The Power of Personal Growth

Let the wise listen and add to their learning. Proverbs 1:5 NIV

Jim Rohn once said, "The greatest value in life is not what you get but what you become. Becoming is growing. Here are some things you need to know about growth:

(1) Growth isn't automatic. You're only young once, but you can be
immature indefinitely. Each year the lobster is forced to shed its shell; it's a pity we aren't! Come on, if you don't make personal growth your responsibility it'll never happen. The road to anything worthwhile is always uphill, so the sooner you start climbing the closer to reaching your God-ordained potential you'll be.

(2) Growth today brings success tomorrow. What you sow today determines
what you reap tomorrow. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Once stretched by a new idea, a man's mind never regains its original dimensions." So what are you doing today to become more successful tomorrow?

(3) Growth is your responsibility. When you were a child your parents
were responsible for your growth, now you are. Robert Browning wrote, "Why stay we on earth except to grow?" Good question! Yet few of us dedicate ourselves to the process. Why? Because growth requires change and most of us are uncomfortable with change. Gail Sheehy writes, "If we don't change we won't grow, and if we don't grow we're not really living. Growth demands the temporary surrender of security. It means a giving up of familiar but limiting patterns, safe but unrewarding work, values no longer believed in, relationships that have lost their meaning. Taking a new step is what we fear most, yet our real fear should be the opposite." Can you think of anything worse than living a life devoid of growth and improvement?

Get understanding. Esteem her, and she will exalt you.
Proverbs 4:7-8 NIV

(4)Be teachable. The famous basketball coach John Wooden said, "What counts,
is what you learn after you know it all." That's because the more you learn, the less you think you have to learn. When that happens you become - unteachable!

(5)Never stay satisfied with your current accomplishments. The greatest
enemy of tomorrow's success is today's success. Thinking you've "arrived" because you accomplished certain things is fatal! It takes away your desire for continued growth. Successful people don't sit back and rest on their laurels. They know that wins, like losses, are temporary. They understand that they have to keep growing if they want to stay productive. Some things get you to the top, other things keep you there. You must stay hungry. Refuse to settle in the comfort zone or let success go to your head. Enjoy it briefly, then move on to greater things.

(6)Become a continual learner. A university study done a few years ago
found that almost one-third of all physicians were so busy working, they were 2 years behind in the latest developments in their field. Heaven help their patients! If you want to be a continual learner, you must carve out time to do it! Henry Ford said, "It's been my observation that successful people get ahead during the time other people waste." Carry your Bible, tapes and CD's when you travel. Seize every opportunity to keep growing. The secret to becoming a learner - is to learn something new every day! Listen, "Get understanding. Esteem her and she will exalt you."

(7)Find a way to apply what you learn. Don't let learning lead to
knowledge - let it lead to action! If you're not changing as a result of what you're learning, it's because: (a) you're not giving your personal growth plan enough attention; (b) you're focusing on your liabilities instead of your possibilities; (c) you're not applying what you're learning. You've forgotten the all-important principle which says, "When you only listen and do nothing, you are fooling yourselves" ( James 1:22 NCV).