People around the globe spend billions of dollars on personal growth every year. They invest time, energy, and money in intentionally reaching their human potential.
Of course, everyone experiences growth naturally as they navigate life. In fact, your personal growth often is instigated by challenges, opportunities, loss, relationships, failure, and even spiritual awakenings. When life hands you new circumstances or experiences, you adapt. You grow into a new version of yourself, and this process continues your entire life.
Humans are resilient. Thus, you bend and grow as necessary—and by choice. Indeed, you don’t have to change simply through pain and suffering. Instead, you can decide to grow, consciously taking action to become a new—better—version of yourself. When you do so, you stop leaving your personal growth to chance and develop agency over this process.
What Is Personal Growth?
The words “personal growth” often are used interchangeably with “personal development” and “self-improvement.” However, no matter the terminology used, they are all related to developing yourself with positive and supportive habits, mindsets, reactions, behavior, skills, wisdom, character, and consciousness.
Philosophers, theologists, and psychologists continuously try to develop or identify the best methods, strategies, and tools to help individuals step into what some call the “best self.” Simply said, they are looking for a way to help you realize your authentic capabilities and nature. Therefore, I define personal growth as how you deliberately attempt to live up to and into your human potential.
However, I like how Vishen Lakhiani, founder of MindValley, defines personal growth: “Personal growth is the improvement of our skills, knowledge, wisdom, habits, behavior, and personal qualities. Personal development allows you to reach your full potential, be your best self, and live your happiest, most successful life.”
Keep in mind that personal growth is not just about learning new things. Instead, it involves applying what you know, so you change as the knowledge becomes part of who you are through new ways of showing up. Actual personal growth creates an identity transformation. It changes who you are being.
However, don’t make the mistake of thinking this new identity or way of being is inauthentic. Quite the opposite. You have been conditioned to be something less than you are…someone who is not achieving their potential. By reconditioning yourself with intentional personal growth efforts, you become who you were—and who you are—meant to be when you were born.
Intentional Personal Growth
Often, people choose to grow when they develop a new goal, like a New Year’s resolution to run a marathon, meditate daily, or find a soulmate. For example, you might decide to lose 20 pounds; therefore, you change your exercise routine and eating habits to accomplish that goal.
If a friend ghosts you, you might forgive yourself for whatever you did. And you might forgive the friend for not sharing why they don’t want to be in a relationship any longer.
Or maybe you want to be more committed, grateful, self-integral, or loving. So you decide to follow through consistently, keep your promises to yourself, or be demonstrative with your family. Then, as a result of your changes in mindset and behavior, you intentionally experience personal growth.
Benefits of Personal Growth
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, personal growth, which he called self-actualization, leads to the highest form of human fulfillment. In fact, self-actualization enhances the way you enjoy all other aspects of life. And why wouldn’t it? After all, if you are self-actualized, you are operating at your fullest potential.
But most of us do not do that. Instead, we seem stuck being nothing like the person we know we can be. And that way of being doesn’t allow us to do the things we know are necessary to create improved health, more money, better relationships, a fulfilling career, or whatever we desire.
As you make strides to improve yourself, you develop mental, emotional, and behavioral habits that support achieving your goals personally, professionally, and spiritually. You also will:
- Be happier
- Raise your confidence level
- Increase your self-esteem level
- Become more courageous
- Trust yourself more
- Have better relationships
- Be healthier
- Achieve greater levels of success
5 Types of Personal Growth
Personal growth is a vast topic. Therefore, it is best understood when broken into five distinct types of personal growth. These are:
- Mental Growth: Expanding your mental capacity by developing a supportive mindset, positive self-talk, and feeding your mind.
- Social Growth: Improving your social skills by developing your communication skills, boundary setting, and relationships.
- Spiritual growth: Creating a connection to your spiritual self by developing a relationship with a higher presence, your soul, and spiritual guidance.
- Emotional Growth: Increasing your emotional intelligence by developing effective ways to deal with and express your emotions and relate to others.
- Physical Growth: Boosting your overall health and well-being by developing habits and mindsets related to health, wellness, and fitness.
Why Self-Growth is Important
By now, you probably realize the importance of investing in your personal growth. But if not, let me clarify.
If you know you can be and do more—become a better version of yourself—personal growth provides the tools to help you become that person. The personal growth industry offers a variety of tools and strategies to help you thrive and create a better life.
Personal growth is essential if you want to have the following:
- A healthy, loving relationship with yourself
- Healthy, caring relationships with others
- Happiness
- A positive mindset
- Resilience
- Better health
- Career success
- Financial prosperity
- Higher levels of productivity
- Peace—no matter what is going on around you
- Fulfillment
- The ability to achieve your purpose
- Success
There’s nothing more important than your growth as a human being. You come in with so much potential…and your purpose is to realize every bit of it.
I created The Inspired Creator Community to help people like you do just that—as the U.S. Army likes to say, to “be all you can be.” My commitment to personal growth also is why I offer both Certified High Performance Coaching (personal growth coaching) and transformational coaching (a combination of personal and spiritual growth coaching).
How to Achieve Personal Growth
If you are serious about pursuing your personal growth, there are myriad ways to pursue self-improvement. But before you undertake any of them, you must be willing to get out of your comfort zone and do something different that stretches you. You have to be ready to change; then, you will achieve transformation.
If you have the willingness, you can choose to:
- Read self-help books
- Take courses or attend classes or seminars (online or in person)
- Listen to Podcasts
- Hire a coach
- Spend time with other growth-oriented people or “growth friends”
- Create a Growth Plan and carry it out
- Hire a hypnotist
- Try therapy
Don’t leave your personal growth to chance…or to some painful or challenging situation? Instead, intentionally choose to change. Decide to do what is necessary to become the best version of yourself. Then, you will find it easy to achieve your goals and create the life you desire.
Have you had or resolved a value conflict? Tell me in a comment below. And please share this post with a friend or on social media.
If you want to increase your ability to develop beliefs that support you, let’s chat. Get on my calendar here. Or join the Inspired Creator Community for group personal and spiritual growth coaching every month.
It’s time to transform, is it not? Join the Inspired Creator Community. As a member, you will discover how to change from the inside out. Finally, be the person who does the things that allow you to create what you desire. Gain access to a world-class Certified High Performance Coaching program, a proprietary Inspired Results Coaching program, Author Coaching, and strategies for living a life that feeds your soul. As you will discover, you are a powerful creator. It’s time to create what you want. Join now!Photo copyright:rudzhan
