Eight Misconceptions about Personal Growth that may be holding you back

When you start your career, your intention is to work to reach your goal and be successful. The strategy could be hard work to get you where you want to go. But working hard does not guarantee success and hope isn’t a strategy.

I use to believe that success would come to anyone who poured himself into his career, but I soon realized that the key is personal growth. It occurred to me that if you focus on goals, you might hit goals, but that doesn't guarantee growth.  If you focus on personal growth, you will grow and always hit goals.

If you have dreams, goals or aspirations, you need to grow to achieve them. But if you are like most people who have one or more mistaken belief that creates a gap that keeps them from growing and reaching their potential.

Below are the misconception about personal growth that might be holding some people  back from being as intentional as they may be.

1.    I assume that I will automatically grow: As a child our body grows automatically, as years goes by we become taller, stronger, and more capable of doing new things and facing new challenges. I think many people carry into adulthood a subconscious belief that mental, spiritual and emotional growth follow similar pattern.. It’s like they just hang around until they get used to it.. The problem is that one does not improve by simply living. Bruce Springsteen commented, a time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be. No one improves by accident. Personal growth doesn't just happen on its own. You must take complete control of your growth process because no one will do it for you.

2.    I Don’t know how to grow: I know what I wanted, I wanted to grow in my career, I want to accomplish the big goals I had set. I just needed a way to do that. Designer, artist and consultant Loretta Staples says, if you are clear with what you want, the world responds with clarity.  Many people only learn from school of hard knock. Difficult experience teach them lesson the hard way and they change sometimes for the better sometimes for the worst. It is better to plan your personal growth intentionally. You decide where you need or want to grow, you choose what you want and follow through with discipline, going at the pace you set.

3.    It’s not the right time to begin: Most people don’t act as quickly as they should on things. They find themselves subject to the law of Diminishing intent which says. The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odd that you will never actually do it. You may be under similar personal or professional pressure right now. If you are, you are probably anxious to start growing and developing. But if you are not? Whether you feel prompted to or not, now is the time to start growing. Once you start growing intentionally you can keep growing and keep asking “what’s next?”

4.    I’m afraid of making mistakes: Personal growth can be a messy. It means admitting you don’t have the answer. It requires making mistakes. It can make you look foolish. Most people don’t enjoy that. But that is the price of admission if you want to improve. If you want to grow, you need to get over any fear you may have of making mistakes. A mistake is simply another way of doing things – Warren Bennis. To become intentional about growing, expect to make mistake every day and welcome them as a sign that you are moving in the right direction.

5.    I have to find the best way before I start: The desire to find the best way can set you backwards, you have to get started to find the best way. It is similar to driving on an unfamiliar road at night. Ideally, you will like to be able to see your whole route before you begin. But you will see it progressively as you move forward, a little more of the road is revealed to you.. If you want to see more of the way, then get moving.

6.    I don’t feel like doing it: Remember Nike Phrase Just Do It? Motivation is not something that someone can bestow or force on you. You just have to do what needs to be done. If you want result and after you start, guess what? Motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep doing it. You may not feel inspired to aggressively pursue a personal growth plan if you haven’t started yet. But when you actively engage in doing it. It sneaks up and zap you when you least expect it.So make a commitment to yourself to start and stick with it.

7.    Others are better than I am: You need to be exposed to bigger leaders outside of your own small circle. I’m saying this out of experience. Once I attended an exchange with bigger and better leaders than I am, at first I felt intimidated. As we talk and share ideas, it became clear to me that I was not in their league. Despite that I was encourage. Why? Because I discover that great people were willing to share their ideas. And I was learning so much. You can learn only if others are ahead of you. Come out of the comfort zone to pursue your personal growth, it may be difficult transition but it is well worth it.

8.    I thought it would be easier than this: Well, I don’t know any successful person who thinks growth comes quickly and climbing to the top is easy. It just does not happen. People create their own luck. It starts with preparation, opportunity, action then luck. Unfortunately, that takes time. As Jim Rohn said. You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.  If you want to reach your goal and fulfill your potential, become intentional about personal growth. It will change your life.

To make the transition to intentional growth, it will help you to set direction, asking yourself these questions.

• Where do you want to be in your career?
• What direction do you want to go?
• What is the farthest you can imagine going?

Answering these questions will get you started on the personal growth journey. The best you can hope to do is to make the most out of whatever you have. You do that by investing in yourself, making yourself the best you can be. The more you’ve got to work with,the greater your potential.


Appriciate if you could comment or share.. Thanks
To your Success
Lucy Bieri