Many of you have heard the statement: if you are not growing you are dying. If you haven’t ever heard it or it’s been a while, I hope it is a cause for pause. I have been on an amazing journey of personal growth the last few years. Most people that know me would say that at 6’6” tall and nearly 300 pounds I had grown large enough in my first 37 years on earth, but in the last three, my personal growth in knowledge of myself, those around me and the world in general have grown exponentially.
Most of us invest so much time focusing on the minutia right in front of our faces that we forget about the world around us. We fight the fires that are burning hottest and don’t bother to look at the areas without the flames. My journey started 3 years ago as I was teaching a class for the builders association called Financial Management. Although there is a financial component to the course, my contention is that the most valuable portion is the part on goals. I had taught the course many times, but this particular class would change nearly everything about my life from what I did to where I lived. Sadly, I am a little slow sometimes. I didn’t get it when I took the course or even the first 5 times I taught the course. But finally, the sixth time, it happened…
I was discussing Steven Covey’s wonderful metaphor of the jar and the rocks from The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. “The big rocks go in first,” I said emphatically, “ or they will never fit. The big rocks are your long term personal goals and those goals,” I continued, “ should drive your short term personal goals and THEN your long and short term business goals.” I repeated, “Personal THEN business.” That’s when I heard a strange noise… “Aaaahhhhheeemm!” I searched the room for the source. The students looked at me, I looked at them… Nothing…. Again I heard, “Aaahhhheeemmmm!”… OK, who is the funny guy in the room… (Remember, I said I am a little slow sometimes)… Then it hit me. There was no way I had it backwards! I was doing it right wasn’t I?! I owned my own successful company, lived in a beautiful home, was taking care of all of my customers. I was a director for the builders association, a volunteer for all kinds of events, and by most standards, a pillar of the community. Heck, I was honored as part of the 40 under 40 list by the Houston Business Journal for up and coming executives. There is no way I had it backwards! I taught a class on getting your priorities straight for Pete’s sake!
I was wrong. That voice I heard was me. After a lot of reflection and discussion with my inner circle, I realized that I had spent my entire career chasing a mythical thing called success. The problem is, when do you know you have reached it? Success is a target that will never sit still, but if you slow down and look around, you will see that you achieve it everyday. I realized that when I drive my company to my next goal, that is a great success, but it doesn’t define me. It is an important accomplishment, but not more important than what I now define as real success. Real success is living my life in a positive way that impacts the lives of everyone I come in contact with in order to make that moment better and hopefully contribute to making their lives better.
However, as I said, success can be elusive so I look for clues of accomplishment. No longer do I look at the financials for my true success. I look at the smiles, thoughts, changes and actualizations I cause. I see my success as my family, my friends, my clients and total strangers grow in front of my eyes. The light bulb or ‘Aha!’ moments we all experience… those are what I count. I look for opportunities as small as remembering the name of the waitperson at a restaurant or just smiling at a total stranger… and as big as finding the untapped potential we all have within us. If you are not growing you are dying… growth must be intentional. You have to make the time to change your life. Make it happen by doing some deep thinking today. As Henry Ford so eloquently said: If you believe you can or you can’t, you are right.
If your untapped potential is calling and you want help actualizing the dreams and ideas you have, contact me today.
Burk Moreland is a featured speaker and coach on topics ranging from sales to leadership and company development. For information on coaching, training sessions or other questions please contact Burk at burk@rainmakerbuilders.com.