Personal Growth

“Of all the things that can have an effect on your future, I believe personal growth is the greatest. We can talk about sales growth, profit growth, and asset growth, but all of this probably will not happen without personal growth…” — Jim Rohn

The growing of which I speak is growth from self-education, sophistication, and maturity in one’s spiritual, psychological, and social life. It seems far too often many, though growing older in years, do not grow in these areas. As a result, they are unable to enjoy the life, which is so readily available to them if they would apply themselves to developing the gifts and talents latent within. Perhaps sharing a little bit of my upbringing will provide a clearer picture of my point.

By the time I was in high school I was working every day with my Dad as he was self employed. He had a small drywall business. The majority of the projects, which Dad targeted, were home remodels as this allowed him to work primarily by himself with the help of myself and if necessary on the weekends, my younger brothers. As the oldest son, by the time I was fourteen, I was working five hours every day after school. The high school I was attending, just happened to be on double sessions. The morning session ended just prior to noon. That left five hours of work previous to coming home for dinner.

The great thing about starting to work at such a young age is I was able to become proficient in a skilled trade, early in life. It also gave me a strong work ethic while the extra spending money was great, too. Unfortunately, at least for me, there was a downside, which consisted of me developing a very poor attitude toward work and school. By my senior year I was fairly certain nothing else needed to be learned. I had come to believe I had learned everything necessary in order to fulfill my life’s role, which based on my Dad’s thoughts for me were to become a licensed drywall contractor and take over the family business.

It is very easy to see now that I had no idea how much more there was to learn. I had no idea how much more there was to experience. I didn’t realize, at that time, the need to grow on a personal level. I did not recognize there was a road one must travel in order to enjoy a life of fulfillment and success. I also didn’t know without this personal growth that all other roads would lead me to mediocrity and lack.

Fortunately, I had a high school teacher who made the effort to share with me some of her wisdom and insights. She said, “Although you don’t think there is a need to learn anymore because the drywall profession is what you believe you will be doing for the rest of your life, you are wrong. You have so much more to learn and experience, but it will be your response during these learning experiences, which will make you one of mediocrity or success. I don’t know what it is you will be doing, but I do know you have the ability do anything upon which you set your heart!” Thank goodness for teachers that cared and took a personal interest in our lives as we grew up.

When I looked back some years later, I saw how fortunate I was to have had her as my freshman and sophomore English teacher rather than one of the other two. Ms. Fredrick took a liking to me and, as a result of her personal interest in my life; I became her student assistant for my sophomore, junior and senior years. During my high school years I was able to spend some quality time with this remarkable lady; even visiting her home on many occasions as well as meeting and becoming friends with her entire family.

Although I did not recognize it at the time, I later came to understand how this lady of sophistication had impacted my being. She showed me a side of life I didn’t know existed. She had been raised in a wealthy family; so wealthy she had never been to a gas station let alone put gas in her car or air in her tires; not one time in her entire life. When I looked at her it was hard to imagine how she could be so grounded when as I saw it she, ‘had not lived.’

What I did not know is she had learned to experience and live life on a sophisticated level without becoming snooty and uppity. She had not seen her upbringing as a rating of status, but as her being fortunate enough to use what she had in education, wisdom and insights, to bless others. Even though her family wanted more for her, she desired to become a teacher and was indeed a great one at that; giving of herself to help those less fortunate become someone of sophistication. To whatever degree, I was one of those beneficiaries.

Because of her and many others I have chosen as mentors through life, personal growth has become my passion. My viewpoint of life and the world is much different today than it would have been from the seat I would have occupied had I not developed a passion for personal growth. It is as if the more I grow personally, the higher up the ladder I get. The higher up the ladder I get the better the view, the cleaner the air, the quieter the noise, and the greater the rewards. I also enjoy a better level of understanding thus, allowing me to capitalize on more opportunities.

It is true a formal education teaches us how to read a Balance Sheet or a Profit and Loss Statement; it can teach us about any and all aspects of sales and marketing; it can teach us about assets and how we can grow them. What a formal education does not teach you is how to be a well-rounded person of sophistication due to having become mature in your spiritual, psychological, and social life. A formal education will not help you best utilize the knowledge you have gained. A formal education will not teach you how to find the answers within to the obstacles you will surely face in your journey of life. These answers only come when you have made a decision to make Personal growth one of your main objectives in life. When you make Personal Growth your number one objective all other things begin to fall in place. For those things are simply by-products of what you attract by what you become. Your life in essence will have better results. In doing so you will find you are able to make well informed decisions thereby, producing better results.

By the way, personal growth should happen on a spiritual, psychological, and social level. In order to grow spiritually we need to feed our spirit man, inner man or as some call it, our subconscious mind. By feeding our subconscious mind with the right programming, we ensure the results of which we are capable rather than allowing our subconscious minds to be the reason our successes are sabotaged. We need to learn to school our emotions rather than allowing them to run or ruin us. We need to use our emotions to motivate and empower us for doing so will help to fortify our boundaries and strengthen our resolve and character.

In order to grow psychologically we need to study to gain the necessary knowledge, which when properly applied through wisdom will allow us to reap a larger harvest.

In order to grow socially we need to step outside our comfort zone for this helps us to face our fears. We need to reach out beyond ourselves to help those less fortunate. We need to be grateful for what we have regardless of the level to which we have been blessed. This gets us out beyond our fears and self-limitations. It is the foundation of personal growth. It helps us to become well rounded individuals.

Do not be concerned about being too young or too old to begin this quest, for age is not a factor. Why not start on Your Personal Growth journey today? You will be glad you did…

Best of LUCK as you
Labor Under Correct Knowledge…

Respectfully,

Rick Cox