Personal Formation

Personal formation is a primal goal in the transition from adolescence, through early adulthood, and on to maturity. Such development will mean taking on the added dimensions of personal resilience, emotional maturity, and social intelligence that are characteristic of men and women who possess true substance.
This physical, mental, and relational development is a defining quality in every stage of life and leadership.

You must put yourself in an environment in which your liabilities and capabilities are constantly reacting with your surroundings. Random moments of challenge in your life will not do; occasional realizations of what you lack or what you have the capacity to become are not enough.
You must find yourself in a crucible of fire so that your inadequacies rise and your true substance is refined.

You must live in the presence of individuals, or at least one individual, whose influence inspires and cultivates your personal formation.  Rare as these individuals are, you may know him/her only by distant observation or through written biographies.
You must look to at least one person who is for you an incarnation of ideals.

You must come to possess a set of principles for life & leadership. Though this guiding philosophy may come to you through the influence of your parents, it is more likely that you will gather your own ideas and gain your own intuitions as you reflect upon moments of success and survival.
You must possess a code by which to live and lead.