The Growth Agenda

Growth may be difficult, but it does not have to be complicated. In fact, growth occurs throughout each year—experience after experience. As we face down our own demons or leave relationships that just simply were not right for us, we begin to self-navigate but on autopilot from old stories we have told ourselves. This is where things need to slow down, and self-reflection becomes paramount. We need to understand ourselves, our goals, and our ambitions and be able to navigate the world with a set direction whether that be who we want in our life or what we want to do WITH our life.

This is what I call the “Growth Agenda.” But, before we dive in, we must recognize that dreams, goals, and ambitions change over time.

“Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision, and change.” — Richard Branson

As time passes, we must reevaluate ourselves to understand if where we are heading is truly where we want to go. Introspection is the biggest proponent you have in your corner throughout your journey.

Be vulnerable and honest with others and yourself.

Transparency with yourself and others is huge. We need to be able to identify within ourselves where our mistakes have been and how we want to improve. Many times, we walk away from situations without giving ourselves the space to think about where we went wrong. We want to put blinders on and continue the path we have always been on without hurting ourselves by accepting our mistakes and failures.

While most people want to tear chapters of their life out of their story, we need to learn acceptance. Whether it was a business failure or relationship falling apart, we need to accept what happened and where we went wrong so we can come back stronger.

Growth requires full transparency.

Plant your feet and set your boundaries.

Many times, in life, we negotiate things more than we realize. Whether it be in business relationships or personal, we do not allow ourselves to have boundaries or firm stances and then one day, wake up unhappy wondering where we went wrong.

We must have an internal guideline of what we want and need in order to remain on the proper track of a happy and healthy life.

Growth requires boundaries and a firm stance on needs.

Learn self-control.

We walk through the world allowing things to anger or upset us, we give in to avoid conflict, or we hold onto past hurt to excuse our current behaviors. Instead, we must learn to control ourselves and our responses in a healthier manner. We must express our needs in a way that invites people into our world without conflict but allows us to broadcast our own personal boundaries safely.

With self-control, we allow ourselves to remain in charge of ourselves and not allow outside or past events dictate how we feel at any given moment.

Growth requires self-control.

Keep focus on the big picture.

When life hits us, we tend to lose sight of the big picture. We stop envisioning the healthy and happy future we want and start to wallow in what we believe might end up being a terrible future. Instead, we must keep ourselves in check by saying, “This happened, but what opportunity has it given me to learn from it?”

We must continue to evaluate the road to where we truly want to go and say to ourselves, “With this obstacle, what’s my new path to the future I want?”

Growth requires focus.

Remain patient and persistent.

We all stumble at times. Most importantly, we can not always control what life throws our way. A car breaking down, someone leaving us, or even getting fired from a job. These situations will and do arise but how we handle them is up to us. We might think that change happens quickly but it can take a long time to truly come to fruition. The fact is, the process does not happen overnight but requires course correction and adaptation over time.

We must remain patient and be kind to ourselves. When something happens, fall back on your boundaries, focus, and reevaluate your attack plan.

Growth requires patience and persistence.

As life hits us down, it is our responsibility to pick ourselves up and say, “Is that the best you’ve got?” Always remember, Rome was not built in a day, and if you focus hard enough and do what’s required, you can build a truly beautiful future and shed the old story in which you’ve been telling yourself.

You are more powerful than you recognize.