You’ve probably heard the term “leading edge” used to refer to technology or products that are in front of the curve, that are really advanced. You may have even heard the term “bleeding edge” in this context. I want to talk to you about your personal “leading edge,” your growing edge.

Your growing edge is that area of your life where there’s still a lot of room for improvement but you’re pushing ahead and stretching the margins of that area every day. For some this is productivity in business, for others it’s personal balance, for still others it’s family time and quality of interaction.

How do you find your growing edge and what do you do about it once you’ve identified it?

First, finding your growing edge. This can be easier than you might expect. It’s a simple matter of looking at your life over the last few months or year and seeing what challenges you keep bumping up against. For me, it’s eating right. I don’t eat breakfast or lunch and I eat too much junk. Over the last year I’ve struggled with this repeatedly, each time managing to eat “well” for a little longer, but then falling back into my old habits. The point is that I am growing in this area. You may have an area like this, too. You’re challenged by it, you make some changes, you retreat from these changes, and you make the changes again.

So what do you do with this “growing edge”? Exactly what you’ve been doing, only more so. If you’ve been building a new habit and then letting it go in times of stress, which is what most people do, then you need to develop new stress habits. It’s easy to do the right thing during calm, peaceful times in your life, as if any of us really have those. It’s harder when the real stress starts. So what you need to do is develop a list of things you can do during a stressful time to keep your new habit going. For me, a real problem when I’m stressed is caffeine. I have a problem staying off of it, and when I’m stressed I guzzle it. My ways to avoid caffeine include not having it in the house, keeping plenty of decaf soda cold, and drinking more milk. I love milk, so this is not a hardship. When I get a caffeine craving I have a glass of milk.

The bottom line on this is that action leads to solutions. Make a list of actions you can take to keep your growing edge growing, even when you don’t feel like it, and keep taking those actions. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know how you’re doing.