Have you ever looked around you and wondered if you had missed out on a class that taught people to be champs at growth in their career and in their personal lives?
And is it really that far-fetched of a dream to wake up in the morning and be excited for the day to come? To be described as a well-rounded, happy person?
If you want to work on these things and don’t know where to start, then you’ve come to the right place!
Today, we’re bringing you 7 ways to grow as a person (and live happier). Let’s get started!
The Road to Character
by David Brooks
⏱ 15 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Change Your Mindset
There is a reason why so many wildly successful people preach about mindset and positivity. The recipe for success and for personal growth share one very important thing: mindset.
Wasn’t it Michael Jordan, who is quite possibly the greatest basketball player of all time, who said,
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed?”
And wasn’t it none other than Thomas Edison who said,
“Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.” There is another Thomas Edison quote that’s equally inspiring, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
You don’t necessarily have to be excessively positive all the time, but when you face a challenge, whenever a setback knocks your plans back, whenever failure halts your progress, never sit down and quit. Reframe your mindset of how you view these events. Don’t just think of them as challenges, setbacks, and failures. Think of them as learning and growth opportunities. These are your opportunities to grow in life. Everything you go through makes you grow stronger and be better able to endure.
Let Go
On your quest to grow, it only makes sense that you shouldn’t be weighed down by the past. So let go. Let go of the anger. Let go of the grudges. Let go of the negativity.
Anger is one of the first things that should be let go. Yes, it’s a necessary emotion, but letting it boil and fester isn’t healthy. Anger leads to poorly-made decisions, to conversations you’ll regret, and in the long run, it will even impact your health. That’s right. Problems with sleep aren’t the only issues you can get, pent-up anger can result in heart disease and digestive problems.
Once anger is out of the equation, it’s time to forgive. Letting go of resentment is a powerful thing. Remember that forgiveness isn’t the same as forgetting. You’re making your peace with the negative experience. You’re giving thanks for the wisdom and lessons you gained from that pain. You’re releasing yourself from that vicious cycle.
At the end of the day, you didn’t just grow as a person. You’ll find that you’re happier, able to go through life a little lighter. When you start healing, this peace will have a profound change in your life. Your mental health will start thriving. It may help you overcome anxiety, depression, festering anger, and help you form healthier relationships.
Learn Something New
Constantly learning is one of the best ways to not just mature, but to expand your horizons and experience new things.
Whether you decide to delve into a subject you’re familiar with or you want to learn something entirely new to you, you’re growing. Even the act of picking up a book and getting lost in a thrilling story, the simple act of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is beneficial.
Reading allows you a glimpse of all the world has to offer: different, diverse cultures, different people, different experiences, and countless lessons and pieces of advice– all of which contribute to helping you become a more well-rounded person.
Some people find learning a new language is a life-changer. You’re opening yourself to a new culture. Others learn something new by picking up a new hobby or sport. It could be learning anything from web design to pottery or finally indulging in a golf session now and then.
What this constant learning does is open you to endless, boundless, beautiful possibilities, mentally, emotionally, and physically. So head by the library, or purchase a book online, and get ready for your perception to change.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone– Regularly
Being too comfortable can lead to becoming stagnant? Real, life-changing, happy to wake up in the morning and happy when you go to sleep type of growth is only achieved through hard work and venturing out of your comfort zone, and frequently.
Figure out where you typically draw the line at the edge of your comfort and start peeking out. You don’t have to jump out of an airplane right away. Start small, pick up a new hobby, try a dish you’ve never had, say “yes” more than you say “no.”
Then consider escalating your risks to being more open to change– and you may find it quite exhilarating to do so! So travel to a destination where you’ve never been, take a chance with your relationships, don’t be afraid to speak up at work, ask for a promotion; just go for it!
Learn from Others
There is only so much you can do on your own before you reach a dead end, and that’s okay! That’s what others are here for– to help guide you, support you, and teach you the things you wouldn’t have otherwise known.
Find areas where you want to improve and look for professionals and people who are successful in those areas. This is the fastest and most fail-proof way to learn something new. When someone teaches you something, you both benefit from the experience.
Learning from others doesn’t necessarily have to be related to your job. You could apply the same principles to your friends and family. Learn and benefit from the way they think, their strategies, the way they view the world.
Personal growth and happiness cannot be achieved without others surrounding you. Nurture the healthy relationships you have, expand your social circle, and network and mix with successful people.
A part of personally maturing is dependent on other people in the sense that you need them to provide feedback. As much as you try to grow, you’re bound to have a blind spot. Family, friends, and co-workers can offer precious advice that can help you like no other.
Related: 8 Things to Learn on the Way to Becoming Successful in Life
Go After Your Goals
There is nothing that screams ‘well-rounded’ and ‘mature’ than seeing someone ambitiously and enthusiastically going after their goal. It’s difficult to achieve success and happiness without clear goals. It’s hard to get to that place in life without a strategy and milestones to guide you.
So, what can you do? Sit down and write down everything you want to achieve, the goals you want to accomplish, and then work on outlining the steps you’ll need to take to get yourself there.
Have ambitious, but realistic, expectations. Set deadlines. Learn from the mistakes you make on the way. Take responsibility for your actions.
Allow Life to Happen
It’s so tempting to try to control everything in life to make it go your way, but since this is real life, controlling every aspect is unrealistic. Allowing life to take its natural course can often be rewarding.
And accepting that not everything can be scheduled and ranked on a to-do list can be liberating. No matter how much you try , if you are too focused on organizing, you’ll miss all the beautiful moments that happen when things don’t go as planned.
Perfection is overrated. Everyone makes mistakes, and it’s way more fun to not be perfect.
At the end of the day, another way you can guarantee growing as a person– and this a principle of life– is to have unshakeable integrity. This is who you are and what you stand for. It’s your compass, and it’s one of the things working to guide you towards being a more well-rounded person.
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