Everyone you ask will tell you that they want to grow. Their intentions are good. But too many people settle for the same old thing, over and over and over. And they never grow.

Because they don’t have a plan.

In order to grow you have to have a plan. It doesn’t matter what area of life you’re talking about. It can be leadership abilities. Or it can be in matters of faith and your spiritual life. It can even be in specific areas, like understanding your finances, or being a better husband or parent.

In order to grow, you have to have a plan for growth.

A plan will help keep you organized. It will assist you in working smarter towards the goals that you want to achieve in whatever area you desire to grow. A plan will help you see not only the end result, the goal, but also help you see the journey and the process of achieving that goal.

But a plan is harder to incorporate than most people think. And because it is difficult, most never accomplish their plan, and thus, never grow to realize their full potential.

There are three things you must keep in mind as you set your goals on growth. These three things will help you keep your focus on the goal. Tomorrow, we will look at some specific action steps you can take to succeed in growing. But today, let’s look at the attitudes that you must have in place.

Have A Plan

You have to have a plan. It may sound trite, but the old phrase is true: “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” You have to develop a plan, no matter what you want to accomplish. Do you want to read through the entire Bible this year? Get a plan. Do you want to increase the potential for success in several areas of your life? Develop a plan. Do you want to be a be better dad to your kids? Formulate a deliberate plan to do just that. No matter what the areas are where you want to grow, a plan can help you accomplish the end result you desire.

Sense The Urgency

In order to grow to your greatest potential, you need to see that it is urgent that you grow. Sensing the urgency will help you achieve more because you start sooner. Sensing the urgency will help you move farther because you know the need, you can see the end result, and you believe that it will affect you and those around you for the better. Most of the time, you will find that there is no reason to wait. You can begin to move towards that growth as soon as you can. And the sooner the better. After all, when you have grown in your leadership skills, you’ll be better equipped to lead others to the desired goal. When you improve as a preacher, you can communicate more effectively the message of the Bible. And when you realize that there is a sense of urgency, you’ll be motivated to grow as quickly and as much as possible.

Stick To It

The biggest hurdle to personal growth, in any area, is perseverance. When the going gets tough, our natural desire is to give up, grab a snack and go watch TV, thinking all the while that it’s just too hard to do. But in order to see the growth, you have to work through the hardness, sticking to the plan in spite of the difficulties. If it’s too easy, and there is no difficulty, you need to set your goals higher and stretch yourself farther. Because without stretching yourself, you won’t grow a bit. The illustration of a body builder comes to mind here. In order to build muscle, you have to stretch and push yourself to lift, straining the muscles in the process. That way, they grow stronger and stronger, enabling you to lift more and more. But without the pain, there is no gain. So, stick to it.

In Alice In Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts said, “It takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” If we are going to run twice as fast, then these three things will help us maintain that pace.

Proverbs 21:5 says:

The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

Having a plan, and working hard toward accomplishing it will help you grow to the potential that you were created to reach. Even though it may be difficult, the end results are worth it… By far.

What attitudes do you think are essential for personal growth? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.