Meditation Day 7: Insights Are Useless Until Developed Into Skills (August 9, 2025)

For sometime now, I’ve shared that insights are only 20% of the value while muscle development represents the other 80%. My teacher, Micky, said it even more directly and it’s really stuck with me. “An insight by itself is useless. It’s only valuable when an insight is developed into a regularly practiced skill.” Yes, 100%!

Here are some particularly powerful insights that I’ve converted into skills that I’d like to share with you here. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it’s a damn good start.

#1 Skill: Daily Habits (MEDS-RX)

More than any other insight, the one that has changed my life so profoundly comes from the book Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg and then put into daily skill development by a virtual mentor of mine, Brendon Burchard High Performance Habits. Let’s start with the insight. We are creatures of habits and changing habits are really hard. Chances are, you know the benefits of eating right and exercising every day, but do you? That’s where MEDS-RX comes into play. When combined with Tiny Habits, it’s a one-two punch.

• Meditate — 30 minutes every day will change your brain.

• Exercise — 30 minutes every day will extend your lifespan.

• Diet — eating the right foods gives you energy and vitality.

• Sleep — 7 to 8 hours a night is a non-negotiable.

• Relationships — make your life worth living and are a must.

• X-Factor — whatever else you are currently focused on.

Here’s the thing. You know this list. None of this is new. But as Stephen Covey says, “To know and not to do is not to know.” If you had ONLY ONE SKILL to cultivate, be active with each one on this list every morning no matter what. How? Study and act upon Tiny Habits by BJ Fog as if your life depends upon it because, well, it does. Reading it doesn’t count. Until we have a daily routine that we’re super proud of, this has to be the number 1 top skill we work on nailing. This one skill sets up everything else every day for the rest of your life.

#2 Skill: How & What Questions

Want to be a better listener, but don’t know how? Learn to ask better questions. These are open-ended questions that start with “How” or “What.” You know how Simmon Sinnik urged us all to Start with Why? Ignore that advice. Unless you’re already an incredibly skilled leader and/or have built powerful rapport with the person you’re speaking with, beginning any question with Why is likely to put that person on the defensive. You can get there eventually, but you’re way better off beginning with “What” and “How” questions to start.

And, if you’re curious what the best 7 questions to ask, my friend Nancy Cogswell (see related post), handed me her copy of Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit and I’m a total convert:

1. What’s on your mind?

2. And what else?

3. What’s the real challenge here for you?

4. What do you want?

5. How can I help?

6. What are you saying no to?

7. What was most useful for you?

I’ve already begun using these seven questions and following the advice in the book and it’s like magic. You can use any “How” or “What” question and become a better listener, but there is a method to Stanier’s model and I can attest to its effectiveness. Read the book for why these questions work as well as they do.

#3 Skill: Be Here Now

This simple phrase was first handed to me over thirty years ago by my brother when he handed me the book with the same name by Baba Ram Das. The skill to practice is being present in every moment of every day. Hell, that’s why I’m doing this meditation retreat this week. So that I can be more present with everyone in my life.

How many of us drift to thoughts about the past that hold us in regret or thoughts about the future that hold us in anxiety? (By the way, on that one if you haven’t read Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer, what are you doing with your life? I know, you’re busy ;-)

The point is, there was a time when I used to be “bored.” I can remember long car rides playing with my seat belt because that’s all there was “to do” … for hours. Now with our phones constantly beeping (let alone unlimited content on too many streaming services to keep track of) the idea of “down time” is a boundary we must intentionally set or we’re “always on” 24/7.

And yet, being fully present is the most beautiful gift we can give anyone … ever. That’s literally why I’m traveling around the world this year. I want real, uninterrupted, in person time with people I love all over the world.

Master These First 3 First!

Are there other skills? Of course! But as a 5th degree black belt in Soo Bahk Do, Moo Duk Kwan I know that it’s “one, two, three … many.” In other words, I wouldn’t teach a white-belt, red-belt or black-belt techniques. I believe it is our very “quest for more” that has us going from book to book without implementing any of the great ideas we come across and that’s a HUGE MISS!

So put down your productivity porn! Seriously. You’ve hit diminishing returns, and I can prove it to you. If you’re spending more time reading about other people’s effectiveness than spending time developing the very skills that would improve your own, then you’re addicted to the 20% insights and they are, in fact, USELESS until you develop them into skills that you practice every day.