Category: business

Growth thrives in conducive surroundings

At some point, a person feels the need to evolve, to enter a new dimension of life.  Perhaps, to advance a skill, a new career, or develop their relationships with others. This requires growth to happen.  But for growth to happen, the person’s environment must change.

We all know how growth happens in plants. It starts with a seed that must be implanted into fertile soil full of nutrients to form roots. It also needs sunlight, air, and water, which, through the process of photosynthesis, helps the growing seed produce its own food source. In the right conditions, the seed begins to grow into a plant, and that plant grows to its full potential. If one of these elements are absent, the seed may never take root or achieve full growth. If you plant a seed in an environment where one of these elements is absent, growth is inhibited, and the seed’s full potential is never realized. The seed remains dormant.

That principle works the same in your life and mine. For growth to happen, your environment must be conducive to growth. It must have the right nutrients to stimulate growth. If you want to change your current situation or circumstances, you must change your present environment. To quote, John Maxwell, “Growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow is going to get better.”

In my two decades in the military. The stage was already set for growth opportunities, even though, I did not know at the time.  Every new assignment I went to, something was always wrong. Logistical processes were not in place, customers were unhappy for not getting their supplies on time. And the morale of the troops was down which, compounded the unhappy-customers problem. Sometimes I complained to my peers that I always got the most challenging assignments.  It was then that I recognized another of John’s principles: you must get out of your comfort zone to grow. When I finished the assignment, the logistical processes were far better than the previous ones, the morale within my area of responsibility was extremely high, and my customers were giving my operation rave reviews.

At first, I didn’t understand why I got the hard and challenging jobs. Later, I realized that the military, gave me the growth environment needed to recognize and grow to my potential.  As the saying goes, with each promotion comes more responsibility. I must have impressed my senior officers because they expected my performance to be top level. My performance in my military career led me to exponential growth, higher compensation, and bonuses. 

What does a growth environment look like for you?   

Remember, in order for a seed to grow, it needs the right soil, sunlight, air and water.   

Is your present environment helping you, and not holding you back?  Assess where you are right now!

  1. Are you in a place where others are ahead of you, or are you the go-to person? Are you the smartest one in the room? Then what and who is pouring into you? You are not getting the necessary nutrients for growth. If you are pouring everything you have into others, who is pouring into you?
  2. Are you challenged on a constant basis, if not find the right environment to grow in.

Lastly, leaders must create a growth environment within their organization or areas of influence.  Used these tips to build an organization with growth potential. 

  1. Set the bar high on proficiency, efficiency, and innovation.
  2. Give employees challenging work, nothing beneath them. And if they do not know how to do it, train them the right way first, then expect them to maintain the standard.
  3. Cultivate an affirming atmosphere. Nurture and nourish your people for growth.
  4. Model growth in front of them. Lead from the front, not the rear. I always say: “The most valuable gift I can give to others is a good example.” There is nothing more confusing than a person who gives good advice but sets a bad example. To quote (again) John Maxwell: “A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice.”

Remember, growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow will get better. If you don’t know whether your present environment is a growth environment, do an assessment and make changes.

The bottom line is that a growth environment aids in growth. It doesn’t hold you back.

Lastly, if you are a leader, you are responsible for helping others grow and creating an atmosphere of growth. Grow leaders, don’t just tell them what to do.

What are your comments?

See you at the top!

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The Best Time to Make decisions

Decisions often have precarious timing. The time to make decisions is not when you’re climbing up a mountain of problems and situations that you’re faced with. That is what I call disparity or calamity; in these situations, you’re trapped in the valley of darkness. This is not a time to make decisions. Instead, this is the time to dig your heels in and rely on that reserve that’s already stored in you, allowing you to fight the battle that’s right in front of you. Let’s face it: at this point, you’re just craving relief and attempting to bring clarity to the situation. You are trying to get out from under this gorilla or this elephant. In these difficult situations, don’t try to make major changes in the hope of finding comfort. To quote Myles Monroe, “Never make a permanent decision in a temporary problem.”

When the calamity is over and you reach a moment of calm where you can think more clearly, then congratulations—you’ve reached the time to make those decisions. Why? It’s simple:

  1. You can now see the situation more clearly.
  2. You are not under the storm clouds of calamity, fear, and disparity.
  3. You’re now more likely to figure out how to be more successful from adventure to adventure, avoiding the valley of darkness.  

Why enter the valley experience if you can avoid it? On the other hand, if you find yourself in the trenches, the solution is clear: pull out those reserves that rest within you. Show this experience what you’ve got.

I used to run cross country in high school, and just before you reach the halfway point, your body wants to run out of energy. In that moment, those runners that started out quick and didn’t pace themselves either drop back or drop out. I remember telling myself at the point, “Derrick, you are in this race for the long haul.” So, I made up my mind to pull out the reserves and finish at my same pace. If you’re in the midst of life’s struggles and fighting uphill, then do yourself a favor. Pull out the reserves, stay the course, and don’t make huge decisions in the middle of the stream. Finish that uphill battle and reach the top of that mountain.

Avoid making important choices when things aren’t going well. This is the time to truly see what you’re made of in order to reach a point of clarity. Once your vision is clear and the storm clouds have dissipated, you have finally found solid ground. This is the time to make those decisions and changes in your life, business, or team. With patience, you will steadily climb from mountaintop to mountaintop.

Derrick Darden, PhD

thecarolyledestinygroup.one

dcdardentalks.com

A Systematic Approach to Success in 2021

 Happy New Year!!!  It’s a new beginning, full of new dreams and a new path to travel. This is a time to refresh our perspective on life. Many of us will set goals and make New Year’s resolutions. We’ll promise ourselves to lose weight, eat right, and reduce the stress in our lives. Because of COVID-19, many of us simply want to forget the dark days of 2020. The pandemic has touched everyone in some way, and we all want to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

In this short article, I want to talk to people about getting from where they are to where they want to be.  I assure you that if you take a step-by-step approach, you’ll get there. Earl Nightingale says, “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

A step-by-step approach requires clear planning and objectives to ensure the path you’re on is the right one.

How do you reach a place you’ve never been? How do you start a new task? I ask this because when you reach for massive goals and resolutions, you may become discouraged and finally turn away. To improve your chances of success, you need a plan. As Diana Ross sings in the theme from Mahogany, Do you know where you going? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going? What do you hope for? Do you know?

 Many of us are in a boat without a sail. We’re just drifting around or spinning out of control. Unless you have a plan, you’ll only be wasting your time, money, and energy. In my book, The Enemy in the Bush, I outline five life principles for navigating the land mines of fear, personal roadblocks, and mental limitations. Again, success requires a systematic approach.

I remember my first duty station assignment at Fort Bliss, in the great city of El Paso, Texas. I was assigned to a medical facility. The first day I reported for duty, the senior enlisted person (the Army Sergeant Major, whose name I can’t remember) sat me down and mapped out a plan for me. He talked through that plan with me, and to this day I use that plan, which I’m about to share with you. The Sergeant Major told me that if I wanted to be all that I wanted to be in the military, I had to hit a couple of milestones. When I left his office, I was ecstatic that someone had taken the time to show me the ropes and mentor me. I’ve included his formula inside my book, with slight modifications.

This plan uses a formula that I made up: 3P+R+P/A/G = SUCCESS. Planning, preparation, practice, resourcefulness, persistence, achieving the objective, and giving back. This method has been used all the way back from the Greeks to the Romans. I once heard that when Alexander the Great was tired of conquering the world, he wanted to become an orator. He mentioned this to his mentor, Aristotle, who wrote out 17 pages of instructions. Alexander followed those instructions and delivered some memorable speeches.

Similarly, I am giving you a summary of what is in great detail in my book. It’s a seven-step process that will assure success:

Planning: The first step to achieving your desired goals is planning. Planning is about thinking and plotting a sequence of step-by-step actions to achieve a desired result. Planning can reduce time and effort and be applied to different occupations. During this step, anticipate obstacles and come up with strategies to overcome them.

 Preparation: The next step is preparation. Visualizing your process will build your confidence. You must mentally prepare yourself for hard work to succeed. The willingness to do anything demands the right mindset. Preparation is the key element in determining success.

Practice: What you learn from your planning and preparation you must put into practice. Nelson Mandela wanted freedom for his people, and upon his release from jail he put his plan into action, which led to his election as the first black president of South Africa. He put his plan into practice, and he succeeded.

 Resourcefulness: Resourcefulness is about learning to think on your feet. Focus your attention on the resources you have. Resourcefulness comes into play when you don’t have enough cash to make it to your next paycheck, yet still figure out how to put food on the table. You have to keep a clear picture in your mind of what you want, and then start working on it. You are resourceful.  Even though we had very little my mother was resourceful. Growing up with nine other siblings, I never knew lack, my mother always ensured that we were provided for as children.   

Persistence: Persistence means heading steadily in a definite direction. It demands that you move forward with faith and confidence. Even if you fail, try again and again, because success does not come without failure. Thomas Edison tried almost a thousand times to create the light bulb. He wouldn’t have been successful if he wasn’t persistent. Quitting is easy; persistence is difficult.

Many good plans go to waste because the person does not persist after encountering failure. Successful people like Thomas Edison, Michael Jordan, and Nelson Mandela failed along their journey many times, yet persisted.

Achieving the objective. At this step, you can celebrate!

Giving Back Charity Work: Achieving your goals is not the final step. The Bible teaches the importance of giving to the needy in Matthew 25:40. In other words, the last step is giving back via charity.

Once you have accomplished your goal, it should benefit others, too. By giving back, we feel good spiritually, we increase our self-esteem, lower hormonal imbalance, and reduce depression. The more you bless others, the more you will be blessed. To quote President Jimmy Carter: “I have one life and one chance to make it count for something … My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whatever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” 

Success is being committed to continual growth, not just achieving some fixed goal. If you define success as just achieving a goal, you’ll be tempted to stop after you achieve the goal. In 2021, arrive at success in a systematic manner.  I guarantee you that if you want to lose weight, you can. If you want better relationships, you can have them. If you want to make more money, you can.  The sky’s the limit. I guarantee it!

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Your Attitude Determines your Destiny

                                                        Your attitude determines your altitude

On my desk in a picture frame, is my favorite quote by Zig Ziglar, when it comes to your attitude, “Your attitude determines your altitude.”   This reminds me to always keep my attitude in check because with the right positive mental attitude it could take you above during the storms of life.  Even when you don’t have control over the situation.

     To define our attitude, it’s the way we think and perceives the world, it’s the first thing which influence our behavior and exposes emotional and mental character of a person. With a positive attitude we can solve any type of problems and can face stressful situations.  Even when you don’t have control over the situation.  Having a positive attitude can hold us high above during the storms of life. 

      In my 20’s — I remember getting my first big job working for a big utility company as a meter reader, it had a six-month probationary period.   Then I got fired!!!   That Day, I remembered being call in the HR manager office on a Friday, there were Union Representatives and my supervisor.  I listened to 20 mins of complaints against me that did not represent my character, my work ethics, nor my Christian values.  I thought to myself, just a week ago, I received accolades 4 months straight for being the top meter reader in the department.  I was the guy that worked six days a week, worked the hard and dirty jobs no one wanted.  Surly I thought the permanent position looked promising.   What I was hearing was a description of someone else?   None of that mattered, still one week prior to the end of my probation on a Friday, I was Fired and told to pick up my last paycheck on false accusations.   I later I found out that I was making the older guys look bad. This wasn’t the norm of that department. So, I was expendable.    

However, I felt angry, confused, and felt betrayed by my supervisor and the company I worked for.   I remember sitting there refusing to allow this to shape my thoughts for violent retaliation.  So, I began to recite scriptures of my childhood and sung those songs I learned in Sunday School, “This little light of mine, I going to let it shine.”  I walked out of the office with peace and comfort.    And throughout the coming weeks I continued reciting those words of peace and comfort.

     Less than month later, I got a call from the Army recruiter and the rest is history.  It was my conscious awareness of the negativity present before me but, how in the mist of the storm, I shifted that mindset to a positive attitude that helped me to get through it, look your attitude serve as a compass in your life that directs your behavior. Changing the attitude of mind can change your behavior, direction and ultimately your destiny.

Quote: “A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.” -John C. Maxwell.                                                I took that turn, over 40 years!

I want to leave one thing with you, when you are struggling to maintain a positive mental attitude especially, now in this pandemic (Phil 4:8) 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Check out my other articles and blogs at http: thecarolyledestinygroup.one or http://dcdardentalk.com

Let me know if this of any value to you.

Derrick Darden, PhD

Your attitude determines your direction in life.