Objective: Personal Growth

How many of us have been inspired by the actions of others and have said to ourselves “ You know, I’ve been thinking a long time about finally taking the time to ……..” , only to file it away in our daydream cabinet moments, or sometimes days later?

Every day life consumes our thoughts and actions and distracts us from things that help us to be better to ourselves and others around us.  Though not always pleasant, we prefer to stay in our own ‘comfort zones’ and make excuses as to why we can’t do those things that we’ve wanted to do.

Personal growth can include a variety of things that you would like to accomplish.  Perhaps the goal is to learn a new skill, or improve on one that you already have.  Maybe it’s finding time in your schedule to exercise, or changing a ‘people’ skill that would enable you to be a better leader, companion, or teacher.  It could be that you’ve always wanted to volunteer and help others. 

Instead of saying “I’m just not good at that” and chalking it up to being a weakness and moving on, do a little research into how to improve that particular skill.  There is a huge variety of resources available even if you have little time or money to spare.

Be realistic in your goal setting.  You have years ahead of you to learn or do new things.  Lay out your Personal Growth outline and list the goals needed to reach that level of growth.  Don’t try to do them all at once.  Maybe you can listen to one self help audio book a month.  Utilize time where you’re normally just ‘killing time’.  Sometimes it takes only a small amount of time each day once it’s broken down into more manageable groups.  What in the beginning takes discipline, soon becomes habit.  There may be days where you are not able to accomplish your daily growth task.  That’s OK, just don’t let that become the new habit.

Personal growth not only affects our lives, but the lives of those around us.  It doesn’t even have to be shared with others or discussed, people around you will know.

If you wait too long to take those first few steps, the opportunity to do so may pass. 

Be that person whose actions inspire others. Make them say to themselves “ You know, I’ve been thinking a long time about finally taking the time to ……..”,  and let ripple effects begin.