John C. Maxwell has dedicated his life to self-improvement, constantly pushing himself to become a better person. This book is a quick read, yet is packed full of great insights and quotes from John Maxwell and many other thought leaders. Maxwell clearly lays out the laws of growth and describes what he believes it takes to reach your potential. If you are interested in personal development and self-improvement, I highly recommend reading through the points written below.
Read the bolded statements twice.
**Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the rights of the content below. All rights are reserved to John C. Maxwell, Center Street and the Hachette Book Group.**
Introduction
To reach your potential, you must grow. And to grow, you must be highly intentional about it.
What do I mean when I write about growth? That will be as unique as you are. To become a better human being, you need to grow in character. To advance in your career, you need to grow in your skills. To reach your financial goals, you need to grow in your knowledge about how money works.
Law 1: The Law of Intentionality
Growth doesn’t just happen
If you focus on goals, you may hit goals – but that doesn’t guarantee growth. If you focus on growth, you will grow and always hit goals.
Once you are done with your formal education, you must take complete ownership of the growth process, because nobody else will do it for you.
“If you are clear with what you want, the world responds with clarity.” – Loretta Staples
“Life lived for tomorrow will always be a day away from being realized.” – Leo Buscaglia
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?” – Robert H. Schuller
You have to get started if you want to find the best way. It is similar to driving on an unfamiliar road at night. As you move forward, a little more of the road is revealed to you. If you want to see more of the way, then get moving.
The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it.
After you start doing the thing, that is when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.
Preparation (growth) + Attitude + Opportunity + Action (doings something about it) = Luck
“You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.” – Jim Rohn
We all have fears. But here is the good news. We also all have faith. The question you have to ask yourself is, “Which emotion will I allow to be stronger?” Your answer is important, because the stronger emotion wins.
“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Characteristics of Intentional Growth:
- Insists on starting today
- Takes complete responsibility to grow
- Often learns before mistakes
- Relies on hard work
- Perseveres long and hard
- Fights for good habirs
- Follows through
- Takes risks
- Thinks like a learner
- Relies on character
- Never stops growing
Law 2: The Law of Awareness
You must know yourself to grow yourself.
Every time you want to learn something, you must be able to take the new thing you have learned today and build upon what you learned yesterday to keep growing. That is the only way to gain traction and keep improving yourself.
To reach your potential, you must know where you want to go and where you currently are. Without both of those pieces of information, you are liable to get lost.
You have to know who you are to grow to your potential. But you have to grow in order to know who you are. Explore yourself as you explore growth. The way to start is to pay attention to your passions.
Knowing yourself and what you want to do is one of the most important things you will ever do in this life.
To be successful, you need to be doing what you are good at.
It is a powerful combination when what motivates you lines up with what satisfies you.
If you have discovered what you want to do, start finding people who do what you want to do with excellence.
“Probably the most honest self-made man ever was the one we heard say: ‘I got to the top the hard way – fighting my own laziness and ignorance every step of the way.’” – James Thom
Nobody ever got ready by waiting. You only get ready by starting.
Law 3: The Law of the Mirror
You must see value in yourself to add value to yourself
“Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself.” – Denis Waitley
“It is impossible to consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with how we see ourselves. We can do very few things in a positive way if we feel negative about ourselves.” – Zig Ziglar
Every aspect of our lives is impacted by the way we see ourselves.
“Your self-esteem deficiency will limit you, no matter what other assets you possess.” – Nathanial Branden
People are never able to out-perform their self-image.
The value we place on ourselves is usually the value others place on us.
You should not become too concerned about what others might thing of you. You should be more concerned about what you think of yourself.
Comparing yourself to others is really just a needless distraction. The only one you should compare yourself to is you. Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday. You do that by focusing on what you can do today to improve and grow.
“When a man has put a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do.” – Charles Schwab
The Success Principals by Jack Canfield
- Identify a limiting belief that you want to change.
- Determine how the belief limits you.
- Decide how you want to be, act, or feel.
- Create a turnaround statement that affirms or gives you permission to be, act, or feel this new way.
Remember, in the end, it is not what you are that holds you back, it is what you think you are not.
Law 4: The Law of Reflection
Learning to pause allows growth to catch up to you
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come ever more effective action.” – Peter F. Drucker
If we do not take the time to pause and reflect, we can miss the significance of certain events. Reflection allows those experiences to move from being life markers to life makers. If we pause to allow growth to catch up with us, it makes our lives better, because we not only better understand the significance of what we have experienced, but we can implement changes and course corrections as well.
The thing to remember is that continual growth from experiences is only possible when we discover insights and truths within them. That comes from investigation.
Never forget that your goal in personal growth is reaching your potential. To do that, you need to keep pausing, keep asking questions, and keep growing every day.
“The wise man questions himself, the fool others.” – Henri Arnold
Law 5: The Law of Consistency
Motivation gets you going – discipline keeps you growing
“You have got to get up every morning with determination if you are going to go to bed with satisfaction.” – George Lorimer
“The successful person has the habit of doing the things that failures do not like to do. The successful person does not like doing them either, but his dislike is subordinated to the strength of his purpose.” – E. M. Gray
If you want to gain momentum and improve your motivation, begin by setting goals that are worthwhile but highly achievable. Master the basics. Then practice them every day without fail. Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.
“Success in most things comes not from some gigantic stroke of fate, but from simple, incremental progress.” – Andrew Wood
The people who grow and achieve the most are the ones who harness the power of patience and persistence.
One of the best things you can do for yourself as a learner is to cultivate the ability to value and enjoy the process of growth. It is going to take a long time, so you might as well enjoy the journey.
Instead of letting fear of failures overwhelm you, stare defeat in the face, figure out what went wrong, set a new goal, and start again.
You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.
“The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, he becomes inspired because he is working.” – Ernest Newman
“If you develop the habits of success, you will make success a habit.” – Michael Angier
Law 6: The Law of Environment
Growth thrives in conducive surroundings
“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment you first find yourself in.” – Michael Caine
“Do you know how to get a poker hot? Put it next to the fire. We are like the metal poker. If our environment is cold, we are cold. If it is hot, we are hot. If you want to grow, then spend time with great people; visit great places; attend great events; read great books, listen to great tapes.” – Elmer Towns
“The people with whom you habitually associate are called your ‘reference group,’ and these people determine as much as 95 percent of your success or failure in life.” – Dr. David McClelland
“You are the same today that you are going to be in five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read.” – Charles Jones
“We become the combined average of the five people we hang around the most.” – Jim Rohn
The most significant factor in any person’s environment is the people.
“Today is when everything that is going to happen from now on begins.” – Harvey Firestone Jr.
Growth always comes from taking action, and taking action almost always brings criticism. Move forward anyway. To reach your potential, you must do not only what others believe you cannot do, but what even you believe you cannot do.
Law 7: The Law of Design
To maximize growth, develop strategies
“If you do not design your own life plan, chances are you will fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they may have planned for you? Not much.” – Jim Rohn
The secret is not really to want more or want it faster. It is to put more time and attention into what you have and what you can do now.
“Systems permit ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results predictably.” – Michael Gerber
A system is a process for predictably achieving a goal based on specific, orderly, repeatable principles and practices. Systems are deliberate, intentional and practical.
“We may be very busy, we may be very efficient, but we will also be truly effective only when we begin with the end in mind.” – Stephen Covey
“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you cannot measure something, you cannot understand it. If you cannot understand it, you cannot control it. If you cannot control it, you cannot improve it.” – H. James Harrington
Measurement makes a difference. It enables you to set goals, evaluate progress, judge results, and diagnose problems. If you want to stimulate your growth progress and evaluate the results, build measurement into your systems.
Time has a way of getting away from people, yet time is what life is made of. Everything we do requires time, yet many people take it for granted. How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected. But once time has passed, it is gone forever.
The secret of success is found in your daily routine.
“If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.” – Jim Rohn
Law 8: The Law of Pain
Good management of bad experiences leads to great growth
Each time we encounter a painful experience, we get to know ourselves a little better.
Pain prompts us to face who we are and where we are. What we do with that experience defines who we become.
“Success in life comes not from holding a good hand, but in playing a poor hand well.” – Warren G. Lester
Most successful people will point to the hard times in their lives as key points in their journey of development. If you are dedicated to growth, then you must become committed to managing your bad experiences well.
When you have a bad experience, instead of letting it discourage you or make you angry, try to find a way to let it prompt your creativity.
“You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.” – Charles F. Kettering
Remember that our choices will lead to either the pain of self-discipline or the pain of regret. I would rather live with the pain of self-discipline and reap the positive rewards than live with the pain of regret, which is something that an create a deep and continual ache within us.
Law 9: The Law of the Ladder
Character growth determines the height of your personal growth
Professors James Kouzes and Barry Posner spent 25 years and administered a survey that asked “What values, personal traits, or characteristics do you look for and admire in a leader” The results have been striking in their regularity. The answer that is always at the top of the list is honesty.
If you cannot trust yourself, you will not ever be able to grow.
Character growth determines the height of your personal growth.
We reap what we sow. What we do or neglect to do in the privacy of our daily lives impacts who we are.
“Character is something that you create within yourself and must take responsibility for changing.” – Jim Rohn
Borrowed beliefs have no passion, therefore have no power.
“Be grateful. Gratitude is acknowledging that someone did something for me that I could not do for myself. Gratitude expresses our vulnerability, our dependence on others.” – Fred Smith
Everything we do, every accomplishment we have, every milestone we pass has come in part because of the efforts of others.
If we desire to grow and reach our potential, we must pay more attention to our character than to our success.
“Habit is the daily battleground of character.” – Dan Coats
Law 10: The Law of the Rubber Band
Growth stops when you lose the tension between where you are and where you could be.
“Being ‘average’ is to pass one’s life away with time, rather than to pass one’s time away with life; it is to kill time, rather than to work it to death. To be ‘average’ is to be forgotten once you pass from this life. The successful are remembered for their contributions; the failures are remembered because they tried. To be ‘average’ is to commit the greatest crime one can against one’s self, humanity and one’s God.” – Edmund Gaudet
Nobody admires average.
It is wise to remember that our situation in life is mainly due to the choices we make and the actions we do – or fail to – take. The older we get, the more responsible we are for our situation.
“To grow, you must be willing to let your present and future be totally unlike your past. Your history is not your destiny.” – Alan Cohen
“Monotony is the awful reward of the careful.” – A. G. Buckham
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Elliot
Successful people set themselves apart because they initiate the improvement others need.
“If you won’t be better tomorrow than you were today, then what do you need tomorrow for?” – Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav
Law 11: The Law of Trade-Offs
You have to give up to grow up
If you want to grow up to your potential, you must be willing to give up some things you value.
Nothing creates a greater gap between successful and unsuccessful people than the choices we make.
While we don’t always get what we want, we always get what we choose.
“A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make.” – Denis Waitley
The difference between where we are and where we want to be is created by the changes we are willing to make in our lives.
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor
“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” – Louis Boone
How to create capacity in your life:
- Delegate so you are working smarter, not just harder.
- Do what you do best and drop the rest.
- Get control of your calendar; otherwise other people will.
- Do what you love because it will give you energy
- Work with people you like so your energy is not depleted.
Law 12: The Law of Curiosity
Growth is stimulated by asking why?
“This world is owned by people who have cross bridges in their imagination before anyone else has.” – Albert Einstein
Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated experience is.
Do not be afraid to make failure your friend.
Law 13: The Law of Modeling
It is hard to improve when you have no one but yourself to follow
You need to focus your growth on your areas of personal strength. If you do that, your effectiveness in growth will start to increase.
As you look for role models and mentors, scrutinize their personal lives as carefully as their public performance. Your values will be influenced by theirs, so you should not be too casual who you choose to follow.
“As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” – Andrew Carnegie
Benefit from others’ experience. As the Chinese proverb says, “To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.”
“Never confuse the giftedness of a person with the person. Their gifts allow them to do amazing things but the person may be flawed, which will eventually cause harm.” – Fred Smith
Since none of us is a whole, independent, self-sufficient, super-capable, all-powerful hotshot, let’s quit acting like we are. Life is lonely enough without playing that silly role. The game is over. Let’s link up.
Law 14: The Law of Expansion
Growth always increases your capacity
“The potential that exists within us is limitless and largely untapped…when you think of limits, you create them.” – Robert J. Kriegal and Louis Patler
Your doubts are not the product of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking.
There is more than one way to do something successfully.
The odds of arriving anywhere increase with creativity and adaptability.
Movement with intentionality creates possibilities.
Failures and setbacks ca be great tools for learning.
Success is the result of continued action filled with continual adjustments.
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order to learn how to do it.” – Pablo Picasso
“In order to distinguish yourself, get noticed, and advance your career, you need to do and be more. You have to rise above average. You can do this by asking more of yourself than others ask, expecting more from yourself than others expect, believing more in yourself than others believe, doing more than others think you should have to do, giving more than others think you should give, and helping more than others think you should help.” – Jack Welch
Stop doing important things occasionally and start doing important things daily.
Make your life a master piece, which requires much thought, a clear idea, and selection.
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau
To do what is not important every day does nothing for you. It merely uses up your time. To do the right thing only occasionally does not lead to consistent growth and the expansion of your life.
Law 15: The Law of Contribution
Growing yourself enables you to grow others
You cannot give what you do not have. But if you have worked to learn or earn something, you have the ability to pass it on to others.
Every day Ben Franklin asked himself in the morning, “What good shall I do today?” and in the evening, “What good have I done today?”
When you choose to hoard what you have, rather than give, you become the center of your own lonely universe and you become less content, not more. As a result, you repel both people and potential blessings.
“You can get everything in life you want if you help enough people get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar
“I consider the success of my day based on the seeds I sow, not the harvest I reap.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
“No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.” – George Washington Carver
Chasing self-fulfillment is a bit like chasing happiness. It is an emotion that cannot be sustained. It relies too much on circumstances. It depends on a person’s mood. In contrast, you can develop yourself regardless of how you feel, what circumstances you find yourself in, your financial situation, or the people around you.
“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job; your income is directly related to your philosophy, not the economy; and for things to change, you must change.” – J. Earl Shoaff
Reflection Questions to Ask Yourself:
- What would you like to do?
- What talents, skills, and opportunities do you possess that support your desire to do it?
- What are your motives for wanting to do it?
- What steps must you take (beginning today) to start doing what you want to do?
- Whose advice can you get to help you along the way?
- What price are you willing to pay? What will it cost you in time, resources and sacrifices?
- Where do you most need to grow? You must focus on your strengths and overcome any weaknesses that would keep you from reaching your goal.
- What is my biggest asset?
- What is my biggest liability?
- What is my highest high?
- What is my lowest low?
- What is my most worthwhile emotion?
- What is my least worthwhile emotion?
- What is my best habit?
- What is my worst habit?
- What is most fulfilling to me?
- What do I prize most highly?
- What am I doing daily to grow?
- What is the most valuable use of my time right now?
- When is my most valuable time?
Playing the Infinite Game 