Is Your Environment Holding You Back?

Last week I wished you a week of challenging yourself to do two things (1) begin a new reading regiment with the focus on expanding your world through personal development and (2) put the words of wisdom from Coach Mac on a card and read it each day for the next week. How did you do?

John Maxwell is one of my favorite authors and speakers. I recently read something of his that caught my attention. “Is your environment holding you back?” Hmmm…that’s an interesting question. Are you living or working in an environment that’s conducive to growth? Or are you living/working in an environment where growth is not only ignored but is discouraged?

One of John’s many talents is his ability to put together lists which support the point he is making and translates easily to the learner. The question here is whether or not the environment we live and/or work in is conducive to growth and what does a growth environment look like.

Maxwell’s list of characteristics are: (1) Others are ahead of you, (2) You’re continually challenged, (3) Your focus is forward, (4) The atmosphere is affirming, (5) You’re often out of your comfort zone, (6) You wake up excited, (7) Failure is not your enemy, (8) Others are growing, (9) People desire change, and (10) Growth is modeled and expected.

Others are ahead of you. Maxwell contends that we grow faster with others versus being isolated. “At least some people in your working environment are ahead of you on your journey and can be your encourager, challenger, or mentor to do more than you think you can do.” 

I know I definitely was better and stronger as a teacher when I was working on a positive team versus by myself. The key is we need to have those mentors who are there to help and support us in our growth. I was also, in unhealthy team situations where my team partner was all about being the “top dog” and competing versus working together. It was definitely an environment that was holding me back. I grew to understand more about healthy teams and navigated to those vs. the competitive ones.

Are you continually challenged? Are you growing and changing as you get older in both your home life and in your professional life? Continual growth is when we are at our best. When was the last time a boring relationship or a boring job made you want to grow? Isn’t that a part of Being the Best You that You Can Be? After 40 years of marriage there’s been a tremendous amount of growth and that growth was also true in my 30 years of teaching.

Looking back I realize I was always looking for more current information, or information on a topic I needed to learn more about.

When I was out of the classroom for three years I was part of a Professional Development team. We were constantly learning, growing, and preparing classes for not only teachers but administrators, School Board Members, secretaries etc. Those three years were years of continuous growth, continuous learning from many more “seasoned” teachers and administrators.

According to Maxwell, being out of your comfort zone is part of that environment. “Stay in your strength zone but be out of your comfort zone. The skills you focus on growing should be in areas of your natural abilities versus shoring up your weaknesses. You get out of your comfort zone when you take on a challenge that’s bigger than you. Bigger challenges yield bigger rewards.” Strengths versus comfort. That’s an interesting concept. Do you agree or not? Every time I moved to a new school or I was in the staff development job I was definitely out of my comfort zone but still doing what I loved.

Think about your personal life. There needs to be learning and growing there as well. Relationships in a marriage or a living situation involves people and people mean differences and a need for continual communication. One of my favorite books that I give to most newlyweds is the book The Five Love Languages. If you haven’t read it, add it to your book list. If you are a parent you probably bought every book you could find on pregnancy and raising healthy children. As they get older you find other material to learn about a particular age group such as toddlers, pre-teens, teens etc. 

I look over John’s list and I totally believe in the fact that waking up excited is a key component to a healthy environment and a healthy attitude. Yes, there were days of frustration and sometimes even feeling as though I was on a plateau and stuck. But, those are all signs to pay attention to and make something happen to achieve change and more growth.

Failure is not your enemy nor mine. When something happens either in your personal life or business life, it’s really a time to focus on solutions NOT blame. A growth environment gives us permission to make mistakes and admit those mistakes. Failure is a big part of growth. It is NOT something we need to fear. 

For our math classes, I taught those that had a harder time with math, probably because I did too. We actually had celebrations when the students made mistakes and then learned from that mistake. There are a lot of examples of people who are successful today but had failure after failure in order to reach that success.

Change is encouraged and celebrated in growth environments. If you’re a parent, do you remember that first time when you brought your baby home? Life definitely changed and you adjusted. You were much better at parenting and knowing what to expect if you had a second child. At work, I was fortunate enough to work for a principal, my last 15 years, who celebrated teachers who tried new things, who were willing to get out of their comfort zone to be a better teacher. That was a school and an environment that definitely celebrated a growth environment.

So the question is, “What kind of environment are you in?” Are you in a relationship that nurtures and encourages personal growth? Are both of you pushing forward to be a better person, a better spouse, a better friend? Check out the list of 10 and compare how many of these are true in your relationship. What do you want to continue and where is there need for improvement?

If you’re a parent, do you nurture and encourage personal growth and learning in your children? This list of 10 can be applied to parenting too. You will give your children a gift that they’ll use the rest of their lives.

Personal growth is challenging and involves making mistakes and having failures. A good environment makes it easier to grow. Whether you’re in a good environment or not, you can learn and improve where you are. That IS in your control. Use Maxwells’ list to guide you.

I wish you a week of reflection on whether or not your personal and/or work environment is holding you back. If the answer is yes, check the list of 10 and see which areas are in your control to make the environment a positive one.