The Misconceptions about Growth
Common Perception of Growth
When we hear the word ‘growth’, we naturally recognize it as to ‘grow in quantity’.
The reason is probably that we grew up calling ourselves “growth” in the process of being born as a baby and growing up as an adult
And it’s also because of the typical social usage of the word ‘Growth’, such as the following three reaons.
Quantitative Increase
Taking a company as an example, whether it be sales or the number of members, we consider it to be “growth” when it becomes larger and more numerous than before. When we say, “Our company has grown steadily over the past three years,” we often refer to sales volume or the number of employees employed.
Result
If you improve your grades more at the end of first year than at the beginning of the first year, or if your peer evaluation scores improved this year than last year, you get compliments from someone saying, “You have grown so much.”
Success
People who have achieved success in their business, become rich, or are socially famous, often refer to ‘my secret of growth’ in lectures and books.
So, we implicitly came to perceive with a slight bias that ‘growth is a kind of result, success, increase in quantity’.
There is nothing wrong with the meaning or example of growth given in the previous usages. There is definitely growth in a better result, and quantitative growth is also a kind of growth.
However, it should also be acknowledged that we are quite misunderstanding the original meaning of ‘growth’ due to common usages.
For example, if you ask an acquaintance, “Are you growing up these days?” most people will be embarrassed or difficult to answer. We would be reluctant to answer “I am growing” or “I have grown” if there is no visible result and no change that can be called ‘success’.
But is that true?
The Original Meaning of Growth
Growth is defined as ‘growth, development, progressively increasing behavior or process, or attitude’.
The process, attitude, and behavior itself are growth rather than the resulting success or quantitative increase.
In other words, we are growing when we reach out and move toward a gradual progression in any direction we intend or want.
Example of Growth
Jenny, a high school student, accidentally came across the field of animal psychology through YouTube, and decided to become an expert in that field in the future to help animals and humans interact and live better. She’s also studying hard preparing for the entrance exam for the university where she can get professional degrees from.
Although she has not yet earned professional degrees or actually helped animals and people, Jenny is growing enough because she is constantly taking steps to make it happen.
Tom, an office worker, was worrying about poor performance and receiving negative feedback from his boss at the company where he has been working as a digital marketer for two years. So he took aptitude tests or expert mentoring to explore careers that better suited him, and as a result he became interested in brand strategy. So, he’s now learning a skill set in his spare time and is constantly studying related YouTube videos.
Tom has not yet verified whether his brand strategy work is well suited, and has not succeeded in changing his job to that position, but he is definitely growing because he is making the process of finding a way by constantly trying on his own.
Clues of Growth
So how do I know if I am growing? Simple.
If the following three things exist in you, you are definitely growing.
You’re OK.
Recognition of Lack
You feel that you don’t know or lack something yet. You have to do something unknown, something uncertain, or something you have to learn. So you’re somewhat anxious and afraid.
The beginning of growth is finding, recognizing, and accepting the lack of something you want to fill. There is no growth for a person who thinks he is already perfect in everything.
Goals You Want
If you do something that you do not know why you want it, it will be empty even if it is achieved as a result. Of course, it will be difficult for you to feel that you are growing even in the process of achieving it.
We can grow only when we have something we long for and set specific goals for ourselves and create a process to reach them.
For example, someone who is trying to get into the school/company their parents or spouse wants will find it difficult to feel that they have grown up in life even if they reach that goal.
Running steadily
Are you consistently doing the things you can and should do to achieve your goals?
Then you are definitely growing.
Concluding Remarks
Are you making progress little by little toward something you want, filling in the areas you feel lacking?
Then you can confidently say to yourself and to the world, “I am growing.”
There may be many failures or trial and error along the way, and your goals may change, but the fact that you are growing doesn’t change.
Growth is a process, an attitude, and an action itself. Growth is not an outcome.
Anyone can have growth if they want it.
Have your own growth today :)
