Personal Growth: How to Keep Putting Yourself First

LIFESTYLE | MINDFULNESS

It starts with an inspiring moment; maybe it’s a person, a situation, a feeling that has made you want to be something more and to do something different with your life. You set a goal, make a commitment, develop a strategy or routine. Your intentions are lit, but you know there will soon be a curve ball. It happens every time, right when you get into the swing of things or after your hot idea cools down. The ball drops and you end up right back where you were, in that same pattern that was making you feel stuck and miserable. How can you keep your personal growth as a priority, even when life gets in the way? How can you keep putting yourself first, when your self worth shows up and blocks the doorway?

What so many people don’t realize is that the growth doesn’t come when you hit that goal, reach that accomplishment or do that thing. The personal growth happens when you stretch yourself beyond what you believe you’re capable of. You truly grow as a person when you go that extra mile and prove to yourself that you can do the thing that you thought you couldn’t. The truth is personal growth is not about getting to the top of the mountain and placing your flag. Personal growth is about navigating and climbing even when everything else was against you and you thought you were going to get lost and fall right back to the bottom. The full bloomed flower would be nothing without the budding seed beneath the surface. Personal growth is just that, it’s the growth that happens beneath the dirt that no one sees.

The next time you feel like you’re not making progress and everything is piling on top of you, diverting you and bringing you back to square one; I want you to remember that this is the part where you prove yourself wrong. Where you show yourself what you’re truly made of. This is where you shift your mindset to gratitude and thank the universe for not giving you a smooth road because that would only bore you. It’s in these moments that you realize that you are worth it and that is why you are here. You can’t expect anyone else to put your personal growth at a higher priority than you, so you need to set that bar as high as you possibly can and challenge yourself to go there. When you rise, others rise.

Each day, the goal is simple: to be better than the day before. You get to set the pace, and that might change day to day but if you can make a commitment to be better each day you will always be growing. What can you do today that will allow you to be better than yesterday? There will always be hurdles, but these are opportunities to show up differently in your life. I want you to think of the top three things in your life that you are making a priority. What are the things that you are putting your energy and attention towards? Be honest with yourself and ask if this is aligned with your highest possible vision for yourself. On this day, I want you to make a commitment to making your personal growth a priority. Recognize that the more you put your own growth as a priority, the better it is for those around you.

So many of us put the growth of others before our own. We strive to help others to grow like our children, our students or our partners. The reality is, if we are helping everybody else reach goals without putting any priority on our own, we really aren’t helping anyone. Think of ways that you might be doing this in your life. When the people you love see you striving and reaching for your goals, it encourages them to as well. Not only do you influence others to achieve personal growth in making yours a priority, but you gain so much valuable experience along the way. Going through the journey of personal growth comes with many highs and lows and you learn so much in the process. Think of your loved ones and imagine how much more help you can be to them if you can offer them guidance through the lens of experience. One of the greatest gifts you can offer someone is compassion, and by simply telling them, “I’ve been there.”

You owe it to yourself to make your growth a priority. Feeling worthy of the goals, growth and accomplishment can be a mountain to climb all on its own. If we aren’t growing, then what are we? You may have had things that have tripped you up in the past and caused you to think you aren’t good enough. These start to show up as patterns that keep you stuck. The best way to overcome this is by taking one step forward, even when you’re afraid that it might not work out. Remember, the growth comes when you prove to yourself you can do the things that you thought you couldn’t. Make a commitment to your personal growth today and start with a tiny step or a giant leap of faith. You have already come so far.

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Andréanne @yoga.andreanne