In my last post, I shared part of my experience walking a labyrinth.  There’s more.  As I continued my journey, at a slow, steady pace, another thought popped into my head.  I heard the message, loud and clear:  The world doesn’t need more information.  This, after having been struggling for a while to write articles, speeches and even blog posts.  So, had I been barking up the wrong tree?  Had I been grasping to share some important, relevant, world changing nugget of information when that isn’t what my readers need and want anyway?  And, if not that, what do we need and want more of?

What we need is the courage and inspiration to use what we’ve already got.

Here are some interesting facts:

• According to the 2008 Marketdata Enterprises  market report,   Americans spent over $ 1 billion on self help books and audio books in 2007
• Amazon has 104,596 self-help books listed on their site.

Is there really that much different information out there?  Oh sure, there are different takes on the same information.   It’s true that something said a particular way by a particular person, read at a particular time resonates in  a different and more powerful way.   I am, in fact,  a huge fan of self-help books.  I think some of them provide great information and inspiration, ideas and the basis for thought and conversation.  But they don’t get us into action.  And,  inspiration without action, leads to greater disappointment.

Let’s take the diet book industry as an example.  Amazon lists almost 3,000 diet books.  Can there possibly be that many unique ideas about shaking those extra lbs?  Here’s what we all already know… in order to lose weight, we need to burn more calories than we take in.  And we know, or could easily learn from a couple of bullet-ed lists, what foods have what number of calories and what activities burn what range of calories.  Easy.   Done.  Thin.  Right?  So, why do we continue to search?  to spend?  to fail?

Because doing isn’t about knowing!

This concept of looking for the perfect solution and thinking it will be in the next book you read reminds me of a joke:

There was a man named Jim, who lived near a river. Jim was a very religious man.

One day, the river rose over the banks and flooded the town, and Jim was forced to climb onto his porch roof. While sitting there, a man in a boat comes along and tells Jim to get in the boat with him. Jim says “No, that’s ok. God will take care of me.” So, the man in the boat drives off.

The water continues to rise, so Jim climbs onto his roof.  Another boat comes along and the person in that one tells Jim to get in. Jim replies, “No, that’s ok. God will take care of me.” The person in the boat leaves.

The water rises even more, and Jim climbs on his chimney. Then a helicopter comes and lowers a ladder. The woman in the helicopter tells Jim to climb up the ladder and get in. Jim tells her “That’s ok.” The woman says “Are you sure?” Jim says, “Yeah, I’m sure . God will take care of me.

Finally, the water rises too high and Jim drowns. Jim gets up to Heaven and is face-to-face with God. Jim says to God “You told me you would take care of me!
What happened?”

God replied “Well, I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What else did you want?”

So what are we waiting for?  What is it that will make the difference between knowledge and successful action?  What is it that will help us blast through the barriers that keep us stuck and experience real and sustained change?

To be moved to action, we need to identify and overcome our fears and conflicting commitments.  We need to understand, examine and right-size what is keeping us stuck before we can effectively move forward.  And, we need to be supported, cheered on and held accountable along the way.  These things do not come from books.  When we read books, we are in our own head, with our own stories, our own self-defeating self-talk, our own perception of how things are.

What we need is support, accountability, increased confidence.   And, yes, books can help.  But your real strength is going to come from your heart, not your head.  It’s going to come from your connection to others, your ability to” face your fear and do it anyway.”

So, reach out, connect with others who are traveling  on similar personal growth journeys.  Put your fears and concerns out on the table and wrestle them to the ground.  Inspire others and be inspired.

You already have everything you need to make the change you want to make.  Now use it!