Friday Review: Growth
How much did you grow in 2023? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“Everything you go through grows you.”
“I once was better at this than I am.”
How much did you grow in 2023? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“Everything you go through grows you.”
“I once was better at this than I am.”
Most of us have experienced the dark side of making comparisons to others. Social media, in particular, has raised it to exponential levels.
What are some examples you’ve seen or experienced directly?
What negative and lingering consequences are easily observable in the people around you?
Alternatively, where and when has making comparisons propelled you toward greater mastery and achievement?
Who are the mentors, coaches, and role models that encourage and motivate you to be your best?
How do their examples help you tap into your own reservoirs of courage, tenacity, and persistence to realize far more of your potential?
EXERCISE:
Where and how could a more positive curiosity toward comparison with others inspire greater growth and achievement in your personal and professional life?
How well do you deal with rejection?
How many big and small no’s do you receive in a typical day?
To what degree do they stop you or simply create a detour in your paths and plans?
Take a few minutes to examine the significant no’s you’ve received over the years in your personal and professional worlds. In what ways did they test you and offer valuable lessons that still serve you today?
Oscar Wilde said: “Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.”
EXERCISE:
How have the no’s of the past helped you grow?
How can the no’s of today and tomorrow be a springboard for your future growth?
What is your perspective on winter? What activities make up most of your days during the winter months? How much time do you spend outdoors?
Except for periodic brisk walks and sprinting from one building to another with my car acting as a shuttle service, I live a predominantly indoor life when it’s cold. Although I admire the grit and fortitude of people who choose a frigid lifestyle, I prefer to hibernate or fly south.
Instead of feeling bad and self-critical during these months, I’ve learned to embrace more inner efforts as a necessary and valuable aspect of living on a planet that circles the sun on a 23 degree angle.
EXERCISE:
How can and do you embrace each of nature’s seasons and the opportunity they offer? What inner and outer work lies ahead for you in this new year?
No one likes to be criticized and judged. We like the way we are doing our lives and anyone who disapproves is clearly wrong!
Oops! What just happened? How can it be that we, too, may be just as critical of others, and they don’t care for it very much either?
What if instead of blocking this feedback and defending our positions, we simply paused to consider their perspective?
What would happen if we actually looked for the potential value in what was being said?
How might new ways of looking at ourselves create new opportunities for growth and self-improvement?
EXERCISE:
How would slowing down for the seemingly critical speed bumps offered by others make your travel through life smoother?
How might the ideas that are shared actually fit if you “try them on” for size?
If you still find them too tight, loose, itchy, or the wrong color, you can take them off.
Michelangelo was born in 1475 and died in 1564. His longevity would be remarkable even today, with the average life expectancy of a man being somewhere between 78 and 83.
Perhaps it was his Mediterranean diet or disciplined exercise efforts that added those extra years. My guess would definitely include his industrious spirit and his desire for continuous learning.
His Sistine Chapel ceiling was completed between 1508 and 1512, and the Rondanini Pieta sculpture was produced in the year of his passing.
How strong is your desire to learn and grow? Where might exercising your learning muscles add more years to your life and life in your years? How does and can the pursuit of learning make your life a more beautiful work of art?
To what degree do you feel like you are at a breaking point? Where are the levels of personal and professional stress having a negative impact on your physical and mental health?
I recently visited the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. Of particular interest was a glass breaking exhibition in which various types of glass were put to the test. Over the years of use and development of this miraculous material, engineers and scientists have come up with numerous processes to make glass far stronger and resistant to breakage.
Where are you being tempered and heat treated through various life experiences? How can you view these events and the stories you tell about them as opportunities for greater growth and resilience?
Where are you still climbing the ladders of life? Where do you continue to learn, grow, and achieve new levels of excellence and mastery?
Where have you peaked in your personal and professional efforts? Where it is harder to keep up with your former self?
In what areas of your life have you noticed declines in physical or mental capacities, and how well are you doing navigating this descent?
Consider reading Brook’s book From Strength to Strength and pay particular attention to the concepts of fluid versus crystalized intelligence. These concepts were first described by Raymond Cattell in his 1971 book, Abilities: Structure, Growth, and Action.
I hope these resources offer you evidence and that we can all keep getting better in ways we may previously not have considered.
What are your most important goals for 2022? To what degree have you progressed toward them and how do you feel about your efforts?
How do you expect to feel when you reach the end of your journey and stand on the peaks of your achievements? What then?
Another goal and then another. How is it possible to remain energized and not be let down soon after we actually hold the prize?
Numerous experts on personal and professional development suggest we focus on growth versus goals. This shift in perspective supports us in gaining satisfaction from our efforts and milestones along our paths instead of just the pots of gold at our journey’s end.
Where would adopting a growth versus a goal mindset enhance your motivation, momentum, and levels of success?
Imagine your life as an oak tree standing tall in a healthy forest. Your life began as an acorn filled with potential from a nearby member of your family. You got lucky that first season, landing in a fertile spot with lots of water, nutrients, and sunlight.
With all of these positive influences you received the bonus of a squirrel burying you, and not remembering where, over the winter. You sprouted, started sending your branches and leaves to the sky and your roots deep into the ground. One day you, too, got to be generous, and dropped your own wise acorns onto the ground.
What are some of the most impactful lessons you have learned over the years?
Who were some of the guides and teachers that helped you grow?
What lessons are you still learning and who are the people that continue to bring out your best?