Dare To Grow

On this episode allow me dare you to start the transition from who you are now to who you would like to become and to pay the price of becoming that person.

Becoming the person, we see in that picture comes at a cost

Growth in our lives begins to happen when you and I make the
decision to do what it takes to become the person that we see in that picture.

So let me share with you the price of growth….

•Courage:
Once we make that decision to grow it means we are making the decision to swim against the tide and choosing not to take the path of least resistance.
That is what Daring to grow is. It means you have chosen to go against normalcy and the fear of failing, the fear of being rejected for doing the right thing, the fear of looking like a fool. It means you have chosen to be daring and be uncomfortable.
When you and I make a move in a new direction of growth, it is normal to want to have all the answers to your questions before you make the move. It`s natural to want to have everything to be in place and know what to expect before a move is made. Unfortunately, when it comes to growth, the luxury of being sure of what to expect is not always there.

This uncertainty and lack of clarity naturally causes fear, discomfort, and anxiety and that is why growth requires courage.
Courage to stand out and look like you don’t know what you are doing, courage to go against culture and traditions of the community in which you live, courage to get rid of certain people from your life that are getting in the way of your growth, courage to know that you might fail, and it is still okay.
•Intentionality
Intentionality helps us focus on How, What and Why
With intentionality we ask ourselves, how knowing exactly how we are going to grow or change? How are we going to measure that growth or change?
Famous quote from Peter Ducker; “if you cannot measure it, you can’t improve it”

What do we need to change or grow into?

Why we are changing or why we are pursuing the growth we are aiming at.
It is always encouraging to know why. Knowing why paints the final picture and inspires us to use our time on what matters and what gets us to our goal. Or the ideal picture of what we want to become.
Comedian Michael Jr, illustrated the power of knowing why in this short audio clip, take a listen…

Intentionality requires us to have a plan of how we are spending our time daily and why we are spending it that way.

Without intentionality what is automatic is rarely what’s most productive. Why? Cause we easily drift toward what convenient, unhealthy, and easy. Intentionality helps us put in place a system that helps us drift toward what is productive and toward what helps us change or grow.
Excellence or growth or the change we are aiming at is NEVER an accident, it’s always a result of intentional, consistent habits.
•Manage emotions
As we grow, we will encounter a lot of situations that will play on our minds and emotions to make us want to quit and default to what is comfortable.
We will encounter the need for effort and hard work as a requirement to grow into the person we would like to become. Instead of looking at effort as something negative, look at it as something useful and important for us that leads to growth.
When we encounter challenges instead of backing down and avoiding the challenge, embrace the challenge, persevere, and work through it. Its working through these challenges that develops the character that sustains us through growth.
Mistakes are also part of the growth process, we should not let them discourage us, instead we learn from them and grow.
Feedback should also not be looked at as something personal, instead learn from the feedback, look at it as constructive criticism, learn what needs to change and use it to propel you further on...