The Importance of Personal Growth on your Future…

Whilst attending a recent training day to develop our own knowledge in business (a form of our own personal growth), I (Joe) was posed with the following question… What is personal growth?

Now as coaches/teachers/enthusiasts of this field, it is normally us asking these questions in our work. However, this time the table had turned and it caused me to stop and think.

Now a simple google of the definition gives the following result:

“Personal growth refers broadly to a subset of personality development that relates to the process of becoming better in a personally meaningful way.”

Such definition as stated is broad, but importantly it highlights how it is about personality development, and most importantly in a way that is meaningful to you.

Now there are many terminologies in this field and you may also see this referred to as personal development (mentioned above) or even perhaps self-development.  There will be numerous descriptions and definitions to summarise such terms. However, for me the definition given above summarises it well, it is about self-improvement in a way that means something to you.

There are so many ways in which we can be working on ourselves. For one person, there development may need to be focused on overcoming procrastination, for someone else it may be improving their perfectionist attitude (Joe for example), for somebody else it could be something completely unrelated such as learning to control their anger, become calmer or even be more mindful & present on a more regular basis.

Personal Growth can be about learning or developing new skills, changing your mindset and becoming more positive. It can be across a number of different areas in life…business, health and fitness, relationships, or your personal studies. There are so many examples I could list. This is one of the true powers of personal growth. Even if you aim to be only 1% better each day in a couple of areas of your life, the difference you will see in a matter of weeks and months will be profound. Semester Co-Founder Nathan, transformed his studies in this way. He went from a bang average academic with a shocking attendance record, to achieving a first class honours and achieving many other accolades along the way.

For me (Joe) though, becoming aware of personal growth as a field is life changing because you become conscious and mindful of the fact that you can improve yourself as an individual. You become more self-aware, you learn to recognise you weaknesses and fix them if you wish to, or even embrace them. You learn to recognise your strengths and play into these. You have the power.

You learn to recognise challenges and face them with a new approach (see previous blog post on new mindset). Personal Growth makes you challenge your mindset in new ways, this could be stepping outside of your comfort zone more regularly than you used to.

For me, I feel personal growth is so important because it allows me to work towards my full potential. Previously I have described myself as feeling ‘stuck’ for a long period of time in my life. However, I used personal development to learn to understand myself better.

Not all personal growth is smooth sailing though, it is often the biggest challenges that can test us the most. However, these can lead to breakthroughs and big ones at that. Generally the bigger the challenge seems, the bigger the pay off will be. This was the case in these circumstances.

Also remember, everyone is different from one another, what works for us might not work for you.  This means that you must explore the various techniques and ways for personal growth to find what is suitable for you. It is called Personal Growth for a reason.

Here at Semester we are giving you some strategies towards your own development in the form of our personal planner which offers various strategies towards increased productivity as well as little snippets of knowledge in the form of our #GrowthHacks. As we expand our brand we will offer even more space for you to learn. We do not expect that every single piece of information we give to you will resonate, but find out what does and work with it.

To check out how the Semester Student Planner can transform your studies from stress and overwhelm to success and fulfilment, check out the personal growth features that will guide you on your own personal growth journey via the below link.

However, the most important part is that you are now on this journey. You are interested in this field and you recognise the power that personal growth can offer. This is a lifelong practice now and something you should focus on daily. It can be transformational.

Ask yourself:

Where can I improve today?

What can I learn today?

What did I learn today?

These are just a few examples of the questions you could ask yourself daily. However, in doing so you are continually developing as a person. For us at Semester, progress is such an important aspect of life and is a key factor to our personal growth. It is why we were attending this business course in the first place.

One of the most recognisable teachers in this field is Tony Robbins and he often talks about the importance of progress:

“Progress equals happiness”

“Progress is the ultimate motivation”

“It is not about success it is about progress”

“If you’re not progressing you’re dying”

Personal growth allows you to progress as an individual and to us it is why it is so important.

Here at Semester we are here to help you on your personal growth journey so if you want any further support then reach out to us. Also be sure to let us know about your progress and share it with us. Let’s build a community of likeminded folk.

#LetsGrowTogether