Growth.
The desire to see yourself become stronger. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.
How much does it drive you?
Knowing how MUCH it motivates you, will make you achieve more, while at the same time preventing burnout.
If it’s one of your primary drivers, your deeper understanding of Growth will begin steering you towards work that you’ll Naturally succeed at. Where you won’t need to use willpower and discipline to outperform others. It'll also reveal places at your current job, that can tap in to your hunger for Growth to fuel you, right now.
And if you discover you’re not driven by Growth, confirming that will let you skip the mistake of years of grinding on work that for you, would be twice as hard, and wouldn’t even make you happy when you the top
To discover much you are driven by Growth, let’s sit with what that desire feels like. Your values are on an emotional level. So we’ll spend a few minutes with that feeling, by looking at two familiar movie hero’s, that lived a path driven by Growth, and it lead them to victory.
NEO - THE MATRIX
Neo’s life is all about growing. About becoming more. In every form.
Neo starts as Mr. Anderson. A mundane 9-5 office worker. Bossed around and no agency of his own
intuiting there's more.
When he meets Morpheus, his craving for growth is what gives him the courage to take the Red Pill.
When Morpheus teaches him kung fu, his data jack is able to to teach him the moves instantly. But he is only able to beat Morpheus because his constant hunger for growth leads him to combine and adapt all the styes together.
When Morpheus is captured by the Agents, everyone thinks it's impossible to rescue him. He's as good as dead. It's Neo's innate life of growth that makes him the only person that believes it can be done, and so tries and does.
And finally allows him to believe he can beat Agent Smith, the most powerful thing in the matrix. And through his growth, puts it everything together and does.
If you haven't guessed, Growth is by far my #1 need and motivator. It drives most of what I have done and accomplished.
In movies growth is usually extreme.
Super powers, magic, an entire life focused on improving only one thing to extreme, but there’s many other forms of growth, that simply can’t be shown with pictures.
Emotional development.
Having the peace and quiet inside to be able to truly listen to the people around you and have a deeper relationship. Or a more spiritual connection. Or simply understanding what you truly like, becoming able to enjoy those things twice as much.
Becoming able to do the same things with less time and effort, creating room to add more things to your life.
In fact, the many of the powerful or happy people in the world actually got that way by gaining moderate ability in a vast range of skills. Giving them a combination of abilities no one else has.
Alright, on to the next hero:
Luke Skywalker in Original Star Wars
Luke is one of the worlds most famous stories of growth, growing physically, mentally, & emotionally, to become a Jedi Master.
He starts as a farm boy in a desert farming water. But after meeting Obi-wan, he immediately begins developing his skills, training with the light saber and the Force on the Millennium Falcon.
By the end of that film, he progresses to using the Force to destroy the Death Star.
But wait there’s more! In the very next film he hears there's more to learn in the Force so goes to train with Yoda.
There, he not only improves his saber & Force skills, but expands his growth into emotional strength, through a fight against the dark side within himself.
The climax of trilogy entire trilogy is about how much strength he has been able to develop. And because he grew enough, he resists dark side, brings his father back to light side, and ends the war.
Luke’s story is about all forms of growth. Which is why his story sticks with us
Remembering those stories, how did You Feel?
How much do you feel the craving to grow new abilities. To become able to do things you can’t do right now? Do them better, and faster than today?
Of the 6 needs,
Growth is the most widely valued at the work place. But there’s many more places at work, that you can tap into, that
you could be overlooking right now. A few examples will help you start seeing them, drawing motivation more of them, and building a competitive advantage.
Speaking & Writing Communication
Do you ever explain things to people, in groups or 1-1?
Speaking skills - huge growth
Rarely developed
Newbie gains, huge competitive difference - racing a rock
Real high ceiling for benefits.
Learn new AI tools for your work
Have you searched to see if any new AI tools have appeared that may apply to your work?
They’re popping up faster than I could list them, much less have one person skilled at all of them
Open room, find when appear, multiply your time, share
Time Management
Another overlooked but powerful skill to grow
Needed every job
Far beyond procrastination
Pomodoro, 80/20 principle, Awareness of time usage
Unending ceiling
Entrepreneurship
My craving, dip toe, love it
Now after your deep dive with Growth, how Much do you feel it drives you?
Do you see any places at your current work that provide you with Growth?
Thinking about it now, do they motivate you more?
If you are driven by this value, the more you pay attention to it, the stronger this feeling will increase that edge that it gives you. You can also gain more of this edge from any other of 6 needs that you resonate with. Find out how strongly you feel about the rest of them. Personally I connect strongly with 3.
Or If you’ve realized you don’t care about Growth, that is power too. You now can recognize jobs pushing Growth as a benefit, and know that for you, it wouldn’t have value, and would just be a trap. Avoid it, and find work that use the needs you do have.
Now Pick the next value you’re interested in and learn how much it drives you, Or jump straight to Contribution. It’s the mirror opposite of Growth, but you just might be strong in both of them.
Find out how much you connect with all 6.
And use all of your strengths.
