What does Personal Growth Mean Anyway?

Personal growth seems to be one of the popular catch phrases people are throwing around lately

So, what does personal growth mean anyway?  I’ve personally learnt a lot about myself over the last year.  For me it has been a metamorphosis, a slow process of change.  Personal growth (it’s right there in the title) is personal.  It is different for everyone.  For me it is like going full circle.  It is realizing that I had wandered away from my true self and finding a way to wander back to it.  Finding a way to not only get back to myself but to work on getting better.

My personal growth has covered a range of areas in my life from realizing ‘I’m Worth It’ to caring more for my body to spending time on my spiritual growth.  I didn’t make a conscious choice to grow in these areas, it kind of crept up on me, and before I realized it I was learning to see the world in a different way.

My personal growth does not come from a place of lack or need to escape who I ‘was’

I have been blessed with a wonderful life.  A good family, good health, beautiful children and a loving husband.  Does this mean I should be grateful for where I am?  Yes.  Does it make it wrong to want to grow?  No.  Growth is always the right thing to do.  Growth keeps you alive inside and therefore happy inside as well.  If you’ve read my post on Gratitude you will know how important I think it is in a happy lifestyle, but I do think that there is something we need to be aware of.

That is, we can be so conscious of our blessings, and be so grateful for them, that we feel a sense of guilt about wanting more.  For example, you are so grateful for the blessing of being a mother that you convince yourself it is selfish and ‘ungrateful’ to want to do something for yourself.  This is a flawed premise indeed!  Ultimately life is about balance and when we do not look after one aspect of our lives the others suffer.  We cannot be well rounded and happy if we don’t look after EVERY aspect of our being.  In other words, being a mother should not stop you being an artist, writer, acrobat or tv presenter! (insert anything that pulls at your soul).

Does a little voice whisper to you to reach higher, to grow?

Those areas of our lives that are out of balance have a nasty way of gnawing at us.  They whisper in our ear, quietly at first, but that voice does not stay quiet.  We were created whole and become fragmented by this world we live in.  Until we sit up and pay attention, that voice will be there.  It cannot be ignored.  And, why would you want to anyway?  All it wants is for you to be your true, authentic self.  To stop pretending for everyone else.  To stop being afraid of what ‘others’ might think.  Doesn’t it matter more what you think?

So, when you have a thought pop into your head like ‘I always wanted to learn to play the guitar’, focus for a minute on how you are feeling.  Do you feel sad?  Cheated somehow?  This is because you are denying your own growth.  So, stop doing that!  We will all have different areas that we need to work on, this isn’t a one size fits all situation.  Where personal growth is concerned it is about listening to that voice, paying close attention and then really making a change.

Areas of Personal Growth – Where do you need to Focus?

Power Up your Intellect

We go to school, sit at a desk and do what we are told.  But, what if we learn to love learning?  What if we actually choose to learn?  I have discovered a love of learning recently, purely because I am learning about myself and learning only what I enjoy learning about.  For me, this is personal growth at its finest.  Choose something that you love and just learn because you love it, and it enriches you.  You’ll be amazed how much fun learning can be when you don’t have a test at the end!  Udemy   and Skillshare are fantastic platforms for learning and personal growth.

Strengthening your Body

We all want to feel good in our bodies.  Personal growth includes wanting to ‘do better’ by our bodies.  To look after ourselves, eat better and exercise regularly.  Building on this area of our lives is part of our personal growth.  Again, just find a way to enjoy the process!  Being too hard on ourselves never works, be gentle and take baby steps in a positive direction.

Balance your Emotions

This may sound strange but working on our emotions is a major personal growth area.  Feeling our emotions fully is so important, but we also need to be careful not to let them take over.  So, strengthening your emotions means finding balance.  Learn to read the warning signs of your negative emotions and try to pull yourself back.  For me meditation helps enormously with this, have a look at Gaia for meditiations.

Nurture your Connection to God/Source

We are supported and guided through this life.  Sometimes we are in tune with this and sometimes we aren’t.  If we consciously choose to connect, to tune in to our spirituality, we will feel this connection as a constant in our lives.  When we feel a stronger spiritual connection life has more meaning and we feel more whole.  Nurture your spirituality, it will ground you in a happier life.  Check out Gaia and Mindvalley for amazing stories on spirituality.

Enhance your Sense of Self

What is your true essence?  What do you love?  Do you spend enough time enjoying those things in life that bring you your greatest joy?  Without exploring what makes you tick, how can you experience personal growth?  Be true to yourself and expand those areas of your personality that make you; you.  That could include a love of music or travel.  It could mean learning how to cook Italian food or starting a DIY project.

So, my question to you is, what does personal growth mean to you?  Where would you start if you made a conscious decision to push yourself to grow today?

Personal growth can and should be the most rewarding thing you can begin doing for yourself.  My recommendation would be that you pick something you love and start there.  The others areas of personal growth will follow naturally if you start from a place of joy.

Happy growing!

‘The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson

For more personal growth blogs read Journaling: A Path to Self-Discovery

Disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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