Tag Archives: Choosing growth

My Growth

One of the choices we have in life is to grow and become more every day we experience or not. In all situations, we are either getting better, or we are getting worse. Nobody ever stays the same.  Some may say, “why worry about growth? Just enjoy what you already have.”  That is true to some degree, but nothing is static. All things are constantly changing, and in many instances, we have a handle on moving in which direction you grow. I choose to pursue growth because it allows one to move toward something being a better human. Becoming your best self and provides a purpose for living. Without meaning, life becomes an empty exercise of activities, knowing something is missing. I want to have a purpose in every moment in life and continually seek to contribute to the world.

Don’t Fear Challenges.

I want to see challenges as an opportunity to become better, to learn, and to grow. So I want to embrace them and do my best to overcome them with strength, dignity, and courage. So many people avoid a challenge because it will be difficult or push them outside of their known talents and existence. But that is what life is about. You don’t have to travel far distances to experience new things and to grow. Challenges are the method life provides. So I want to embrace challenges with courage and understanding.

We do not know everything when we are born or at any stage of life. There are always new things to learn, and the challenges life sends your way are designed to allow greatness to come out of you.  Overcoming a new challenge is suitable for your self-esteem, confidence, and understanding of life and yourself.  Our number one purpose is to become our best selves.

Persistence Is Irreplaceable

Developing a stubborn persistence in the pursuit of things is another reason I prefer growth. When you have a weak mindset, it is straightforward to give up on a goal or a dream if the going gets too complicated. However, when obstacles come, don’t give up. Instead, keep working and develop a plan to get over, under, or around whatever is in your way. This talent is developed through choice, and it is one we will be working on for the entirety of our lives. All the great ones of history had this talent in their toolbox.

Once you decide to avoid difficulty and just quit, you have developed a habit that will stick with you until you learn to accept that not all things in life will come to you quickly. They take ongoing work and focus on overcoming.  When this talent is achieved, what can stand beyond your reach? Keep on trying, and eventually, the key will be yours to whatever door you seek to unlock.

Becoming Great

The effort you give to solve problems, overcome obstacles or meet challenges will determine your skill level at that thing. We are faced with different sorts of challenges every day. To do what we must exist in life, but digging deep inside ourselves to find the strength inside us will push us to keep working at the things we want to do.  Finding time to do something and to do it consistently will make you proficient at it. Seeking constant improvement is going to allow you to see the best that is going to happen.

The path to mastering anything comes with practice and repeated activity.  Keep working, try to become better, and improve. It is the same for learning how to draw or learning to tie your shoe. Practice until you become the best at it.  We are all capable of becoming great at almost anything with enough practice and work. One thing for sure without effort, you will not reach your best.

Learning from Criticism

It can be challenging to hear people be critical of you or your work. But there is an opportunity in that criticism to improve and become better. Some people criticize for no good reason, and others provide supportive, constructive criticism, which is meant to help you. Knowing the difference between the two is how you keep your mind calm, stay positive, and stay motivated. Look honestly at the work you have done and the person talking to you. Not everything is going to be great the first time you try it. However, development is essential, and that is growth.

Do not take critical things about things you create personally, the things you do may resonate with some people, but others are not going to appreciate it.  Expect it and know that it is not an indictment of you as a person. Still, they didn’t understand your work if the criticism is of a personal nature that is something different—probably caused by jealousy or attempted manipulation. How much faith you give will determine how much you are manipulated.  Don’t fear criticism; it isn’t worth it.

Find Inspiration from Others Success

That leads us to the success of others.  It can be hard to watch others reap the rewards, doing something you wanted to do yourself.  Jealousy will get you nowhere, but accepting and appreciating the talents of others can help you grow.  See what they have done and be positively critical to see what you might be able to differently or better.  Too many people waste time on envy or jealousy, and those two emotions will take you nowhere. Instead of working on yourself and your talents, you are sulking in the corner, wishing you were someone else.

Learn the lessons that someone else is teaching you through their success and use them as inspiration to move in the right direction.

“The journey is never-ending. There’s always going to be growth, improvement, adversity; you gotta take it all in and do what’s right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.” – Antonio Brown.

 

Grow As A Person

Personal Growth Leads to Living Well

personal growth 22There is nothing so important in our lives as seeking out and pursuing opportunities to grow as a person. Like any other living creature, our purpose in life is to contribute and move toward becoming our best selves continually. Just as plants are born and start to grow throughout their lives.

Look at your life and each activity you participate in, asking yourself about the growth potential.  We are all consciously, physically, and mentally going one of two ways.

  1. We are getting better or becoming more or growing.  2. We are getting worse, becoming less or shrinking.

Nobody is staying the same. Our actions that stem from our decisions each day are the forces that determine our direction.

Personal Growth Through Pain

Sometimes growth stems out of pain. We often

Unique personal growth can come from painful expeirences
Unique personal growth can come from painful experiences

wonder why painful events happen in our lives. Yet, these events often move you to strike out in a new direction rather than stay where you are. The pain can provide motivation and momentum to us to find new avenues for our talents or roads to travel, which we would never have conceived of before.  Our shell is broken, and a new life of growth will result.

With those we love, we try to shield them from the painful things in life. Our children, especially, under the guise of protecting them, are potentially robbing them of some of the most potent growth experiences. Being with them at painful times allows them to feel and provide empathetic support and sharing in their suffering, realizing that there is a time in life that pain happens, and all we can do is reassure them that healing comes. Eventually, it does come if you let it.

Life-Long  Education= Personal Growth

personal.growth.barrier.3.bGrowth can also occur through production by taking action. An interest will present itself, and through the natural forces of inquiry, a person will pursue their interest to find out more.  The student learns throughout their education and training to master their craft.

The problem is there is a lot of life left after your formal education is completed. Learning needs to be a lifelong pursuit that will continually keep you on a path of growth.  Most often, this is an individually motivated choice of practice. If you don’t look for ways to improve yourself, learn something new, or develop your mind and body, the alternative is to move backward slowly. Today we have access to a world of education and can learn how to do anything at all. We only need an internet connection to learn about anything from anatomy to rocket science.

Growth is NOT Difficult

It is not difficult to grow in your mind or in the talents you possess. Like anything ever in life, it involves taking an interest, developing an intent, and taking action potentialtoward completing a goal or developing a skill.  The passion that a person has toward achieving that goal will determine how severe the task will ultimately be.

Looking for opportunities to grow daily is vitally important. You are never too old, too weak, too significant, too small, or too anything else to find avenues for personal growth.  Reading something of substance each day is an excellent way to start. Each new idea or thought you experience will allow your mind to expand and think better and more efficiently. Once a consciousness expands, it takes a lot of neglect to move it in the opposite direction. Choose to grow!

“Every moment of one’s existence, one is growing into more or retreating into less.” ―Norman Mailer.

“Income seldom exceeds personal development.” ―Jim Rohn.

“You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” ―Henry David Thoreau.

“Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead.” ―Morihei Ueshiba