Goal of Growth

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Goal of Growth

By PHIL WITTMEYER & Others

More than any other goal, growth sees life as a place to learn, with a potential new lesson or growth-inducing experience around every corner.  
 
With this goal, school is in session upon awakening each morning, and life serves as the classroom for the duration of the incarnation. What the personality chooses to learn can be the nuts and bolts of everyday existence (and its myriad of problems) or the conscious evolution of the soul. The manner of learning is not limited. One deals with the elbow grease of the mundane (or the school of hard knocks), the other a potential soul-enriching triumph over adversity. The course curriculum of this goal is as varied as the number of souls on the planet. Growth is multilateral in its application.
 
Those with a goal of growth may have a look in their eyes of multi-tasking, as if while barely managing one thing they are already anticipating the next. This makes them seem relentlessly busy, and they often are. Although, they may look a little tired and glassy-eyed if they go too long without a break. When feeling refreshed, however, people with this goal are generally affable and sunny, with an eye fixed on the next challenge.
 
Whereas reevaluation was the goal of looking back, growth could be considered the goal of looking ahead. Like jugglers that perpetually spin their plates in the air, even if the plate in front of them is already full, those in growth often bundle their day with as many activities as possible, stacking their deck with a proliferation of challenges, insights, stow-aways of incidentals, and, on occasion, questionable pursuits. Forget about dry runs, people with this goal love being put to the test. They believe, and with both optimism and a little heroism, that any obstacle can be overcome if they work hard enough. And that conviction, even if short-sighted, inspires them to reach higher and work harder.
 
People with this goal thrive on stimulation and new learning experiences. This can occur in an academic setting or in a long line at the bank as they marshal down their list of things in their daily planner to check off. The chronology of learning is rarely linear, however. Going from point A to B does not always follow the natural sequence of the alphabet, with some experiences, figuratively speaking, jumping ahead to G or even Z. Growth is haphazard and demanding. States of exhaustion are never a deal-breaker, though, if valuable learning ensues.

Like a lighthouse that sweeps its beam round and round in hopes of finding weary mariners, growth turns people into seekers. They will look high and low for something that cannot always be put into words, ransacking the darkest corners of their minds, thumbing through pages of religious doctrine, wandering through the school of philosophy, all in a quest for something that may be out of reach and ultimately unobtainable. This relentless search, seemingly inscrutable and without end, can unravel in a mental storm of emotional ups and downs, bearing similarity to clinical states like manic depression.

As the cardinal goal in the inspiration axis, the activities of growth usually uplift those that hear its call, though, and essence may use growth to inspire the personality to evolve quicker and strive for greater spiritual development. Essence may also use growth to seduce the personality into burning karmic ribbons that have lingered too long. Both applications make growth the most popular goal, representing 40% of the population.

This is the goal of accumulation. It exerts its own gravitational pull like a black hole that devours the light. Those craving increasing worldliness and the piquant seasonings of something new may guzzle this experience like a great whale that swallows gallons of ocean water to absorb the plankton. For someone in growth, however, the nutrition is experiential.
 
From a more negative perspective, when the personality merely hoards experience out of boredom — and boredom can only exist when the ego is present— the accumulation is not weighed for its spiritual value and only adds to the glut of white noise surrounding the personality, resulting in painful episodes that offer nothing but dead ends and little potential for growth. The roller coaster thrills of this goal, with its sudden peaks and valleys, can spiral into unfavorable coping mechanisms, such as addictions to alcohol and drugs.
 
In that light, self-absorption is a frequent partner with this goal. Since growth embodies the same universal energies that guide the priest role, which due to its alignment with the inspiration axis, compels the soul to find its illumination within and internalize experience, this leads to a heightened awareness of the senses and desires. People in growth are more tuned-in to their interior world for this reason. This may not manifest as a negative quality, but the self-indulgent nature of being drawn inward to process life experience can occasionally cause disruptions, with lapses in judgment or a fragile grip on reality. If the chief features awaken, a resulting tunnel vision may incite a pursuit of reckless indulgences with little regard for others. Growth is then no longer sought for spiritual advancement but becomes a bottom-of-the-barrel stimulant.
The grass-is-greener syndrome can also manifest with this goal, leading to feelings of dissatisfaction that may cause frequent career changes, a revolving door of romantic partners, marital divorce, and an insatiable desire to experience anything new. As expected, many thorny predicaments arise from such pursuits, usually concluding in a state of exhaustion. This may bear similarities to those symptoms associated with the fourth monad, but that transition is confined to the midlife. This issue, as it pertains to the goal of growth, is more pervasive.
 
Overall, growth is not so much about enduring tough times and physical hardship, but about deriving valuable insights from a journey that starts in a state of confusion and progresses to a realization that brings greater clarity, comprehension, and wisdom.

In the positive pole of evolution, true spiritual comprehension is possible and there is a striving to reach higher ground. In confusion, the negative pole of the goal, too much stimulation leads to feeling bewildered and overwhelmed. The misguided soul turns itself inside-out trying to make sense of the convoluted plotline written for the life. In such instances, a helpful release is to slide to the goal of reevaluation, the opposite of growth, and find inner peace through quietude and reflection. Another alternative is to spend time with a friend in the goal of Flow, who might teach about the virtues of the park bench and how to bide time more enjoyably.

David Gregg

More On Growth

The cardinal inspiration goal is Growth, and it is the optimistic Goal. This is a difficult Goal for the person who has it do deal with. It causes him to always want more, better, higher, greater. It causes discontent and unrest, what I call the "greener pastures" syndrome. He is never quite satisfied with the present situation. To some extent this can be said about all the Goals, since the nature of a Goal is such that one never fully achieves it. It is true of Growth in the sense that the person who has it is never satisfied to "leave well enough alone". He is always demanding so much of himself. Often he takes more upon himself than he can possibly handle. He likes feeling pushed to the limit of his capacity and beyond with challenging situations and relationships. The person in Growth does not want to let any opportunity slip by. Every life event is seen as a chance for further experience. He feels that the biggest sin one can commit is to not fulfill one's uttermost potential. All talents must be developed. Every situation must be explored. To a person in Growth, the world is a realm of never ending variety. He gets bored easily if there is not an unending stream of new experiences. The more that is happening, the more he is fulfilled. He thrives on challenging situations where many things are happening at once. Circumstances that others might find tumultuous, he finds stimulating. He "has his fingers in many pies" at once. He delights in juggling the numerous activities in which he is involved. He likes to be "in the thick of things."

Growth is the Complement of Reevaluation (Reduction). In other words, each avoids what the other seeks. People in Growth are normally very open about themselves. This is the opposite of -Withdrawal in the Complementary Reduction Goal. People in Growth have nothing to hide. Their lives are an open book -- they want to reveal themselves. They are not mysterious. They like to have people around — "the more the merrier". They are usually very gregarious and have no trouble revealing intimate things about themselves. If someone does not reciprocate by also "letting it all hang out", this is frustrating to them. They are uncomfortable with people who cannot openly and freely express themselves. Quite unlike people in -Withdrawal, they have a desire for an intense intimacy, even to the point of being nosy and prying. People in Growth want everything. People in Reevaluation (Reduction) want only what is truly necessary, and ignore the rest. Both Growth and Reduction, being Aspects of the Inspiration Processes, are concerned with values: Growth values everything — it is unlimited in its scope of quality. On the other hand, Reevaluation values only the necessary — it is very limited. People in Growth often feel that their lives are too restricted, and this is uncomfortable to them. They avail themselves of every opportunity for progress.

The Growth Goal and the Passion Mode are the Counterparts of each other. The Passion Mode has what the Growth Goal seeks — an uninhibited approach to life. The difference between the two is that a person in Passion behaves as if every wonderful experience resided within him already, so he has no need to seek this in the outer world as does the person in Growth.

Positive Pole (Comprehension)

The original name of the Positive Pole of this Goal is "comprehension". I do not think this meant intellectual understanding, since that is Ordinal Expression, and Growth is Cardinal Inspiration. I think the intention is the noun form of the adjective "comprehensive", meaning "all-inclusive" or "wide in scope". People in this Pole are interested in everything, and they want to get acquainted and involved with everything. They want to embrace everything, and become on familiar terms with it.

In order to avoid possible misunderstanding of this Pole as having to do with mental considerations, I enjoy using "+Unfoldment" rather than "comprehension." The meaning here is that a person in this Pole seeks personal development, evolution, revelation and intimacy in himself and in others and in the world. He wants things to be out in the open, in plain sight. He wants his experiences to be developed to their greatest potential, to their highest state, to the maximum degree. Such a person tends to be a gregarious extrovert.

Negative Pole (Confusion)

The Negative Pole is -Confusion, which often results when the person in Growth tries to take too much upon himself or do too much at once. The seeking of challenging complications has degenerated into chaos. He has become prolific to the point of being wasteful. In the -Confused state, he still pushes for interesting experiences, but he is not sure where to push because he is bewildered. He gropes along with a hit-and-miss method that reveals his perplexity. He often mistakes intricacy or complexity for progress. He is disorganized, and feels befuddled, and confounded. His energy is scattered; he is disoriented, and his head is spinning.

Life presents a person with many and diverse opportunities, and it is quite impossible to fulfill them all. One simply cannot explore every avenue that is presented. If one tries to, he will not be able to concentrate on the most important matters at hand. The result of this can be the Negative Pole of -Confusion. The way to get out of this -Confusion is to consider the Positive Pole of the Complementary Goal of Reduction, which is +Efficiency. Make a priority list. Focus the attention on just one thing and apply your energy to it. There are so many things in the world that can distract one's focus of attention. It takes a concentrated effort for a person in Growth to set priorities because everything is important to him. He wants to experience it all. As a consequence, he may flit about from item to item, from one concern to another, without lingering on one thing long enough to fully appreciate it. This is not the most effective way to promote growth. To get out of -Confusion, people must realistically evaluate what needs to be done by comparing the relative merits of the items they seek to experience. at a time. People with this Goal often pare down their options so they can concentrate on one thing. They seek continually to narrow their range of involvements. They want situations such that they can cope with them easily and without stress and confusion. They avoid circumstances that are demanding or intrusive.

Phil Wittmeyer

Growth, at forty percent of the population, and acceptance, at thirty percent, are the two most popular goals. Growth is a state of movement, of seeking new experiences, new stimuli to which to respond. To move, we must be unbalanced. When we walk, most of the time, we are “falling” forward. Acceptance is a state of stillness and balance, being peaceful about what happens. People in growth tend to be in motion, and those in acceptance tend to “plunk down.” I would imagine, for example, that adult education classes are filled with people in growth, who tend to be busy and continually trying to learn something. I am in acceptance, and I don’t have much motivation to go out and do those types of things. I probably feel overstimulated more easily than those in growth. Still, those in growth can become over stimulated and, as a result, go into the negative pole, confusion.

Shepherd Hoodwin -- From Journey of Your Soul

Channeling About Growth

Growth is the most common goal, just as reevaluation is the least common. It is about seeking new experiences that may expand your inner world. The positive pole is "comprehension." In growth, a person is attracted to challenges that cause him to react in new ways, thereby activating inner resources that may have been dormant. Learning something is more a by-product, but comprehension implies that the person expanded his repertoire and broadened his horizons, whereas in reevaluation, a person avoids new experiences so as to finish up processing old ones.

In a larger sense of the word, your whole cycle of growth includes both stimulation and reflection. At the beginning, you are stimulated, and then everything else is about dealing with the results of that stimulation. The last stage is reevaluation, when you put it all together before you move on to new stimulation. However, the goal of growth refers to that specific spurt of stimulation.

It is interesting that growth is so much more common than reevaluation. That reveals that you can process a lot of growth with a relatively short period of reevaluation. The natural balance is to spend a lot more time being stimulated, and a relatively short but potent time making sense of it all. Some people think that it's the other way around. An example is those who spend a lifetime in psychotherapy reevaluating their childhood for far longer than the childhood lasted. Most find diminishing returns with this because they may not be really living their life--they are just analyzing it, so there is not enough new data to keep things fresh. For some, the ritual of regular psychotherapy is useful, especially if they don't have friends to talk to. Everyone needs to be heard and be able to bounce things off friends. Sometimes the psychotherapist is a friend-substitute, and that's fine, but you get more bang for your reevaluation buck when you undertake it directly and honestly--glean the lessons, and than get moving again.

Of course, if you have reevaluation as your main goal, that doesn't apply to you. However, if you have chosen it as your goal, it probably indicates that you were not very willing in the past to reflect on your life; therefore, you needed to devote an entire lifetime to doing so. For that reason, many with this goal still manage to stay fairly busy, even if it is less busy than what would be normal for them as a soul.

The goal of growth does not refer only to what some might narrowly define as spiritual growth; it is growth as a physical person. It could involve learning about anything: foreign cultures, languages, cuisines; it could be delving into the psyche. People in growth almost all like to be busy. They are attracted to new experiences, and can handle being busy fairly well. A packed schedule does not faze them as much as it might others, all things being equal.

However, it is possible to overdo anything, and the negative pole, "confusion," results from overdoing it. More than any other pairing of goals, it is common to slide between growth and reevaluation, because they provide a necessary balance to one another. If you have a goal of growth and are in the negative pole of confusion, meaning that you have been overstimulated, you need time to reflect. Then, it is natural to slide to the positive pole of reevaluation and simplify for a while. Whether you are in growth or reevaluation, it is a good idea to avoid the extremes, because the extremes will put you in your negative poles.

However, it is an extreme only if it feels like an extreme to you. Your schedule might look extreme to someone else, but the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in whether you feel you're handling it with a reasonable amount of comfort. If you are in the negative pole, you will start to feel overwhelmed; it is more stimulation than you can take in. Some of those who suffer nervous breakdowns are people in growth who didn't know when to quit. What we call "true rest" and "true play" are necessary to some degree for everyone in order to live a balanced life, and especially useful when the pace of the life is accelerated.

Shepherd Hoodwin -- From Michael On Goals

Growth is a rocky goal, and causes the soul to go through some elaborate and complicated machinations which mask all of the other goals. Many times the soul in growth is forced to play out all of the agonies of the other goals in order to grow, such as the rejection-dominance seen often in many members of this group who are in growth. Depression and elation usually manifests often in this goal. There is sometimes the need to submit, i.e., to put oneself in the hands of the guru. There are also many times the need to feel accepted, to have the goal verified by society, to check out with life the sanity of the soul’s purpose. This often makes the soul who is still in false personality go through a set of well defined patterns. You can now begin to photograph these patterns in one another.

Do you go faster in a goal of growth? when is the goal of growth chosen? Is it because of karmic reasons that it is chosen?

It can, of course, but is usually not desirable. The goal of growth is usually chosen to complete a monad.

In the goal of growth, does one “review” all the other goals? It seems I’m in and out of all of them.

The goal of growth causes the soul to search, sometimes restlessly, for the answers to questions of a philosophical and religious nature almost from the time the first breath is drawn. In the early cycles, this sometimes causes grief and guilt, as there is often a split with family members over untenable views held by them. The “review” is a phenomenon that we believe to be universal in the older cycles. We see this in all of you, but far more pronounced in those in growth. This endless searching often produces both acceptance and submission; then when the flash comes, the student in growth often becomes temporarily dominant in order to spread the word he has received. this is entirely natural.

Michael Teachings Transcripts

Next page | Goal of Discrimination,

The Seven Goals: Re-evaluation, Growth, Discrimination, Acceptance,
Submission, Dominance, Flow

About Phil Wittmeyer

Phil is a long-time Michael student who has written several book-length manuscripts about the Michael teachings, many of them featured on this site. He has been an active member in the community for many years and can be found at most Michael gatherings.

Phil currently lives in Colorado.