Principles of Success (Day 5: GROWTH) yay!!
Last week we spoke about the first 4 principles of success as described in "The Rhythm of Life" by Matthew Kelly (more here : day-1-purpose; day-2-priorities; day-3-balance; day-4-discipline). Today we delve into the fifth principle: Discipline (Just a small but important note, the term success here can be applied to many areas of life, and ultimately, it's really just about intentionally becoming the best version of yourself.) Principle 5: GROWTH “If you are not growing, you are slowly dying.” Growth is a non-negotiable principle of life. It doesn't have to be a constant upward progress, it can be seasonal, but it's gotta happen in order to avoid the soul shrinking that will happen as a result. Stagnation is not neutral...it's regressive and stagnant water becomes putrid and also has the tendency to infect things around it. Growth must be intentional and often requires humility-admitting what you don't know, where you need help and recognizing a need for change. We often mistake growth for intensity-doing moer, pushing harder, building up speed. But we must not confuse momentum with growth. Think of riding a bike down a not so smooth hill and at the end you need to make a turn. Momentum on it's own could end up being catastrophic--being intentional with how you navigate the hill, when to apply the breaks, when to maybe even walk the bike is necessary. This analogy is only in relation to momentum because part of growth may also need to bring in the question "is this a hill that's really best suited for my goal/my life". Sustainable growth requires integration meaning that it requires the space to process, reflect, and consolidate what has been learned. Without this rhythm/balance, growth becomes compulsive and lessons aren't fully learned.Again, it's not necessarily about speed. It's tough though because we can struggle with delayed gratification sometimes.