9 months ago I started my podcast “Personal Development Mastery”, with my mission being to inspire the listener to rise up, stand out, and take action towards the next level of their life. Since then, the podcast has reached episode #066 and has been downloaded thousands of times in 60 countries around the world, with remarkable 5-star reviews and feedback.
I had the privilege to speak with over 50 exceptional people, passionate about personal development, and ask them to share their inspiring stories, biggest a-ha moments and breakthroughs, painful mistakes, important learnings, and pivotal milestone moments.
I believe that when powerful, inspiring stories are shared, then it’s easy to be inspired to take some action to change your life (provided of course that you can relate to the story). My purpose is not just passing on information – the majority of information is useless unless it’s acted upon. My intention, and when I feel successful, is when you listen to the podcast and get inspired to take action (no matter how small) as a result of what you heard; that for me feels that my mission is being fulfilled.
THE KEY DEFINING PIVOTAL MOMENT
When I started Personal Development Mastery, I was releasing one episode a week, which felt like the right amount of content to put out. When the lockdown happened (end of March 2020 in the UK), I found myself having much more free time in my hands – so I decided at that time to start publishing two episodes a week. It was hard work, but it actually was a major turning point in the podcast, a key defining moment. The most important reason was that I realised deeply that the podcast was not a hobby of mine anymore – it became my mission. That’s why I said earlier that my intention with the podcast is to share knowledge that will inspire the listener to take action and improve his/her life.
During these 9 months, I was blessed to have meaningful conversations with over 50 exceptional people, from Tony Robbins senior trainers to world class coaches, from shamans and spiritual teachers to PhD university professors, from best-selling authors to global visionaries, from TEDx speakers to Forbes top-2o entrepreneurs. There were many learnings that were shared in the podcast, milestone moments, breakthroughs, and I intend sometime in the near future to collate the key learnings and share them.
THE CHINESE BAMBOO TREE
One of the biggest realisations I’ve made is what Les Brown refers to as the “Chinese bamboo tree story”. The Chinese bamboo tree takes years to grow – you have to water it and look after the soil where it’s planted, and for years it doesn’t show any results – maybe for 5 years there’s nothing showing. And then in the sixth year, it grows 30 feet in 90 days. So, he asks, the question is: did it grow 30 feet in 90 days or in 6 years? The answer is obvious.
The point I’m trying to make here is that many times when we work on a project, we have to have faith in the vision, have belief that it is going to happen, materialise, manifest, despite the apparent lack of results. Similarly to the bamboo tree, we have to realise that the roots are growing under the soil, but we can’t see them yet. And then there comes a time when it really expands and grows exponentially.
If you listen to people’s inspiring success stories, you will notice that there is usually this common theme of a long preparation, which is not necessarily seen publicly, to that moment of massive success, or visible outcomes – as the phrase goes, it takes years to become an overnight success. So my realisation and the message I want to share really is to have faith in your vision, despite the possible lack of visible outcomes that you might be experiencing.
MY DUTY AND MORAL OBLIGATION
Another big realisation I made during these months comes from the Stoic philosophy, which I am a big fan of (as a matter of fact, a part of my daily routine is to read the relevant page of the Daily Stoic book, and I have been doing this for 3 years now). The Stoics believed, and I am a very big proponent of this, that each of us, each human being has a duty, and it is the reason, the purpose why we’re here, living our life. And what I realised with the podcast is that it is my duty to share this knowledge and information, to inspire people to take action and change something in their life that does not serve them, and move towards their next level.
My conclusion? Let’s make our lives the best that we can and how we really want them, and as I often say, don’t be afraid to stand out. Don’t try to fit in, because no one benefits by you fitting in. Stand out and shine your bright light, your uniqueness, your superpower, and create a ripple effect inspiring others around you!