Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy?
Apr 04
Dear brilliant friend,
I hope all is well with you. This is somehow a much more personal post compared to what I’ve done in the past… it is about an important realization related to my personal development. If you are a growth-oriented person, you might be able to relate. But even it is not directly relevant to what you have experienced, I hope my what I share here can be something of value to you.
At least for the last 7 years I have been very much into personal development and spirituality, and when I look back objectively, I can see how I have progressed from the person I was 7 years ago to the person who I am today. Each year has always been an improvement from the previous one across the many areas of my life, but inside I still have that nagging feeling that I am not progressing as much as I can be. In your own life, have you ever felt something like that?
Examine your toolbox
As someone who’s growth oriented (at least that’s how I see myself) I have been gobbling lots of new information with gusto over the years. I had been hungry of new information that I thought will help in my personal and spiritual growth. You know, books, articles, blog posts, weekend workshops, mentoring programs etc. You might have a long list of those too like I do… spent a lot of money for personal development books, workshops, programs etcetera… 
. But despite the fact that I have so many tools, techniques, and exercises in my toolbox, ready at my disposal, I have that nagging feeling that I have not been progressing as much as I’d love to. Ever felt something like that?
“Inside of the Toolbox” – photo by siomuzzz
A few weeks ago I attended a local meeting hosted by David Samuel of EntrepreneurMonk.com, the author of Practical Mysticism , to whom I have deep respect for. In these meetings we would listen to his talk and discuss self-help and spiritual topics. During his talk that night I had the realization that
I had been collecting so many personal development tools that, metaphorically speaking, my “toolbox” had become so heavy that I could not lift it!
It is so easy to find any information we want these days. There are too many tools and techniques out there, and this is one of the reasons why people are not going anywhere. We get confused… Which one should I use? We keep trying new tools, moving from one tool to another!
His suggestion was simple but profound:
You take one exercise, one practice, and focus on it. When you have achieved the purpose, the goal, of that one practice, then and only then you move on to another one. That is the slow and steady way to success.
This was a big a-ha moment for me! I realized that I had fallen into the trap of “active laziness”, which he described as “the pursuit of many unnecessary time and energy absorbing activities”. These activities give an illusion of good progress while actually we are going in circles, not reaching our objectives!
He said:
We get so busy with new tools, new ideas, new books and authors, that we’re so busy with the new things we never actually apply anything that we’ve learned so we never make progress. And then we become addicted to new information. There’s a very good reason for the mind to want and easily becoming addicted to this.
Human mind needs to grow, it needs to feed. The body needs to feed: food, water, air. Your mind also need to feed constantly: sensory impressions, information. If your mind is capable of thinking it needs to learn new things, it needs to expand its knowledge.
So, like McDonald’s, we like it fast and easy: that’s a new book, a new tool, a new technique. So it’s always getting something new, but we’re not doing anything with it.
The blob that is your mind: internal vs external food
David gave an excellent analogy by looking at the mind as a blob that eats energy. This blob is not intelligent, it just eats energy, it does not necessarily evolve, it just gets bigger and fatter. The mind is like that, it wants more and more information so that’s why we go for these new tools etc.
But the mind is the gateway to the soul, the essence of our being, which wants to evolve. The mind wants more information is at the human level, just like the body – it eats until it dies. The essence of our being wants to evolve and it must control the mind and say that
“Rather than feeding you outside new tools, new stories, new books, I’ll feed you from my experiences, doing the exercises that we’ve already learned”.
By doing this we change the source of input to our mind from external to internal, which is a far more profound level of development. If we use food analogy, this internal input is likened to food with high nutritional value, in which a small quantity is sufficient to nourish us. External input is like food with low nutritional value which you need to consume in large quantity to get any value out of it. Information is like that too… much of the ‘new’ information that we constantly feed ourselves has little value. The alternative approach is to work on ourselves, for example with doing exercises to gain objectivity , exercising our will power and looking within, so that the internal experiences would be so satisfying to the mind and we no longer have the need to feed it with external ‘food’.
Action steps
1. Ask yourself: am I addicted to new information that my toolbox got so heavy I can’t lift it and not going anywhere? Be brutally honest with yourself.
2. Recognize that learning from internal experiences are more valuable and satisfying than constantly feeding new information from outside sources.
3. Pick one practice or exercise, focus on it. Do not move to another one until you achieve the purpose of that one practice.
Parting words
It is never easy to be brutally honest with yourself, at least in the beginning. It was not easy for me to admit that I had been letting my toolbox getting too heavy that I was unable lift it… that there have been so much time and energy wasted, and that in some areas I have been going in circle, not going anywhere.
I was going to keep it to myself but I feel this must be shared… as this is one of the most important learning I’ve had recently… and it is an expression of the tag line of my blog: be who really am. share what I learn. I feel that if I don’t share it here I am not being congruent.
Is your toolbox getting so heavy too, that you can no longer lift it?
Do you have similar experience that you’d like to share? What is your view on this? I encourage you to post your comments here so your learning can be beneficial for others too, if you like!
Peace and Blessings,
Andre
Hi Andre,
Thank You!
It is very very easy to get caught up and read on so many books easily attend different seminars. There’s so much information being shoot out to us at every moment. We can suffer from ‘Information Overload’. I know I have also been there. I think from time to time we have to pull back from the noise and go through self-coaching questions.
There are so MANY GREAT books out there. I made a concerted effort to really study 1 book at a time. And just like you suggested here, “You take one exercise, one practice, and focus on it.” And make it my ritual.
I have been there before of too much Information overload. You are so right it is “that there have been so much time and energy wasted, and that in some areas I have been going in circle, not going anywhere.”
I also liked what Robin Sharma mentioned THE BIG FIVE–
It goes like this.
What five things need to happen before your last day here on this earth?
Then you narrow that down to the daily five to every day actions?
So for me as an example it is to leave a legacy of understanding caring & loving mom. So everyday I review my BIG 5 and if being an understanding caring & loving mom is one of them then I have to take that action everyday.
The point of the exercise is to small incremental steps to accomplish the 5 things and make progress everyday.
Anyway that is the exercise I am sticking with. I have found that it simplicity that creates magic in our lives.
I will do as you say “The alternative approach is to work on ourselves, for example with doing exercises to gain objectivity , exercising our will power and looking within, so that the internal experiences would be so satisfying to the mind and we no longer have the need to feed it with external ‘food’.”
Isn’t that interesting it always goes back to living life in simplicity. I have been obsessed with Amma’s quotes and this one spoke to me because of your post “”Real greatness lies in humility and simplicity.” – Amma
Thank You Andre
.-= Therese Miu´s last blog ..Lessons on Life from a 3 year old.from his first hiking adventure =-.
This is a poem from RUMI
There are two kinds of intelligence: one acquired,
as a child in school memorizes facts and concepts
from books and from what the teacher says,
collecting information from the traditional sciences
as well as from the new sciences.
With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
in reg…ard to your competence in retaining
information. You stroll with this intelligence
in and out of fields of knowledge, getting always more
marks on your preserving tablets.
There is another kind of tablet, one
already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness
in the center of the chest. This other intelligence
does not turn yellow or stagnate. It’s fluid,
and it doesn’t move from outside to inside
through conduits of plumbing-learning.
This second knowing is a fountainhead
from within you, moving out.
From: Essential Rumi
.-= Therese Miu´s last blog ..Lessons on Life from a 3 year old.from his first hiking adventure =-.
Therese, thank you for generously sharing (love that poem from Rumi)! It’s really great that you’re doing your BIG 5 every day… consistently achieving 5 little goals each day, you can’t help but getting great!
Being in what is so called “information age”, it is very easy to get caught up in information overload. In our quest to grow personally as well as spiritually it is crucial that, like you said, we pull back from the noise and go through self-coaching questions.
It is about unearthing the honest answers from within… tapping into the essence of your being, the divine spark that knows everything.
It is about eliminating the layers that covers our essence, rather than adding new outside knowledge – which actually put more layers without us realizing it.
That quote from Amma, “Real greatness lies in humility and simplicity” is in itself very humble and simple, yet very profound. Thank you.
In deep gratitude,
Andre
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.
Well put.
I’m a fan of hacking away at the toolbox and trimming down to size. While I do want my quiver full of arrows … I don’t need 3 good screw-drivers and 2 mediocre ones to get in the way of my best screw-driver. At the same time, I want to flesh out my toolbox and include a hammer, a wrench … etc. so I can always use the right tool for the job.
.-= J.D. Meier´s last blog ..The 8 Steps to Wealth =-.
Thank you for sharing your thought here J.D, that’s an excellent metaphor. Having a light toolbox with only the essential tools of the best quality will yield infinitely better result.
Keep your quiver full of arrows!
Andre
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.
Dear Andre,
Thank you for sharing this Andre. This is so true, reading too many HOW TO books, and all the different steps to get there, and this way and that way, bombarded with too much tips and tricks of the trade,…. we just get even more lost in it. I was there too, greedy with the books, and the information, and hunger to go to the next seminar. But I guess it’s a period of searching, and learning what’s out there. But off course, all that reading is not wasted and the seminars too. Now if I need to work on intention, I know now to pick up Wayne Dyer’s book. If I need to work on health, a little Deepak Chopra might help. If I need to zen out a little, I would most likely pick up Sufi poetry or Osho’s books. But you are right, I don’t pick up on new author as fast as I did before. I just have faith that the right book, the right teacher, the right quotation, and the right advice will fall on my lap, precisely the ones that will present a solution or an inspiration to my present needs. So I sort of let go of that idea of constantly in need of a new information.
Thanks again for sharing Andre…this is awesome as always.
Your friend,
Erlina
Thanks Lina!
I think you are correct, all that personal development materials are not waste – we still learn something valuable from each of them. Most of us who are into personal development and/or spirituality would probably go through the searching phase. It is simply part of the experience and we (hopefully) get wiser and more intelligent in our approach. At least that has been my experience so far…
Upon reading a new book, or re-reading, I now make an effort to approach it like I know nothing – in that I let go of what I already know about that subject, because any preconceived ideas prevent optimum learning. My teacher said “Knowing that you do not know is the only way to know.”, which now I can see to be true, from my own experience. Interestingly, the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.
Your trusting that the right book, teacher, advice etc will fall on your lap precisely at the right time, is the trust that will attract them to you.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences here, Lina.
Abundant gratitude,
Andre
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.
Hello, I am new to this site — I got here via dear Therese Miu via FB. Such is our world. This post is full of wisdom. In the last year I have been training myself to re-re-read my books (and I try to buy only used ones.) I just did a home-study course, and I’m not going to invest in anything new until I see that I am leveraging what I’m learning from it (Lisa Sasevich, in case you’re interested.) Thanks for sharing words of wisdom and take care!
.-= Laura Mixon, PhD´s last blog ..These Words Dull Your Sparkle and Hold You Back =-.
Hi Laura,
… It’s interesting that what you described, rereading books, buying used books, etc, are also what I’ve been doing more and more over the last year or so. I now very rarely buy a new book (usually borrow them from the library first to check it out), and get very selective on choosing a course or mentor.
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts here. Therese is such a connector, isn’t she?
I found that re-reading a book always gives a new level of understanding… More and more I realize, that in order to get the most from any new learning material (book, course, seminar, etc), I need to let go of what I already know. We need to empty the cup before we can pour more tea.
Peace and Blessings,
Andre
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.
Thank you for your honesty in writing this Andre.
I can very much relate to your ‘heavy toolbox’ especially with regards to professional information – there is just so much out there that it was easiest for me to choose one information source that I trusted and focus on this one only. When I have absorbed (and acted upon) all the information I am learning now, then I can move on to the next source of information.
In terms of personal and spiritual growth I found that my effort for personal growth was very much an ‘outside in’ approach which seems more surface and results oriented. Since I have started developing more spiritually in the last year I have balanced this out with an ‘inside out’ approach which comes from the truth within and is genuinely, authentically me.
In the end, I trust that everything happens for a reason and that we have these realisation at the right time with the right effect on our development.
Thank you for sharing your experience and feelings with us.
Blessings, Janna
.-= Janna Jungclaus´s last blog ..From Yearning to Earning – Excel Your Internet Marketing Business =-.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Janna. Perhaps for most of us that were not exposed to Eastern mystical teachings (including myself), we start from the ‘outside in’ approach, before we start looking within. At least that’s what you and I experienced
I agree with you that everything happens for a reason, and that we have these realization at the right time with the right effect on our development. Where we are right now is exactly where we are supposed to be.
Peace & Blessings,
Andre
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.
Excellent Article Andre.
There is wisdom in less.
“It’s not what we’re willing to learn but what we’re willing to let go of that will allow us to live in the wisdom of now.”
Simple, profound and literal.
You rock brother.
.-= Tony Teegarden´s last blog ..Someone Snatched Your Power? (Take It Back) =-.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom here, Tony! Even your comment is simple and profound… love it!
Less is more.
When we add more tools and techniques, without realizing it we actually put more layers on top of our true self, our essence, preventing it from shining through. And only by letting go of the layers will we ever get our true self to shine…
In abundant blessings,
Andre
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.
I found this via Twitter…and this is so very true. I have more ebooks on so many different subjects. I doubt I will ever read them all. Thanks for a great look at something that I never really thought about.. much less thought about how it could hold me back.
Hi Gurl, thank you for dropping by and sharing your thoughts. Happy if what I share can be of value to you.
Like you, I also had quite a collection of unread ebooks which I obtained out of my mind’s ‘addiction’ of new information… Having the awareness is the first step, and with that awareness we will make better decisions.
Peace & Blessings,
Andre
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.
Hey Andre,
I just to be a victim too – getting too many books and using too many apps online. You spreading your precious energy to bits and pieces, and the result is a major waste of time with no real value.
The zen way is true – just do one thing at a time, and then the next one, and then the next one etc.
Just hack away the unessential.
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..This is what You tell Them ! =-.
Hey Mars,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. Yeah, by hacking away the unessential and focus on what that really matter, one thing at a time, we keep our energy from being scattered. The result can be immediate too… I have always been amazed how much energy I gained just by decluttering and getting rid of stuff I no longer use. The stuff can be at the level of physical, mental, emotional etc but it all affects us. More stuff = more distractions = more scattered energy.
Peace,
Andre
PS: Great blog you got there Mars. Love the energy, uniquely you.
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.
Andre,
Thanks for triggering off this interesting conversation.
I had a mentor once (who has now passed away). He once said to me fondly “Eddy, you talk too much, you think too much, its hurting my head, be simple”.
Our toolbox will open no doors, will fix no lock and will mend no breakages. If carrying it makes us feel powerful then we should put it down so that we might, perhaps, be able to walk freely.
Thank you for sharing your thought, and your mentor’s wise words, Eddy. Before my teacher mentioned it, I did not realize that each new tool or technique we acquire is actually another layer that keeps our essence from breaking through. Like you said, in putting the toolbox down we might be able to walk freely… but perhaps it is wise to also equip ourselves with carefully selected quality tools of good quality on our belt, though
.
Be well,
Andre
.-= Andre Sumara´s last blog ..Is Your Toolbox Getting Too Heavy? =-.