I vividly remember a conversation I had many years ago in 1974

Hear, O seekers of wisdom, the testimony of John C. Maxwell, who recalled with vivid memory a moment that changed the course of his life: “I vividly remember a conversation I had many years ago in 1974, which marked a turning point in my leadership journey. I was sitting at a Holiday Inn with my friend, Kurt Campmeyer, when he asked me if I had a personal growth plan. I didn't. In fact, I didn't even know you were supposed to have one.” These words are not the idle recollections of a man at leisure, but the confession of a leader who discovered that greatness is not born by chance, but forged through intentional growth.

Mark this well: many drift through life as a ship without a rudder, carried by the tides of circumstance. They labor, they struggle, they even succeed in small measures, but without a plan for growth, their destiny is left to chance. Maxwell’s friend asked a simple question, yet it cut like a sword through complacency: “Do you have a plan?” It was a question that revealed a truth—progress does not come to those who merely wish, but to those who prepare.

Consider the wisdom of the ancients. The philosopher Aristotle taught that excellence is not an act, but a habit. To build a habit requires structure, a path, a plan. So it was for Maxwell, who in that moment discovered that leadership is not a natural gift bestowed at birth, but a journey of continual self-cultivation. Without a growth plan, even the brightest fire burns low. But with discipline and design, the flame is fanned into a blaze that can light the way for others.

History gives us the tale of Benjamin Franklin, who as a young man drew up a list of thirteen virtues and tracked them daily. He was not satisfied to drift; he built a growth plan for his character, measuring his life not in years alone, but in progress made. By such discipline, he rose from the son of a candle maker to a statesman, inventor, and philosopher whose influence still burns centuries later. Maxwell’s story, though quieter, echoes this same eternal principle: intentional growth transforms ordinary men into extraordinary leaders.

The meaning of this quote, then, is clear: to become more—to become wiser, stronger, more skillful, more compassionate—one must do so by design, not by accident. Waiting for growth to “happen” is the folly of the passive. Choosing to plan one’s growth is the wisdom of the active. The turning point in Maxwell’s journey reminds us that a single conversation, a single question, can awaken the sleeping giant of potential within us.

Let this be your lesson, O listener: do not delay the work of building your own growth plan. Ask yourself where you wish to be in knowledge, in skill, in character, in spirit—and then set forth a path. Read daily, seek mentors, write your goals, measure your steps, and adjust your course. For the leader is not the one who has arrived, but the one who is always advancing, always learning, always shaping himself anew.

Practical action lies before you: write down your goals not only for work, but for life. Choose books that challenge your thinking. Surround yourself with friends who ask sharp questions, as Kurt Campmeyer asked Maxwell. Reflect each day on your progress, and never accept stagnation as your lot. Growth must be pursued with purpose, for it never comes by accident.

Thus remember John Maxwell’s confession. Even the great can begin in ignorance, but the turning point is when they embrace intentional growth. So too can your life pivot in a single moment, if you resolve to plan your journey. For in the plan lies progress, and in progress lies the making of a leader whose light shall endure for generations.