5 Ways to Cultivate Personal Growth
When you’re a kid, you can’t wait to “grow up” and, in theory, have all the answers to life; kids have this weird idea that adults somehow have it all together. But then, when you reach adulthood, you realize that you still have lots of growing left to do. Self-growth doesn’t happen overnight, and it won’t happen without a strategy, so check out these tips and turn your personal development plan into action.
Be Honest
Before you begin work on yourself, you need to figure out what areas could use a little TLC. To do that, you have to be completely transparent and honest with yourself; if you don’t trust yourself to be direct, ask a friend you trust for help. Make notes about where you are at in life and where you see yourself in the future. Accept where you are now, even if it’s in a bit of a rough patch. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your goals? Jot these ideas down in your Passion Roadmap to get started on a personal development plan.
Stay Curious
People can easily get stuck in patterns, so they think they always know what’s right or always do things the same way. Instead, stay open minded and try to not put limits on yourself. Pursue more education; it doesn’t have to be in a traditional sense like a course at a college. You can also check out free educational apps or tools to help you explore something new. Read more books or volunteer to learn new skills. Try something new completely out of your current wheelhouse, such as photography or painting.
Change Your Surroundings
If you’re feeling in a rut, sometimes you need to take yourself out of a particular location or situation to gain clarity or a new perspective. Travel as much as you’re able to so you pull yourself out of being around the same people and belief systems. If you tend to stay within your comfort zone or can’t break out of a strict routine, use your Passion Planner Weekly Layouts to schedule something out of the ordinary.
Commit to Your Health
Change is not something that can occur without willingness. What is self-development without the desire to change? Don’t make excuses and say you don’t have time for self-growth. Schedule it in your planner and jot down ideas, even of little things you can do for improvement; listen to podcasts on your commute instead of the same old playlist, or commit to an exercise routine and schedule those workout sessions in your planner. Start a meditation practice. Monitor how much television you watch and make goals to decrease that time each week.
Write Lists
To-do lists are your best friends when you’re trying to incite change. If you want to make a real personal development plan, you must write it down. Without putting your ideas in writing, it’s too easy to lose focus or lose track of progress you make. Use the Monthly Layout to keep track of events or deadlines and copy those same items to your Weekly Layouts; also write out daily to-do lists in the Weekly Layouts as a reminder or a motivator to get stuff done. Refer to the goals you highlighted in the Passion Roadmap, and make sure there’s at least one thing each week that is pushing you towards reaching that goal.
Life is hard enough as it is, so it can be easy to ignore the fact that maybe you need to work on some areas of your life. Personal growth requires continuous effort, and the only thing that is constant about life is change. Once you commit to self-growth, however, you might find that your personal relationships, your interactions at your job, and your connection with yourself are happier and healthier.
Cara Batema is a freelance writer and musician based in Los Angeles. She likes to write about the arts and psychology.
References:
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/42-practical-ways-to-improve-yourself.html