The Koi fish, their beauty and symbolism are highly valued by both the Chinese and Japanese cultures. Placing a picture of them, an ornament or the real thing in certain areas of your garden or home will enhance the energy of good fortune, success, prosperity, longevity, courage, ambition and perseverance.

One fascinating thing about the koi fish is that if you keep it in a small fish bowl, it will grow to be only about two or three inches long. But if you place it in a tank or a small pond, it will reach six to 10 inches. Put it in a large pond and it may grow as long as a foot and a half. However, if you put it in a lake where it can really stretch out, it has the potential to reach a size of up to three feet. Amazing, isn’t it? The bigger its space, the more it will grow in size.

Similarly, people are like the koi fish. What I realized is that people are just like koi. We will only grow as far as our boundaries allow us. A koi in a fishbowl will never grow to be three feet long…or even one foot long. The fish bowl limits the amount of its growth. Each individual has the potential to grow the dimensions of his boundaries.

Are you growing or u have are stagnant in your life?

Here are some suggested things that you can do to grow:

1.Change your thinking. I put this as number one because if your thinking doesn’t change, then nothing else will ever change. If you’re not happy with where you’re at in life right now, the first place that needs a checkup is the quality of your thoughts.

2.Create a plan. “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” – Zig Ziglar

You don’t just maximize your potential because you want to – but you must plan to. Without a plan, it’s easy to stray from the course of getting things done that will enable us to move forward.

3.Be Yourself. Remember the scene where Elsa in the hit movie Frozen sings “Let it go”. That’s exactly what you need to do. What I mean is, give yourself permission to be who you really are, just as Elsa did during the song.

4.Create your purpose. Great CEOs always have a purpose. It is the driving force of everything else and it has never been more important than right now.

5. Create leaders in your team. We can’t do everything alone! Great leadership is often demonstrated by empowering others to lead — whether that person is a peer, superior or direct report. Successful CEOs know they aren’t always the expert. They know when to take a back seat, let others showcase their talent and provide insight into their area of expertise.

You have what you have in your life right now because of the personal standards you keep. If you have low standards of yourself in various situations, then it shouldn’t come as a surprise that you are getting sub-par results.

Raising your personal standards to higher levels helps you perform at higher levels. When you raise your standards, you are no longer settling for mediocrity. You are instead shooting for the stars and pursuing higher-level actions that will get you better results.