Growth & Grace

Have you grown over time? Are you different than you were six months ago, or even a year ago?  Are you better or improved? Many of us would answer with a resounding, “Yes!” I believe we improve with age, much like wine. Perhaps we become wiser, calmer, even more generous. 

So why do we look at others and judge, or assume that, the person they are today is who they will always be? We do not know who they will become or what they are capable of doing in the future. We also do not know who they may have been in the past. Maybe instead of being skeptical because we do not like what we see, we should have faith, knowing they too will learn and grow in time.  

How are you improving over time? Better yet, how much grace are you showing others going through the same growth process? 

Growing Up

 

I have always heard that it really is possible to grow up, I just never have met anyone who has really done it.

 

What does it really mean to grow up anyway?  Does it mean to...

Stop acting like a kid?

Be responsible?

Stop having fun?

Take on Debt? Be out of debt?

Act mature? (What is mature?)

Get a job? Keep a job?

 

Growing up is subjective, and it means different things to different people.  I tend to believe that growing up is the sequence of life's events that makes us who we are.  The nature of those events may cause some of us to feel grown up sooner than others.  Those events may cause some people to never really grow up.  For that matter, maybe none of us ever actually grow up.  That may not be all bad.  After all, life is a journey and not a destination.  If we were to all be grown up, what would we have to look forward to?

Growth & Grace

 

If someone were to ask if you feel like you have grown over time, how would you answer? Are you different than you were six months ago or even a year ago?  Most of us would answer with a resounding, “Yes!” I believe we improve with age, much like wine. Perhaps we become wiser, calmer or even more generous. So why do we look at others and judge, or assume, the person they are today is who they will always be? We do not know who they will become or what they are capable of doing in the future. We also do not know what they may have been in the past. Maybe instead of being skeptical because we do not like what we see, we should have faith knowing they too will learn and grow in time. 

How are you improving overtime? Better yet, how much grace are you showing others going through the same growth process?

Thoughts on Change…

Stagnation should not be an option in life, but it is.  As humans we must change, grow, develop, and mature.  Failure to do so leads to stagnation, which in turn leads to boredom, failure, and frustration.  The world constantly changes around us.  The last fifteen months of the pandemic has led to even more change than normal, drastic, and unprecedented change. If we do not adapt to change, we will be left behind.  That is true as much in our work world as it is in our home life.  The business world of instant communications, corporate transparency and the world-wide economy is drastically different than it was just a few short years ago.  In the same way, raising kids is not what it was just 5 years ago, never mind 25 years ago. 

It is important that we embrace change in order to keep up with the ever-changing world, but more importantly to grow personally.  We cannot control the change that takes place around us but changing ourselves is a choice.  We can choose to change for the good.  Below is a great quote on the topic of change and why it is so important in our lives.

"Change is the Law of Life. Those who only look to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

- John F. Kennedy

Choose Growth

Personal growth occurs only when we are challenged.  It is in those moments that we have the best opportunity to grow.  We don’t grow when our lives are trouble free, and things are taken care of for us.  We likely won’t grow when all is well at work and home.  Difficult times give us the life experiences from which we cultivate change.  If we take those opportunities and use those situations to learn, we become better people.  We must choose to tackle the challenge and grow from it.  The pandemic has been challenging, but it has also provided us with an opportunity to grow in how we lead at work and at home. We can choose to grow in how we positively influence others. We can choose to grow in our faith and trust in God.  We can choose to mature in our leadership roles.  We can choose to grow our life’s perspective. 

Now as much as ever, we can choose to grow. Enjoy the quote below…

 “Challenge yourself. It’s the only path which leads to growth.”

-       Morgan Freeman

Sixteen Years of the MMM!

The Monday Morning Minute was born sixteen years ago this week.  It began as an encouraging internal communication at Fleetwood Retail Corp. Since then it has grown into a widely distributed blog with the goal of starting your week with a challenging or encouraging thought.  People need a jump start on Monday morning to get back into work mode.  We all need a reminder about our leadership roles as we begin each week.  More importantly, we must continuously learn and grow.

 Some of you have been along for the ride from the very beginning, others have joined more recently.  Many of you I know, some of you I do not.  Whatever the case, I hope you get a little something from my shared thoughts each Monday morning. 

Friends

Last week we talked about the importance of friends.  We need support and advice from friends.  The best of friends also challenge us.  Truly great friends will encourage us to change course.  They point out our poor decisions.  They care about us becoming better versions of ourselves.  Do you have friends who will be honest with you?  When you veer off course will they tell you?  We want and need friendships like this. 

 

Are you this type of a friend?  Like we said last week, friendship is a two-way street.  That means we have a responsibility to be honest with friends.  We owe it to them to openly communicate and encourage them to grow.  Certainly, they need our support.  Sometimes that support needs to take the form of a challenging conversation.

 

Have great friends and a be a great friend…    

A Broader Focus

Do you spend time pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone?  Do you intentionally seek to grow in areas where you are uncomfortable?  Do you force yourself to focus on things you are not really interested in?  To grow as a truly well rounded and balanced person and leader, you need to be doing all three. 

Mark Wahlberg is featured in the current issue of “Entrepreneur”.  Consider this quote from that article…

“When I was younger, I was able to focus on things I was interested in, but I had no time and no desire to focus on or be disciplined about things I wasn’t interested in, he answered, “And I realized that I needed to be disciplined all around, in every capacity – and that would allow me to become successful, or at least have the best chance to succeed.”

The writer went on to state…As we get older, we don’t become different people – we become bigger people, understanding the many multitudes of things we must consider, and care about, and take on.  Our pathway to success isn’t just about going forward, but about going wide.

Take an interest in something new this week. Be intentional about going wide, not necessarily deep.

Choices

Life is made up of a series of choices.  We make choices each day of our life by prioritizing activities and choosing courses of action.  It is often frustrating and challenging to make those choices.  The alternatives are equally appealing, and the ramifications of the decisions seem so serious.  The best we can do at any one point in time is to make a choice with the information and knowledge available to us at that point in time. Consider your alternatives, study your options, seek spiritual guidance and make an educated decision.  Once a choice has been made, go on down the road of life.  There is no value to be gained from beating ourselves up over past choices and poor decisions.  Sure, we should learn from past decisions, but there really is no need to re-live poor choices or to constantly second guess ourselves.  Learn from those choices and grow. Make the best choice you can with the information available to you at the time. 

Have a blessed week making choices…

You miss every shot you do not take.

It is an interesting thought and really quite simple.  If you do not take a shot, you will not score.  You must make an attempt in order to give yourself a shot at winning.  Said differently, we cannot be afraid to try.  We shouldn’t be so conservative that we never give ourselves a real chance to accomplish something.  Oftentimes, I fall prey to this myself and tend to be somewhat cautious and conservative.  In order to grow, I need to learn to take more shots.  I am not just referring to the big decisions in life such as spouses and careers.  This certainly applies to those decisions, but this analogy also applies to little things throughout the day.  Maybe you need to take a shot at meeting someone new, at changing something at work, at becoming more involved in your community.

Take a shot.  Give yourself a chance to score in the game of life!

Brokenness

We are all broken.  Don’t believe those who want you to think that they are perfect; no one is. We are all human…we have sins, shames, regrets and dark sides. However, we do not have to act like we are broken. Don’t let the baggage of your past weigh down your journey to future.  We just need to be aware of it, own it, and move on.  You are the only one who knows your baggage and can control how you react to it. Life is all about how we learn, grow and move forward.  Don’t let others control how you see yourself.  We are each uniquely made in God’s eyes.  Each of us has strengths, talents, beauty and personalities that overcome the brokenness.  Be broken, just know it and deal with it.  More importantly, draw your strength from your unique gifts, the strength to overcome the brokenness. 

You are broken, but truly UNIQUE AND SPECIAL!

Life Plan

Do you have plans and goals?  Do you methodically plan out the direction of your life?  I have to say that I am not very good at this.  Too many of us just let life come at us.  We take what life brings us.  The problem with that is that you never know where you are going or where you might end up.  Setting priorities based on goals and objective gives us structure and direction.  It allows us to measure progress and impact the trajectory of our lives.  It is how we grow, change and improve.  We just have to learn to be flexible, knowing that plans will always changes.  What is that saying?  Man plans, God laughs!  God has given each of us a unique skill set and He wants us to use those gifts.  We just have to be open to the fact that our plans may not always match His!  Goals and plans are good proactive life tools, just be sure and be open to the influence of God in those plans.  I do not known Jim Rohn, but his quote below is on point for this topic.

“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's, and guess what they might have planned for you? Not much.”

--Jim Rohn

Change

Jerry Jeff Walker sings a song entitled Too Old to Change.  I recall being in my mid to late twenties and thinking that song applied to me.  I had this notion that I was who I was and was not likely to change much.  People around me just needed to accept that.  At that point my song title should have been Too Stupid to Change.  We are never too old to change, often just too hard-headed to change.  In fact, we do not grow as people if we do not change.  Life is all about change and how we accept, embrace and adapt to it. 

Don't be too old to change!