Fuelling a Billion Dollar Industry or Fuelling Your Success?
The global Personal Development market was valued at $54007.96 million in 2022 and is expected to expand, reaching $77274.66 million by 2028. (1) And the sale of personal development books goes up year on year with no slow down predicted into 2030!
Ideas and strategies on how to make you millions and outsell your competitors have been around for centuries. Some would argue the bible is your first book on living a good life. And ancient Egyptian text and “Codes” of conduct talk of modern ideas on how to avoid failure ‘you trail from street to street, smelling of beer…like a broken rudder, good for nothing….you have been found performing acrobatics on a wall!'”.[2]
Us humans it would appear have always wanted guidance on how to get the best out of life.
The big hitters of self-development began in the 1960’s in a time when people questioned authority, rebelled and reinvented their lives realising anything was possible. The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world. Interesting that as we questioned the way we lived and what we wanted out of life we discovered the self-help books right?
Some would argue that the wars, uprisings and revolutions of the 1960’s pail away in comparison to the world we live in now that is connected globally and can ensure you know what’s happening to a kangaroo in Western Australia while sat in a bath in Bournemouth 2 minutes after it happened!
What’s this got to do with your success and happiness?
Humans may strive for new things, but ultimately the needs of a human do not alter a great deal.
In any era, going back to the first humans we’ve needed certain things;
Food, water and shelter are the basics we need to survive.
Love, protection and communication takes us into the realms of what it is to be human.
And then art, creativity, self-expression and value takes us into what we’ve always wanted but some would argue we don’t need or require.
That first hand stencilled in the in Maltravieso cave, Cáceres, Spain is known to be 64000 years old! Did that neandathral do this because they’d been painting the floor and their sweaty hand had leaned on the wall, or had that ancient human wanted to leave their mark for prosperity?
It fascinates me that new books come out every year and many ask me if I’ve read them.
- A new way to make a billion!
- A new way to have a healthy body that lives to 100!
- A new business model that will make billions working every third Tuesday from a beach in the Caymans!
- A new book on confidence that will have you President of the Universe!
The variety of personal development books grows and grows and grows, but this gets even more fascinating when you consider the basis for what makes you human hasn’t altered since the dawn of time.
Think about that for a moment.
The way you think and process information, the way you communicate, the way you feel love and respect, the needs you have haven’t altered very much since the first humans made their mark in a cave and yet we create new strategies, books, courses, development programmes year on year to make you happy and successful.
Let’s break the bubble on that.
What do you really want.
Rarely has a new client or Insider said to me what they want, and I’ve believed that to be what they really want. (Those that I’ve believed I’ve known where going to make it regardless of any obstacle or issue). Most people tell me ideas and notions of happiness and success that are generic, and created from the world they live in. If a goal, an ambition or desire is not internally created then you are less likely to achieve it.
We know we should exercise and reduce stress but how many actually do this?
We know we should write a blog and improve our online presence to secure more business but how many are consistent?
We know we need to be consistent with our actions to achieve anything in life, but how many are swayed by a bad day at work or rubbish news in the media?
Any time you find yourself swayed from the actions to achieve your goal consider how they don’t honour what you really want.
No seriously, what do you really want, who are you anyway?
If you listened above, you are now questioning why you want what you said you want. Let’s go deeper on that.
If your goal and ambition is not aligned to who you really are again you set yourself up to fail. Our values and beliefs shape our world. So, they shape our goals and our actions too;
- Don’t believe you could be on the national stage inspiring everyone from your industry? Well, that’s okay, you won’t get that opportunity!
- Don’t think your business could sell to Waitrose? Don’t worry Waitrose will never know who you are!
- Don’t think you are good enough for promotion and to head up regional? That’s okay you can get sidelined again, and again and again.
Whereas if you think and believe and absolutely trust your values and their connectivity to what you want in life, you are far more likely to achieve it. So, what do you value?
The Values Exercise I teach Insiders is a powerful way to monitor your values, your businesses and your teams’ values and how they become misaligned when there’s a lot on your plate. And the benefits of realigning to your values.
Confidence will never go out of fashion. Never ever ever.
I don’t care if you wear Prada, or Primark. Whether you live in a mansion or on a canal boat (the canal boat sounds more fun) what will define you is not your hair cut or your clothes, it is your attitude. And your attitude is impacted on by your confidence.
People think I’m a naturally confident woman, I’m self-taught. Petrified of new experiences and a natural adept faker of emergencies to get out speaking at events, I know first hand how scary it can be to communicate with confident power. I got myself out of that limiting belief, low self-esteem and confidence level over 20 years ago and it’s led to so many amazing opportunities in my personal and professional life.
I tell all clients be it sole trader, or business leader, business development manager or charity worker, what you believe to be true impacts on what you get and fundamentally below that is how you feel about yourself.
If you allow other people to come along and make you feel bad or rubbish, then you gave your power away. They couldn’t take it without you giving it and they couldn’t have taken it if you had internal confidence.
If you have a rubbish day at work and things just go wrong time and time again, a lack of confidence will have you shifting into new strategies, signing up to a new course/book/mastermind group because it’s not working.
A confident person knows a bad day doesn’t define them. It’s the actions they do as a result that define them!
Mandie Holgate
I can build confidence in you that is stable in hours. My course will do that on average in 2 days. You do not want confidence levels that fly high or tumble low. A successful person knows that confidence is not connected to the £$ in the bank or the number of comments on a post or the bookings in the diary. The confidence comes first and is stable no matter what. And if yours goes up and down, fix it!
Bounceability!
If anyone can teach you how to bounce back from anything it’s me. Cancer, open heart surgery, domestic abuse, roof collapse, and even a robbery didn’t stop my family and now everyone is safe and well and I even had time to write another book and 3 courses, oh yes and this was during the pandemic!
It’s imperative to remember that in life nothing stays the same. That should give you comfort and make you work harder too!
- If life is horrible then know it will change.
- If life is a breeze and fun and easy, know that it will change.
It’s a leveller that makes you keep going every time.
That internal confidence coupled with the ability to be resilient in any situation means that you will succeed. Yes, I’m sure there’s a million book titles that will tell you how to do this, and yes, I too have a course will make you and your team resilient enough to deal with any change, any disaster or any challenge. It’s here by the way. But for now when you feel like it’s too much and you are incapable of being resilient and carrying on, do a number of things;
- Is it really as bad as you think it is? Are you about to die? Is your house on fire? Are you being dragged off to jail?
- Breathe. Before any big task when it’s the critical hour, a deep breathe regenerates your brain.
- Assess the situation. Take out the emotion.
- Look for the proof that you have been a complete cock up your whole life and never ever ever succeeded. And before you say “But Mand, I am a failure!” You are reading this article, so you’ve learnt to read – that’s a win. You own a device to read this on, that’s a win. When we struggle in life, we can easily dismiss what we have won at. So, stop dismissing your wins and write them all down. A “Why I’m amazing list” is a great motivator. If you need more advice on this just tag me on the Insiders confidential group.
- Reach out for help. Why do you think my mastermind group (The Insiders) has grown year on year since it’s launch in 2016! It’s because when things are tough, when you want to achieve something great, when you don’t know what to do for the best, when you could learn SEO, write a book, rebrand, design a new website/course/product or service the Insiders will be honest and guide you to best practices. Remember a bestselling book made the author rich. I’d love to know the percentage of readers that achieved the same as the author. How many courses and training programmes are there that are just £995 and promise riches? And yet if 100 people are signing up to that I know one person getting rich quick and all they had to do is get 100 people to give them £995! They’ve not had to prove anything. Alas I see this every week of every year where someone has invested in a good looking brand and great spiel from some expert, only to hand over £350 to £30,000 and see very little return on that investment. It’s one of the reasons I keep the Insiders at £20 a month with no minimum sign up period; I have to work hard for you every day or you’d walk. Simples. I put my actions where you [put your money.
Now, if you do intend to start a new programme / book / training / course here’s a few things that will ensure success (or have you saving your money!)
- What proof do you have from the owner of the product or service that it will work?
- What guarantee do you get?
- What protection do you have?
- What level of belief do you have in your ability to excel at this?
- What is impacting on your self-belief and confidence in your skill?
- Do you need to alter your mindset to what you are capable of, or your skill set in what you know to be the real issue?
- Is the real issue more to do with lack of consistency and accountability than to needing a new strategy? Remember with most things in life we want to achieve, there are some key fundamentals that are relevant regardless. Whether you are trusting in the Wim Hof (2) method to wellness, improved immunity, and brain power and inner calm or meditation and aromatherapy, the route to the result is not the issue. It’s the you in the equation that usually is!
Ultimately your success, and happiness is far more interlinked into what you believe and the trust you have in yourself than in any book or course. Now, how will you use this information?
