Growth Thrives in Conducive Surroundings “If we want to grow to reach our potential, we must be in the right environment. That usually requires us to make changes in our life." — John C. Maxwell I don’t know much about gardening or houseplants. You can ask anyone who knows me well that the only kind of plant I manage to keep alive is a fake one. But in admitting this, I can also admit that I do understand what I am doing wrong — I don’t provide them with the right environment to thrive. Unlike those poor plants, if you want to grow, you have a choice to make. Nido Qubein, Lebanese American businessman and motivational speaker, sums it up perfectly when he says, “whether you are a success or a failure in life has little to do with your circumstances; it has much more to do with your choices.” John Maxwell’s, Law of Environment says that if we want to grow we need to be willing to make the right changes to better position us to reach our potential. What changes do you need to make? 1) Assess Your Current Environment Change just for the sake of change isn’t going to help you. If you want to make changes, you have to makes sure that they’re the right ones. But I can hear your question already, “Natalie, what if I don’t know what the right ones are?” The key is to start by assessing where you are now and why you want to change. I’ve provided you with three links below for different assessment tools that you may find beneficial in choosing the right changes for you. The first one is the State of Your Life Assessment; this is a free assessment to anyone who wants to gauge where they are today. The other two are links to facilitated assessment services I offer to my clients; these help to define what you do really well and what your personal preferences and styles are. The main idea is to know yourself and to assess whether you’re getting what you need in your current environment to thrive and grow. 2) Change Yourself and Your Environment You can choose to change yourself, but not your environment and your growth will be slow and difficult. You can choose to change your environment, but not yourself and your growth will be slow and less difficult. Or you can choose to change yourself and your environment and your growth will be faster and more successful. According to John Maxwell, there are 10 elements that create a conducive growth environment: Growth is the soil we grow in: Others are ahead of me. I am continually challenged. My focus is forward. Purpose is the air we breathe in: I wake up excited. I am often outside of my comfort zone. Failure is not my enemy. People are the climate we live in: The atmosphere is affirming. Others are growing. People desire change. Growth is modeled and expected. Do these statements apply to your current situation? What choices do you need to make in order to change yourself and your environment to ensure that you are not hampered in your growth? They say if you put a pumpkin in a jug when it’s the size of a walnut, it will grow to the size and shape of the jug and never grow beyond that. That can happen to a person’s thinking. Don’t allow that to happen to you. “If you want to grow, then spend time with great people; visit great places; attend great events; read great books, listen to great tapes.” — Elmer Towns 3) Change Who You Spend Your Time With According to research conducted by social psychologist Dr. David McClelland of Harvard, “the people with whom you habitually associate… determine as much as 95% of your success or failure in life.” Another way to look at this is that the people in your life can be divided into three tiers: The Bottom - these people suck the life out of you because nothing is ever good enough for them. They take energy and motivation out of the environment. The Middle - these people are happy and positive when things are going well, but down when adversity strikes. Circumstances dictate their attitude. The Top - these people maintain a positive attitude even through the storms. They are the kind of people we should try to be and spend our time with. Remember the first element on the list of a conducive environment: “others are ahead of me”? It’s not always comfortable to spend time with people who are “larger” than ourselves, but it is always beneficial. These are people of integrity with positive attitudes. They are ahead of us professionally, but who also lift us up instead of knocking us down. These people take the high road and never the low. And above all, they are continuously growing! Make a list of the people who are currently most influential in your life: friends, family, colleagues, employers, mentors, and so on. Be sure to also include anyone you spend a substantial amount of time with. Scan the list and determine who is “larger” than you. If the majority of the people on your list are not stretching you, you need to find additional people who will help you change and grow. You may also need to consider minimizing your time with people who you know have a negative impact on your attitude or growth, if not pulling them out of your garden altogether. 4) Challenge Yourself in Your New Environment A better growth environment won’t help you much if you don’t do everything in your power to make the most of it! Significant growth will not happen in your life if you are not intentional about finding and creating growth opportunities. This means that you need to be continuously challenged. Set specific goals for yourself that are beyond your current capabilities and look for the best potential growth opportunity each week, follow through on it, and learn from it! What are you looking to learn? How can you be positively influenced by someone else? What can you apply to your current situation to make it better? Who do others know, what have they read, or what have they done that can help you find more growth opportunities? What feedback or advice can others who are “larger” than you offer that might support your growth? 5) Move Forward Despite Criticism Growth always comes from taking action, but taking action almost always brings criticism from others. Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that “whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right.” Before making a major change, seek wise counsel if you can and from someone in that “larger than me” list, but make your own decisions. You are accountable for the choices you make in your life, not anyone else. Some will support you, some will criticize you; some will try to lift you up, some will try to pull you down — but “someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” Move forward anyway. To reach your potential, you must do what others believe you can’t, and you must do what even you believe you can’t. Most people underestimate themselves, but if you don’t try to create the future you want, you must endure the future you get.

Motivation Gets You Going — Discipline Keeps You Growing "The hallmark of excellence, the test of greatness, is consistency." -- Jim Tressel The truth about personal growth is that motivation can only get you started, it’s discipline that keeps you on the right track. It doesn’t matter how motivated you are or how talented you are or even how many opportunities you have; if you want to grow, consistency is the key. What Do You Need if You Want to Improve? You must develop yourself if you expect to have success in any area of your life, but “success” is going to look different for every person reading this and that’s okay. The question is, what does success look like for you? “The successful person has the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do. The successful person doesn’t like doing them either, but his dislike is subordinated to the strength of his purpose.” And here in E.M. Gray’s quote, we get the key to defining success and what we need if we want to improve. Did you catch it? The more tuned in you are to your purpose and the more dedicated you are to growing toward it, the more likely it is that you will reach your potential, expand your possibilities and do something significant! Take a moment to write down what you believe your purpose is. If you’re not sure, consider the following: Your purpose uses your unique gifts, strengths, and experiences. It is something you do well and comes naturally to you. While your purpose should enrich your life and be satisfying to you; ultimately, your purpose should be about how you uniquely serve the world and make it better in some way. How is someone’s life better because they crossed your path? How is your company better because you work there? How is your family better because you’re in it? For example, my purpose is to inspire others to have more fulfilling lives and more meaningful relationships, both personally and professionally. How Are You Going to Improve? According to John Maxwell, in order to grow, most people need knowledge, experience, and coaching. Here are his four suggestions for getting started: Match Your Motivation to Your Personality and Strengths Not everyone is motivated the same way or by the same things so the best thing you can do is start by understanding yourself. By tapping into your unique personality and strengths, you can set yourself up for success by better understanding what motivates you and how you can work smarter, not harder. I, personally and professionally, recommend the Maxwell DISC Method for understanding your personality and Gallup’s CliftonStrengths for sorting out what your unique and natural talents are. Start With the Simple Stuff Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time. If you want to grow, don’t focus on the big wins, but rather on small wins. Andrew Wood once said, “where many people go wrong in trying to reach their goals is in constantly looking for the big hit, the home run, the magic answer that suddenly transforms their dreams into reality. The problem is that the big hit never comes without a great deal of little hits first. Success in most things comes not from some gigantic stroke of fate, but from simple, incremental progress.” Be Patient Patience is not something that comes naturally to most of us and we live in a world that is increasingly reliant on instant gratification. But when it comes to personal growth, instant gratification is simply not realistic. Everything that is worthwhile takes time and dedication and the people who grow and achieve the most are the ones who learn how to master the art of patience. Value the Process One of the best things you can do for yourself is to cultivate the ability to value and enjoy the process of growth. As previously stated, personal growth doesn’t happen in an instant; in fact, personal growth takes a lifetime. Charlene Armitage said it best, “Life goals are reached by setting annual goals. Annual goals are reached by reaching daily goals. Daily goals are reached by doing things which may be uncomfortable at first but eventually become habits. Habits are powerful things. Habits turn actions into attitudes, and attitudes into lifestyles.” “Most people never realize how close they are to achieving significant things, because they give up too soon.” -- John C. Maxwell Why Do You Want to Keep Improving? Having a strong “why” will help you keep going when the discipline of growth becomes difficult, discouraging, or tedious. If your growth is connected to your values, your dreams, and to your purpose, you’ll have a better understanding of why you’re doing it and you’ll be more likely to follow through. Take a moment to answer the following questions: Do you constantly procrastinate on important tasks? Do you require coaxing to do small chores? Do you perform duties just to get by? Do you constantly talk negatively about your work? Do the efforts of others to encourage you irritate you instead? Do you start small projects and abandon them? Do you avoid self-improvement opportunities? If you answered “yes” to many of these questions, your why isn’t solid or strong enough to motivate you to consistently grow in those areas you were thinking of when you answered the question. You have to give yourself more and bigger why’s so you can keep wanting to put in the effort to grow. Take a look at the purpose you wrote down for yourself, the one that involves also making a difference in the lives of others. Write down in specific detail what your best life looks like, both personally and professionally. Write down as many why’s as you can think of that connect your purpose and life vision to the growth you want to achieve. Think of immediate benefits. Think of long-term benefits. Think of how it will help you relationally, vocationally, spiritually, etc. When you make the right choices — however small — and do them consistently over time, it can make a huge difference in your life. If you remember “why” you’re making those choices, it becomes easier. Any reason to grow is a good reason so long as it’s YOUR reason. When Are You Supposed to Improve? I love how John Maxwell writes, “people do not decide their future; they decide their habits and their habits decide their future.” When do you need to improve? The obvious answer is RIGHT NOW. In the words of Leo Buscaglia, “life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.” So if you haven’t started, get to it and do it daily because you will never change your life until you change something you do daily. What are doing daily that needs to change? What needs doing? What needs undoing? What are you willing to change doing today in order to change what you will be doing tomorrow? Goal Vs Growth Consciousness Consistency isn’t easy, but to be successful we need to learn how to do it. You must figure out what works for you and what doesn’t, but for John Maxwell, and for me as well, it was switching from a “goal” mentality to a “growth” mentality. Goal mentality focuses on a destination and is often seasonal. While it does motivate you and challenges you, it also stops when the goal is reached. Growth mentality focuses on the journey and is lifelong. Instead of simply motivating and challenging you, it matures and changes you and you continue to grow beyond the goals that you have set. John Maxwell says, “If you can believe in yourself and the potential that is in you, and then focus on growth instead of goals, there’s no telling how far you can grow. You just need to consistently put in the work as you keep believing in yourself.”

Learning to Pause Allows Growth to Catch Up with You "Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From quiet reflection will come even more effective action." -- Peter F. Drucker There are many different ways to grow and an infinite number of lessons to be learned in life. But there are some kinds of growth that come to us only if we are willing to stop, pause, and allow the lesson to catch up with us. Reflection Turns Experience into Insight People have innumerable experiences every day, but many learn nothing from them because they never take the time to pause and reflect. However, if we pause to allow growth to catch up with us, it makes our lives better. Not only because we better understand the significance of what we’ve experienced, but so we can also implement changes and course corrections as a result. How often do you take the time to sit and reflect on your experiences? Time alone allows people to sort through their experiences, put them into perspective, and plan for the future. The thing to remember is that continual growth from experiences is only possible when we discover insights and truths within them. If you reflect on the events of the day and how you responded to them, the results should either applaud you or prod you. In the end, you will also be better equipped to teach others from the wisdom you have gained. "All of us are watchers — of television, of time clocks, of traffic on the freeway — but few are observers. Everyone is looking, not many are seeing." -- Peter M. Leschak So how do you apply the Law of Reflection to your life? 1) Create a space where you can consistently and effectively pause and reflect. If you don’t already have a quiet space where you can sit and reflect without distraction, it’s time to create one. It may be a rock or a bench in your favorite outdoor landscape or perhaps it’s a small isolated room where no one will bother you, or maybe it’s as simple as your favorite chair that you can just sink into. There isn’t any magic to creating a special space just for pausing and reflecting, but there is something to be said for being intentional about selecting a spot and making it your own which means you will be more likely to use it. 2) Schedule time to pause and reflect and guard this time as most valuable. If you’re not intentional about scheduling time for reflection, it will always get shuffled off of your to-do list. I strongly encourage you to use your created space and discipline yourself to pause and use it, because it has the potential to change your life. Schedule 10-30 minutes every day to reflect on the events of the day. Schedule 1-2 hours every week to reflect on you daily reflections. Schedule 3-4 hours every couple of months to reflect on the big picture. Schedule an entire day or more at the end of year and the beginning of the year to reflect on what was and what could be. Obviously, you are very busy. There are so many demands on each of us every day and we rush from place to place and task to task just trying to squeeze it all in. Yet this is one of the most important things you can do. Don’t skip this step just because it will cost you something. Remember, reaching your potential is always going to cost you something. The question is whether or not you are willing to pay the price to be the person you want to be. 3) Use your time intentionally by asking yourself tough questions and giving honest answers. Whatever your goals and vision, create thought-provoking questions around that area and spend time writing out the questions and your answers to those questions during your scheduled times of reflection. You may think that you can ask the questions and answer them without taking the time to write them out, but writing actually helps you to discover what you truly know, think and believe. I promise that the extra effort to write it all out will be worth it. If you need some help getting started with some questions, consider the following: Self-Awareness Reflection What is my biggest asset? What is my biggest liability? What is my highest high? What is my lowest low? What is my most worthwhile emotion? What is my least worthwhile emotion? What is my best habit? What is my worst habit? What is most fulfilling to me? What do I prize most highly? Relationship Reflection Do I value people? Do people know I value them? How do I show it? Am I a “plus” or a “minus” in my most important relationships? What evidence do I have to confirm my opinion? What is the love language of the people I love? How can I serve them? Do I need to forgive someone in my life who needs to be given grace? Who in my life should I take time to thank? What in my life should be receiving more of my time? Personal Growth Reflection Do I know and practice the 15 Laws of Personal Growth? Which three laws do I do best? Which three laws are my weakest? Am I growing daily? What am I doing daily to grow? How am I growing? What are the roadblocks that are keeping me from growing? What are the breakthroughs I need to keep growing? What were the potential learning moments I experienced today, and did I seize them? Am I passing on the someone what I am learning?

You Must See Value in Yourself to Add Value to Yourself "Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself."-- Denis Waitley How would you rank your self-esteem? John Maxwell concludes that one of the main reasons so many people fail to grow and reach their potential is that they don’t have high self-esteem. Now I’m not referring to an inflated view of self, and neither is John Maxwell, but we are talking about the ability to look in the mirror and recognize that we each have value. If you don’t recognize that you have genuine value and that you are worth investing in, then you will never put in the time, energy, or effort required to grow to your potential. Self-esteem is the single most significant key to a person’s behavior because every aspect of our lives is impacted by the way we see ourselves. And unfortunately, people are never able to outperform their self-image. According to psychiatrist and self-esteem expert, Nathaniel Branden, “if you feel inadequate to face challenges, unworthy or love or respect, unentitled to happiness, and fear assertive thoughts, wants, or needs — if you lack basic self-trust, self-respect, and self-confidence — your self-esteem deficiency will limit you, no matter what other assets you possess.” If you want to become the person you have the potential to be, you must believe that you can! "It’s impossible to consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with how we see ourselves. We can do very few things in a positive way if we feel negative about ourselves." -- Zig Ziglar So how do you build your self-esteem? To get you started, consider the following ten suggestions. 1) Guard Your Self-Talk Do you encourage yourself or do you criticize yourself? Which one happens more? How do you feel when you encourage yourself versus when you criticize yourself? If we want to change our lives, we have to change the way we think about ourselves and if we want to change the way we think about ourselves, we must change the way we talk to ourselves. Research shows that it takes 3 positives to have the same impact as 1 negative. Give that a thought a moment. For every negative thought we have, it takes 3 positive thoughts to overcome the effects of the negative one. 2) Stop Comparing Yourself to Others You either perceive the other person to be far ahead of you and so get discouraged, or you perceive yourself to be better than the other person and become proud. Neither of these will help you grow. The only person you should be comparing yourself to is you! Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday. 3) Move Beyond Your Limiting Beliefs The greatest limitations people experience on their lives are usually the ones they impose on themselves. It isn’t what you are that holds you back; it’s what you think you are not. 4) Add Value to Others How much time every day and every week do you spend focusing on others and adding value to them? Do you serve others through a volunteer organization? Do you mentor people? Do you give assistance to those who need it? It’s hard to feel bad about yourself when you’re doing something good for someone else. Do something that utilizes your strengths, benefits others, and makes you feel good about yourself. 5) Do the Right Thing, Even If It’s the Hard Thing Being true to yourself and your values is a tremendous self-esteem builder. You can actually “act yourself” into feeling good about who you are because positive character expands into every area of your life and gives you confidence and positive feelings about everything you do. 6) Practice a Small Discipline Daily in a Specific Area of Your Life If there is an area in your life that seems overwhelming, try chipping away at it a little bit every day instead of trying to tackle it all at once. And since your self-worth is based on positive habits, actions, and decisions, you can build self-esteem at the same time. 7) Celebrate Small Victories Taking a break to celebrate is good for you — it encourages you and inspires you to keep going! 8) Embrace a Positive Vision for Your Life Based on What You Value If you have a positive vision for your life and you take action towards fulfilling that vision, you will more readily realize that your life matters. 9) Practice the One-Word Strategy Make a list of all of your best personal qualities. If you have positive self-esteem, then this will probably be easy for you, but if you don’t, then don’t give up. Don’t stop until you have written a hundred positive things about yourself. Using the list as a springboard, decide on the one word that best describes you. Make this word your North Star as you begin to add value to yourself. 10) Take Responsibility for Your Life We tend to get what we are willing to tolerate in life. If you want something to be different about your life, take responsibility and work towards changing it. It’s not easy, but it will be worth it. You are worth it. No matter what you’ve experienced or what mistakes you’ve made, you can learn and grow. You can become the person you have the potential to be. You just have to believe in yourself to get started.

You Must Know Yourself to Grow Yourself "No one can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself." -- James Russell Lowell Envision yourself planning a vacation. Are you going to fly or are you going to drive? Where is your starting location? Where is your destination? Is anyone going with you? Have you been there before? Why do you want to go there? What do you need to pack? Are there additional plans or reservations you need to make to ensure the success of the vacation? Growing yourself is kind of like planning that vacation; to reach your potential, you need to know where you’ve been, where you are now, where you want to go, and what you need to get there. Without having awareness of who you are and what you want, you are liable to get lost on your way. Do you have a sense of direction? According to John Maxwell, there are three kinds of people when it comes to having a direction in life: People who don’t know what they would like to do. These people are characterized by the word “confused”. They cannot reach their potential because they don’t know which direction to head. People who know what they would like to do, but don’t do it. These people are characterized by the word “frustrated” because there is a canyon between where they are and where they want to be, but for whatever reason — fear, bad advice, lack of passion — they won’t cross the bridge. People who know what they would like to do and they do it! These people are characterized by the word “fulfilled”. They know themselves, possess a strong sense of passion, are focused in their purpose, grow in the areas that move them closer to their purpose, and do what they were created to do. Which of these three kinds of people most accurately represents you? "The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance." -- Nathaniel Branden If you want to change and grow, you must know yourself and accept who you are before you can start to build. Ask yourself the following questions to start developing your self-awareness and write down your honest answers. 1) Do you like what you’re doing now? I’ve held plenty of jobs that I didn’t necessarily enjoy and we can all appreciate the need just to make living, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay there long-term. If you’re not enjoying what you do for a living, you need to take some time to examine why. What reasons do you have for staying? What reasons do you have for leaving? If you stayed, what could you do to find more enjoyment and fulfillment in your work? If you left, what would you move towards instead? Where does the greatest risk lie? 2) What would you like to do differently? Even if you love your job, there is likely something in your life that you would like to do differently or something else you would like to pursue in addition to or outside of your career. There is a direct connection between finding your passion and reaching your potential. What are you passionate about? What gives you energy? What gets you excited? 3) Do your talents, skills, opportunities, and values align with and support what you would like to do? Not every dream or desire is actually a good fit for who we are as people. I always thought it would be really cool to be a ballet dancer, but my personality, interests, values, and strengths never aligned with that. You need to have some kind of measure for knowing if the desire you have matches the abilities and traits you possess. Do you know the difference between what you want and what you’re good at? Do you know what drives you and what gives you satisfaction? Do you know what your values and priorities are? 4) What are your motives for wanting to do it? I believe that “why” we live and work is so very important. The why is what motivates us and a good “why” always involves other people because we are relational creatures, designed to love and serve the people around us. Take time to reflect on why you truly want to do what it is you would like to do. What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning? How can someone else's life be better because they crossed paths with you? "You cannot win if you don’t begin! The people who get ahead in the world are the ones who look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, they make them." --John C. Maxwell 5) Whose advice or counsel can you get to help you along the way? Who do you know that does what you want to do with excellence? Who do you know that you are willing to be honest and accountable to? Who do you know that you can learn from? Always remember that you cannot get where you want to go on your own. You need the help of others to guide you, whether you meet with them in person, listen to their podcasts, read their books, etc. 6) What are the areas that may keep you from success? How can you be intentional about growing in these areas starting today? What talents could you be intentional about practicing to make them into strengths? What blindspots do you need to be aware of so you can find ways to work through them? What skills are you lacking or need to develop further? What growth gaps from last week do you still need to address? Remember, if you want to reach your potential and become the person you were created to be, you have to be intentional about your growth. 7) What will it cost you to go after what you want (time, resources, sacrifices)? Robert H Goddard once said, “the reason many people fail is not for lack of vision but for lack of resolve and resolve is born out of counting the cost.” Taking the steps necessary to live your dreams, achieve your goals, and fulfill your purpose will cost you. There is no sugar-coating this — you will have to work hard, be uncomfortable, make sacrifices, say “no” to things you want in the moment, and continue to learn and grow and change. What choices do you need to change to push you toward your desired destination? What actions do you need to take that will bring you closer to what you want? What do you need to say "no" to in order to say "yes" to your success? What price are you truly willing to pay in order to stay resolved in your growth? Most people aren’t willing to make the choices and sacrifices it takes to achieve success. They remain, trapped on the wrong side of the canyon, frustrated that they can’t get to the other side, but unwilling to pay the toll. But I believe in you. I believe that you can experience the kind of satisfaction and success that comes from doing the things that you enjoy in your natural strengths and for the right reasons. Love your future self enough to count the cost and jump in with both feet.

Growth Doesn't Just Happen "People are anxious to improve their circumstances but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound." -- James Allen Do you have a plan for your personal growth? This can be a daunting question because, if truth be told, most people don't. Most of us just hope that if we work really hard at whatever we want, we'll eventually get it. How do you get better at what you do? How do you improve your relationships? How do you overcome obstacles? Work harder? Work longer? Wait for things to get better? But hard work isn't a guarantee of success. And as John Maxwell says, hope isn't a strategy. James Allen wrote in As a Man Thinketh, "People are anxious to improve their circumstances but are unwilling to improve themselves; they, therefore, remain bound." How do you need to grow to improve your circumstances? Stop pointing at everything around you as the problem and start looking at yourself. If you want something to change, what do you need to do to make it happen? "Hope isn't a strategy, so drop the "e" and hop to it." I'm not saying, and I'm pretty sure that Mr. Allen isn't either, that there aren't things outside your control, but no matter what is going on in your life, whether personal or professional, there is room for you to grow and take ownership of what is. If you simply focus on goals or what you want to change, you might hit the mark but there is no guarantee of that. If you focus on growing yourself, you will grow and you will achieve your goals and effect change as a result. However, there is a difference between accidental growth and intentional growth. Accidental growth: Plans to start tomorrow Waits for growth to come Learns only from mistakes Depends on good luck Quits early and often Falls into bad habits Talks big Plays it safe Thinks like a victim Relies on talent Stops learning after graduation Intentional Growth: Insists on starting today Takes complete responsibility to grow Often learns before mistakes happen Relies on hard work Perseveres long and hard Fights for good habits Follows through Takes risks Thinks like a learner Relies on character Never stops growing "The sooner you make the transition to becoming intentional about your personal growth, the better it will be for you, because growth compounds and accelerates if you remain intentional about it." -- John C. Maxwell So how do you foster intentional growth in your life? Step 1: Identify Your Growth Gap Traps If you're like me -- and most people -- you have one or more mistaken beliefs about growth that are creating a gap between where you are and where you want to be. Look at the eight growth gap traps pictured below. Which of these have caused you to neglect growing the way you perhaps could have? What strategies can you create and implement to help you bridge the gaps? Write a specific plan for each gap that applies to you and take the first step of that plan today because the longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it. Step 2: Ask the Big Question Now Shift your thinking from "How long will this take?" to "How far can I go?" Growth happens in a lifetime, not a single moment. You may not be able to answer this question just now, but it will help you set the direction of your growth and imagine your best possible self (which will change as you do as well!) John Maxwell writes, "The best you can hope to do in life is to make the most out of whatever you've been given. You do that by investing in yourself, making yourself the best you can be. The more you've got to work with, the greater your potential -- and the farther you should try to go." Step 3: Do It Now The greatest danger you face right now is the idea that you will make intentional growth a priority later. It's no surprise that we get easily distracted by everything little thing that comes our way. But what we give our time to indicates what we actually make a priority in our lives. Don't put growth on the back burner, doing so will only guarantee that you fall into that "accidental growth" category. Take a look at your calendar for 2023. How much time do you have specifically scheduled for personal growth? And because I can already guess the answer, I'm going to tell you right now to rework that calendar so you have an appointment with yourself to prioritize personal growth. And I'm not talking about once a month or even once a week. Remember, what we give our time to indicates what we make a priority. So set that appointment for every day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year. And maybe you're thinking that you don't HAVE time for that... and it's probably true. So the question becomes, what do you prioritize over your success? Because that's what growth equals. Growth is successfully reaching your goals, changing your habits, and transforming you into who you were created to be. Whatever it is that is pushing out that personal growth appointment, is it worth your dreams and reaching your full potential?

"Potential is one of the most wonderful words in any language." If you're like me, you're already thinking about what to do differently next year and how to be a better version of yourself. But did you know that only 8% of people who actually set goals are able to achieve them? So how do we join the elite success stories and unlock our potential? The answer is growth! If you're looking for purpose, you need to grow in self-awareness. If you're working to advance your career, you need to grow in your skills. If you're wanting to be a better partner or parent, you need to grow in relationships. If you're reaching towards financial freedom, you need need to grow in your knowledge of money. If you're striving to be a better human being, you need to grow in character. If you're longing to enrich your soul, you need to grow spiritually. To reach our potential we first must grow and to grow we MUST be intentional about it. John C. Maxwell wrote The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth to help seekers unlock their potential through personal growth and helping them become more effective and fulfilled. The specifics of growth vary from person to person, but the same principles apply to everyone. Join me here, or sign up below for my weekly newsletter, as we jumpstart the New Year with the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell with new information coming every Tuesday. My recommendation is that you share and discuss this information. Complete the application exercises that will be provided each week. Keep a growth journal or have another method to write down want you want to accomplish. Find ways to incorporate what you're learning into everyday life. By learning the 15 Laws and living them out, you will be on your way to reaching your potential. Stay with it, learn and grow every day, and you will be amazed how far you can go!