I’ve been writing about change and personal growth. How if you don’t start you can’t get there. How change and personal growth are not the same and how to choose. And the obstacles in your way and how to overcome them.
That all sounds like a lot of work.
Why should you put yourself through that?
The self-improvement market is a nine point six billion dollar industry. Billion!
WHY?
There’s got to be a reason people spend their hard earned money doing something that can be downright painful. There must be benefits, a payoff. Why?
What’s in it for you?
Once you make the commitment to invest in yourself the benefits are remarkable. How do I know?
A while back I was in a bad place. I felt a deadness inside me even though my life was good. I felt guilty feeling bad. I had many reasons to be happy but something was missing. I didn’t know what.
I’d grown by leaps and bounds writing and publishing my book but inside me was a—now what?
Because of all my personal growth, I was a new person, but I didn’t know what to do with myself.
Now what?
I needed to take note of and employ the benefits I’d gained for a new season of growth.
Once you make the commitment to invest in yourself the benefits are remarkable. Share on X
Show Me the Benefits!
1 Authenticity & Self-Respect
On the journey of personal growth, you have to look at yourself. When you start looking at yourself honestly you discover things about yourself you didn’t know. You intentionally listen to your own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, desires etc. for the purpose of understanding and learning. Some call this self-awareness. Many balk at the term, but it just means being aware of yourself. The more you get to know who you really are you increasingly become more of your true self and develop self-respect.
2 Improvement
Some people have trouble with personal growth when they are over focused on the end game, instead of seeing their forward positive progress. Any positive change in your life is an improvement. No matter how big or small the improvement, the sense of accomplishment deserves celebration.
3 Vision & Purpose
Personal growth causes improved focus and effectiveness. It makes you look at things you hadn’t noticed before. You see things. How far you’ve come, how far you have to go and how much you can help others. You see and appreciate your value and potential. You discard what is not authentically you. A clarity of who you are and what you are passionate about will emerge. Knowing what you are passionate about will spark a calling in your heart. This calling will lead you to walk out your purpose.
4 Momentum
When you get a taste of knowing what you want to achieve it motivates you. With the progress of personal growth, a cascade or snowball effect begins. One positive change causes another one, and another, and so on. Seeing what you can become inspires you and once you’ve handled continuous change you come to desire it. This momentum develops self-motivation in you which causes momentum.
5 Resilience
Sometimes life is hard. Awful things happen. Change occurs at times without your permission. The skills learned through personal growth are useful in everyday difficulties and unplanned tragedies. Having the skills available when needed provides you the ability to bounce back instead of being crushed when life throws those lemons (or rocks).
6 Versatile
The frequent changes of personal growth build an adaptability in you. This ability to adapt will serve you well in new situations, jobs or tasks. When something unexpected occurs you will be less likely to freak out.
7 Confidence
Knowing who you are and what you can do gives you a sureness. You recognize your personal power and can employ all your inner resources with intention. Personal growth makes you braver. It empowers you with courage to face the fears that come knocking on your door.
8 Healthier relationships
Relationships with others and relationship with yourself both benefit from personal growth. As you learn your value, you learn the value of others. You take note of what relationships are beneficial and you invest in them. You build others up. You exercise proper self-care by confronting or separating from relationships that are negative or harmful.
9 Beneficial mindset & Attitudes
Our minds can be an unruly place. Like a dirty diaper, they need to be changed often. This benefit is so important because the mind operates so many parts of our lives. Personal growth in the mind develops good belief systems and positive attitudes. You become the master of your mind instead of its slave. Mindsets form attitudes and attitudes drive our lives.
10 Adventure & Excitement
The journey of personal growth is full of new things. New opportunities, choices, people, places, things, thoughts and the list goes on. A beneficial mindset will transform any fears of change into challenges to overcome or adventures to embark on. This makes the journey exciting.
11 Strength
Developing resilience, versatility and confidence give you strength. Like exercising a muscle, each time you use those benefits to overcome it makes you stronger.
12 Happiness & Peace
You’ll be happier. Personal growth and intentional change are closely linked to happiness because they deal with issues of the heart. Things like acceptance, openness, emotional well-being, trust and all the benefits listed above. With every step toward your well-being, you’ll feel an inner satisfaction. Dealing with stressors and difficulties constructively reduces anxiety and increases overall health. Accepting your authentic self, while working on being the best version of yourself brings peace. Knowing you are not perfect yet being at peace with yourself gives a special kind of happiness.
Personal growth & intentional change are closely linked to happiness because they deal with issues of the heart. Share on X
Everyone wants those kinds of benefits.
Personal growth and change include knowing your needs are important.
One of those needs on your journey of personal growth and change is periods of rest. Pushing yourself incessantly will cause burn out – not growth.
I learned the importance of this a while back. While it is necessary to step outside our comfort zone to grow it is also necessary to return to it to process. There are things you need to pack before you leave it. To understand this more – read here.
What next?
- If you’ve been working hard at growing personally or making changes – take a break. Breathe in some rest. Process your experience. Celebrate yourself! Let me know in the comments so I can celebrate with you!
- If you’re salivating for the benefits in the list above and ready to take some action take a look at the three books below (one has a community available) and see if any of them would serve you. Let me know in the comments which you chose – or…
- If you have a book or another resource that is helpful in the personal growth process, please let me know in the comments. I plan to gather a list to share with our community here. Word of mouth is the best reference!
The Art of Work website (you’re invited to join me in this community)
The Art of Work book – on Amazon.
The Listening Life – on Amazon
Andy Andrews “The Traveler’s Gift”
Thanks for sharing Mike! I’ve never heard of it so I’ll go and check it out.
Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art.” About going after your dreams/calling regardless of any other distractions. – Donnie
Thanks for sharing Donnie! That is on my “to read” list.