Change is inevitable; growth is optional
It’s the beginning of a new year and it’s a perfect time to evaluate with a fresh mind where you are going in life. Consider the quote “change is evitable; growth is optional.” As time passes, and as you gain more experience and wisdom, are you growing, though? Are you growing your mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, and physical levels? If you are growing in all aspects of your life, then great! Way to go, and keep it up. However, chances are there is probably at least one level you’re not growing in; maybe it’s stagnating. Worse, one or some of your levels might be declining.
To help you take a little deeper dive to evaluate where you are in your life and levels, try this. Take a snapshot. Out of only 10 total points, allocate points signifying how much attention you are paying to these four aspects of your life:
Physical practice
Rest/recovery/reflection
Family and friends
Work/business
For example, someone like you could be allocating 5 points for work/business, 2 for physical practice, 2 for family and friends, and 1 for rest/recovery/reflection. With the current real-time snapshot you’re taking now, you can see how and where your mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, and physical levels are progressing.
Objectively seeing where your energy is being spent on, and seeing what that is resulting in will give you a better idea on how to adjust your life and energy/focus allocation to grow whichever levels you see that are not where you want them to be.
There might be some aspects/levels in your life that you want to increase your effort or focus on, and some aspects/levels in your life that you want to decrease your effort or focus on. It might be difficult to consider what to really focus on, since you might be juggling so many things. An easy start is to ask yourself: what are you going to intentionally not focus on (during your day, week, month, and/or year)?
If there’s some aspect or level you want to increase your effort or focus on, to grow it, then you’ll need to consider this. You’ll have to frame it in intentional and sustainable growth. This growth you want to experience most likely will help you develop for competence and confidence in that aspect or level of your life.
To truly grow to develop your competence and confidence, then, consider these four questions:
Do you have the right Motivation or Purpose to do what you need to do to grow?
Are you executing the right Behaviors consistently to help you grow?
Do you have the right Connection or Relationship with a coach or others in your personal network to help keep you accountable to grow?
Is your System or Environment set up to allow you to grow?
The first two questions are internal, to you; the second two questions are external, to you. For example, if you wanted to improve your physical aspect or level of your life, then you might have an initial purpose of wanting to lose weight and get healthy. However, what behaviors would you need to engage in to achieve your goals to satisfy your purpose? Suppose you are indeed engaged in the right behaviors, but are falling short of your goals, or falling off the wagon/path. Do you have a relationship with someone (like a coach) to keep accountable to and to get guidance from? Are your family members and friends and even co-workers on board with what you’re doing and are supporting you? Is the system or environment set up so that you can improve your physical aspect or level? Is there junk food all around the house and workplace? Is your home gym or the gym you go to really the right place for you?
Evaluating where you’re at, and how and where you want to grow by using those four questions is powerful. Bringing someone else into the fold with a fresh or different set of eyes and experiences to help you answer those questions is even more powerful.
A coach might be that second set of eyes to help you objectively figure out what you need to do and where to go.
When you honestly determine what your purpose is, have a shared and clear relationship with a coach or guide to help you achieve it, have a system or environment set up to operate in effectively, then following the right plan and performing the right behaviors will allow you to grow.
For whichever aspect or level you want to improve, an honest conversation can lead to more clarity and direction for your intentional and sustainable growth in your life in this new year.
If you’re still reading this, then you might want to have that conversation with someone now.
Feel free to have it with us.