Growth for Better Living: 12 Times A Day

Posted: December 16th, 2009 | Author: A.J. | Filed under: Career, Networking | Tags: Abraham Maslow, Fear, Growth, Risk, Safety | No Comments »

Photo Credit

Here’s a great quote from Abraham Maslow a preeminent American psychologist:

“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.” (courtesy of Derek Sivers blog),

I make calculations each day in my personal and professional life, which essentially come down to safety and risk.  We all do.

Playing it safe, if you have any ambition, any wants, in life will get you nowhere.  Progress requires risk.  I’ve made that mistake in the past, many times, and might still in the future.  Fear is hard to overcome.

However  just being cognizant of why you’re making that decision to not make that speech, or knock on a few doors about job leads, or go to that networking event (i.e. time crunch or fear of the crowd), can go a long way towards your growth, on all fronts.

I don’t keep count of how many growth decisions I make daily but on average I do alright, I think.  It would be a neat experiment to tally your decisions daily (aiming for 12) for a month (mental note for a future blog post) and compare with the previous month.

In any event, Maslow’s quote is something to contemplate.

//A.J.

---