Episode 185 | How To “Own Your Growth” | Rowena Millward
For Rowena Millward, growth is an outcome. It’s an outcome of going through a series of challenges, despite the fear, as an attempt to better and “reinvent” ourselves—not only for us, but for people we care about.
Many of us would probably associate the word ‘uncomfortable’ to ‘growth.’ We’re most likely no stranger to the premise that in order to GROW, we need to step out of our comfort zones.
But looking back, no one really taught us how to do it exactly.
Luckily, Rowena’s book, Uncomfortable Growth, teaches us the formula to move past the fear of finding out what else we haven’t explored and helps us dramatically transform all aspects of our lives.
Lessons Learned
There are FOUR domains in life (area of life you give importance to):
- Self – needs to be fulfilled, first in foremost, in order to give attention to others
- Family – sustain your connection with your family and your chosen family
- Career and work – Since most people spend substantial time on their work, it becomes an important part of who they are
- Contribution – What are your efforts in giving back to the community?
The question:
When is the right time to grow in terms of self/family/career/work?
This leads us to the next point, the Growth Zones:
- Feeling stuck
- Comfort zone
- Learning zone
- Uncomfortable zone
Key idea:
You can’t always be in the uncomfortable (or comfortable, for that matter) zone. You need to figure it out by asking yourself the important questions.
Questions to get there:
- What do I do (in self, career, family, and contribution to others)?
- What do I know – what have I experienced before, what have I learned from them, and how do I apply them?
- What could be – what could I have been missing because of my fear and uncertainty?
- What I choose – among all the possibilities (what could be), which ones will I pursue and take a chance on?
The bottom line:
You can intentionally influence and choose the level of growth that you want to have across those four domains of your life.
Nuggets of gold:
- You own your growth
- Don’t let fear hold you back!
- Always be kind to yourself
Best quotes:
“I do think that COVID has helped people rethink what’s possible. And that’s why reinvention is less about external and more about, ‘This is what I love. This is what I choose for now. And if I want to change it, I can.’” – Rowena Millward
“If you’ve identified why it’s important to you, then you’re much more likely to act through fear, and put yourself into the face of uncertainty, so that you can actually realize possibilities that become opportunities.” – Rowena Millward
“We need to explore, we need to explore other possibilities, we need to step outside of that straight line, and just a couple of conversations, a chance. And it doesn’t always work, but it often does.” – Rowena Millward
About Rowena Millward
Rowena Millward is an expert in growth and reinvention – for businesses and people. After twenty-five years working in Top 500 companies, she now provides consulting and capability services for many of the world’s most admired brands and companies.
Rowena also provides executive career and life coaching, helping leaders navigate significant crossroads to find meaning in both joy and challenge. Uncomfortable Growth is Rowena’s second book, having launched Insights to Enlighten – for living, leading and marketing in 2021, which became an Amazon bestseller in Business Communication and Brand Management.
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