Growing as a person is an essential part of traversing through life. Growing is more than physical, as a matter of fact, in this case, it’s primarily emotional and psychological. Personal growth means bettering yourself and understanding the errors you’ve made along the way. It is important to grow as a person because it allows us to become more informed while becoming a better version of our current selves. So what are some ways you can start growing?
LISTEN:
We as humans love to socialize. We love to talk to our friends, family, coworkers, classmates, and other peers. However, sometimes socializing is more than just talking. It’s really about listening. By truly listening to others, we can hear outside perspectives that are different from our own. We can learn about things that we didn’t know about prior. Listening is key to growing because it’s taking a step back and letting someone else do the talking. It’s letting someone share their own thoughts, opinions, education, and perspectives on important subjects.
IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU:
This is a big one too. A huge step in growing as a person is understanding that not everything is about you. Not every wrongdoing in the world has to personally relate to you for it to matter to you. Understanding that there are problems that do not specifically affect you but are still of significant importance to your community or to humans as a whole, is a big part of growing as a person.
SPEAK UP AND HELP:
Once you can recognize issues around you, it’s time to use your voice and help. Silence can often be just as detrimental to change as completely opposing it. When you see wrongdoings, take a stand against them. There are often times we let our friends and family get away with saying or doing things that we know are wrong. This is because we want to avoid conflict or upsetting those we care about. While it may difficult, speaking up to those close to you can spark true growth to not only yourself but to your loved ones as well. Your loved ones will see what you find important in life. You may even be able to spot negative influences in your life that you didn’t notice before. Helping and speaking up is leading by example. Leading by example is growth in its purest form.
LOVE MORE, HATE LESS:
In the end, growth can come down to one thing: learning to love more and hate less. When you love someone, you listen to them, you care about things they care about (even if they don’t directly affect you), and you speak up and help them when you can. You understand that it’s not all about you. That’s love. Applying this mentality to all people you meet, will help you grow to be the best version of yourself. Someone others can aspire to be..