Laws 1-3

 Have you asked yourself lately where you want to go in life? Or have you had thoughts that there are some areas in your life that you could be doing better? If so, those are great questions and show that you are open to growing, my friend!

We at Launch Leadership Development want to help young leaders reach their potential and value life-long learning and growth. One such way is to connect you with great authors on these subjects.

Today I’d like to share insights I gained from John Maxwell’s book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.

This is a book about reaching your potential, and to reach your potential, you must grow. The direction of growth depends on your needs and goals, but the principles are the same for all growth. For today we will focus on the first three laws:

1. The Law of Intentionality
2. The Law of Awareness
3. The Law of the Mirror

The Law of Intentionality: Growth doesn’t just happen

Maxwell states that most people have misconceptions about growth that leave a gap in where they are and where they want to be. He says there are eight common misconceptions about growth:

• The Assumption Gap: I assume that I will automatically grow
• The Knowledge Gap: I don’t know how to grow
• The Mistake Gap: I’m afraid of making mistakes
• The Perfection Gap: I have to find the best way before I start
• The Inspiration Gap: I don’t feel like doing it
• The Comparison Gap: Others are better than I am
• The Expectation Gap: I thought it would be easier than this

He says the key to making the transition to intentional growth is to ask yourself where you want to be, decide to start today, face your misconceptions and fears, and develop a strategy to get to where you want to be.

The Law of Awareness: You must know yourself to grow yourself

Maxwell believes there are three kinds of people when it comes to having direction in their lives:

• People who don’t know what they’d like to do
• People who know what they would like to do and don’t do it
• People who know what they would like to do and do it

Where would you put yourself in this list today? Maxwell outlines questions to ask yourself if you are not sure what you want to do with your life, such as Do you like what you are doing now? What drives you? Do you know the difference between what you want and what you are good at? Do you know someone who is doing what you’d like to do?

The Law of the Mirror: You must see value in yourself to add value to yourself

Maxwell stresses that positive self-esteem is extremely powerful and that a low self-esteem puts a ceiling on potential. He lists ways to build self-image:

• Guard your self-talk
• Stop comparing yourself to others
• Move beyond your limiting beliefs
• Add value to others
• Do the right thing even if it’s the hard thing
• Practice a small discipline daily in a specific area of your life
• Celebrate small victories
• Embrace a positive vision for your life based on what you value
• Practice the one-word strategy- pick a positive word that describes you
• Take responsibility for your life

An effective way to apply these laws is to read a chapter a week and really meditate on them. Find a way to put some ideas into practice in your daily life now.  Do you see some things in the lists from today that you are willing to commit to being part of your daily change?

Next week we will look at laws 4-6: The Law of Reflection, The Law of Consistency and The Law of Environment.

-Jan Jones

Check out this video of John Maxwell explaining his third law, the Law of Awareness!