Do you have a personal growth plan?

Today I want to share with you how I got started with my Personal Growth journey and I want to introduce you to my friend Dawn Miller whose picture you see above. She is on a personal growth journey like me and we love equipping others to lead better. This picture was taken on a recent Country Transformation Trip we took with our mentor John C. Maxwell to train leaders in Dominican Republic to facilitate Transformation Tables learning and living good values.

Four years ago, if you asked me if I had a Personal Growth Plan - I have to be honest with you and say that I did not even know what that meant and I did not think it was important for me to have one. I believed in being a continuous learner (my dad instilled that in me early on) but it was limited to what I needed to do my job or to take care of my family. That was not new to me, I was a fast learner and I did not need much hand holding when it came to technology or adopting a new tool.

I embraced change and in fact it excited me when things were changing since I loved new challenges, ready to lead the way. But something was missing, I was not being intentional about personal growth and I needed to make a shift in my leadership journey to reach new heights!

I have created a personal growth plan and I wanted to let you know what is working for me.

Step 1: Be Intentional

In the book "15 Invaluable Laws Of Growth", I read that Growth Doesn't Just Happen and I needed to be more intentional. I identified my Growth Gap Traps and narrowed down to the one which was causing me to neglect the way I perhaps could have grown. Which of these gaps do you relate to and which particular one would you say is limiting your potential:

• The Assumption Gap - I assume that I will automatically grow.
• The Knowledge Gap - I don't know how to grow.
• The Timing Gap - It's not the right time to begin.
• The Mistake Gap - I'm afraid of making mistakes.
• The Perfection Gap - I have to find the best way before I start.
• The Inspiration Gap - I don't feel like doing it.
• The Comparison Gap - Others are better than I am.
• The Expectation Gap - I thought it would be easier than this.

Personally, I was struggling with the Comparison Gap and there were things that was holding me back. Fears, Frustrations and Friends - as my mentor Mark Cole asked me this past weekend during our Think Tank Day, I knew I was stuck but I did not know why!

As we all know, it is not experiences that make us better but evaluated experience. I had to evaluate my past experiences and list down what fears were not allowing me to move forward, what frustrations did I have that was draining me out and which friends of mine were holding me back from going to the next level.

Step 2: Be Focused

I started asking myself, What's NEXT and I knew that I had to make some changes in my environment and my daily agenda had to change if I wanted to go further than before.

Choices were made in the past but as my mentor Chris Robinson reminded us that it is TIME to make the next right choice and the possibilities of the FUTURE.

Let me ask you the same questions:

• What's Your LID?
• What's HOLDING you BACK?
• What's NEXT for you?

As John Wooden said: When Opportunity Comes, It's Too Late To Prepare.

The questions is: Are you ready?

Remember that "When the student is ready, the teacher appears!"

Let me challenge you to follow these steps that worked for me:

1. Be TEACHABLE: I was ready to learn and grow, I have amazing mentors and coaches who are my teachers and I am learning everyday from them. Prioritize what you learn - what gives you the greatest return, what gives you the greatest reward and what is required of you (what do I need to do that no one else can do it for me!).
2. Be COMMITTED: I started listening to podcasts, watching videos, reading books to continue to grow. I cannot give what I do not have, hence I listened to motivational talks to keep me going and take action. What I listened to determined my thoughts, actions and my feelings!
3. Be GRATEFUL: I decided to have an attitude of gratitude every singly day and I looked for ways to add value to others so that at the end of the day, I could reflect back with a sense of fulfillment. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of others on a daily basis.
4. Be EXCITED: I wake up everyday with clarity in my purpose for the day. Opportunities are waiting for me and it amazes me as I go about my day with a sense of curiosity. What am I looking for sets the intention for what I say "YES" to.

Finally, Personal growth fuels our capacity for giving to those around us. When we keep growing, we always have something to give. Personal growth fuels a culture of excellence and abundance.?

What should you have in your Growth Plan?

List of Books that you will READ

List of Places you will GO

List of Mentors you will LEARN from

Make sure you are focusing on the books that aligns with your purpose or your passion at this season in your life. Reading books in only 2 areas of your life - your passion or your problems that you are trying to solve. Which book are you reading this month?

Make sure you go to places where you are surrounded by like-minded individuals who are a step ahead of you. Experiences that will last for a lifetime - leadership conferences, transformation trips, family vacations. Which event are you attending next?

Make sure you meet mentors, folks who are where you want to be. Plan in advance to meet those who are ready to mentor you and become intentional about nurturing that relationship - at the IMC in Orlando, I met some amazing folks like Mark Cole & Chris Robinson. Which relationship do you need to nurture further?

Let me leave you with a FREE Preview of the upcoming Leadership Summit that I am hosting in New Jersey - you are welcome to join me and other attendees, you will be glad you did.

Next time I plan to share from the book "A New Kind Of Diversity" which I am reading and I am loving the lessons about the competitive advantage of different generations.

I would appreciate if you would share this article with your connections and encourage them to start on their own personal growth journey or share what is working for them, so we can all learn from each other.