9 steps to encouraging personal growth

This week marks Jersey Road’s 9th birthday, nine years of existence and more importantly nine years of growth, which got me thinking about growth and specifically about growing as an individual…

Whether you’re a baby, toddler, teenager or a grown adult growth is paramount in our lives . Of course there’s lots of emphasis on child development because there’s so many psychical and emotional changes happening during this early stage of life, but actually what about when you reach adulthood… isn’t our development as adults just as important? Should we not as individuals be investing in ourselves to become the best versions of ourselves, inside and out? Or is it a case of cruise control?

The journey of life isn’t an easy one and it doesn’t get any easier with age, but then who said it should be? If it was easy would it be so rewarding and fulfilling? There is a saying that says ‘you reap what you sow’; so with this in mind, since last year, I made a conscious decision to up my game on my own personal growth in every area of my life. Being a mother of two children, with time and energy working against me, making positive changes to my lifestyle to enable growth has been more challenging than I thought it would be.

These changes haven’t been huge and to be honest it’s all a work in progress. Some days, some weeks even, I fail miserably; but hey I’m human, I’m not perfect and I don’t beat myself up about it. Stumbling is all part of the growth journey, right? I think what’s really important, and the real take away, is that we don’t stop ‘trying’ to grow and develop.

I am a great believer of caring and sharing, so below I've listed 9 things I am currently ‘trying’ to do to help encourage growth within myself, in no particular order:

1. Be disciplined with my time: it’s one of the most valuable things I have, so I need to use it wisely
2. Plan, plan and plan - it’s good to have a plan!
3. Read and study more, to feed my curiosity
4. Exercise more, build-up those energy levels
5. Maintain a better more balanced healthy diet
6. Connect with others - be a mentor to someone and find a mentor
7. Every now and then take time out to reflect - enjoy the journey!
8. Participate - get involved with something: a club, a charity, a school board, something you love
9. Take time out - ensure I do something I enjoy and have a passion for

Of course, there's no guarantee that these things will work for everyone and to be honest these might evolve over time for myself, however it’s a starting point.

Let’s face it, that’s the beauty of growing, things change and develop over time, you just need to make sure it's in the right direction.