Character Growth and Intellectual Growth Doesn't Happen by Accident

The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth

(Part 3 of 3: Laws 11 - 15)

• Click here for Part 1
• Click here for Part 2

I hope you got value from the first two parts of this series. I know it may seem like a lot of content. However, we haven't even scratched the surface. If you're one of the few that has actually read through these lessons, I highly recommend ordering John's book and digging in. There is so much to learn from the material. Also, if you want to contact me for a complimentary consultation regarding onsite training for you and your team, I'll be happy to get on a call with you and help you make it happen.

  "Insecure leaders never develop people. They replace them. " ~ John C. Maxwell

Note: Remember, in this three part series, I'll be sharing with you a brief description of each of The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell. This is a popular learning system that Ria and I often speak and teach on as John Maxwell Team members.

As I discuss each law, I will continue to share very briefly a little about how I have applied this law in my life.

 Law #11: The Law of Trade-Offs – You have to give up to grow up.

“The value of trade-offs is not to endure them; the good is to become better because of them. When I go through change it is because I am passive; I accept it as inevitable, so I sigh and say, ‘I hope this comes out all right.’ When I grow through change, I become active. I take control of my attitude, my emotions. Years ago I determined that while others may lead small lives, I would not; and while others may become victims, I would not; and while others will leave their future in others’ hands, I will not. And while others go through life, I will grow through it. That is my choice, and I will surrender it to no one.” ~ John C. Maxwell

 “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.” ~ Henry Kissinger

When we're on the bottom we change because of desperation. As we climb our way up from the bottom, we change for inspiration. Desperation is a higher motivator than inspiration.

What this law looks like in my life:

I have combined Law 1: The Law of Intentionality with The Law of Trade-Offs repeatedly since I started my intentional growth journey. I speak and teach about choice and sacrifice more than anything else. I have also sacrificed many things along the way. When I finally understood what intentional growth truly was and started investing in myself instead of my stuff, I chose to give up all the fun stuff (my Z06 Corvette, Raptor 4X4, Hummer, expensive vacations, drinking alcohol, profanity, hanging out wasting my time with other people wasting their time, etc.) That wasn't easy. It was HARD! Why? Because I didn't have to do it to stay comfortable where I was. I chose to do it because I wanted to climb to a higher level of influence and help others do the same. You can't help others get to the top if your desire is to stay at the bottom.

Law # 12: The Law of Curiosity – Growth is stimulated by asking Why?

There is nothing new under the sun—but there are lots of old things we don’t know. Curiosity is a state in which you want to learn more about something. A curious person has a thirst for knowledge. 

Cultivating Curiosity

1. Have a beginner’s mindset.
2. Learn something new every day.
3. Make failure your friend. Understand that you’re going to fail, and you’re going to fail a lot more in your life. But, you really only fail if you quit. If you keep going, you have only learned. When we fail, but don't give up, we learn.
4. Stop looking for the right answer. There are two fallacies to the “right answer” people. One, there is always more than one solution to a problem. Two, to buy into "only one right answer" is to stop the search for more and better answers.
5. Get out of the box. “There ain’t no rules around here; we’re trying to accomplish something.” ~ Thomas Edison

What this law looks like in my life:

I've always being interested in knowing why, not just knowing how. Early in my career, I learned that a lot of people didn't want to know why. I couldn't understand it at first. Then, I started to learn those that knew why were always more responsible for what was going on. I discovered that most people don't truly want to know why because they don't want responsibility. I quickly decided I wanted to know why. I wanted to be responsible. Early in my career, I started asking question about everything and still do. Asking why allowed me to learn how to program a CNC machine while everyone else was simply pushing buttons. Because I wanted to know why, I learned more, and I learned quicker. The result: later when a sought after CNC programming position became available, I was far ahead of the competition and easily got the job. Curiosity in my career has led to many promotions.

Law #13: The Law of Modeling – It’s hard to improve when you have no one but yourself to follow. 

Qualities of a Model You Want to Follow

What are the qualities of a model that you would want to follow?

1. A worthy example: You know that you’re a worthy example when the people that follow you basically say something like this: “Someday I’d like to be just like him”; “Someday I’d like to be just like her.”

“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say; I just watch what they do.” ~ Andrew Carnegie

2. Proven experience: To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

“We are what we repeatedly do, excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” ~ Aristotle

3. Friendship and support: Because the first question a follower asks of a leader is, “Do you care for me?”

4. A track record of making a difference in people’s lives.

“If we are not modeling what we are teaching, then we’re teaching something else.” ~ Abraham Maslow

What this law looks like in my life:

I quickly discovered I needed a model if I was going to truly climb the leadership ladder. I also discovered I needed to be a good model to others as well. I chose John C. Maxwell as my mentor and model and joined the John Maxwell Team in June 2012. At about the same time, I decided to eliminate the two worst habits I had at the time. I chose to quit drinking alcohol and to stop using profanity. The quote from Maslow above is my favorite. It's on the back of my business card. My goal is to live what I teach and make choices that could be shared on the front page of my local newspaper daily.

Law #14: The Law of Expansion – Growth always increases your capacity.

“90% is your potential number. Experts usually agree that people typically use only 10% of their true potential. The average person has big odds for improvement. The odds for expansion are very high – 90%. How can we miss? We’re not ‘almost there’; we’ve barely arrived! We possess hundreds of acres of possibilities, but we keep only ? an acre under cultivation. The question is, ‘How do we tap the 90% potential number?’ And, the answer is found in changing how we think and what we do.” ~ John C. Maxwell

Changing Our Thinking

1. We need to stop thinking “more work” — and start thinking “what works?”

If working longer and harder made you successful, then developing countries would already have been successful. I’ve seen enough poor people working hard to know that’s not the answer.

2. We need to stop thinking “Can I?” and start thinking “How can I?”

“Can I?” is filled with questions and doubts. “How can I?” — assumes you’ve already settled the issue that you’re going to try it; now you’re just going to say, “How can I do it?”

3. We need to stop thinking “One door — one way” and start thinking, “Many doors — many ways.”

Changing What We Do

We not only need to change how we think, we need to change what we do.

1. Stop doing only those things you have done — start doing those things you could and should do.

“At first you do what you know. But the more that you do what you know you will discover additional worthy things, innovative things, that you know you should do. At this point, there’s a pivotal decision. If you know what you should do but continue to do what you’ve always done, you’re in a rut. But if you know what you should do and then do what you know you should do, you’re leading and you’re growing. Get out of your comfort zone. Stay in your strength zone.” ~ John C. Maxwell

2. Stop doing what is expected — and start doing more than is expected.
3. Stop doing important things every once in a while — start doing important things every day.

What this law looks like in my life:

I began my career on the front lines of a manufacturing facility after joining the U.S. Marines where I also served in an infantry unit immediately after graduating high school. I have been expanding continuously since those early days in 1987. From the very beginning, I have always wanted to know more than how to do what I was being asked to do. I wanted to know why I was doing it. However, during those same years, I didn't get hung up asking myself "Can I do it?" but focused on "How can I do it?" which allowed me to climb from the front lines as a blue collar factory worker to now be serving and developing top level white collar leaders and everyone in between. A few ways I practice the law of expansion is with my daily reading and my continued annual investment in mentoring from John C. Maxwell. I was just on the phone with John a few days ago as he revealed the details on the launch of his new book, Intentional Living, and his upcoming free 7 Day Experiment that I will be sharing with my connections soon to help you apply the Law of Expansion.

 Law #15: The Law of Contribution – Growing yourself enables you to grow others.

I’ve seen people who lived a very short time…. They didn’t live very long, but they really did live. And, I’ve known people who lived a long time, and I thought, “What a worthless trip.”

 “If you’re not doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is.” ~ John C. Maxwell

Wisdom from Ben Franklin

Every day of his adult life, Benjamin Franklin set aside time to examine two questions. The morning question was, “What good shall I do today?” And the evening question was, “What good have I done today?”

Franklin once wrote, “I would rather have it said, ‘He lived usefully,’ than ‘He died rich.’ More than just words, it was the way Franklin lived his life. Even his position as a printer fit his philosophical bent. He did not hoard his ideas, but he shared them, and everyone benefited.

He had an abundance mentality; instead of seeing the world in terms of how much money he could make, Franklin saw the world in terms of how many people he could help. To Ben Franklin, being useful was its own reward. He said, “A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.”

What this law looks like in my life:

I spend the majority of my time these days serving others. As I mentioned in the previous law, I read daily and invest in annual mentoring from John C. Maxwell. However, I don't hoard what I learn. We should be a river, not a reservoir. This, and other lessons I send out, is just one example of how I contribute to others. I spend approximately 10-20 hours each week writing blogs/lessons, answering questions, and posting daily leadership quotes/thoughts on twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook in an effort to contribute to others. I don't do that for financial gain. There is none. I do it to help those that want to help themselves. My mission in life is to motivate and inspire others to be more, do more, and have more in hopes that they will do the same for others when they are able. We can't give what we don't have whether that is money, time, knowledge, etc. We must first invest in ourselves before we can choose to invest in others.

Your Reason to Grow

You’ve got to get good so you can help other people get good—and if you don’t get good, they don’t get good. And if you don’t reach your potential, they don’t reach their potential.

The whole reason for growth is, I’ve got to get better so I can help more people get better.

You cannot give what you do not have. So every day, you and I should ask ourselves: What do I have to give?

No matter what you have today to give, if you start growing, you’ll have something more to give. That’s the key to growth, and that’s the key to life. I think the happiest people are the people who are growing and learning, and then turning around and helping other people grow and learn.

Thoughts from John C. Maxwell: Beyond Your Imagination

Everything that I am today I credit to two things: (1) the unbelievable blessings of God, which I do not deserve; and (2) the decision I made in my middle twenties to develop a personal growth plan.

I’m just an average person that has a way-above-average desire to grow. And an average person with a passion and a way-above average desire to grow will always be more successful than a mega-gifted person who has no desire to grow.

There are songs within you, there are dreams within you—you have potential you don’t even have a clue about. But, you’ll never get it unless you start the growth journey.

Because you’re not able today to receive what you could be; you have to grow to that. And as you grow to that, that frontier will be just a little further out, and you’ll keep stretching. And one day, what seemed so hard and difficult will become so simple and easy — but then, there’s something else hard and difficult out there. And, you keep growing to it.

Don’t let life come to you; you go to life. Don’t expect things to happen to you; go make things happen.

• Click here for Part 1
• Click here for Part 2

Want to apply the Law of Intentionality?

Contact me at [email protected] to discuss how we can work together to create a customized training program on this material for you and your entire team or to discuss other programs or one-on-one professional coaching.

If you want to grow your business, you must grow your team. If you want to grow your team, you must grow yourself. Growth doesn't just happen!

FREE downloads available:

Click here now for a FREE download of the entire leadership principle-packed Chapter 11, "Get Out of the Way and Lead" from the first book in my Demystifying Leadership Series: Defining Influence. In this nearly 20 page chapter, I share about:

• Managing vs Leading
• Scarcity vs Abundance
• Formal Authority vs Moral Authority
• The 5 Types of Leaders
• Compare/Contrast 17 Manager vs Leader Perspectives

Click here to access the first 5 chapters of “Blue-Collar Leadership: Leading from the Front Lines.”

• 1: I’m one of you.
• 2: I believe in you.
• 3: You’re in the perfect place.
• 4: Common sense is never enough.
• 5: There is an “I” in Team.

Note: I encourage you to be a river, not a reservoir. Please share my blogs with others if you find value in them. I believe in abundance and write them to help others become more effective, successful, and significant.

Make an impact!

Mack Story

My passion is to help you live with abundance, achieve success, choose significance, and leave a legacy. In other words, I want to help you make a High Impact !

Popular posts by Mack:

• The #1 Reason People Don't Reach Their True Potential
• The One Reason Lean Fails or Succeeds
• When Weak Leaders Choose to Follow Strong Followers
• 5 Levels of High Impact Delegation
• 7 Signs It’s Time to Fire Your Boss
• Hate Mondays? Stop Goofing Off on Saturdays!
• 7 Ways High Impact Leaders Use Conflict

Mack’s story is an amazing journey of personal and professional growth. He began his career in manufacturing on the front lines of a machine shop. He grew himself into upper management and found his niche in lean manufacturing and along with it, developed his passion for leadership. He understands that everything rises and falls on leadership.

Mack is the author of Blue-Collar Leadership Series, Defining Influence, & 10 Values of High Impact Leaders. He's an inspiration for people everywhere as an example of achievement, growth, and personal development. His passion inspires people all over the world! Order signed copies here.

Mack’s experience as a John Maxwell Certified Leadership Coach, Trainer, and Speaker includes an international training event in Guatemala with John as part of the Cultural Transformation in Guatemala where more than 20,000 Guatemalan leaders were trained.

Contact Mack at 334-728-4143 or [email protected] for Keynote Speaking, Corporate Training, Professional Leadership Development, Cultural Enhancement/Transformation, and Process Improvement.