Today let’s begin with a quick check-up. Have you followed through with your compromise plan from Day 308? Did you find a way to use compromise to honor someone who is important to you? If you have not completed that assignment yet, today is the day to do it. Get to work! If you have, congratulations! How did it feel?
What do you think about today’s quote? Is breaking the rules on your list of things to do for fun? If it isn’t, maybe you should add it. This is not a suggestion to become a criminal. It simply points out that sometimes it’s really fun to break the rules.
When Kevin was six years old, his parents had a rule in the house that eight o’clock was bedtime. However, whenever his Uncle Steve came over to babysit him, they broke the rules and stayed up late watching movies and eating popcorn. The two of them had a great time “being bad,” and as far as Kevin knew, his parents never found out. Kevin is an adult now, and the times he broke the rules and stayed up late with his uncle are precious, happy memories.
Your assignment today is not to obey all the rules. You can certainly think of a few more subversive examples of rule breaking than Kevin’s beautiful childhood story. Remember, you’re not looking for an arrest record—but have fun. You won’t get a gold star at the end of your journey if you followed every single rule. There is no award for that. Let loose and disobey a rule now and again. If you don’t, you’ll miss some of the fun.
DAY
316
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”
— Karen Kaiser Clark
Change is not an option. The world will continue to change and evolve whether you want it to or not. Growth, however, is an entirely different matter. That one is up to you.
Jackie’s life was in a constant state of flux. She was a salesperson, and her territory changed all the time. New and exciting opportunities landed in her lap almost daily. On the other hand, her sales numbers remained flat. She had accumulated years of experience as a salesperson, but she did not learn and grow from the knowledge she had collected. Jackie continued to repeat the same mistakes and miss the same types of opportunities. She refused to grow, and therefore she chopped off her success at the knees.
Life is change, and that’s one of the beautiful aspects of it. Every day you will have new opportunities for success in an ever-evolving world. If you feel stuck now, wait a little while, and things will alter to provide you with an opening to a new path you never considered before.
Growth is optional, so pay attention if you want to achieve your dreams. Are you growing? Do you continually take in new information, process it, and use it to build your success? Gulp down those nutrients all around you, and change your life for the better.
Your assignment today is to think about whether or not you are using every opportunity you have to grow. Are you constantly learning? Do you pay attention to others? Do you observe as much as you perform? Growth is optional. Choose wisely.
DAY
317
“You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.”
— Irish Saying
Before looking at today’s quote, it’s time to check in on a previous assignment. How are you doing with your Reality Check Day assignment from Day 257? Your assignment was to initiate Reality Check Day once a week for two months and find out if it helped inspire you to push harder and strive to give just a little bit more than average effort. Did this assignment affect your output? Did you find yourself pushing harder than usual toward success? Write about the results in your journal.
Now, let’s turn to today’s quote. It actually coincides with Reality Check Day. The reality is you have to do your own growing. No one can take on that assignment for you. It doesn’t matter if you were born into wealth and privilege. You can’t rely on what has been given to you or the work completed by someone else who came before you. Anyone can give you money or things, but you have to develop knowledge and respect and compassion and all of the things that come together to make a successful person on your own. Success is not something you can outsource. It grows from the inside out.
Are you growing? Or are you leaning on the reputation of your father, mother, grandparent, boss, coworker, or friend? Take responsibility for your success today. It’s time for you to grow.
DAY
318
“Growth begins when we accept our own weakness.”
— Jean Vanier
When a plant becomes weak, it needs something to regain its strength—usually water or sunlight. Can you imagine what would happen if a plant didn’t accept water or if it hid from the sun? It would wither and die. A plant needs those things in order to grow. When it takes them in—when it accepts them—it thrives.
What do you need in order to grow and achieve success? Have you developed a list? Your weaknesses should be on that list. Weaknesses are not shortcomings. They are opportunities for growth. Develop a list today of the things you need to grow and achieve your dreams.
Is education an area where you are weak? Great! Put it on the list and start to consider your options for education, so that you can grow and build your strength in that area.
What about your health? Is it a challenge for you to eat right and exercise? Write that down. Then look for a solution that will help you to turn around your bad habits and incorporate diet and exercise into your life.
Are connections a weakness? Do you feel like you just don’t know the right people in your desired field? Put it on the list. Then brainstorm about clubs or associations you can join that will help you meet the appropriate mentors to guide you on your path.
Pinpoint your weaknesses, and then use them as opportunities to grow.
DAY
319
“There are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no limits to the human capacity for intelligence, imagination, and wonder.”
— Ronald Reagan
Guess what? Good news! There are absolutely no limits to your growth potential. You can be a giant in the area of success, and your growth only stops when you say so. Growth is not rationed out to each individual like a morsel of food in a soup kitchen. You can be a complete glutton when it comes to growth opportunities. Eat them up. Consume everything you can get your hands on.
You will never reach a point where you are done learning, where you have sopped up all of the intelligence in the universe, and there is nothing left that you don’t know. Thank goodness! That means life will never be boring, unless you shut yourself off to growth opportunities. Your capacity for intelligence, imagination, and wonder is infinite.
Your assignment today is to respect the infinite human capacity for growth. Take some time out to learn something new. Study an interesting tidbit of history on the Internet. Learn a new phrase in a foreign language. Work a crossword puzzle. Look up at the stars and wonder about the universe. Use your imagination to create a new bedtime story for your children. Expand your growth potential in some way, and revel in the knowledge that you can do this a million different ways for the rest of your life, and you will never reach capacity.