John Maxwell’s System that Sustains Him Daily | MWM

Summary

In this insightful video, the speaker shares four personal growth practices: daily reading, listening, thinking, and filing. The latter, a habit instilled by his father, involves systematically organizing thoughts and ideas to avoid losing valuable material. This practice not only enriches the speaker's life but also serves as a reservoir of wisdom to be shared with others. The speaker emphasizes the importance of capturing and storing ideas, which are likened to golden nuggets, as the world's most precious commodity.

Takeaways

• 📚 Read daily to grow your personal life: The speaker emphasizes the importance of daily reading as a growth practice to expand knowledge and improve oneself.
• 🎧 Listen daily to broaden your perspective: Listening to various sources can help in gaining a wider understanding of different subjects and viewpoints.
• 🤔 Think daily to apply learning: Reflecting on what you've learned and applying it to your life is crucial for personal development.
• 🗂️ File daily to preserve knowledge: The concept of 'filing' information daily, as taught by the speaker's father, is a method to avoid losing valuable insights and ideas.
• 💡 Ideas are precious: The speaker considers ideas to be the most valuable commodity, more so than money, highlighting the importance of capturing and storing them.
• 🚫 Avoid the time-waster of looking for lost things: By having a system for filing, you can prevent the common time-wasting activity of searching for misplaced items or thoughts.
• 📝 Immediate action on capturing ideas: When encountering a good quote or story, the speaker advises to immediately file it under an appropriate heading for easy retrieval later.
• 🗃️ Building a repository of thoughts and ideas: Over time, filing daily leads to a vast collection of accessible thoughts, ideas, and stories that can be used when needed.
• 🗣️ Importance of having material to speak on: Especially for those in public speaking roles like ministry, having material to draw from is essential to avoid being unprepared.
• 🧠 Wisdom is best when filed: The speaker suggests that wisdom is most effective when it is organized and readily accessible, allowing for its application in various situations.
• 🔑 Filing as a key to unlocking personal growth: The practices of reading, listening, thinking, and filing are presented as simple yet powerful tools for anyone looking to grow personally.

Q & A

What are the four growth practices mentioned by the speaker?

The four growth practices mentioned are reading daily to grow personally, listening daily to broaden perspective, thinking daily to apply what is learned, and filing daily to preserve what is learned.

Why did the speaker start the practice of filing daily?

The speaker started the practice of filing daily after his father advised him to have material to speak on and to avoid having an empty well of ideas when he is older.

What does the speaker's father mean by 'an empty well'?

By 'an empty well,' the father means a lack of ideas or material to speak on, which he considers worse than being 65 with no money.

How does the speaker describe the process of filing?

The speaker describes the process of filing as taking a good quote, story, or idea and categorizing it under a relevant heading for easy access and future reference.

What is the main benefit of the speaker's filing practice according to the script?

The main benefit of the filing practice is to prevent the loss of good material and to have a system that allows for easy retrieval of ideas and information when needed.

Why does the speaker consider ideas to be the most precious commodity in the world?

The speaker considers ideas to be the most precious commodity because they are the source of wisdom and thinking, which are invaluable in personal and professional life.

What advice does the speaker give to those who are not speakers but still need to file ideas?

The speaker advises that even if one is not a speaker, they should still file ideas because there will be times when they need to give advice or share wisdom with others.

How does the speaker define 'wisdom' in the context of the script?

In the context of the script, 'wisdom' is defined as the accumulated knowledge and insights that one can apply to oneself or share with others, which is best when it is organized and filed.

What is the speaker's view on the number one time waster in life?

The speaker's view on the number one time waster in life is looking for things that are lost, which happens because there was no proper system in place to keep track of them initially.

What is the speaker's suggestion for personal growth practices that everyone can do?

The speaker suggests that everyone can start practicing reading, listening, thinking, and filing daily as simple practices for personal growth.

How does the speaker encourage the audience to start implementing these practices?

The speaker encourages the audience to start implementing these practices by suggesting they begin now and by sharing his own experience of how these practices have strengthened and sustained him.