6 PERSONAL GROWTH CONCEPTS IN 2023
These six inner growth goals and actions can improve anyone’s life who is willing to look within and put in the effort for positive change.
Table of Contents
1. Be present.
As much as possible, keep your attention focused on this moment right now. Immerse yourself in what you are doing, even if it’s tedious or boring. Honor whatever you do in the moment by giving it your full focus.
Savor what you are doing without allowing your mind to dwell in the past or worry about the future.
When you do plan for the future (as we all must), create a loose template — a flexible plan or goal that allows you to stay open to all possibilities.
If you’re with someone else, pay full attention to that person. Give them your presence so they feel it and know you are there — not just physically but mentally and emotionally.
When you live outside the present moment, you are wasting time because your thoughts about the past and future aren’t real. Only this moment is real.
2. Disengage from other people’s opinions.
This mental shift was life-changing for me.
Once I stopped worrying about what others would think of me, how they might judge me, or how my decisions might disappoint people, I was free to become myself fully. I was able to be more authentic and empathetic.
There is so much pressure from parents, peers, society, and the media to conform to certain standards and ideals. But we each must create our own “personal operating system” that is a reflection of our true selves.
Real happiness is impossible when you fake it through life to make others okay or to impress them.
3. Go deep rather than wide.
Rather than trying to do many things and cram my life full of activities and achievements, I now focus on fewer things — but I focus deeply.
When I work, I strive to be engaged in the task at hand and remove other distractions.
When I travel, I go to fewer locations but spend more time in one or two.
I’ve learned to minimize and prioritize my schedule so I’m not pulled in too many directions. I’ve stopped spinning plates.
You don’t learn much or experience the depths of joy from just scratching the surface or living an adrenaline fueled life.
4. Redefine failure.
I don’t like to fail any more than the next person. But I’ve learned to accept failure as a necessary element in success.
You encounter failure because you had the courage and creativity to try. Failure teaches us how to do better the next time.
We can spend our lives avoiding failure, but then we take no risks — which confines us to the status quo.
If you want to live a big life, you must embrace failure, knowing that it can and will happen many times during your life. You gratefully accept the gifts and knowledge that failure offers and so you can move on to success.
5. Rewire your brain.
The science of neuroplasticity shows we have a huge reservoir of potential for learning, change, and growth.
This brain power is particularly meaningful related to how we think about ourselves and how our thinking impacts our motivation and outlook on life.
If our thoughts are constantly negative and self-critical, we are training our brains to accept these thoughts as true. But by practicing positive thinking, thoughts of self-love and self-respect, we can retrain our brains to believe these things.
Practicing positive thinking isn’t just feel-good pablum. It literally changes your brain chemistry and how you feel about yourself.
6. Stop struggling.
So much of life feels like a struggle. Someone says or does something to hurt us, and we respond with anger or defensiveness.
Something bad happens in our day, and we get frustrated and agitated. Our children aren’t doing what we want them to do, so we feel compelled to worry and fret over their decisions or actions.
In many (maybe most) of these situations, a path of non-resistance is the best way to go. Instead of fighting against the person or situation, just observe and offer no struggle.
Events usually take care of themselves without forcing them, so let them unfold.
