by Chris Cade
As you know, I have a passion for rapid personal growth. Since most of us transform our lives relatively slowly (if at all), there’s a real benefit to knowing how to make transformations quickly. Since we have a limited time on Earth then it serves us to know how to optimize our lives.
This doesn’t mean that it’s in our best interests to always be pushing ourselves to be faster, better, and more. That’s not what I’m suggesting. What I am suggesting is that if life is our schoolroom, how can we make the most effective use of that experience? How can we allow life to serve us as fully as possible?
One way is to “force the issue.”
Or to phrase it differently: We can enter into situations in which a learning experience with growth is the inevitable, eventual, and guaranteed outcome of a particular experience.
We could go into those situations both willingly and unwillingly. For example, we experience this during times of extreme duress when our preferred outer-world options are limited or even eliminated. It could come in the form of being fired from work, the death of a loved one or a relationship that ends, an unexpectedly severe and debilitating illness, or any other number of unwanted yet extreme situations.
These “force” us to choose either a path of growth or a path of destruction. We’ll learn from both directions. That’s inevitable. It’s eventual. And growth is a guaranteed outcome. It may not be growth as we think of it in a “positive” sense. Destruction might cause us to go into a place so dark that whatever we learn is pushed down into our subconscious. Still, learning happens through every experience. The more extreme the experience, the more severe it is, the greater the growth.
Ideally as we live a more conscious life, the path of destruction fades away and growth comes to the forefront. Rather than curl up into a ball and wait for the metaphorical pounding to stop, we can stand up and step forward. This is not easy. It takes a lot of courage, willpower, and strength. It takes dedication to your growth. And it is incredibly rewarding.
On the other hand, what if you don’t have to wait for life to hand you those situations? What if you could create them yourselves?
You can. One way is to limit your options. This is a way to “force the issue” in your daily life. Here’s a few examples…
Eating healthier: Throw away all your unhealthy food. Buy healthy food.
Breaking an addiction: Get rid of what you’re addicted to. Lock it up. Hide it. Do anything you can to make it incredibly difficult to access.
Starting a new business: Quit your job.
Getting some rest and relaxation: Tell your employer (and anybody else necessary) you’re taking a day or few off. (more…)
