Self-growth is one of the most important of all human virtues. The idea of “growth” is a very broad notion, and by seeking growth and development people can expand in all other virtuous pursuits. Growth helps you to understand your passions, develop perseverance, and gain more wisdom to guide your decision making. People can experience growth in a number of different life areas. Whether it’s spiritual, social, emotional, or intellectual, we all need to experience self-growth in order to fulfill and recognize our true potential. Learning how to make self-growth a priority and primary focus of life, will help you move forward with confidence and strength toward your goals. Five principles to successful self-growth:
- The choice to grow is yours
- Learn to take risks
- Understand your values
- Make it happen
- Maintain a positive attitude
The choice to grow is yours
“How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?” – Only one. But the light bulb has to want to change. 🙂 People must make the choice to change and take full responsibility for their circumstances. Change starts from within. If you don’t work toward taking 100% control over your life you will not see significant progress. Responsibility to moving forward means asking what you can do and how you can better yourself. End the vicious cycle of blaming other people and start proactively dealing with life’s conflicts until a solution is found. You will get nowhere by avoiding things that stand in your way. First and foremost the choice to grow is yours, and this choice must be firmly made. Make a commitment to seek out people and situations that stimulate growth.
Learn to take risks
Learning to take risks means stepping outside your comfort zone and experiencing something totally new. Excitement in life comes from taking risks and working to transform yourself into the person you want to be. Most people love to travel the world for the fact that it’s such a growth provoking experience, you’re seeing new and exciting place and able to grow as a overall person. I’ve been fortunate to travel through Eastern Europe and South Africa, and these experiences have helped me to dream bigger and understand more clearly where I come from. Experiencing unforeseen places, people, and things helped me to start examining my identity more closely, and in a different way. On a more mundane level, this equates to simply trying something new each day so you can start to reevaluate your initial view of who you are and what you’re capable of. Make uncertainty your friend and adversity your teacher. This is how you can grow to be the person you want to be.
Understand your values
If the risk you’re taking is big enough to disrupt your entire life, it’s important to know that what you’re doing matches up with your values and long-term goals. Start to become aware of your mission before stepping too far into the unknown. One way to learn more about your values and purpose is to create your own personal mission statement. Ask yourself: What do I value most in life? What is my life’s person? What legacy do I want to leave? List the answer to these questions to get a clearer understanding of what type of life you want to lead. The mission statement is a starting point to help you grow personally and professionally. It’s not static, but is a place to help you start living with purpose and direction as you seek self-growth.
Make it happen
If you’ve written your mission statement you’re more self-aware and understand what you want from your personal development. Now you need to make sure to follow through and make it happen by having discipline and self-control. We all have difficult and unhealthy habits to break, and this is a huge catalyst to achieving our goals. Having the self-discipline to prioritize the things you want to do, as well as having the motivation and resilience to follow through, will be the ultimate corollary to your success. You are more likely to push past your limits, if you believe in your goals and are self-determined to achieve them. Decide to work toward self-growth, develop your goals, and make it happen!
Maintain a positive attitude
With a positive attitude we can seek growth in everything we do. We’ll have more energy and enthusiasm, and naturally look toward what we can learn and gain from unexpected situations. We’ll keep an excited perspective toward new experiences and be willing to work past set-backs. To work toward a positive attitude, become grateful, and focus on the fact growth is a part of life. Take on new ideas and activities with a mindset of improving and working hard, and make every conscious act an act of faith, where you know a beneficial outcome will emerge. Work toward mindfulness, and recognize the thoughts you tell yourself. You create who you are and what the world has in store for you by the perspective you hold. Self-growth is part of human existence, and everyone desires to seek out new experiences. Take a leap of faith and start taking risks, even if you’ve played it safe in the past. Without the drive to be and experience more, new milestones couldn’t be reached, and new discoveries wouldn’t be made. Self-growth is about living with purpose and determination. If you find yourself desiring to growth, remember the steps discussed above and start pursuing your dreams now!
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