The Mel Robbins Podcast

How to Get From Here to There: A Framework for Creating the Life You Want | The Mel Robbins Podcast

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory 👉 https://melrob.co/let-them-theory 👈 The #1 Best Selling Book of 2025 🔥 Discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words. Let Them. — In this episode, you’ll learn the process for identifying your own North Star, why this is important at the beginning of creating your new life, and how to use your North Star to guide you in the process of designing your life. Next, you’ll dive deep into the 3-part framework: Emulate, Assimilate, and Innovate. This framework is the backbone of the University of Southern California’s world-renowned Popular Music major taught at their Thornton School of Music. It’s the creative process #artists use to create songs, movies, and video games. The framework has helped launch Grammy-winning artists and touring #musicians for the past decade. Today, you’re invited to tap into the artist within and learn how to find your North Star and use the #creative process to bring your #vision for your future to life. Xo Mel In this episode, you'll learn: 00:00 Intro 03:37 What is a north star and how do you find yours? 09:12 Kendall unpacks the 3 pillars for creating change 10:00 Emulation: identifying YOUR north star 10:42 Assimilation: 10,000 hour rule really works 18:30 Innovation: create something of your own 24:48 Why you should say “want” and not “need” 28:47 The first step you need to take if you are feeling lost 36:11 The process that we have used to develop and advance throughout life 39:11 This is the most beautiful part of change 40:58 The difference between a directional signal and a destination 46:11 Kendall’s full-circle moment gave me chills 50:17 You are like a statue, here is how — Follow Mel: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melrobbins/ TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@melrobbins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melrobbins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melrobbins Website: http://melrobbins.com — Sign up for Mel’s newsletter: https://melrob.co/sign-up-newsletter A note from Mel to you, twice a week, sharing simple, practical ways to build the life you want. — Subscribe to Mel’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/melrobbins?sub_confirmation=1 — Listen to The Mel Robbins Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Monday & Thursday! https://melrob.co/spotify https://melrob.co/applepodcasts https://melrob.co/amazonmusic — Looking for Mel’s books on Amazon? Find them here: The Let Them Theory: https://amzn.to/3IQ21Oe The Let Them Theory Audiobook: https://amzn.to/413SObp The High 5 Habit: https://amzn.to/3fMvfPQ The 5 Second Rule: https://amzn.to/4l54fah

Mel RobbinshostAmy (Mel’s friend/co-host for this episode)guestKendall Robbinsguest

Jun 1, 202353mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Turn Inspiration Into Action: Mel Robbins’ Three-Step North Star Framework

Mel Robbins explores how to deliberately design your life using a simple sentence—"I can do it"—and a three-part creative framework built around a personal North Star. She breaks down "I" (responsibility), "can" (belief), "do" (action), and "it" (your clear goal), arguing most people get stuck by missing one of these. With her daughter Kendall and producer Amy, she introduces the emulation–assimilation–innovation process: study someone you admire, practice their traits and skills, then transform them into your own unique expression. The conversation reframes growth not as closing a painful gap, but as ongoing creative expansion where you yourself are ultimately the artwork.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Own full responsibility for your next chapter.

The ‘I’ in “I can do it” means no one is coming to save you; when you accept that your time, choices, and actions are your responsibility, you naturally start steering your life more intentionally.

Choose a clear North Star—person, future self, or specific trait.

A North Star can be a celebrity, a stranger, or an imagined future version of you, and it doesn’t have to be their whole life—often a single trait (kindness, discipline, business acumen, fitness) is enough to guide your direction.

Systematically study what you admire: emulation comes first.

In the emulation phase, you research and break your North Star down into concrete components—skills, character traits, and career choices—so you can see exactly what they do that you don’t (yet).

Practice until it’s in your bones: assimilation is the long middle.

Assimilation is the 10,000-hour montage: you weave the traits and skills you’ve identified into your daily life through repetition, practice, and experimentation until they become part of how you naturally operate.

Innovate by putting your own twist on what you’ve learned.

Once you’ve absorbed the building blocks, you create your own work, behaviors, or life systems; your output will inherently carry your unique “flavor,” meaning the goal is not to become your North Star but to evolve into a fuller version of yourself.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

If you don’t have an ‘it,’ you don’t have shit.

— Mel Robbins

You can create it from nothing… you are the art.

— Kendall Robbins

It’s not about becoming the North Star. You are the North Star.

— Kendall Robbins

Don’t think about it as a gap. It’s the road you get to travel.

— Amy (producer at 143 Studios)

Yes, this process works. But you’ve gotta trust that if you stay in the process and you stay present and you stay grateful, it’s gonna lead you to where you need to go.

— Kendall Robbins

The power and meaning of the phrase “I can do it”Defining and using a personal North Star for directionThe three-step framework: emulation, assimilation, innovationBreaking a North Star into skills, character, and career elementsReframing the ‘gap’ between you and your goals as expansionApplying the framework to different life areas (career, health, finance, relationships)Seeing yourself as the artwork and life as a continuous creative process

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