3 Ways You Can Jumpstart Your Personal Growth and Development
Personal development and growth is a funny thing. You may feel as though you are not making any progress at all, and then a blinding insight or sudden change can seem to happen overnight!
The truth about a lot of personal growth is that it happens under the surface, and you can’t always see it. All the same, the actions that you take contribute to its flourishing. If you’ve been feeling like you are spinning your wheels lately, one or more of the actions below could shake you out of it.
Journal
Writing in a journal can help you get to the bottom of what’s holding you back and what you need to do next. Most personal development activities are usually meant for you to work through while you journal. Although it can be tempting to do this on your computer or even talk into the voice memo on your phone, try to go about this the old-fashioned way, with pen and paper.
Something about the specific connections between your brain, your hand, the pen, and the paper seems to have an effect that efforts more mediated by technology do not. Try writing a page or two every day for a few weeks and see if the path becomes clear to you.
If you are looking for the perfect journal, check out this one here:
The Five Minute Journal: I am a huge fan of the five-minute journal. It only takes a few minutes a day to write out your intentions your gratitude and your goals for that particular day. I especially look forward to opening my journal at the end of each day and writing out and reflecting on how my day went. The Five Minute Journal is set up in a way to ensure that you are happier more successful and overall more intentional about your day.
Educate Yourself
You can begin learning a new skill by signing up for a free class online, listen to motivational speakers, drop in a local workshop, or you can even go back to school for a full degree program.
Going to college is not just about improving your career prospects. It can lead to substantial growth and even new learning styles! If you are young and away from home for the first time, this can be one of the most significant periods of your life in which you learn as much outside the classroom as inside.
However, even if you are well past traditional college age, pursuing a degree can lead to great change and personal growth. You can reduce financial stress during college by getting a student loan from a private lender. This is one of several types of resources available to pay for college along with grants, scholarships, and federal financial aid.
Set New Goals
Maybe you just need to aim for new horizons and make new goals. If you’ve never been much of a goal setter, this can be particularly significant in your personal growth. Be sure to make the goal something that is specific enough to measure and to give yourself a realistic time limit. I would also suggest keeping your goal setting off of social media–personal growth should only be to your own standards and no one else’s.
For example, if you’ve decided you want to start your own business, try to write a goal that is as concrete as possible in terms of the type of business you want to start and how you will measure your progress. You then need to figure out how to from here to there and what mini-goals will be required along the way.
Another important point to keep in mind about goal setting is that you should keep things you have control over separate from those you cannot. For example, you can plan to work a certain number of hours per week on your business, and this can increase the likelihood of bringing in a certain profit by a certain date. However, while the number of hours you work is entirely within your control, how much you make is not.
There is a myriad of ways to improve your personal growth. Once you find self-improvement techniques that work for you, stick to them! Comment below and let me know what has worked for you or if you’re willing to try one or more of our personal growth tips that I have mentioned!
