Prerequisites to Growth
Posted on July 14, 2020 by Stephen Maloney, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Before a practical action plan should be started, there are two internal components within a person, that should be weighed.
Many people will talk about making changes in their life, or hoping to see positive change in the lives of people they love, but there are two prerequisites to growth that must be present within a person before any realistic plans can be made. These are 1) desire and 2) willingness.
A desire for a change must be present and strong enough for an initiation to take place, and sufficient to sustain, because desire is the foundation of motivation, for anything good or bad.
Willingness, a word related to both the noun and the verb “will” connects a person’s desire to an action, expressing a sufficient level of desire that produces both self intent and determination. For example, "I will go to the doctor’s office today “expresses a strong enough desire coupled with an intended or predetermined future action” of the individual person.
Willingness therefore assumes and accepts that the intended action may require other virtues, such as perseverance and commitment, in order for the intended action to be completed, despite challenges or excuses. If such a willingness is not present in the person, then making a plan, the 1st practical step forward towards growth, is usually wasteful. This is why the questions, “What are you willing to do or not do…?” or “How willing are you?” is often asked of someone struggling to make a change.
When a strong enough desire is coupled with a person’s will, then there is enough of the person’s heart, mind, soul and spirit, engaged in the process of making a change they supposedly want.
