If you are not living in an environment that is conducive to your growth, you won’t fair any better than a orange growing in an igloo.  I can’t wait for someone to send me a picture of an orange tree in his ice house!  Seriously, are you in an environment conducive to your growth?  Statistically speaking, most of us are not.

John Maxwell in his book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth discusses his Growth Environment that he has tried to live in since 1973.  He describes ten conditions that represent an environment conducive to growth:

1.  OTHERS ARE AHEAD OF ME.

The only place to go if you are at the top of the mountain is downhill.

2.  I AM CONTINUALLY CHALLENGED.

If you are not challenged, the world get’s pretty boring.  Are you going to settle for complacency?

3.  MY FOCUS IS FORWARD.

Are you in an environment in which everyone is trying to achieve a little more or simply make it through the day?

4.  THE ATMOSPHERE IS AFFIRMING.

Are you surrounded by people that compliment, affirm and encourage?

5.  I AM OFTEN OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE.

You have to stretch beyond your safe zone to achieve more.  With risk comes reward!

6.  I WAKE UP EXCITED.

Do you wake up in the morning excited to see what will happen today or will it be “just another day.”

7.  FAILURE IS NOT MY ENEMY.

Success can’t be achieved without failure.  Are you willing to try new things that might make you better even though you might fail.  Are you even allowed to fail?

8.  OTHERS ARE GROWING.

Are the people around you moving up in the world or does every day look like yesterday with no hope that tomorrow will be any different?

9.  PEOPLE DESIRE CHANGE.

Do those around you want more?  Are they willing to work for it?  Or is good enough, good enough?

10.  GROWTH IS MODELED AND EXPECTED.

Are you expected to learn something every day and apply it in an effort to become more or is the sole objective simply to not go backward?

Interesting stuff in my eyes.  I challenge you to print out this post and put a score next to each item.  For simplicity, use zero points if your environment rarely represents the thought, half a point if it sometimes does and a full point if it does most of the time.

If you score between 8 and 10, you are in a healthy environment and should be able to easily identify the areas you are growing.

Between 6 and 8, you better make sure that there are opportunities to move vertically and act on them.

If you are between 4 and 6, you need to make some moderate changes in multiple areas unless you like it so much that you want to stay exactly where you are for the rest of your life.

If you score 4 or below, it is time to really evaluate the reasons you are where you are. My guess … most days you wake up and can’t wait until it’s time to go back to bed.  Is that how you want to spend the rest of your life?  Listen friends, this is real!  You can’t grow in an environment that will not allow growth.

Today, you have a chance to make some choices that will change your life.  But until you recognize that there is not enough fertilizer in your garden, you might as well plan on becoming compost.

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Next Up:  Law #7  The Law of Design.

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Barry Smith   www.buildingwhatmatters.com   11/14/12       photo by author