The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life – mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical.

The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life – mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical. – Julius Erving

The one and only Dr J, one of the greatest. He knew success on and off the hardwood. Believe what he says, he’s lived it and achieved it.

What does that mean?
This quote is from one of greats of Basketball. And he understood that success isn’t just in your chosen field of endeavor. He probably knew many other great players who were unhappy with their lives, despite being great players in their own right.

He realized that by growing in all aspects of his life, he could be even more successful, even in his chosen field. Keeping his mind sharp helped him analyze plays as they unfolded on the court. Keeping his emotions well balanced kept him from having his emotions compromise his play at crucial times in the game.

For the rest of us, by combining all the different aspects of our lives and growing in all of them, we become well rounded individuals. And that means we have great ability to react to any opportunity. No matter what aspects of our lives the opportunity requires, we would be ready for it. Are you ready?

Why is being well rounded important?  
Consider the stereotype of the chess nerd (I only pick on the because I once was one). They may be masters at the game, and pretty good at math or related sciences. But how many have a personality? How many are well developed emotionally? And how many have any physical development? That was my High School chess club, every last one of us.

While people who are hyper-focused, with very poor balance but incredible skills in one area, can be successful, they often fail just as quickly and as spectacularly as their early success. People like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs either grew their other aspects, or hired people to be their surrogates, covering for their weaknesses.

Being well rounded allows us to interact with many different people, in many different areas of our lives. Yes, a well rounded person will always be at a disadvantage with a specialist in their field of specialty. But how happy will you be in the rest of your life, and how well will they function outside their specialty? Everything has it’s price, including specialization.

Where can I apply this in my life?
We have all met one-dimensional people. How much fun were they at a party? Unless their one dimension was to be the life of the party. How much fun were they away from the party? Besides the people who like the same things you like, I would imagine most of your friends are fairly well rounded people, the kind of folks you can have fun with no matter what the situation, right?

We are all a little uneven. Some of us more-so than others. Take a moment to consider where in your life this unevenness is hurting you. For me, my physical condition, while not terrible, is my weak link, and what I have been working on improving.

However, I haven’t made much progress because I haven’t really taken the next step, which is to quantify what I am not able to do because of it. What are you unable to do, what opportunities are you missing because you are not as advanced in one aspect of your life?

Once you can put a specific goal, once you have a known loss (or potential gain), you can start to work with some motivation. Up to now, I haven’t really had any specific thoughts on what I’m missing due to my physical condition (or lack thereof).

If you don’t have a reason, and a fairly powerful one at that, it’s going to be hard to make much of a change, and to keep it going long enough to stick. Most of us can only go so far on will power or good intentions. At some point the momentum fades, and the effort follows shortly thereafter.

What are your reasons why you must improve one of the aspects of your life? If it is a must, it will happen. If it’s anything less, it probably won’t, right? That has been my experience, and enough other people that it has become a point that many motivational speakers spend time discussing.

How can you make this personal? What means so much to you that you absolutely MUST do it? Why must you change? What will keep you motivated and resolved to complete your task? When you know that, you know you will continue until you have completed your task, right?

The key to being successful in all aspects of your life is to be well rounded, proficient in all aspects of your life. Where are you lagging behind, and how can you catch up? Why must you catch up? When you can answer those questions, you will be on your way to greater success than ever, in all aspects of your life.

From: Twitter, @thequote
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/juliuservi387510.html
Photo by Colleen McNeil