Personal growth and development is an individual responsibility. It is a continuous process that ends in death. It is an indisputable fact that maturity does not go along with age. It is amazing that there are many people who don’t show signs of growth and development in their character and conduct.
Let me share with you 12 ingredients for personal growth and development. I hope you will find these ingredients of great help to you. They are as follows:
1. Passion
Personal growth and development is a journey that has to start with the passion within an individual. Every great thing starts with a desire or passion. You must develop a passion within you to grow and develop in the areas of your life.
2. Self-awareness
You start with passion and the second thing that you need to do is to identify areas in your life where you are strong and areas where you are weak.
The process of self-awareness demands you to let people close to you be honest with you in terms of giving you a feedback about your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest with yourself and admit that there are weaknesses in your life that need to be taken care of.
3. Commitment to change
After you have identified areas of strengths and weaknesses, you must commit yourself to changing those weak spots. You must be willing to break those old bad habits you have developed over the years.
It is not an easy thing to go through the process of change. Change is both painful and uncomfortable. It takes commitment for change to take effect in our lives.
4. Vision
Many people are so mistaken that they think it is only companies, businesses, governments, leaders and other organizations that must have vision. You must have a vision for yourself as an individual. Vision will challenge and stretch you. It will enable you to broaden your horizon. You will see beyond where you are now because of it.
Vision will inspire and motivate you to work hard in order to get where you are going. It will undergird you to overcome obstacles until you reach your goal.
Write your vision down, look at it everyday and you will stay inspired and motivated by it.
5. Goal-setting
The process of personal growth and development demands you to set goals for growth. Success in life comes as a result of having clear objectives. Set of goals becomes a map for you to follow so that you can grow and develop.
When you set goals for growth, you need to make your goals clear, simple, measurable and attainable. Follow them through until you achieve them.
6. Willingness to take risks
You are going to take risks if you want to grow and develop. If for example, the goal that you have set needs you to change a career, you must be willing to take a risk of studying something that you have never studied before.
Successful people have taken risks to be where they are today. Leadership guru and author, Steven R. Covey, asserted, “The greatest risk of all is the risk of riskless living.”
7. Personal-organization
Organized people have a sense of purpose and direction. If you want to grow and develop in all areas of your life, you need to be organized. When you are organized, you walk along and do your job with confidence.
When you are organized, you set your priorities, you do your projects one at a time, you plan your day, week, month and your year accordingly. Organized people expect some unexpected interruptions in their lives and they decisively deal with them as they come.
8. Good association
The people closest to you determine your growth and development level. If you keep company of people whose character is flawed and dubious, you will end up being like them. It really matters most who you associate with.
Associate with people who are effective and successful in their personal lives. Surround yourself with people who will add value to your growth and development. Negative association leads to negative growth. Be careful who you associate with.
9. Listening
If you really want to experience growth and development, you need to be a good listener. Give people a space to express themselves. When people share their ideas and their views with you, listen to them. When they advise you concerning a particular issue, listen to them. Don’t undermine people’s advises and suggestions. They will help you in decision making.
10. Willingness to learn
Growth and development is possible when there is a process of continuous learning. Successful people don’t stop acquiring new skills. You will grow and develop when you commit yourself to learning new things and to acquiring more information and knowledge. Knowledge is power; it enables people to make informed decisions.
The process of personal growth and development requires you to put a certain amount of money aside to spend it on good books and good tapes. You must also be willing to spend money on attending informative seminars, workshops and conferences.
Don’t be lazy to further your studies. Enrol for other short courses so that you can acquire new skills. Learning process will surely challenge and stretch you towards growth and development.
11. Hiring a mentor or a coach
Hiring a mentor or a coach who will help you set clear goals, identify your areas of strengths and weaknesses, is of utmost importance in personal growth and development. There are life coaches whose job is to help people who need to succeed in their lives. You can also get someone experienced whom you admire so much to mentor you in your personal growth and development endeavour.
You can also get a coach or a mentor in the form of buying and reading his or her books; buying, listening and watching his or her tapes.
12. Execution
The most important factor in personal growth and development is the ability to translate your vision, goals and all that you have learned into action. You must add action to your goals. Execution is what makes things happen. You have to be an action person if you want to grow and develop in your areas of strengths and weaknesses.
Conclusion
Personal growth and development is a journey that demands your energy and commitment. The 12 ingredients that I have provided you with need to be embraced, and nourished and you will live a successful life that will ultimately add value to other people’s lives.
Happy personal growth and development!