Do you have a systematic approach to your personal and professional growth? I have found there to be three foundational elements in my system for personal and professional growth.
- Resource yourself.
- Resistance yourself.
- Refocus yourself.
Resource yourself … what information do you have? How are you processing (or maturing) it? The answers to these questions will determine whether or not transformation happens in your life. Establish today that you want to learn and grow – to process information to maturation – so transformation happens in your life. Reading is one of my primary means for resourcing myself. I strive to finish a book a week … and at any one time I am reading five. But I do not read just any book. Rather, I am very strategic and intentional about topics that align with the areas in which I want to grow, such as: finances, leadership, relationships, and others. Every time you pick up a book, you have in your hands the best efforts of that author. Reading is key to resourcing myself. Another means for resourcing myself is through relationships. I often leverage the expertise and skills sets of others to aid in my development. Who is a person you know that has expertise in an area in which you are striving to grow?
Resistance yourself … embracing resistance is using what could stop you … to GROW you! If you refuse to use resistance for your growth, you never benefit from the very thing that can MAKE you grow. Ask yourself, “What price am I willing to pay for my next level?” Your next level has “handles of resistance” waiting for you to grab on to. One form of resistance is found in our feelings. We have all had days when we don’t feel like exercising, eating right, or going to school or work. Subordinate your body to your spirit … when your body does not “feel” like doing something, lead with your spirit and push through it. The discipline of acting your way into a feeling and not feeling your way into action will enable you to benefit from the resistance you chose to embrace!
Refocus yourself … what you accomplish in life is determined by your ability to focus. Clear focus eliminates distractions, unifies your activity, and guides your decision making. Regularly revisit your areas of focus and refocus them as your vision for what you want/need to learn changes. Let’s say you designate the next quarter to focus on developing a better understanding in the area of personal finance. Refocus becomes necessary along the way as you eliminate distractions, but it also is necessary when it is time to move on to the your next developmental topic. With regard to distractions … they cause your focus to waiver. When it does, your attention is split and efforts diluted. Grasping for everything leaves you nothing, hence the old adage, if you chase two rabbits you won’t catch either. Think about recurring factors that easily distract you … what are your top three? Let’s say they are noise, e-mail, and casual conversations. Create a system for minimizing the distractions, such as scheduling time at the coffee shop or library to read and scheduling a specific time(s) in the day to review and answer email.
These are three simple, yet critical elements of a system for personal growth and development. You may have others that work for you. The important thing is to have a system and the discipline to follow it … as success is found in the system.
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