a plan to solve it. Remember this quote, “A barrier is a situation without an immediate solution.” That’s all!
Some barriers are simple to solve, and some need more time. Look at obstacles as more information is required to solve them. What you need to know is blocking you from succeeding. Get the knowledge, wisdom, and experience you need to overcome obstacles.
Step 6: Energy Movers
Now that you are smashing through barriers/obstacles, the next tool you need is a step 6 energy mover. Obstacle and barrier busters help you think of a barrier from a different perspective.
Energy movers maintain forward momentum and redirect their energy to overcome the obstacle before them rather than viewing obstacles as insurmountable.
So there you have it, a road map to getting what you want. If you choose willy-nilly thoughts and feelings, you will get willy-nilly results, and the opposite is true. When you choose wisely, you get improved results.
Let’s summarize the six steps:
- Step 1: Begin with data collection. Why this step first? Because data collection allows you to collect data on yourself, which begins to define your life path. A life without purpose, mission, and vision are like traveling in a boat on the ocean without a rudder. Imagine building your house on quicksand. How long will it last?
- Step 2: Next, go to energy drainers. Energy drainers are commonly known as things outside ourselves, such as work, stress, kids, and chores. Focus on internal energy drainers that drain us before we even act! Handle these energy drainers, and the rest of your day will be less stressful.
- Step 3: Then, proceed to the energy producers and do this in sequence. Energy producers create forward-moving energy so you can accomplish what you set out to do. You will learn about your core energy producers and how they can help you live your life.
- Step 4: Then, energy sorting occurs. Energy sorting takes the data from the first three phases and helps you create a plan of action toward a unique and specific goal.
- Step 5: Obstacles. Obstacles come in many different forms, both internal and external. Internal barriers come from thinking, and external obstacles come from the environment. Blocks will do their best to slow you down or even try to stop you dead in your tracks. How will you handle your obstacles? Will you power through or let them take over? To overcome the barriers, you must be persistent and patient.
- Step 6: Energy movers. The energy mover phase is the largest of the stages because energy movers are great mind-provoking tools designed to keep you on course by overcoming obstacles. To maintain the practice, use as many energy movers as needed to overcome the barriers. Because each block is unique, it may require more than one energy mover to move past it.
The person must test energy movers according to the hurdle to ensure it passes. Other examples of energy movers are mentors, coaches, methodologies, concepts, quotes, books, and the B-posi+ive Challenge Course.
