KEEP DEVELOPING AND DEVELOPING OTHERS

To develop means to become gradually fuller, larger or better.  It can apply to anything such as people, products or attitudes. Since life is a process, we are all involved in developing physically, mentally and spiritually.  We are not born developed, but we are all born with the potential to develop.  This has much to do with the attitude.  Angelo Jones said “when you stop learning, you stop living.” 

The bible in says Proverbs 9:9, KJV:Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

This tells us that If we have a man’s will to learn, he can be developed in his potential.

There are two things that are very important to the outcome of any life:

1. The environment in which we are born and nurtured.
2. The environment which we choose for

The first environment is not our choice. The hands that feed us, the attitude and how they treat us, as well as the things they teach us will have much to do with our outcome.  Why?  Because we are like raw material that can be shaped and molded into almost anything.  The first eight years of our life may well determine much of our future because of the paradigms developed in us.  Of course, we can make decisions for ourselves later on, but even then they will be made by the paradigms of our past.

The second environment, which we choose for ourselves, is even more important than the first, because we become responsible for our own choices.  So, if our first was a good environment, it will continue to help us develop.  But if it was a negative or distorted environment which brought bondage, we have the opportunity to accept or create a new one.  It’s like being born again.  The new environment will give us a new paradigm and a chance to develop into our potential.  We must remember the power of an environment. The mind or the spirit of man is like a seed; within every seed lies the potential of life.  If the seed is in a dry, cool environment, it will not produce or develop; it will lie dormant.  But if we take the seed and place it in a warm, moist environment, it will automatically grow and develop.  It will reach its full potential if the environment remains correct.  We are much the same—if the environment is right, we grow and mature and produce to our potential.  This principle works for our family, our business or in any organization.

We must always consider these three things as we grow and develop:

1. Have a life-time, fixed vision of what we would like to become.
2. Examine the past to see if we need a shift to get there.
3. Study the values of life and determine which ones will create the right environment for our goals.

We should never consider ourselves too old to review these or study new things.  However, the longer we live with a certain habbit or thinking, the harder it is to break it.  So we must accept the fact that if we want to develop into our potential, we must always be prepared to change.  Sometimes we want to change others rather than ourselves.  If we are going to develop our children, employees or our society, we must lead them into proper values.  As  parents, we must take the responsibility to prepare our children for their future.  Much of their future depends on us.  As employers, we should develop people to fit into our organizations with their future in mind. The final outcome of all our influence and development of people is the creation of a culture, an environment in which we live. We should always remember that we have developed or created our situations and our successes by the way we have developed our people.