Something most of us were not told growing up, in school, in college or at work is to grow yourself. I remember hearing, go to school, get a good job and retire. Continue to go to school to stay on top of the career you chose. I do not ever, recall hearing, “continue to develop yourself”.
Developing yourself is about the entire you, spiritually, physically, emotionally, financially, professionally and relationally. We should all be growing in each of the areas at one time or another. While it may not be possible to grow in all of the areas at once, we should at least always be growing in one way or another. For some may pick two areas to focus on today, others may pick one area, whatever works best for your learning style and commitment levels, pick an area to grow in.
For myself, I’m usually always on a spiritual journey, looking to learn more about the bible, prayer and my spiritual gifts. For you spiritual journey may mean something other than the bible. In addition to spiritually growing, I always have another area I am working on as well.
Recently, I have been intentionally growing emotionally, which includes how the mind operates, I earned my practitioner certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which helps with the way we are programmed to behave. I knew that emotional growth meant that I would make less emotional decisions, be slow to get offended and responding in such a manner. In addition, I would find the tools that kept me moving towards my dreams, asperations and goals. I find tools, test them on myself and usually my daughter or sister, and once I know with out a shadow of a doubt that they work, I then help other people create the life they want using the tools that has helped me.
It doesn’t take much to grow, just the desire to want to be, do and have more than what we’re shown as children. Growth could mean something as simple as reading a book, listening to a podcast or attending a seminar on finances.
When you’re interested in growing emotionally, I recommend the book that first made me aware of my emotional state of mind, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, by Bradberry and Greaves, you can order the book off of Amazon. There is an assessment with the book that will help identify where you are emotionally and then help you close the gaps in any area that you choose.
The first thing in creating a different or better life, is becoming aware of where you are in life. The second thing is making the decision to grow. The third is coming up with a growth plan. We’ll cover growth plans at a later time.
Everyone grows at different times, in different ways using different methods. Make growing easy for yourself. Choose to create your own growth plan and find the method that is easiest for you. If you don’t know where to start, John C Maxwell has a great book called the 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, it is a great place to start. I use the book to run Masterminds (Book Studies), if you’re interested in learning and growing in a community, send me an email at monica@monicaMmadden.com and let me know that you’re interested in growing with a community.
Until next time, choose to create your growth plan today.