Tools for Personal Growth

Growing as a person starts with wanting to improve. Part of that work is sanding down the rough edges in your character, like teaching yourself patience when your instinct is to snap. The other part has nothing to do with fixing anything. It's about widening the range of what you've done, collecting experiences you didn't have before. New things tend to reveal passions you didn't know you had, strengths you'd underestimated, and sometimes weaknesses too. None of those outcomes is a failure. The act of trying something unfamiliar is the progress.

Here are ten experiences worth building into your life.

Take a class. Your local library and community college probably offer plenty of subjects for free or for very little money. Start with whatever already pulls at your curiosity. If cooking does, a non-credit cooking course is an easy first step. If you like computers but keep getting stuck on certain programs, something like an intro Excel class fills a real gap.

Pick up a language. Online resources and library collections cover almost anything you'd want, from sign language to Spanish to Russian, delivered through books, CDs, DVDs, or apps on your phone. Cost is rarely the barrier people assume it is.

Get outside. Walk your neighborhood, a nearby park, or a forest preserve. Watch a sunrise or stay out for a sunset. Time spent in nature sharpens your appreciation of it, and it tends to leave you calmer, more inspired, a little more at peace than when you started.

See the people who matter to you. Block off time for the ones you love. It doesn't need to be a whole day; a half hour over coffee with a friend keeps the relationship alive and sends you off happier and more connected. Quality counts for more than length here.

Try a new hobby. A small craft project, a sports club, an exercise class you've never taken. Think back to something you once loved and dropped, or something you've always meant to start. The only requirement is the nerve to begin.

Put the phone down, even briefly. Cutting your social media time, phone, computer, or tablet, frees up attention for whatever is actually in front of you. It's genuinely hard to notice the room or the person across from you while a screen has your eyes. Give the people around you your full attention sometimes, and listen.

Write a bucket list. Put down everything you hope to do: places, people, experiences, the whole range of dreams and goals. Some will be well within reach and some will be long shots. After you've got the list, sort it into what's doable and what's a stretch. Keep plenty of realistic items on there, with a few of the hard ones for ambition.

Keep to-do lists. A simple, reliable way to stay organized and on track. It helps you manage your time and actually finish what you set out to do.

Feed your motivation. Read something on motivation or listen to a speaker who gets you going. YouTube and other sites are full of talks, books, and seminars. The right voice at the right moment can supply the push you need to set a goal and chase it.

Keep your distance from negative people. They have a way of draining your energy and tilting your whole outlook toward the pessimistic. Positive company does the opposite, lifting your self-esteem and how you see your days. When someone negative can't be avoided, limit the contact you have with them. That protects your balance and keeps you feeling steady enough to keep growing.

Working on yourself is a way to expand what you're capable of and to push toward your potential and a life that feels, on the whole, like a good one. Most of what you need costs nothing or close to it, sitting right there at the library or a few clicks away. Nobody is shut out of this. The chance to grow is open to everyone.

Related