7 Signs That You’ve Grown A lot (and You’re a Completely Different Person Now)
This is how to measure your growth
You don’t notice it yourself — that’s the most beautiful thing about growing up.
Have you ever experienced someone telling you, “Wow, you’ve changed a lot”?
If yes, then it’s probably because you’ve already outgrown the old version of yourself without you realizing it.
Here are 7 tell-tail signs that you’ve changed more than you ever imagined:
1. You’re starting to realize how small your problems were.
I was timid and introverted growing up. Even the tiniest inconvenience drove me awake all night.
• How people stared at me when I was at the department store.
• How I looked when I said my order to the counter.
• How I sounded, “Hello” when I answered a phone call from the delivery man.
Normally, people don’t even dare to pay attention to such things. But for me, they were subjects to be worried about. I had sleepless nights from simply thinking over these small inconveniences.
To my surprise, there is only one thing that can completely stop me from overthinking. And it’s not an antidote; it’s a hack.
It’s building a business.
It may sound pathetic, but it was.
Before, all I thought about was how to leave the best impression on everyone. I was a people-pleaser for all my life. If someone doesn’t like me, I would take it deep down my bones. But after running my business, my worries slowly changed. From those shallow reasons, they transformed into “real problems.”
• How can I attract more clients
• How can I hit my $5k MRR
• How can I build a network
• How can I create the best lead magnet
Now, I wake up every day thinking about all of these. And I started noticing how small my problems were compared to now.
2. You’re starting to be firm on what to get to the table.
As you become a better person, you tend to be selective for good.
Before, I said YES to literally everything, even to those I’m not comfortable doing. Much less because I was a kid, I knew it was due to my extreme shyness. I’ve been a victim of my lack of healthy boundaries.
Now as a writer, I can easily look into people’s eyes and say, “No, I don’t want to.” I can lock myself in my room, eliminate all the distractions, and start working without guilt that I just declined someone. It’s a different kind of freedom.
Beyond that, this applies more to how I connect with clients.
Closing deals is a Go-No-Go kind of situation. You need to be equally assertive and compassionate to present the criteria, scope, and deliverables of your project. What I learned, for example, is to put out the rightful and fair charge for my service while also trying to consider the circumstances of my clients.
For this, I knew I was able to learn what exactly to get and put on the table.
3. You’re no longer easily affected by people’s opinions.
Once self-belief becomes sturdy enough, building defenses against people’s opinions becomes easier.
If you can recall how a single hurtful word can ruin your day before, and now you can remain unaffected, then it’s a good sign of growth.
It automatically grows when you build something out of yourself.
In my case, when I decided not to proceed with our month-long capstone course, I was mocked by my friends. One friend told me that I just wasted my time. As he said, choosing my business over that valuable training is the worst decision I’ve made.
Looking at myself now, I don’t care that much about people’s opinions anymore. My actions are anchored with what I believe is true, and not by the expectations of others. Especially to people who like to shade others from their choices, it is incredibly helpful.
Sometimes, growth starts when you learned how to not give a damn anymore.
4. You can live a solitary but accountable life.
• If you can turn off the TV without your mom telling you so
• If you can push yourself to get out of your bed and find clients for your business.
• If you can still go to the gym even if you’re tired.
• If you can prompt yourself to stick to your protein-rich diet, even if you’re sick of the same old food you eat every day.
You can tell how much you’ve grown.
A solitary life sometimes teaches us the best lessons. It’s usually where the sense of responsibility develops. Most people don’t become mature until they step out of their houses, go about their separate lives, and live alone.
These concepts go hand in hand. Either someone starts to live alone, and their growth starts to spur, or they grow first, making them braver to embrace a solitary life.
But either way, there is growth.
5. You stand firm on your words.
“A real man is a man of his word,” — I learned this the hard way.
I was never firm with my words. I have failed myself more than I could ever remember. One reason is that my self-reliance was very weak. I felt bad about myself so I made a promise to change. I failed my promise, and so my self-pity worsened. I was going in a downward spiral.
Only when I run my business that my words turn into my vows. In December of last year, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t stop until my business soared. And until now, I’m still holding on to that promise.
My self-reliance began to sprout.
Broken promises fear me more than anything else now. I learned how to fight tooth and nail to never fail myself again. One way or another, I know I’m slowly turning into the man I want to become.
6. You start to control your urges.
A part of growing up is knowing what is important.
Once you become more mature, you will understand how essential it is to invest your time in things that matter. Watching Netflix, playing video games, watching explicit content — you’ll start to red flag these activities as nothing but energy drainers.
And as a result, you’ll learn how to control your urges.
Especially when you run a business, allowing a single day to pass without doing anything feels like torture. Day by day, you’ll slowly train yourself to trim down your tasks and leave what’s worth doing. Self-control will be built. Being mindful of what you do becomes automatic.
7. You don’t complain anymore.
Not complaining is a sign that you are no longer a victim of your life. And it’s an important catalyst of growth.
On the psychological lens, it helps in establishing a “growth mindset.” A growth mindset refers to a belief that everything can be learned through practice. Every time you complain, you subconsciously convince yourself that you can’t do something. It causes you to believe that you are weak and incapable. Oppositely, you stretch your abilities when you don’t complain. You allow yourself to adjust and manage an unfamiliar situation.
Ryan Holiday powerfully captured this idea. He said, “Never be overheard complaining… Not even to yourself.”
He’s right. If you want to grow, practice not to complain in any situation. Suffer, be in pain, get challenged, or even cry, but don’t ever whine over your life.
Growth happens when you focus on the solutions, not on the problems.
As you grow, you don’t notice these things. That’s why I’d like to share these with you. So when you feel like giving up on yourself, these will remind you of how far you’ve come.
