You need to give up to grow

When we want to develop and grow in our lives, it can be important to let go of things that don't support us. For instance, when you want to lose a few kilograms, you need to give up sugary food and alcohol perhaps. When we want to get fit, we cannot sleep in but instead need to get up earlier to fit in exercise. We trade one thing for another.

John Maxwell talks about the term, give up to go up and it speaks truth. If we want to be more successful as people there are many times in life when we need to give up certain things. TV, sweets, parties and other unhealthy habits all need to be curbed in order to achieve something new for ourselves. Often this new thing leads to growth for us in some way. So I want to encourage you to think where do you want to grow and what do you need to give up to go there?

We all need to pay a price for success in one way or another and we always make this choice. There is always a sacrifice. We cannot have lots of money perhaps without an unhappy family life, we cannot enjoy too much of one thing without it costing us in another. The point is we need to make a choice, be happy with it and get on with it. Growth is intentional and we need to make it so, by considering where do we grow. What facets of our life need some attention?

In the last three years I have stepped away from the Opera scene but I know now I have done some growing. I am more of a rounded person, know I have skills and ideas in other areas and have been accepted into whole new communities. I am about to being lecturing at a Fach Hochschule here in Vienna which is a University level institution. It has been in the back of my mind for a long time to achieve this. I couldn't do it if I was still singing around the place. So I have had to give up to grow in this direction and I am hopeful I can continue to grow in the future with more contracts and opportunities to teach and train people in topics I am passionate about. Many of the things we want to achieve in our life require some form of giving up. It can be temporary but they are there. I still sing but just not as my source of income. This has also freed me to become a happy healthier singer.
​
So think about where you want to grow. Be intentional and begin to see what you need to stop, evolve or continue to do to assist in your growth.