Growth and Purpose: Is Your Ship Sinking?

I believe the key to any successful life or business is a purpose (service) and a growth mindset. One without the other rarely impresses me.

One of my favorite things to do while on vacation is to admire the creativity of business enterprises, big and small. Everyone from the airline we fly to the restaurants we eat at, the resort we stay at and the shops we visit. The longer we’re engaged with them the more we see their uniqueness and personality or lack thereof, come out. The same holds true for the people we meet. It doesn’t take long to notice if the motivating factor for their life or enterprise is service or self. Soon, it becomes evident if the person or enterprise is growing, coasting or is declining.

Let me define a couple terms:

Purpose

Without a servant heart and attitude there is very little purpose beyond $money$ in what and why we do what we do. When things get hard and money is scarce the dream can easily die.

Growth

The saying goes “if you’re not moving forward, you’re standing still or moving backwards.”

The natural illustrations are everywhere on this. Stop pedaling your bike and coast, eventually you stop and tip, the ride is over. The plane you’re on stops fueling the engines, and it starts to glide.  We all know what happens next.

True to the pattern, the minute I quit investing in my personal or career growth, the decline is soon to follow.  First things will flatten out and I will glide on the momentum I previously had, then the downward trajectory will follow.

Is Your Ship Sinking?

I am convinced that this is a law of nature and no person or business is above it.  Whether it is my business, job, relationships or my spiritual walk, I must take time to think about the why (purpose) and how (growth) regarding what I am doing.

How about you? Take an inventory and ask yourself if you are growing, coasting or falling? If this causes you alarm or concern regarding your life or enterprise, take heart! Awareness and thinking about it is a big, first step. I’m going to be sharing some of my own thoughts on these important issues in the next few posts. Join me as I explore how to right the ship before it goes under and sinks.