Everyone experiences times where they hit a lull in life. You’re coasting on your achievements at work, the friends you have, and the hobbies you enjoy. There may not be anything particularly wrong but you also feel stuck where you are at in life. You feel a little unsatisfied with the way things are in life and know it’s time to make some changes to start improving your lifestyle.
You’ve probably taken some steps to work on personal growth during your life at one point or another. Maybe you read a few self-help books, listened to a podcast or two, and watched some motivational YouTube videos. But you’ve implemented the things you learned and are ready for something more.
Working on personal growth is a never-ending pursuit. No signpost marks your arrival because you never truly reach an end destination. You can always find ways to improve yourself and your circumstances no matter how far you’ve made it. The pursuit of personal growth is an ongoing, lifelong process of becoming better than you were before.
You know when the time comes to make some changes but how can you optimize personal growth in your life? The lull doesn’t have to be a permanent state of being. What are some actions you can take to reach the next level in life? If you’re feeling stuck in life right now, these five steps will help you start again.
How You Can Optimize Personal Growth
Personal growth looks different for everyone because each person is at a different point in their path. Maybe you have some experience with personal development or perhaps this is your first time trying to seek change. Regardless of how much experience you have with the process, though, it can be difficult to start up again.
Pursuing personal growth works best when you have some momentum built up. Watching yourself overcome things that blocked you before encourages you to keep going. But knowing where to make the initial moves can feel like a challenge. Having a simple process to follow can help you as you begin the process of improving your lifestyle.
It can feel overwhelming when you look at the big picture of what you’d like to accomplish. It’s always more effective to break big goals down into more manageable pieces, though. These five steps offer a clear path forward as you determine the best way to optimize personal growth.
1. Get clear about how and what you would like to improve
The most important step when you want to optimize personal growth is to get clear on your goals. What do you want to accomplish? How would you like to change? Which areas of your life would you like to improve? You aren’t going to be successful if you go into the process with generic, vague ideas of what you want to do. You must be specific.
Don’t say you want to become more responsible, decide that you will be on time for every engagement on your calendar. Don’t say you want to be more reliable, decide that you will follow through on every deadline assigned to you. It’s much easier to know whether you’re on track when you have clear goals for improvement.
2. Read and learn about the areas you want to grow
Improving some areas of your life is a more straightforward process than others. For example, it doesn’t take much to know how to show up on time or meet deadlines. Those are things that anyone can do regardless of how educated you are. But other goals may require some reading and learning before you can improve in those areas.
Say you want to increase your earning potential but aren’t familiar with certain aspects of finances. You’ll want to read some books that will help you learn about these concepts that you don’t yet understand. A great way to start working on personal growth is to make use of people who know more about certain subjects than you do.
3. Create and adhere to a consistent regimen for improvement
Create a strong, consistent routine if you want to grow in life. Building habits through consistency is an effective way to optimize personal growth. The stronger your routine is, the more comfortable you will become doing things that aren’t familiar to you.
You’ll have an easier time improving when you’re committed to the process. Committing to personal growth means making habits out of the things it takes to grow. The more consistent you are, the smoother the improvement process will be and you’ll become an even greater version of yourself.
4. Allow yourself to take breaks at times
One trap you may fall into as you optimize personal growth is never taking breaks. Sometimes it might feel like the only way to progress is through constant action. If you don’t allow yourself to take a break from time to time, though, burnout is inevitable. It’s not sustainable to grind all the time. You’ll hit a wall sooner or later and it’ll be even more difficult to keep moving forward.
Part of making the most of your personal growth means giving your all whenever you’re working. You won’t be able to give your all if you’re burned out and not wanting to do anything. Instead, plan ahead of time and give yourself a break every week or two. It’ll get you energized and excited to get to work again as soon as your break is up.
5. Seek out the help of a professional if you need it
The final step to optimize personal growth is to look to the help of a professional if you need it. Trying to pursue personal growth on your own is fine in the beginning but you may benefit from additional support after a certain point. If you’re familiar with personal development and you’ve made some progress before, a professional can make a massive difference.
Incorporating the help of a therapist or a life coach can be a game-changer. They can offer an outside perspective on your progress and provide guidance when you run up against an obstacle or challenge. A life coach has a lot to offer you when it comes to optimizing your personal growth and improving your lifestyle.
