Laws 13-15

We are concluding our study of John Maxwell’s The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by looking at laws 13-15 today. If you missed last week’s article, check out laws 10-12 in the previous post.  If you did catch it, how are you doing with incorporating your new daily changes that will lead to growth?

The set of laws we are examining today include:

13. The Law of Modeling

14. The Law of Expansion

15. The Law of Contribution

The Law of Modeling: It’s hard to improve when you have no one but yourself to follow

We at Launch Leadership Development are huge proponents of mentorship. I strive to have a good mentor for every area of my life: financial, spiritual, relationships, career, aging well, health, and hobbies. Learning from other’s experiences has been invaluable and enriched my life in countless ways.

Maxwell advises looking for these qualities in a good mentor:

• Is a worthy example
• Is available
• Has proven experience
• Possesses wisdom
• Provides friendship and support
• Is a coach who makes a difference in people’s lives

Can you think of areas in your life that you would benefit from having a mentor? Look around your circle of relationships and perhaps you will find a great one. If not, consider joining a group that focuses on your interest where you can learn from those with experience.

The Law of Expansion: Growth always increases your capacity

Maxwell had a lot to say about expanding your thinking and actions:

How to increase your thinking capacity:

• Stop thinking more work and start thinking What works?
• Stop thinking can I? and start thinking How can I?
• Stop thinking one door and start thinking many doors

How to increase your capacity for action:

• Stop doing only those things you’ve done before and start doing those things you could and should do
• Stop doing what is expected and start doing more than is expected
• Stop doing important things occasionally and start doing important things daily

What ideas stood out to you as revelations that you need to make some changes? Choose one or two to work on this week.

The Law of Contribution: Growing yourself helps you to grow others

Maxwell is a tremendous model of this law. He has made it his life mission to help grow others personally and professionally. We all may not become authors or speakers to wide audiences, but we all do have influence. Intentionally affect others in positive ways and help them grow. Here are some of Maxwell’s ideas on making a difference for others:

• Be a river, not a reservoir
• Be grateful – grateful people are givers
• Put people first. Always.
• Don’t let stuff own you
• Don’t let people own you
• Define success as sowing not reaping
• Focus on self-development, not self-fulfillment
• Keep growing to keep giving

Maxwell had plenty of personal stories for each of these ideas that I found extremely helpful.

As we conclude laws 13-15, think about how you can apply some change in your daily life from each of these laws.

This is a great book to have on your bookshelf for reference and inspiration when you need it. His personal stories add great depth of understanding to each of the laws and are worth the read even after reading these articles.

Remember, growth is not going to happen automatically! It takes being intentional with daily actions and strategies. I wish you well on your journey!

-Jan Jones

Check out John Maxwell’s video on capacity: