Personal Growth

Seriously Practical Ways to Stimulate Your Personal Growth

Personal growth is such a hopeful buzzword so I want to talk about how to stimulate your personal growth by making small changes to your everyday life, changes that don't require an immense amount of effort.

I'm by no means an expert; I live a normal life and am a very regular person, which is why I find my perspective valuable. These tips are how I do things; I like to start off simple. By going about personal growth this way I know the changes will be sustainable. Have you ever made a goal knowing you won't ever keep it? Well, so have I.

Personal growth doesn't have to be a hype word; it can be small practical changes that spark a bit of interest in doing something good for your mind body or soul.

We're moving into the second wave of this pandemic, which means months of being inside, doing nothing, and ultimately just not getting back to our 'normal' routines. I can't stand being in limbo any longer, so I've decided to implement a few practices into my week in hopes of feeling more upbeat this time round.

It's totally okay to feel bummed, heck I've been there, but I also know how great I feel when I put a little bit of effort into things like exercise and mindfulness.

A few changes that I've started making to stimulate my personal growth are small but come naturally, theses are things I normally enjoy but have put off. These can be different for you depending on your interests and lifestyle.

Habits I've Started Implementing to Stimulate Personal Growth

• Drinking herbal tea every afternoon and evening- This has been a game changer, less coffee and more of the good gut stuff. I love ending my day with a cup of lemon ginger tea.
• Designated no screen time- Getting off the computer in the evening and going for a walk. This is a huge struggle for me since I get my best work done in the evening, but with winter on the way it's now or never.
• Reading for an hour before bed- A simple yet effective hour to do something that might seem out of the blue for you. I love going to bed with good vibes after reading an incredible passage in a good book.
• Sunday social media detox- To be honest I don’t find this difficult, I'm on social media 40 hours a week so on Sunday I'll gladly give it up. Doing so clears the mind, allows you to be in the moment, and gives you an extra push to start fresh on Monday morning.
• Podcasts- Related to mindfulness, positivity, and general self-development. I used to be all about listening to business podcasts on how to grow your brand but that's ultimately like work, I decided to add this genre into my workday and listen to self-help episodes in my spare time.
• Getting up earlier- I began setting my alarm earlier by 15-minute increments and I absolutely love the quiet mornings now, they bring such clarity and set you put for a productive day.
• Spending some time before work on myself- (This could be walking around the backyard, engaging with your Instagram community, sitting in silence, reading the newspaper). 

Future Habits and Goals

• Journaling- Putting pen to paper is hard, so my next purchase will be a journaling book to write quick entries in the mornings.
• Exercising- I walk throughout the week, but really getting a good work out into the day is something I always put on the back burner.
• • Meditating- There are great paid for apps, or you can search on YouTube
  • Creating story boards- such a powerful practice to visualize what you want your life to look like, plus you get to be creative.
  • Therapy- This is something that will take time to discover, but it's been on my list for awhile now. Therapy is a privilege, it costs money and it's not cheap if you aren't covered. On the contrary, I have found registered therapists on Instagram give free advice, which is an option.
    
    

  Therapist Instagram Accounts:

  • @therapywithlee
  • @millennial.therapist
  • @nedratawwab
  • @minaa_b

Links

Canva has a free story board creator if you want a digital version, or you can head to your favourite used book store, magazine rack or where ever else you can find pieces to add to your board.

Pinterest has a really great Self Discovery journal prompts board to get ideas from for your own journaling.

Detox tea with anti-inflammatory properties has been very soothing lately; chicory root aims to do the same and is quite popular right now.

Indigo has a #booksbeforebed campaign going on right now that can help you with your nightly reading goal. Join the community!

Moment is a social media detox app that helps you track your screen time and set timers on your apps. The CEO was featured in the Netflix doc The Social Dilemma and worked at Facebook and Pinterest, needless to say he knows how social media works to manipulate you. 

I hope this post gave you some inspiration, let us know in the comments below.