Our lives are filled with pinnacles. It starts with high school graduation, then moves maybe to college degrees, then to a job, and (hopefully) going up that corporate ladder. There's marriage, kids, personal goals, and hobbies. All these things are the highlights of our life.
But the thing to remember is there should never be a point in your life where you stop growing.
When something stops growing, it starts dying. In life, in work, and in any area, growth is essential.
Maybe you can't get that position at work you want, that shouldn't stop you from continually making yourself better at your job. Even if you never get that dream promotion, you could possibly start your own business someday with the things you've learned.
I talked a few weeks ago about goals and I am a firm believer in them...but I wasn't always that way. I had ideas and vague plans on what I wanted, but no clear direction or concepts on how to get there. If it happened, it was a great thing but it usually just happened to me rather than because of me. When I started setting real goals for myself, I started seeing amazing results--and I started having this incredible sense of personal satisfaction because I knew I had done something to help accomplish that.
That was a simple action that led to some great results for me. It was growth in my professional life! If I had chosen to meander in mediocrity I would be hit-and-miss on everything. I would be stagnant. In all honesty, my business and professional life would be dying.
I want to share with you one simple thing you can do right now that will propel you ahead of the crowd around you.
Did you know the average reader in America reads four books a year after they graduate? Most read less. An avid reader will read twelve books a year. That's just one a month, obviously.
If you could discipline yourself to read one book every two weeks--not a novel or fluff piece, but a good self-help or leadership book--at the end of a year you would be two times better off than an avid reader and six times better off than the average reader in America!
You would dynamically accelerate your growth through one simple action! You could listen to a book on the way to work or during lunch. You could read something before bed or during breakfast. It's not a hard process, but it does take discipline.
I challenge you today to take an honest look at your life and see where you need to grow. It's so easy to get comfortable and just settle into a life of mediocrity and stagnation. You reach a personal goal and you're done. It's time to stop and take a breath and relax. But then you never start back up again. You feel you've done what you set out to do and that's good enough.
But it's not.
Find new goals. Make new plans. Brainstorm with your friends for new ideas. Create that spark again that will set you moving forward. Don't allow yourself to rest on past accomplishments for too long.
Even if all you do this week is read a book, do something. When you can start that forward momentum, the next actions become a little easier. Before you know it, you're in a place professionally and personally you never believed you could reach before!
