“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”-Gandhi
 

I was listening to an interview with John Maxwell and he asked a powerful question: What is your intentional growth program?It’s a perfectly timed question. As we begin a new year, many of us look ahead to how we will grow and improve ourselves in the coming months.

For all our reflection, though, how many of us have what Maxwell is referring to: a plan for intentional growth?

Intentional vs. Unintentional Growth
Everyday we grow without realizing. When we overcome challenges, we grow. When we solve a problem, we grow. Even when we make mistakes—or perhaps especiallywhen we make mistakes—we also grow. Just like a muscle that changes when we put it under strain, we grow as human beings when we test ourselves.

This unintentional growth is natural. It’s a normal state, and it happens without our choosing just by the process of going through life.

What most of us are missing out on, however, is intentional growth—the personal development that comes from choosing to test ourselves and expand our minds and abilities in a very specific way.

What Intentional Growth Looks Like
Intentional growth is quite distinct from the growth that happens simply by virtue of passing through life. Intentional growth has three specific characteristics:

• It has an objective. Growth without purpose isn’t intentional. It’s how children learn, but intentional growth requires that you have a goal that stretches you. Do you want to “get in better shape,” or do you want to reduce your body fat by a specific percentage?

• It has a timeline. Growth with no timeline is unintentional. Want to learn to speak before an audience? Decide on the date you’ll do your first engagement.

It measures improvement. Growth means positive change, and for growth to be intentional, you need to know if you’re getting better. Are you converting more prospects than you were last quarter?

Your Intentional Growth Plan
Your plan for intentional growth can focus on any area of learning you like, but here are some ideas to get you started:

• Intentional reading plan. How many books are you going to read in the next year? If you don’t like reading you can listen to audio books in your car or on your iPod.

• Intentional skill building plan.Practice sales scripts and dialogues. Practicing objection handling. As a salesperson, your income will be determined by your skills.

• Intentionally learning from others. Each month, invite someone out for lunch that you can learn from. Follow people on Twitter or Facebook, or subscribe to blogs that provide great content. Join a mastermind group or better still, start a mastermind group.

• Intentional personal development. Decide how many personal development retreats or training programs you are going to attend this year.

As you bid farewell to 2011, and work on your business plan for 2012, don’t forget to plan for your personal growth, and ask yourself: Am I growing intentionally?

What are your intentional growth plans for 2012? Let us know in the comments!

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

-Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy