Why Personal Growth Is Not Enough!
After reading this article, you'll be ahead of 99% of the world's population - all those people who don't understand the reality of personal growth. You'll be able to effectively set your own plans for personal growth, the plans that will lead to your remarkable success.Let me first ask you this question...
What is happening to a seed or a plant that is not growing?
Obviously, it’s in the process of dying!
If you don't nurture a seed or a plant, it dies.
You're the same way: if you're not growing, you're dying. That's why it's imperative that you never stop growing and that you never stay in a place where you don't grow. It’s simply too dangerous.
This is a warning flag to organizations, too. If organizations don't care about the growth of their people, those people will die. And that means those people are either going to leave the organization altogether or, perhaps worse, stay in a job that they've effectively quit, both mentally and spiritually!
If organizations don't care about uncovering their employees' passions and potential, they will lose the loyalty and engagement of their staff.
After all, people tend to stay where they can dig in their roots and grow. No one but a loser will accept dying, so if an organization's people aren't growing - but they're staying in their jobs anyway - then that organization will enjoy a fine group of losers!
Whether an individual or an organization, you must choose the GROWTH path so that you remain an evergreen achiever that never dies.
The idea of growth is simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. However, there is a trap that most people and organizations fall into.
Some people DO continuously grow, and some organizations DO encourage their people to grow - and yet all those people die anyway! How do you suppose that happens?
Let me share a story with you...
My first job was with one of the leading companies in the Telecommunications industry. The company was the perfect employer, and the place offered continuous opportunities for professional growth. I was growing by leaps and bounds every single day. The environment was stable and healthy. My colleagues were smart, talented, friendly, and helpful, and the managers were supportive and encouraging and assisted all of us in our quest to grow and be the best we could be.
The downside, however, was that too much work was piled on top of me, making my job stressful and overly time-consuming. Moreover, the company was located so far from my home that it took me four hours of commuting time each day just to get there and back. Although I was growing professionally day by day, I also felt that I was aging - and dying - day by day! But I didn't feel that way because of the stress and the workload! It was for another reason altogether, a reason that I will reveal later on.
After a year and a half, I saw that I couldn't grow anymore, and I decided to quit.
My manager at the time was a brilliant man, one of the most bright and successful people I've ever met. A sporty kind of guy, he was most comfortable in jeans, a t-shirt, and running shoes. He was always smiling, always positive and cheerful, so it was surprising to see how shocked he was during my exit interview. He said, "Tohami, I can't believe it. Why do you want to leave?" And I said, "I love this organization, and I learned in a year and a half what would have taken me ten years to learn on my own. But I can't find a way to be great!" He said, "What? I don't understand. You're already a very good employee."
And I said, "Yes, I'm good. But I want to be great!"
That's why I quit.
Sure, I was growing, but I was growing AWAY from my passion zone!
My passion was for public speaking and personal development, and I simply couldn't figure out a way, at least while I was inside that organization, to feed my passion and grow in that direction. And in the end, the company really didn't have a way to embrace my passion anyway; hence, I had to leave before I died.
It is not enough to grow. You must GROW WITH PASSION!
After that experience, I found another job that didn't directly feed my passion but that at least allowed me plenty of time to pursue it part-time on the side. The workload was much lighter, the company was only fifteen minutes away from my home, and the organization cared enough about the well-being of its staff to ensure that every person had plenty of personal time after work. In short, the job was not nearly as exhausting as the first one! Of course, I was also not growing at the same rate I had grown at my first job, but for me it was a gift to have the time to nurture my passion outside of work and grow exponentially in the direction of fulfilling my passion.
How many times have you felt like a cog in a machine? Working, learning, growing, working better - but then you're either exhausted to death or feel like what you're doing is simply not what you were born to do.
The bottom line is that it's really not useful to fill your resume with certifications, experiences, and a list of high-level positions if all of those things are accomplished in areas that don't match your true passion. All of those classic resume elements certainly enhance your professional profile, but they don't do much to enhance your inner satisfaction, do they? And they hardly lead you to greatness.
By the same token, it's just not useful for organizations to train their people only in job-related skills and to push them to grow only to become more skillful at their specific jobs. You'll never be able to retain your most talented staff unless you embrace their passions. And you can't push them to grow away from their passions, because one day they will wake up to their callings, and then they will either leave to live or stay to die!
What makes the real difference is to embrace the passion and nurture it!
You can't plant a seed in the wrong soil and in the wrong environment and then expect it to grow. You can't grow oranges in the summer! For the seed to grow and become fruitful and valuable, it must be planted in the right soil and in the right environment.
So, GROW WITH PASSION!
Now, here's what I want you to do today...
Get a pen and paper and write down three areas in which you want to grow that would serve your passion.
For example, I'm passionate about public speaking and personal development. So I needed to grow as a speaker and learn how to deliver my message with impact and a world-class style. I needed to grow as a marketer and learn how to get my message out there to the largest number of people who could benefit from it. I needed to grow as an expert and continuously learn about my subject matter of motivation, personal growth, and success.
Now write down your own areas of growth.
And remember, you must GROW WITH PASSION!
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Live Your Passion with The Pharaohs' Code
http://www.ThePharaohsCode.com
posted by Tohami | 8:00 AM
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