Article 70/20/10 Rule

5 Steps to Accelerate Your Personal Growth

By Kyle Spitzley on May 10, 2016 05:30 am

The single-most important tool for shaping your life balance is a personal growth plan. Here are 5 steps to get you one right now. Part 8 of the Life Balance series.

“To become a better human being, you need to grow in character. To advance in your career, you need to grow in your skills. To be a better spouse or parent, you need to grow in relationships. To reach your financial goals, you need to grow in your knowledge about how money works. To enrich your soul, you need to grow spiritually.” – John Maxwell, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.

Until very recently I always thought I had a pretty good career plan in place. Last week I went through an assessment that asked me a series of questions about my career plans. The results floored me, I scored a 9. No, not 9 out of 10… 9 out of 100! The scores are based on a spectrum; on the one side you have people who are very detailed in their career plans (not me), and on the other you have people who have “few strong preferences about career direction.” Apparently my preferences lack the proper amount of strength

But I can learn from any feedback, and the nice thing about this assessment was that it caused me to stop and consider the ultimate goals of my career, as well as the strategic steps I need to take to move my career in that direction.

As is the case in many companies, HR asks us to create “development plans” for our career to help us stay focused on continuing to grow and learn. Basically, we identify three development goals and list out specific activities we can take to move towards those goals. Our HR Talent Development gurus suggest the 70/20/10 rule for identifying learning activities in development plans.

70% of learning is done “on the job” or in the activity.
20% of learning is done through people (e.g. mentoring, networking, community groups or forums).
10% of learning is done through formal training (e.g. classroom, online courses, books, etc.)

Since I’m a personal growth addict, I decided to connect this development plan rulewith a 6 month growth plan. It’s a relatively simple way to document goals and the steps you need to take to accomplish them. I’m still working on mine, but I’ve already benefited from the exercise. Everyone knows that writing down your goals makes you more likely to accomplish them, but add to that the element of scheduling it on your calendar – like picking a time, place and day – and you’ll see amazing results.

6 Month Personal Growth Roadmap

So how can you accelerate your personal growth? Start by being intentional with a plan. Develop a 6 month curriculum for your personal growth. Where do you want to skill up over the next year? Use the 70/20/10 rule when building your plan. Here are the basic steps for developing that plan:

Pick something you want to improve in. See Maxwell’s quote up above for inspiration.
70%: Schedule 60 minutes of practice in your daily routine, and then do it every day.
20%: Connect with a mentor who has the skill or experience in your area of interest. Schedule a regular meeting with them and come with specific questions. Interview them about the subject you’re interested in.
10%: Sign up for an online course, a conference or classroom training. Book it now to help you stay committed. If you’re wondering what the right amount to spend on this is, the rule of thumb for me is 3% of my income. Consider it an investment in yourself.
Track what you learn over the 6 months. Use whatever format you like, just take notes on what you learn, who you meet and how it’s changing your life. Reflecting on these things in the future will deepen your appreciation for continually pushing yourself to grow.

Personal growth is a way of living, it is not an activity. Having a constant growth focus raises your capacity in relationships, your career, finances, spirituality and more. These things grow only as fast as we encourage them to. We must nourish, nurture and care for each one in order to see it grow.

If you’ve used my Life Balance Tool and discovered that your personal growth score was a little low, the 6 month personal growth roadmap is where you should start. Personal growth is the tool that will help you raise the scores in your other areas as well, it’s a tool that we should keep sharp at all times.

This Post Is Part 8 of the Life Balance Series

The Question for You

Do you have a personal growth plan? How do you make sure you stick to it and execute? Share your thoughts on Facebook, LinkedIn or in the comments below.

I feel so blessed to be able to serve you.

My hope for you is love, joy and abundance.

Kyle Spitzley

Your Personal Growth Coach

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