Give yourself some love : 5 Hacks To Personal Growth
Growing in your career, relationships and life starts with growing individually. If you are not investing in developing yourself, you can’t move forward in your life. Here are some tips for personal growth, and some tangible ways to move forward in your everyday (busy) life.
Have (and stick to) A Routine
Toddlers aren’t the only age group that have overwhelming positive benefits from having a routine. Research shows that having a routine for the bookends of your day (morning and evening) is very telling of how you will function throughout your day.
On the importance of a morning routine, Robin Sharma, Global Leadership Expert and #1 bestseller author, says, “The way you begin your day determines the way you live your day.”
Sharma has developed a morning routine for maximizing your potential, called the 5 a.m. club. This morning routine etails waking up at 5:00, and spending an hour taking time to invest in yourself. The breakdown of this schedule is: 5:00-5:20- take time for your body (workout), 5:20-5:40- take time for your thoughts (journal), 5:40-6:00- take time to expand your mind (learn).
After years of research, Sharma believes this routine will maximize your day. “Once you nail your morning routine, the rest of your day is completely different,” Sharma says. “You develop a resilience to stress, you develop acute focus in this age of dramatic distraction, you become more powerful, you access your bravery and confidence, and you really achieve legendary results.”
Morning isn’t the only part of your day where routine is imperative. Research shows that going to bed at the same time results in an 18 percent increase in productivity the following day compared against people who went to bed at different times throughout the week.
Not everyone has the willpower, or ability, to wake up at 5 a.m. to journal. Personalize a morning and evening routine that works for you, and stick to it. You’ll be amazed by the positive results that follow.
Find Quiet
Regardless of whether you practice mindfulness meditation or just find time in your day to be quiet, both internally and externally, the positive benefits of this practice are innumerable.
Finding the time to be quiet, to clear your thoughts does things like:
- Reduces stress
- Improves concentration
- Encourages a healthy lifestyle
- Improves energy levels
- Improves immune system
- Increases focus and mental strength
- Promotes better cognitive skills and creative thinking
- Decreases blood pressure
- Increases resiliency
- Increases mood and emotional intelligence
Taking time to reflect on your thoughts, listen to your heart and ask yourself what you need, is extremely important. Before you can focus outward on the stressors of your day and the people in it, you have to take time to get what you need from yourself.
A great place to start is a meditation program for beings, like a 21- Day Meditation Challenge. At Beni.fit, we offer a meditation program with a short, daily guided meditation to relax and focus the mind, allowing you to take time for quiet and reflection.
Invest in wellness
Investing in your wellness goes far beyond taking an hour to head to the gym. Though physical activity is a very important part of your body’s overall wellness, your mental and emotional state are equally as important.
Think about taking time every day to invest in your mental and emotional state by putting good energy into the world and in return, receiving it back. There are many simple ways to raise your vibrations throughout the day and improve your overall mental and emotional state. Some ideas are:
- State out loud one thing that you are grateful for in that moment
- Spend time in nature
- Do something creative
- Take time to notice something good about someone else and share it with them
- Meditate, even if it’s just for a minute
Investing in wellness has huge impacts on your ability to function daily. At Beni.fit, we have developed a wellness program, 60 Seconds to Health, that provides motivating tips with actionable ways to improve overall well-being. Find a wellness routine that works for you, but make sure that you are providing for your physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Engage With Others
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “There is evidence that, during gift-giving behaviors, humans secrete “feel good” chemicals in our brains, such as serotonin (a mood-mediating chemical), dopamine (a feel-good chemical) and oxytocin (a compassion and bonding chemical).”
Beyond improving your serotonin levels, giving back to others can also positively impact your health in these ways:
- Lower blood pressure
- Increased self-esteem
- Less depression
- Lower stress levels
- Longer life
- Greater happiness
Although the main focus of giving should be to invest in others, the positive health impacts of engaging in something outside of yourself is also good for you.
Find Your Purpose
Finding your purpose is a lifelong journey that isn’t meant to be ‘solved’ or ‘discovered’ in one sitting or at point in your life. However, you can find a sense of purpose in whatever stage of life you are at. This goes beyond what you do for a living or what your career is, but focuses on your purpose from an emotional standpoint. What lights you up? How do you listen to your heart? What gets you excited?
Steve Pavlina, personal development bloggers suggests this exercise for finding your purpose:
“Here’s what to do:
- Take out a blank sheet of paper or open up a word processor where you can type (I prefer the latter because it’s faster).
- Write at the top, “What is my true purpose in life?”
- Write an answer (any answer) that pops into your head. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.
- Repeat step 3 until you write the answer that makes you cry. This is your purpose.”
The point behind this, Pavlina says, is that “If you persist, after 100 or 200 or maybe even 500 answers, you’ll be struck by the answer that causes you to surge with emotion, the answer that breaks you.”
You are not stuck in any job, relationship, place or mindset. Regardless of your age or life situation, it’s not too late to find your purpose and to live it to your full potential.
End Thoughts
Be your best self by taking the time to invest in your personal development. We believe that when humans thrive, everything else prospers. Share your ideas for personal development with us and we will post them on our blog! Learn more at Beni.fit.
Head to our contact page for a free day of guided meditation; type “Meditation Preview” in the “What can we help with?” box for an email with a link to a meditation!