Cultivating personal transformation? 

Cultivating personal transformation seems like a far stretch from working in the garden, but bear with me. 

As I’m starting my garden, now that it’s Spring, I find a new appreciation for the quiet moments in the garden.  My thoughts can blossom and I see the connection between Nature and me.

Just as my garden space holds the promise of future beauty, I see how it reflects the same opportunity I have of growing stronger, greater, and to my full potential from inside.

Imagine a serene, sunlit garden — lush, vibrant, and full of life.  That’s what I’m striving for in my tiny postcard size patio garden.

The same overwhelmingly abundant garden also represents a beautiful expression of the journey of personal transformation.  Cultivated by the basic elements required for any profound change, a garden, or a person can become far more beautiful and fulfill their amazing purpose.

Why call it a profound change?  How different is a seed from its final transition?  To me, that’s a pretty profound transformation. That’s a great image for cultivating personal transformation.

Each element involved plays a crucial role, just as each flower, tree, and stream contributes to the harmony of nature.

“All growth is from within. This is evident in all nature. Every plant, every animal, every human is a living testimony to this great law, and the error of the ages is in looking for strength or power from without.” 

— Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

So, here, I share with you my vision of 7 powerful seeds for growth and success use can use for cultivating personal transformation:

1. Definiteness of Purpose – The Seed

At the heart of personal transformation is a clearly defined purpose, much like a seed planted with intention.  Without it, growth is uncertain and scattered.  Without it, our thoughts, actions, our lives, get blown around by whatever expectations get laid on us, or by heavy influencers that are relentless.

Many times they are well-meaning, but even from childhood, we copy and adapt to the thoughts, choices and actions of those we are exposed to.

But when purpose is clear — when we know what we truly desire — the seed takes root and begins its journey toward the light.

“Knowledge does not apply itself; we as individuals must make the application, and the application consists in fertilizing the thought with a living purpose.”

— Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

Unlike so many others that tell you all you need is to identify your “why”, Mark and Davene tell us that we need more than that.  In the Master Key Experience, students are given the specific criteria and formula to write a Definite Major Purpose, a DMP.

It’s patterned after the advice given by Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich, but it goes beyond that.  All of it depends on starting with understanding and defining what you want! 

2. Thought – The Soil

Our thoughts, like rich, fertile soil, determine what grows in our lives. Nourishing, positive thoughts cultivate beauty and strength, while negative thoughts choke progress like weeds.

By consciously choosing uplifting and constructive thoughts, we create the ideal soil from which success flourishes.

“Nature compels us all to move through life. We could not remain stationary however much we wished. Every right-thinking person wants not merely to move through life like a sound-producing, perambulating plant, but to develop – to improve – and to continue the development mentally to the close of physical life. This development can occur only through the improvement of the quality of individual thought and the ideals, actions and conditions that arise as a consequence.”

— Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

It is important to remember that you can plant poison ivy or potatoes or peppers or poinsettia, even a pecan tree.  The soil doesn’t care.  It will nourish whatever you plant.  The same is true with thoughts.  If you plant negative thoughts, that’s what will grow.  If you plant positivity, that’s what gets generated.

Check out more on the Law of Growth in 7 Laws of the Mind.

3. Imagination – The Sunlight

Imagination fuels possibility, much like sunlight fuels life.  It allows us to see beyond current circumstances and envision a reality yet to unfold.  This key element helps us to implant the future we really want, as I have seen class members achieve.

Those who master imagination, and I’ve seen AND witnessed this, turn dreams into blueprints, making the unseen seen and the impossible possible.

“Hence a study of the creative processes of thoughts and how to apply them is of supreme importance to each one of us. This knowledge is the means whereby the volition of human life on earth may be hastened and uplifted in the process.”

— Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

So what is the vision that lights you up inside?  What does a life worth living look like for you?  What does it feel like?  These are the key questions in moving the clouds away so you can let the sunlight of your imagination flourish. 

If your dream is about having a place on the lake, do you see the building?  Smell the lake?  Hear the splash and laughter of people enjoying the water?

Or like me, if you wanted to run your own business someday, have you sat still long enough to imagine what that feels like and looks like?

Do you want a brick and mortar store or work from home or work at your client’s space?  Do you want people working for you?  How many and what are they doing?  Have you seen yourself in their presence encouraging them and planning with them?

Many people will give reasonable advice about what you need to do to open a business, like planning for expenses (license, overhead, taxes, etc.), detailing your business plan, building your advertising funnels, etc.

But without the imagination piece, without the sunshine, your dream is still laying in the dark, waiting for you to put the light on it.

I spent years working on the business planning activities, but wasn’t getting anywhere.

What I should have done was moved to imagination.  Once I did, thanks to the exercises and support I found in the Master Key Experience, my business launched in just a couple of months. 

So, let the sunshine in.  If you want people working for you, or with you, imagine walking into a space where you meet with this group, or with a client.

What are you wearing, what does the space look like?  Is it a high-end conference room?  A coffee shop?  Their office?  Your office?

Feel the seat beneath you, feel the table or desk in front of you? Is it cold or warm? Hard or flexible?  Is the room bright or does it have ambient light?  What do you smell?  Coffee?  Flowers in the room? 

As you imagine this level of detail, you’ll start to feel energy growing inside you instead of the flatness or even darkness of trying to put together a business plan.

Imagination was key to me starting my business.  By shining the light on my dream, I had my first client before I even had my business up and running.  It was the “picture” that drove my success.  The rest just fell into place.

4. Faith – The Water

Faith nourishes the roots, the core, the unseen yet essential. Faith is the unwavering belief that the seed will sprout, that the vision will manifest.  Without faith, doubt creeps in, and without nourishment, growth falters.

But with faith, even the smallest seed has the power to become a mighty tree.

“Our faith must be strong enough to generate a current of sufficient strength to bring our purpose into manifestation. As thy faith is, so be it unto thee.”

— Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

Every time we doubt or lose belief in our purpose, our vision, the life we truly want, the Universe answers with dropping us into the life we’ve already created for ourselves.  If we aren’t paying attention and putting focus on this new vision, why should it (the Universe) put any attention on it?

Yes, we have created the life we have through our thoughts and beliefs.  And whatever we continue to have faith and believe in, we’ll continue to water.

5. Persistence – The Seasons

Every transformation requires persistence, just as nature endures cycles of growth, challenge, and renewal.  Living in the Midwest, I see evidence of this consistently. 

Springs are colorful with pastels. Summers can get very dry and brutally hot, but gorgeous, bright, light, and fun. Fall is full of gold, bronze and yellow colors and the celebration of harvest. Winter can bring snow and ice, and a different kind of beauty, dangerous and fascinating.

There will be storms like our tornadoes, dry spells where the Earth cracks, feet of snow, and moments when progress seems invisible.  Keep in mind that the progress is actually still happening, even though we may not see it.  The seed, or the roots are busy underground. 

But for those who persist, who continue to nurture their vision, who nurture and tend their garden, despite external conditions, a harvest comes inevitably. 

And the payoff for that harvest?  We get to do it again!  After harvest, a resting period, then spring, a promise of life bursting forth again, never the same and always the same.

In the seasons of our lives, we get to choose!  Do we want it to be the same?  Or do we want to move toward the life we’ve always wanted?  Choose different seeds, add more sunshine, or water.

“You cannot entertain weak, harmful, negative thoughts ten hours a day and expect to bring about beautiful, strong and harmonious conditions by ten minutes of strong, positive, creative thought.”
― Charles F. Haanel, The Master Key System

Cultivating personal transformation takes that same level of Mother Nature’s persistence to really make a difference and keep life moving forward.

6. Harmony – The Environment

Just as a thriving garden maintains balance with its environment, personal transformation flourishes in harmony with natural laws.

Gratitude, kindness, and service create the kind of environment where growth is not only possible but inevitable. Surrounding ourselves with like-minded individuals — guides, mentors, master mind partners, and a supportive community — amplifies the process and sets the scene for positive growth, for cultivating personal transformation.

“Life is expressive and it is our business to express ourselves harmoniously and constructively. Sorrow, misery, unhappiness, disease, and poverty are not necessities and we are constantly eliminating them.”

— Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

The Law of Environment tells us that things that belong in an environment must show up or emerge.  Nature always emerges victorious.  You’re part of nature, which means you must emerge victorious in your environment.

Just as I appreciate the Midwestern environment and enjoy the huge variety of plants and natural occurrences here, I also maintain my relationships with great mentors, guides, mastermind partners, and others in the community of the Master Key Experience, and my friends who follow the same spiritual path, in order to keep an environment that sustains me cultivating personal transformation.

7. Action – The Gardener’s Hand

Ultimately, it is action that brings the garden to life.  A gardener does not simply wish for growth; they cultivate it.  All of us are living the lives our decisions and resulting actions have created. 

Just like with the serious gardener, intentional, consistent action aligned with purpose ensures that transformation is not merely a possibility but a reality.  This is an action we repeat over and over. 

Either our annual transformation is moving us toward where we want to go, or it just deepens where we’ve already been, continuing to move us on the path we’ve already paved.

“You must first have the knowledge of your power; second, the courage to dare; third, the faith to do.” 

— Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

As the garden matures, it becomes a place of beauty, wisdom, and abundance — a living testament to the power of thought, faith, and action. And just as nature gives freely, your future self, the one who goes through a true transformation finds herself in a position to inspire, uplift, and empower others to begin their own journey.

Need a gardening lesson?  Some help with the discipline to make the transformation you really want in your life with hands-on help? 

Okay, sign-up here for the next Master Key Experience.  But be forewarned, you cannot buy a seat in the class.  You’ll have to apply for a scholarship, thanks to the generosity of this year’s class who have paid it forward for YOU!

Enjoy cultivating personal transformation within your inner being. Happy gardening!