An article on personal growth and change for… skeptics.
To me this personal growth it seems so much a caz ** ta! You know, those four-bit American new-age motivator things, who want to sell you the secret of life by talking about goals, success, the law of attraction, time management and miscellaneous shit! And then these articles… look like the chains of Saint Anthony, starting with the advice to be less consumerist and ending with the .jpg of the caterpillar that becomes a butterfly!
You know what?! You're right, the personal growth it's a gullible thing. Or…
Ours is only fear.
Wanting to grow means admitting your weaknesses.
Wanting to grow up means getting out of your own backyard and questioning your beliefs.
Wanting to grow means confronting and clashing with those who remain a step below and do not want your shoulders to remind them of their defeats.
After all, thinking that personal growth is just a bunch of bullshit makes our "step" more ... comfortable. But it is possible that life is just a constant search for safety e comfort? If you are not convinced too, these 4 "Cs" will allow you to take a look at the panorama that can be seen from the next "step".
- Self Consciousness. There is no growth without awareness. You cannot decide to go up until you realize that there is a ladder in front of you and you are on the lowest step. To be aware of our position, we have to stop from time to time, get off the only real Spanish high-speed train, our life, and take stock of the situation. What did I dream of doing as a child? What am I doing? Am I deciding my life or is my life deciding? How do I feel physically? Am I fit? There are no extravagant techniques for becoming aware: stop, ask questions and answer truthfully. That's all.
- Change. If you answered your questions honestly, you will probably now be aware of at least 2 or 3 things that are just wrong with your life. Maybe you need to quit smoking, you need to lose some weight, or you want to learn to be more organized. Whatever aspect of your life you want to improve, to start the change you have to decide that you want to change, you have to want to want to change, you have to be obsessed with the idea of ​​changing. In these cases there is a very effective managerial technique: the "burning platform strategy". When an oil rig is on fire, there is no alternative: you have to flee, you have to change… the air. Create this sense of urgency in your life, make change the only way to go. Do you want to quit smoking? Download photos of smokers' lungs from the internet, read books on how to quit smoking, talk to an oncologist: fear and suffering are 2 motivators, not very new-age ;-), but very effective.
- Correction. Once you have created this sense of urgency in your life, the next step is correction. To start correcting what's wrong with your life, the only effective strategy is to take baby steps. Change management experts call them "Quick Wins", literally, "fast conquests": to give the correct pace to the correction, you have to identify small goals to reach quickly. By striking one milestone after another, you'll keep motivation high and make your change… fun. If your next “step” is to reach your target weight, set realistic goals and try to reach them while having fun: buy a Wii Fit, go for a run with your friends. Even if the term correction reminds you of those red marks of your teacher, not necessarily improving yourself does not have to be a suffering or a sacrifice.
- Growth. Well, the last "C" of personal growth could only be growth itself. Being able to move on to the next step is not enough for you: the need for growth must be a constant in your life. Changing when things go wrong is a necessity, changing when things go well is an opportunity.
“I change when things go well”.
