Craig T. Owens

In all of John Maxwell’s 101 books there is an overall theme, but there are also numerous snippets which we can immediately apply. Here are just a few of those thoughts from Self-Improvement 101.

“The ironic thing is that change is inevitable. Everybody has to deal with it. On the other hand, growth is optional. You can choose to grow or fight it. But know this: people unwilling to grow will never reach their potential.”

“The only way to improve the quality of your life is to improve yourself. If you want to grow your organization, you must grow a leader. If you want better children, you must become a better person. If you want others to treat you more kindly, you must develop better people skills. There is no sure way to make other people in your environment improve. The only thing you truly have the ability to improve is yourself.”

“There’s certainly nothing wrong with the desire to progress in your career, But never try to ‘arrive.’ Instead, intend your journey to be open-ended. Most people have no idea how far they can go in life. They aim way too low.”

“Pride is the number one hindrance to teachability. … While envy is the deadly sin that comes from feelings of inferiority, the deadly sin of pride comes from feelings of superiority. It creates an arrogance of success, an inflated sense of self-worth accompanied by a distorted perspective of reality. Such an attitude leads to a loss of desire to learn and an unwillingness to change. It makes a person unteachable.”

“People’s purpose in life is always connected to their giftedness. It always works that way. You are not called to do something that you have no talent for. You will discover your purpose by finding and remaining in your strength zone. Similarly, you cannot grow to your maximum potential if you continually work outside of your strength zone.” 

“What is the greatest obstacle you will face once you have achieved your goals and tasted success? I believe it is the ability to let go of what you have so that you can reach for something new.”

“Every new level of growth we hope to experience as leaders calls for a new level of change. You cannot have one without the other.”

You can check out my review of Self-Improvement 101 by clicking here.