Making Room For Growth

Many will accept that growth is desirable. However, some fail to appreciate that they need to create the space to accommodate growth. Growth requires effort.

Personal growth may be stifled as aspects of our lives are so fully occupied that there is no room for anything else. We need to clear the wilderness to make room for things of greater value and importance.

 

People

 

We get so preoccupied with things that dominate our lives that we might be shutting others out.

Do we need to cut down 'busyness' trees to make room for more quality time with our loved ones?

Are spouses, children, and parents being forced to squeeze into a tight corner in our lives?

Some of you might have to make room for sharing your future with someone else. Others need to clear out bad habits and attitudes to enjoy a meaningful relationship. Some must remove a lack of certification to get employed.

 

Service

 

We tend to be focused on providing for our needs, however, we would be well advised to consider making room for being of service to others.

We are not self-contained or self-sufficient. Our growth and development is linked to our capacity to add value. We grow when we make room for being of service to others.

If we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, should we not make room to be sensitive to their needs and find more space for being of service to them?

 

Personal Development

 

You also need to consider making space for personal development.

What is it that you can take one notch higher?

What can you remove so as to be better in some aspect of your life?

Are the trees that you need to clear out manifestations of doubt and fear that limit what you think you can achieve?

What is it that you are telling yourself is beyond your reach?

You can reset what is the norm with respect to what is possible for you.

Consider Joni Eareckson Tada. She suffered a fracture and became a quadriplegic, paralysed from the shoulders down.

Tada learnt to paint with a brush between her teeth. She also writes this way, and has written more than 40 books, recorded several musical albums, starred in an autobiographical movie of her life, and is an advocate for the disabled. Tada wrote of her experiences in her 1976 international best-selling autobiography, Joni: The unforgettable story of a young woman's struggle against quadriplegia and depression.

What hurdles are blocking your growth?

How do we go about making room?

 

1. Decide how much room you need right now and what you are going to put in it.

 

If you clear the space and have nothing to put there, something unplanned is going to occupy it. So you need to be clear about exactly what needs to go and what will replace it.

 

2. Set priorities and update them regularly.

 

Establish why something is less valuable and desirable than the thing that you want to put in its place. That means you have to establish priorities. Update your priorities regularly as we live in a dynamic world.

 

3. Prepare for the test

 

Making room is challenging and demands that we prepare ourselves for the effort.

Making room for service might come at the cost of close friendships. Career goals might be sacrificed to make room for closer bonds.

You may need to toss out things that have been there for a long time. Some may be easily dislodged, others can only be removed with great effort and some amount of longing.

 

4. Rally support

 

We stand a better chance of success when we invite collaboration.

Groups need to ensure that there is buy-in. Maintain focus on the benefits of the exercise by painting pictures of life after the space has been cleared.

Footnote: Reflect on whether there is something missing in your life that you need to make room to accommodate.

 Trevor E S Smith is a Behaviour Modification Coach with the Success with People Academy home of the revolutionary FinxS Platform from Extended DISC. Hire Smart with FinxS Behavioural Assessments. Conduct Employee Satisfaction Surveys, 360 Performance Evaluations and Team Reports using logistics-friendly technology. Contact: email: info@swpacademy.com.