Jolt!, Phil Cooke [reading women txt] 📗

THE POWER OF LABELS—IN YOUR LIFE AND IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS.

What will have to be aligned for your habits to change? Evaluate the negative habits you’ve written down and then write what you’ll have to do to change those habits. In one man’s case, it was simple things like computer software, avoiding certain situations, and accountability. In your case, it might be seeing a doctor, agreeing with your boss or spouse, or rearranging your priorities.

Give it ten days and see what happens.

Open yourself up to the world of your invisible habits and begin making the changes that can transform your life.

REVIEW

Jolt What Matters

Make the decision today to take control of your life.

1. What do I need to do to make stronger choices in my life?

2. I am the only person controlling my life and my decisions. In what areas and with whom do I need to commit to stronger boundaries?

3. In what areas do I need to practice better focus?

4. What negative baggage and issues do I need to release?

5. I n what areas of my life do I need to commit to breaking destructive patterns?

6. Write a statement of commitment, using your answers to the above questions. For example: I commit to ___________ in order to make stronger choices. I commit to establish stronger boundaries with __________. (Continue with questions 3–5.)

JOLT

YOUR

POTENTIAL

» JOLT #11

PERSONAL GROWTH

IS NOT AN OPTION

Never Stop Learning

There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.

—RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Create the kind of climate in your organization where personal growth is expected, recognized, and rewarded.

—AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Personal growth can be daunting in an age when technology changes on a daily basis. Just when you thought you understood your TV remote, a new one comes out that also controls the Internet, the lights, and the washing machine. As a result, millions of people have just given up on learning any thing new—believing that they can’t possibly keep up with the explosion of newfangled information.

Knowledge and intelligence are wonderful assets. Obviously, the more someone knows, the more potential he or she has for weighing the facts, understanding different perspectives, and making good decisions. But growth is more than just learning information. The truth is, universities are filled with brilliant people who are personal failures. Our greatest innovators and most creative people aren’t always the smartest. In studying leadership over the years, I’ve discovered that the greatest leaders aren’t always the most intelligent executives in the company. In Hollywood, the most brilliant artists and filmmakers are often miserable failures in their personal and family lives.

» KNOWLEDGE IS IMPORTANT, BUT THE REAL ASSET IS GROWTH.

Growth is what we do with knowledge. Growth is where we take our knowledge, how we apply it, and how we use it in our everyday lives.

Leadership expert John Maxwell taught me long ago to change my orientation from goals to growth. When he said those words, it was a revelation. I’d always learned that goals were important, and I tried and tried to use a system of reaching goals, but I’d always struggled with it. I could see that goals motivated lots of people and helped focus their energy, but reaching goals always left me empty and unsatisfied.

But when John showed me how to focus my attention on growth, everything suddenly fell into place. The process taught me that goals are great, but when we reach a goal, we’re finished. But with growth, it’s a never-ending process—always learning, always moving forward, and always achieving.

I hope that when I reach the end of my life, there will be a couple of good books on my nightstand. I want to learn and grow until my last breath.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

—JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Since first hearing about the importance of growth, I’ve patterned my life around that concept. Ten years after graduating from college, I earned a master’s degree, and twenty-six years after college, I earned a PhD. A few years ago, I switched from a PC to a Mac, and I still practice the piano. I’m no genius. It will take a while to get this Mac thing down, and I’ll never play piano well enough to stop the dog from barking, but the point is I’m continuing to grow and expand my experiences, knowledge, and expertise.

Look at the people in your company or in your circle of friends. Why do some succeed and others seem to stagnate? Why do some move to higher and higher levels of achievement, while others stay at the same place for years at a time?

Many people blame the system, the company, or their boss. They blame society, their upbringing, or their past. But a lifetime plan for growth can break through barriers and can overcome nearly any obstacle in your life.

Learning is not compulsory . . . neither is survival.

—W. EDWARDS DEMING, MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT

FOUR SIGNS OF STAGNANT GROWTH

1. You lack influence.

You should begin a plan for personal growth immediately if you find you’re not influencing decisions, directions, or people. Are friends asking for your advice and then actually listening to you? Do coworkers and associates care about your opinion? Lack of influence is the first sign of stagnant growth.

If you’re not bringing new ideas and information to the table on a regular basis, people will start to look elsewhere, and you will soon be marginalized within the company.

» GROWTH-ORIENTED ORGANIZATIONS REQUIRE GROWTH-ORIENTED LEADERSHIP.

It’s been said that today business moves at the speed of change. New ideas, technology, leadership techniques, financial models, sales principles, and ways to communicate are being discussed, evaluated, and tested. Company leadership is looking for men and women who aren’t just automatons. They’re looking for original thinkers, people who go beyond the normal workplace interactions and find new solutions.

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