The Three P’s of Personal Growth

Are you making real progress?

Consider this challenge from Howard Hendricks’ book Teaching to Change Lives: “Write down the answer to this question: How have you changed… lately? In the last week, let’s say? Or in the last month? The last year?”

Not all change is progress, but without change there is no progress. This article shares three strategies to help you move up the progress ladder.

1. Prayer.

   If progress were a ladder, the first rung would be prayer. Prayer is also the ladder stabilizer. When I was growing up my grandmother would always say, “Prayer changes things.” Prayer is the source of vision, power, creativity, and blessing. Jesus told the disciples in the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 that man should always pray. If you want to experience more success… pray.

2. Persistence.

   The second rung of the progress ladder is persistence. To push forward in life, you must be persistent. It takes persistence to stand up when confronted with the challenges of life. And, the only way to overcome those challenges is to try harder. As the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. President Calvin Coolidge said it this way: “Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Genius will not. Education alone will not. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Some people don’t progress because they give up too soon. Never give up.

3. Practice.

   The third rung is practice. You’ve heard the expression practice makes perfect. But, is perfection really achievable? I’d rather say practice makes progress. Doing something over and over makes one better at it, not perfect. To experience progress in your life, you must practice. (1) Practice new thoughts. Your thoughts affect everything and everyone around you. To move forward you must have a positive attitude. (2) Practice new skills. Make learning your passion. And, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are just opportunities for learning something new. (3) Practice new actions. Nothing happens until you take action, until you do something different.

Progress begins with taking a first step. What step will you take?

“Many people aim at nothing and hit it with amazing accuracy.” — Anonymous