Are you intentionally planning your Growth?

John C Maxwell in his book “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth” shares of a research by Dr Gerald Bell, a noted behavioural scientist, in which he interviewed several seventy — year old executives on what they would do differently if they could live their lives all over again and below were their responses.

1. I should have taken charge of my life and set goals earlier. Life isn’t practice, its the real thing.

2. I would have taken better care of my health.

3. I would have managed my money better.

4. I would have spent more time with my family.

5. I would have spent more time on personal development.

6. I would have had more fun.

7. I would have planned my career better.

8. I would have given more back.

I read that section of the book this morning and its a great reminder that life is not a rehearsal but rather the real deal. For you and me this should be a great wake-up call to plan and live out our lives better.

The findings from this study provide us with a great framework for which areas of our lives we should focus on in order to live better lives. These include:

• Goal setting and intentionally work towards their achievement.

• Living healthy lifestyles and being intentional about our health choices.

• Better money management and investing our money more wisely. Personally, investing money is one of the new areas I am strongly pursuing.

• Intentionally spending time with our family members and making them feel valued.

• Intentional personal development. This involves honestly assessing yourself and continuously working to get better.

• Having fun. This is my favourite part. I love having fun in everything I do. I think I should plan on having fun more often.

• Career growth must also be intentionally planned. Sometimes we take so long in the same place. We get so comfortable in one place and forget that life is actually passing us by. This is another area we must be intentional about.

• Giving. We need to always look for ways of giving of our resources (time, money and skills) so that we can support each other in our societies.

These findings have been eye-opening. Hopefully, we can lead better lives; learning from those who have gone before us so we don't find ourselves in the same trap when we grow older.