Rick Snyder

If You Don’t Grow, You Die

04/23/2009

When I was at a training a few months ago, the trainer claimed, “If you don’t grow, you die!” My first thought was, “well, we die anyway.”  My second thought is what struck me:  that if we don’t put our energy and attention on self-growth, then we are slowly killing our selves in stagnant mediocrity that most of us call “life.”

This conversation was in the context of coaching and a client complaining to the coach that they don’t have the finances for working on themselves and moving forward with the goals that they had set forth.  The coach who was our trainer, responded by saying, “What else would you want to spend your money on?”

You can only eat so much food, you can only sleep in one bed at a time, you can only drive one car at a time and live in one house at a time.  Once our basic needs are met, Maslow’s hierarchy points to our search for meaning, or purpose in our lives.

It is important to see where we put our money, as that is our symbol of value in today’s world.  Do you spend your money on nice clothes, vacations, investments, real estate, fine dining, jewelry, etc?  There is no right or wrong, it is simply a way to reflect on what is most important to you.

For me, it is clear that a lot of my money beyond paying the bills, goes to self-growth.  Vacations are a close second.  Whether it is my own coaching, therapy, workshops, or what have you.  Sometimes I feel like that Ed Norton character in Fight Club who is a therapy junkie and ends up in all of the various groups offered.

At the same time, I am clear that my deepest passion is to learn about myself, grow, and heal, and help others do the same.  I always believed that one should practice what they preach.  If we don’t grow, we die.  I see too many people walking through life medicated on TV, over-eating, drugs, or simply sleep-walking through relationship after relationship, or career after career.  Or perhaps asleep in the same relationship or career for their adult life.

When people have not discovered their purpose or passion this saddens me, as I know that they are not living their life to the FULLEST and that this directly impacts all of those around them.  Imagine hating your job for 8 hours a day, or just watching the time pass waiting for the work day to end.  Now imagine going home to your loved-one, or family and how that is going to impact all of those around you.

I feel blessed that I have found a career that I love, where I get to give my gifts and make an impact in people’s lives.  I also love helping others discover their purpose and passion that leads to fulfillment.  If you feel as though you are wading in the stagnant water of mediocrity in your career or relationship, then what are you waiting for?  If you don’t grow, you die.