Intentional Growth: Why Success Doesn't Happen by Accident
Do you know what it takes to reach your full potential?
Finding your potential involves a unique set of steps that require you to take action. There's no magic pill or one-size-fits-all solution. You have to be willing to put in the work and be open to change.
The key to success lies in asking yourself great self-development questions.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What is your underlying desire in life?
- Do you yearn for self-fulfillment? Or is self-development more important to you?
- Are your efforts designed to make you feel good? Or are they designed to help you become the best you can be?
- Is your goal to be successful? Or is it to achieve significance?
The answers to these questions are a personal growth journey. As a leader, you have an opportunity to help people grow and reach their full potential. To do this effectively requires that we take personal responsibility for our own growth as well. If we're not growing, we're not reaching our potential.
Personal Growth
John Maxwell talks about the Law of Contribution in The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. This law states that: "Growing yourself enables you to grow others." You may be asking why you need a personal growth plan, or how growth helps make a great leader.
Leadership is built on growth.
Growth does not happen by accident
A growth plan has purpose; a fundamental purpose that will help you reach your full potential
Without a growth plan, you might experience growth, but it will be unplanned and as a result, you are unlikely to reach your full potential. Your growth will stall and you will stay in the same place. A growth plan gives you a purpose and direction - it is essential for reaching personal growth goals.
By having a growth plan in place, you are making a commitment to yourself to grow and develop. This growth may be in specific areas such as your career or personal life, or it may be more general growth in terms of your personal development. Whatever the case may be, without a growth plan, it is unlikely that you will reach your full potential.
If you are looking to make positive changes in your life and reach your full potential, then developing a personal growth plan is an essential first step.
Making a personal growth plan involves deep self-evaluation, which is great for self-improvement.
You must pursue the greatness within to achieve personal growth. If we don’t become good at what we do, the people around us can't become good at what they do. If we don’t reach our full potential, the people around us can't reach theirs.
In order to be a great leader and influence, you have to show people that you can be one. If you show others what a great leader is, they will reflect it in their own lives and personal growth. They will grow from you.
The main reason for pursuing self-growth is to help others.
You can't give what you don't have. Every day ask yourself: what do I have to give? No matter how much you give today if you keep growing, tomorrow you will have more.
Be Like a River
In John Maxwell’s book, he tells us to be like a river, not a reservoir. In other words, we need to let our gifts flow out of us. We all have people in our lives who have given their gifts to support our growth.
Stop for a moment and think about those people.
Just as others have encouraged you and helped you grow, you should do the same for them. Who has encouraged you to be your best?
These questions will help you identify the people who are like a river in your life:
- Who offers you mentoring and a baseline of wisdom when you need it most?
- Who challenges you to think more deeply?
- Who helps you aspire to be a better person?
- Who cheers you on in the pursuit of your dreams when you doubt yourself?
- Who shares your load when you are experiencing high-pressure moments and stressful situations?
- Who gives you perspective when you've become dispirited?
We all have the potential to grow.
And we all have the potential to develop as leaders—to learn how to best lead others.
The UpCloseTeam believes that we have no greater purpose than to take what we've learned and pass it on to you. To pass on our knowledge and experiences...so that we can be a river to you and help you grow to achieve your full potential.
We believe in you and we know there's no limit to what can happen if only you keep pushing forward. Take a step today, it will be the first of many toward your future success!
It's often said that we should never stop learning, and there's a lot of truth to that statement. After all, growth is what allows us to reach our full potential. When we push ourselves to learn new things, we open up new possibilities for ourselves. We might discover hidden talents or find new interests. We might even surprise ourselves with how much we're capable of.
Of course, growth isn't always easy. It can be scary to step outside our comfort zones and tackle something new. But that's the beauty of growth; it challenges us to stretch beyond what we thought was possible. So next time you're feeling stuck, remember that growth is just around the corner.
Keep stretching, and keep growing. One day, what seemed so hard will become simple. That's the magic of self-growth.
We would like to leave you with two thoughts from John C. Maxwell that have inspired our growth:
- Don’t let life come to you; you go to life.
- Don’t expect things to happen to you; go make them happen.
Start your personal plan for growth and see how your personal and professional life begins to change. Realize your true leadership potential.
Your friends,
UpCloseTeam
