I’ve come to value thinking about each area I am interested in learning about, growing in in terms of five key properties: Motivation, Mentors, Growth Edges, Obstacles, and Assignment.
Motivation: Why this area matters, why I care. What goals or dreams I have in that area. A north star to steer by. Start with why!
Mentors: Who I learn from or have been inspired by. Living people, historical figures, imaginal figures, authors, traditions. Anyone whose perspective I can rotate into when working in this area. What would Jesus do, yes—but what would Arnold Schwarzenegger or Vito Corleone do?
Growth Edges: Areas for growth, closely related to either desired goals or current challenges (interest, opportunity, necessity). Important that they be self-selected (rather than externally imposed) and self-framed (matching my own understanding of self and world, rather than someone else’s frame or perspective).
Obstacle: What challenges are in the way. Internal resistance, external constraints, patterns that block progress.
Assignment: A concrete next action or project, or stance for relating to the area and its ordinary ongoing activities.
I use these properties in my Mentor program.
I’m tracking 27 areas there—with five properties each, that’s 135 distinct instances of these properties—far too many to manually, consciously keep in my own mind!
Simply being aware of these five properties is the cause and conditions for growth—learning and development that is holistic, integrated, non-coercive, adaptive.