Growth | What's Soul Got To Do With It?

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was sentenced to a Soviet gulag (labor camp) for eight years after being accused of producing anti-Soviet propaganda in private letters critical of Stalin’s war.  He entered prison an atheist and emerged a man of faith.  Looking back he said, "I bless you prison - I bless you for being in my life - for lying therein on the rotting prison straw, I learned the object of life is not prospering as I had grown up believing, but the maturing the soul".

Growth that we care about is really a "maturing of the soul". It's deep and it's lasting, bringing a sense of purpose to life.

I want to be surrounded by people who are thinking about and taking action towards the maturing of their soul through intentional personal growth.

Here are four deliberate and intentional action areas to fuel your personal growth:

Connect With Mentors

Since we don't work out our growth alone, you need to decide who you trust to impart counsel and truth into your life.  Find mentors, but don't bother to call them that. Mentoring can turn into an awkward dance of misaligned expectations.  Rather, find subject matter experts that you trust and find a way to spend time with them or learn from them indirectly.  Look for people you admire and who have been where you want to go and build real relationships over the long haul.  Don't be needy. Successful people don't open up if they feel they will be used or get entangled before they choose to.

Establish Growth Oriented Habits

Michael Hyatt, a virtual mentor I admire, suggested the following keys to personal growth;

1. Stay curious. Keep asking questions and poking around the next corner
2. Read new books. find books in or near our areas of expertise. Try audiobooks if you think you are too busy.
3. Listen to relevant podcasts. They also allow us to connect with very specialized information.
4. Attend webinars, seminars, and conferences.
5. Take courses.
6. Hire a coach or join a mastermind. (a purpose-driven small group)
7. Meet new people. Who you know, generally, trumps what you know.

Develop Written Goals

If it's not written, it's not real.

1. Stop and think what life would be like if you made progress in an area you care about.
2. Write down the progress you want
3. Get connected to your why and write it out, too
4. Identify the very next step you want to take and give it a date
5. Find an accountability partner to share your plan
6. Take that next step
7. Check in with your accountability partner regularly.  We hold ourselves accountable.

Face Down The Resistance

Be forewarned, when you set goals in big, scary, or creative areas, you will immediately face resistance.

"Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” - Steven Pressfield, War of Art

When we commit to growth, in any area of our lives that matters to our soul, we will encounter Resistance in a variety of insidious forms;

Our own voice... telling us to stay in our sandbox!

Other voices... pointing out all the barriers to success.

Our habits... keeping us sidelined and unproductive.

The habits of others... holding us back.

Pain... that cannot be avoided if we're going to win.

Breaking through the atmosphere towards orbit is violent, turbulent, and hot.  So it is with your growth journey. When we reach towards our potential we will experience serious opposition before we break through.  Welcome to the bigs.

Here's a final recap of this series on growth...

Post #1: Why Healthy People and Organizations are Growing

Post #2: Focus on Your Strengths, Not Your Weaknesses

Post #3: Work on Your Character Not Just Your Influence

Post #4:  Personal Growth is the Maturing of Our Soul

Summary? Pushing past the resistance is a full-time job that will take courage, purpose, a plan, and consistent action.  The maturing of our soul?  That makes it worth the price.