Aligning the Gurus

There is a challenge many of us face.

We want to grow, so we turn to the experts for guidance.

But then we find ourselves standing at a literal crossroads of conflicting advice. One guru suggests we do one thing while another suggests the opposite.

 

The Noise of Conflicting Wisdom

When you are stuck and searching for your next step, the contradictions from reputable thought leaders can be paralyzing. If you dig into the details of their material, you will find very smart people giving you completely opposite directions.

These are true icons of management and self-development, yet they seem to disagree on the fundamental ways to move forward.  And just to be clear, they are not necessarily wrong with any of their advice. 

They simply contradict other suggestions which leaves us hanging.

Consider some of the contradictions we frequently navigate.

• Should we remain relentlessly positive or face realities with perseverance and hope?
• Should we dive in and learn by failing or master the practice before we take a single step?
• Should we work to shore up what we are bad at or ignore our flaws to double down on what we excel at doing?
• Should we point the ship toward a distant, perfect destination or focus entirely on whether or not we are currently taking on water?
• Should we tackle the hardest, most unpleasant task first or find the small win that sets up future success?

These are not minor differences in opinion. These are fundamental disagreements from the most reputable mentors of our time. If we try to follow every piece of advice simultaneously, we get nowhere. We just vibrate in place.

 

The Potency of Alignment

I suggest that the secret to moving forward is not choosing one guru over another. Instead, we should look for where they align. Alignment creates a power that scattered efforts can never achieve. Consider these examples.

• Wheels go faster when aligned.
• Water cuts through solid stone when channeled into a pressurized stream.
• Light becomes a laser when every photon moves in the same direction.
• The human body finds health through chiropractic alignment.
• Individual threads support bridges when twisted together into a massive cable.

Everything is stronger and more potent when focused in the same direction.

The same principle applies to your personal growth. While gurus like Steven Covey, Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill or others might disagree on the details, their core suggestions align perfectly. When you find these points of agreement, you have found a natural law for growth.

 

What the Gurus Agree On

In their book, The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz share this nugget of wisdom:

To be effective, we must find a balance between looking honestly at painful truths and engaging the world with hope.

We need to be critical about what guides us yet, we still need to take action.  The questions is what action?

When you look past the noise, you find several pillars that almost every major thought leader supports.

Do you need to do them all? 

Absolutely not.  These are just actionable suggestions that just about everyone agrees with. And if you’re needing a next step, any of these would be a step in the right direction.

 

Mission and Desire

Get back to your core purpose. Consider what your major purpose is and use that as a guide for your next step. But purpose alone is clinical. It needs the fuel of desire. Where is your heart directing you? What do you burn to accomplish? This emotional side of the mission provides true direction when logic fails.

 

Visualization

Create a clear vision of the end result. See it and feel it. Engage all your senses. As authors like Napoleon Hill and Rhonda Byrne have shared, just thinking about a goal is only the beginning. The breakthrough happens when you can actually feel the change. Let that visualization be what motivates you.

 

Have Goals

If you do not have a goal, make one. Even if it’s a small one.  Make it specific, measurable, and have a timeline.  Having goals give us the end result we need, much like getting to a destination.  Once the destination is identified, you then can find the best route there.

 

Focus

Multitasking is a myth that rarely works. Focusing on a single objective is often the most effective change you can make. Admittedly, the world and life will interrupt you.  We just need to have a means to deflect or defer those distractions. If these are a challenge, consider the suggestions of Time Blocking by Gary Keller in The One Thing and Capturing thoughts by David Allen in Getting Things Done.

 

Respect Will Power

Respect your willpower, too. It is not an eternal spring. It ebbs and flows, and you must manage it accordingly.  Studies abound that debunk “where there’s a will, there’s a way” mentality which suggests we can always pull on will power. It just isn’t so. We have times of strength that we can leverage and times where it’s lacking that we should respect and maybe even schedule around.

 

The PDCA Cycle

When was the last time you checked what you are doing and considered its effectiveness. The Plan, Do, Check, Adjust model is one of the best tools for remaining effective. If you are stuck, make a plan, do it, check how it went, and adjust if needed. This prevents you from running in circles.

 

The Pareto Principle

Realize that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. If you are not sure what to do next, find the few things that actually get results and do them. Everything else is just busywork.

 

Use Intervals for Growth

This is a natural law. We need to push to grow, but we also need to give that growth rest. If you are stuck, it is possible you need a rest. If you have been resting too long, maybe you need to push.

 

Take Deliberate Action

Above all else, the gurus agree that action must be taken. Be deliberate. Do something. Even if it is not the perfect action, taking a step is better than remaining stuck in the noise.

 

Align the gurus. Pick one of these core principles, get going, and get unstuck

 

Where Writing Can Help

This is where the physical act of writing can be a powerful tool for self-development. Writing is a way to learn about yourself and navigate these elements of growth.

Use your journal to affirm your mission or goals or find your 20% activities or any of the other actions that align the gurus.  Let writing help fire the motivation to get going. Use the methods of feeling when you write or the 5 whys to find what drives you.  When writing, you are engaging in the very visualization that the thought leaders recommend.

You already have to work hard enough to find the discipline to keep going. You do not need your tools working against you, which is why we want our journals to invite you in to write and ignite that fire.

 

The Evoke Philosophy

At Evoke, we believe that if you love your pen and love the way it feels when writing, you are more inclined to do it. It's like exercise. If you hate the activity, you will avoid it. If you enjoy the process, you will seek it out.

We want to remove every block to your personal development. That is why we let you pick the specific paper that works for your favorite pen before the journal is even built. We want the experience to be so inviting that it actually draws you in to do the deep work of reflection.

Just like you, inside is what matters most.