This article will contain everything about the Law of Intentionality that John Maxwell wrote in his book the 15 Laws of Growth. Before the Law of Awareness, there is this law, which is the first one we must consider before discussing the other 14 laws. I should have written this part before the Law of Awareness, but it happened this way.
I will divide the content about Intentionality into two parts. Okay, let’s get started with the 1st one.
To begin, GROWTH is not an instant process. It won’t happen overnight or when you decide to. It is easy to tell people what they need to improve rather than exposing themselves. Growth is about being intentional. That’s why we need to spend a longer time focusing on our personal growth rather than spending much longer effort and time creating plans for someone else. Most of the time, what holds us back is not our lack of action. It’s mostly the need for more focus. It might be difficult for you and me to be intentional about growing when interruptions keep getting in our way. Another good news is that the possible thing for us is to minimize the effect of distractions.
To start your plan, you can follow and do these things:
Commit to yourself and make it public.
Because we tend to give up in the hallway when we do not see any progress, but when making our plans public, we are letting the people’s voice or behavior affect us in the matter of pushing us to keep doing what we’re saying to be doing.
Identify the areas we want to grow.
At least two but less than 5. We want to keep ourselves from overwhelming ourselves by keep doing the shells part.
Invest an hour a day in each area mentioned in the previous point.
For this, you can follow Lee Nadine’s study method, which is immersed deeply in what you must do for 50 minutes and take a break for 10 minutes. Think of those 10 minutes as your reward.
In a simple command is preparation, practice, reflection.
Learn to reflect and write on what you are learning.
Ask yourself these two questions:
- What was it?
- What did it mean to you?
Find someone or the community happy to listen to your growth journey.
It seems challenging to pursue for a long time, right?
Well, the fruit of everything good in life starts with the challenges. Creating something is easy. But, to keep committed to doing it makes it have a different ending. Our starting point might be similar, but our finish line varies for each person.
Maxwell’s book mentioned that his growth journey began when Curt Kampmier, his friend and growth adviser, asked him, “do you have a plan for personal growth?” That’s the AHA moment when Maxwell discovered that working hard is not the only thing to be successful in life.
Let’s get to know the eight gaps that might delay you from growing:
The Assumption Gap – “I’m assuming myself that I will grow automatically.”
Even though we are talking about “growing,” it’s not the same with the body transformation, like getting physically taller, stronger, or able to do a few new things. The thing is, it’s about being mentally, intellectually, and even spiritually stronger. Because “we don’t improve by simply living.”
We need to be intentional in growing ourselves and stop waiting for someone whom we want to become and start to be one. Because “where the growth may see, that’s where we will find challenges.” Let’s own that growth, the process, and improve ourselves together.
The Knowledge Gap – “I have no idea how to start and grow.”
A lack of knowledge obstructs our growth process, so making the right decision is complex. We need to be able to decide our direction, have the intent to find them, choose what we want to learn, and know whom we like to learn from.
Inside Curt’s growing kit, five areas have been mentioned; attitude, goals, discipline, measurement, and consistency.
These five things are often mentioned when we try to improve ourselves. I know it sounds basic and familiar, but it’s more complicated than it sounds, and it looks like practicing it in life. But, when you and I can put these into our journey, it will open our way of thinking and reacting, so we can accomplish more.
The Mistake Gap – “Making mistakes is what I’m afraid of.”
Many of us fear making mistakes and making the wrong decisions throughout our life journey. But, when I read Maxwell’s book, I learned that we need to be open to making mistakes because when we’re available to it, we welcome those welcome signs that we’re moving in the right direction. And on the other side, when we’re afraid of it, we tend to make more mistakes, which might create a more significant gap in reaching our dreams. Growth is not a flower field but similar to a muddy, rocky battlefield.
“A mistake is simply another way of doing things.” – Warren Bennis.
Maxwell also gives the formula to be braver facing mistakes:
- To start
- Make mistakes
- Learn from mistakes
- Get up
- Retry with a different strategy.
The Perfection Gap – “What is the best way to start? (And you keep searching).”
For example, it is similar to driving on an unfamiliar road at night. Even though we turned on our “headlight high beam,” we still couldn’t light until we reached the destination. And, as we start driving, we can see the way bit by bit. It’s the same as we pursue our growth journey. We get more clarity as we start and adjust.
As a famous saying goes, “slow and steady wins the race.” It’s better to progress slowly rather than keep hoping for the jackpot to come, which could take you a lifetime.
The Comparison Gap – “The grass looks greener on the other side.”
Competing with others isn’t something that we need to avoid. I understand we can be intimidated by those people, but guess what? We can also learn from their stories, experiences, and mistakes because we can only learn when others are ahead.
We’re not the first generation of humans, so someone will always be ahead of us.
The Expectation Gap – “I thought it would be easier than this.”
Growth comes at a different speed for each person, the transition can be messy, and it doesn’t happen naturally as we all hoped. Our journey is like a long-term investment. We need technical and fundamental analysis to determine our growth’s worth.
Here’s the formula:
LUCK = Preparation + Attitude + Opportunity + Action
The Timing Gap – “I don’t know when is the right time to start.”
One simple sentence to explain this is, “the longer you wait to do something you should do now, the bigger the odds that you will never actually do it.”
GET UP, AND DO IT BEFORE YOU ARE READY!
The Inspiration Gap – “I need a spark of motivation to keep doing it.”
You might think that you can’t force creativity and motivation. Well, that’s the thing that you want to believe. It’s not the accurate way to put it that way. “Motivation is a trap.” If we are only waiting until the motivation comes, we will delay our progress.
We don’t need a grand plan to start, “do it without motivation” is already a plan. We must force ourselves to create and focus on that, and the motivation will reach us. Stick to the small ones, and you can handle the big ones.
That’s the end of the 1st part of Law of Intentionality. I hope this article can give you a source of new information and perspectives. I will see you in another episode very soon!
References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRQx3blZMDQ
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/law-intentionality-growth-doesnt-just-happen-casey-s-putney/
Maxwell, J.C. (2012). The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. Center Street.
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