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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth summary
John C. Maxwell
Live Them and Reach Your Potential
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4.6 (308 ratings)
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What is The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth about?
In The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth (2012), leadership guru John C. Maxwell shares his secrets to self-development. He reveals that personal growth needs to be actively cultivated; it doesn’t just happen by itself. By discovering your key values, working out a strategy, and taking small actions every day, you can accelerate your personal growth – and live a life full of joy, adventure, and satisfaction.
About the Author
John C. Maxwell is a New York Times best-selling author of over 70 books on leadership and personal development – including The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn. Maxwell delivers speeches to top leaders in government and business around the world and offers coaching and mentorship through his company, The John Maxwell Team. He also founded EQUIP, a non-profit organization that has trained more than five million leaders in 180 countries.
Key idea 1 of 10
Before you begin your journey, you need to know who you are and what you want.
You can’t wander through the jungle without a map and expect to reach your destination. In the same way, you can’t really grow unless you understand where you want to go. But for a lot of people, this is easier said than done; knowing exactly where you want to go is not always obvious.
So how can you find out? The best way is to really get to know yourself and what you want. That can be challenging to accomplish, of course. But if you ask yourself these key questions you’ll be on the right track.
First of all, ask yourself if you’re happy with what you’re doing right now. Does your work make you feel fulfilled and passionate? Do you start the day with a spring in your step? Or are you lethargic, tired, and irritable? If it’s the latter, you’re clearly not doing what fulfills you.
So what will fulfill you? The answer to that question is as unique as your fingerprints; it’s specific to your personality, your values, and your dreams. In order to identify it, you need to observe yourself closely. Notice when something makes you “light up,” moves you, or gets you especially excited. Think about times in your life that you’ve felt useful and valued by the people around you.
Once you’ve discovered what you want to do, you should stop for a quick reality check. Is your dream doable? Yes, dreams should take you beyond your current reality – that’s why they’re called dreams. But if your dream is to be a professional basketball player, and you hate exercising and have terrible coordination, then your dream is actually something else: a fantasy. An achievable dream should line up with your talents and capabilities. When you’ve established that your dream is potentially attainable, you should ask yourself the next probing question: Why do you want to do it?
This is a really important one. You need to sniff out any hidden agendas you may have. For example, if you say you want to do a PhD because you’re passionate about learning, but in fact you just want to impress people, you’ll run into trouble.
Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting to impress people! But it’s probably not a strong enough motivation to get you through a grueling PhD program. More importantly, you’d essentially be doing it for someone else, which wouldn’t make you happy in the long run. What you need to find is a passion that will make you happy just by pursuing it.
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Who should read The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth
- Up-and-coming professionals interested in developing their leadership skills
- Thoughtful individuals experiencing a life transition
- Entrepreneurs wanting to learn how to grow their businesses
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