3 Ways to Supercharge Your Personal Growth Journey

Setting out on a personal growth journey

Growth is the only evidence of life.

John Henry Newman

Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution and then completely forgot about it by February?

Many people do.

This isn’t because the resolutions are unimportant, but because of bad preparation. A personal growth journey can be an amazing experience… but, it can also prove to be a challenge. And, when you inevitably hit a roadblock, how you handle it makes all the difference. So, keep reading to learn my top lessons for supercharging your personal growth journey.

But, first…

What Is Personal Growth?

Personal Growth can be an ambiguous term. Some use it to mean learning new skills, others to describe meditation practices. But, at its core, personal growth encompasses all the things you can do to improve yourself. This includes your health, finances, relationships, and career.

When talking about personal growth, it’s important to note that it is not the same thing as self-improvement. For most people, their “self-improvement journey” refers to their physical appearance or lifestyle.

A personal growth journey is much more than that. It’s an inner exploration of your mind, body, and spirit. It’s about who you are at your core and what you want in life. And, its real meaning comes from what you discover about yourself on the way to your goals.

Why We Struggle with Personal Growth

When I first started my personal growth journey, my excitement would often give way to frustration. I would work hard for some time and would then find myself back at square one or worse off than where I started. This would cause me to feel like a failure, and I would become very discouraged at not making any progress in my life.

But, after much reflection, I discovered that the problem was not me. It was the way that I was trying to approach my personal growth journey. My approach was holding me back from moving forward. So, here are the top obstacles that could be holding you back in your journey.

Going at it alone

While your personal growth journey is personal, you don’t have to make it alone. Lone-wolfing will make you feel isolated and will make challenges appear insurmountable.

When I first discovered personal development, I spent several years reading self-help advice and trying to apply it on my own. But, I often felt like I was stumbling in the dark. And, without someone to support me, I gave up for months at a time.

Using trial and error

Taking action is a crucial part of personal development. But action based on flawed advice will have you spinning in circles. This will cause you to burn out before you can make any measurable progress.

I remember reading some ebooks to help improve my social life. Their content seemed to make sense and they got raving reviews online.

Yet, there was a part of me that felt that something was off about the advice they promoted. But, I chose not to listen to that voice and forced myself to put it into practice. And, when things didn’t seem to work, I’d move on to the next ebook. I spent months reading more and more advice while feeling like I was stuck at the starting line.

Expecting linear growth

It’s easy to visualize your personal growth as a straight line that takes you straight to your goals. But the reality is much messier. Give a two-year-old a crayon and you’ll get a more accurate drawing of your trajectory. The ups and downs are not a flaw, they’re part of the process.

Our lives are complex and multi-faceted. And, we’re likely to make progress in spurts in different parts of our lives. For me, working on my social life and relationships was always a big focus.

But, being hyper-focused on this one area, I lost perspective of the other parts of my life. My growth in each specific area would ebb and flow and I took that as a sign of failure. Yet, taking a broader look I can see that my energy flowed across different areas of my life. This helped me grow holistically in a more balanced way.

Your environment

If you’ve ever gone on a diet, you know the feeling of eating a salad when all your friends are loading up on pizza and beer. It can feel just as isolating to be the only one on a path to growth amongst your friends and family. In the wrong environment, your personal growth journey will feel like an uphill battle and break your resolve.

It’s important to have awareness of the context in which you’re pursuing your growth. Telling my mom about my personal development programs often resulted in confused stares. “You’re already great. Why do you need to grow?” she’d say. The thought of explaining my struggles to my mom made me feel self-conscious and insecure. So, I had to look elsewhere to find an environment in which I could explore my growth path.

Only looking up the mountain

If you picture your growth goals as a mountain, you can find yourself always looking uphill. This keeps you focused on what you haven’t yet accomplished and blinds you to how far you’ve already come.

As I got further along in an area of my life, my goals started feeling more distant. My mind adapted to the momentum and if I wasn’t able to keep it up, it felt like I was slipping away from my goals. Yet, by reflecting on where I had been a month or a year prior, I realized how transformative my journey had been.

Any one of these factors alone can make your path to growth a challenging one. But, when combined, they act as kryptonite and stop you in your tracks.

So, where do we go from here?

Insider Tips To Fuel Your Personal Growth

Personal growth is a journey that never ends. Sometimes it’s fast and furious, other times it feels like you are moving in slow motion. But, with a few simple tips, you can learn to flatten the lows and boost your highs. So, I want to share my foundational principles for accelerating your path to a better you.

Start with clean knowledge

You can save lots of frustration by letting a trusted source guide your journey. Reading the Better You Bulletin is a great start. For a deeper dive, you can turn to a wealth of books on personal growth. Start with the Amazon bestseller list. Be sure to vet the authors for their credentials and experience. And, be on the lookout for authors that communicate in a language that resonates with you. You’re more likely to put something into practice if it feels right and is relatable.

For advice on mindset and purpose, I recommend works that have withstood the test of time. My personal favorites are practices based on the philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism. Don’t be turned off by the religious aspects of these philosophies. You can pick up the lessons without subscribing to the religions.

There are also social media influencers that have brought these works to the masses. Jay Shetty is one example. They distill the lessons in approachable ways. Be aware that they add their own filters and will not give you the “pure” form of the teachings. But, they also provide an easy way to bring these teachings into your life.

Finally, avoid jumping into “trendy” mindset practices that haven’t been proven at scale. Durability in this area is not measured in months or years, but rather in centuries and millennia.

Find your tribe

Trying to do it all on your own is like trying to plant a tree that’s still in the seedling stage. It may grow, but nowhere as fast as if you put it in good soil and gave it proper nurture. The same thing is true for personal growth. You give yourself the best chance for success by joining people who are on a similar journey to your own.

My journey became more enjoyable when I started joining growth seeker communities. I’ve joined several communities over the years. I found many of them via the coaching and personal development programs that I’ve taken. But, you don’t have to stick with the physical world to find your tribe. You can use Facebook groups and Reddit communities to find support for your journey. The DecidingToBeBetter and SelfImprovement are ones that I can personally recommend.

Get a coach or mentor

My personal growth exploded when I met coaches who opened my eyes to possibilities I didn’t know existed. There are two coaches that had a big role in the trajectory of my growth journey. The first introduced me to the idea that personal happiness and fulfillment are born within me and not in the outside world. The second helped me dive deeper into my inner world and learn to accept and love myself for who I am. Their guidance changed who I am and my outlook on life.

Your journey and goals will look different. But, having a trusted guide can save you time and energy while navigating its winding path. Finding the right coach may take some work but you can start your search with a coach directory service. It’s not that different than dating – you may have to kiss a few frogs before you find what you’re looking for.

A personal growth journey is the most rewarding journey you can take. It’s one that pushes you beyond your limits and helps you craft a new, better version of yourself. It changes you, and those around you, for the better. And, building your journey using the tips above will help you unlock your true potential.


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