Unleash Your Potential #47 - Personal and Professional Growth
- Douglas McCall
- Aug 11, 2024
- 3 min read
Douglas: Welcome to the Unleash Your Potential Blog, what question can I answer for you today?
MotivateMaster: What can I do to enhance my personal and professional growth?
Douglas: I have heard it said and I agree that if we do not grow, at best we are stagnant and at worst we deteriorate. We don’t want to deteriorate, at least that is the assumption I am making about those who read this blog.
But what of stagnation? Is it really a bad thing? I am drawn to the phrase, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. So I suppose, if you are okay with everything as it is, then stagnation might be okay…except…
When things stagnate, you become complacent. Complacency can lead to letting things slide over time we begin to deteriorate. If we accept that as accurate then there is no such thing as permanent stagnation, it eventually leads to decline. So then, the original statement should read, if we do not grow, we deteriorate.
This is a depressing train of thought, isn’t it? Since I assumed that you are reading this blog because you don’t want to deteriorate and stagnation leads to deterioration you would much rather read about growth.
I have thought about the question of how to enhance personal and professional growth and I have come up with 5 Strategies for Enhancing Personal Growth.
Be open to change – This seems obvious, but I think it still needs to be said. If you are going to grow you have to be willing to change. Remember that not all change is good initially. You have to be open to some difficult changes before you get to the good growth change. I want to develop my leadership skills, which is a change, but I have to be willing to change my schedule to participate in a leadership development group and change my priorities a little to get the extra work done. These are a hassle to begin with but lead to growth in the long run.
Try new experiences – If you want to grow personally or professionally, you have to be willing to go beyond what you know. Trying new things can open your eyes to a world of different options. When I was a kid, I would not try new foods. My palette was very limited. Only when I was willing to try new foods in my late 20s did I grow to appreciate the rich variety of foods out there.
Clarify your goals – To maximize growth you have to have a solid plan in place. Take some time to clarify where you want to go and how you want to grow. The more specific your plan, the greater your chances of success.
Do the self-work – Personal and professional growth comes from knowing who you are and how you want to grow. This includes all the “self” topics (e.g. self-image, self-confidence, self-awareness, self-esteem). You have to be willing to dig inside those places you have been avoiding and understand all of your potential.
Seek a mentor – There are always those who are further along on the journey than we are or those who can offer an unbiased perspective to ask you hard questions. There is great strength, not weakness, in realizing you don’t need to accomplish growth on your own. Who are the people who can help you along your way?
There are certainly more strategies out there and perhaps in a later blog, I will elaborate on some more. However, I believe the key to all these self-help topics is their simplicity. 3 steps to this, and 4 keys to that. If we keep them short and simple, they are easier to remember and implement. So try these and see if they work. If they do, GREAT! If not, go find some more, you have the entirety of human knowledge at your fingertips (since you are reading this on a computer or a phone).
I hope my answer sheds some light on your question. If you want to dig into this concept further, I encourage you to reach out and set up a conversation. In the meantime, check back tomorrow for the next question in the Unleash Your Potential Series!
Be Well!
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