Postponing your personal growth
Even when we know how important it is to make time for personal growth and development, it’s easy to let it slip in our schedules.
The hustle and bustle of life and work mean that maximising our mindset and boosting our skills and capabilities often takes a back-seat.
You find yourself thinking
“I’m definitely going to spend some time finishing that book or watching that training series on You Tube, working on my thoughts or researching the right coach for me this week”.
But then, you take a look at your to-do list and your calendar, and all that learning drop to the bottom of the pile.
After all, you have a business to run, a job to hold down, family and friends and life to, you know, live.
But here’s the thing, when you don’t make learning and growing a priority, you’re not making your potential future a priority.
So here are 6 tips on how to focus on personal growth and make it a priority.
#1 Remember the BENEFITS of spending time on your personal growth.
It forces you out of your comfort zone, develops your strengths, boosts your confidence and improves your self-awareness. All these results translate into positives for your life AND your business.
#2 Ask yourself, what problem am I trying to solve?
When our learning and growth has a purpose it’s easier to make it a priority.
Think about the key challenges in your life and business and turn them into questions that you can use your personal development time to solve
#3 Be selective about how you learn to avoid overwhelm
It’s tempting to subscribe to every personal improvement blog, business newsletter, podcast and YouTube channel on the planet to soak up all that delicious learning.
But when your inbox is flooded you’re more likely to hit delete and lose out on opportunities to grow.
Instead, be selective. Choose what to read and who to follow based on who addresses the questions and challenges you’re facing and who most resonates with you.
#4 Share what you learn to make it stick
When you teach, you learn twice. People keep 90% of what they learn if they teach someone else or use that learning immediately.
So share what you learn on your personal development journey with a colleague, friend or family member to cement that knowledge.
#5 Put what you learn into action
Listening to a podcast or reading a book is not really learning. In fact most of what we listen to or read leaks out of our minds like water out of a sieve. Real learning comes from making mistakes.
And mistakes come from using what we learn by having a go and taking a few chances. So take what you’re learning, put it into practice and then review how it has helped you.
Afraid to fail? Shift your mindset away from success vs failure by telling yourself that you’re just experimenting to see what happens.
#6 Make your personal development a non-negotiable
When you have an important event or deadline in your life or work you put it on your calendar and it gets done. Approach your personal development and learning the same way. Set a time each week when you’ll focus on learning something new and calendarise it.
Or make one day a month a ‘development day’. Get away from your desk (so you’re not tempted to check your email and get distracted) and enjoy spending time focusing on YOU.
Download your free worksheet and start using these tips
About the Author
Michelle Reeves is a certified life and mindset coach, author of “The Happiness Habits Transformation” and Pure Coaching Academy graduate. She believes that everyone has their own special brand of magic and adores helping ambitious women to ditch self-doubt and super charge their clarity, confidence, courage and consistency so they can fast-track their ideal life and business. Find out more and book a free 45-min taster session at MichelleReevesCoaching.com
