This Entrepreneur Invested $250,000 in Personal Growth. Here's How to Cut Through the 'Fluff' for Real Self-Transformation. There's a shortcut for rapid self-growth if you're willing to go deep, fast.
By Simon Lovell Edited by Amanda Breen
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When entrepreneurs make money, and especially as they make more of it, they quickly realize that issues in their personal lives have a direct impact on what's happening within their businesses. Simply put, when energy is being used up by what's happening personally, it slows them down professionally. This is why when many people complain of lack of focus, procrastination, low motivation, poor self- or time-management, or low confidence, it's usually linked to something going on in their personal lives.
There's a turning point for all entrepreneurs in their spiritual or personal-development journeys. Typically, there's some kind of pain, and they go searching for an external solution.
When I had a panic attack in a friend's garden, I was oblivious to the fact that I could change my life. I just wanted the pain to go away. But it was the first step on my path towards personal development. Soon, as all entrepreneurs who overcome difficult circumstances ultimately do, I realized that I was in control of my own mind.
Related: 4 Reasons Why You Should Invest In Self-Development
"I experienced a lot of 'fluff' in the personal-development industry"
When we come to the conclusion that we're in control, we look for ways to take action. We might start to learn about things like meditation, downloading a few apps to use every once in a while when we're feeling stressed. Or we might attend an event, enroll in a course or hire a coach.
I took major action — and invested over $250,000 in my personal growth. In the process, I experienced a lot of "fluff" in the personal-development industry. Let's just say that there's a surplus of concentrated orange juice and only a little freshly squeezed that really moves the needle.
I want to share what made the biggest difference for me so that you can avoid wasting time, a lot of money and get the change that you deserve. To me, transformation is when life is never the same again: when there's a shift in identity and an entirely new way of being. Here's what I've learned after an expensive decade of personal development.
Go all in and admit the raw truth
This may sound simple, but when I look back at all of the biggest turning points, they were when I was vulnerable, raw and felt very uncomfortable emotionally. Transformation can only truly start when we are willing to take this leap of brutal honesty. It's that little voice that expresses what's really going on behind closed doors. Sometimes it's a few words that open up the doorway to massive growth. If you're unable to go all in, you'll remain stuck. A path can't be laid out without an honest starting point.
Follow through on difficult actions
Once you've been 100 percent honest about something, something will need to change, and that can be terrifying. Change leads to elevated emotions in the face of the unknown. If your coach is unable to hold you to critical actions, then the transformation won't occur, and you will repeat the cycle. This happens for a couple of reasons: if the coach isn't skilled enough to pull the information out or if there's a lack of confidence and strength in holding the client accountable. The best programs forced me to take big, scary leaps — they didn't just teach me the information.
Engage in deep submersion meditation
Most people work on the surface level of life, but transformation happens when we bring the subconscious into the conscious. This self-awareness is the key to growth. With that being said, most people do not meditate and for those that do, the average time is around 15 minutes, but infrequently. This goes on for years. When we go deep into meditative states and take the correct action during that submersion, massive breakthroughs happen, unblocking suppressed emotions. This is why all of my clients go through daily mediations for six weeks, getting progressively deeper into the practice.
Related: 7 Proven Ways Meditating Prepares You for Success
Release energetically trapped trauma
Rapid personal change often comes from blocked energy linked to past events. Much associate trauma to events like a car crash, sexual abuse or being subjected to horrific events. As much as this is trauma and very painful, in reality, any event that causes an energetic interruption in the flow of energy is a trauma. For many, Covid-19 has been a trauma, and many will need to seek deep healing to recover. The energetic shock alone has been devastating, and recovery depends on acknowledging that trauma.
Be open-minded about spiritual teachings
I used to be very closed off to the "woo woo" stuff until I started to experience a series of events that made me better understand quantum physics and how energy works. Being skeptical around this type of work kept me blocked for many years, but once I let my intuition guide me, transformation happened a lot more quickly. You must be willing and open-minded for change to start its natural process. We're dealing with what we can't see and touch. Hunt down the "weird" — don't avoid it.
I don't regret having invested over $250,000 in my personal growth as it got me where I am today, but in reflection and in being of service to others, I've recognized these key shortcuts. As leaders, we should always work on ourselves, and share what we learn with our communities for the greater good.
