Self-care is essential for personal growth. Personal growth is a vital element in achieving success in life. You may be at the pinnacle of your career and printing million dollar bills, but if you don’t make time for personal growth, you’ll never feel complete and fulfilled.
Personal growth is a lifelong process of physical, mental, social, and spiritual development.
So, how can one achieve personal growth? Let’s find out.
Set your own pace
We live digital, fast-paced lives where we often find the better of us drawing comparisons with others. Barring a few negative tales, social media is generally filled with stories of success and how happy people are in their lives. When served occasionally, these items can be inspiring and motivating, but if blown out of proportion, they can cause more harm than good.
It’s apparent to have self-doubt when you see everyone around you succeed, but it’s crucial to understand that the journey of life is not the same for everyone. It may sound cliché, but the first step towards personal growth is to stop comparing and start focusing and appreciating your individual journey. So, find your passion, focus on succeeding, and be patient; and, don’t let people around you make you doubt yourself.
Use curiosity to develop soft-skills
Hard skills may help you have a successful career, but soft skills will help you have a successful life. Not only are soft skills essential to shine at your workplace, but they are also critical in becoming a better human being.
Let’s take, for example, empathy, which is considered as one of the most crucial soft skills in life. One of the easiest and natural ways to develop compassion for others is by running a mile in their shoes.
But how do you become emphatic if you don’t have any experience? The key to developing empathy or any soft skill is curiosity. The next time someone tells you something, you don’t agree, take a moment, and put yourself in their situation. Doing so will enhance your decision-making skills and pave the way for personal growth.
Aim for progress, not perfection
Personal growth is a process, not a destination. If you’re plagued with chasing perfectionism, you may be doing a disservice to yourself and the people around you. Instead, shift your focus on the progress you’ve made.
For instance, if you’re trying to be more confident, don’t aim to become the most confident person in your workplace. Instead, evaluate your progress. Maybe a month before, you were struggling to talk to strangers, but now, it’s a piece of cake for you.
This is significant progress. But you may still be struggling to sustain conversations, so your next goal can be to become better at conversing with people. Take one step at a time and aim to be 1% better than yesterday.
Track your daily habits
You’re making little improvements daily, but how do you know that you’re progressing? The simple answer is to document everything. You can write it down in an electronic journal or an actual one, but be sure to keep track of every small and big achievement you make, along with the impediments that are holding you back from achieving your goal.
Don’t forget to celebrate
Many people make the mistake of not acknowledging their successes and achievements. It is fine to have a bigger goal in mind, and you should pursue it at all costs. But when you achieve small wins, take a step back, and enjoy the moment.
These small celebrations can also help boost your neurotransmitters – dopamine, and serotonin – and provide a feel-good effect. Dopamine helps you stay motivated, whereas serotonin improves your overall mood. By celebrating little successes, you can boost these neurotransmitters and make them work to your advantage.
Focus on self-care
Self-care is one of the most critical elements of self-growth. But most people have confused the concept of self-care with pampering themselves. Getting yourself a drink, buying an expensive dress, or enjoying your favorite spa treatment isn’t self-care.
It’s doing something that instills a positive impact on your body or mind. One of the most apparent examples of self-care is to exercise regularly. Keeping your body fit helps you fend off diseases, boost cognition, and help you become more confident. Meditating regularly is another excellent example of self-care that can help you achieve clarity, wisdom, internal peace, and calmness.
On the whole, self-care is all about working on achieving a healthy body and mind.
Wrapping up
It is essential to identify who you are and what you need in life. Comparing yourself with others and then undermining yourself can hurt you in the long term. It’s good to take inspiration from your surroundings, but it is incredibly crucial to design the journey that suits you and pursue it at your own pace. Love yourself, be kind to yourself, and celebrate once in a while.
To learn more about achieving personal growth, check Out The Mind Game on Amazon India and Google Books