#473 Five powerful lessons from five years of podcasting – A special 5th birthday episode!

Celebrating 5 Years of Personal Development Mastery! 🎉

What does it take to stay committed to personal growth for five years—and beyond? Join me in this special milestone episode as we reflect on the journey of Personal Development Mastery, the key insights gained, and the lessons that continue to shape our transformation.

Whether you're starting a new project, growing your confidence, or facing inner resistance, this episode is a testament to the power of persistence, self-reflection, and intentional action. Personal development is not just about learning—it’s about implementation and transformation.

1. Discover the key lessons from five years of podcasting, including the 4 C’s of Confidence and the long game of growth.
2. Learn how embracing vulnerability and self-reflection can accelerate personal transformation.
3. Get inspired by some of the most profound definitions of personal development from past guests.

Tune in now to celebrate this five-year journey, gain actionable wisdom, and help shape the next era of Personal Development Mastery! 🚀

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MEMORABLE QUOTE:

"Knowledge is only powerful if we use it, otherwise it is useless. To know and not to do is really not to know."

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VALUABLE RESOURCES:

Mastery Seekers Tribe: https://masteryseekerstribe.com

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Want to be a guest on Personal Development Mastery?

Send Agi Keramidas a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/personaldevelopmentmastery

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Personal development inspiration, insights, and actions to implement for living with purpose.

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Transcript

Agi Keramidas: 0:04

Welcome to Personal Development mastery podcast episode 473 today is a very special day for me and for the podcast. Five years ago, on the third of February 2020, I launched personal development mastery. It started as a passion project, and here we are, 473 episodes later, it has grown into something so much bigger. So this is the celebratory episode for the podcast fifth birthday, and I'm so happy to be sharing it with you. After all this time, the podcast has grown from passion to something so much bigger, a mission to inspire transformation in you who are listening right now, and also to inspire transformation in myself. So it was five years ago today when I started the podcast, and it was just one month before the lockdowns of 2020 when the world was going to be shut down, and it was at that time that I doubled down on my episodes, and I realized that I was no longer just hosting a podcast. I had a purpose and a mission, to share knowledge, to inspire action and to help people move to their next level in their lives. It felt less like a project and more like a calling, something that wanted to be expressed through me and today I went through some of my solo episodes along the way to reflect on those five years and to share with you some of the highlights in terms of realizations, perhaps or very important moments along the way. And one of them was when I first talked about the concept of the four C's of confidence, which I also revisited on the podcast recently. It was then that I realized again, that confidence doesn't come first. Confidence is built by our consistent actions. It is a cycle of growth, and it is a concept I still come back to myself when I face new challenges. So I hope this is a useful framework for those who have listened. Otherwise, you can find the link in the episode description. Another important moment in the journey for me was when I felt comfortable and confident enough to do more solo episodes without relying on my guest to carry the weight of the conversation, shall we say? And there was a point when I realized that in moments like this, I am doing a self reflection in front of the microphone. And of course, there is a degree of vulnerability in that it is a deeply personal thing to do, to reflect on your thoughts, your feelings, your experiences, anything, and to put it out there. So this self reflection that I'm speaking for you to hear, or this way of reflecting has in many ways, shaped who I am. Today, I stepped into a new identity, the podcaster identity, which, you know, it wasn't easy at first, but now it has become the foundation of everything I do. Another big realization along the way was to state what has remained to this day, the intention of the podcast, and if anything, it has now been strengthened rather than changed. And the intention of the podcast was, and still is, to inspire action, not just to provide information. It's not about information, it's about transformation. It's not about knowledge, it's about implementation. And when I first said this on the podcast, I remember saying. Saying that, despite the popular phrase, knowledge is only powerful if we use it, otherwise, it is useless to know and not to do is really not to know. So I have always wanted you listening to walk away, not just having learned something new, not just having been inspired, but being ready to act on what you have learned and been inspired by the insight, being ready to act on that insight and one other realization over the years is the long game of growth, persistence, patience. It's the story of the Chinese bamboo tree, which takes years to grow its roots without even breaking through the soil. And once it starts, then in a matter of weeks, it goes up many feet or meters. And this is a recurring lesson in my life that great things take time. It is a message I always carry with me. And then even further down the line, I finally remember an episode I did 233 which was a heartfelt message to you. And when I say you, I mean, obviously I don't know who you are listening right now, but that episode was a heartfelt message to the typical listeners. I would say that I had in mind, busy, ambitious, intelligent, full of unrealized potential, and in fact, now that I think about it, I'm going to re record something similar soon. That episode helped me focus on creating content that really serves this kind of audience. And I will tie that into another thing, which was on Episode 283 where I curated the best episodes from three key categories, money, health and personal mastery. And that was my gift to you, organizing hundreds of episodes into actionable themes, and this reminds me of how much wisdom has been shared on the podcast, and that fact really inspires me to continue not only creating But curating the content, distilling the wisdom creating more resources for you. Speaking of which, another milestone was, of course, just over a year ago, when I published my first book, 88 actionable insights for life, writing the book was a milestone that I couldn't have imagined when I started the podcast, and I'm so grateful for the response that the book received. You can get the book for free, the digital version for free, as my gift to you by going to Agi keramidas.com/ 88 88 finally, the last thing I want to mention about the book, and I talked about this on Episode 353, was overcoming the resistance and Sharing vulnerably that I had to overcome my perfectionist tendencies, and I think you might relate with that, and that's why I'm sharing it. That was for me, not about getting the book published. It was about facing my inner resistance and proving to myself that I could push through self doubt, and I wanted you to hear that so that you can realize that you can do the same. And the last big realization I will share with you today is the very concept of personal development, because it is part of my, well, not only my journey, but it is the title of the podcast. And as you know, I always ask my guests what personal development means to them. And on Episode 300 I shared some of the best, the most insightful answers that I had received over the years, and I had some people telling me that personal development is uncovering your true self or coming home to who you truly are. They talked about self exploration, getting to know yourself, consistently facing our shadows and seeing who we truly are. Others. Talked about, you know, taking control of your life and expanding and becoming a better version of yourself, I even heard the wonderful answer that personal development is a gateway to self realization and oneness with the Divine. So I have received some beautiful answers to this question over the years, and I will end this reflection today with two quotes since, since we're talking about personal development, both these quotes are by Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn has a very special place in my heart, because it was the very first personal development book I read when I was in my 20s, the five major pieces to the life puzzle. So I will close off this reflection today with Jim rohn's quotes, and the first one is success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day. The other quote by Jim Rohn is, don't wish it was easier. Wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems. Wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge. Wish for more wisdom. I want to thank you from my heart for listening to the podcast. I want to thank all my guests who have graced the previous episodes of the podcast over these five years, and I want to thank everyone who has supported the podcast. I would like to remind you and invite you once again to the birthday party we're having this Saturday, eighth of February, and this will be within our free community, the mastery seekers tribe. So if you are already in the community, you can find the details under the Events tab. And if you haven't joined yet, go to mastery seekers tribe.com. And I look forward to seeing you there. You know, after five years, I am deeply grateful, and yet I remain humbled by how far I have come, and this journey of personal development mastery is far from over, and so I would like to invite you to shape the next five years together. I want to hear from you who has been your favorite guest so far. What topics would you like to hear more about or next? As I said, Let's shape the next five years together. You are the reason why I am doing this podcast. So want to know how I can best serve you. So here's to our next five years together and to celebrating Episode 1000 sometime in the next five years, I'm looking forward to seeing you on the birthday celebration. On Saturday, it is online on Zoom, and you will find all the details on our free community, mastery, seekers, tribe.com, thank you again for listening, and until next time, stand out. Don't fit in.