Personal development and growth, a concept that we hear everywhere. It is the essence of making your life your own and also adopting a more personal lifestyle. It is also the main reason that Young Old Soul was developed. All the time we hear about people being on a path of self-discovery and other times we hear them say that they are looking to create a better version of themselves. Personal growth is at the centre of some people’s life goals and also fuels the mantra of “being the best version of oneself”.
Earlier this year, the idea of success and personal growth were two totally different ideas. Personal growth was something that someone did when they hoped to achieve something specific in their life, a goal that needed to be attained by coming out of one’s skin and comfort zone. It was also something that was done behind the scenes, under the cover of night and isolation as a means to get ahead of the rest of the world. I equated personal growth and development to hard work and persistence, thinking that if I worked harder at a task I was growing and developing as a person no matter what.
Although these are aspects of personal growth, they are not personal growth.
This leads to the question: what is personal growth?
DEFINITION
There are multiple different definitions of personal development and all of these definitions depend on what an individual is trying to achieve in their lives and what message they are trying to pass onto others. The definitions that I have come across are:
A process of improving oneself in one or more areas of your life.
An ongoing process of understanding and developing oneself to achieve one’s fullest potential
Investing in yourself so that you can manage yourself effectively regardless of what life may may bring your way.
All of these definitions allude to some sort of development and improvement that one does to themselves. The last definition especially focuses on the aspect of looking after yourself and growing yourself in a way that will enable you to deal with whatever life may bring your way. We also get a sense of a lifelong venture and not a simple short-term, once-off change with the hope of achieving a specific goal in your life.
Now, before I go into the aspects of personal growth, I would like to break this concept into two separate ideas. I want to focus on what the word personal means and what the word growth means.
Personal means “belonging in or affecting a particular person rather than anyone else”.
Growth, on the other hand, means “the process of increasing in size; the process of developing physically, mentally or spiritually or the process of increasing in amount, value or importance.”
After breaking up these two words we see that personal growth is an intimate process and one that is carried out by an individual. We also see that the end result is an increase in one’s capabilities and abilities.
It is the attainment of being a complete person and a self-realised human being. As such, there is a need to look at what constitutes a human being. This is a very controversial topic as many people won’t agree on what constitutes a complete human being and the things that affect us as people. I feel that a comprehensive list covers the emotional, intellectual, spiritual, physical and social aspects of an individual.
- EMOTIONAL
These are the feelings that every human being feels at one point or another. These range from depression, anger, love, hate, distrust to disgust and nausea. The list is endless really.
Emotions are a reaction to our surrounding circumstances and the events that take place in the environment. A lot of people are controlled by their emotions and their actions and thoughts are dictated by what they feel at specific moments, all with varying success and results.
When it comes to developing ourselves emotionally, an element of control is in demand. This means that we control how we react to certain situations and also how we act when we are feeling a certain type of way. A lot of people do not know what they are feeling at specific times in their lives and this is another area o,f people’s emotions that need to be nurtured. The ability ty to realise and acknowledge what one is feeling at any point in time is a great way for people to be aware of themselves and also gives them the ability to act appropriately. The ability to realise what one is feeling also helps with one’s capacity to deal with stressful situations without feeling overwhelmed.
Being able to identify and acknowledge one’s feelings allows you to moderate your actions and to take action when there is a need to. Being able to look after one’s emotions builds resilience and also gives you better control of your life. Having a hold on your emotions also means that what others say to you will not affect you or control you.
2. INTELLECTUAL
Your mind and your brain.
This can also be equated to one’s mentality and given that the world is ever-changing and ever-growing, there is a great need for one to invest in this part of themselves. Every day you come across new challenges and a lot of the time you are forced to think of new ways to handle and deal with them.
Growing this part of yourself allows you to look at the world from a different viewpoint, you get to see the world from a totally different viewpoint as you expand your horizons and way of thinking. You open your mind to new possibilities, and you also think faster and more effectively which will allow you to work out problems more dynamically and freely.
Exercising your intellectual capabilities changes the way you look at things and when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Intellectual capacity dictates what you can imagine and as the quote goes:
what you think you can do, you can actually do and what you think your limitations are, so too do they becomes your limitations.
Everything that happens in our lives is processed by our brains and thus it is essential to look after and nurture this aspect of ourselves.
3. SPIRITUAL
The spirit/ soul is who you are.
Your deepest desires, values and beliefs stem from this part of yourself and in all honesty, there is no discrimination of religious beliefs when it comes to this part of ourselves. All humans have a soul and a spiritual side, all humans beings have a voice at the back of their heads that guides them and speaks to them and it is essential that we nurture this very important part of ourselves.
Spiritual growth is finding your identity, becoming deeply entrenched in your values and beliefs and cultivating levels of inner peace that can not be measured. Your spirit is where all your passions come from, it is where your motivation comes from, the source of your dreams and the drive to live.
When people speak of the fire to achieve and conquer and the will to carry on in life, this is where it comes from. This is the one part of the human anatomy or makeup that cannot be remade or fabricated. It is extremely unique to every individual.
I cannot stress how important it is to nurture and grow this part of yourselves.
4. PHYSICAL
I can usually come up with some witty remark that would encompass the importance of anything, but with the body, nothing really comes to mind.
This aspect looks at how fit you are, how healthy you are, the ability of your body to handle certain strain and stress. Your body is your machine or the actual body of your vehicle and all the accessories that make it move.
Looking after your body is important because every single action you hope to take and anything you hope to do is actually carried out by your body. Sickness would limit what you can do, your ability is limited as your body is not operating at optimum capacity. Being overweight brings health issues and also limits what you can do with your body, whilst lacking basic strength means that you cannot perform some physical activities which could be of need.
I am not saying that we should all be bodybuilders, elite athletes or swimsuit models. Looking after your body and your physical health has got nothing to do with what the world deems is necessary, but rather what you think and feel will be sufficient for you to work at optimum levels for your specific lifestyle. If that means that all you have to do is go for a walk every three days or whether you have to go for a jog, it’s all the same as long as you are physically in tune for your day-to-day activities and lifestyle.
Basic fitness allows you to combat illnesses and also means that you are better able to get better at a faster rate than someone who is not physically fit. Having enough meals and a balanced diet is another way of looking after your body and keeping yourself physically in tune with your body. Physical development also means that you are better able to handle stressful situations better and can respond with more certainty and precision.
Life is like a marathon, and in order to be able to run it well and effectively, you would need to look after your body and physical health.
5. SOCIAL
We are not Islands and no person lives alone in complete isolation.
Thanks to technological advancements, the world is more connected today than it was ten, twenty, fifty and a hundred years ago. The advent of the smartphone, emails, social media and the like means that people who are more than a million miles away from us are now within a second’s message away.
Humans are very social beings, with an innate desire to connect with people and form relationships. We have an urge to affiliate to people and to be accepted by others. Just like every other aspect that has been discussed earlier, we need to nurture and develop our social relations and interactions.
This part of us is also important because a lot of who we are as individuals is influenced by the people we associate with and deem to be friends. Our view of life and the world around also stems from the relationships we have and create.
Nurturing strong and healthy relationships is also important because you become the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Make the most of your friends and life is better when you have people to enjoy it with.
Now that I have listed down all the aspects that make up the self, I am now going to add a bonus point about personal development that many people do not understand.
It is an inside-out process. Personal development begins on the inside, it begins with your values and knowing who you are. Your emotional side, intellectual side and spiritual side are all internal aspects of yourself that then reflect on the outside world. Even your physical health happens on the inside and then reflects on the outside when you are looking good and feeling great.
Think of a house. Imagine trying to build it from the roof all the way down to the foundation, and from the outside to the inside. How would that look? Do you think it would hold up and be strong? How much longer would it take to build?
The same principle applies to personal development. It is a gradual process that begins on the inside and is built upon a strong inner character that forms the foundation.
Once you have developed on the inside and you a firmly set with who you are on the inside, the only place for this development to show is on the outside. Just like a tree spreads, so too will your new found development spread from you to the world and those around you.
The process never stops, but the benefits are immeasurable and priceless.
Go out there and make your life personal.
Young Old Soul.
Young Old Soul 