Personal Development – When it comes to personal growth and focusing on becoming a better person, we have to make simple changes in our daily lives to move forward.
When it comes to personal growth, I always am reminded of the movie “What about Bob?“, in which there was a mantra of “baby steps.”
And that’s how changes are made, no matter how big or small a change is, it’s all about moving forward through improvement.
I know many of us are always working hard at trying to be the best person we can be, but there is always room for improvement.
Even if you look at golfer “Tiger Woods“, when he constantly PGA player of the month, he still was hitting 1000 golf balls a day at the driving range.
Why? Because he always is trying to improve his skill and be the best golfer, he can be.
Life is always about new experiences that enable us to become better people.
You should always be thinking about tomorrow, and understanding the mistakes from the past, and then moving forward.
Life can be pretty dull if we all do the same things, day after day, without ever going outside the box and living life to its fullest.
The more you learn about yourself, the easier it is to find out WHO you want to be and how you will accomplish that!
Do you want to know the most common regret of the dying? It’s that they wished they dared to live a life true to themselves, not the life others expected of them.
So the purpose of this post is all about the “baby steps” you take to improve your personal growth in your life every day.
15 Baby Steps You Can Make To Encourage Personal Development In Your Life
My Into
I want to state that this personal development article is based on my experiences of self-improvement over the past few years.
A lot of the information below is all from reading and learning from books and researching articles about this subject. I am not a doctor, even though I play one on tv(not really).
I hope that the steps mentioned in this personal development post will positively help you in your life.
Self-Reflection
Self-reflection is an excellent way to discover more about yourself and can help you become more self-aware. Once we are more self-aware, we can start seeing what areas of ourselves we would like to develop.
Having the courage to reflect on your emotions or reactions to situations is such a healthy ability to have and can help to encourage personal growth and improvement.
Related Article: 15 Amazing Self-Improvement Books To Change Your Life
Get Out Of The Comfort Zone
This is something that was always drilled into me when I was growing up. “How else are you going to learn if you never make mistakes?”
To grow as a person, we all need to push ourselves outside our comfort zone and always be learning. If you never do anything in your life to make a difference in your life, nothing will change.
I get it, we are all scared of the unknown, but if you push yourself past the unknown you will grow as a person.
Learn To Laugh At Yourself
This is something that I learned when I was 15 from a high school teacher of mine, constantly laugh at yourself when you make a mistake because stuff happens.
Learning to be able to laugh at your failures will help overcome and move on. You should always take your mistakes and failures in your life as growth experiences.
As long as you can laugh and move on, and learn from your mistakes, you will be able to make a positive change in your life.
Surround Yourself With Positive People
Have you ever been around someone in your life that has so much negative energy in his/her life that has dragged down your life?
Energy is contagious, and if you are surrounded by negativity, your mindset will change to that energy, and nobody wants that.
So, what should you do? Search for people to be part of your life that are supportive, encouraging, and share the same interests and traits as yourself.
Being surrounded in a positive environment, will bring a positive mindset to your life, and appreciate yourself more.
Let Go Of Judgemental People
Like I mentioned above, energy is contagious, and the common trait of many negative people is judging everyone around them to make themselves feel good about themselves.
Do you want to be surrounded by people in your life that judge you to make themselves feel better? I know I don’t, and you shouldn’t either.
If you want to make a positive growth change in your life, you need to change the people in your life that is bringing you down.
Sometimes it can be family members as well, and while family members can be tough to let go, if have open and honest conversations with them, they may want to find a change in themselves as well.
If not, then try finding ways to distance yourself from them as much as you can to help in your personal development.
Find Books To Help Your Mindset
Have you ever watched tv shows or movies about personal growth? Me neither, and that’s why I love reading and listening to books about self-improvement.
Not a fan of reading, or don’t have time to read? Don’t worry, because many of the best self-improvement books available today are available via audiobook.
There have been many audiobooks that I have found via Kindle and Audible from Amazon that has made a huge positive change in my life.
Need suggestions? Here are my favorite picks about personal development:
What Are You Grateful For?
When you are having a rough patch in your life, always think about things in your life that you are grateful for.
Something that should be part of your daily routine is to write three things that you are grateful for that make a positive impact in your life.
Recognizing the positive things in your life help during days where things are not going the way you want them to.
Thinking about the positive things in your life that you are grateful for changes your mindset for the rest of the day.
Exercise
Exercise is extremely important in my life and is part of my daily routine to maintain a positive mindset. Why? Because it shows you a result of the effort you put in.
There has been a time in my life that I was 80 lbs overweight, and doctors were telling me that if I didn’t change my lifestyle I wasn’t going to live past my 40th birthday.
That scared the heck out of me, and I decided to make exercise a daily part of my life moving forward.
Now that I am 48 years old and healthier than many 35-year-olds out there, these positive results from exercise have made a huge difference in my life, and exercise can do the same for you.
Related Article: 7+ Great Benefits Of Using Electric Bikes | Popular E-Bike Online Stores
Always Look A Trying Something New
I remember when I was at a country fair and they had a bungee jump crane that was 140 feet in the air that looked terrifying. But, in the back of my mind, I kinda wanted to try it. So I did.
Now, everything leading up to the moment of jumping off a tiny cage suspended from the crane scared the hell out of me.
But the moment I jumped and then survived the jump, made me so energized for the rest of the day that I felt like I was floating on air.
While I know bungee jumping sounds a little extreme for some, but trying something new that is out of your comfort zone, actually makes a positive change to your mood and mindset that you never thought was possible.
Make Time For Yourself
With the daily stress we all face in today’s world, it’s tough to find time for ourselves to sit back and enjoy something we are passionate about and allow ourselves to grow.
I know for myself that when I come home from a tough day at work, and all I want to do is binge watch something mindless on tv.
While sometimes that helps calm me down from the day, it doesn’t help me with my personal growth. So what I do is I carve at least an hour out of my day to do something that makes me happy.
It can be anything from a 30-minute walk around the neighborhood, writing 5 pages to a screenplay I may be working on, or even reading a book about something I am passionate about.
Finding a time where I can do something I love during the day makes a huge difference in my positive growth.
Hide Your Smartphone
If you have an iPhone, have you ever been notified about how much screen time is being spent on your phone? The first time I was notified that I spent 6 hours of my day on my smartphone, I was in shock.
How much time in my life am I spending looking at Facebook, Twitter, and every other social media distraction on my phone?
Plus, what social media does is adds jealousy and negativity to your life either by depressing news on Twitter or looking at someone bragging about his/her fabulous life they are living that you can’t at this moment in time.
We all don’t need this energy in our lives, so when you have the sudden urge to find out what the Kardashians are doing, stop, and do something that will make you happy. It will change your life for the best.
Goal Planning
What do you want in your life? Do you know how to achieve this? That’s why goal setting is important to personal growth. But how do you achieve your goals?
First, be realistic about your goals and make sure they are achievable. Then begin starting a plan on how you are going to work towards achieving your goals.
Create a short-term goal and long-term goal at the same time, and make sure that both goals are lined up to keep you on track on improving yourself towards these goals.
My suggestion is to invest in a planner that you can note all your goals on that are visible to you daily. If it’s not in your face daily, you will forget them and not achieve them.
I know this first hand, that I wrote down several goals a few years ago and forgot about them until I came across these goals when cleaning up a desk drawer.
Here are some great options for planning your goals:
Start A New Hobby Or Skill
Invest in yourself and try a new skill or hobby. It’s the best investment you can make for yourself.
Learning and new skills or trying a new hobby promote self-growth, personal development and positivity in yourself. What’s the worst thing that can happen if you do this? Nothing!
Regardless of what happens, you will learn something new about yourself, and if you don’t like it, it still makes you grow as a person.
Related Article: 5 Great Reasons Why It’s Never Too Late For A Film Career
Do Something You Keep Pushing Off
Is there anything in your life that you have been procrastinating about? If there is, just get it done.
You will feel so much better by accomplishing a task, that it may lead to you completing other tasks that you may have been putting off as well.
The great thing about completing a task you have been putting off is it’s completed, and you can move on and focus on something else to improve yourself. Win/win in the personal development column!
Make Lists
Lists are an important part of self-improvement and personal development. Why? Because they are great for giving you a point of reference in your life.
What do you want to achieve in life? Make a list of what you want to achieve. Need a positive affirmations list to keep tabs on all your strengths? Make a list for that! There are so many lists that you can create that put things into perspective for yourself.
They are great reminders of where you want to be, and how far you have improved your life so far.
Conclusion
So there you have it. 15 effortless ways to bring about some personal development & growth. It’s all about the baby steps because, with every step you make, you are moving forward.
What are your favorite personal development activities? Which of these 15 are you interested in trying? Let me know in the comments below!
If you don’t mind sharing the love, a tweet, stumble, pin, or Facebook share would be much appreciated!
