Fundamental of the Week #17: Be Dedicated to Personal Growth

Be a lifetime learner. Challenge yourself to take risks and operate outside of your comfort zone. Solicit feedback and learn from mistakes. Understand the nature of causing breakthroughs and live it as a discipline. Believe in Magic!

When our first daughter was born, one of the things I wanted to teach her was to believe in magic. One of my methods was talking to animals when we were out and about. She couldn’t talk yet herself, but she watched me and from time to time I would report what they had to say. It worked! The bonus is she grew up with a remarkable connection to animals of every sort.Some years later, after a couple of grueling years of business, I realized I had forgotten to believe in magic. I had been drawn into the daily swirl of life, and its ever-present challenges had become drudgery. Even more disturbing was it was by choice, not a conscious one, but a choice nonetheless. Magic is getting outside of the daily swirl of life and remembering we all have a choice, about everything, and to borrow from Viktor E. Frankl, “in this choice lies our freedom and growth.”As far as we can tell, our personal reality is primarily made through a linear collection of life experiences and associated emotions. These shape how we see the world and consequently our behaviors and responses. From our view of the world, we develop strategies for accomplishment and success.That’s the upside. The downside is there are blind spots associated with how we see things that can cause undesirable impacts on others, which we don’t intend, but nonetheless cause. If we are not dedicated to discovery, especially self-discovery, overcoming these day-to-day impacts will be difficult. Discovery requires research, feedback, and practice. If how I live my life is more important than what I do, then a lifetime of pursuing personal growth is a natural path. It may be an uphill path, but the view gets better and better. It’s the path to Magic.Craig ClarkFounder and CEO,Momentum Consulting, Inc