Grow Or Shrink. Now Choose.

Only Growth Matters.

Hi friends. Welcome to the YouTopian Journey. Today’s issue discusses why you must make the growth choice every day.

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THE CHOICE

“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.”-Abraham Maslow

Safety is something we all desire. Make no mistake, we want safe careers, safe relationships, safe knowledge, and safe environments.

But this desire for safety has an insidious effect on us.

It removes the risk taking behavior that is needed for personal growth, personal achievement, and a life that we can truly call our own.

“The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise”-Tacitus

Understand that no one who ever played it safe, who followed the rules, or who had a perfect attendance record, ever changed the world. They never did anything remarkable. They never got noticed.

Their existence remained a blank page in the dull book of life.

But the intrepid among us? Those who can see past the illusions of safety?

They are the heroic.

They seek not safety, but growth.

True growth that comes from making mistakes, appearing foolish, taking chances, and failing.

Failing more times than they can count. More times than many wish to admit.

Building resilience from these failures. Growing personally and professionally.

And the best part?

You can be heroic as well.

You can choose to be uneasy. Uncomfortable.

To venture into the unknown.

The choice is yours.

“Life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defense) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth). Make the growth choice a dozen times a day.”-Abraham Maslow

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THE PAST CAN’T BE CHANGED BUT THE FUTURE CAN

“To remain in the past means to be dead.”-Jose Ortega Y Gasset

Choosing to grow means choosing to take control of your life.

It means leaving the past behind.

This, however, can be difficult.

Why?

We like the past. We always long to return to a simpler time when life was easy and fun. In the past things made sense. In the present, things seem to be moving too fast and too chaotically. How can we get a grip on everything?

How can we overcome our past failures and start again?

Is growth even possible?

Yes.

It all begins with you.

By making a simple choice to begin and to focus.

You must focus on yourself. Your task at hand. Focus on the horizon and the stars. Focus on everything and anything that brings you one step closer to your goals.

Anything that diminishes you, that gives you cause for concern, that makes you hesitant, isn’t worth your time.

And your past failures, as much as you may have learned from them, aren’t worth your time.

Thinking about them constantly will only bring you pain and make you hesitate.

This hesitation begins to compound. Before you know it, you are stagnant, both in your life and your career. The world continues to turn but you have remained still. Not growing, but shrinking.

You cannot let this happen.

You must push forward and keep pushing, never letting your past failures determine your future successes.

“You just keep pushing. You just keep pushing. I made every mistake that could be made. But I just kept pushing.”-René Descartes

You must keep pushing and not give in. The truly successful among us all have one trait in common. They kept going no matter the circumstances or what stood in their way. Their persistence overcame the resistance.

They grew into giants.

This is up to you and you alone. The true measure of a person is not their attitude and actions when a person is successful, but when they are facing the indomitable impossibilities that lie before them. It is easy to hop on the bandwagon when things are going well and the sun is shining, but what about when one is in the middle of the worst storm imaginable?

And make no mistake about it, the storms are on the horizon. Looking to the past, constantly reexamining yourself and your actions, will not help you face the storm in the present.

This storm is dangerous and transformative. It holds both the possibility of shipwreck and the opportunity for success in reaching your goals.

Do you flee into the safety of the past and watch the storm go by? A past where you refused to grow. A past where you have already failed and rather not face the coming storm.

Or do you bravely embrace the present moment and go forward? Using the learnings of your failures to reach the growth that will change your life for the better.

You know what to do.

Make the right choice!

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Shaun