October 20, 2025

I challenge you to invest in yourself in a personal growth kind of way! By prioritizing personal growth, you can achieve profound transformation in your life.

When I transitioned my mindset to focusing on personal growth, I experienced a contagious internal shift. This change was more important than the destinations I aimed for or the habits I wanted to cultivate. Here’s what I discovered, and I’m confident you’ll experience similar transformations when you embark on an intentional growth journey.

Get essential! I moved from trying to grow in every aspect of my life to concentrating on the essential areas. The key is to get specific. Identify the main areas where you need to grow and commit to those. This approach helps you eliminate distractions and focus on what truly matters. As you start your intentional growth journey, ask yourself, “What areas do I want to grow in?” Remember, you can’t and shouldn’t try to grow in every aspect; instead, concentrate on the essentials.

Contagious development! I transitioned from having a growth timeline to embracing growth without a finish line. Internally, I shifted my mindset. I was gaining so much value from my personal development that I stopped counting milestones and began asking, “How far can I go?”

Personal growth guides us toward becoming ourselves so we can give ourselves to others, and its impact is profound. Here’s the chorus of a song by John Maxwell, created in collaboration with a songwriter who creatively captures the essence of personal growth: "I had to find myself, to know myself, to be myself, to improve myself, to get over myself so that I could give myself to you!"

• Find yourself: You find yourself when you stop trying to be like anyone else.

• Know yourself: You learn to know yourself when you examine yourself, ask yourself questions, and give honest answers.

• Be yourself: You become yourself when you accept the way God made you.

• Improve yourself: You improve yourself when you embrace personal growth.

• Get over yourself: You get over yourself when you stop focusing on yourself and how you look to others.

• Give yourself to others: You give yourself when you take the focus from yourself to others.

When you become committed to personal growth and surround yourself with people who are also committed, the conversation, attitude, and momentum are contagiously different.

Growth is a silent investment; it doesn’t speak up, it shows up. That’s you!

Intentionally Own It! What personalized growth does this message encourage me to pursue, and why does it matter? When will I take action, and what value will it add to my life and others?

-Adapted by Maxwell Leadership