Intro: How the Growing Group began…
For the origins of The Growing Group, I’ve been thinking about the series of events that led me to begin to create the group that has evolved into this adventure. Looking back on the years I spent working in churches, and also looking at the time I worked for nonprofits, I better appreciate the lessons taught me about the things that truly matter in life.
It really did come down to valuing people and the things that matter in life more than material items and money. And it also meant learning about ways to reach people using the different tools at my disposal. Working for an organization that produced “The Daily Word’ also led me down an important path of discovery. I learned just how important the power of positive thinking and inspirational messages could be to millions of people who look forward to receiving that message each day.
It’s another reminder that there are some things that are more valuable than just making money and receiving ‘clicks’ when you are working to create something new.
Part I
The Mantras and the Journaling
Positivity & Mantras
In some ways, the Mantras are a thing that sprang from this wellspring of ideas we channeled, plus the energy from the Growing Group magazine. The Mantras are traditionally short phrases to use when we, as spiritual beings, are in need of a way to create a calm and focused center in our lives. These mantras have now become part of our weekly rituals of maintaining positivity and focusing on the specific ideas we highlight each week.
The mantras help us to begin the week, along with our own individual journaling practices. And from there we can seek out new ways to implement these ideas and put them to use in a pro-active way!
Positivity is, as we often point out, not a ‘Pollyanna-style’ way of looking at the word with rose-colored glasses. Positivity is a way of re-framing the day and the situations, particularly when they are not going smoothly! And when we are able to look at difficult situations and challenges ahead and focus on those things that we know we can handle using our own skill set and past learned experiences, it will help us as we move forward.
The Modern Day Definition of Happiness
Happiness is also a relative term as it applies to all of us throughout our lives. Many of us honestly, hearken back to the days of our childhood and nostalgically wish we could be that carefree and happy again. But as we grow, we know that happiness can be elusive at best for many of us.
That’s why there are now available a series of classes and workshops and even a science of studying happiness that allows many of us to look at happiness in a different light. We see elusive moments of feeling happy and often define that as the only chance we may get -fleeting moments of happiness in life!
However, with a life that seeks to maintain balance & works pro-actively to attain a sense of well-being, we find that happiness is not an elusive state of mind. Instead, as we work to set new goals and seek to learn new things, we find that happiness, far from being elusive, is best encapsulated in time and moments that add powerful meaning to your life. The Growing Group, at least for me, has helped to create that vital inner purpose and strength that may have been elusive in my youth.
Personal Growth & Journaling
Personal Growth is another ‘buzz-word’ and ‘feel-good’ term that seems to cover everything yet means nothing in our own journey of life. However, to find the capacity and the energy and strength of mind to achieve personal growth in your life, it often takes planning, focus, determination and courage that comes with age. If we are stagnant in our personal life, or in our job or career, there may come a time when we need to begin to reflect on what types of things can make us happier.
Personal Growth may mean sacrifice if that includes changing your career and sacrificing your time to learn a new skill or leave your ‘comfort zone.’ And it also means excitement and challenge and the opportunity to learn new things, to meet new people and to discover new aspects of your own personality that you may have never explored before!
We recommend journaling at The Growing Group because each week we try new self-guided exercises. You never know which ones may become the foundation for a whole new chapter that might possibly open in your life! Journaling can help you to embark upon a personal journey of discovery. We ask everyone to do “life audits’ and also to take a short quiz that asks you to reflect on the topic of Personal Growth in your own life.
And the journal is your gateway to discovery each week; as we explore new exercises, offer new experiences, and ask questions that require reflection and often deep contemplation on the part of the traveler on the Growing Group road.
Part II
Weekly Exercises and pro-active Themes
Confidence Exercises to share
One of the things that helps us to gain confidence as we grow is to try new things. That means the exercises offered weekly are those that can be used as self-directed learning tools to try at your own pace. And if you identify a problem or a need arises and you feel that one of the exercises helps to guide you through the situation, it will help give you the confidence you need to build upon and to grow in life.
Lifelong Learning- Themes and Goals to share
The experience of using various themes that cover career planning and success mindsets will also begin to grow your confidence each week. The goals that you set, for yourself in your career as well as personal goals are enhanced when you know there is a team of experts who have offered advice on a variety of subjects. The areas covered include finding resilience in life, overcoming obstacles at work and at home, and learning to re-frame past perceived failures to use instead as learning experiences to build upon.
Success Mindset- Pro active thinking
Being pro-active includes team-building and finding teachable moments even in the disappointing moments of your life. If you look for ways to re-frame your thinking, it helps you not only in re-building some of the negative thinking that often tends to drag you down in personal relationships and in your career, but it also helps you to grow and to learn and move forward in life. It gives you the confidence to visualize yourself as a successful person and a valuable member of any team.
Putting it all Together
The Growing Group begins with a small step that then allows you to unlock new avenues of learning in your life, new ways of looking at perceived failures in your past, and new areas of discovery that will excite and energize you each day going forward!
Exercises for you to begin:
You may want to begin with a journal to buy-we have one at The Growing Group, but you can use any notebook or an online version to start you off! From there, you can individualize the exercises and ideas and tips that you find will help you the most! And you can also add quotes and passages and ideas and your own thoughts that will help you better understand who you are-and who you are becoming!
We recommend all to start with a 6-week program to embark on your ‘journey of discovery.’ And from there, we will be present each week through our newsletter to help guide you as you go online and meet new friends. And The Growing Group Magazine is a resource that provides you with new ideas and pro-active exercises to help guide you as you grow to become that ‘best of all possible You’s!’
