While personal growth is incredibly important for moving our careers and ourselves forward, it is not something that happens on its own. We need to set time aside to be intentional about our growth! Today's guest is Bob Doyle, President and CEO of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), and he joins us on the show to talk about how he is investing in his personal growth. We begin our conversation with the idea that everybody wants to grow and get better and our intention to discuss how we can actually accomplish that. Bob has a whole list of personal habits and areas that he is trying to improve on, many of which fall into the category of what are conventionally called soft skills. For Bob, soft skills are so important for success that they might better be reframed as 'success skills.' We dive into Bob's morning routine, hearing him talk about how he begins the day with journaling and gratitude. We zoom into the importance of these two practices, highlighting the idea that journaling can help us to be more reflective and shift our mindsets towards becoming more grateful for challenges because they are often what make us grow the most! Bob shares a great quote about approaching self-improvement in baby steps, and then we dive into an exchange about how we can rethink 2020 as a year that encouraged growth in all of us. Toward the end of our conversation, Bob shares his current intention of becoming a better listener – a more active and empathetic listener. We explore how much people appreciate being heard and how listening well can make you a better leader and human being. Listen in today for actionable personal growth tips from Bob Doyle!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Introducing Bob Doyle, President and CEO of the Michigan Association of CPAs.
• Today's topic: Investing in your personal growth through habits.
• The idea that people fundamentally want to grow.
• Bob's view that personal growth is a muscle that you have to exercise.
• The morning routine Bob practices for personal growth; journaling, gratitude, and more.
• How important it is to practice gratitude, even for things that seem hard or bad.
• Bob and Host Alex's journaling practice; the reflectiveness and intentionality it produces.
• Advice from Bob for implementing new habits by starting small and improving in baby steps.
• A way Bob has implemented growth at MICPA by making the move to virtual.
• The mindset piece of implementing good habits; it is essential to believe it is possible.
• Seeing 2020 as the year that pushed us out of our comfort zones and the growth this produced.
• Understanding that past challenges overcome have made you into who you are.
• Reframing soft skills as success skills to drill down on their importance.
• Bob's goal to become a better listener, and how he is training his team to do the same.
• The need people have to be heard by you, rather than have their problems solved by you.
• How Bob incorporates listening into his morning routine and the effects this has.
• Keeping a growth mindset because every moment is an opportunity for growth.
• A challenge from Alex for listeners to implement a journaling practice.

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