In today's episode I explore one of the great inconvenient truths about the nature of existence itself. It's the fact that if we are not moving forward then there is a very good chance we are going backward.

I share a great quote from Dale Carnegie who reminds us that it does not matter how small our steps may be as long as they are heading in the right direction.

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Well, Hey everybody, Jonathan Doyle with you.

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good people who can help me to grow now today.

My friend, we are going to talk about a quote from Dale Carnegie.

I've been, uh, over the last few weeks and months, we've been looking at all of the

great men and women throughout history.

We've talked about Marcus Aurelius a fair bit.

Yesterday was one of my favorites, Zig Ziegler, talking about how we manage

our past, our present and our future.

So today we're going to talk about Dale Carnegie.

One of the great.

I guess motivational, uh, character based writers of the early 20th century.

So I really liked this quote, listen to this.

He says, if you are not in the process of becoming the person you want to be.

You are automatically engaged in becoming.

That is gold.

Listen to that again.

If you're not in the process of becoming the person you want to be, you're

automatically engaged and becoming the person you don't want to be.

This is a thesis.

That I have been a guest sharing with you guys for a very long time.

It's around homeostasis or homeostasis, depending on how you want to pronounce it.

Homeostasis is the principle that objects are trying to stay

in equilibrium at all times.

Now, one of the ways to think about it is.

Your own internal physiological system, your neurochemical,

biological internal system, you know, your blood pressure, heart rate.

Hormone levels there.

They're always trying to seek balance.

Yes, they do vary at different times of the day.

They vary when we eat when we sleep.

But in general, this principle of homeostasis means that the body is

trying to keep itself in the optimal.

Uh, state, I guess, of equilibrium for as long as possible.

And of course, when we knock things out of equilibrium, we get all sorts of problems.

But here is the interesting paradox.

The cosmos itself.

Is not holding itself in homeostasis.

It's constantly moving and growing and expanding there.

Stay with me as I put all this together.

So even our own bodies, you know, from the second of conception.

We're moving towards a different state.

We're moving here.

I can't believe I'm going to say this on a motivational podcast.

We're moving towards physical death.

I don't believe it's a spiritual, I think it's a physical death.

Um, so even, even if, even though we have homeostasis taking place,

In the interview, if you put the lens of a single day over your body, but

really what's happening is that we're still growing and moving forward, we're

still developing towards something.

And of course, as I've said recently, if you look at the big bang theory,

the thesis of the singularity as they call it, when the cosmos came

into existence, it's still moving.

It's still growing.

It's still a dynamic process everywhere around you, that you look is growth

and change, growth and change.

It's everywhere.

It's in the plants that you look at at your window.

It's in your own physical body, it's in your kids or your friends.

You're seeing it everywhere.

The world, the clouds, the sky, the ocean, the air, everything is

in a constant state of movement.

And that's why I like what Dale Carnegie is getting at here.

He says, if you're not in the process,

Of becoming the person you want to be moving towards that internalized ideal.

Then he says you're not staying neutral.

And he says, even if we think that we're just staying exactly where we are, he

says effectively, we're going backwards.

We're becoming the person.

We don't want it to be.

So you know that if you sit on the couch of life and do nothing, you don't improve.

Right.

You.

You basically go backwards.

You don't stay exactly the same.

Like, if you sat on the couch, literally let's say literal physical couch.

For extended periods of time.

Got no exercise.

Didn't uh, look after your physical appearance, didn't read

anything didn't eat properly.

You know, you'd like to think that you're just sitting there doing nothing, but

you're definitely doing something right.

And that something is going to take you backwards.

So I like this idea that if we're not in the process of becoming

the person that we want to be, we're automatically by default.

Engaged in becoming the person that we don't want to be.

I think that's powerful.

What's the message.

We have to be constant.

Agents in our own life agents of action agents of change.

Now often I get the question.

Well, Jonathan, what about, you know, Prayer and stillness and meditation

and accepting the way things are and being at peace with that.

Totally get it.

Totally get it.

I do.

And as I've said, always, I have plenty of that built into my life.

In fact, just before coming into the studio today.

I had a busy morning and I took some time out.

I finished watching a really interesting documentary.

I sat on the couch with our magnificent caboodle Benji, and, uh, and just

sat for a bit, had a good coffee.

I'm going to just rested.

I guess there's definite seasons there's times there's moments where we

take stock, where we settle, where we regain a sense of balance and poise.

But I think what kind of needs reminding us of is what is the general trajectory?

What is the general trajectory?

You see tomorrow morning, I'm planning to go out and probably run a marathon.

Um, it's not an organized one.

I just sometimes go out and run them because I can.

And because, cause I'm a little bit different.

But, uh, you know, I'll do at least 35 K and if I get to 35, I'll probably

just go ahead and do the marathon.

Um, I'm 48 and I'm not a built runner.

I'm not built to run, but I like this process of just testing myself,

pushing myself, encouraging people through some of the things that I do.

So with all my imperfections, I'm tracking toward.

This ideal of becoming the fullness of what I can become.

I'm not going to reach it in this lifetime, but my

general trajectory is growth.

So if I was to do none of those things, The message of today is that I wouldn't

stay the same and actually go backwards.

So one more time, listen to Dale Carnegie, give you not in the process.

Of becoming the person you want to be, you are automatically engaged in

becoming the person you don't want to be.

Who is that person you don't want to be?

It's the person that doesn't grow.

It's the person that looks the same year after year after year and thinks the same

thoughts and says the same things and holds all the same opinions and has had

all the same experiences with nothing new, no growth coming into the system.

You know, we do it without gardens.

Don't we?

I mean, we're constantly tending to them.

Fertilizing them adding things to them, improving them, taking care

of them so that they become all that they can be as another metaphor.

But we need to be doing that to ourselves as well.

So do not take this as an overwhelming chore.

Do not take this as some great big burden.

The way I want you to think about it is just pick something small.

Just pick one thing, whether it's a relationship, whether it's negative

thinking whether it's physical fitness, whether it's getting a

promotion, just pick something and ask yourself, am I growing?

Am I moving forward?

What's the trend.

What's the trajectory.

And then if it's not where you want it to be, take a small step of difference.

It doesn't have to be remarket.

Markably huge.

It's like the snowball at the top of the mountain.

Once you start to get a little bit of momentum in your life.

One day, you suddenly find you're in new territory.

You suddenly find, Hey.

My life, different things are different now i'm starting to feel different i can

do different things i can have different desires i can approach what the life

differently we're here to grow we are here to grow I'm a parent three young

kids still and what's one of the greatest joys seeing them grow my son is literally

just turning the corner into being a young man i'm actually starting to see the

facial changes the physical changes The cognition changes and it's a joy to sink.

wonder what he's going to become i wonder what's going to happen here i wonder

who's going to turn into And you know it's just i think that's how god looks

at us he looks at us are we engaged in the process are we contributing to our

own growth Are we learning to love more each year are we more healthier each year

are we contributing more each year just that incremental growth that movement

forward All right friends that's it for me please make sure you've subscribed

to it for me hit that subscribe button Go check out those show notes booked me

to speak I'm back on stage terrorizing audiences all over the world And um

got a wonderful invite to new orleans this week Looking forward to seeing we

could make that happen I've got about 3000 people there in new orleans and

i'd love to get there Um to uh respond to that invite and do the keynote.

so uh if you'd like me to come and speak live at your event please reach

out all the details will be here in the show notes god bless you everybody

my name is jonathan doyle this has been the daily message and you and