Having launched my first video edition of Preston's Pearls I have refreshed and revived this review for the benefit of those joining us for the first time.
Six Minutes to Success is one more tool for achieving success from the mind of Bob Proctor. While Bob Proctor has been conducting success seminars for decades he is now best know for his work in the movie 'The Secret' (He's the white haired gentlemen who initially tells you what the Secret really is).
He has a lively and infectious energy in that movie and that is what prompted me to check out his Six Minutes to Success program when I caught sight of it one day.
The program is unique - as far as my experience goes - in that instead of offering a weekend seminar or a collection of books, videos or audio recordings the Six Minutes instead sends you one video clip of Bob Proctor each and every weekday morning.
That concept certainly appealed to me personally since I've been studying personal success long enough to know that consistency is absolutely critical to success. Too many people spend $2000.00 going to a weekend seminar, to get greatly motivated - for a little while. With Six Minutes you would get a daily dose of motivation or food for thought.
The website however, to be frank, is simply not impressive. In fact, considering Bob Proctor is always quick to point out how successful he is with his many businesses, the Six Steps website comes off as embarrassingly cheap and amateurish. It also reeks of used car salesmanship which goes on extensively. Does anyone actually read all that?
I was rather dubious, despite my genuine trust in Bob Proctor's abilities. However the site did offer a free 7 day trial and since I really liked the idea of a daily message I decided to take it for a spin.
I do have a grievance with the trial offer in that it requests your credit card info in advance - meaning you need to remember to cancel or be enrolled. However, in actual practice, it was quite clear when your trial period was up and you're in no danger of getting enrolled by accident (unless possibly you're just not paying attention).
I received the first couple of free videos and then... nothing. It was as if I somehow just fell off their radar. Again, I wasn't impressed. Still, I e-mailed them to find out what happened. I received a prompt reply and resolution to the problem from a pleasant CSR. The rest of the videos flowed accordingly on a daily basis from there on. Edit: In hindsight, it's possible, although unlikely, those two days were the weekend when the videos do not run but if that was the case the fact that they are weekday only should be more clearly articulated.
One of my biggest surprises was the fact that the videos are not, in fact, six minutes long. On average they run about two. However the remaining minutes are meant to be taken up by you doing exercises which generally amounts to filling in answers to three questions. This was a little disappointing but it's still a very helpful tool as it gives you some food for thought and then forces you to think about the subject matter at hand and how it relates to your life.
Does it actually take six minutes? Rarely. Most days I fill in the answers within two to three minutes but some days I can take fifteen or twenty due to the amount of thought involved.
The videos were solid information but not Earth-shattering or life changing. Still what do you expect within such a short daily burst? It's the cumulative effect that counts here.
In the initial videos Proctor is often holding and referring to Napoleon Hill's masterpiece work of self-help Think and Grow Rich. This annoyed me somewhat as I am very well versed on Napoleon Hill's works having read many of his books and that particular one multiple times. Still, it is a classic for very good reason and serves as a very sound basis for discussion.
Satisfied that the service was as useful as I had hoped I decided to enroll in the program past the initial seven days.
Now the program is not inexpensive, or perhaps it is, depending on your point of view. You are looking at $40 a month (less if you sign up for a year, as I did) which might seem like a large chuck of change for what you're getting. However, many people spend that much to exercise their bodies so why not their minds? Also, compared to the cost of just one weekend seminar this is dirt cheap and has the additional benefit of being with you every day (Mon-Fri) all year long. It's easy to work into your routine and won't break your bank. Let us not forget the goal with a program like this is to enable you to break your own mental road blocks that are holding you back from achieving your full potential and unlimited success. Obviously if it helps you to become wealthier or otherwise significantly improve your life, it's more than worth the cost.
Finally, there is one last twist. Six Minutes to Success has an affiliate program. Meaning you can earn money by promoting it to other people. For every person you get to sign up you earn $10 per month for each month they remain enrolled. So if you get 4 friends signed up, it's free. That's enticing in one way but seems somewhat like a scam in others. I did not refer anyone to this program though, at least not until I became convinced of it's long term worth.
Aside from the daily video messages, the program does come with a large selection of 'bonus' material. Proctor's book Born Rich - which is excellent, a series of audio messages and .pdf files. Occasionally various daily videos will also have a link to more free 'bonus' content, usually either a page or chapter about the topic at hand. The bonus content is all online, useful, plentiful and much appreciated. I am still slowing making my way through all of it.
I have been using the service for about four months now and continue to be quite pleased with it. It should go without saying that some days the message will be more impactful than others, and what really clicks for you will be different than for everyone else. I have been studying motivational material for over twenty years so most of what I hear on these videos is stuff I already know but still some is fresh and even the stuff I know, I need to be reminded about and prompted to put it into action.
It's hard to really access the overall quality of an ongoing service but so far so good. There have been no repetition of ideas and every day has had a good message. One complaint I have is that Dr. Proctor needs to put more long term thought into the over arching flow of the videos as I do not feel that they really build on one another. With the exception of the odd 'series' of videos (7 positive emotions for example) they could pretty much be given in any order to the same effect. This I feel, is a bit of a lost opportunity. Of the flip-side, if someone is not routine about watching them, this may be preferable because you won't feel like you need to watch 3 days worth to enjoy the message today.
You can go back and view previous videos and if you don't get around to watching one it'll always be there to watch later. The site indicates which videos have been missed. This is of huge value because the messages that really impact you, are available to be re-watched over and over to keep yourself motivated to keep performing in that particular area.
I also have a hard time recommending this to anyone totally new to the world of modern success coaching. Largely because the videos do not build on one another so there's no real opportunity to start at the very basics and progress gradually to advanced distinctions. Instead Proctor seems to assume you've watched The Secret and goes from there. Let me note that rarely does he talk about The Law of Attraction in this series though. Since each video is self contained the info is still useful to anyone but I would think someone versed in success material would get more out of it. If you are new to motivational/success material and want to try this, I'd advise you to read Bob Proctor's book Born Rich and the audio series early on to get up to speed - all of which is free bonus material.
Is it worth it? That depends on how serious you are about making a change in your life. If you really want lasting change, then I recommend the following in this order: Buy and read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (available through the link to the right). Then read it three more times. Then buy and watch The Secret (also available through the link). I'm sure you'll watch that over and over without my telling you. Once you have thoroughly digested those works, then I would recommended enrolling in Six Minutes to Success to help maintain your newly developed good mental practices and to learn and develop more. You might also want to consider Anthony Robbin's Awaken the Giant Within which is a great exercise book which really breaks things down to the nitty gritty.
Has it helped me? Yes, immensely. It has allowed me to break away from limiting negative thought patterns and focus all my energies into new creative endeavours like this website you're viewing now. I took a leap of faith by enrolling in the program for a year but right now, I'm am very pleased with it overall and feel confident enough about it to recommend it to anyone - as long as they are serious about change and preferable if they are already familiar with many of the basics of modern self-help methodology.
