"Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it's holy ground. There is no greater investment." - Stephen Covey

The first month is almost over and it got me wondering how many people have taken action to make this year their best year yet.  Living your best year is screamed at us from magazine covers, in movies and on television shows.  When asked ‘who wants to live their best year in 2010?’ All hands go up.  We all mean it at the time, our hearts of full of good intentions at the time, we mean to keep our promise to ourselves at the time.  So what happens?

Life, priorities, that’s what happens.  I mean when you can’t even keep a promise to yourself there’s a bigger problem going on.

I am a professional speaker and a trainer.  That’s what I do.  Knowing how the brain works, I offer resources at the back of the room that help attendees continue to learn and grow long after the program ends.  Often the person purchases the product and that's it.

Shelf Help

There is a term in my industry calls “shelf help.”  It refers to people who are attracted to personal development and invest in themselves during the program.  After the program is over and they return to their jobs and their life, their personal development is pushed off the priority list and they never get around to reading or listening to the material. 

The product sits on the shelf and collects dust.  That’s why we call is Shelf Help.

What to do?

If that happens to you, here are a few tips you can use to fix the problem:

1.     If the product is an audio program, begin listening to it in the car immediately after leaving the program.  Then the next time you are on your computer drag and drop the tracks onto your iPod, Zune or other .mp3 player.  Now you can listen to it anywhere.  Why you can even listen to it while in the supermarket instead of the cheesy music they usually play.

2.    If the product is a book, begin reading it the day you purchase it.  Remember you don’t have to read the entire book in one sitting, you can promise yourself to read five pages a day.  Double sided, that’s ten pages and in ten days you will have read 100 pages.  This number can be even higher as the topic pulls you in and grabs you.

3.    If the product is a DVD, pop it in instead of a Netflix or Blockbuster video.  You’ve seen the commercials of the family around the TV, why not pop in a personal development DVD that everyone can learn from and then discuss it?  Many of the DVDs are very compelling and you might learn more about your children during the discussion of the content.

The Result?

Using these techniques you will find it easy to learn and grow from the materials you purchase for personal development.  You will even find as I always do, that each time you listen to the audio or watch the DVD you notice and learn something you missed last time.  Shelf help then is something others do while you use the tools to live your best life.