As caterpillar changes into an attractive and productive butterfly so also you need to consistently experience growth in your personal life.But you must be willing to change. Every living thing on this earth is designed for growth. However not many people are willing to dedicate themselves to a deliberate program of growth. This is because growth requires change, and most of us are reluctant to change. But without change, growth is impossible. Life is designed for motion not stagnation. Those who put up with stagnation eventually end up in frustration. The average person may not mind change as long as it affects someone else. But we put up resistance when it affects us personally.Dear friend, if you’re not changing, you’re not growing. Growing means giving up familiar but limiting beliefs, values, and work, relationships or thought patterns. Change is inevitable. Everybody has to deal with it because if we are not growing we start dying. Life is designed for growth, for continuous improvement. To experience personal development you must make a choice for growth, because growth is a choice. It is impossible for you to try and maintain your current position and make progress at the same time. Don’t dig in, but keep moving. Settle this once and for all. The only way to improve the quality of your life is to improve yourself through consistent growth. To grow your business, grow yourself. To have a better wife, be a better husband. To have better children be a better parent. To have better friends, be a better friend. One of the greatest discoveries you’ll make in life is this: as you change and improve; things and people will change and improve around you. Since the only person you really have the ability to change anyway is yourself, begin by changing yourself. Make a choice to grow everyday. And start with what you have where you are. The things that you have done to be where you are today very basic. Because they are things you have done daily over a long period of time. Things like breathing, eating, sleeping and going to toilet. Take note they are things you must do for yourself. You see, growth is a non-transferable responsibility; start now. Feed your mind with the good stuff, buy books,attend seminar, volunteer for community services and any other ways you can think of to improve your self. And begin to apply the things you are learning. Change your attitude and your altitude level will change There is nothing that brings contentment in life like growth. Whatever or whoever is not growing becomes a source of concern. Growth has many advantages. When we grow we change. And when we change things happen around us. Life becomes more favourable. You see, there are many good opportunities available for us to enjoy. But we cannot gain access to them until we are matured enough to handle them. Growth today guarantees a better tomorrow. Life responds to values not titles. When you add to your personal value everyday, you will eventually attract what you are worth.Now to grow you must be teachable. The greatest obstacle to growth may not be ignorance. It may be knowledge. The point at which you feel that you know it all is the point is the point at which you stop growing. Really, the more you know, the more you should know that you don’t know. No wonder former basketball coach, John Wooden once said, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” Always remember that there is a higher level than where you are. And when you remain teachable, your potential is almost limitless.Make a decision to grow now .
Posts Tagged Personal Success
What is personal success? Personal success occurs when we make the right decision at the right time. Most of us have an idea of the type of person we would like to be. However, few of us take the time to turn this into a reality. A lack of perspective is often the biggest reason for this. People tend to take their lives for granted. This is a shame when we think about the good we can do for our lives.
Having a goal is so important. It injects a sense of purpose and meaning into our lives. You may already have a broad idea of a goal you would like to achieve. If this is the case, then now is the point to turn it into something specific. For instance, if you are looking to lose weight think about how much weight you would like to lose and in what time. The brain works best when it receives clear instructions. If you were asked to do something vague by your boss at work you would ask them to clarify what they mean. A specific goal is a clear instruction.
A measure of self awareness is essential in critical decision making. If we do not feel in control of ourselves, then how can we expect to take control over our own destiny and circumstance? A extreme amount of self awareness can be detrimental. It can cause us to be too fearful of the consequence of tasking action. In addition, what we shall call ‘extreme self awareness’ can lead us to being overly judgemental of our experiences and actions. So how do we get the balance right? Well fortunately help is at hand.
Self awareness is the key to taking the correct initiative. We are confident and honest with ourselves. That way we will take action that is balanced between knowledge and a desire to get things done. Rash decision making should be replaced with calm rational and decisive action. The difference between success and failure can be made in a snap decision. By being self aware you are conscious of your own skills and your limitations. It is important to not confuse confidence with arrogance. If you are planning a new business venture make sure you have done as much research as possible. Make your goal a calculated risk.
Ignorance is the enemy of success. What is even worse than ignorance is self enforced ignorance. This is self induced ignorance brought about by a reluctance to challenge existing knowledge and look for alternatives. Being able to find an alternative solution to a problem is what creates innovation and competition. Without this key asset we wouldn’t have different companies or products. This is why you must maintain an open mind combined with self awareness to get your goal setting spot on.
There are unhelpful character traits that will inhibit a successful outcome to initiative taking. One of the first things you need to eliminate is procrastination. If you are the sort of person who says ‘it can wait till next week ‘frequently then this applies to you. The reason why this is so important is that your mind set directly effects your behaviour and daily habits. Even being lazy towards somewhat trivial things in a business can have a corrosive effect on your overall attitude.
Taking control of your life is the key to securing long term success. Regardless of whether we were born rich or poor we all have the ability to manage our lives in a way to ensures we reach our true potential . The refrain ‘It was due to circumstances beyond my control’ is a commonly used excuse among people. The problem with excuses such as these is that they are defeatist. Rather than getting us to look for solutions to our problems, they encourage us to accept our fate as if we were helpless. The most successful people are not only able to triumph over adversity but are able to draw strength from it. Personal development will help you to become like this sort of person.
To sustain your growth you must create time to invest in yourself. You will be amazed how much you can take in while riding in your car or while traveling. Henry Ford said, “It’s been my observation that most successful people get ahead during the time that others waste.” Always have a book, a magazine or a Walkman cassette player handy. Keep taking in information. Output answers to input. You can’t get out of yourself more than you have gotten into yourself.It is also important that you focus on a few major goal. You can’t grow in every direction. You just can’t become an expert in every field. Focus on your most important roles and goals in life and keep learning in those areas. John Maxwell once said, “Self- development draws you toward your destiny.”No business will outgrow its Chief Executive. To grow outside, you must first grow inside. And to experience continuous growth, we must have a definite plan for growth. We cannot leave our personal development to chance or to extra time. We hardly have surplus time anyway. Growth must be deliberate. So, schedule time for your personal growth daily. Schedule time to plan your day or your week. Schedule time to read books or listen to tapes. Schedule time to attend seminars and conferences. Schedule time with your mentors.Remember consistency is important. If plants are soaked in large amounts of water only once a week or once a month, they will soon die. They take in water consistently. Just make sure you are learning something new everyday. Be willing to pay the price for growth. It requires discipline. It is easier to watch comedy on the T.V than to read or polish your skills. It costs money to buy books and tapes. However remember that in life pain is inevitable. It is either the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The pain of regret is worse. Through discipline you can make investments in your life today. Investment is the key to achievement. Theodore Roosevelt Former President of the United States once said, “There has not yet been a person in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.”You must rise to a new level, so you can take your business to a new level. Pay the price for growth today; you will win the prize of success tomorrow.
Take a millionaire to lunch and you may find a new mentor. Spending the money to be mentored by an expert is a key strategy to personal success. In this past year, every new idea I have learned has come from the time and money I spent to be with successful mentors.
Mentors are invaluable. There is no such thing as a self-made millionaire. Everyone has had help with some phase of professional development. You can go a long way toward life mastery and business success with books and tapes. But eventually you will want to have mentors with whom you communicate and interact on a regular basis. There are great professional development mentors to be found right in your own hometown.
Make a list of those people who intrigue you with their achievements in business success. Then, ask the first one for coffee or a lunch meeting. Repeat this process with each one as you refine your professional development questions to get the most out of the time you spend together.
And, don’t forget to ask how you can be of service to each of these people.
When I was beginning this process, I was surprised that busy, successful people were willing to take the time to share their secrets of personal success with me. All you have to do is ask! You may be surprised to find they will even pass on to you professional development strategies that they have learned from their mentors.
An attitude of openness to possibility is essential. Keep your eyes and ears open, and have enough faith in yourself to make quick decisions and go for it. Don’t ever be afraid to pay someone for his or her knowledge.
The rewards you reap in saving years of trial and error, not to mention the strong possibility that you may never learn on your own the personal development strategies that they are willing to teach you, is more than worth the investment.
Just this past weekend, I was at an event where I had the opportunity to network with some of the most brilliant marketers. We brainstormed about business success over meals and in the hallways during breaks in the meetings.
You’ll find that successful people love helping other people succeed. We all share an attitude of “let me tell you what’s working for me now” that allows everyone to take advantage of each other’s discoveries and business success strategies.
Yes, we’re all in the same business as marketers, speakers and authors; but we are building strategic alliances rather than looking at each other as competitors. That makes being a well-informed risk taker much easier than going it alone.
It’s a good idea to associate with the people who are already in the place of where you want to go. Only listen to people who have big goals for themselves and are willing to do what it takes to be successful. Don’t make the mistake of asking someone for advice who hasn’t done what you are planning to do.
Taking responsibility makes it possible for you to experience the total pleasure of the success you achieve. What? Read that again. I have a feeling that you didn’t give that thought time to sink in.
To fully be responsible, you must take responsibility for the good and the seemingly bad in your life—for your positive habits as well as your negative habits.
It reminds me of how parents will jokingly or not so jokingly say when a child does something good, “That’s my boy.” And when he does something wrong, “He’s your son.”
Taking responsibility comes with big benefits. You assess the situation and then take steps to change what doesn’t contribute to your personal success. When you take responsibility you experience the accomplishment of your personal success goals at a much higher level than if you only take credit for the good that comes into your life and blame someone else for the rest.
I admit that it took me quite a while to come to terms with cutting off the excess baggage I was carrying around. I seemed quite comfortable accepting responsibility in all areas of my life except for one.
I spent almost 10 years in an abusive relationship. I thought I was well along my path of personal success and spiritual growth at that time. I only read motivational and self-help books. I listened to personal growth tapes in my car. I lived and breathed the personal development principles I learned, or so I thought.
Despite all that positive reinforcement, I was wearing blinders to this horrible situation. But it wasn’t my fault, or so I told myself confidently. Obviously it had to be his fault because look at all the evidence of how empowered I was.
And yet, there I stayed. Being beaten up physically and verbally on a regular basis. If I had told anyone, they would have been shocked.
Looking back all these years later, I have a completely different perspective. I wasn’t so innocent in all this. I played some part or it couldn’t have happened.
If I were going to take responsibility, which means having the ability to respond and adapt rather than react to situations, I would have to give myself a serious reality check.
As painful as it may be to let go of the convenience of blaming someone else for what happens in your life, it’s necessary for you to move forward and be successful.
Because while you are still blaming or holding a grudge, like I was in that situation, a lot of energy that could be used for personal development is fueling anger, resentment and fear.
Think of this excess baggage from your past as a virus on your computer. On the surface everything looks like it’s running normally, but behind the scenes something is using up energy that slows down the progress of what you’re trying to create.
You have to look deep inside your computer to find that virus. You may have to engage the services of an expert to help you work it out. It’s inconvenient, but once done, you feel much better, your computer is back to full potential and you can work quickly with results showing up faster than before.
In that abusive relationship I had to look at the fact that I allowed myself to be manipulated. I handed over my power to someone else. No matter how persuasive his verbal abuse to break down my self-confidence, in the end he couldn’t be successful without my help.
Once I became responsible, I came up with a plan. And because I was now responding and adapting to situations rather than reacting like a victim, my plan got implemented, I created the desired result and extracted myself from that relationship.
I believe I could have ended up dead if I had allowed the violence to continue. It happens to women every day and I could have been one of them.
That’s why it’s so important for you to take back your power from partners, family, friends, and the media. You may not have ever been in a situation like I was and I hope you never are.
But…
You are the only one who should be in charge of your life.
You bear the sole responsibility for who you are today and who you will become in the future— no one else is responsible for your personal growth and success