Personal Growth — How to Achieve Personal Growth [The fastest method]

Personal Growth — Have you ever wondered how to achieve personal growth? The personal development field is full of answers, but how can you find an answer when you don’t even know what question to ask? I’ve been there. I’ve been at a place where I just knew that I was not happy and something needed to change right away. I wanted to put together this guide on how to achieve personal growth for you to guide you through the process of starting your own personal growth journey.

Personal Growth — How to Achieve Personal Growth [The fastest method] — Personal Development, Self — Growth, Self Development, Self Improvement

Whatever you like to call it — personal growth, personal development, self-acutalization or finding yourself — this journey is you exploring and developing who you truly are. It explores identity, talents and potential, as well as dreams and aspirations. It develops you physically, mentally, spiritually and intellectually.

And it can look however you want it to — that’s the personal part! Your journey might involve training, up-skilling and traveling; or it might involve yoga, meditating and spiritual healing.

👉Are you overwhelmed with this whole thing of personal growth? Here’s the BEST way to go about it

The key is to put yourself into situations that will trigger that exploration and development.

Personal Growth — How to Achieve Personal Growth [The fastest method] — Personal Development, Self — Growth, Self Development, Self Improvement

Personal Growth : Is Personal Growth Really That Valuable?

When you have patients to see, a schedule to keep, charts to do, procedures to prepare for, and all the busy work of running a practice, investing in personal growth can seem like a waste of time or, at the very least, a luxury. It’s something you get to when you have tons of extra time and aren’t working so hard to keep your practice afloat.

What you see in the most successful people, however, is that they make time for their personal development and growth.

Personal growth is a process of both understanding yourself and pushing yourself to reach your highest potential. It means always asking yourself who you are becoming and how you plan to get there. It can involve working on new habits and hobbies, fostering new skills, and practicing new strategies to achieve your goals. While this development starts very personal, it radiates outward and touches every aspect of your life, including your practice and professional growth.

👉Are you overwhelmed with this whole thing of personal growth? Here’s the BEST way to go about it

Personal Growth (What is personal growth?)

You might have come across the term personal growth and wondered what it means. Personal growth is also called self-improvement and self-growth.

This term refers to various techniques for improving one’s habits, behavior, actions and reactions.

Here are a few examples to clarify what is personal growth:

• Learning to control anger
• Learning to overcome procrastination
• Learning to overcome laziness
• Learning to be more polite and considerate
• Becoming a more responsible person
• Learning new things and developing new skills
• Changing your mindset and becoming more positive

Successful personal growth requires motivation, the desire to improve, and the willingness to strive to make changes. You also need to be willing to get out of your comfort zone, and sometimes, do things that are uncomfortable, but are for your own good. An open mind and the desire to learn and grow are also important.

Personal growth is an ongoing process that starts from an early age, but mostly shaped by parents, teachers, and the environment. However to make the most of it, you need to become aware of the process, know what it is, and take the right steps to grow and improve yourself.

Sometimes, problems and difficulties are the triggers that awaken the desire to grow, and lead to making changes in one’s life. At other times, people are inspired to take steps toward personal growth after reading an inspiring book, watching a movie or reading about people who achieved success.

This often leads people to new paths, to making changes in their lives, expanding their knowledge and self-awareness, improving skills, and developing new ones.

Personal Growth — How can I pursue personal growth?

Personal Growth — How to Achieve Personal Growth [The fastest method] — Personal Development, Self — Growth, Self Development, Self Improvement

Step 1 is to actively want to pursue personal growth. The fact that you’re reading this article proves that you’re already on your way towards self-improvement, congratulations!

The next steps can be a little more ambiguous. Many people inevitably feel a sense of restlessness and wander while on their journey towards personal growth. Don’t forget that this elusive journey in itself is personal growth, so cherish every moment of feeling lost and puzzled.

Since personal growth means different things to different people, it’s important to establish what aspect of your own life you wish to grow. Is it your career, your personality, your thoughts, or specific qualities that you find lacking in your life? Do you wish you knew how to give yourself space? Or maybe you’ve never been clear on your strengths and weaknesses and would like to get a better sense of that.

One quick way to hack your personal growth journey is to go on structured travel programs, such as going on workations like the CoFounders Retreat.

Travel always opens your mind in new ways when you get yourself out of your routine to give yourself a fresh new perspective. Going on a structured workation program ensures that you maximize your dedicated travel time to ensure you leave feeling a little less lost and a little more focused on your true purpose in life.

👉Are you overwhelmed with this whole thing of personal growth? Here’s the BEST way to go about it

Personal Growth — Questions to ask yourself

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to self-evalaute and begin your journey on personal growth.

• What does my dream life look like?
• What are the things that scare me?
• How can I face the things that scare me in a structured way?
• What am I grateful for today?
• What is the one thing I cannot live without?
• What do I wake up every morning to do?
• What do the people closest to me admire me for?
• What do the people closest to me wish I would do more/less of?

Surrounding yourself with people who also actively seek self improvement makes your journey much more meaningful. A community of driven individuals can push each other to accomplish more than what they set out to achieve individually.

Start asking yourself the hard questions. And get the right people to support you every step of the way. Personal growth isn’t an end goal, but a way of living to guide your actions each and every day.

Personal Growth — To get you started, here are 13 different ways you can use to initiate and speed up personal growth.

Personal Growth — How to Achieve Personal Growth [The fastest method] — Personal Development, Self — Growth, Self Development, Self Improvement

1. Know yourself.

Self knowledge is not just about knowing your likes and dislikes, it’s about knowing who you truly are as a person. How you look at life. How you interact with others. What fires you up. What leaves you shaking. What gets your heart pumping. A person who sincerely knows who they are shines with confidence.

This kind of knowledge is learned by personal reflection, lots of time alone, and situations outside of your comfort zone. Those situations can be different for everyone — anything from enjoying a long lunch with a pen and notebook for company (no phone!), to solo travel. You learn a lot about yourself by jumping into an unfamiliar environment. And when you break through what you previously thought you were capable of, you’ll feel like you can achieve anything.

2. Rid yourself of people who bring you down.

This is a tough action to take, as the person who brings you down might be person you share your bed with. Or the person you’ve known since you were a kid. Or the person who employs you. Only you can decide whether or not you should do this (or want to), and how best to do it. Every situation is different. Sometimes it calls for addressing the situation in person, sometimes it calls for fading contact between you, and sometimes it calls for leaving one day and never looking back. This is absolutely easier said than done, so I don’t want to make light of this situation. The one instance where I would urge you to immediately remove yourself is if you are physically or emotionally at risk. Often, these situations will require outside help — ask for that help.

👉Are you overwhelmed with this whole thing of personal growth? Here’s the BEST way to go about it

3. Surround yourself with beautiful people.

I’m talking about inner beauty, of course. People that make you see the world in a new way. People that do extraordinary things. People that exude the qualities you’d love have rub off on you; kindness, compassion, bravery, drive. People that have a story to tell, gifts to share and lessons to teach.

4. ‘Three good things’ practice.

Each day, you write down three good things that happened throughout your day, or three things you are thankful for. It can be as simple as ‘I’m thankful for a warm sunny day today’.

5. Avoid comparing yourself to what you see on social media.

Here’s the thing about social media: it’s a clipped, cropped and cultivated representation of who we are. It’s not really who we are. We accentuate the best of ourselves. We filter and tweet what we want others to see — and to be honest, that’s perfectly ok. It’s no different to quickly cleaning your house when someone says they’re dropping by; we like to present ourselves in the best light. The key is to be mindful that this is what everyone is doing — everyone.

So when you scroll through Facebook, know that all those updates, photos and comments have been carefully considered. And when we compare ourselves, we have a tendency to compare the worst of ourselves to the best of everyone else. Not that you should compare in the first place; but it’s not a fair comparison. The funny thing is, people are probably comparing themselves to you. It’s not a healthy pastime. If there’s someone you find you can’t help but weigh yourself against, unsubscribe from their posts for a while. You’ll still be friends, but you’ll stop seeing updates. The ‘three good things’ exercise and knowing yourself will help in this situation.

👉Are you overwhelmed with this whole thing of personal growth? Here’s the BEST way to go about it

6. Meet new people.

If you’re shy or introverted, this will serve as you getting outside of your comfort zone. Spending time with new people will broaden your horizons and open up different adventures and opportunities in your life. Unsure of how? Friends of friends is always a good start. Get yourself invited to parties and make it your mission to talk to someone you don’t know. Strike up a conversation at the gym. Introduce yourself to the person you always see at your favourite park or beach. Ask to share a table with a stranger at a busy café.

If the thought of doing this is giving you heart palpitations and sweaty palms right now — great! Do it! The easiest way to do this is offer a compliment and ask an open ended question (one like ‘So, how do you know…’ is a good place to start) or just flat out say something like ‘Hi! I see you here quite a bit, so thought I’d say hello. It’s a great café/bar/gym/park isn’t it?’. If you use that intro, I would one hundred percent resist the urge to follow it up with ‘So, do you come here often?!’. Up to you though.

7. Write.

Whether it’s a public blog or a private journal, writing is a therapeutic outlet for your thoughts. Totally up to you however you do it; Julia Cameron’s morning pages, a diary that you might go for months without writing in, or random notes typed on your phone.

Personal Growth — How to Achieve Personal Growth [The fastest method] — Personal Development, Self — Growth, Self Development, Self Improvement

8. Turn off the TV.

Emotions in others stimulate emotions in you, and if a movie or a show has ever made you cry or laugh, you’ll get what I mean. You know it’s not real, but you still get caught up in the story and emotionally react. A good movie will leave you full of whatever emotion they were trying to portray — it’s a job well done.

But what about those dramatic reality shows? Shows that thrive on conflict for the story line? What sort of emotions do shows like that stimulate and leave you with? There is nothing worse than walking into a room and seeing people watching a screen filled with other people fighting, arguing, complaining and backstabbing. It’s something most of us would avoid like the plague in real life, so it doesn’t make sense to give up your free time to watch it play out on a screen. Spend that time learning something new instead.

👉Are you overwhelmed with this whole thing of personal growth? Here’s the BEST way to go about it

9. De-clutter.

We get emotionally attached to ‘stuff’. When you finally purge and rid yourself of all the clutter you’ve hoarded over a lifetime, you feel empowered. It’s freeing. Bin, donate, cull down. Be especially mindful of what you bring into your life in the future.

10. Get in touch with nature.

Take time out each day to get some fresh air, walk through a beautiful park or garden, visit the beach or just watch the clouds. It’s a mini escape, and plants you firmly in the ‘real world’, as opposed to the virtual world. Watch the stars, swim in the ocean, walk through a forest or toast marshmallows over a bonfire. The world is beautiful, and taking time out to enjoy it is energizing.

11. Read.

Reading connects you with a person that may have lived decades, or even hundreds of years before you were born. It gives you an insight into another world and perspective. And it grows you in the easiest way possible, all from the comfort of your favorite chair. If you’re not a big reader, the best way to start is to either pick your topic and go for the most popular book in that genre (it will be popular for a reason), or just go to the most popular books list on Amazon and start with something short.

12. Get a hobby.

Hobbies serve a multitude of purposes. You learn a new skill, it’s (usually) a creative or physical outlet, it often introduces you to new people, it gets you out of that comfy place, it’s usually an achievement of something you’ve always wanted to do or try, and it gives you something interesting to talk about when you meet new people. Being passionate about something different is cool. Passionate people are interesting, and it doesn’t even matter what the passion is. It’s energizing to talk to someone who has a real excited love for something.

👉Are you overwhelmed with this whole thing of personal growth? Here’s the BEST way to go about it

13. Develop a childlike sense of humor.

If you have young children around, you’ll know how easy it is to make them laugh. Their humor is sweet and simple — pure joy from a silly joke or a funny face. Embrace a lighthearted sense of humor; spend the day with a friend that shares the same crazy sense of humor as you, watch stand up comedy online, or read a funny article. Try and get to that crying-laughing-I-have-the-stitch stage at least once a week. It’s healthy!

Personal Growth — The Last Thing You Need to Know About Achieving Personal Growth

Achieving personal growth is an ongoing journey, but a pleasant one. It’s incredibly personally fulfilling as you watch over time as your happiness and contentment grow. You can only change one person — yourself. However, when you start changing yourself, it’s like a ripple effect. By focusing on improving yourself, it starts affecting everyone around you for the better. It’s not a quick journey and you will not see overnight change. It will take work.

When you realize that you need to start working on yourself, start by focusing on one area. Identify specifically what you want to change and start learning more about it. Break it down into smaller parts. This makes it easier to change and helps when it’s something vague like “I want to be happier.” Raise your self-awareness and have patience with yourself as you start implementing the changes towards a better you.

👉Are you overwhelmed with this whole thing of personal growth? Here’s the BEST way to go about it